The ancient kingdom of Babylon was located in an area that was dry all year round and rainfall was scarce.

If it weren't for the water from the great mountain rivers in the northeast or northwest, this would be a barren land like the Huanglong Sand Sea in the Western Regions.

Therefore, all the oases and people are born along the banks of the great river, and beyond the oasis is the wilderness of yellow sand.

Whether it was the earliest Sumerians, or the later invaders Persians and Romans, they marched eastward and westward, and what they valued was the fertile soil and products on the oasis.

In addition, the desert, the Gobi and its hinterland are small isolated oases, which are basically not in the eyes of these conquerors.

So far, it is still the inaction of the nomadic tribes, just like the distinction between the "countrymen" and the "wild people" in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Tushang Zhou and Zhou periods, the so-called country does not know that there are people, and the people do not know that there is a country.

The oasis is complete in the territory, connected with each other by galloping roads, ten miles and a hundred miles and a fort, and the exacting taxes and miscellaneous taxes cannot be added.

Therefore, if the merchants who passed by on the way, if they wanted to save money on taxes and fees, they would hire local indigenous guides to go through the desert to a certain city-state or seaport.

We had sufficient funds for the trip, and the time we had planned to return was running out, so we chose to follow the gallop of Eastern Rome all the way west.

The eldest brother of Hesrul made the following arrangements for the rest of our trip: to follow the gallop on the banks of the Euphrates River and go up the river to the northwest to the city of Benoeia. Then head west to the city-state of Antioch on the shores of the Mediterranean.

The whole trip is about 1,000 miles away, and if there are no accidents on the way, it will take about 10 days to arrive.

"Young master, Miss Do'er! The city of Benoeia is bustling! Hehe, now in the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire, in addition to the capital of Constantinople, the rich place where thousands of families gather and merchants gather, this Benoeia! ”

In the height of summer, the Euphrates River sparkles, and its gray-white gallop winds its way through the greenery of the shore towards the distant mountains.

Hesrul walked with me and laughed.

"Brother Ruhr, tell everyone about it!" It had been a day since he left Babylon, and the depression of not looking for his father was slowly relaxed.

When the horse team gallops, Gulando will compete with Qingluan hovering in the clouds.

The next was a journey to the end, which was not as complicated as in the mountains and deserts ahead, and her errand of drawing a brocade map was suddenly relaxed.

Now Gurandot will follow behind Brother Ruhl when he has anything to do, asking endless questions.

This distant western country is indeed strange to us Orientals.

Qin Chong and Liu Zhen'er still had fun all the way, and the bored Sha Mihan also joined in.

Brother Langton is still the same as before, the horse is in the front or the back, rarely participating in the distraction on our way, silence is his usual style.

"Let's put it this way! Babylon is like today's Luoyang City in the East, and Benoeia is not today's Chang'an and Jiankang! ”

Hessrul made a vivid analogy, and we listeners also suddenly realized.

The old capital of Luoyang has declined, while Jiankang and Chang'an are the splendid capitals of prosperity and millions of people.

"So Benoea is an interesting place! We'll be there for a few more days! Ha ha! ”

I laughed happily, the good times of Chang'an, the western capital of the winter before last, were still in front of me.

"However, after all, this western country is still a barren and barbaric land with no work, and the scale and financial resources of the city-state cannot be compared with your Great Han Kingdom!"

Feeling that he had exaggerated the Eastern Roman land too much, Brother Ruhl quickly changed his tune.

"Dude is too modest, hehe! In my opinion, the folk customs of the East and the West have their own strengths! We Oriental people attack ingenuity, so all kinds of work are prosperous, and when we meet a virtuous monarch, the world is peaceful, rich in wealth and goods through the four seas! These Western Turks are too fearful of the gods, and they often use millions of efforts to build temples and temples, and the whole people make offerings to the Buddha, Mazda Celestials, and Christ God, instead of promoting agriculture and mulberry! The sages of the East Earth said! If it is too much, the extreme thing will be reversed! Hehe, look at this abandoned temple, how much manpower and material resources were spent when it was built in the first place! ”

I sighed as I pointed to a collapsed and abandoned Assyrian temple on the banks of a great river.

There are no mountains around, and such a long line of dark stones is transported by water after being excavated from a distant mountain, not to mention the labor and goods consumed.

At the same time, the ancestors of our eastern land were divided into feudal systems, pioneered the eight wildernesses, cultivated fields and controlled water, and domesticated the six livestock.

Over the years, the abundance of goods in the East and the West has become very different.

"What the young master said is very true! However, there is another benefit to our Western Soil, and the young master may not know! "Brother Ruhr sold a pass.

"I'd like to hear it!"

"In Benoeia, the general and the governor can bathe in a large pool with us civilians and merchants, and it is not considered trespassing! But if you are a woman, you can fight with the king's prince to fight fairly! There is not as much hierarchy as you have in the Eastern Lands! ”

Brother Ruhl smiled proudly, this is also the only thing he is satisfied with his homeland.

"Old Ruhl, you're not talking nonsense! What kind of woman can grab it as long as she likes it? ”

Qin Chong and Liu Zhen'er, who had no interest in the communication between me and Brother Ruhr just now, heard that they could snatch the woman they liked with their strength in this Roman land, and they didn't care about the family background and financial resources, so they rushed forward like aggressive roosters, and asked excitedly.

"That's it! But you must be a Roman freedman, and you Orientals certainly can't! In addition, other women's women must love you, otherwise they will rob the people's daughters, and the Romans' long swords are not vegetarians! Two little brothers, you have to be careful! ”

After Hesrul finished speaking, he chased Langton with a horse.

"This old guy, doesn't it mean that he didn't say it!" Liu Zhen'er said indignantly.

"Pot helmet! You really hope to snatch a Roman daughter-in-law and bring her back to the East! Can you afford to raise someone? ”

Looking at Qin Chong and Liu Zhen'er's disappointed appearances, Gu Landuo laughed gloatingly.

"I pledge here today that any of you brothers who can bring an authentic Roman girl from the city-state of Benoeia back to Khotan, and that the young lord will pay for him to buy a house in the royal city, and he will never break his word!"

In order to boost the morale of the army, I drew a large "cooking cake" for several brothers.

"Young master, my old man also has a share, right?" Shamihan also came to join in the fun.

"Yes! It's all there! Ruhr and Langton have all participated! It's up to you! ”

The two eldest brothers ignored us and let us young people fool around, and galloped in front.

"You can believe my brother's words! Every copper spent in the Qingfeng Ze homeland of Khotan is my grandma's final say! Don't dream about it, hurry up! ”

Gulando, who has always taken pleasure in demolishing my platform, accompanied by the scream of the big bird that went straight up to the sky, she also beat her horse and left us far behind.

"Young master, why did you bring Miss Duo'er with you in the first place! How much less fun was lost on the way! Liu Zhen'er complained aggrievedly.

"When am I going to take her west! What can this girl do if she follows me! I argued.

"It's all Qin Chong's fault, a rookie! You can lose to a little girl in a single fight! ”

Liu Zhen'er is a guy who doesn't let go of much in front of women, and Gu Landuo's trip this time made him suffer a lot of grievances on the way, so he sprinkled his resentment on Qin Chong's head again.

"I have nothing to say! Huh!" Qin Chong said with a dry smile knowing that he was at a loss.

"I'll be fair, do you really think Miss Doll and us are a burden all the way? Young master, there is no Miss Duo'er, just this route is enough for you! We are all coarse people who don't know how to write and ink, and no one can help you! And this Qingluan Divine Bird, without Miss Duo'er, Qingluan would not have such a fate with us! When was the camping on the road and burying the pot to make food, didn't Miss Doer rush to work? Be content, brothers! ”

Shamihan felt more sorry for Gulanduo than my own brother, and it was very unpleasant to see that several of us were still regretting taking our little sister with us.

For the wanton behavior of disregarding etiquette, righteousness and shame on the way, and complaining about his little sister, the old man's words simply made me embarrassed.

Money can make the devil grind, and after paying enough taxes at the checkpoint, the trip to Benoeia is as smooth as water.

Ten days later, we crossed the Netoros Mountains, where the source of the Euphrates River is located.

After passing a large lake like a paradise, on the edge of the vast desert ahead, on an oasis that stretches out from the northern mountains, the legendary city-state of Benoeia unfolds before our eyes.

Although we are accustomed to seeing the majestic city walls of Chang'an, Luoyang, Jiankang and other places in the east, Benoeia City still brings us a great shock.

The tall ancient Assyrian temple, the souks crowded with thousands of heads, the oval theater built against the mountain, and the man-made stone canal that leads the water of the snow-capped mountains into the city.

There are also churches with spires, castles of eunuchs and nobles, and residential houses around the castle.

All of them are Roman-style dark stone buildings, pale and majestic, like the palaces of all gods.

Standing on the hill, you can clearly see that from the open-air market, to the south, south, and northwest, there are wide horse paths.

Hesrul tells us that these roads led to Persia in the east, the province of Babylon in the south, the capital in the northwest, and the city-state of Antioch on the western coast.

In this way, what Brother Ruhr said before is true.

From the merchant's point of view, the city of Benoeia was indeed located at the transportation hub of the Roman state, where merchants from all over the world gathered, and from here they circulated and dispersed to the surrounding countries.

Qingfengze Inn is located at the key point of the east-west trade route, and one of the four sources of goods from the Eastern Han Kingdom has to pass in front of my house.

If nothing else, in this huge market, I am sure to meet Western merchants who have stayed at my inn in the past.

We are all brothers on our way to business, and if we are lucky enough to meet our former tenants in this foreign land, we will be able to count on their help and our trip to Rome will be much smoother.

Before entering the city, Gulando's name had already been reported by a large number of Persian and Roman merchants she knew.

Abraham, a Canaanite merchant who traded in pearl corals. David, the luminous cup merchant of the Byzantine city-state of Minipol, the Persian carpet merchant Rabadran, and so on.

The silk and spices brought back from our Orient by these merchants from the East and the West, who were engaged in the trade between the East and the West, will surely arrive here for sale.

Goods destined for Han and poisonous countries also need to be purchased here.

What I hope most is to have the privilege of meeting the caravan of Alexander Sr., Yamika's father.

That way, we wouldn't have to travel all the way to Rome.