Chapter 588

"Alexander, I heard you're going on a crusade? What's going on? ”

An old white-haired woman dressed in silk hurried to the palace of Alexander V.

"Grandmother, why are you here?" When Alexander V saw the old woman, he immediately pushed away the concubine who was rubbing his feet and stood up.

"You want to go on a crusade, is it true?" The old woman asked again.

Alexander V took the old woman by the hand and said, "Grandmother, the East is too rich, and we should let the East into the arms of our Macedonia." ”

The old woman sighed and said, "Grandmother didn't want to stop you from the east, but I just hope that you will think about it, and don't be like your grandfather, who came back from an expedition to the east, and got nothing, and left behind a soldier, and finally went so painfully." ”

After Alexander pulled the old woman to sit down, he said, "Grandmother, according to the route explained by those Loulan people, my grandfather may have taken the wrong route back then, and my grandfather did not go to the rich land of the East. ”

The old woman sighed and said, "Actually, after your grandfather finished fighting in the East, he knew that he had taken the wrong path, but unfortunately he fell ill that year, so he gave up. ”

"Grandfather knows? Then why not send someone to continue the crusade? Alexander V said.

The old woman sighed and said, "Because the consumption brought by the Eastern Crusade is too great, if the Eastern Crusade continues, the entire empire will collapse." ”

"After your father and you succeeded to the throne, the reason why I have been blocking the Eastern Crusade is actually because I am afraid of the opposition of the nobles in the country. It's too difficult for our empire to build, and we can't let things happen to the empire. ”

Alexander

The Fifth Emperor got up and said, "Grandmother, you can rest assured this time, because this crusade was proposed by those nobles and ministers together, and no one objected!" ”

The old woman got up and said, "Alexander, don't be in too much of a hurry, this matter still needs to be investigated." ”

"Grandmother, what are you worried about?" Alexander V asked.

"I'm going to find out if those people really contributed to this, or if it's just a plot against you." The old woman's eyes are deep, and her body reveals a domineering spirit.

Alexander V was well aware of his grandmother's strength, so he did not stop his grandmother, and this matter was indeed to be investigated.

In Macedonia, after the arrest of a large number of Loulan merchants, all their goods fell into the hands of Macedonian nobles.

The Macedonian nobility suddenly found that it was much more enjoyable to snatch things directly from the hands of the Orientals than to buy them with a large amount of gold.

As a result, these aristocrats became more enthusiastic about the Eastern Crusade, and directly among the people, they constantly stirred up the mood of the people.

When the mood of the people was stirred, those who were disobedient were directly dragged out to participate in the beast fight, and directly fed the lion and other beasts to please the Macedonian people.

On the Loulan side, she didn't get the news in time about the fact that the traveling merchant was arrested and killed.

Now in Loulan's eyes, Qin State is the biggest business partner, but it is also the biggest threat to Loulan, just because Qin State is too powerful now.

Loulan now deployed most of his troops close to Great Qin, just to prevent the Qin people.

However, after a long time, there was still a problem.

Since the policy implemented by Loulan is not

Let the Qin people pass Loulan, that is to say, the business that Loulan goes out can only be done by the Loulan people.

Therefore, a large number of Loulan merchants have not returned from the West, which has also led to the long-term detention of Daqin's goods in Loulan and the inability to sell.

Some Great Qin merchants also went west to do business with them, but Loulan did everything possible to stop them, and if they couldn't stop them, they directly used force.

However, otherwise, even if the Qin people went west to do business, Loulan did not say anything about the losses of the Qin merchants, which made many Qin merchants very unhappy.

In the end, the merchants of the Qin State could only scold and bring the goods back to the Qin State, and the losses along the way could only be borne by themselves.

However, this has increased the number of goods in Qin, and although the profits are not so high, at least some losses can be recovered.

Of course, Loulan was not completely unresponsive.

At least a large number of Loulan merchants have not returned to China for a long time, which is very strange.

You must know that the merchants of Loulan and the merchants of Qin directly have a tacit agreement, when to trade, where to trade, and what goods to trade, that is all agreed.

There will be no no-show between the two parties, and even if they can't catch up with the time, it is only an individual example.

But this time, none of the Loulan merchants who went west to do business came back, and this matter was very abnormal.

In the palace of Loulan, King Loulan was pacing in distraction.

The merchants of Daqin were willing to return to China with their goods and did not stay in Loulan, which was a great loss to Loulan.

The king of Loulan could threaten the Qin people not to cross Loulan to go west to do business, but he must not prevent the Qin people from returning to China, otherwise they would

Fight with the Qin people.

And now the most important thing is that Loulan's own businessmen have not come back for such a long time.

You must know that these westbound merchants, every time they bring back the money, it is huge, and the Qin people get only less than one-tenth of the small profit every time.

With so many businessmen not coming back, Loulan's losses were even greater, and even King Loulan was distressed.

At this time, Agugina hurriedly walked in and saluted, "My lord, I have found it." ”

"What's going on?" King Loulan hurriedly asked.

Agugina said: "There is a war on the side of the Otsuki clan, and it is a national war with Macedonia. It is likely that our merchants were affected by this war on their return journey. ”

"Why is there a national war, is there any news?" King Loulan asked.

Agugina shook her head and said, "There is no news, but it is said that the Otsuki clan has been doing things on the border of Macedonia all along, and it is likely that the national war broke out for this reason. ”

King Loulan pondered for a moment and said, "Suspend trade activities with the West, including the Great Moon Clan. Only commercial contacts are allowed to be maintained with Kangju. ”

"In this case, I'm afraid our losses will be very large, and the Qin people are not satisfied, unless we let the Qin people go west to do business." Agugina said.

"No! You must not let the Qin people go west to do business! King Loulan said: "Once the Qin people are allowed to go west to do business, we Loulan will lose even more." ”

After thinking for a long time, King Loulan said: "Let Jibu go to Qin State, bring more gold and silver, and explain the matter to Qin State clearly." ”

"It's not that we keep the agreement, but because there is a national war in the West, only

I was able to temporarily suspend the caravan's westward journey. As for the gold and silver, it is my Loulan's compensation to the Qin State. ”

"Yes, my lord." Agugina said, "King, do you want to strengthen the surveillance of the Otsuki Clan?" ”

King Loulan thought for a while and said: "Let's increase some troops appropriately, but the focus of our prevention is still on the Qin State, and we must increase the number of troops to prevent during this time." ”

"Yes! King! ”