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Sheba was an ancient country, so old that even they themselves could not remember how old it was, and anyway, the troubadours said that it was so far away that even the most learned scholars could not remember how far it was. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

But in reality, the current owners of the kingdom of Sheba are not the original Sheba people. The Sheba people were originally the Sebaics, but because they originally lived in Sheba, they called the kingdom they established later called Sheba, but the current Sheba people are the Himians, who defeated the Sebaites more than 300 years ago and became the new masters of Sheba.

Sheba is a good place, in the desert Arabian Peninsula, Sheba is a rain-filled place because of its proximity to the sea, and the Malibu Dam, built hundreds of years ago, has stored precious rainwater for them, turning the land into a fertile land. In addition to having enough water to develop agriculture, the Sheba people really relied on commerce to get rich. Sheba is located at the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula (around present-day Yemen), bordering the Gulf of Aden, whether it is merchants from the East to the Mediterranean, or from the Mediterranean to the East, most of them choose to rest in the royal city of Caifar or exchange goods, and the Sheba people have obtained a lot of wealth from it, they also set up their own caravans, buy goods from the eastern merchants who are unwilling to continue forward, and then transport them to the north by camels, and even as far as the borders of the Celestial and Gauls.

If the abundant rainfall allowed them to live a stable life in the Arabian Peninsula, then commerce was the main way to make them prosperous. The people of Sheba were proud to be the richest people in the world, and Zepfar was the richest city in the world, and when King Solomon became famous in the north, the queen of Sheba rushed to meet him with a rich gift, and the meeting was so important that it was recorded by Christians in their Bibles.

But Samhu, the king of Sheba? Ali? Bemu was very unhappy, he succeeded to the throne for more than ten years, the kingdom of Sheba has been very good, the people are rich, peaceful and stable, the goods from all sides gather in the city of Zephar, but he slowly found that in recent years, there are fewer and fewer merchants through Sheba, and most of them are some scattered merchants, among which the merchants from the Mediterranean Sea are the mainstay, and the merchants from the East even if they take a temporary rest in Zephar, few people resell their goods to them, they often come to Zefar or other small towns of Sheba from the sea, and rest for a while, Then he went back to sea, into the Red Sea, but he did not do business in Sheba, let alone sell them the lucrative silks and spices.

Without the goods of the Oriental merchants, the business of the Sheba people plummeted, and Zepfar quickly revealed a depression, the once bustling streets were now sparse, the inns that had never been worried about no customers became crowded, and the caravans that resold their goods gradually lost their livelihoods, and they either left the country or disbanded the caravans to find another livelihood.

Samhu was so surprised that he immediately sent someone to investigate, and soon found out the truth: everything was because of Han merchants.

In order to catch the monsoon return, they generally choose to resell their goods to the Sheba people, just like those Tianzhu merchants, but now they are different, they can take a huge merchant ship, they can bring a large amount of goods at a time, there is no need to rush back, and they can arrange the time calmly. At the same time, they have a strong fleet to protect them, and the pirates along the way do not dare to make any attempts against them, they can go all the way to the northern end of the Red Sea, transport the goods to the nearest place to the Mediterranean, and no longer need to resell them in Zefal, which can make more profits. In this way, apart from the occasional rest, the role of trade transit has disappeared invisibly. The Han merchants were numerous and financially powerful, and they controlled most of the business on this trade route, and they did not trade in Zepfar, which dealt a very serious blow to the economy of Sheba.

What made Samhu even more anxious was that those scattered Tianzhu merchants no longer traded in Zefar, they preferred to take the Han Chinese ship and rush to the Mediterranean to do business, not only the goods could be sold at a higher price, but also the cheaper Roman and Persian goods, these price differences were enough to make up for the cost of their Han ships, so they were happy to do it one by one.

They are tired of this, but Samhu is anxious to get angry, and if this continues, even if Sheba will not lose the country because of this, but it is impossible to restore that rich life, and now Sheba only relies on agricultural income to support, the most abundant commercial income has retreated to the bottom, not worth mentioning, the once prosperous kingdom of Sheba has lost its former glory, just like a jeweled noblewoman, all of a sudden faded its brilliance, showing its old state.

Knowing the reason, Samhu was so angry that he jumped to his feet, he was furious, but he was helpless, first, it was a natural thing for the Han merchants to do business and chase profits, and no one stipulated that they should resell the goods to the Sheba people, and secondly, although Samhu was not a good family, he wanted to rob very much-the Hemians started by plundering, and even the kingdom of Sheba was robbed by them, and it was even more common to rob passing merchants--but he found that no matter how fast his horse was, no matter how much his camel could carry the load, but he could not jump into the sea, In the face of the big ship of the Han people, they could only look at the ship and sigh, they had also organized pirates, but unfortunately as soon as they came into contact, they were beaten all over the ground by the vicious escort warships - they did not know how difficult it was for the Vietnamese escort fleet to find a few pirates who could be regarded as opponents.

After suffering a few times, Samhu sat in the palace and cursed the Han Chinese ship to be overturned by Poseidon, the god of the sea, so that Sheba could regain prosperity. However, I heard that the Romans have allied with the Han Chinese, and it is estimated that their sea god will not be unable to get along with the Han Chinese.

Just when Samhu had nothing to do and was helpless, Xiahou Rong crossed the Red Sea and came to Zefar, the royal city of Sheba.

As soon as he set foot on the land of Sheba, Xiahou Rong completely understood Sun Shao's intentions. Sheba and Axum were so close that they could cross the narrow strait in a day's work, and if they could make peace with the Sheba, when they went to war with the Sassanids in the future, it would be impossible for the Sassanids to cross the sea from Sheba and go straight to the heart of Axum, but they could only make a long journey from the north, even though their cavalry was very fast, and there was no sudden surname. From a strategic point of view, this is equivalent to establishing a forward position in Sheba to block the Sassanids, and from a business point of view, friendship with the Sheba is equivalent to an additional transit point, which is very convenient for replenishing fresh water, food, and recuperation, and can greatly reduce the difficulty of supply.

Before he saw Samhu, Xiahou Rong already had an idea, and he came to the palace very calmly to ask for a meeting.

As soon as he heard that the Han envoy had asked to see him, Samhu jumped up at that time, drew his knife and shouted to kill the Han envoy who had been sent to the door to vent his anger, but was stopped by his most beloved little daughter, the princess Adella.

Samhu has thirteen sons and four daughters, and Adela, who is eighteen years old this year, is the youngest and the most beautiful one, because she loves it so much, although she has already reached the age of marriage, she has never been willing to let her marry. Adella is tall, with silk-like curls that go straight to her waist, her breasts are high, her waist is slender, her skin is fair, her face is beautiful, especially her blue eyes are very bright, and she is bent like a crescent moon when she smiles. No matter how angry Samhu was, as long as he saw this little daughter, he could smile with his eyes.

Adella told Sam Hu that it was not too late to decide whether to kill him or not, perhaps because the Han people felt that they had done something wrong and came to seek reconciliation.

Samhu was angry at this time, and he hummed angrily and let Xiahou Rong come in.

Xiahou Rong heard Samhu's displeasure from the tone of the waiter who ordered the order, he smiled slightly, and dusted off the already very clean cotton robe. The cheongsam was well-cut and brought out his muscular body just right. Because of the long years of fighting in the north, his face is a little dark, but this does not affect his handsomeness, on the contrary, he has a little more masculinity. And the kind of elegance that has been cultivated from the etiquette of small poems and books is unique among the Sheba people who advocate heroism.

He walked into the palace steadily, and bowed to Sam Hu, who was sitting on the throne and full of anger, without humility or arrogance: "The envoy of the king of Han Yue, the general of the north of Wei Guozhen, and Xiahou Rong of Qianjun pay a visit to the king." ”

Samhu listened to the translation of the interpreter, and was confused all of a sudden, he stared at Xiahou Rong for a long time, opened his mouth a few times, and finally couldn't help asking: "Who are you?" Is it a Han person, or a Wei person, or a Yue person, or a Qianjun person? ”

Xiahou Rong showed a gentle smile, waved his hand at the interpreter who was breaking out in a cold sweat next to him, and repeated it in fluent Roman dialect. Sheba and Rome are too close, and they are no strangers to Roman dialect, after listening to Xiahou Rong's explanation, Samhu patted his forehead: "You Han people are really troublesome, they have confused me, and you have been engaged for a long time, you are both Han, Wei, and Qianjun, and the envoy of King Yue." ”

Xiahou Rong smiled slightly: "King Shengming." ”

From Xiahou Rong walked in, Adele's eyes never left Xiahou Rong, Xia Hourong's demeanor completely attracted her heart, and then heard Xia Hourong's fluent Roman dialect, her eyes suddenly lit up, and the thick baritone seemed to hit her heart every sentence, knocking her heart to a pound, and a touch of red unexpectedly floated on the cheeks of the deceptive Saixue.

"The messenger speaks Roman." Adella blurted out.

"Passing the prize." Xiahou Rong was very gentlemanly and bowed: "Dare to ask the king, who is this beautiful girl?" ”

"She's my daughter." Samhu found that Adella's expression was wrong, and he couldn't help frowning, and then looked at Xia Hourong's eyes naturally a little more vigilant. With the sensitivity of a father, he sensed a hint of crisis. Without waiting for Xiahou Rong to ask again, he raised his voice and asked, "What are you doing here?" You Han people are so hateful, you have monopolized the business, and you have almost lost all the way for my Sheba people to live. Do you dare to come to my Caifar, for fear that I will kill you? ”

Xiahou Rong looked at Samhu, smiled silently, Samhu felt a little weak in his heart, but he refused to admit defeat, so he had to pretend to be angry, blowing his beard and glaring back at Xiahou Rong. Xiahou Rongyi grinned: "If the king thinks that killing me will solve the problem of Sheba, I am very willing to sacrifice my life for the king and the people of Sheba." ”

"Okay, I'll kill you right now." Samhu shouted and stood up, raising his hand to call the warriors outside the palace in, Adella saw it, quickly grabbed him, and said angrily: "Father, what's the use of you killing him?" Will killing him make the merchants come back to Zefar? Besides, have you forgotten that he was the messenger of King Yue? The king of Yue destroyed the country of Funan for the sake of two merchants. ”

Samhu rolled his eyes angrily, and sat on the throne dejectedly, he was not a fool, of course he knew that killing Xiahou Rong was useless, he just wanted to say two cruel words to scare Xiahou Rong to relieve his anger, but he didn't expect Xiahou Rong to be scared, his baby daughter was born with an external heart, which was really frustrating.

"Your envoy, please tell me that my father is just joking with you, please don't mind." Adella turned her face and said to Xiahou Rong with a pleasant face. Xiahou Rong bowed and saluted: "Thank you, princess, but I believe that the king will not have any ill will towards me, after all, I came with a piece of friendliness." His Royal Highness the King of Yue heard that the king was well governed, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and he respected the king very much, so he sent me to discuss cooperation with the king. He paused, then smiled again: "We Han people have a saying, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, now Axum is the territory of my Han Dynasty, Sheba is our close neighbor across the sea, we are very willing to be a harmonious neighbor with the king." ”

Samhu became interested at this time, sat up straight with bright eyes, and greeted again and again: "Say it quickly, say it quickly." ”

Xiahou Rong methodically explained Sun Shao's conditions, nothing more than the hope that Samhu would use Sheba as a transit base for a huge Han fleet, providing food, lodging, and rest for the passing merchants and escort fleets, and in return, Sun Shao would give a part of the business share deep into the interior of Arabia to the Sheba people, and at the same time give priority to the purchase of horses and camels provided by the Sheba people, and when hiring manpower, he would also give priority to hiring Sheba people, etc.

Samhu smiled when he heard this, the haze in his heart was swept away, and then he looked at Xia Hourong's eyes obviously much friendlier, and even his daughter's obvious eyebrows and eyes were not so angry. He ordered a banquet to be held for Xiahou Rong to discuss the details further. Xiahou Rong is good-looking and talented, and he has brought such good luck to Sheba, maybe he can still be worthy of his daughter.

Xiahou Rong stayed in Zepfar for a few days, and finally returned to Aksum with some of Samhu's requirements, some of Samhu's conditions were beyond the scope that Sun Shao had told him in advance, but after he turned around in Zefar, he found that Sheba had great potential to be tapped, so he did not refuse and brought it back for Sun Shao's consideration.

After listening to Xiahou Rong's narration, Sun Shao pondered for a while: "Sheba is really so important? ”

"Yes." Xiahou Rong nodded affirmatively: "Sheba's agriculture is very developed, and their Malibu dam has been used for hundreds of years, and it is still in good condition, which makes people sigh." If they can cultivate as intensively as the Yue Kingdom, their grain output can be further increased, and it will not be a problem to supply 70,000 or 80,000 troops for a long time, and they now have more than 30,000 standing troops, that is to say, they have left us with a surplus of 30,000 people. ”

Sun Shao nodded repeatedly.

In addition, the Sheba people were brave and warlike, and many of them often traveled to and from the desert, so they were very familiar with the desert terrain and were the best guides. At the same time, they were fond of plundering, and if they went to war with the Sassanids, and organized them to harass the Sassanid line, it would be a nightmare for the Sassanids, and if they could hold out for a while, they might be able to break the Sassanids with these Sheba. ”

Sun Shao looked at Xiahou Rong, who was full of words, and noticed the change in his expression when he mentioned Princess Adella of Sheba, and when he finished speaking, he suddenly asked: "How do you know so much about Sheba, did that Princess Adella tell you?" ”

"Yes...... Yes. Before Xiahou Rong's words fell, he found that his mind was broken by Sun Shao, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

"Men should get married, women should get married, this is a good marriage." Sun Shao said with a smile: "You said Sheba is so important, it seems that I can't agree to it." However, we can't cheapen the Sheba people for nothing, you take a rest, and I will send another person to let them marry that princess Adella to you, and I will agree to their conditions. ”

"This ...... It's not appropriate, right? Xiahou Rong was surprised and delighted.

"Yes." Sun Shao patted Xiahou Rong on the shoulder: "You're right, being able to befriend the Sheba people is a good thing for us that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages." Why did I choose to use alliances instead of conquests? It is because the soft is always more effective than the hard one, of course, no matter what time it is, this hard hand can not be put down, and the soft one must come to the hard one, otherwise it will be wronged by others. Although it is not as good as conquering to gain more benefits, it is more secure in comparison. Even if I didn't have you, I would have been in contact with the Sheba people, and it wouldn't be bad to earn an extra princess. ”

He paused, then suddenly turned to Xiahou Rong and said, "Youquan, you said that if you are my envoy and stay in Zefar City for a long time and preside over the military affairs here, is it feasible?" ”

Xiahou Rong was taken aback, and shook his head again and again: "Your Highness, how can I afford such an important responsibility?" You'd better choose meritocracy. ”

"Meritocracy?" The corners of Sun Shao's mouth twitched: "Who else can be more virtuous than you?" Don't doubt yourself, I can tell you, although this is not a steppe, it is very important to build a strong cavalry in order to dominate here. Ziwen is the most suitable candidate, but he doesn't like political affairs, I'm worried that he is too strong, and he doesn't have a good relationship with these people, if you can be good with Adella for a hundred years, it will be logical to sit in Sheba, maybe you can be the king of Sheba in the future, and at that time, Sheba will not become the territory of my Han people? ”

"I'm from Wei." Xiahou Rong was surprised and delighted, but also reminded with some worry.

"The Wei people are also Han people." Sun Shao glared at him unhappily: "You think you're not Han?" ”

"Of course not." Xia Hourong smiled awkwardly: "I'm just worried that others will gossip a lot." ”

"Don't worry so much." Sun Shao laughed: "To deal with Sasan, it's not for me to be able to read and bear it, Lu Xun was originally the general of Wu Guo, and he has been pulled over by me, what about you, the general of Wei Guozhen, Ziwen, is the general of my Han Dynasty, plus me, the king of Yue, we can be regarded as a multi-party alliance." If you really want to get rid of Sasansan, Your Majesty will definitely reward you for your merits, and it is not impossible to reward you with a Shebahou or something when the time comes. What's the point of staying in Wei? The Xianbei people have been dealt with by you, and there will be no great achievements in Northern Xinjiang for at least twenty years, and there is General Cao Zijian on the Western Front, and you, the general of Zhenbei, have no business to do. ”

Xiahou Rong thought for a while, and smiled a little weirdly: "King, although Arabia is a vast place, there are only a few pieces of real fertile land, you gave Sheba to me first, won't the other generals of the Yue Kingdom have an opinion?" Do you give them barren deserts? ”

"You don't have to worry about that." Sun Shao said confidently: "I have enough land to reward them, as for the desert, I have to keep it for myself, and I am reluctant to give it if they want it." ”

"Then I'll be disrespectful."

"Wait, I haven't finished my words yet, how can there be such a good thing as a beauty and a piece of land in the world. Listen to me, after you take control of Sheba, you will take advantage of the Sheba people to gradually develop northward, conquer the Red Sea coast one after another, and open the passage to Sasania. Now we are just laying out, and we don't have the strength to compete with the Sassanids face to face, but this day will come sooner or later, and even one day, we will have to compete with the Romans. Sun Shao put away his smile: "It's not an overnight thing, it may take ten years, maybe fifty years, maybe hundreds of years, but there are some things we have to start doing now." In addition, this is just our plan, the world's affairs, the unsatisfactory eighteen or nineteen, we have the heart of seeking people, people also have the heart of seeking me, Ardashir generation of heroes, we must prevent him from preemptively. To build Sheba into a pedal that can be attacked and defended, the dock of the Arabian Sea, do you understand? ”

Xiahou Rong replied: "The minister understands. ”

Sun Shao immediately sent someone to negotiate with Samhu in the city of Zefal, as soon as he heard that Xiahou Rong could stay in the city of Caifal for a long time, and Adela did not have to leave him, Samhu finally let go of the last trace of worry, he was satisfied with Sun Shao's conditions, and decided to build a new castle outside the city of Caifal as the residence of Xiahou Rong and Adella after their marriage. As soon as the news came out that Xiahou Rong was going to marry Adella, the princess of Sheba, the merchants along the way were very happy, and they went outside the palace to congratulate Princess Adella.

While Samhu was happy, Ardashir was exposed, and while he was preparing to conquer Armenia again, he suddenly received a report that there was a serious shortage of weapons, and that the recruited mercenaries were unwilling to give him any more because they could not receive enough weapons. After further investigation, he found that this was actually a good thing done by the Yue and Kushan people, they invariably interrupted the supply of Uzi iron, and the Sassanids had no good craftsmen to manage the army, but they were suffering from the forging of iron, and many skilled craftsmen left Ctesiphon one after another, and went to Tianzhu and Funan with the Yue merchant ships to make a living.

At the same time, a similar situation arose in the Roman-controlled city of Damascus, where the Roman Emperor Alexander urgently ordered Quintus to go to Axum to meet Sun Shao, the king of Yue.

(To be continued)