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On April 4, 1514, the 22-year-old young emperor Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to restore the guards of the Ning Palace, and granted Tuntian. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In Gujia Fort on the grassland, Xiao Ye ushered in a caravan from afar at this time, a caravan full of tall camels, but everyone in the fort watched for a long time.

"Honorable Great Chief, we are a caravan from Hami and have come to trade with the Galen tribe, please allow me," Banawa, an Arab merchant dressed in white robes, respectfully pleaded after offering Xiao Ye a bag of spices.

Standing on the steps at the entrance of the inner fort, Xiao Ye looked at the eagle-nosed merchant curiously, "How did you know about the stone castle here?" ”

"Hehe, I, Banawa, have known Ola, the head of the Haixi village, for a long time, and as an old friend, he introduced me here," said the tall Banawa with a smile. Banawa, who is proficient in the Ming language, although surprised by Xiao Ye's age, will never despise this big leader of the tribe.

The warning that Aulai gave him was still in his ears.

"Oh, that's the case, I'm the big leader here, Ximen Xiao Ye, please come in and speak," Xiao Ye hurriedly invited Banawa into the small courtyard of the military house in the inner fort, and someone in the caravan naturally took care of the small square of the outer fort.

Invite the guests to sit down, hot tea is served, Xiao Ye only then inquired about the origin of Banawa, this listen, I can't help but suddenly be in awe, this kind of caravan from the Great Xia Kingdom thousands of miles away, walking the real Silk Road.

The land Silk Road, the east-west direction is generally divided into three sections, the eastern section, the middle section, and the western section, each section is divided into three roads, the north, the south, and the central road, the Han Dynasty/opened up the eastern section: from Chang'an to Yumen Pass and Yangguan; Middle section: from the west of Yumen Pass and Yangguan to the Green Ridge; Tang Dynasty / Opening up the Western Section: From the Green Mountains to the west through Central Asia, West Asia and Europe.

The trade route taken by Banawa is a road in the middle section, the middle road: starting from Yumen Pass, along the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, passing through Lop Nur (Loulan), Turpan (Cheshi, Gaochang), Yanqi (Yuli), Kuqa (Qiuzi), Aksu (Gumo), Kashgar (Shule) to the Fergana Basin (Dawan).

The middle section is mainly the routes in the Western Regions, which change from time to time with the changes of oases and deserts. The third line has many branches and branch roads in the middle of the way, especially in the four towns of Anxi (established in 640).

The trade route taken by Banawa started from Fazabad in the Bactria Kingdom, passed through Shache and Kashgar, crossed the Tianshan Mountains and Turpan to Hami, and then diverted to Haixi Village, where the trade was originally intended to either enter the Tieshan Pass to Xi'an Province or go to the Hetao to trade with the Mongol Tatars.

In other words, there are business opportunities there, and there are maximum profits, and Banawa will not hesitate to turn around, rather than rigidly clinging to the so-called Silk Road.

So, with the strong recommendation of the village chief of Ola, as well as detailed guidance, Banava came to Gujiabao instead.

"Oh, that's right," Xiao Ye was very grateful for the recommendation of the village chief of Ola after listening to Banawa's story, and the jade vines were rampant all over his side, and what he was afraid of was being isolated from the outside world here; When the taste of sandwich cake is not pleasant, the most uncomfortable thing is that you can't find more trading partners, can't get more trading channels, and are constrained by the trap.

"Then, if you don't mind, Banava, can you tell me about the Silk Road," Xiao Ye thought for a moment and asked, "Of course, I will accept all the goods you bring this time, whether it is gold and silver or trading other goods, you will become my honored guest,"

"That's it, that's good," said the young tribal leader before the meeting, with an attitude of listening, and as Ola said, he was bold and crisp, and Banava was naturally happy to have a good relationship with him, and then talked about the customs and customs he had seen along the way.

"To the west of this grassland, there are high mountains and deep lakes, towering snow-capped peaks, and the endless Gobi Desert thousands of miles away, but there are also fertile lands on both sides of the trade road and well-defended cities,......" Just when Xiao Ye listened carefully to Banawa's narration, Banawa's merchants had set up white coarse cloth tents in the small square of the stone fort.

All kinds of spices from the Great Xia Kingdom, Uzi steel knives from the Sabbatical Kingdom, exquisite gold and silver jewelry, pots and saucers, hand-woven cashmere blankets, dazzling and beautiful agate bracelets, etc., etc., were put out to dazzle the eyes of everyone in the stone castle.

In particular, the deacons of several shops, after hearing the noise, were also attracted by the strange variety of goods, pulled the bearded companions on the stalls, and began to bargain in a low voice.

Naturally, Jin Sanniang also came to the small square with Xiaomei, and the goods in her shop still need to be replenished, but no matter how anxious she is, it is not bad to come here to relax.

Jin Sanniang, who knows that men need to be affectionate but can't stick to each other all the time, and has to keep a certain distance, although she welcomes Xiao Yequ at night and always pulls Xiaomei to help, she definitely maintains the reserve that a woman should have during the day, and she will not coquettishly pull a man away, and she will often go to her own shop to sit in her own shop when she has time.

With Xiao Ye's influence behind him, Jin Sanniang's shop is already the most active shop in the stone castle, who let the soldiers in the war camp order oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea at her house.

As for the IOU owed by the war barracks, the steward sent by Madao Shibao came to write off the account on time, and Jin Sanniang could send someone to Wang Gui to exchange the goods with the seal.

Jin Sanniang was also very interested in the goods from the Western Regions, but what these Arab merchants liked was not silver tickets, but real money, which made her have to give up the bulk of spices she fancied.

Outside a large tent near the northwest corner, the crowd of onlookers was three layers inside and three layers outside, noisy and noisy, and the curious Jin Sanniang refused to let go of his eyes, and with a slight movement of his footsteps, a stout guard stepped forward and separated the flow of people.

The military households and medicine households, seeing that the fourth lady was coming, got out of the way very interestingly, but their eyes were very strange.

"What are you selling? There are so many people watching," Jin Sanniang, who muttered in her heart, walked into the crowd, looked carefully, and suddenly turned red with shame, and pulled Xiaomei to turn around and leave.

"Hehe," "Hehe," the chuckle from the crowd, although he didn't dare to be presumptuous, made Jin Sanniang speed up the pace of leaving, and decided that he must sue Xiao Ye at night.

Outside the big tent, there was a row of young fair-skinned women, short in clothes, exposing their fair thighs, with thin chains around their necks, each holding a small sign with a price on it, and was being watched by a large crowd of men in amazement.

White slaves, a common trade in Arab caravans, showed their faces for the first time in the fort, but the price of these white slave women was not acceptable to ordinary people.

The stout Arab merchants, too, knew that it was almost impossible to trade here, but that it was not benevolent, but they understood, and they smiled and let people watch at will, but they did not touch it.

After inviting Banawa to lunch, Xiao Ye accompanied the guests to watch a rugby game in the barracks, the fierce flesh/body collision fight, and the inflated atmosphere full of primitive smells, let Banawa and those Arab businessmen see the other side of the Ming soldiers.

The night owl team led by Qin Shi won three lighters rewarded by Xiao Ye, and this kind of prize immediately made Banava's eyes straighten.

"Big Boss Ximen, it seems that we can also make some barter deals," Sitting with Xiao Ye again, drinking a light sour tea, Banava made a trade request with a smile after recounting a piece of scenery in the Western Regions.

He had already dismissed the idea of leaving soon.

"Of course, what this leader has said, you can't break your word," Xiao Ye took a sip of hot tea and took out a list, "The goods in this are marked with prices,"

Pocket watches, lighters, vanity mirrors, lamps, heating stoves, and the silk coats that were popular in the stone castle, matches, and the transport carts that made Banava's eyes extremely hot, etc., Xiao Ye did not mind taking them out and trading.

What he wanted was not to attract the caravan of Banawa, but to send a message through Banawa's mouth, so that the future Ximen Stone Fort would become a node on the Silk Road; In that case, the food problem will not be a hidden danger.

Of course, before this, the wild wolf who was waiting around him had to break his teeth, and he couldn't just come over and bite it once, and he would call up cavalry, phew!

For this reason, Xiao Ye was already prepared to lose the strength of a combat battalion.

As long as Najinong is beaten so hard that he doesn't dare to come over to pick up food easily, naturally the officials and border soldiers on the side wall will know how to restrain their hands and feet. The urgency of trading with mainland merchants has dissipated most of Xiao Ye.

The next day, Wang Gui, who was quickly recruited, sat in the courtyard next to the military house with Banawa and a dozen Arab businessmen, and finally completed the transaction after two hours of negotiation.

However, it took two days to actually complete the change of ownership.

A large number of spices, gold and silver jewelry, agate jewelry, and jewelry were deposited in the Jin family's shop for sale, and what Wang Gui paid was the exquisite goods carried by less than a few camels.

Hand lamps, table lamps, heating stoves, battery rods needed, Wang Gui gave free molds made in the blacksmith's shop, and the mystery of the vine grass fruit will naturally be told to Banawa, otherwise the shrewd Arab merchants will not easily buy one-time goods.

As a gift, Xiao Ye gave Banawa a brand new umbrella and a short sheathed Arabian sword studded with fine gems in return.

Although the age difference is more than thirty years, Banava likes to chat with Xiao Ye very much, and also recognizes this young friend, before leaving, he put a treasure plant seedling in a leather bag as a gift to the fourth lady, and handed it to the little sixth son who sent it to the guest.

"Next time, I'll bring enough goods to trade this kind of cart with you lords," Banava led the caravan away with a burning look in his eyes.

"What is this? also transferred it to the fourth lady, and she was not afraid of being scolded, "Xiao Liuzi, who didn't know the meaning of this bundle of seedlings at all, although he secretly scolded this bearded stingy, but he also accepted the strange gift with a smile, and threw it directly into the car and forgot about it."

66 years later, a Ming merchant named Chen Yi went to Annam to bring back a plant with edible rhizomes, so he took the lead in bringing it back to be planted on Dongshan Island, which also changed the food structure of the Ming people, this plant was called "sweet potato" at that time. However, Banawa's early trade on the trade route heralded another successful species migration along the trade route.

If Banava had diverted to Tieshanguan or the Hetao area, the plants he had carried would have died on the road on the long road, no matter how carefully he took care of them.

With a delicate pocket watch in his arms, Banawa's caravan left Gujiabao under the escort of a rat-shaped chariot, and next time, maybe he would bring enough goods to buy the next chariot, who knows.

And Banava trekked on the long trade road, how to return to the Great Xia Kingdom safely was not something that Xiao Ye could worry about.

Next, it was about how to distribute the thirty or so young white slaves that were bought, and through the transmission of the letter post, the list of centurions, even commanders, and meritorious sergeants who could be exchanged for rewards in Xin Weilin's battle merit book was passed to Xiao Ye's hands.

"According to the list, send these white slaves to the top thirty people, redeem the war exploits, and Yu Shan will personally drive to send them,"

"The remaining two white slaves will be sent to the school to wait for my father-in-law," Xiao Liuzi, who was standing in front of Xiao Ye with his hands tied, nodded again and again, without the instructions of adults, he would naturally choose the best female slave and send it to Yang Tianshou.

handed over the list to Duan Damin, Xiao Ye waved his hand and let him and Xiao Liuzi go out, and Wang Gui was still waiting outside.

Xiao Ye's actions made Jin Sanniang very happy, it was a fantasy to carry a sedan chair into Ximen's house, but she didn't want to touch the new person laughing at the old man crying.

A long conversation with Banawa also broadened Xiao Ye's mind a lot, and now, his sight was getting farther and farther away from the side wall.

The rat chariot returned to Madao Stone Castle in smoke, and the little sixth son sent two maids to Yang Tianshou, and fled in a hurry under the old master's angry scolding, but the people were left behind.

When the chariot drove to the gate of the stone fort, Xiao Liuzi saw Hu Shibiao who was busy next to the warm cellar, and decisively asked Yu Shan to stop the car, dragged the leather bag out of the car, and threw it to the warm cellar manager.

"Hu Baihu, this is a gift from an Arab businessman, maybe it's something good, I'll give it to you to plant and see," Xiao Liuzi, who didn't want to go to Jin Sanniang to find a moldy head, said with a smile, closed the car door and ran.

"This ghost boy, I feel uneasy and kind at first glance," Hu Shibiao, who was muttering in his mouth, wearing a thick suede coat, opened the leather bag that Xiao Liuzi had dropped, and looked inside, more than two dozen wilted green branches were wrapped in mud, and half of them were almost rotten.

"There is still a place in the warm cellar, take a look first," changing his body, Hu Shibiao limped and entered the small door of the warm cellar with a cane; Inside, his mother-in-law was busy watering the leek fields.

The white slave who was sent out by Xiao Ye appeared in the tent of the knife, appeared in Hao Yongliang's military house, and also appeared in front of Ata's mother-in-law, Huang Hanxiang, Li Xin'an, Wang Gui, etc., etc., not to mention which women in the family are jealous and which are happy, but these women with good faces and noodles have set off a burst of restless longing in the hearts of many men in the stone forts.

There can be an extra fair-skinned woman in the concubine's room, and she bought it from the Western Regions, and her waist can go straight up to three points.