Early the next morning, Lina, dressed in a white silk robe and low-waisted soft leather boots, followed the village chief of Aura and a few old men to Xiao Ye's camp again to welcome the arrival of the Ming caravan; In their eyes, it was nothing more than a heavily guarded caravan.

On top of that, the mirror and pocket watch in Xiao Ye's hand show that he is a businessman who is good enough to deal with, although he bears the title of Mingren officer.

In the grasslands where strength is important, nothing is impossible.

Today, the village chief of Aura and several old men are embroidered with purple embroidered ribbons of different lengths on the sides of their white robes, which is their formal attire on important occasions and also a sign of respect for guests.

Xiao Ye now knew that the courtyard he had been to yesterday was the old man's house of the village, the place where distinguished guests were entertained, and the place where important meetings were held in the village.

A group of camel wagons, escorted by sergeants, entered the Haixi village. Their arrival immediately attracted onlookers from Haixi.

By the time they reached the outside of the courtyard wall of the public house, the horse team had been surrounded by a large number of curious people; Seeing this, Xiao Ye took Xiao Liuzi and them and retreated outside the crowd to watch the excitement.

He is a military household, he is not good at rhetoric, and he instinctively avoids doing business, so he can only let his subordinates do it.

On the field outside the old man's house of the village chief, Wang Hu, who was pretending to be a businessman, took a few sergeants and set up a formation, lifted the tarpaulins on the seven carriages that had been swinging away, and under the gaze of a large group of Haixi people, the first thing he took out was a piece of black silk cotton coat.

Wang Hu, who was standing in the carriage, was teased by the sergeants in the distance, although his face turned red, but the threat of the hundred households far exceeded the cherished skin, and the sergeant who had been punished in the quarry, he was very clear about the reason for complaining for a long time.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Wang Hu held a silk cotton coat and shouted loudly, and Miss Lena under the carriage excitedly translated loudly; For the payment of a silk coat, Lena was quite excited.

However, watching the lively Xiao Ye from afar, the black lines on their faces were upside down by Wang Hu's words from his father and fellow villagers, and the sergeants next to him also burst into laughter after an instant silence.

The village chief of Ola, who was standing beside Xiao Ye, smiled and said nothing, but fortunately, the elders who knew a little bit of words lowered their heads and counted the money bags, but they didn't hear Wang Hu's voice clearly.

A silk cotton coat for a gold coin, this kind of rough-made gold coin, worried about one or two weights, Wang Hu took the gold coin, faced the first customer, a low-looking strong man, unhappily immediately raised the price, "One piece two gold coins, the one just now was sold cheaply to the first customer,"

joke, ran to the grassland thousands of miles away, a silk cotton coat of ten taels and a tael of gold, and lost a lot of money, it was simply in vain; What made Wang Hu even more angry was that the gold coin in his hand was obviously not pure enough, compared to the delicate gold ingot in the hands of the lady of the hundred households, it was not a grade at first glance, and there were so many small black spots on it.

Therefore, when Xiao Ye gave the appropriate price, Wang Hu immediately tampered with it when he took out the second silk cotton coat. Flexible disposal, the last four words of Lord Baihu, he remembers it very firmly.

The Haicynian people, who had originally rushed to see the strangeness, immediately let out a burst of sighs when they heard Lina's translation, looked at the lucky one with hot eyes, and happily took the coat; The price of two gold coins made these civilians hesitate.

Twenty gold coins for a vanity mirror, a gold coin for a small bottle of perfume, a total of three expensive goods, no matter how Wang Hu tore his throat again, no one dared to take on the second customer.

On the seven carts, the silk cotton coat Xiao Ye loaded more than 300 pieces in two carts; Five pounds of perfume, a box of dressing mirrors, sixty sides, and a car.

Only the four carts of tea and green salt that decorated the façade were robbed clean by the Haixi people, and the price was pitiful, and they got a small pile of silver coins; Xiao Ye, who had no intention of making money with tea and green salt, sold it at a price that would not be enough for even half of the capital if the salary of the sergeant's time back and forth was included.

What he didn't expect was that the Haixi people's demand for tea and green salt was so strong.

This also led to the indignant resistance of the Haixi people to the Ming merchants and Hu merchants who came to trade in the future, and they looked forward to the arrival of Shiguantun's convoy. Xiao Ye, who inadvertently engaged in a dumping, also won the favor of the civilians in Haixi.

Four empty carriages, left outside the fence wall of the village chief's old house, and the goods of three carriages, plus a carriage wrapped tightly in oilcloth, were invited by the village chief of Aura and pulled into the wide courtyard; At this time, Xiao Ye realized that the original valuable transaction had not yet begun.

The Haixi people in white robes, the sturdy soldiers in armor, and the Haixi people in linen clothes just now, talked in a low voice about the goods, and from time to time someone handed Wang Hu the money bag and picked up the goods he liked.

In less than two pillars of incense, the three carts of goods were gradually taken away, and Wang Hu, who was guarding a lot of money bags, had a bright golden light in his eyes.

The remaining carriage was guarded by its own sergeant to prevent the curious Hercynian people from approaching.

Xiao Ye was not ambiguous, the seven carts were filled with spirits by him, this kind of high-grade wine made from wheat, even if it was awarded to the sergeant, it was also a very good wine; Take the gold coins and leave, even a merchant would not do such a stupid thing, and the Haicynian people are not all good birds.

What's more, Xiao Ye sells goods, his ambition is not here, what he asks for is a familiar face.

That's it, nearly a thousand gold coins, a big bag of silver coins, Wang Hu gave the Haixi people in charge of winemaking, more than 20 rough gold coins, and the rest were carried in a backpack.

It was already noon, and someone took them to the public houses on both sides to rest and eat.

The Haixi people, like the Ming people, have two meals a day and have no habit of eating in the morning, but Wang Hu and the others are already hungry and hungry.

The transaction was successfully completed, Xiao Ye was happy, and generously called Miss Lina, and handed her a small cloth bag wrapped with a vanity mirror and a few bottles of perfume, "Thank you for your help,"

The goods worth more than 20 gold coins are not comparable to the bride price of a wife in the village, and Lina, who is red-faced, stands there with her hands twisted, peeking at her grandfather.

"Baihu is kind, you take it, he doesn't mean that," smiled and said a Latin to his granddaughter, waved her hand to let her go, and the village chief of Aura took Xiao Ye and went outside to visit his village; He didn't bring a soldier, so Xiao Ye could only stubbornly leave his personal guards.

Outside the public house in the mouth of the village chief of Ola, there is a spacious avenue directly opposite, more than 300 steps long to the gate, and the neat wooden houses on both sides, the road inside is much narrower, and the busy and unchaotic Haixi people are noisily doing the work at hand.

Tailor shops, shoe shops, liquor stores, and leather goods shops are all concentrated in an orderly manner around the village, which can also show the good control of the village chief.

However, the crowd that obviously did not match the number of houses seemed to be very empty in the village, and although Xiao Ye was suspicious, he didn't ask much.

The house of the village chief of Aura is an ordinary wooden house, and there are high stacks of firewood in the small courtyard, this chopping wood of different thicknesses, Xiao Ye knows at a glance that there must be a large area of woods nearby, otherwise there is no way to find so much firewood.

Of course, on the dining table of the village chief's house, the delicate ceramic teacups and dishes are transported from the mainland.

A maid dressed in a coarse cloth short dress by the stove was busy serving a large plate of cooked meat, black and yellow hard "steamed buns," delicate wine jugs and wine glasses to the dining table. Lena was already sitting at one end of the table, with a knife, fork and cloth in front of her.

Although it is not clear why the poor food at the banquet is so different from that at home in a public house similar to the official office, Xiao Ye still consciously forgot his doubts in the face of the two smiling hosts.

After drinking a lot of green vegetable soup and hot tea, the village chief of Aura took Xiao Ye out, got on the horse, and walked slowly to the back of the village.

Outside the fence behind the village, there are already hills close to the foot of the mountain, and in the large fields that have been reclaimed, the neat wheat seedlings make Xiao Ye feel refreshed.

Out of the village, along a small river walked up the hill, stationed on the high place of the horse, looking at the large area of fertile land in front of him, the village that fell into his eyes, Xiao Ye was very envious of this well-governed village chief.

"My village is quite prosperous," Village Chief Aura turned his face to look at Xiao Ye with a faint pride on his face, "After two generations of hard work, we have finally established ourselves here,"

"For this village, the Haixi people have paid a great price," remembering when he was a child, when the large group of Tatar cavalry that swept through the village from time to time, the village chief of Aura raised his palm full of markings sadly, and pointed to the northwest, "We, from there,"

"Thousands of miles to the northwest, at the end of the grassland, through the desert Gobi, is an endless hill and dangerous territory, and then you can see the lush deep forests, wide rivers, and the same industrious Haicynian people as we are."

"A hundred years ago, our ancestors were valiant legionnaires, and our hometown, thousands of miles away, was on the shores of the ocean, where there was a lot of soft oil, and red wine,"

In the whispered narration of the village chief of Ola, Xiao Ye knew that they, the Haicynian legion, came from the far northwest, and were ordered to open up the territory and spread the teachings, but they did not expect to encounter an earthquake and landslide, and suffered heavy casualties.

Military law was ruthless, and in order to avoid the accountability of the consuls and the senate, the officers and soldiers of an entire legion arrived here, and when they arrived here, less than half of the troops remained.

Fortunately, the officers and soldiers took their families and found this habitable foot of the mountain, and then began to build the village and multiply.

"Listen to my father, the emperor's ** regiment is full of 4,200 people, the regiment is divided into 10 detachments, a detachment of 420 people, a team of several teams, with 60 people bow and crossbow team, 120 people pike, 120 people heavy infantry team, 120 people light infantry team, each team is commanded by a hundred commanders, there is a group of 6 people flag bearer team, responsible for leading the legion." Telling about the glory of his father's generation, the village chief of Aura became excited and gestured hand and foot.

"The Emperor's ** Regiment has a full strength of 6,000 people, equipped with 120 cavalry, and more than 60 stone carts. The first detachment is 720 people, as the main configuration, the rest of the detachment is 480 people, and the first squad is 80 people. The flag of the legion is the vulture, and each detachment has its own different flag. ”

"It's a pity, the glory of our ancestors is no more, in the steppe, our cavalry can't fight the Tatars, there have been two engagements this year, and the victory is indistinguishable," sighed, the village chief of Ola, did not tell Xiao Ye, if they didn't have a strong fence and a large number of catapults, I'm afraid the Tatars would not retreat easily.

What he didn't tell Xiao Ye was that this legion, which had suffered heavy losses, had no way to retreat a hundred years ago.

In the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine army lost Anatolia, an important horse breeding area, and the construction of the Byzantine cavalry, the core force of the Eastern Romans, was greatly affected, and the combat effectiveness of the army declined sharply.

In 1453 Constantinople fell. In 1461 Byzantium fell.

Even so, the words of the village chief of Aura made Xiao Ye can't help but take a deep breath, if it wasn't for his whim to come and find an agent, I'm afraid he would never know that there would be such a descendant of the legion on the grassland thousands of miles away from him.

However, having seen the leather armor, chain mail, well-protected helmets, short swords, axes and shields, as well as short spears that could be thrown, and heavy trebuchets, Xiao Ye could guess without thinking about it, and it was good for the Haixi people to hold the village against the Tartars, who were agile and good at riding and shooting.

The formation of Shifu and Centurion, Xiao Ye can understand, is similar to the Tartar cavalry, but these Haicynian people, who are mainly infantry, do not know how to fight against the Tartar cavalry on the grassland.

Maybe that's why they're stuck here. Otherwise, the third force rising on the grassland will inevitably have to aim at the border wall of the Ming Dynasty.

Traveling west along the mountain path from the hill, before approaching the valley, two groups of infantry, led by Captain Shifu, appeared in front of the chief of Ola; The head of Shifu, whose helmet was decorated with beautiful feathers, pressed his hand to his chest on the side of the road, and let the village chief who was riding a horse pass without even looking at Xiao Ye.

The large green wheat fields in the valley, the clanging workshops on the mountains, and the teams of slaves carrying dry firewood were enough for Xiao Ye to have a new understanding of the Haixi people.

"According to the custom of our Haixi people, a village with less than 5,000 people, a city with less than 10,000 people, and a city with 100,000 people," the village chief of Aura said, pointing to the busy slaves, "those slaves are not counted as our population."

"Then how do you manage these people, village chief of Ola," Xiao Ye, who didn't dare to be arrogant, asked for advice cheekily, he no longer thought that he was on an equal footing with this old man, at least, people didn't even count slaves in the population, and the number of sergeants was definitely far greater than himself.

"Hehe, according to custom, the village is ruled by a senate and a citizens' assembly. The consuls held the supreme power and were elected by two nobles who were elected once a year. Speaking of his village, a trace of pride appeared on the plain face of the old village chief.

The consuls of the Haixi people exercised supreme power, created legislation, served as the chief magistrate and the head of the military and the chief priest, and had absolute ruling power both internally and externally, and could wear large robes and embroidered purple belts.

However, they were only able to govern for one year, after which they served in the Senate; They are two-person rulers, and either consul can effectively block the other's actions or decisions with a simple veto.

In the villages, the commoners had the right to be elected consuls, to enter the senate, and to participate in all the rituals.

The legislation and decisions of the Plebeian Assembly were deemed binding on all citizens, whether commoners or nobles. With a full snort, Xiao Ye was stunned, and even a little disdainful.

It turns out that you are the scenery of the year, what are you proud of, although I don't understand what the village chief said about citizens and elections, but he still heard that the highest governor of this village is rotated.

What's so proud, after the New Year, there will be nothing to do, who can stand it.

Under Xiao Yehu's suspicious gaze, the village chief of Aura smiled wryly, it is thousands of miles away from his hometown, after a long time, the new generation has no orthodox inheritance, and the system here has long changed.

"The existing Senate in the village, the members are the six old men of us, all of whom are hereditary nobles in the original legion, and there is no contact with the Imperial Senate here, and there have been no new nobles for forty years," explained in a veiled manner, Xiao Ye suddenly realized after hearing this, no wonder those arrogant old guys, one by one, appeared around in silk, it turned out to be nobles.

That said that it changes once a year, it should not be true, Xiao Ye, who was selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, and was in a better mood, looked at the mouth of the valley with the village chief with a smile, but did not check deeply; Obviously, this is the heart of the Haixi people, and it is already very hospitable to take a look.

Back in the public house in the center of the village, Xiao Ye learned from the mouth of the village chief of Aura that the slaves in the village came from prisoners of war, criminals, and even traders; Slaves and above are commoners, that is, laborers with their own status, who can farm and eat by doing work, and do some small business, and it is necessary to pay taxes.

Slaves could be converted into commoners, but the conditions were harsh, but with a long time, it was inevitable that the blood of the Haixi people would be thinned.

Civilians can participate in the hundred-man team in the village, and the officers of all ranks in the six hundred-member team, in addition to the appointment recommended by the senate, can also be appointed through the annual gladiatorial competition, and the winner is responsible.

Skill performances, gladiatorial performances, are the grand events of the Haixi people during the year-end festivals, and are often occasions for announcing important news.

Xiao Ye, who was touched, dined at the village chief of Aura in the evening, and met Lena's father, the captain of the Lushanus Cornegius Claudius detachment, the commander of the only detachment in the village.

The heavy helmet in the hands of the leader of the Claudian detachment, the dense and neat feathers on the top, and the thick neck, sitting on the creaking wooden bench, made Xiao Ye feel very oppressed.

Regarding the introduction of the village chief of Ola, Claudius just glanced at Xiao Ye, which was regarded as a greeting, and he didn't even mean to say a word.

Respecting the old man is one thing, in the face of the unceremonious face of the middle-aged foreign officer, Xiao Ye's jerky face was set off with a faint indifference, chewing hard bread slowly and methodically, yes, it is called bread, Lena told him.

This officer, who was not as tall as him but was stronger than him twice, although Xiao Ye couldn't communicate, he also saw the undisguised contempt in his azure eyes.

After a dull dinner, the captain and his father murmured a long list of words in Latin, but all they could do was a gentle shake by the head of Ola; Some of the angry commanders pressed the porcelain wine glass on the table, got up and walked away with their helmets in a hurry.

"Aura Village Chief, what did the squad leader say?" Glancing at Lina, whose face was pale in the corner, Xiao Ye sighed, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and the same is true for Haixi people.

"Oh, no, some housework," said the village chief of Ola, who had a bad face, and after recovering his senses, comfortingly; However, the look in Xiao Ye's eyes when Claudie left just now made the head of the hundred households very uncomfortable.

Tonight, Xiao Ye and his sergeants were arranged to rest in the side room of the public housing compound, except for a few sentry guards, everyone else slept peacefully.