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The unexpected death of the Venerable Ma Ming did not have any adverse impact on the negotiations of the four countries, on the contrary, it promoted the negotiations, under the signal of Sun Shao, Cheng Jun and Lu Shan appropriately relaxed some conditions, so that Guishan, who was about to collapse, signed a contract with Rome satisfied, but Shapur was greatly disappointed, he accounted for the smallest share of the three kingdoms, but he couldn't help it, even if he knew that Sun Shao had bad intentions and co-opted Rome and Guishan to suppress Sasan, he could only endure it, after all, the initiative was in the hands of Yue Guo, Doing business is voluntary, people don't want to do business with you, you can't force it, this is not robbery. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Seriously, Shapur wanted to rob very much, and although he signed it, he had already made up his mind to rob. Whatever you want to talk about, Lao Tzu ignores you, and when I get to my Sasanian territory, I ignore you, I have a horse and a knife, and this paper contract is a fart.

Shapur was not interested in talking about it anymore, but Alexander was in high spirits, and on the one hand, he wanted to learn martial arts with Sun Shao, and on the other hand, he wanted to make some deals with Sun Shao in private. Teaching martial arts is easy to do, Sun Shaohe has a way to practice, whether you can practice it or not, it depends on whether you work hard or not. Talking about business, then be cautious, this is not my business alone, I have more rules in the country, I don't do loss-making business, I don't do business that I am not sure of, if you can't let me make money, then don't open your mouth, I just want to promise you It's useless, because my ministers won't agree, businessmen won't agree, businessmen won't do unprofitable things, and he won't come if you invite him to come.

Alexander was at a loss for a moment by his straightforwardness, and it took him a long time to react, and he thought that there was anything else in Rome that he could take out to do business with the Yue people, and then after being reminded by Quintus, he finally remembered one thing: papermaking.

The papermaking technology of the Han people is now the world's leading, even Rome does not have such advanced papermaking technology, the paper of the Han people is also one of the best-selling products here, the sales are very large, the paper is transported from Funan, the cost is very high, and the price is of course not low. Alexander said to Sun Shao that the price has now seriously affected the sales of paper, and if the king can set up a paper mill in Rome, the cost will drop a lot, and the sales will be opened, and you can make more money, and we in Rome can also profit from it, which is in line with your win-win purpose.

Sun Shao also felt that it was feasible, but he immediately said, our papermaking technology in Yue is a secret, and if I put the paper mill in Rome, will it cause a leak? If papermaking leaks out, not only will you be unprofitable, but we will also lose all our money. If you want to make paper in Rome, I want you to draw a separate place to come out, and it will be managed by me, not everyone can go and intervene. Of course, if you want, I can join forces with you, and when the time comes, I will make money and dividends with you.

Alexander was overjoyed, how could he not agree, he wanted to cooperate with Sun Shao, not for the Romans to make money, first of all, to make a fortune for himself. The strongest army in Rome was the Guards, and the Severus family for generations has been adhering to the last words of Severus the Great: "Be kind to your soldiers, don't care about the lives of others", Alexander believed that as long as the hearts of the guards were enveloped, no matter how chaotic the world was, he was not afraid. And if you want to collect people's hearts, you need money, at least a salary, right? Therefore, his desire to make himself rich was far stronger than the desire to make other Romans rich, and it can be said that Sun Shao's proposal was exactly what he wanted.

The two hit it off, and Sun Shao arranged for someone to open a paper mill in Rome, which was managed by the Han Chinese, sold by Alexander, and then distributed dividends according to shares. Alexander made a rough estimate of the number, and was a little happy that he couldn't find the north. It was too profitable to cooperate with the Yue, and for this alone, the salaries of his tens of thousands of guards were settled.

With this successful beginning, Alexander took active action and won several cooperation projects, Sun Shao asked Cheng Jun and Lu Shan to carry out accounting, as long as it is in line with the interests of the country, they can agree, of course, it is inevitable to get more benefits, and the secrets of the country cannot be leaked. Cheng Jun has been leveling the order for more than ten years, and these methods are very skillful, and when Alexander feels that he has made a lot of money, Yue Guo has also made a lot of money.

Sun Shao finally said to Alexander, you have to cooperate with us, you have to be honest, and the first one is to bring up the quality of your Roman gold coins. You Romans are too inauthentic now, saying that they are gold coins, but at most only fifty percent are gold, and the rest are inferior metals, you are stupid to me? I tell you, if you don't bring up the fineness of the gold coins, I will refuse to accept Roman gold coins in the future, and I will exchange them in kind, and if you have nothing to exchange, then don't do business.

Alexander was very embarrassed, the gold coins of Rome are indeed a little inauthentic now, because the domestic economic situation is not good, the pace of expansion of the Romans has long been stagnant, without expansion, there will be no spoils, without the stimulation of the spoils, the morale of the army will not rise, and the morale of the sergeants will not rise, and it will be even more difficult to win the battle. Rome had fallen into a vicious cycle, and the great empire had long since been strong and strong, otherwise it would not have been bullied by the nascent Sassanids.

Alexander patted his chest and promised that he would solve this problem after he returned, at least to ensure that the gold coins traded with the Yue people were in good condition, and that he would never let his friends suffer.

Looking at Alexander, who was rushing away, Xiahou Rong hesitated: "King, will we raise tigers for trouble, although this Alexander is still a lot worse, but he is young after all, with the assistance of people like Quintus, and with his mother who does not let Xu Mei help, Rome ......"

"Will Rome come back from the dead?" Sun Shao said with a smile. Xiahou Rong nodded, he was worried about this, if he raised the sick tiger of Rome in order to contain Sassania, it would be more than worth the loss for the Yue Kingdom and the Han Dynasty.

"Youquan, you've read so many articles on Rome, but you still don't see the crux of Rome." Sun Shao sighed with some regret. Xiahou Rong blushed a little, but listened attentively, he knew that since Sun Shao dared to do this, he must have his considerations. In some details of government affairs, Sun Shao may not be as good as him, but in terms of overall thinking, Sun Shao always has a dazzling point of view. Just like climbing a mountain and looking into the distance, the scenery seen halfway up the mountain is very different from the one at the foot of the mountain, but each time you go up, you can always see more scenery, and if you want to see the whole picture, you must climb to the top of the highest mountain.

He recently felt that he had been climbing the mountain, and the speed was very fast, but every time he chatted with Sun Shao, he found that he was still some distance away from Sun Shao, quite a feeling of "looking ahead, suddenly behind", and he had the opportunity to hear Sun Shao's views on the crux of Rome, maybe a sentence or two could point to the clouds that blocked his vision, so that he had the feeling of seeing the clouds.

Xiahou Rong never let go of this kind of opportunity, he was afraid that Sun Shao was guarding against him, and refused to tell him, after all, he was still from Wei, and he was an important minister of Wei, so it was obviously unlikely that he would throw himself into the arms of Yue like Lu Xun.

"Youquan, you have been known as a prodigy since you were a child, but do you believe that with your own strength, you can fight against the entire Wei State?"

Xiahou Rong was a little puzzled, he asked about Rome, how did Sun Shao talk about Wei. He thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Impossible." Not to mention that the name of a prodigy is an exaggeration, even if it is really a prodigy, I am afraid that the action is limited. King Wu is extremely smart, and there are so many capable men and wise men under his account, in the early stage, he broke Lu Bu in the east, Yuan Shao in the north, Ma Chao and Han Sui in the west, and Liu Biao in the south...... In the face of the resistance of the scholars, he was also helpless. ”

"This is a very good example." Sun Shao straightened up, his hand lightly patted the railing, and looked at Alexander's team as he gradually moved away: "Cao Gong is a hero in the world, the reason why he was able to become strong in the early stage is because he combines the strength of the Ru Ying Shi and the Qian Pei Haoqiang, and everyone works together, so he can get stronger and stronger, and in the later stage, the Ru Ying Shi and him have a disagreement, although the strength of the Qi Pei Hao is stronger than before, but the power within the Wei State is scattered, and the Ru Ying people led by Xun's uncle and nephew have left the core one after another, The victory of the King of Wei came to an end. In fact, when you think about it, from the moment King Wei became prime minister, his smoothness came to an end. ”

Xiahou Rong frowned slightly, thought for a long moment, and then sighed softly: "Yes, it is said that the defeat of Chibi is a turning point in the life of King Wu, in fact, before Chibi, this turning point has already begun." ”

"Therefore, against the strength of the individual and the strength of the collective, even if you are a genius, you can only remain undefeated at most, and it may be possible to win once or twice, but if you want one person to defeat everyone, it is basically a madman's dream. There is a saying among the Jews that if God wants a man to perish, he must first make him mad, and those who think they are invincible in the world are probably crazy before they die. ”

Xiahou Rong smiled: "So the king still believes in Lao Tzu's words, only he can't fight, so the world can't fight with it?" ”

"Not fighting is fighting, I don't fully agree with your understanding of Lao Tzu's words." Sun Shao shook his head: "Tianzhu people believe in Buddhism, pursue liberation, and pay attention to obedience, but if you look at what they are like now, they are just scattered sand." I believe in the way of ease, the gentleman is self-improving, and the gentleman is virtuous. Don't count on the kindness of others, but make yourself strong first so that others will not dare to bully you. And we are strong to protect ourselves, not to oppress others, this is called virtue. If you are weak and powerless, but you want others to be kind, such a person can only die. ”

"And if you want to be strong, you must combine the abilities of more people and give full play to the wisdom of more people, just like when you prepare for Zhuya College and Funan College, and spare no effort to support those scholars and craftsmen to do research?"

"Yes, why is my Yue Kingdom so strong now, and can mediate such a powerful country as Rome and Sassanid with the power of a single country? Not because of me, but because of the strength of the whole country of Yue, our ship can sail thousands of miles, and can deter the covetousness of the ugly; Our goods are so beautiful that they can't put them down and can empty their purses; By teaching Chinese, we scholars of the Han Dynasty can travel the world and increase their knowledge. Why? It's not that I'm strong, it's that I'm strong. Sun Shao raised his head and let out a long breath: "Of course, my Yue Kingdom is not strong enough, otherwise, I don't need to spend so much effort to deal with them, I can directly destroy those greedy nobles, give those people a favor, and let them eat pot pulp to welcome the king." And for now, I can only think about the long flow of water and some water grinding work. ”

"What's so bad about water mill kung fu?" Xiahou Rong said with a smile: "Wouldn't it be more natural for the water to drop through the stones, and the fine water will burst the embankment, and then the water will come naturally?" If you want to conquer, many people don't say that you want to die, and the resistance is still difficult to eliminate after all, so it's better to be safe like this. ”

"You're right." Sun Shao laughed: "But there is a condition for this, we can't put our hope on one or two people, but on generation after generation, so the spirit of continuity is very important." ”

"I see." Xiahou Rong nodded understandingly: "No matter how smart Momia is, no matter how hard Alexander works, he is just as majestic as Emperor Trajan, and he can't cure the root cause after all." ”

"Hey, that's right." Sun Shao no longer elaborates, for a smart person like Xiahou Rong, just break through a little trick, he will naturally follow that train of thought, and if he talks too carefully, it will hinder his own reading and thinking.

"Youquan, the negotiation is almost over, as soon as Ma Ming dies, it is estimated that King Guishan will not rush here in person to meet the alliance, I think it will end like this." I will be in Axum for a while, and then you will go across the Red Sea and meet the king of Sheba. I want to control the entire trade routes of the Red Sea, they will definitely be affected, and if they are willing to let us coexist peacefully, I can consider giving them a share of the trade routes on land, and we will all get rich together. ”

Xiahou Rong smiled slightly, he has been by Sun Shao's side for so long, of course he knows Sun Shao's temper, everyone gets rich together, uses the strong economic strength of the Han people to drag down the other party step by step, and captures the other party quietly, this is his favorite means of fighting without fighting, if the other party does not know each other, he has to be an enemy, Sun Shao is not afraid to conquer by force at the right time, provided that he can solve the problem cleanly and neatly, and will not leave future troubles, just like solving Funan. Sun Shao asked him to negotiate with the Sheba people only on the surface, and secretly he must have checked their terrain and strength to make other preparations.

What he was curious about was that Sun Shao actually gave him such a thing with confidence.

"That land is rich in good horses and camels, and the terrain is very special, and if there is a conflict with the Sassanid in the future, the south can be used as a base, and the north is the best battlefield." Sun Shao didn't look back at Xiahou Rong either, and continued: "Occupy the south first, let our infantry familiarize ourselves with the environment here, and then develop northward, advance steadily, and have fleets in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to support at any time, whether facing the Sheba or the Sassanids, we can advance and retreat freely." Of course, this is just an invincible position, if you want to win, you have to see whether Ziwen and Boyan can cooperate tacitly and play majestic. ”

Xiahou Rong smiled, Sun Shao's true intentions were finally exposed. He bowed and saluted: "Wow! ”

The negotiations soon ended, and Alexander and Shapur left Axum one after another and returned to their respective kingdoms. Alexander was very excited about the harvest this time, and along the way, he imagined that after Rome's economic problems had been alleviated, he would lead a large army to attack the Sassanids, and relieve the happy situation of evil in his chest, and he could not suppress a smile on his face. Although Quintus felt that Alexander was a little uncontrollable, he was also very satisfied with the thought of this harvest.

Back at the palace, Alexander and Momia smiled together as soon as they met, and Momia's face showed a blush, and she subconsciously looked away: "It's negotiated?" ”

"Mother, don't you know everything?" Alexander teased that he was in a very good mood today, and when he saw his mother smile so shyly, he couldn't help but laugh a little mischievously.

"I know a little bit, but I'd like to hear it from you personally." Momia coughed, barely maintaining her solemnity: "I know that you have secretly negotiated a lot of conditions with him later, and looking at the joy on your face, I think it must be very rewarding." ”

As soon as he mentioned this thing that made Alexander happy, Alexander suddenly came to his senses, and he didn't care about joking, and explained the situation in detail. Sun Shao was willing to open various factories such as paper mills and wine mills in Rome, and at the same time invited him to join the shares, when the dividends would be very considerable, the emperor's economic difficulties would be alleviated, and they would have more money to recruit more troops.

Momia listened with a smile, but remained silent, until Alexander stopped the topic and took a glass of water to drink, she frowned slightly and said: "In this way, the advantages of the merchants of the Han Dynasty are more obvious, and it will be more difficult for us to compete with them." I'm afraid it won't be long before we can't fight the Han Dynasty if we want to. ”

"Fighting the Han Dynasty?" Alexander smiled in surprise: "Why should we fight with them? ”

"Alas—" Momia sighed silently, "how can you think so, my Alexander? You get along well with him, but after all, this is only a personal relationship between the two of you, and it does not mean that the Han Dynasty and Rome will be able to maintain this harmonious relationship for a long time. You signed this contract, we have benefited from it, but there will also be other Romans who have benefited from it, once the Han Dynasty and our Rome have a conflict of interests, their first thought will be their own interests, and they will use various ways to prevent us from going to war with the Han Dynasty. At that point, it's too late for you to regret it. ”

Alexander's face twitched, and he glanced at Momia with some unhappiness: "Mother, I'm still young, he's still young, as long as we can get along well, there will be at least a few decades of peace." With these decades, I think I can figure out a good way to do it. ”

Momia frowned, and her face suddenly sank, but it was only a blink of an eye, and soon she laughed again: "Alexander, I'm so glad you think so." As a mother, I just want to remind you not to be blinded by immediate benefits and forget about the dangers in the distance. I also hope that you can live peacefully with him and be a great emperor. ”

Alexander smiled at this time, stepped forward to put his arm around Momia's shoulders, and whispered something in her ear, Momia frowned, blushed and said, "Is this also what a son should ask his biological mother, Your Majesty the Great Emperor?" ”

Alexander laughed.

…… In the city of Tessiphon, the temple of Zoroaster of the Sassanids, the Sassanid king Ardashir, dressed in a golden silk robe, knelt before the altar burning with a roaring fire, and recited the words with his eyes closed. Shapur knelt behind him and chanted the prayer as the two high priests in priestly robes stood behind the fire, looking condescendingly at the two most powerful Sassanid men.

I don't know how long it took for Ardashir to finish the prayer and bow respectfully, and then he stood up, and the two priests hurriedly came and led him to the side hall to rest. Shapur followed closely, and watched Ardashir finish washing his hands, sit down on a large chair, eat some snacks and drink some wine slowly, and hold his breath, but he did not dare to say a word.

Ardashir sucked his finger in his mouth, took the towel and wiped his hands, then opened his slender eyes and glanced at Shapur, and asked lightly: "The Yue people have no cavalry?" ”

"Nope." Shapur replied: "I only see that they have 10,000 Janissaries, and there are still some sailors on the coast who have not come ashore, but judging from the number they have taken from the city of Axum, the maximum number is only 10,000, and I estimate that it should be a long-term escort fleet in the Red Sea in the future." ”

"Oh, and what about it, who is the commander of the Red Sea Fleet, do you know?" Ardashir said unmoved: "In addition, there are more than 10,000 sailors in the Yue Kingdom, since they have come to the Red Sea, then there should always be in the Persian Gulf, right?" ”

"The generals of the Red Sea Fleet are called ...... Kudzu...... Straight. Shapur had a particularly difficult time pronouncing these sounds, and after elongating his voice, he felt very awkward: "It is said that he was originally a general in Ceylon, and he has been following Sun Shao for almost ten years, and he is a very stable person. The Persian Gulf also arranged a fleet, and the leader was that Chen Hai, who was also in charge of the Arabian Sea. ”

Shapur was a little proud, he had long known that Ardashir would ask these questions, so he inquired in advance, and even paid attention to the personal hobbies of some generals, such as he knew that Zhuge Zhi had no bad habits, he just liked to read. On the contrary, Chen Hai hates reading very much, but he likes to compete with people, likes to hold banquets, and invites people to drink on his boat.

"And what about another one named Cui Qian?" Ardashir asked again quietly: "It is said that this person is one of the most capable generals under Sun Shao, and he is also a militant, in order to be able to fight, he does not even do the rich Nanhai Governor." Since he is here, how can he not have a mission? ”

The color on Shapur's face disappeared without a trace, he found that he had made a big mistake, he only inquired about Cui Qian's news at the beginning, and later saw that Cui Qian had not appeared, he thought that Cui Qian was not in the arrangement this time, and subconsciously ignored him, and now after being reminded by Ardashir, he found that the disappeared Cui Qian seemed to be the most important one.

"It's the same as playing chess, everything on the chessboard is dead, and the chess piece hidden in the hand is the killer." Ardashir stood up and walked out slowly, stopping when he reached the door, and commanded, "Send someone to check and see where this pirate-turned-general of the Yue Kingdom has gone." ”

(To be continued)