The Sogdians were clever merchants on the Silk Road, including artists, musicians, dancers, weavers, grooms and slaves, as long as they could make money. Wine, clay, jataman, asana, sese, sui, sui, brocade and other luxury goods were transported from the Great Qin to Chang'an, and the silk of the Central Plains was carried to Constantinople by camels in exchange for countless gold and silver coins.

The walls of Samalgan are tall, alternating arcs and squares, without compromising the aesthetics, the ditches are the same, the streets are elaborately constructed, many of the luxurious buildings are surrounded by agate bricks, the floors are paved with precious stones, the interiors are inlaid with gilded frescoes, and the doors, windows and railings along the main streets are intricately carved and in Arabic calligraphy. Yang Chong understands that this kind of beauty represents a word, rich.

There are people of all colors in the city, and under the guidance of Shan Fu, Yang Chong found that the Sogdians are the best to recognize, all white, but not necessarily all white, but more with a variety of colors, narrow sleeves and tight clothing, generally wearing a pointed hat, the belt is particularly exquisite, and decorated with all kinds of jewelry; The woman has a bun and a black scarf. After the mission settled in the post house, Yang Chong asked Duhu Yanshou to look for clues to the sweaty horses, and he and Shi Daqian, Shan Fu, and Zhou Qian began to wander around the city as described in the novel, eating, drinking, and having fun to collect information.

After walking around the city for two days and getting acquainted with the city, Yang Chong discovered that the lurker named Guiniao was a very clever fellow, and the address he left behind was Victory Street, a street full of Sogdian warriors. There are a total of 65 houses on both sides of Shengli Street, where 26 marksmen live, without the guidance of locals, each of whom has an iron arrow sign hanging in front of his door, and the eleven buildings where migratory birds hide are the residence of the victor Kang Shiyuan three years ago.

Every year from the first of June, the city of Samarkand holds a horse shooting competition, in which all the Sogdians of Samarkand participate, and the final victor will dominate the city for one day, and will do whatever he wants, and the most beautiful girl in possession of the city will not be rejected, and the enemy who kills him will not be met with any resistance. If he felt that he had enough time, he could also ride a tall horse and circle the city three times to show the world his glory. Although he was reverted to his identity the next day, most of the surviving victors would have stayed on this street.

"Things gather by like, and people are divided by groups." Yang Chong muttered to himself, this is no different from later generations, residences, communities, streets, and locations have all become a means of identity glory. Yang Chong used the simplest method, rented eleven twenty houses diagonally opposite, and recruited two local male servants in the market; After two days of observation, no abnormalities were found on Victory Street and the eleven residences, so Yang Chong decided to start visiting and socializing with the neighbors.

The families of the twenty-six sharpshooters all received an invitation to the gathering of Yang Chong, a merchant of the Great Sui, but everyone's time was different, regardless of whether the sharpshooter in the family was alive or not, only six families accepted the invitation, namely Bi Wan, Fu Luzhao, Kang Shiyuan, Cao Pair, Abu, He Huxie, Abu and Bi Wan were Kang Shiyuan's left and right neighbors. Yang Chong felt a little interesting, and ordered Shi Daqian and Shan Fu to wear armor to the party.

Sure enough, in front of the sumptuous banquet, the six guests were all stunned, holding their female companions in a daze. Abu was tall, his skin was tanned by the sun, his hair was necked, and he was wearing a white robe with green flowers, and he stood up majestic, and was the first to ask: "I know that Lord Yang is an official of the Great Sui, do you need to do this kind of pomp?" ”

After Shan Fu translated, Yang Chong invited everyone to take a seat, and said with a smile: "Mr. Abu is serious, my Da Sui is a military system, and both of them are officers of the Wei Mansion, and they are used to wearing clothes. ”

Cao said with a smile when he heard this: "Then there is no need to be so solemn, this is in Samaelgan." ”

Yang Chong explained with a smile: "You don't know, this official came this time, and there is another task, which is to invite two archery masters to Chang'an to teach in Kangguo. The two of them were asked to put on their armor so that they could explain the problems of the army to those who were interested, and to show that they were qualified to ask questions in certain areas. ”

Going to Chang'an, if it is true, is definitely an opportunity to make a lot of money, and you can do business while doing errands. Bi Wan asked: "The Great Sui Heroes are powerful all over the world, and the masters in the army are like clouds, why do you need to recruit people from Kangguo?" ”

Yang Chong replied firmly: "The ruler is long, the inch is short, and what Da Sui wants to recruit is a sharpshooter who is alone." ”

Yang Chong's words were very hurtful, Shan Fu translated it, and the six of them understood, and they suddenly fell silent. The marksman is completely different from the good archer, the age difference between the six is less than twenty years, and none of them can win the winner for two consecutive years, and no one can say that they are alone. Fu Lu Zhao was the oldest, and said with a smile: "Lord Yang has already said hello, and the Great Sui Mission estimates that it will take some time before leaving Samalgan, so there is no rush in this matter." It's rare that the host's family has booked this table at the Si Ah Bai Hotel, and we can't let the host be disappointed. ”

The Siab Hotel is the best hotel in Samalgan, and the average person can't afford to eat it at all, and the Sogdians are forbidden to drink, and they rarely visit; Yang Chong's heart moved, and if he was not a frequent visitor to the Si Ah Bai Hotel, he knew the whereabouts of his party, so he changed his smile and said, "If Mr. Blowing Rhythm Zhao doesn't say it, I forgot it." Everyone is here with your family, we say that these are the great scenery, General Shi, you go and change your clothes, Mr. Zhou, take out the jewelry, please take a look. ”

After a while, Zhou Qian came out with two servants holding more than a dozen pieces of jewelry, all of which were Puzhu bracelets, jade bracelets, jade pendants and the like. The jewelry box is a local boutique of Samaergan, which sets off the unique and different luster of the jewelry, which is dazzling, Yang Chong introduced them one by one and said: "You are the first batch of guests of Yang, if you fancy it, the price can be discounted, or you can barter." ”

Finally, Yang Chong said a few words from Shakespeare in Greek: "A beautiful woman wears the right jewelry to complement each other; Wearing inappropriate jewelry is the icing on the cake. Anyway, as long as it's jewelry, there's nothing that doesn't make a woman shine! ”

This passage in modern society, by countless jewelers in advertising, the lethality of women has never failed, Samalgan has been ruled by the Macedonian Empire for a long time, Greek is also the common language of the city of Samalgan, everyone in the house can understand; When several female relatives heard this, they all turned their eyes to their own families, and the eagerness in their eyes made the hero short of breath, and the family bought one; As for the discount mentioned by Yang Chong, it is the same as the practice of modern shopping malls, it is just a pretense for bluffing people, a commercial method.

The guests and hosts are happy, and the rhythm is really a frequent guest of the Si Ah Bai Hotel, as soon as it is on the table, he begins to comment on every dish on the table, Yang Chong nodded again and again, and frequently toasted the glass, the Sogdian guests do not drink, Yang Chong can only respect the water. Bi Wan, Cao Zhuo, and Abu were more bold, and they talked very speculatively with Zhou Qian and Shan Fu, only Kang Shiyuan and He Huxie seemed to be overly cautious, not only did they eat little food, but they were always reluctant to speak, and they did not look at all like the Sogdians who were good at dancing with long sleeves.

When Bi Wan said that he had been to Constantinople, Yang Chong casually asked, "Did you go to the cathedral?" The columns there were moved from ancient Greek temples. ”

The cathedral that Yang Chong said is Hagia Sophia, which is a monument to the heyday of the Byzantine Empire, the whole building is covered by a dome, the dome is 55 meters above the ground, and it is supported on four large pillars by sail arches. The floors, walls, and columns are colourful marble from distant quarries, including Egyptian porphyry, green marble from Thessaly, black stone from the Bosphorus, and Yellowstone from Syria, including the ancient Greek columns of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.

Bi Wan looked stunned, the route from Samalgan to Constantinople has always been the patent of the Sogdians and the Great Qin, how did this young Sui Dynasty official know about the situation in Constantinople? Perhaps hearing about it, Bi Wan was determined to test it and asked, "Lord Yang has been to Constantinople?" ”

"Nope." Yang Chong wanted to travel abroad when he was in college, and Istanbul was also one of the goals, but unfortunately he never made the trip, but Yang Chong has seen a lot of pictures and materials, and said very easily: "I heard that it is a city by the sea, and a narrow strait next to it has been coveted by countless emperors since ancient Greek times, and the streets of Constantinople are full of fountains and columns, gorgeous and rich." ”

"What is a fountain?" Shi Daqian did not know why, Yang Chong explained: "The natural fountain is the spring water gushing out of the mountain, and the fountain in Constantinople is artificially built, mostly combined with statues, pillar ornaments, pools, etc. You can imagine what a magnificent scenery it is to be in the bustling area of a city, under the sun, the water column overflows high in the sky, crystal clear, and it is refreshing. ”

As soon as Yang Chong said this, it was obvious that he had seen a fountain, and Bi Wan really couldn't think of any other city with a fountain besides Constantinople, and Bi Wan's mood was suddenly extremely bad.