Cai He is now a relative of the emperor, the uncle of the country, and the foreign affairs secretary appointed by Liu Xin, so Liu Xin did not hide it from him about Ban Stealer. Listening to Guo Jia's words, Cai He immediately said disdainfully: "What is Parthia, how can it be compared to Kangju!" ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "The situation of Kangju is indeed different from Parthia, and the relationship between Parthia and the Han is far from the point of cold lips and teeth. However, we can't turn a blind eye to the war between Great Qin and Parthia, and the best thing to do is to let them fight as long as possible. ”

He smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you want to reap the benefits of fishermen." The minister heard that Parthia's armor was not as good as Daqin's, Feng Xiao's proposal could be considered, and the many captured armors were piled up in the warehouse, and our army didn't need them anyway, so it was better to do a favor and give them to Parthia, so that they could have a good fight with Daqin. ”

Liu Xin sneered: "For us, although these armors are tasteless to eat, and it is a pity to abandon them, they can't be given to them in vain." Cai He, if you work hard again, go and talk to Vologis about business, I think he will be interested. ”

Cai He was reluctant, but Liu Xin's order had been issued, and he didn't dare to disobey, so he had to withdraw from the main hall stupidly, pack up and come to Tai Xifeng again. However, as soon as he entered Parthian territory, he felt an unusual tension. Cai He spent some money and bribed a few passers-by to inquire, and it turned out that the Parthian army was defeated, and Ptimius personally led a large army to capture the two important Parthian cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon again.

The army mobilized by Putimius this time was originally intended to invade the Han Dynasty, because the Han Dynasty was also an unknown world for them, so Putimius gathered a heavy army. He was unprepared, such a powerful army suddenly pressed to the Parthian border, Vologis was unable to resist at all, and he was about to collapse at the first touch, and fled south in a hurry, even discarding his own concubines.

When Cai He heard the news, he wanted to go home, but thinking about his mission, if he escaped like this, even if Liu Xin didn't punish Cai Jue in the face, he would not have the face to see people in the future. Cai He gritted his teeth and sent two followers back to Chang'an to Liu Xin, while he continued to lead the team north, but slowed down.

Two days later, Cai He finally learned that Vologis had fled to a place called Susa. This was the largest city in central Parthia, where Vologis was gathering the remnants of his army and wanted to regroup. Hearing that the Han envoy who had been angry with him earlier had come again, Vologis remembered that the Han had reminded him that if he could have followed the advice of the Han people and prepared early, how could he have suffered today's fiasco. Thinking of this, Vologis hurriedly ordered someone to invite the Han envoy in.

Cai He looked up and saw that Vologis, who was sitting up, had a haggard face, and he had long lost his previous arrogance, so he couldn't help arching his hand and said: "Respected king, our Emperor of the Han Dynasty heard that Great Qin wanted to use force against Parthia, so he specially sent his foreign ministers over to ask if the king needed help?" ”

Vologis sighed and said, "I regret that this king should not have failed to listen to your advice, and caused today's defeat. Now that Daqin is overwhelmed by heavy troops, the king's army is difficult to resist for a while, I don't know if your Han is willing to send troops to help? ”

When Cai He came, he had already received Liu Xin's orders, shook his head and said: "Back to the king, His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty is generous, and he doesn't like swords, so I'm afraid I can't send troops to my Han Dynasty." However, our Emperor is strongly advocating disarmament, and there are many more soldiers and armor......"

After Cai He finished speaking, the Parthian Prime Minister Remitu, who was standing aside, suddenly said, "Could it be that Your Majesty the Emperor intends to provide us with armor?" ”

Parthia was most lacking in armor, and many soldiers fought in cloth clothes, and they were defenseless in the face of the heavily armed heavy infantry and knights of Great Qin, and basically relied on human lives to fight in every battle. Therefore, when he heard Remitu's question, Vologis also came to his senses and said, "If this is the case, this king is willing to form a brotherly alliance with the Great Han forever!" ”

Cai He said with a smile: "Our Emperor His Majesty said that these soldiers and armor are all people's fat and people's ointment, how can they be given away in vain?" If the king is interested in these armors, the price can be discussed. ”

At this time, Vologis's youngest son, Ardaban, said: "You Han people have a saying that far water can't quench the thirst of the near, and before your armor arrives, the sword of the Great Qin people has already reached our necks." Is it necessary for us to pay now? ”

At this moment, a soldier hurriedly ran in and said loudly: "Congratulations to the king, congratulations to the king, the sudden heavy snow in the north, the people and horses are unable to move an inch, and the Great Qin army has retreated to Taixifeng." ”

A few days ago, a small number of the vanguard of the Great Qin army had already appeared outside Susa, Vologis was terrified all day, and had already begun to consider whether to surrender to Putimius, when he heard the good news, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and shouted: "God bless me!" Okay, you make a price, this king wants to buy 300,000 pairs of armor! ”

Remitu hurriedly reminded: "King, we don't have that much money anymore!" ”

It turned out that when Vologis fled from Ctesiphon, the situation was very urgent, and even the concubines and princesses were left behind, where could they care about carrying gold and silver treasures? However, most of the wealth of Parthia is concentrated in Ctesiphon, and now it is all cheap, and the Great Qin people are not counted, and they can't scrape together the money to reorganize the army for a while.

This time, even Cai He was in trouble, his purpose was to make this business, and now the Parthians have no money at all, so this business will naturally not be done. There was a moment of silence in the hall. Suddenly, Ardaban said: "Father, the child has an idea, why don't we carve out a piece of territory and give it to the Han in exchange for their armor!" ”

If you can exchange those eliminated armor for a large piece of territory, it will be regarded as a great achievement to expand the territory, Cai He's heart couldn't help but move, but when he thought of his mission, he hesitated again, and said: "This matter is very important, the foreign minister does not dare to be self-dictated, and he needs to go back and ask His Majesty the Emperor before he can be the master." ”

Hearing that his son actually had such a bad idea, Vologis was about to drink, but seeing that Cai He was not very active, he endured it and said: "That's it, anyway, Daqin's army can't attack it for the time being, so I ask the Han envoy to go to the pavilion to rest first, and let me wait for the monarch and ministers to discuss and discuss." ”

After Cai He left, Live Logis shouted angrily: "The child is too talkative! ”

Remitu also said: "The little prince's remarks are indeed inappropriate. ”

Ardaban's blood is strong, where can he think about such a long term, and said disapprerovitically: "The big man is thousands of miles away from me, even if he gives him a piece of land, can he still take it?" Besides, didn't the Emperor of the Han Dynasty dislike sword soldiers? If we get their armor and take the land back by force, what can he do to me? ”

Vologis was not a trustworthy and righteous person, but when he heard his son's fallacy, he couldn't help but smile and said: "It's still my son who is clever, and this king will entrust this matter to you with full authority, and be sure to negotiate with the Han envoy." ”

At the behest of Vologis, Ardaban rolled up a sheepskin and went to the inn with a detailed map of Parthia on it. Although he did not get Liu Xin's authorization, Cai He was still thrilled when he saw this map, and he couldn't withstand several persuasions from Aldaban, and the two sides reached a preliminary intention, and Aldaban carved out a place on the map as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Han soldiers' armor.

When Cai He returned to Chang'an in a hurry and presented the map to the main hall, he was frustrated and asked, "Cai He, have you been to those places?" ”

Cai He shook his head and said, "Parthia is in turmoil, and the lower officials are eager to report the situation there to His Majesty, but they have never gone to see it. ”

Fu Zhu sneered: "You have fallen for others, but you still don't know it!" Do you know what it is? Let me tell you, most of the land that Vologis has allocated to you is desert, and it is useless! ”

Ever since he knew of Putimius's ambitions, Liu Xin began to send people to collect information west of Kangju, and the geography of mountains and rivers was naturally the focus of his collection.

Liu Xin suddenly said: "Wait, show me the map!" ”

Cai He hurriedly submitted the map.

Liu Xin took the map in his hand, looked at it over and over for a long time, and suddenly laughed and said: "Cai He, Cai He, you are really a good general, I am very satisfied with this place that I came to by mistake, I want this place!" ”

It turned out that Liu Xin didn't notice where this place was at first, but after hearing the frustration mention of the desert, he pondered for a long time, and finally found that this land was likely to be the Persian Gulf, which was rich in oil in later generations. No one has yet discovered that there is an abundance of oil beneath that land, and even if they did, they would not understand its value. But Liu Xin, who came from later generations, was different, and that desert was worth more than a gold mine to him.

Guo Jia got up and said: "Your Majesty, Parthia is far away from my Han Dynasty, and it is not enough to defend it if it has fewer soldiers, and it is difficult to afford it if it has more soldiers. In the event that Vologis repents, what will he do? Even if this land is not a desert, the minister thinks it is unacceptable! ”

Because it was a great credit for him to take this land, Cai He said without thinking about it: "The Parthians urgently need our armor, how can they regret it?" ”

Guo Jia sneered: "It is precisely because he has our armor and his fists are hard that he is more likely to regret it!" Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this is not possible, and that land should not be wanted, and it is better to trade directly with the Parthians in gold and silver! ”

At this time, it was not Cai He who was most eager to promote this matter, but Liu Xin. Of course, he wouldn't tell Fu Zhu and Guo Jia that there was oil under their land, otherwise he would have to talk about it for three days and three nights just to explain what oil is and what it does. Liu Xin lowered his head and pondered for a long time, and suddenly said, "I have a way!" ”