After the first warrior of Rome had gone, Severus sat there in silence, holding a glass of scarlet cloudy wine, and his old face was full of contemplation.

"The Orientals are strong, there's no doubt about that."

Severus said in his heart.

A glimpse of the whole leopard, from the spiritual outlook and steel equipment of the Oriental accompanying guards, you can see the strength of the Oriental army; From the Oriental general, who could easily overwhelm the first warrior of Rome in all aspects, it can be seen that the Orientals are fierce; From the old Oriental scholar with white hair, Severus felt incomparable wisdom; From the Oriental Ambassador, who had a mustache and a pair of eyes that always sparkled brightly, he felt the pressure!

All-round pressure!

If such a country is next to it, which emperor can feel at ease?

On the side of the couch, how can you allow the tiger to sleep soundly?

"Luckily! Fortunately! ”

Fortunately, that mysterious and powerful eastern country is separated from Rome by thousands of mountains and rivers!

In addition to frequent exchanges in business, I don't want to deal with old and dead!

Severus lightened at the thought of this, and then laughed.

"Damn the Kushans, hehe, may their gods bless them from being oppressed by the Orientals!"

"The Orientals are powerful, and they have no grudges against me, Rome, and with the help of their power, they can hold back the Kushan and win a chance for me to defeat Anxi!"

Severu made up his mind, a deep smile on his face.

The next day, Cao Yingzhi held the festival and had the first formal negotiation with the Roman high-level headed by Severus.

During the negotiation, Cao Ying put forward two requirements.

First, Rome should adjust its foreign trade policy with China and relax restrictions within a moderate range.

Second, China and Rome are both ancient countries with a long history and far-reaching culture, and cultural exchanges should be carried out in all aspects.

For the second point, Severus did not hesitate and agreed.

He is an emperor on horseback, and he doesn't pay much attention to the so-called culture and civilization, and the cultural exchanges between the two sides are also beneficial and harmless, so he simply agreed, and promised to open the Roman Royal Library, convene Roman scholars and religious figures, and discuss and exchange with the cultural exchange group led by Zheng Xuan.

But the first point needs to be carefully considered.

The Silk Road not only played a pivotal role in China, but was also an extremely important source of tax revenue for Rome. The whole of Rome, the annual tax collected from the Silk Road, accounted for more than 20% of its total income!

Therefore, it is simply impossible for Rome to reduce taxes. Both Severus and the Senate were unwilling.

But as far as the relaxation of restrictions is concerned, there is still room for negotiation.

In response to Cao Ying's two requests, Severus also had his own requirements.

First, he hoped that Huaxia would send troops to suppress the Kushan Dynasty.

The second point is to ask China to similarly lower the restrictions on Roman merchants, reduce taxes, improve the status of Romans in China, and so on.

Third, I hope to have some exchanges with China in the military field. For example, exchanges in various aspects, such as trade in equipment and weapons, military strategy, and battle formation fighting methods, and even the two countries can send their own personnel to learn from each other.

For the various demands of both sides, Cao Ying and Severu engaged in a war of words for half a month.

Finally, it was finally formulated.

First, the Chinese Empire sent heavy troops to Chigu City to overwhelm people with momentum, so that the Kushan Dynasty could not let go of its hands and feet, and went all out to reinforce and rest.

Second, the trade tax of the two sides will be reduced by one percent, and a number of provisions will be given for the protection of the Silk Road and the protection of merchants.

Third, increase trade in equipment and weapons.

Fourth, the two sides send study abroad teams to study in the two countries every year.

Fifth, the two sides allow the cultures of the two countries to spread freely in their respective countries without restrictions.

Sixth, the establishment of an embassy is the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In this way, both sides rejoiced

Spring 201, Luoyang.

The capital of the Chinese Empire, in this spring season, ushered in the envoys of the Kushan Dynasty.

The ambassador of the Kushan Dynasty first apologized for the attack on the Chinese mission in the territory of Kushan, and presented 50 carts of gold, jewelry, and various specialties. After that, it proposed to establish diplomatic relations with China and strengthen exchanges in all aspects.

For these, Emperor Shenwu Liu Yuan waved his pen and agreed to everything.

At the beginning of May, the Rest Mission, led by the Great Prince of Rest, came to Luoyang.

Like Guishan, Anxi not only offered a large amount of property, put forward requirements for the establishment of diplomatic relations and strengthening exchanges, but also wrote a handwritten letter from the Emperor Anxi, wanting the prince to enter Huaxia University for five years.

In this regard, Liu Yuan was a little undecided.

So he called Guo Jia to discuss.

"Promise, why not?" Guo Jia said with a smile: "Your Majesty, if the Prince of Rest is trained well, his role in the extreme west is no less than that of a hundred thousand troops!" ”

"What's more," Guo Jia said with a meaningful smile: "If within five years, rest and perish, Your Majesty thinks"

"Huh?!" Liu Yuan frowned and smiled: "But that's the case!" It seems that I need to do more to help Rome break the rest! ”

"That's exactly how it should be! If the rest is extinguished, this great prince will not give up, and His Majesty can use this as an excuse to borrow troops with him and officially intervene in the extreme west! ”

"Good!"

Liu Yuan high-fived and laughed: "Presumably, in five years, Mo Lao's Academy of Sciences should have made a breakthrough in the steam engine, hehehe"

September, autumn.

The results of Cao Ying's negotiation with Severu also flew to Liu Yuan's table.

Then, in response to the agreement, Liu Yuan immediately made adjustments, reducing the tax of one percent and improving the status of the Romans, which were all trivial matters.

At the same time, Liu Yuan called his father-in-law Zhen Yi, brother-in-law Mi Zhu, and Yan Ying of the Yan family in Shuzhong to the imperial study.

"I am looking for you to come here today for the Silk Road and foreign trade policy." Liu Yuan asked a few people to sit down and said with a smile.

These three people, Zhen Yi is the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Mi Zhu and Yan Ying are the left and right waiters, and now they are high-powered.

Some people will say that if the Ministry of Commerce, an important department that controls the country's commercial trade, falls into the hands of the people at the helm of these three merchant families, I am afraid that there will be chaos. Even if it is not good, these three people will also use their power for personal gain, opening the door for their own family, which is not beneficial to the country.

Liu Yuan has his own considerations for these.

First of all, with Liu Yuan here, these three people will never dare to use their power for personal gain. This is Liu Yuan's self-confidence, confident in his own control.

Secondly, as early as the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce, Liu Yuan was already working to weaken these three major business families. Important industries such as grain, salt, iron, and transportation were all spun off and placed under the control of the state.

Of course, it's not really nerfing. Because Emperor Shenwu encouraged commerce, even if these three great families lost those few incomes, their annual trade volume was still rising, which was much stronger than in the previous Han Dynasty.

Third, because of the efforts of Chen Qun and the people who made a fortune, the legal aspects of business are becoming more and more perfect, and they are not afraid that someone will be able to take advantage of the loopholes.

Fourth, in the entire Huaxia Kingdom, in addition to these three major business families, don't forget that there are also Huaxia Commercial Bank and Central Plains Commercial Bank established by Liu Yuan. With these two giants in check and balance, the three major families can't afford to make waves.

"The Romans relaxed restrictions on commerce and lowered taxes, and although I did the same, it was still my China that made the most profit."

Liu Yuan said: "I am an ambitious emperor! ”

Liu Yuan said bluntly: "But because of the social productive forces, we still can't control a larger territory." So, I decided to start from the other side and control their lifeblood on another level! ”

"That's the economy."

"Compared with the three countries of the West, our China not only has strong economic strength, but also has more perfect business rules, if it can be planned well, it will be able to control the will of these three countries in a period of time in the form of economic aggression!"

"This matter is extremely important, so I called Zhuqing here to discuss it together."

When the three of them heard this, their eyes lit up.

It is said that no business can be annihilated, and there has always been a discriminatory attitude towards businessmen and political axes. Today, although the son attaches great importance to commerce and trade, it is difficult to change the people's attitudes, so that although the three of them are already in high positions, they are still very depressed and difficult to integrate into the entire regime.

But isn't Liu Yuan's plan just to give him the opportunity to make a contribution to the country and change the image of businessmen in the eyes of the people?

Therefore, the three of them were in high spirits, and they all slapped the table and hit the chairs, excitedly guaranteeing that they would definitely be able to complete Liu Yuan's plan.

But isn't it, business invasion, to say esoteric, in fact, that's what it is.

These business families can rise, aren't they all invading other families and defeating other families before they get up?

Isn't it a reason for this economy to invade other countries?

Liu Yuan was very happy to see a few people like this, so he said: "Since this is the case, then this matter will be handed over to the three Qing families." The Zhen family is aimed at Rome, the Mi family is aimed at resting, and the Yan family is aimed at Guishuang, each with a division of labor, let me see, who is more powerful, hehehe"

"Obey the order of the Son of Heaven!"

It is said that since the successful negotiation with Severus, Cao Ying has embarked on the great cause of 'making friends'.

The senators, the great nobles, and the generals were all in his field of vision.

Even the Germanic nobles and Slavic nobles who submitted to Rome were in Cao Ying's friendship plan.

At the same time, Cao Ying even implicitly sold equipment and weapons to the Germans and Slavic tribes, and successfully reached several trading agreements.

In Cao Ying's view, he had to do three things when he went to Rome.

The first point is to reach an agreement with Rome. He's done that.

The second point is to know Rome to the greatest extent possible, to know everything about it - military, political, economic. This is still a work in progress. This is the starting point for making friends with all the Roman high-ranking people.

The third point is to stumble on Rome. Rome was strong, but it was useless in China. It would be great if it could provoke internal instability in Rome. The Germanic and Slavic tribes, who were defeated by Severus and forced to submit to Rome, were the first choice.

For Cao Ying's actions, Severus saw it in his eyes, and his heart was unhappy, but he had no reason to stop it, so he could only try his best to occupy Cao Ying's time for various reasons, and wait for the cultural exchange group to finish the exchange, and then immediately send this scourge back to the East!

(To be continued)