Xia Xun's guide was a Sogdian. Sogdiana was originally an ancient country in the Western Regions. Its activity range was in the Zerafshan River Basin between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers in Central Asia. Its capital Malakanda is today.
of Samarkand.
Sogdia is a nation that is good at doing business. During the Tang Dynasty, Sogdians were the largest ethnic minority living in Dunhuang, and the majority of Hu merchants in Chang'an were Sogdians. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Sogdians were gradually invaded by Turkic forces. Sogdians
Some people were assimilated, and more people lived in other places and specialized in business. However, they lost the foundation of their homeland. Although the Sogdians were good at doing business, they quickly declined. Now many Sogdians can only work as business guides and brokers to make money.
Get commission.
Because of this precarious position, their professional ethics become even more important. Although they have a slippery and cunning side, they must be absolutely loyal to their employers and serve their employers wholeheartedly. This is the foundation for their livelihood. Because
In this way, Ying Zhan was relieved to leave this Sogdian man to Xia Xun as his guide.
"Master, my name is An Hanzi and my nickname is A-Dai. Master, just call me A-Dai!"
The Sogdian guide introduced himself to Xia Xun with a smile. Looking at his shrewd eyes, he did not hesitate at all: "Master, you see it is getting late. Should we go into the city and find an inn to stay? What kind of goods does the master have?
, go back and tell me, here, there are special stores for all kinds of goods, and the real high-quality goods can only be sold at a high price there. I can just tell the little man what goods I want to buy on the way back.
I promise to help you buy the cheapest and most authentic high-quality goods."
"Well, okay, let's go to the city first!"
Xia Xun had no interest in making money, he just wanted to use it to hide his true identity, so he didn't take these words seriously and just responded with a smile.
He was not familiar with the place, and the common language here was not Chinese. With this guide, it would be enough to have someone to guide him wherever he went.
Ah-Dai immediately climbed onto the front camel, drove the camel skillfully, and led Xia Xun toward the city.
As soon as you enter the city gate, it becomes much more lively, with all kinds of people coming and going, from both the East and the West. Here an Arab with a burqa wrapped around his head is loudly selling scimitars, and there is a Han man holding a gorgeous silk draped over his head.
On the shoulder... the broad road was crowded with people, including cars, horses, cattle, camels, and various livestock, driven by business travelers, slowly coming and going.
From time to time, you can see a wooden building like a ring erected on the roadside. The slave owner is auctioning his slaves on the platform. The auctioneers include strong black slaves and toned women with wheat-colored skin.
, there are also children of seven or eight years old, and there are often old people in their late teens. After listening to Dumb's introduction, Xia Xun realized that these old people are all skilled craftsmen and have specialties in a certain area, so they are sometimes popular goods.
.
Liu Yujue looked at it with great curiosity. Everything was full of exotic customs. Xia Xun's keen eyes were also scanning everything he saw, but what he paid attention to was completely different from Liu Yujue's. He was looking at the roads and the residents of the city.
He soon discovered that in this big city, there seemed to be no yamen management similar to that of a local government. Administrative management and public security management relied on merchants who operated in separate areas.
These merchants all employ private armed forces. These private armed forces are responsible for maintaining the security of the owner's business. At the same time, they also assume public security and other responsibilities within his business area. This is a place without a government that is completely autonomous by the residents of the city.
.
In fact, this is also true. Unlike the merchants in the Central Plains, the businessmen here have a low political status and must rely on wealthy and powerful people. Here, as a successful businessman, they are also local powerful people and have a very high political status.
, the so-called city lord is just a big businessman. If there are any affairs involving the whole city, he will summon the influential big businessmen in the city to discuss and resolve the matter together.
In this way, although the administrative efficiency here is relatively low, it has formed a quite relaxed living atmosphere. As long as you do not damage the public interests, no one will care about anything you do. So, along the way, Xia Xun saw someone whipping the slaves.
, beat the slaves to death, and saw those who disagreed with each other draw swords and fight to the death. Not only did no one pay attention, but a group of people cheered and cheered. And if the party who died in the battle did not have relatives and friends to take care of him, he would be easily picked up by thieves.
Strip away all valuables and throw the bloody corpse into the stinking ditch.
Here, order is made for the weak. As long as you are strong enough, you can defeat the strong at any time, overturn the order he made, and introduce your own order, and within your control, everyone must comply.
Ah-Dai rode on the camel, constantly turning east and west. Later, even Xia Xun could hardly remember the path he had taken, and couldn't help but call him: "Ah-Dai, where are we going?"
I see there are many hotels nearby, there should be places to stay, right?"
Duan reined in the reins and waited for him to catch up. He grinned and said, "Master Ying said that this was the first time he came back here to do business. It is true. Master, there are indeed some inns here, but it is too chaotic. People die every day.
People are throwing things away all the time. Master Ying said that he likes peace and quiet, and his family is well-off and not short of money. He asked me to find you a safe and quiet place, otherwise, you can live there just now."
Ah-Dai pointed his hand forward and said to Xia Xun with a lively expression: "Master, look, after turning around that alley, we are where the city lord and the wealthy merchants and gentry of this city live. The place where Ah-Dai wants to take the master is Argus."
The tavern opened by the Lord, thieves and gangsters would not dare to enter the Tavern of Lord Argus. There are the best wines and the richest businessmen there. Maybe I can find a buyer there without having to travel around!"
Xia Xun touched the thick money bag that Ying Zhan gave him before leaving, took out one, and shot it towards Ah-Dai with a flick of his finger, and said with a smile: "Okay, no need to talk, just take us there quickly, I will
I think what I need most right now is to take a good bath, and then a big soft bed!" Ah-Dai saw a golden thread being thrown down in an arc, and quickly stretched out his hands to catch it. When he caught it, he saw that it was
A gold coin, I couldn't help but be overjoyed, and quickly joked: "The master is young and strong, and he should need a beautiful and hot girl to warm his bed. The master is so generous, and he is so young and handsome, the girls there will definitely rush to follow him.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, Lord Argus’s tavern has the most beautiful Sage (the beauty who serves the wine) in the city.”※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
※※※※The tavern in Argus can no longer be described as a tavern. It is an extremely luxurious hotel. Entering the magnificent stone carving door, you will first see a beautiful garden and square roofs.
Semi-circular roofs, often gorgeous buildings supported by huge stone columns and colonnades, are hidden in the garden. You can vaguely see the exquisite carvings of figures and animals on the stone walls.
There is a chaotic metropolis outside, but once you enter here, it seems to be a completely different world, with a very quiet atmosphere, elegant gentlemen coming and going, and some young and beautiful girls wearing maid uniforms.
Every guest will be given the gentlest and most charming smile. Compared with the outside, this place is paradise.
"Hey! An Hanzi, which distinguished guest did you bring to our master?"
A man who looked like a steward came up to him with a smile. He actually knew Ah-Dai. He greeted Ah-Dai, but he had already bowed respectfully to Xia Xun. He could tell at a glance that the man in front of him was brought by An Hanzi.
Middle-earth merchant.
Ah-Dai hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. The two of them exchanged a few words of affection. Ah-Dai then turned to Xia Xun and said happily: "Master, he is the steward here, his name is Harpagus. I told him, you are
The distinguished guest from Dunhuang brought the beautiful silk, tea and porcelain that Mr. Argus loved most. He said that Mr. Argus was going to have a birthday soon and was going to have a big banquet. He just needed these things. He would
See you in person."
Dumb said with a smile: "The most important holiday for people there is birthdays. Although this is the first time for me to do business here, I am very lucky. Do you think we should meet Mr. Argus first?"
Xia Xun nodded obediently, and a moment later, a tall and stout man strode out with a sweet smile: "I was about to send someone to buy, and I heard that someone brought goods from the East to me.
Hotel?" Xia Xun glanced around and saw that the man was about forty years old, very energetic, with a high nose and a deep nose, a big curly beard, a broad forehead, and a white hat wrapped around his head.
Ah-Dai, who was busy, quickly ran over to introduce Xia Xun. Argus looked at Xia Xun, nodded arrogantly, and said in a coquettish voice: "Great, I will hold a grand banquet soon to entertain everyone in the city.
All the prominent figures need some beautiful silks, exquisite porcelain and fine tea. Come on, take me to see your goods first, whether they are worth my money to buy!"
The language he spoke was not understood by Xia Xun, so Ah Dai immediately translated what Agus meant to Xia Xun. Before he could finish speaking, Agus had left Xia Xun behind and strode towards Xia Xun's camel.
Team, he said arrogantly: "Move the goods down, let me take a look first!"
Dui immediately translated this sentence to Xia Xun. Xia Xun nodded to Liu Yujue, and several people moved down the boxes of goods with the help of some strong servants in the hotel. Since Ying Zhan had already helped Xia Xun,
He was not stingy with the goods. The goods sent to him were all the most exquisite and expensive. Argus inspected them one by one, nodding frequently, and the smile on his face gradually became happy.
Dui said to Xia Xun in Chinese: "Master, don't be angry because of his impoliteness. This is how the people there are. Except for people from their own country, their courtesy and respect for foreigners are generally based on their geographical distance."
It’s up to them to decide. The closer they are to foreigners, the more they respect them, and the farther away they are, the less they take it seriously.”
He looked at Argus who was bending over and looking at Xia Xun's goods with interest. He lowered his voice and said to Xia Xun: "However, they are the ones who like to use exotic items the most. They come from far away places.
, the more they want things that local ordinary people cannot use. As for luxury goods, as long as they hear about them, they will try their best to buy them. Therefore, as long as they like it, then the price is definitely not a problem. My lord, it seems that you want it.
Get rich!"
Xia Xun asked in confusion: "Where is he from?"
Dumb shrugged and asked, "Besides Persia, have you ever heard of such a weird person anywhere?"
I originally wanted to write until the surprise appeared, but I was too tired, so I will leave the surprise for tomorrow.
Argus is the introduction to the appearance of an important character, so I have to introduce it. Well, I have to trouble everyone to guess it all night long. Sorry, sorry.
I just reached nine o'clock, and I was so tired that I couldn't hold on any longer, but I still gritted my teeth and persevered. With my hard work and seriousness, I asked Zhuyoucheng for monthly tickets and recommended votes for support! Although I am still outside the top three, I
I have not given up, and I believe that my book friends have not given up either. For this update, I gritted my teeth and persevered. I will also persevere in the competition on the list. I sincerely ask for your support!