Thousands of miles away from the Hanshui River Valley, in the far west, in the 20th century, it belonged to Russia and Eastern European countries, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, it belonged to the Mongol Kipchak Khanate.

If you want to be more specific, in the past ten years of the reign of Emperor Junyu, at least this is the case.

The capital of the Kipchak Khanate, called Batu Sarai, is known by its name, and it is a city owned by Batu, the eldest son of Genghis Khan's first son Jochi. Its ruins are near present-day Volgograd.

The city has a distinctly Turkic style, with high minarets and wind towers rising high above the city, colorful mosques in every corner of the city, round walled towers that are very different from other square cities, and crowds kneeling on the ground to pray to the Prophet abound every morning and evening.

In the midst of muffled chanting, Batu, the ruler of the Kipchak Khanate and a descendant of Genghis Khan, sat on the throne of the palace, looking condescendingly at the group of people who had bent in from outside.

His throne was ornate and noble, decorated with beautiful animal skins, and as the king of the Kipchak Khanate, Batu wore a fur hat beloved by the Mongols, a soft robe woven of oriental silk, a huge jade wrench on his fingers, and a face crisscrossed by trenches with the usual indifference.

The people who came in were led by the official in charge of the finances of the khanate, and the position of this official was called Daru Huachi, which was in Mongolian, and the name of the official was called Vulture.

The group that followed the vultures, there were four of them, all dressed in gray robes common to the Kipchak Khanate, and wore turbans that shielded them from the wind and sand, and the turbans were wide enough to cover their faces.

"King Khan." The vultures approached the throne respectfully, humbly bent down to say hello, and after receiving Batu's response, he raised his body, stretched out his hand and pointed back: "These people are merchants from the east, and they have brought rare tea bricks and fine salt to the king of Khan. ”

He waved his hand again, and the guard next to him walked over, took a crockpot from the hands of the men wearing turbans, and handed it to the table in front of Batu.

A fragrance wafted out of the clay pot, smelled into the nasal cavity, making people suddenly feel a trace of sweetness in this dry climate, the unique mellow aroma of Dali black tea, immediately made Batu, who was accustomed to a hard life in Sarai, recall the glorious days of drinking tea with Genghis Khan and his brothers after galloping on the grassland.

What a happy time.

Batu's eyes lit up, he leaned forward, sniffed carefully with his nose first, and then solemnly picked up the teapot and sniffed deeply.

This action was held for a while before he slowly put it down.

"Sarai rarely sees merchants from the East, and I welcome you." There was a rare hint of a smile on Batu's indifferent face, this smile even brightened the dome of the palace a lot, and those who knew him well knew that Batu had not smiled for a long time since he learned that his cousin Guiyou Khan had sent troops from the Mongolian steppe to conquer him.

Apparently he was in little mood today, so Batu said a few more words: "Sarai is a shopping mall, and we welcome all the merchants of the world, as long as you can bring commercial taxes and endless goods to the Kipchak Khanate, the gates here will be open for you at any time." ”

The vultures hurriedly reminded those people: "Don't thank you yet!" ”

The men knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.

"No need, listening to your accent, it doesn't look like the Azo and Kipchaks, where are you from?" Batu put his nose closer to the teapot again, and couldn't help but ask.

"Back to the Great Khan, I waited for the merchants from Dali, traveled all over the world, heard the news of the Great Khan opening up trade routes far away, and felt that it was worth it to come to the Kipchak Khanate to try their luck, so I took tea bricks and other commodities to travel over a long distance, and today I can see the Khan King, which is really a blessing from the previous life." The gray-robed merchant in the lead bowed and complimented.

"Hahaha, it turned out to be Han people, you Han people like to say these nice things." Batu said, but he was laughing, obviously these sycophants hit his heart: "How much tea did you bring?" ”

"We have a total of 300 camels, and 200 of them are tea leaves." The merchant said: "This jar is a sample." ”

"I want all these teas!" Batu said happily, waving the calloused hand in the air with a knife: "As for the price, you can charge the vulture according to the market price." ”

The merchant raised his head, and Jin Rucheng's dusty face was revealed under his turban, his appearance looked much darker and thinner than two years ago, and the only thing that remained unchanged was his shining eyes.

Jin Rucheng looked like a businessman, but he didn't say like a businessman: "The king of Khan said that there is no need for money, these teas are brought to the king of Khan." ”

"In addition." Jin Rucheng reached out from his arms, took out a box, held it in both hands and handed it over: "There is also a gift here for King Khan." ”

Badu was stunned for a moment, obviously a little surprised, he didn't expect that these merchants from the east had prepared gifts for themselves.

The vulture put the box on the table again, and just in case, he opened the lid for Batu with his eyes.

As soon as the lid was opened, a brilliant light illuminated the entire hall, and even the sunlight that came in through the skylight of the dome could not dim the light in the slightest.

Night pearls as big as eggs, thick gold necklaces, finely carved precious jewelry, crystal clear jade vessels, small boxes like a pocket treasure trove, many rare precious items almost blinded the bald eyes in an instant.

Kim Rucheng rolled his eyelids up and watched Batu's reaction.

This Great Khan, who had conquered half of Europe, had an aura that was obviously countless times stronger than that of the vulture, and he only glanced at the contents of the box slightly, and then his face returned to an indifferent appearance, and even his smile was retracted.

"What do you want?" Batu's tone was a little cold, and he frowned and looked at Jin Rucheng: "I like businessmen, but I don't like to be used by businessmen." ”

Jin Rucheng weakened his knees, knelt down familiarly, put his forehead against the marble on the floor and said in a deep voice: "King Khan misunderstood, these jewels were not given by villains, but brought from Mobei by thousands of miles, and they were brought by Brother Temu on behalf of me. ”

"Brother Temu?" Batu was a little surprised again, he hadn't heard the name of Temu Gehan Chijin for a long time: "Isn't his fief in Mobei?" How could he let you bring me a gift? ”

"Before the villain came, he also went to Mobei." Jin Rucheng once again reached into his arms, and took out a letter in his arms, he looked at Batu with a smile, and he couldn't find a trace of the demeanor of the leader on the private salt road back then, and his eyebrows and eyes were all humble smiles: "Lord Temu Ge also asked me to bring a letter to King Khan." ”

Batu looked at his hand in amazement, completely imagining how Brother Temu, who was Genghis Khan's favorite brother, could let this Han merchant bring a letter.

The envelope is made of fine Sai Wenkui, the paper is tough but not hard, white as winter snow, and there is no flaw.

(End of chapter)