On the golden-paved Silk Road, there was a hub transit city. He is located in the core of the Western Regions, and the fertile soil and convenient transportation of the Namishui Basin have nurtured the people here and brought countless wealth to this land.

This city is the capital of Kangguo - "Samad Jian".

Samad was built as it was called by the people of the Tang Dynasty. Another name given to it by later history books is famous in history and even in the world - Samarkand.

If Tang Chang'an is a majestic city today, it is not an exaggeration to call it the first city in the world; Then, as the core city of the Silk Road, Samajian is one of the richest cities in the world.

It is said that more than half of the wealth of all the countries that ran through the Silk Roads was concentrated here. If the wealth carried by the merchants walking here is concentrated, it is enough to be worthy of a Tang Empire!

There is always an exaggeration in the rumors, but it is enough to see how rich Samad Jian is.

At this moment, Wu Meiniang is sailing into this rumored world's first "commercial city" with her huge caravan.

"Owner, let's come all the way to this place, what are we trying to do?" Su Lianqing, who was in the same car with Wu Meiniang, glanced out of the car window a few times, and chattered a little unpleasantly, "There are big bearded ghosts with big noses, green eyes, red hair, and blue hair everywhere, and there is a smell of sheep on their bodies." These walls and houses are also so strangely built that they are uncomfortable to look at from side to side. ”

Wu Meiniang, who had traveled a long distance, looked tired, leaned back on the board and said lightly: "I didn't ask you to come with me." ”

"Hey, you're not being kind to say that!" Su Lianqing said angrily, "I'm not thinking about your safety yet? I left my baby who was less than three months old and traveled with you to this hellish place, and you didn't have a good word for me! ”

This sentence seemed to pierce Wu Meiniang's heart, she twisted her brows slightly, and said, "Why am I not?" ”

"I can't figure it out!" Su Lianqing said, "Could it be that in the eyes of businessmen, there is nothing but money?" You and Qin Mubai haven't seen each other for more than a year, and you just gave birth to a baby who is half a year old, so you can't bear to leave them and run to these ghost places thousands of miles away to toss around? - I don't know what you're drawing! ”

"You'll know later." Wu Meiniang breathed a sigh of relief, patted the car board and said loudly, "Find a business post to settle down, everyone can rest for a day!" ”

"Yes, owner!"

Su Lianqing pursed her lips, continued to glance out the window, and muttered: "This place is really lively, there are more people in the West City in Chang'an." The goods on the street are piled up like a mountain, and the crowds of people can't get through, but this is still a time of war - wow, is that Dawan Ma? It's beautiful! I'm going to buy one for my family! - No, two! Boss, would you like to lend me some money? My man has no other hobbies, just horses! ”

"Okay, you don't nag a few words!" Wu Meiniang said a little impatiently, "You are also an old Jianghu, rare and strange!" - This trip is special, don't make a mistake willfully! ”

"Isn't it just about doing business and making money, what's so special?"

"Anyway, don't run around if you're fine, follow me obediently and don't cause trouble! If something happens, I won't care about you, and the ugly words will come first! ”

"Okay, listen to you!"

After a short time, a large caravan of more than 300 vehicles of the Wu merchant company settled in a Sogdian-run caravan.

After getting off the bus, Wu Meiniang stepped forward in person and communicated with the housekeepers and porters of the merchant post, speaking fluent Sogdian. Su Lianqing heard it in a fog, and after Wu Meiniang finished talking, she asked, "What did you say, why can't I understand a word?" ”

"It's been several years since you followed me to the north and south, and you don't even know a word of Sogdian." Wu Meiniang smiled, "I'm speaking Sogdian. The owner of this shop is a Sogdian, which is often referred to as 'Zhaowu Jiu surnamed Hu'. If you want to walk on the Silk Road in the Western Regions, you can't understand Sogdian and Sogdian, it's like the official language of our Tang Dynasty. Not only that, but even in the interior of the Tang Dynasty, there were a large number of Sogdian merchants living there, and the Sogdian language and the Sudian language were things that merchants had to learn. Of course, the exception is the small traders and peddlers who are not in the climate. ”

"Is it so mysterious?" Su Lianqing rolled his eyes and said confusedly, "Zhaowu Jiu's surname is Hu?" …… Oh, it sounds familiar! It seems that there are a lot of Hu people with the surname Zhaowu in those places in Luoyang, Chang'an! ”

"You should read more!" Wu Meiniang shook her head and smiled, "The surname Zhaowu Jiu is a descendant of the Dayue clan, and some of them also have Xiongnu mixed blood left over from the Qin and Han dynasties. The name of "Zhaowu" comes from the Zhaowu City in the Hexi Corridor, which was originally the capital of the Dayue Clan, and was forced by the Xiongnu to move westward, and the name of the national capital also moved westward. The original meaning of Zhaowu is 'capital'. After moving westward, the Great Moon Clan Kingdom was gradually divided into nine countries, and Kang was the suzerainty of the Nine Kingdoms. Zhaowu Jiu's surname Hu is good at doing business - the Kangguo capital city in front of him is built by Sama, which is a place where businessmen from all over the world gather. If a businessman does not come to Samad Jian for a walk, it can be said that he has wasted his life! ”

"It's complicated, I don't understand!" Su Lianqing pouted and said, "I only know that doing business is to buy cheaply and sell expensively, make money and leave." How can you be like you, who have made it clear to the bottom of the eight generations of other people's ancestors, are you tired? ”

Wu Meiniang said with a smile: "If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your weapons, and the art of war knows that you know yourself and know that you will not be defeated in a hundred battles." Doing business is actually the same as fighting a war, you have to earn the other party's money, and the other party also wants to earn your money, how can you win without understanding the other party first? As early as the beginning of my business, I wanted to visit the famous Samad Jian. To this end, I spent several years studying Sogdian and Sogdian. Moreover, even if he did business in the interior of the Tang Dynasty, he had to deal with the Sogdians. The Sogdians were a wonderful, industrious, and quite intelligent people, and their merchants were all over the world, earning all the wealth of the world, and they were bound to be rich everywhere they went. Even in places like Chang'an and Luoyang, Sogdian merchants were famous for their lives. Under the command of Zheng Anshun, the first wealthy merchant of the Tang Dynasty, the Grand Duke of the Zheng family, there were six Sogdians who served as stewards. Everyone can stand in the way of the four directions, which is really amazingly capable. The Sogdians are simply the merchants of the sky! ”

"Ho! It's rare to hear you praise someone like that! Su Lianqing said with a sigh, "According to what you say, the Sogdians are indeed a little remarkable?" ”

As he was talking, a man walked out of the main hall of the merchant post, about forty years old, wearing a tight-fitting floor-length white robe with narrow sleeves, a high pointed curled brim hat, blue eyes and a tall nose, and was greeted with a smile on his face.

"Our man Kant is here, he is the shopkeeper of the small shop, and warmly welcomes the distinguished guests of the Tang Dynasty who come from afar!" He speaks Chinese quite fluently.

"It turned out to be Kangdong's family, and he was polite in Xia Wu Meiniang." Wu Meiniang returned the salute and said with a smile, "The Chinese dialect of the Kang Dong family is very fluent, and the Han name is also very authentic, presumably he has been to the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"I have been doing business in Chang'an and Luoyang for more than ten years, and that is my second hometown. We have recently returned to our homeland. Therefore, it is very cordial for us to see the distinguished guests from the Eastern Tang Dynasty! Kant came to be kind and kind, "Distinguished guests come from afar to work hard, it is better to enter the store to rest first." But if there is anything to be done, the Wu Dong family can only command. Whether it is to contact the government to apply for a quasi-commercial document or the goods need to be traded, the small shop can do it for you. As for the cost, please rest assured that any price given by the shop is definitely fair for the whole Samad! ”

"Hehe, the Kang Dong family is really good at business. Don't say anything else, you can guess what I want to do next! Wu Meiniang smiled, "In this way, the business matter will be discussed later." We are tired from traveling thousands of miles, so we will arrange a room for us to rest first. ”

"No problem, Wu Dongjia is here as a guest, please!"

Just as Kant had barely finished speaking, a group of soldiers suddenly rushed in from outside the courtyard. Everyone wore heavy armor, held dazzling swords, and wore cockscomb-like hats on their heads, roaring violently to drive people away.

At the scene, chickens and dogs suddenly shouted and shouted at the horses, Kant was shocked, and went up to stop him and shouted: "What's the matter? What are you going to do! ”

"Get out of here!" The leading military academy pushed him away and shouted, "My king has an order, all the Han merchants and Han people in the city of Samad must be arrested!" ”

When Wu Meiniang, Su Lianqing and the others heard this, their faces suddenly changed!

"Boss, what's going on?"

"I don't know!" Wu Meiniang took a deep breath, "Samad is a free-trade city, and it will never refuse merchants from any country to enter and leave, and now it suddenly wants to arrest Han merchants - is it related to war?" ”

As he was talking, the team of armor soldiers surrounded Wu Meiniang and the others.

"You are Han!" The leading military academy pointed a knife at Wu Meiniang and the others, and shouted.

Su Lianqing was about to attack, but Wu Meiniang pulled her and held her down, took a step forward, and said loudly in fluent Sogdian: "Exactly." We are officials and businessmen from Lanzhou, Qinxian businessmen! ”

Wu Meiniang deliberately said "Lanzhou" instead of "Chang'an", and said the words "Qin Xian Firm" a little heavily.

"Lanzhou, Qin Xian firm?" The military academy looked Wu Meiniang up and down a few times with a fierce but very vigilant look, and gradually there was a little more strange and hue in her eyes, and she even swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"On the orders of my king, all Han merchants and Han people in the city built by Samad will be arrested." The voice of the military academy was obviously much softer, and he also approached Wu Meiniang a little closer ambiguously, and a pair of eyes glanced at Wu Meiniang's towering chest, and lowered his voice, "I'm sorry, this beautiful beauty." Me too...... Do what you are told! ”

"Get out of here!" Suddenly, with a reprimand, the military academy fell to the sky and screamed loudly, which frightened the group of soldiers to shout loudly, and they all raised their swords and guns, and the swords were tense for a while!

Su Lianqing appeared in front of Wu Meiniang in a flash, like a ghost, her figure stretched out and stepped on the chest of the fallen military academy, and she didn't know when there was a short sword in her hand, which was tightly pressed against his throat, and shouted: "Tell your people to disperse, or I will cut your throat!" ”

Although the military academy couldn't understand what Su Lianqing said, the piercing chill of the short sword had already acted as a translator.

"Su Lianqing, you let him go. We are here to seek riches, not to fight. Wu Meiniang said calmly and calmly, and then changed to Sogdian, and said to those sergeants, "You hear clearly, I am Wu Zhao, the owner of the Lanzhou official merchant Qin Xian Firm. We are not ordinary Han merchants, and my intention here is not only to do business, but also to have other important purposes! ”

"For what purpose?" The military academy got up, took a few steps back, and asked angrily and cautiously.

"You don't deserve to know." Wu Meiniang squinted at the military academy proudly, "Next, I will only tell your three ministers and the king. If you know each other, go back and report it quickly! ”

"In Samad Jian, a merchant like you has eight hundred, if not a thousand!" The military academy was completely annoyed, and he was about to draw his knife with a hateful spit, and shouted in his mouth, "Let me inform you, why are you?!" - Brothers, get it! If you resist, don't hesitate! ”

"That's it! ——" Wu Meiniang suddenly shouted, "I can invite the hundreds of thousands of troops of Su Dingfang, the marshal of the Tang Dynasty's Western Expedition!" Is it enough? ”

"Uh!! - "The dozens of Sogdian soldiers who were about to rush up suddenly froze as if they had been immobilized.

The military academy's eyes widened, and Wu Meiniang looked up and down again, and said in a daze: "You...... Who are you? ”

"Idiot! You provoked a woman in the world who shouldn't be messed with! Su Lianqing came out in annoyance and stood in front of the military academy again, pointed at his nose and shouted, "It doesn't matter who she is, it's her man who matters!" ”

The military academy looked around in confusion, obviously not understanding Su Lianqing's words. Kang Delai, the shopkeeper of the merchant post, hurriedly stepped forward to translate for him, and asked Su Lianqing, who is the man in front of him?

"Listen up!" Su Lianqing crossed her hands on her hips, full of arrogance and villain, and said loudly, "Her man is the protector of the Tang Dynasty Anxi who has stepped on the Tubo and the world-Qin Mubai and Qin Shaoshuai!" ”

With a "hula", the group of military academies ran and scattered, shouting as they ran - "Quickly return to my king!" The envoys of the Tang Celestial Empire have arrived in Samajian! ”

"Woo! Qin Mubai is here! Su Dingfang is here! ”

"Did the Tang Dynasty kill Samaji?"

"O Lord! Did the disaster of Kangguo befall? Please forgive us! ”

……

Su Lianqing was stunned for a moment, and when she looked back, Wu Meiniang was also at a loss, and the two shook their heads together in confusion.

On the contrary, it was Kang Delai, the owner of the merchant post, who had already knelt on his knees and bowed to Wu Meiniang and others like a pilgrimage, and said in his mouth: "It turned out that the true god had arrived!" The true gods have arrived! ”

"What, what is the true God?" Su Lianqing asked in confusion.

"The legend of the true god that has been circulated in Gaochang Kingdom, Qin Shubao, the old commander of the Tang Dynasty, is the real god of war! It is also the patron saint of all merchants on the Silk Road! Kanderlai folded his hands and lowered his head, and said reverently, "I never thought that the Wudong family was actually the daughter-in-law of the true god!" - You can go to Samat to build every household to have a look, all the families pay tribute to the god of the true god, just like every family in the Central Plains during the New Year, the door will be pasted with the image of Qin Lao Linggong's door god! ”

Wu Meiniang and Su Lianqing looked at each other, stunned for a moment.

Kant came and said: "In addition, in the past two years, the great name of the true god, the young marshal of Helong Qin, has been powerful all over the world, especially after he pacified Tubo, the countries of the Western Regions have heard his name like thunder. Now, next to the true God, there is often the birth shrine of Young Marshal Qin - in other words, the status of the Qin family father in the hearts of the Sogdians is second only to Allah! ”