"Dear Sima, if you have a request, we will definitely handle it seriously. As for the price, rest assured, it will definitely satisfy you. ”

"Good, as long as you make this official satisfied. I will not treat you badly. ”

Hmph, you profiteers, I don't know how dark the price is. However, I suffered a little loss in the first two years at most, and then when I had enough seeds, I started cotton cultivation in the country. At that time, the cotton textile industry will become the new fist product of the Fuxing Society - that is the real super killer that can enter thousands of households.

"Then the official said the third point, books. The books of Kushan and Sasanian were not of great interest. The official needed books from Rome and Greece. For example, the writings of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Urbian, Pabinian, Paul, Gaius, Modistinus, etc. These books, as long as they are not included in this official here. A book can be exchanged for ten top-notch Shu brocades. ”

When Guan Yi said the names of the three philosophers of ancient Greece and the five great jurists of ancient Rome, Kurshan and others stood up and bowed down deeply.

"O all-powerful, all-knowing Great Han Sima, your wisdom may only be matched by the eternal flame of the Holy Flame. Of the eight sages you just mentioned, your humble servants have only heard of one or two. I didn't expect you to be so familiar with Rome in Han China. We will honor your will and do our best to collect all kinds of books for you. ”

"Good, next the official said the fourth, people! Although the official knew about the existence of the Roman Empire, he did not know Latin. So it's useless for you to just bring the book back to the official. Therefore, you have to buy literate slaves from Rome for your officials. If Rome is too far away, they will buy it from Sasani, and if they can't buy it, they will buy it from Kushan. In short, be sure to buy someone who knows Latin. If only you could invite scholars from Kushan, Sassanid, and Rome. As long as his knowledge is recognized by the official. So, how much does this scholar weigh, and this official will give you the same weight of gold! ”

As soon as these words came out, another layer of fanaticism was added to the adoring and fearful eyes of Kurshan and others.

The geographical environment of China is surrounded by deserts in the west and north, the sea in the east, rainforests in the south, and snow-capped mountains in the southwest plateau...... It's just too closed. The closed geographical environment and the surrounding group of culturally weak chicken groups led to the fact that while the Chinese civilization developed itself to a very high level, it also lacked the exchange, promotion and mutual correspondence of the same civilization. If this situation does not change, it may not be a big problem in this day and age. But the further you go, the more obvious the characteristics of the so-called sauce jar culture become.

In Guan Yi's plan, after production in Guanzhong is restored, the entire domestic situation is completely stabilized. He had to organize people to revise the "Ji Han Law" on the basis of the "Shu Branch" formulated by Zhuge Liang. If you can get the essence of Greece and Rome in this process, it should be of great benefit to the future of this country and this nation.

It is the responsibility of a traverser to seek both a moment and a lifetime!

"Then the official said the fifth article, well, this article does not ask you to buy things from the west to sell them to the official. but that you should bring the books of my great man to the west. First into your language, then into the Kushan, Sassanian, and Roman languages by local scholars. In this matter, this official will not be able to know whether you are doing things with your heart or not in the short term, but it is up to your conscience! ”

"Please rest assured that your servant will faithfully carry out your orders. I, Kurshan, will take out one-tenth of the profits from the Han Dynasty and set up a translation library in the country of Qiuzi. He specializes in translating books from the East and the West. Be sure to help Da Sima and spread the glory of Dahan to Europa! ”

"Excellent! Ladies and gentlemen, my Han is going to return to the Western Regions after all. When the time comes, whether you do this well or not, the official will naturally know. Well, the last one, this is not a new regulation, but a regulation of the former Han more than two hundred years ago. But this official would like to reiterate here: it is not allowed to carry silkworms out of the customs! It is forbidden to abduct and help brocade and porcelain craftsmen get out of the customs! If you violate, kill all your caravans on the spot! If it is done at that time, and it is known to my Han afterwards, no matter how you flee to the ends of the earth, my Han's pursuit will follow you! Ladies and gentlemen, in the past, the Marquis of Pohu once said that those who commit crimes against strong men will be punished even if they are far away. But please keep in mind that you don't say anything unexpectedly! ”

"How dare we offend the great Han Tianwei, we will definitely follow the instructions of the great Sima. This article will not be violated. ”

Hmph, that's not likely. Silk, but silkworm weaving, ceramics, is clay burning. The cost is so low, and the profit is so great. To say that any businessman does not want to take control of the production technology of these two things in his own hands must be lying!

These seven merchants, now it seems, of course, are the middle and lower classes of merchants. But in the foreseeable future, with the blessing of a variety of unique commodities of the Great Han, as long as these guys don't die on the road, they will become super businessmen sooner or later. In this era, after the wealth of businessmen swells to a certain extent, it will naturally attract the attention of the powerful - either sell themselves and join forces, and the government and businessmen collude. Either they are framed by the powerful and break their homes, nothing else.

What if these guys later made a fortune and became associated with the local princes and nobles? What about the local princes and nobles who are greedy for profit and take risks? So, this kind of thing has to be guarded against.

As the so-called ugly words are said first, these guys in the province will accuse themselves of not talking in the future.

After saying the above paragraph murderously, Guan Yi's face changed suddenly, and he raised his glass again: "Everyone, as long as you can bring the things that my Han needs to this official, the supply of goods from my Fuxing Society will definitely give priority to you." Sooner or later, everyone will become a big businessman in Central and Western Asia. Come, seven future business tyrants, drink and win! ”

"Thank you, Da Sima, drink to win!"

"Next, who will tell this official what the current situation is in the Western Regions? What was the situation of the Western Regions Changshi Mansion in the Wei and Jin dynasties in the past? ”

"Venerable Great Sima." This time it was finally not Kurshan who stood up without discipline. "Let your humble servant, Aziz, explain this question to you."

"Hehehe, please speak."

"There are now fifty-five countries in the Western Regions, and each country is of different sizes, strong and weak. Among them, the strongest four countries, Shanshan, Khotan, Shule, and Qiuzi. The people of these four kingdoms are about 560,000 to 780,000 people. Able to mobilize between three thousand and five thousand troops. ”

The Western Regions referred to by the Han Dynasty were probably the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (mainly in southern Xinjiang) in modern society. In the era that Guan Yi is living in now, due to the low utilization rate of water sources, the population is really very limited.

Dunhuang county town to the west is not far away, is Yangguan and Yumen Pass two checkpoints. Among them, Yangguan is in the south and Yumen is in the north. Out of Yangguan, go to the southwest not far, is Shanshan, after Shanshan and then go to the southwest, to the bottom of the south of the Tarim Basin, is Khotan. After Khotan, along the edge of the Tarim Basin to the northwest, is Shule. After Shule, continue to walk northeast along the foot of the Tianshan Mountain, which is Qiuzi. After passing Qiuzi and going southeast, then return to the Yumen Pass controlled by the Great Han.

In short, in the Western Regions, where there is hardly any rainfall throughout the year, only the oasis is permanently inhabited. And the reason why the oasis can exist is because of the moisture of the snow water of the snow-capped mountains.

The entire Tarim Basin is surrounded by the Kunlun Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Tianshan Mountains. The interior of the Tarim Basin is arid, but where the basin meets the mountain ranges, there are large and small oases due to the moisture of snow water. The oases on the edge of these basins are the foundation of the states of the Western Regions.

Of course, the trend of snow water and groundwater in the snow-capped mountains is generally stable. But there are also occasional variations. Once the water source changes, the former oasis is likely to become a desert, and the countries that have been established on this oasis often have to move or die.

Where there is destruction, there will naturally be new life. Changes in water sources can also cause deserts to become oases. Therefore, the stars are changing, and the vicissitudes of life are changing. On the land of the Western Regions, along the periphery of the Tarim Basin, there are more than 30 or more than 50 countries.

The amount of water often determines how many people this so-called country can support. Regardless of the amount of water, water resources here are extremely limited. As a result, even the most powerful country here will hardly have more than 100,000 citizens.

Now, although the entire Western Regions is known as the Fifty-Five Kingdoms, this so-called country actually conforms to the classical meaning of the Chinese character "country": a city is a country.

Among the 55 countries of this size, the strongest are the four countries, Shanshan, Khotan, Shule, and Qiuzi. It's like the four major hegemons of the southeast, the northwest, and the northwest, each occupying a corner of the Tarim Basin and reigning as the king. But this kind of overlord is actually the same as the overlord in the classical sense of the Spring and Autumn Period: small countries only need to show submission and tribute to the overlord, and follow the alliance leader when there is war. Other than that, it's still possible to live on your own behind closed doors.

Therefore, according to the cost-effectiveness ratio, in this era, directly occupying and ruling the Western Regions is really a deal that outweighs the losses.