In the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, the kingdom of Himyar, the capital city of Zefarne is full of people. When a huge fleet from the East entered the Red Sea at the end of May, it caused a great shock among the local Arab tribes.

Although the Arabs had heard about the Jin people from the Persians and Romans, this was the first time they had truly seen the power and richness of the Great Jin.

Unlike the powerful Islamic Arabia of later generations, the Arabian Peninsula at this time was still in a state of long-term division, and in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula alone, there were more than a dozen tribal kingdoms of various sizes, such as the Himyar Kingdom, the Sabayi Kingdom, and the Hadramao Kingdom, and the three kingdoms all wanted to unify the Arabian Peninsula, so there were frequent wars between the three.

For the arrival of the envoy of the Great Jin, the king of the Himyar Kingdom Shemer was very happy, and he believed that if the Himyar Kingdom could get the support of the Great Jin, it would definitely be able to unify the Arabian Peninsula smoothly, so as to get rid of the bullying of foreign enemies.

Before the rise of Islam, the kingdoms and tribes of the Arabian Peninsula were extremely weak, and they were not only deceived by the Romans and Persians for a long time, but even the Kingdom of Ethiopia in Africa could often come to the peninsula to fight the autumn wind.

"Hehe, welcome guests from the East!" King Shermar stood in front of the palace to greet Wen Qiao and his entourage, saying that the palace was actually not as grand as the estates of some families in the Great Jin Dynasty.

"Thank you Your Majesty for your hospitality!" Wen Qiao did not show arrogance and rudeness when he held himself up, but showed the demeanor of the children of the family everywhere, making those who came into contact with him feel like a spring breeze.

"Sure enough, it's a Shangbang character. Shine brightly! King Shermaer looked at Wen Qiao and the others in gorgeous Hanfu and sighed, "Ambassador Wen, is it that everyone in your Great Jin Dynasty wears expensive silk?" ”

"Of course, my country is rich and the people are rich, and silk is just a relatively expensive item, and people with a little bit of family background can basically afford to wear it." Wen Qiao replied proudly.

"Your emperor is really a great emperor, I really don't know when the heroes of our Arabs will appear!" After Shammer sighed, he turned his head to Wen Qiao next to him and asked, "Envoy from the East, I don't know if there is anything important about your coming to our country this time?" ”

"Your Majesty the King. This envoy was ordered by our emperor to send an envoy to the West. The aim was to establish stable trade relations with other countries, the most important of which was to open markets outside of Persia and Rome. The king should have known that Persia was at the crossroads of trade between the East and the West, and their presence greatly hindered our trade with the West. Especially after the Persians mastered the technique of silk. They were even more reluctant to let me sell silk to the merchants. ”

"Therefore. In this case. Our emperor hopes to open up a new Silk Road from the sea, just as I opened the land Silk Road to Zhang Qian hundreds of years ago, and establish a sea trade route that has flourished for thousands of years. ”

"Oh? Is the ambassador telling the truth? Shemair was overjoyed when he heard this. Of course, he knew how much benefit was involved, and if the kingdom of Himhayar served as a trade transit point between the Great Jin and Europe, then they would soon become rich. As long as he had money, he was able to buy weapons from the Great Jin, and with weapons he could defeat other enemies, thus unifying the Arabian Peninsula and becoming a hero to the Arabs.

"Your Excellency, I think there is no country in the Arabian Peninsula that is more suitable than the Kingdom of Himyar, and you, my Excellency the Ambassador, are of course the most honored guest of Himhayar now." King Shermermo, who was in his forties, flattered him with his fists.

Although Wen Qiao had already decided to cooperate with the other party in his heart, he didn't reveal anything on the surface, only to see him reveal a trace of embarrassment, "But as far as this envoy knows, the strength of the Himyar Kingdom is extremely weak, not to mention competing with Persia and Rome, I'm afraid that even the Saboyi Kingdom, which is also an Arab, may not be able to fight, what do you use to make us believe that the goods will be handed over to you without being snatched away by other forces!" ”

"Oh, Your Excellency, you can rest assured of that. We may not be able to launch an expedition against Persia and Rome, but we are not easy to mess with. The Romans and Persians have invaded the Arabian Peninsula many times, but we have been defeated by us the last few times, and we are located in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, which is not a place where the Romans and Persians can easily penetrate. ”

"Yes, as long as we can get the support of the Great Jin, we will definitely have the strength to sweep across the Arabian Peninsula, and then we will be even less afraid of Persia and Rome. For nearly a thousand years, our Arabs have been striving for unity, mainly because of the balance and dispersion of the various tribes and kingdoms. ”

"But now that the time has come to unify the Arabian Peninsula, the ambassador may not know that the most powerful force in the entire Arabian Peninsula is my country. Our cooperation is a strong combination, who will be our opponent then? King Shammel was so proud that it seemed that by this time he had unified the Arabian Peninsula with the support of the Great Jin.

Wen Qiao nodded with a smile, he admitted that Shemer did not say big things, at this time the Saibai Kingdom was at the end of the dynasty, but the Himyar Kingdom was in the ascending stage. The southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula (present-day Yemen) is a land of abundant water and grass, with abundant rainfall, fertile land, forest cover, and abundant produce. It is rich in spices and is the sea passage between the east and west. It was also this land that created the foundation of the later Himrayar Kingdom for hundreds of years.

Historically, the Himyyar kingdom was divided into two phases, this time was the late Himyar period (300~525 AD), because the Yaksum dynasty of Ethiopia was also in a prosperous period, in the following decades, the two sides fought for control of the southwestern Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea shipping lanes, the two sides broke out several wars.

Although the Arabs later took advantage of the civil strife in the Yamum Dynasty to drive out the Ethiopians, the Arabs also suffered heavy losses, and the direct consequences were the disrepair of water resources, the collapse of the Marib dam, the destruction of the rural economy, and the control of the Red Sea trade routes by the Romans.

Feeling King Shemer's strong desire to form an alliance, Wen Qiao put away his joke. He said solemnly: "Your Majesty, the envoy could have formed an alliance with the Himyar Kingdom on behalf of the Great Jin, but you must guarantee the economic interests of my Great Jin in the Arabian Peninsula. We will not make territorial claims to you, but I hope that you will allow those who have attained the Enlightenment in our country to come and preach and preach. ”

Seeing that Wen Qiao finally agreed to form an alliance with them, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief. But King Shemer nodded his head again and again and agreed: "Okay, there is no problem, as long as the missionaries of your country do not interfere in our internal affairs, I will allow you to preach, I believe that through these days of visiting, Your Excellency Ambassador, you have a deeper impression of the Kingdom of Himyar." It is no exaggeration to say. Yemen is the pearl of the Red Sea. In the future, it will become a center of maritime trade between the East and the West. ”

"Your Excellency, the Arabs have indeed made a good impression on the envoy. In fact, as far away as the East, we learned of your heroic deeds from the Hoppians, the Litres, and the Romans. But the Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea, and North Africa are too far away for us Jin people. ”

"The mission took a big risk this time and crossed the Indian Ocean. It took almost a month to get here. Wen Qiao said with emotion. While secretly observing the expressions of the nobles of the surrounding Himmyel Kingdom. As he guessed. When he mentions the Persians, the Romans. A hint of embarrassment flashed across everyone's faces, including King Shermer. It is no wonder that the Arabs today are not able to compete with the two empires of Persia and Rome.

"Your Majesty, except for our alliance. There is another very important matter that we Arabs need to help us, and that is in the interests of both of us in the future. If this is not done well, I am afraid that the trade between the two sides will not be as effective as it should be. ”

"Oh? What is so important? Shemer also became nervous when he heard this, after all, this trade route was related to the future of the Himyar Kingdom.

"Presumably the king has also heard that hundreds of years ago, the great Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian opened the passage connecting the two worlds of the East and the West - the land Silk Road. It's a pity that after the ravages of the Xianbei people, the Huns, the Persians and other barbarians, this thousand-year-old trade route has long been unrecognizable. ”

"Besides, the Silk Road needs to cross the Gobi Desert and climb over the mountains and snowfields. In contrast, the sea route is safer and faster. This time, our emperor ordered us to wait for the envoy to the West, hoping to open a maritime Silk Road connecting the east and the west like our ancestors. Wen Qiao said proudly.

"Your Excellency, we Arabs also very much want to open the trade route between East and West. As for the problem that the overland journey is too long and too dangerous. I have a route here for the ambassadors to follow. This trade route provides a direct link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. You don't have to cross the hinterland of Eurasia or the treacherous African continent. With that, King Shammel motioned to his attendants to open the curtain behind him.

In an instant, a huge map of the peninsula was clearly displayed in front of everyone. Such a map is all too familiar to Wen Qiao. On more than one occasion, he accompanied the emperor and his cabinet ministers on a similar map.

Seeing that Shemer, who was confident, happily arrived in front of the map, pointed to the junction of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, and said: "Your Excellency, the route I am talking about is to first enter the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean by sea, and then change from the Red Sea to cross the Isthmus of Suez by land, and finally reach the Mediterranean. ”

"If you follow this route to China and Europe, you can shorten the distance by at least half. Less than half the sea route meant that most of the dangerous storms at sea could be avoided, and the mission must have seen the power of storms in the Arabian Peninsula this time. ”

"Oh, Your Majesty, you thought of the Isthmus of Suez as well. That's great! Now that we've all thought of going together, it's easy to do. The route at one end of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea is in charge of my Great Jin, and the route at the end of the Mediterranean Sea is in charge of your Himyar Kingdom. ”

"Yes, yes, I believe that with the close cooperation between our two sides, the silk, porcelain, spices, and handicrafts of the Great Jin Dynasty will definitely conquer the entire Western world." King Shemer said excitedly. At this moment, he seemed to have seen a steady stream of wealth pouring into the kingdom of Himyar.

"yes. If Da Jin thinks it's still troublesome. We can also dig a canal on the Isthmus of Suez that connects the Red Sea directly with the Mediterranean. An Arab aristocrat in his thirties on the side suddenly interjected. (To be continued......)