"The Silk Road has reopened."
When this news came from Gao Chang, almost the entire Western Region was in an uproar.
Ever since the Tang dynasty and Gao Chang became enemies, Gao Chang had directly blocked the Silk Road. The Barbarian merchants on the Silk Road either returned home or stayed in Yanqi and Qiuci.
These Silk Road barbarian merchants who were stuck in Qiuci and Yanqi were in a dilemma. Most of them had traveled tens of thousands of li to come here, so they were naturally unwilling to return home. However, the reopening of the Silk Road was still far away.
Not to mention that Gao Chang and the Tang dynasty were in a state of war. It would be fine if the Tang dynasty won, but if they lost …
Everyone was already disheartened. They thought that the Silk Road would be interrupted for a long time, but they did not expect it to end so soon. Moreover, the winner was the Tang dynasty.
The Barbarian merchants were overjoyed. However, they repeatedly sent people to Gao Chang to test the waters, but the Gao Chang had always been in a state of seclusion. Now that they heard the news that Gao Chang had reopened the Silk Road, they naturally cheered. The Silk Road that had been blocked for a year was once again unblocked.
One by one, the Barbarian merchants formed camel caravans that had been idle for a year. They carried heavy bags and goods, dug up the treasures they had buried, and mounted the camels to head east. They only had one goal, and that was the Tang dynasty.
When they arrived at that magical country, there would be wealth everywhere. There would be fine silk that was as heavy as gold. As long as they could get the silk and return safely, they would receive a thousandfold return and become the upper class of their country. This was also the reason why countless Barbarian merchants still took the risk to come even though the Silk Road was full of danger.
Under the yellow sand, the sound of camel bells rang! As more and more camel caravans appeared in Gaochang City, the originally dead silent Gaochang City was once again stirred. Following that, it became more and more lively. Gaochang City, the pearl of the Silk Road, once again emitted a dazzling brilliance.
"What? They want to hand in their weapons?"
Outside Gao Chang City, along with the sound of camel bells, a camel caravan of dozens of people arrived outside Gao Chang City. When they heard that the Tang Army wanted to hand in their weapons, they all cheered. Each of them held a scimitar and looked warily at the Tang Army guarding outside Gao Chang City. Along the way, they had encountered desert bandits and corrupt officials who were even more bloodthirsty than desert bandits, but in the end, they relied on the weapons in their hands to protect them.
"How is this possible? We have come to Gao Chang City many times, "the leader of the Barbarian merchants, Barbarian Barbarian said in a clear voice.......
"That was Gao Chang from before. Now, this place belongs to the Tang dynasty, so we have to follow the rules of the Tang dynasty. Otherwise, Gao Chang will end up like him." The Tang Army guarding the city sneered and pointed at the city wall not far away.
Barden turned his head to look and couldn't help but change his expression. He saw that a section of Gao Chang's city wall was missing. Although the masons were repairing the city wall, they were only able to build up the wall to a height of about two meters. There was still a gap of three meters missing from the fifty-meter tall city wall.
"Destroy the city in one strike!" Leader Baden took a deep breath and immediately remembered the recent news that had shocked the entire Western Regions. That was, the Tang Army had breached Gao Chang City in one strike. The entire Western Regions was shocked.
Even Gao Chang City was breached in one strike. How could the Tang Army take the scimitars in their hands seriously? Immediately, Leader Baden silently handed over his weapon, and the camel caravan behind him did the same.
After Baden led the camel caravan into Gao Chang City, he carefully looked at the post-war Gao Chang City. He saw that Gao Chang City was in order, and the people on the streets of Gao Chang City were coming and going. It didn't seem to have changed much. Only then did he feel relieved.
What Baden didn't know was that all along, this was the result of the Tang Army holding back. That was why Gao Chang City could be preserved. In addition, they had only fought two battles to pacify Gao Chang, so Gao Chang City didn't suffer much damage.
"Innkeeper, what's the price of this year's Gao Chang wine?" Baden led the camel caravan to a familiar inn and asked the innkeeper.
The barbarian merchants of the Silk Road didn't directly transport goods thousands of miles to the Tang Dynasty. Instead, they brought enough specialties from their hometown when they set off and went to the next city to sell them. After making profits, they would buy a batch of local specialties and transport them to the next city. In this way, through continuous profits along the way, they could not only satisfy their livelihood, but also the camel caravan would continue to grow.
The specialty of Gao Chang City was naturally grape wine. This time, Baden came here with the specialty of Qiuci to sell in Gao Chang City. He planned to buy a batch of grape wine to bring to Chang 'an City, and finally buy a batch of silk and specialties from the Tang Dynasty back. Then, he would repeat the transaction and finally exchange all the goods in his hands for money to bring back to his hometown. This was the complete model of the Silk Road.
"Wine! There is no wine this year! "However, the innkeeper shook his head.
"No wine?" Baden couldn't help but be stunned and looked at the innkeeper in disbelief. One had to know that the camel caravan's capacity was limited. Most of the goods they chose were of high value and easy to carry. Gao Chang wine could be sold for a good price in Chang 'an City. It was a top-grade good.
The innkeeper nodded and said, "Yes, this year's grapes have been used by Mo Jiazi to make raisins. Not only is there no wine today, but there will also be no wine in the future."
"Raisins! Mo Jiazi! " Baden's heart skipped a beat. After the grand meeting of the Western Regions in Chang 'an City, Mo Jiazi's name had already spread throughout Chang' an City. He could sell seeds as heavy as gold, exchange an apple for a golden apple of the same size, and buy all kinds of books from foreign lands at a high price … All the merchants of the Western Regions knew that as long as they could bring something that Mo Jiazi liked, they would become rich overnight.
When Baden thought of the rare treasures he had collected along the way, his heart skipped a beat. If Mo Jiazi liked them, he wouldn't have to go to Chang 'an City again. At that moment, he no longer cared about the wine and began to inquire about Mo Jiazi's whereabouts.
Many barbarian merchants had the same idea as Baden. Soon, a group of barbarian merchants found the firearms supervisor's camp and placed all the rare treasures in front of Meton.
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Meton looked at the rare treasures in front of him and couldn't help laughing angrily.
"Why don't we let them take all of it?" Zhang Mu asked.
Meton said helplessly, "It's still necessary to buy horse bones with a thousand taels of gold. Leave all the books and seeds. As for the other treasures, let them sell them in Chang 'an City."
"Yes! Young Master! " Zhang Mu nodded. Soon, he returned some of the dazzling rare treasures, leaving only a few inconspicuous books and seeds.
Immediately, the barbarian merchants left the treasures in their hands with flagging interest. Only a few books and seeds were bought by Mo Jiazi at a high price, which made the barbarian merchants very sad. Back then, they had also collected a lot of seeds, but the Silk Road had been broken for a year and had long been destroyed.
Now, if the Mo family wanted to get information from the West, they still had to rely on these Silk Road merchants. For some books and seeds that Meton recognized, he would naturally reward them handsomely. For some books and seeds that he had never heard of, he would also reward them handsomely. This would definitely make the barbarian merchants' trip worthwhile.
The group of barbarian merchants left either disappointed or excited. Baden was even luckier. During the year when the Silk Road was broken, he had gritted his teeth and persevered. Even if he sold all the goods, he still didn't give up the books and seeds in the end. Now, he finally received a generous return.
After the group of barbarian merchants left, Meton looked at the sheepskin scrolls and seeds with satisfaction. After a year, the Silk Road was once again open. If any of these books and seeds were successfully planted in the Tang dynasty, his efforts today would be repaid thousands of times.
Just as Meton was immersed in his own world, a noise interrupted his thoughts. Xue Rengui hurried over and said, "Lord Chancellor, the messenger has returned with His Majesty's decree. The general has summoned all the generals to the main tent of the Middle Corps."
"His Majesty's decree?" Meton suddenly stood up. Now that the barbarian merchants were advancing east, and the Tang dynasty was advancing west, the Silk Road was completely unimpeded.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
