Iron is not much more powerful than bronze, but weapons made from cyres iron perform significantly better than bronze. Unfortunately, the production of Seris Iron is so low and extremely expensive that even the Royal Guard cannot equip all of them with Ceris Iron weapons. The appearance of countless chuni irons, which cost only one-twelfth of the Seris iron, made up for this shortcoming, and the soldiers of the Bactrian kingdom were soon able to use the chuni iron, and then ......

Eutidemus thought there was a bit of a struggle here. Soon after the independence of the Kingdom of Bactria, Parthia on the southeastern side of the Caspian Sea followed suit. Rebel to be exact, the king of Parthia was a Pani, a chieftain of a steppe barbarian tribe who spoke the lowly Persian language. Only twelve years ago, when the Seleucid army reached the border of Bactria, King Diodortos II, knowing that he could not win, had to ally with the Parthians to fend off the Seleucid army.

And then the situation was the result of today's situation: Parthia, which had been weak in the past, grew stronger and more disobedient to the already powerful Bactria. Knowing Greeks were worried that if the situation was allowed to continue, in ten years the Parthians would break the Covenant and attack Bactria. Only the king, who was keen on pleasure and fornication, did not see it that way, believing that barbarians would always be barbarians and could not pose a threat to the kingdom.

The young governor was worried, and the Sogdian merchants in the fire sanctum sanctum in Marakanda rejoiced, chanting the name of Ahura Mazda and bowing down to the fire. Chuni iron is hugely profitable, and the most rare thing is that the supply is abundant. Although he only paid for half the price of Taliente, the cost was not too high.

The Chuni needed horses, horse breeds, and that dye called sulfur. Horses were not expensive in Maracanda, and even the good horses that the Chuni wanted could not be sold for two hundred drachs. And a good horse can be exchanged for ten catties for one catty, and it can almost be exchanged for two talents of trichuni iron, which is thirty or forty times the profit.

However, exchanging only good horses for Chuniiron did not correspond to the practice of Sogdian merchants. Sulfur is also not expensive, but it is dye, and it is not cost-effective to trade it on a large scale, and the best course of action is to sell it to the Chuni for more valuable goods.

"Perhaps......" After a pious worship, the Gregor who had retreated to the side chamber finally regained his true character as a merchant. It can be sold to the Chuni Haoma, and for hundreds of years, no king in the East can refuse the temptation of Haoma. In order to get Haoma, he will give everything he has, even the throne. Previous......"

The Priest Kang Motien's suggestion displeased the priest: "Aliens who do not believe in Ahura Mazda are not entitled to Haoma. ”

"What if the king of Chuni converted to Ahura Mazda?" He had thought of this for a long time, and asked rhetorically.

"That doesn't guarantee his piety either." Just as the Greeks discriminated against the Persians, so Commodian had a clear prejudice against the Orientals.

"In the name of Ahura Mazda, I think he must be extremely religious." "I implore the Holy Church to send an emissary to receive the conversion of Chuni. ”

"It is the mission of every Sogdiana to let Ahura Mazda protect the whole East." Except for the Gyoga, the rest of the merchants suggested to Kang Motian one after another. After several requests, and after promising a hundred Talients in the future, Kang Motian finally called out two priests, one young and the other old.

"You will escort Haoma to Chuni, and if the king of Chuni does not take refuge in the light, then he is not entitled to Haoma." Kang Motian's tone was extremely cold, he was worried that under the bewitchment of the merchants, the Chuni people would enjoy Haoma without conversion.

"We remember the hadith." The young priest was confused, and the old priest had been to the East, and he knew perfectly well what kind of sensation his trip would cause.

"A good horse should also be prepared." A businessman said. "As a gift to the king of Chuni."

"Since he doesn't like precious stones and jade, let him camel some brimstone. We can't leave the horses empty. Another merchant said.

"It's better to bring some horses, that's what the Chuni want." There are always some steady people, horses for iron, this is the most real.

"It can't be a stallion, if you want this business to last long." Someone reminded. "The Chuni should be allowed to buy our horses all the time. Of course, it's better to be Haoma, what kind of price should we pay so that the king of Chuni can enjoy it......"

The discussion of business was always endless, and it was the practice of the Sogdians to obtain the maximum profit at the least cost, and it was also the helplessness of long-distance traffic by land. Originally, mutton fat white jade was the best commodity in the East, and the kings of all countries were honored to wear white jade, and jade even became a culture, and a person's morality was closely related to jade; Although agate and lapis lazuli have not reached such a status, a piece of high-quality agate can also be exchanged for ten white silk.

However, the king of Chuni did not want jade, he called jade a stone, thinking that the stone could only be exchanged for a stone, not for the iron of the Chu State. Ignorance to this point is outrageous. Didn't he know that their king of kings had been longing for the jade of the river? Didn't he know that since ancient times, the East had only looked up to the West, kneeling down and praying for the West's blessings?

Ahura Mazda! He whispered in his heart. This was the fifth day of the discussions, and most of the discussions on the details of the trade in the Chuni Iron had ended, and the Sogdians in the eastern countries were fully committed to assisting in the conclusion of the trade.

"Hu Tan Saozhi," called out to his servant, Hu Tan Sao. "You'll leave tomorrow. The Holy Envoy Ben Bo Riding Zhi and Ganu Ban will go with you to the kingdom of Chuni. ”

The matter of letting the king of Chu enjoy Haoma Hu Tansuozhi had heard about it a few days ago, and he had an inexplicable worry, "My master, the Chuni people claim that their king was born to know everything, and he does ......"

"Huh." He smiled, and the disdain in his smile was like that of Eutidemus that day. "A king of the barbarians of the East is worthy to say that he knows everything, but Ahura Mazda is omniscient. You remember, although the Mahatulars conquered us and humiliated us constantly, our slaves were also ten times more noble than the barbarian Easterners. ”

"Yes. My master. Hu Tanshaozhi understood what he meant, and this was also in line with his perception of the Orientals, and he was just a little surprised by the king of Chu.

"Remember." He lowered his voice, "Even if King Chuni does not convert to the God of Light, give him a feast on Haoma." ”

"But this is ......," Hu Tanshaozhi looked at Yu Pajia in surprise.

"I don't want to keep sending horses to the Chuni, so that the robbers of the steppe will rob the caravans." After speaking, he handed Hu Tansuo a heavy wooden box, and Hu Tansao took it carefully. "Set off tomorrow, and you will be able to reach Zhao Ni in the spring. The news came the day before yesterday that the king of Yanni had been killed by the Zhao Ni people. ”

"The king of Yanni was killed by the Zhao Ni people?" Hu Tansuozhi was surprised again, he was going to enter the Chu State from the Yan State.

"Yes. This is what happened last winter, and your friend has become the new king of Yanni. "The distance was too far, and the news was not from the Sogdian merchants, who were not so fast, it was news from the Huns.

"Enjoy." A woman with a light veil on her face walked in, and she stood up and patted Hu Tanshaozhi's back, and before going out, she told again: "Remember to bring back countless Chuni Tie." ”

*

"Shopkeeper, dare to ask if there is a bed?" The snow was flying all over Shanwu City in Yanmen County, and Lu Gao shivered as soon as he entered the hostel, and it was too cold outside. Lu Chan, who came in with him, not only shivered, but also sneezed, "The big priest is ordered to shelter...... Oops......"

Lu Gao heard him say Chu Yu and hurriedly stabbed him, but Lu Xuan's words were still heard by the shopkeeper. The room was dim, the shopkeeper raised the lamp on the table and looked at Lu Gao and Lu Chan carefully, and said tentatively: "Your guest is from Chu?" ”

"Shopkeeper, I just went to Chu and learned two sentences of Chu language." Lu Gao explained with a smile, and asked: "Dare to ask if there is a bed, there are ten of us, I want to ......"

"Your guest is rude." The shopkeeper put down the lights. "There are no beds in our house."

"How's that okay?" Thinking of the resourceful Lu Gao, he also sighed. It took a lot of time to travel all the way from Chu State, and it is estimated that spring has begun in the south, but the northern border of Zhao State is still cold, he and Lu Qian are fine, and several entourages are just common people in Lu, and they can't stand this cold.

"If you are from Chu, you can go to the county guard's mansion. General Li is the most hospitable, and he is the kindest to the people of Chu. The shopkeeper laughed. There are a lot of business trips from the south to the north, and Lu Gao is speaking in elegant words, but the southern barbarian tongue, some tones can never be pronounced by southerners.

"This ......," Lu Gao was stunned when he heard this. It was clear who governed Yanmen County of Zhao State, and when he sent him, he had already informed him in detail of the situation along the way. After leaving Yanmen County, it will be black. It was the world of the Huns, and Jing Hua, the main envoy of the Yingdu rebellion, was hiding in the Xiongnu five years ago.

"We are not afraid of the wind and cold, and they will die if they freeze all night." Lu Chan spoke again, full of words.

"Your guest is really from Chu!" Now the shopkeeper understood, and he smiled all over his face, "Please sit down, please sit down." The contemptible people went to inform General Li that there were distinguished guests from the Chu State here, and General Li would be overjoyed. ”

"If you don't open your mouth, will you die?" After the shopkeeper left, Lu Gao glared at Lu Chan hatefully, he was not suitable for spying on intelligence at all.

"The Zhao State is the alliance of my Chu State, and it is still thousands of miles away from Xianyang, will the Zhao people give us the first to the Qin people?" Lu Chan sat on the mat with his buttocks, picked up the pulp poured out by the shopkeeper and wanted to drink it, but the strange smell of the pulp made him squirt out with a puff.

"What kind of pulp is this?" He asked, holding the bowl.

"Noble people, the milk wine of this Rong people." The waiting shopkeeper hurriedly said. "If the nobles don't like it, let the villain ......"

"Not necessarily." Lu Chan just felt that the taste in the entrance was very strange, he took the bowl and drank it all, stretched out the bowl and said, "Come again." ”