After two days and one night, the merchant arrived at the capital of Dadan.

Dadan has a population of more than 200,000 people, most of whom live in the capital.

The planning pattern of the city in the Western Regions is similar to that of the girder, but the architectural style of the house is completely different, the girder pays more attention to the "square", while the Western Regions pays attention to the "square circle", and the building materials are mostly sand and gravel, due to the perennial wind and sand invasion, no matter how good the paint will fade into the original earth yellow, under the irradiation of the sun, the yellow can is very dazzling.

The weathered cities embody a hazy beauty of vicissitudes, and they use their bodies to tell the ancient stories of the Western Regions.

The people of Dadan, however, don't seem to be very enthusiastic.

The soldiers strictly guarded the city gates and strictly checked the merchants who came and went.

"Where are you from?" The soldiers stopped Song Che's caravan, and the passers-by all stopped, looking curiously at the caravan dressed in strange costumes.

Song Che told him truthfully, "We are merchants from Dongtu Daliang who came to your country to do business. ”

"It's the Liang people?" The soldier was three points more polite, "It's really rare, it's been a long time since Liang Shang visited Dadan." ”

As soon as they heard that it was the Liang people, the pedestrians came up one after another, as if they regarded Song Che and them as rare ornamental animals. In the impression of the people of the Western Regions, the Liang people are synonymous with wealth and wealth.

"What about them? They don't look and dress like Liang people. The soldier turned his gaze to the Hu Shang of Bidenzhong.

Biden bowed to his chest: "Honorable sir, we are merchants from the Hu Kingdom, we-"

"Hu Ren!"

When the soldier heard the identity, he hurriedly came up, glaring at him, very unpleasant. The business travelers who were originally onlookers also showed disgust when they heard the word "Hu Guo".

"What are you Hu people doing in Dadan? We don't welcome you robbers here! ”

The soldier approached with a spear, and Bi Deng hurriedly hid behind Song Che and Tang Hulu, "We are not robbers, we are merchants who have come to purchase pig iron......

"Humph! You think beautifully! No one will sell our iron to you Hu people! ”

"That is, I will sell you iron, and you will make weapons to conquer us?"

"Arrest these hateful Hu people and hang them! Hang them! ”

It seems that the Hu people are really annoying to the Dadan people. Crowd outrage.

Song Che was quite satisfied with the attitude of the people of Dadan, which shows that the contradictions between the two countries are very deep, and it is easier to implement vertical and horizontal strategies.

"Boss Song, help your life!" Biden exclaimed.

Song Che is the head of the regiment after all, and explained to the masses:

"Fellow villagers and elders of Dadan, the Great Liang Dynasty has also been persecuted by the Hu State, so I can understand your feelings very well. But now Hu has promised to reopen the Silk Road and is willing to coexist peacefully with other countries, otherwise we would not be able to come to your country to do business;

These Hu merchants are all members of my merchant group, and I can assure you in the name of Daliang that they are ordinary merchants, not robbers, and even if you don't want to do business with the Hu people, please don't hurt them. ”

Hearing this, the soldier slowly put away his spear, but still said: "Even if they are not bandits, we will not let the Hu people enter in Dadan City, besides, we are about to fight with the Hui Kingdom, and the iron produced is only enough to make our own weapons, but there is no surplus to sell to you." ”

Fight?

Song Che frowned. If the two great powers were in conflict, his plan to unite the Western Regions against the Hu would be in vain.

He took out the clearance slip and presented it to the soldier, saying, "Be sure to present it to your king, and he will surely be willing to receive me." ”

The soldier didn't say much, and took the document and sent it to the capital.

Mo Yo waited for half an hour, a carriage drove out of the city gate, stopped beside Song Che, and saw the next white-robed old man who was over fifty years old, he glanced at the caravan, came to Song Che, returned the document with both hands, and said in a fluent official dialect:

"Your Excellency Envoy, I am Havein, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Dadan, and His Majesty the King has asked me to invite you to the palace for a talk."

Song Che pointed to the caravan beside him: "Then my friends?" ”

Harveyne said, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, you are all VIPs, and we will arrange an inn for them." ”

That being the case, Song Che nodded, and only took Nangong Yue and Lu Jingxiang, two guards, and sat in a carriage with Harvey, and slowly drove into the capital of Dadan.

Although the Great Liang Dynasty has lost control of the Western Regions for many years, it is still the country of Shangbang, and with this document in hand, Song Che is a VIP of Shangbang wherever he goes.

The carriage drove from the street to the palace, along the way you could always hear the endless sound of "bang bang bang" iron, lift the curtains and look, every three or two there is a blacksmith shop, the blacksmiths are shirtless, pounding the baked pig iron, all armor and weapons, it seems that they are really ready for a big battle.

In the carriage, Song Che asked Harvey about the reason why the two countries were preparing for war, and learned:

Hui and Da Dan are separated from the same country, and there are certain contradictions in themselves, and they can coexist peacefully in the first few years, but this year, the relationship has deteriorated and the contradictions have deepened.

The Uighur state controls Lop Nur, the largest salt lake in the Western Regions, and all countries have to import salt from the Uighur, including Dadan.

The countries of the Western Regions rarely use gold and silver as currency, and most of them still barter, and the exchange of salt for the Dadan country is its own iron ore.

In the first few years, the two countries were able to coexist peacefully, but in the first half of this year, Hui Hui no longer purchased Dadan's iron ore, and the salt and iron trade between the two countries was interrupted.

Salt is a necessity ingested by the human body, and Dadan, which cannot get back salt, can only travel long distances to other countries to import it, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of transportation and directly deepens the contradiction between the two countries.

You don't give? Then I'll have to rob it myself! It is with this psychological attitude that Dadan is preparing for war at present.

"Actually, I don't want a war either, but it's so selfish to go back to the country, and our people feel that we have to teach them a lesson." Harvey said with a fist.

Whether in modern or ancient times, the vast majority of wars are fought for resources. Song Che thought to himself that if the resources of these two countries could be reasonably distributed, perhaps he would be able to prevent this war.

"As the prime minister of the kingdom of Dadan, hasn't Lord Harveyin thought of using diplomatic means to achieve peace?" Song Che asked.

Harveyin let out a long sigh:

"I have been on five missions, only the first time I have seen their king, and the other four have been turned away.

The king of Hui said that their country no longer needs iron tools, and if we want salt, we have to exchange it for other things, but we have no other sustainable export commodities in Dadan except iron ore.

In addition, the Silk Road is closed, and the goods of your eastern countries cannot circulate to the Western Regions, so what can we exchange for salt with them? ”