readx; Samarkand, on the eve of the Great War, the city of Samarkand, which had just been quiet for nearly half a year, was once again shrouded in the clouds of war, but the Samarkands, who had been accustomed to war, did not show panic, they still came and went calmly, living their ordinary lives, there is a huge white building in the east of Samarkand, which is the headquarters of the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce is the most powerful civil organization in the riverine region, the Sogdians are famous for doing business, in the history of hundreds of years of trade, Sogdian merchants for the common good, They gradually organized themselves and eventually formed the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, which was so powerful that they were able to decide for a time the kings of the riverine kingdoms. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

After the impact of repeated wars, the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce also suffered heavy losses, especially the Tang Dynasty and the Great Food were in a state of hostility, which greatly weakened their trade interests, and the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce fell into an unprecedented crisis, so they ran for appeals, hoping to find a new way out of trade.

On this morning, the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce gathered hundreds of members of the Chamber of Commerce from various countries in the river, and the war crisis in the river and the anxiety about the future made them unable to wait any longer, and at this time they received a notice from the Chamber of Commerce that Li Qing'an, the envoy of the Anxi Festival, would come to Samarkand and discuss the future of the Sogdian trade with the Chamber of Commerce, and the merchants temporarily put aside their affairs and rushed to Samarkand.

In the front hall of the Chamber of Commerce, several leaders of the Chamber of Commerce are negotiating the content of the meeting with Li Qing'an, what kind of requirements should they make, the Chamber of Commerce has a total of ten leaders, respectively from the Sogdian countries, among which the merchants of Kang are the majority, which is also determined by the status of the Sogdian countries, for example, Bukhara is a famous cultural and artistic center, its commercial atmosphere is relatively weak, and Samarkand is a handicraft and trade center, it has become the largest trade center of the countries in the river, especially many big merchants, ten leaders of the Chamber of Commerce, They made up four.

The initiator of the meeting was Mikhail, who was about 70 years old, the oldest and wealthiest businessman in the chamber, and he was also a devout Muslim, although the ten leaders were both Muslims and Zoroastrians, but faith was no longer an obstacle between them in the face of common business interests.

"Everyone, the current situation does not need me to say, everyone should also know very well that the war has stopped the trade between the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Dynasty, just like the two bridges connecting the isolated island were demolished, and we became helpless people on the isolated island, and the Tang Dynasty directly opened trade with Byzantium, but we were not able to get a piece of the pie, now our situation is extremely critical, it can be said that fate hangs by a thread, this time His Royal Highness King Zhao came to Samarkand, originally to prepare for the Abbasid Dynasty, but yesterday I contacted Lord Changshiluo, He expressed his willingness to appeal to His Royal Highness King Zhao on our behalf, according to the news he just received, His Royal Highness King Zhao will come to our Chamber of Commerce today, so this will be an opportunity to decide our fate, and we must seize it. ”

"Uncle Mikhail, you are our most senior elder, just tell me what you think!"

Mikhail waved his hand and continued to the crowd: "Actually, my idea is very simple, that is, to persuade His Royal Highness King Zhao to allow us to participate in the trade with Constantinople, so far, none of the Sogdians have obtained a trade license from Broken Leaves, we hope to get such an opportunity, and at the same time, I also hope that he will allow us to continue trading with the Arabs." ”

"Uncle Mikhail, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult to continue trade with the Arabs, after all, now that a war between the two countries is about to break out, it is impossible for the army to allow us to cross the border," he said.

"I know! I know! ”

Mikhail hurriedly said: "So we want to explain to him that we will not traffic military supplies to Arabia, we will only trade luxury goods, such as porcelain, silk, tea and other items, knowing it with reason, moving with emotion, I believe that His Royal Highness King Zhao's attitude will be relaxed, and I have invited a few special friends to help us for this." ”

Speaking of this, Mikhail nodded to the two old men sitting on the very edge, and everyone had already noticed the two of them, but they didn't know who they were. One of the bronzed-skinned old men stood up and introduced himself, "My name is Salda, I'm from Tuozhi City, and I'm also a member of the Chamber of Commerce. ”

Someone had heard of him, and couldn't help but nodded, this is also an old merchant who went to the Tang Dynasty to trade, Mikhail smiled and introduced everyone further: "Salda and His Royal Highness King Zhao had a friendship seven years ago, when His Royal Highness King Zhao was only a brigade commander of the Tang Army, when Salda accompanied Princess Shiguo Julan, who later became the Holy Maiden Julan, to Anxi. ”

There was a hint of envy in everyone's eyes, with this kind of friendship with King Zhao, this Salda can make a fortune! Salda smiled bitterly: "Seven years have passed, I don't know if His Royal Highness King Zhao still remembers me." ”

At this time, the second old man stood up, bowed down and smiled slightly: "I am Borodo." ”

Borodo is the spiritual leader of the Muslims of Samarkand, with excellent medical skills, and a very high prestige in Kangguo, but he rarely shows up, so everyone only hears his name, but does not see him, I heard that this person is Borodo, everyone can't help but applaud, Borodo is the famous Muslim doctor who cured Li Qing'an's son's illness, and he has a good relationship with Li Qing'an, Mikhail invited him to come, just hoping that he can also help the Chamber of Commerce.

With the help of these two people, everyone felt hopeful and their spirits were lifted up, and at this time, a businessman hurriedly ran in and said in a loud voice: "His Royal Highness King Zhao has come down!" ”

Everyone stood up at once and followed Mikhail towards the gate.

．．．．．．． Since taking Hezhong three years ago, Li Qing'an has been to Samarkand three times, this time is the fourth time, but this is the first time he has come to the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, Li Qing'an is not unaware of the importance of the Sogdians to the trade between the East and the West, but the Sogdian merchants are too powerful, in the last Hezhong turmoil, instead of helping Li Qing'an calm the situation, they secretly support the conflict between the two factions, especially the Muslim radical rebellion.

In order to punish the Sogdian merchants for their disloyalty, he ordered that the Sogdian merchants not be qualified to participate in the Byzantine trade, and at the same time stopped trading with the Great Food.

This time he came to Samarkand to command the war against the Great Food, but Luo Qiming, who was in charge of the affairs of Hezhong, asked him several times to relax his suppression of Sogdian merchants, and considering the role of Sogdian merchants, Li Qing'an finally agreed to Luo Qiming's request to visit the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce.

Li Qing'an, under the strict escort of more than 100 personal soldiers, walked into the gate of the Chamber of Commerce, accompanied by Luo Qiming and more than a dozen Hezhong officials.

Walking into the gate of the Chamber of Commerce, the first thing I saw was a wide square, hundreds of Sogdian merchants were standing on both sides, and more than 1,000 Tang soldiers had already entered in advance, fully armed, three steps and one post, five steps and one sentry, and were heavily guarded, isolating the merchants on both sides, and not allowing them to approach Li Qing'an, especially at the moment when war was about to break out, all kinds of security guards became extremely tight.

At this time, ten leaders of the Chamber of Commerce greeted him, and Mikhail was the first to kneel down and said excitedly: "The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce greets His Royal Highness General Zhao!" ”

Li Qing'an smiled faintly and said: "It has always been my wish to visit the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, and I wanted to come last time, but due to the impact of the civil strife in Hanzhong, I canceled it. ”

Li Qing'an's words were tinged with a thorn in his words, and he implicitly mentioned the civil strife in Hanzhong, that is, he told them that it was the civil strife in Hanchu that caused him to abandon the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce.

These Sogdian merchants are all extremely shrewd, how could they not hear what Li Qing'an said, Mikhail immediately said sincerely: "This year, the situation in the river is calm, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and Samarkand has gradually returned to its former prosperity, all of which are given by His Highness, and every one of us Sogdians is grateful, and the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce hopes that Hezhong will become more prosperous under the rule of His Highness, and for this reason, we will fully support every decision of His Highness." ”

Although Li Qing'an hoped that the Han merchants of the Central Plains could replace the Sogdians and be active on the Silk Road, he also knew that at least in five or six years, this could not be done, not to mention that most of the immigrants in Anxi were peasants from the Central Plains, and their sense of business was still relatively indifferent, and Li Qing'an also needed them to consolidate their occupation of the land, especially in the trade with Byzantium, Anxi was mainly dominated by officials and merchants, but it was far from enough to rely on officials and merchants alone, and the officials and merchants were more rigid, far less flexible than the Jewish merchants. A large number of Jews were involved in the trade between Byzantium and Anxi, so Li Qing'an eventually decided to relax the restrictions on the trade of Sogdian merchants.

When he came to the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce today, Li Qing'an also wanted to listen to his words and watch his deeds, because they had a very good attitude and had already repented of their sins, but this was not enough, and he also needed the Sogdian businessmen to take practical actions.

"Get up! I'll take a look first. ”

Mikhail hurriedly got up, took Li Qing'an to the inner court, and walked to the door, but Li Qing'an saw Borodo, and couldn't help but be stunned, last time he said goodbye in Hexi, he didn't expect to meet here, Li Qing'an immediately pulled him aside affectionately, and thanked him in a low voice: "Neiko is pregnant, Rushi also gave birth to a daughter, I want to thank Bo Weng again." ”

"The general doesn't have to thank me, it is my duty to heal the sick and help the wounded, I only implore the general to see in the face of the Sogdians who are also a part of Anxi, and give these poor merchants a way to live, the Sogdians are based on business, and they can't engage in commerce, it will be a disaster for the Sogdians, I am a Sogdian clan, how can I not be in a hurry, if the general wants to thank me, then please give us a chance!"

After speaking, Bo Luoduo actually knelt down to him, Li Qingan hurriedly helped him up, and sighed: "Bo Weng is worthy of being a benevolent person, okay!" For Boon's sake, I'll give them a chance, and I'll talk to them later. ”

At this time, Salda also stepped forward, bowed deeply to Li Qingan, and said, "General, do you remember me, an old businessman?" ”

Li Qingan saw that he was very familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while, "You are..."

"General, Princess Julan went to Anxi with me back then."

"You are.... Uncle Salda! Li Qingan suddenly remembered.

"Don't dare to be, where dare your Highness call me uncle."

Seeing Salda, Li Qing'an thought of Princess Julan again, he nodded silently, and said, "Uncle Salda is also from the Chamber of Commerce!" If you need anything, feel free to come to me, and I'll do my best to help you. ”

"I can't run anymore, my son has inherited my business, he wants to go to Constantinople and Chang'an, but he has no business license and cannot pass through the border army, and I beg the general to let the Sogdians also participate in the trade with the Romans, and I am grateful."

Two acquaintances came to intercede, and Li Qingan couldn't erase this face, he nodded, and said to Mikhail: "Go to your conference room, I'll have a good talk with you!" ”

Mikhail was overjoyed, and hurriedly and respectfully invited Li Qing'an into their conference room, the conference room had been arranged, in order to curry favor with Li Qing'an, these businessmen considered every detail very carefully, first of all, they did not dare to sit on an equal footing with Li Qing'an, specially learned the etiquette of the Tang people, spread soft mats on the ground, everyone sat on the ground, Li Qing'an sat in the center, a mat made of gold foil, and the Sogdian merchants and officials sat down in a row, one row on the left and right, except for the ten leaders of the Chamber of Commerce, More than 30 powerful businessmen also quietly crowded in to observe.

Li Qing'an sat down, a beautiful Sogdian girl served him tea, Li Qing'an did not smile, he said to everyone with a calm face: "There is a sentence I want to say in the clear place, since the beginning of this year, why have I suppressed you Sogdian merchants, the reason is that many of you played a disgraceful role in the religious conflict in the river at the beginning of the year, I am trying my best to quell the conflict between the two factions, but some of you are secretly supporting the radicals, I have searched a list in the palace of your former king Shaofen, there are as many as 200 people, Among them, there are 128 people in the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, although the old saying does not blame the public, but for me, it is the responsibility of the people, so you do not get a license to do business with the Romans, I know that some of you still do it quietly, but I will tell you that last month, three Sogdian merchants were suspected of trafficking in illicit goods in violation of the order, and were beheaded on the spot by the Talas border army, and the goods were confiscated, and this is the punishment for you against me. ”

Li Qing'an's gaze swept sternly over the faces of dozens of Sogdian merchants, who were all worried and lowered their heads.

Mikhail stood up and said ashamedly: "Your Highness, we all know that we are wrong, from now on, we will fully support every decision of Your Highness, including the fight against the Great Eclipse, and I am also willing to donate money and goods to support the Anxi army." ”

Li Qing'an's face was slightly pale, nodded and said: "The reason why I am willing to sit here today is because I feel your sincerity, in fact, from my personal point of view, I never despise merchants, I even organize officials and merchants to trade with the Romans, trade can exchange materials, make the economy prosperous, so that the government's fiscal and tax revenues are guaranteed, especially Anxi needs materials from the interior of the Central Plains, so I have always put commerce and trade in the first place, I have set up six departments and nine offices, the first department is the household department, and the first department is the Finance and Taxation Department, which shows that I attach importance to trade. I, Li Qing'an, am also a broad-minded person, as long as you can show your support for Anxi with practical actions, I will also give you equal trade qualifications, and truly regard you as the people of the Tang Dynasty. ”

"Our Highness's tolerance makes us grateful, I don't know what else Your Highness needs us to do, please make it clear."

Li Qingan smiled slightly: "It's very simple, I only have one condition, that is, you must get the lord qualification, you will get the corresponding trade level, the higher the rank of the lord, the more trade preferences you get, not only can you go to Chang'an to trade, you can also trade with the Romans, and you can even continue to trade with Dashi, no matter how high the level, I can also give you tax exemption and send troops to escort you safe, so my condition is very simple, that is, the lord, if you want to get a license to trade with the Romans, you must at least be the lord of the Captain." ”

The lord is a measure taken by Li Qing'an in order to promote sinology in the river, such as learning Chinese, Chinese etiquette, sending children to the Han school, etc., you can get the lowest lord cloud cavalry lieutenant, and those who get the lord have many benefits, such as tax reduction, get the bronze medal for disaster year relief, build a house and get help from the army, etc., if you want to get a higher lord, you must make greater efforts, like Li Qing'an said that the captain of the cavalry, then at least two Chinese schools should be built, or fifty Sogdian teenagers should be subsidized to go to the Broken Leaf boarding school for three years.

The Sogdian merchants in the Sogdian region had great influence, the essence of the merchants was mercenary, they did not care whether Sogdia would be sinicized, they traveled back and forth between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions, admired the Tang Dynasty culture, and many people would take the initiative to accept the influence of Han culture, Li Qing'an saw this very thoroughly, and he wanted to use the power of Sogdian merchants to spread Sinology for him.

Hearing Li Qing'an's conditions, the leaders of all the chambers of commerce whispered, and at this time, Mikhail said: "Your Highness, is the condition of the Captain of the Cavalry a little too high, after all, there are many people who want to do business with the Romans, and not everyone has the ability to get the Lord of the Captain." ”

Li Qingan shook his head and said: "This is what I decided after careful consideration, if I don't have the ability for the time being, then I will trade between the Western Regions and the Central Plains first, and then go to Constantinople after I have the ability, I have handed over the specific terms to Luo Changshi, you can go and consult him." ”

Speaking of this, Li Qingan smiled again: "In addition, I have also opened up a new trade route for you, that is, Sindh, Punjab and Tianzhu, the condition is that you can also get the lord of the Captain of the Cavalry, you can go there to do business and trade, I will order the army to protect your safety, if you are interested, you can even build a sea ship, from the Punjab seaport to the south of the Tang Dynasty, where there are endless business opportunities, to be an overseas trader, I will not only exempt all goods from taxes, but also provide free food and fresh water, how about it, If you are interested, you can give it a try. ”

Most of the Sogdian merchants were dumbfounded and let them trade overseas, but there were also those who had followed the Great Food and Persian cargo ships to Canton and knew the lucrative benefits of overseas trade, and their eyes lit up when they heard Li Qing'an's offer.

(To be continued)