"The King Li Xun pays homage to His Majesty." In the Wenshan Hall of Linshuo Palace, Li Xun, a scholar from Zizhou, saluted respectfully.
"In the second year of Tianyou's reign in the former Tang Dynasty (900), Li Jun was already called Bingong. I wonder if he ever got the honor?" Shao Shude looked at the Persian young man in front of him and asked curiously.
Li Xun was about 20 years old. Five years ago, when he was only 15 years old, he was promoted to Bingong. This shows that he was famous in the countryside at a young age. I heard that he wrote excellent poems and was very famous in Shu.
"No." Li Xun said with shame, "I am planning to take the imperial examination in Daxia."
"Do you know why I found you?" Shao Shude stretched out his hand and said, "Sit down."
"Your Majesty, you will obey all your orders." Li Xun sat on the chair under the guidance of the palace servants and said.
He originally lived in Zizhou. After the fall of Li Maozhen's power, because his family had some connections with Maozhen and also had a lot of wealth, he was regarded as a gangster and was taken to Beiping Prefecture. Naturally, his family wealth was confiscated, and a considerable part of it was taken with him. Sent to Luoyang.
"I heard that your Majesty once followed Emperor Xizong of the former Tang Dynasty to Shu?" Shao Shude asked.
"It's true." Li Xun replied.
"After entering Sichuan, what is your family's livelihood?"
"Selling jewelry, spices, medicinal materials, rhinoceros and elephants as a business."
"No wonder." Shao Shude said: "Master Wang robbed your family's property, and I have sent people to buy it."
"Your Majesty..." Li Xun was shocked.
The warrior swallowed the property and took it out?
"What's yours is yours. I'm not a thief, so why should I be greedy for your property?" Shao Shude said with a smile: "The business in Persia is not broken, right?"
"Before the city of Zizhou was destroyed, where did we buy goods from? Thanks to your majesty, there is nothing wrong with Longyou. Now the caravan can enter Guanzhong via Qingtang, Fenglin Pass and Qinzhou, or go south to Shuzhong, which is much more convenient. Already." Li Xun said.
"That's good." Shao Shude said happily: "I will give you the post of Ninth Grade Recorder of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You will go see the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs later, and they will contact you. Don't worry, it is a good thing. You will know when you go there. ."
"I obey the decree." Li Xun was a little dizzy.
A moment ago, he was still a "thief" with a lot of connections. After meeting the saint once, he actually had a ninth-level official status. Life is unpredictable, nothing more than this.
After Li Xun retreated, Shao Shude spread out the map in his hand and thought silently.
He still knew Li Xun. He wrote erotic poems very well, which was very suitable for his LSP taste. Of course, his focus was not on this aspect at this time.
Li Xun's ancestor came to the Central Plains during the Sui Dynasty and kept doing business. Later he slowly settled down, and by his father's generation, he was relatively wealthy in Chang'an. During the chaos in Chao, many officials had no time to escape. Next, Li's father actually succeeded in running away with his family, followed Xizong to Shu, and later settled in Zizhou.
Li Xun's brothers and sisters are all native Persians.
His younger brother, Li Xuan, is still selling Persian fragrant medicine and his business is huge.
He also has a young sister, Li Shunxian, who is five years old this year. In history, she was the Zhaoyi of Wang Yan, the lord of the former Shu Dynasty, who was nicknamed "Stupid Boy".
During the Five Dynasties, the ruler of the country favored the Persian women. Wang Yan was one of them, but later he favored Yan, the wife of the eunuch Wang Chengxiu, and neglected the Persian beauty.
Liu Yuan, the later master of the Southern Han Dynasty, also adopted Persian girls as his concubines. "Liu Yuan got a Persian girl. She was a young woman with a dark skin and a beautiful face. She was good at lewdness and played the most wonderful songs. Liu Yuan fell in love with her and gave her the name Mei Zhu." - Liu Yuan.
There are also beauties such as Mei Niu, Mei Fox and Mei Yang in the harem.
Of course, the most famous thing about the Southern Han Dynasty is the rule that you must first retire from the palace to become an official. So much so that there are such astonishing poems such as "When the gold list is named on the first day, there will be no more flowers and candles in the wedding room" which has been passed down through the ages.
Shao Shude pardoned Li Xun and his family mainly because he considered continuing to maintain or even thicken the Persian trade line.
Trade not only brings profits, but also cultural exchanges, and the latter is even more important than the former.
Of course, it is also essential to make more money for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Historically, Li Maozhen was beaten like a dog by Li Keyong and Zhu Quanzhong, and his army was almost scattered. But he quickly made a comeback by relying on trade in the Western Regions.
Shao Shude conquered Helong in his early years and stabilized the local order.
Now that twenty years have passed, more and more merchants from the Western Regions are passing through Helong. Especially on the Qingtang-Qinzhou route, more and more people are taking it, and it is expected that it will gradually return to the prosperity of the pre-Tang Dynasty.
"Let Kang Nuzi come in." Shao Shude put down the map and ordered.
******
"Kang Nuzi, King of Shazhou, pays homage to His Majesty." Similar to Li Xun, a Tibetan man with a tall nose and deep eyes came in and paid homage.
"Please sit down." Shao Shude stretched out his hand.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Kang Nuzi didn't show any pretense and sat down directly.
"I heard that you are Kang Fojin's great-nephew and that you were a general?" Shao Shude asked.
"I studied literature in my early years and later joined the army. Now I know how to do business." Kang Nuzi replied.
At the turn of the Tang and Xia Dynasties, people had long been accustomed to Tibetan soldiers and generals. Even at the time of Tang Xuanzong and Tang Wuzong, a miracle was created that several prime ministers were all Tibetan people.
"In the Tang Dynasty, from Dazhong to Xiantong, Baizhong ordered people to pay homage to the prime minister. The next phase was Bi Xiangxian, Cao Xiangque, Luo Xiangshaoquan, envoy, and then Shengyanlang. Cui Xiang Shenyou said: "You can return. Recently, all the letters from Zhongzhong are
"Fan people'." - This Bai Zhongling is Bai Minzhong, Bai Juyi's cousin. Cui Shenyou believes that he, like Bai Xiaode, the famous general of the Mid-Tang Dynasty, was born in the Bai family of Qiuci and is a Tibetan people.
"Can you understand Sogdian?" Shao Shude asked again.
"Understand."
"You can translate this map for me." Shao Shude waved his hand, and someone from the palace handed over the map.
Kangnuzi took it and took a look, and he understood clearly and said: "Your Majesty, this is a trade route map, written for many countries. From west to east, they are Fufu, Thatch, Persia, Anguo (Bukhara), Tu
Huoluo, Shiguo (Tashkent), Sogdia (between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers), Bakhna, Yupantuo (Tashkorgan), Qisha (Kashgar), Khotan (Hotian), Qiuci (
Shao Shude listened very carefully, then asked questions one by one, and compared them with his own geographical knowledge, and finally figured it out.
Fu Fu knew without asking him that it was referring to Byzantium.
The country is actually Syria.
Tochara is in what is now northern Afghanistan.
Anguo, Shiguo, Sogdia, etc. are all nine Zhaowu surnames in the Tang Dynasty, probably in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The rest are all in China in later generations, and he probably still knows that.
This map is really not easy. Shao Shude did not find any obvious errors, which shows that the person who drew it still put a lot of thought into it.
At the same time, he was also very curious about the Zhaowu Jiu surname group.
They are so damn capable of running away! They are scattered almost throughout the Tang Dynasty, and even Lingnan has their settlements. If the Arabs do business from the sea, the Sogdians run around from the land. They can't even
I went to Khitan, Bohai, and Silla, but I don’t know where the enthusiasm came from.
Of course, the Sogdians were mainly distributed in the Tang Dynasty, and they were deeply involved in local politics, military, commerce and even cultural undertakings, and their number was extremely large.
"I heard that there are many merchants walking through the grasslands to trade with Tatar, Khitan, Bohai, and Silla. Maybe we can stop them?" Shao Shude asked.
"This... Your Majesty can just send troops to sweep away the Tatars." Kang Nuzi said.
"That's all. I might as well manage the Qinan Grassland more and attract all the caravans." Shao Shude smiled and asked: "Are you willing to join the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"
Kang Nuzi hesitated for a moment, and finally responded: "I am just obeying the Holy Order."
"Okay!" Shao Shude said happily: "I will give you the position of Director of the Seventh-grade Internal Affairs Office, and form a caravan as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty wants to go to the Western Regions to do business?" Kang Nuzi asked in surprise.
"I still want to send people to Fulu, but is it possible?" Shao Shude said: "It would be good to touch the old land of Yanqi now. Take it step by step, don't be hasty. Pay attention to drawing maps along the way, marking the pastures and water sources. Return to the Yijun
Those stored in the archives may not be accurate and need to be redrawn, do you understand?"
"I obey the decree." Kang Nuzi had no doubts anymore and agreed immediately.
"Do you know this thing?" Shao Shude asked someone to bring the gold coin to Kang Nuzi.
"This is a gold Fulong coin, which can be seen in Dunhuang." Kang Nuzi said: "In fact, there are many in the Central Plains. Many nobles like to take some gold Fulin coins with them when they are buried. They are rare."
"It seems that Fulong is much closer than I thought." Shao Shude said happily: "I will try to contact some Sogdian merchants. If anyone can get the Fulong book back, I will give you a hundred pieces of silk for each copy. I will never break my promise. If
If there are alchemists, monks, nobles, etc. who come, there will be generous rewards."
"I am wise." Kang Nuzi suddenly realized.
The sage wants the alchemist to come here, maybe to refine the elixir of immortality? Most of the kings died suddenly of this kind of medicine in the Central Plains. Does the sage want to change the taste of other places?
It is easier for monks and nobles to understand. They generally know more. After learning Mandarin, they can communicate, but they are much more valuable than Tian Shefu who cannot speak fluently.
"Go quickly and do your best." Shao Shude waved his hand and said.
******
He received many people in the morning, and his work efficiency was very high. Shao Shude was very happy. After returning to Jiaotai Hall, he ordered Shang Gong Xie to pick up the gift lists presented by the envoys and prepare to receive a few in the afternoon.
Seeing that there was still time, he held Yu Lujiangu in his arms and took another shot.
Xie Shi moved very quickly, and when he returned outside the Jiaotai Hall, he was stopped by Pugu Chengen.
A faint voice came from the hall:
"How did Xiao Shilu die?"
"Killed by Gao Silun."
"No! Who did Gao Silun kill for?"
"...Gao Silun was ordered by the officials to kill Xiao Shilu."
"Who are you?"
"...I am Yu Lujian's aunt, Shi Lu's wife."
"What are you doing?"
"I am serving the officials."
"No! Say it again!"
"I am being raped by the officials..." After saying this, the sound of sad crying echoed through the entire palace.
Xie's face turned red when she heard this, and secretly thought that Yu Lu Jian's aunt was so shameless, how could she dare to say anything? She was so good at acting, and she would be exhausted sooner or later.
After a long time, the saint called and Xie quickly entered.
"Your Majesty, the gift list has been brought." Xie raised his hands and presented it high.
Shao Shude sat on the dragon chair and patted Yu Lujiangu's fat buttocks. The woman stepped aside with a groan.
Shao Shude gave him a cursory glance and said, "Let Qian Chuanhuan come in to see you before the time comes."
I would like to recommend "The Book of Troubled Times" by the great god Ji Cha. Interested readers can read it.