Wu Queen's Palace, Yifei Palace.

This palace was the residence of Judy, who came from the city-state of Athens in the West.

Zhu Di, who became the concubine of King Wu Qingji and entered the harem, stayed here almost every day to write a "Catalogue of the Western Regions".

In this book, Judy will introduce the various city-states of ancient Greece and the customs of the Persian Empire, with maps.

Every place Judy traveled, it was recorded.

Judy's original purpose was just to do business and make a lot of money, while Qingji was even more ambitious.

Qingji tried to open a Silk Road to trade with Westerners.

However, it seems to have backfired.

Not to mention, the state of Wu in Qingji is too far away from the west, and there are countless countries and tribes in between, especially the existence of the state of Qin......

Of course, if it does not involve countries, Qingji can also encourage each vassal state to engage in foreign trade.

"King, how about you take a look at this "Atlas of the Western Regions" compiled by the concubines?"

Judy snuggled into Qingji's arms, and took out a paper book and stuffed it into Qingji's hand.

This made Qingji quite surprised, and asked, "Judy, it's only been a month, and your "Catalogue of the Western Regions" has been compiled?" ”

"It's just the original version. Fortunately, the queen and Mrs. Zhu Ji came to help, and the concubines were able to compile the book so quickly. The follow-up concubines will also be simplified and keep improving! ”

Judy invited merit and rewarded it, and smiled at Qingji.

Qingji bowed slightly, and immediately opened the book and browsed it.

According to some memories of the Eastern and Western territories in the previous life, there are not many differences between the maps drawn by Judy.

It's just that some of the countries above may be different.

Starting from the state of Wu, it went all the way west, passing through the state of Chu and then through the state of Qin.

To the west of the Qin state was Wushi and Dijon, and then to the west, the territory of the Tocharians, the Western Regions.

It was bordered by the Achaemenid Empire, the territory of the Persians......

In terms of territory, the area of the Persian Empire was larger than that of the Chinese countries combined!

"Not bad."

Qingji nodded in approval.

"The king, the concubines think that the king should prepare a huge caravan of the Wu Kingdom, mainly to sell silk, porcelain, tea and other things that are not available in the West to the West through this trade route."

Judy blinked her eyes wide, hugged Qingji's arm in her arms, rubbed vigorously, and said: "The concubine guarantees that these goods will definitely be popular among the Persians and in the West, and then our Wu Kingdom will be able to make a lot of money!" ”

“……”

Will this lead the wolf into the house?

Qingji was also quite hesitant.

After all, the current Persian Empire, the Achaemenid dynasty, had risen to prominence and was vast.

If the Persian army came over, a Qin state would not be able to stop it......

Rao is so, Qingji seems to not have to worry so much.

They Chinese people believe in "brothers on the wall, outside to resist their insults".

There is no doubt that the Persians are aliens, and if a foreign army comes to invade, how can the Chinese countries tolerate it?

The vassal states are a big family, it's okay to fight yourself, and others want to bully your brothers?

Outrageous!

After thinking about these clearly, Qingji has a plan to open up the Silk Road.

However, Qingji also knew that this matter should not be rushed.

Compared with the Silk Road on land, the Silk Road on the sea is obviously more appropriate for the State of Wu, which is backed by the sea.

"Judy, the widow needs some time to plan, at least half a year, at most a year or two."

Qingji said meaningfully: "You can simplify this "Atlas of the Western Regions" with peace of mind, if possible, the first caravan of my Wu Kingdom to trade with the West will be led by you." ”

"Yes!"

Judy couldn't help but hug Qingji's neck and take a "chirp" on his cheek.

……

Three days later.

Qingji held a great court meeting in the Fengtian Temple, and all ministers and doctors with a rank of six hundred stones or more must participate.

At the beginning of the Great Dynasty Meeting, Qingji passed the "Atlas of the Western Regions" that had been copied and drawn by hand to Ji Ran, Fan Li, Sun Wu, Bo Que and other three princes and nine kings, so that they could read it by themselves and then convey it one by one.

Seriously, books nowadays are all hand-copied editions, and they really can't be widely circulated.

In Qingji's heart, there is already an idea that movable type printing will be brought out......

After reading the "Catalogue of the Western Regions" compiled by Judy, the ministers couldn't help but gasp and feel shocked.

Sun Wu frowned, with a look of surprise on his face, and asked, "Great King, is there really a country with such a vast territory in the world?" ”

"This so-called Achaemenid Empire, if you look at it from the perspective of territory, is larger than our Chinese vassal states combined, nearly twice as large, how is it possible?"

Not only Sun Wu, but also the ministers and doctors present all looked incredible.

The Achaemenid Empire, the territory of the Persians today, was indeed very large.

You must know that after Qin Shi Huang in history unified the world, he also conquered Baiyue in the south and attacked the Xiongnu in the north, laying the land area of the Qin Dynasty of 3.4 million square kilometers.

And how big was the territory of this Achaemenid Empire?

At its peak (480 BC) 6.95 million square kilometers!

In other words, twenty years later, the area of the Achaemenid Empire will be maximized.

The territory of the Achaemenid Empire was twice the size of the entire Chinese vassal states combined!

What a powerful empire is this?

With the current territory of Wu, compared with the Achaemenid Empire, it can be said that it is a small thing.

However, in the face of the ministers' doubts, Qingji did not immediately refute, but shook his head and said: "Second and third sons, the widow knows that you don't want to believe it. ”

"Yes, that's exactly what happened."

"The Achaemenid Empire was a large empire with a large population. The population of the Achaemenid Empire should have ranged from fifteen million to eighteen million. ”

“……”

As soon as they heard this, the ministers and doctors couldn't help but look frightened, and they turned their heads and whispered.

Is there really such a powerful country in the world?

Eighteen million people, what is this concept?

The current population of Wu is only about 4 million.

If ordinary people say this, they will definitely be laughed off by the ministers.

It's just that the person who says this kind of thing is Qingji.

How can Qingji make a big fuss?

Qing Ji said conclusively that the population of this Achaemenid Empire was more than 10 million, which was naturally not a mouthful.

In fact, by 480 B.C., the Persians did have a population of 18 million.

The population of the unified Qin Dynasty ranged from 25 million to 30 million.

82 Chinese Net