Li Yong then recounted many customs and interesting stories about the hinterland of the Great Food, and everyone was amazed and admired the miracle of creation.

After half a cup of tea, he ordered someone to take out a map, Zhao Xingde saw that it was much rougher than that of the marching division, but the main mountains and rivers were clearly outlined, obviously because the person who drew the map had experienced it personally and was very impressed.

"This caravan departed from Lumei, first transported salt, silk and tea to the Green Clothes and Great Food by sea boats, changed river boats at the mouth of the Nile, crossed the hot sand sea along the Nile River to the south, passed through Kamal and other famous food cities, and exchanged for gold, rhino horn, ivory, precious stones and spices along the way, and after arriving at Aksum, some of the goods returned to Lumei along the Nile, and the other part of the goods changed to pack horses and headed east to Tajoura Bay, where they changed ships and sailed all the way to the Song Kingdom." Li Yong's fingers slowly slid on the map, and the eyes of Zhao Xingde and the others followed his fingertips, crossing a big arc on the map, and they all gasped.

"Why go to the Song Kingdom, instead of directly transporting all the goods back to Lumei?" Manjur said with a frown.

"These goods were sold more expensive in the Song Kingdom." Li Yong said with a smile. At this time, the servant brought the fresh goat's milk in a silver cup and a silver bowl, Li Yong took a sip, and said with a smile: "The sheep and the slaves of the sheep keeper were all given to me by Muktar, the court minister of Baghdad. However, the taste is not much different than usual. "The main enemies of Lu Mei are the Sultanate of Rûm and the Green Eater, not the Black Eater. The black-clothed Baiyi dynasty, which occupied Baghdad, was weakened, but controlled the orthodox caliphate of the Great Eater. The Baiyi royal family also has some in-law relationship with Li Yong, and the noble Manshur knows it. The Xia State also prevented the Sultanate of Rûm from becoming the overlord of the Great Eclipse with an orthodox status through the Baiyi Dynasty.

Zhao Xingde took a sip of the silver cup, there was no smell of mutton, but there was a delicious milky fragrance. At this time, the servant brought the lamb and chicken roasted with palm oil, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, etc., and the aroma was overflowing. Zhao Xingde saw that this Li Yong not only had an excellent relationship with the princes of the Great Eater, but also his own living habits were very much like the Great Cannibal.

"Could it be that the people of the Song Kingdom are richer than the people of the Xia Kingdom?" Manjur asked curiously. Compared to the ubiquitous Xia Kingdom, the Song Kingdom was much more distant to Lu Mei. Even the merchants of the Song State called themselves Xia people in Lumei, and never mentioned this dynasty, at most at the gatherings of Xia people, they claimed to be "Kwantung people", so the Lumei nobles also knew very little about the actual situation of the Song Kingdom.

"There are a lot of rich people in Song Kingdom." Li Yong did not answer his question directly, but said with a smile: "Grain, cloth, these things are more expensive in the Xia Kingdom than in the Song Kingdom. And ivory, rhino horn, gemstones, and spices are more expensive in the Song Kingdom than in the Xia Kingdom. He took a sip of tea and asked Zhao Xingde again: "Brother Zhao is from Kanto, but you know a good friend, can you help sell these treasures?" ”

Zhao Xingde thought for a moment, nodded and said, "I know one." Although Chen Dong was removed from the genealogy by his father, he should know some maritime merchants in the southeast, and there are tens of thousands of gentry in the Science Society, so there should be many interested in these treasures.

"Oh?" Li Yong's eyes lit up, "If you can sell these treasures quickly, the price will be negotiable." He smiled and said, "The way of doing business is to make the money run like flowing water. As long as the treasures are sold in the Song Kingdom, they can be exchanged for Jiaozi in Lumei through the pigeon post of Fuhaixing, purchase the next batch of goods, and arrange a second caravan to set off. ”

Zhao Xingde briefly introduced Chen Dong's general situation to Li Yong, and only said that he was a friend he met during his study tour in Kanto. Li Yong traveled in Dashi for many years, and he didn't care too much about the affairs of the Song Kingdom, and he didn't delve into it. I only asked in detail whether this person was reliable and whether he really had the strength to market treasures. In the end, Li Yong smiled and said: "Like gathers like things, Chen Shaoyang is not only a friend of Brother Zhao, but also a leader in Shilin, and he must also be a gentleman who values righteousness and trustworthiness." He had great hopes for Chen Dong as a partner in the Song Kingdom in this treasure business. Since Chen Shaoyang is famous in the Central Plains, he can easily confirm that what Zhao De said is the true situation through Fuhaixing.

Zhao Xingde nodded, and said in a deep voice: "This matter is not trivial, it needs to be discussed with Chen Shaoyang in advance, and the correspondence is quite delayed, I am afraid that it will be a mistake." ”

"It's easy to do." Li Yong said with a smile, "Brother Zhao only repaired one book, and I handed it over to the pigeon post of Fuhaixing, and passed it on day and night with the fastest flying pigeon." This letter, which is equivalent to 10,000 dollars, as long as it is completed, is nothing of the cost of the pigeon station. "He can become a guest of honor of the princes of Dashi, in addition to seeing people, it is also related to his generous nature and not caring about small profits.

Due to the vast territory, the court and business travelers of the Xia Kingdom are very dependent on the pigeon post to transmit the news, after hundreds of years of selection and elimination, the speed and durability of the carrier pigeon have been greatly improved, when the weather is not very bad, the excellent post pigeon can fly four hundred miles per hour. The official eunuchs and nobles of the Xia Kingdom and the rich businessmen were popular among the pigeons, and between Chang'an and Dunhuang, there were pigeon races in all seasons. There was once a treasure pigeon with the nickname of the champion Hou, who participated in a long-distance flight for Qin Guogong, and actually reached an average speed of flying 600 miles in an hour. Since then, it has been rumored that the father of the champion Hou was exchanged by Xin Yin, the Duke of Qin, for thirty good horses from the North to Zhang Xi, the Duke of Chu, who later regretted it. It is not easy to breed carrier pigeons, and there will be some wear and tear when using, so it is expensive to use a pigeon post to deliver a message, and sometimes the cost of a message is worth the price of buying a few good horses. But news worth tens of thousands of dollars can often avoid more significant losses.

Zhao Xingde nodded in agreement, and Li Yong said again: "The letter is dead, does Brother Zhao have a reliable old age in Kanto, and does Chen Shaoyang also know him?" ”

Zhao Xingde thought for a while, nodded and said, "There is a clan brother named Zhao Bo, and Chen Shaoyang also knows him." Li Yong nodded and smiled: "If someone has a letter, things will be easier to handle." When he talks about expanding trade routes, there is always an endless optimism and enthusiasm that unconsciously infects others. Zhao Xingde said secretly, no wonder this person has a wide range of contacts, and the arrogant Manshuer was also moved, and took out tens of thousands of dollars to support him.

The maid boiled the tea leaves on the red clay stove, and a faint wisp of tea fragrance spread in the flower hall, which was refreshing. When Zhao Xingde and Li Yong were talking, Liu Yuan listened with great interest, and when he heard that Zhao De said that he actually knew Chen Shaoyang, who was famous in Kanto, he couldn't help but show a slight look of surprise, and then looked at Zhao Xingde's eyes, which had a little more meaning. Liu Zhiyuan doesn't like to talk much, and when Li Yong was asked to explain the geography of the mountains and rivers along the way, everyone found that his deep and clear voice was quite pleasant. Liu Zhiyuan explained in great detail, and there was a rough estimate of the distance and time required to get from one city to another. The two nobles of Lumei remained silent, sipping tea gently and with a noble and elegant demeanor.

After talking about the matter, Li Yong slapped his palms twice, the pianist played the music, and a team of big food dancers came up to dance. Between the staggering, Natalia got up and left her seat, and when she walked to the door, Zhao Xingde saw that she seemed to beckon to herself gently, and before she could come back to her senses, she floated away. At this time, Li Yong was talking to Manjur about the interesting facts and secrets in the court of the Great Eater, and his words were interesting, mixed with a witticism or two from time to time to ridicule the Great Cannibal, which made the noble Manjur happy. Zhao Xingde maliciously guessed whether Li Yong was talking about the nobles of Lumei in the same tone among the princes of the Great Food. He pretended to get up and change his clothes, and confessed to the side, only to see a crescent moon hanging in the sky, on the flowing bridge, Natalia seemed to be looking at the swimming fish under the water, and Zhao Xingde walked over.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Natalia turned around, the night breeze was cool, ruffling the ends of her hair, and her face was more beautiful than the moonlight. She looked at Zhao Xingde, but there seemed to be some disgust in her eyes, and asked, "Did you approach me on purpose?" She had inadvertently met this person a few times in the library of Constantine and Dante, and originally thought it was an accident, but now she actually met him again in Li Yong's mansion, so she didn't believe that there was such a coincidence in the world, and thought that Zhao De intended to get close to her, and even the few meetings in the library in the past were deliberately arranged. Natalia had encountered such a disciple in the past, not only pretending, but also stalking, which made her extremely angry.

Zhao Xingde was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that he had been misunderstood, and said with a wry smile: "There is no such thing." ”

Natalia snorted angrily, looked at Zhao Xingde with suspicion, and said with a straight face: "It's best if you tell the truth, I already have a sweetheart." She glanced at the brightly lit mansion, suggesting that it was her cousin, the noble Manjur Komnenos, and that Zhao De could not match the future emperor of Lu Mei in any case.

Zhao Xingde didn't feel it, and said with a smile: "It's true, I'm also a family person." He didn't want to dwell on it any longer, so he arched his hand, and turned to give alms.

Natalia Brinnius bit her lip and looked at his back with indignation, feeling as if she had been taken advantage of, "What a nasty person." ”

Zhao Xingde returned to the flower hall, and Manshur was getting up to say goodbye, saying that he was going to send Natalia back first. Li Yong smiled and said, "The noble ones are no longer patient with my boredom here. He leaned close to Manshur and quipped, "Whether from her noble birth or her beautiful face, she is a well-deserved queen." Manjur smiled slightly, if he married Natalia, the heir would be the Emperor Lumei, who had the purest Komnenos blood. He felt more and more that this Li Yong was an interesting person, and arched his hand to him according to the etiquette of Xia Guo, and politely said goodbye to Zhao Xingde and Liu Zhiyuan, and then left with Natalia.

Zhao Xingde watched many servants leave with a sedan chair, and wondered: "Isn't Princess Anna fighting for the throne with her brother, why are these two walking together again?" ”

Li Yong said with a smile: "Mother wants to marry a Ross barbarian, and when her daughter can't beat her, she gets angry and has a relationship with the son of a political enemy." He and Zhao Xingde returned to the flower hall, took out the map again, carefully considered the trade routes, and after a long time, felt that sailing from Tajura to the Song Kingdom was too far away, Li Yong couldn't help but sigh: "It would be good to have a few ports of my Xia Kingdom on the way, so that the treasure ship can shelter from the storm and replenish the water." His eyes flashed with some regret, and then he smiled again: "Brother Zhao is knowledgeable, have you ever heard of whales in the sea?" It is said that the fish oil used to light lamps in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang is actually made from whale sebum. "He always seemed to be curious about the things in this world.