The first meeting between Zheng Jiada and Liang Yue ended unhappily.
Zheng Jiada was not surprised that the negotiations did not yield results.
After all, it is a major event that determines the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the layout of a province or even the entire northwest, and it is bound to be delayed for a long time.
Fortunately, he was not in a hurry.
The general trend is on the side of the empire, and the final victory will surely belong to the empire.
Although Liang Yue shouted to kill and became furious when he heard Zuo Mengeng's name, in the end he did not cut off Zheng Jiada's head, making the situation irreversible.
This is enough to show that Liang Yue is no longer the illiterate farmer he was before, but a tycoon who knows how to think about the pros and cons.
It’s okay to talk to people like this.
But looking at Liang Yue, even though nearly twenty years have passed, he is still full of hatred.
The negotiation process will definitely not go smoothly.
Zheng Jiada patiently settled in Xi'an.
He was waiting for Liang Yue to regain his composure and start the second round of negotiations.
He was in the enemy camp, surrounded by wolves, but he was as indifferent as if he were on an outing.
Walking on the streets of Xi'an, he admired the scenery and observed carefully.
And what he saw made him feel very good.
Xi'an, the ancient capital city, has long lost its royal aura.
The dust that has been falling continuously for thousands of years has long buried all the glory of the past.
Desolation is the only atmosphere of this city at present.
Among the pedestrians walking on the road, there was not a fat man in sight, and no one was walking steadily.
His complexion was sallow, his steps were sloppy, and he was shivering from the cold even though he was tightly wrapped in clothes.
At long intervals on both sides of the road, you can see broken flags and flags soliciting business. Obviously there are no customers, and even this kind of thing has lost its vitality.
Zheng Jiada walked several streets, and all he could smell in his nose was the fishy smell of dust.
As for the human fireworks, it seems that they have long since disappeared in this city.
As a result, his legs swelled until he finally found a noodle shop that was open.
"There is only hot skin and not enough seasoning. If you want to eat it, I will do it right now. If you don't want to eat it, please let me know."
There are no waiters in the small noodle shop, there is only one shopkeeper and cook, and his words are neither polite nor polite.
Zheng Jiada smiled bitterly.
"If I don't eat here, I will starve to death on the road."
The shopkeeper nodded and went to the back.
When I came back, I was carrying a large bowl. However, there was only a shallow layer of dough in the bowl.
In Zheng Jiada's opinion, it's not that there are few seasonings, but that there seems to be no seasonings.
"In normal times, Xiaoren's noodle shop is a signature place in the entire Dongcheng, but now, it can only be so-so."
Zheng Jiada was a little dissatisfied.
"This is not enough to eat."
The shopkeeper was not frightened.
"This is the only quantity available today. No matter how much it is, the store will be gone."
Zheng Jiada had no choice but to eat noodles.
The noodles without seasoning were just boiled in boiling water and tasted bland, especially because they were so hard that it was hard to swallow.
The shopkeeper seemed extremely bored and talked too much.
"There is no food in the city. Many people starve to death every day, and those with connections have long since run away. The discipline of those Qiuba soldiers is getting worse and worse. Maybe the guest officer will not be able to see me tomorrow."
Zheng Jiada didn't listen and even ate the noodles at the bottom of the bowl for half an hour.
He decided that he would never visit a noodle shop like this again.
To avoid trouble, he threw ten copper coins on the table.
The more you give, the less trouble you will have.
Sure enough, when he saw him getting up and leaving, the shopkeeper didn't cause any trouble, but neatly collected the copper coins and began to close the stall.
Today, Annan is divided into four forces, with the Zheng family and the Ruan family running neck and neck, and the Mo Dynasty is barely surviving.
Although Champa in the south is gradually declining, its business is very prosperous due to its good geographical location.
Merchant ships from all over the Central Plains and Southeast Asia gathered here in an endless stream, then conducted transactions, and then left happily carrying the necessary goods.
This resulted in the city being extremely prosperous, with a constant flow of people of all colors, and a variety of languages interacting with each other.
Several Han merchants were walking rampantly on the street, with their chests and belly puffed out, looking superior to others.
They are qualified to do this.
Because behind them is the empire.
Nowadays in Nanyang, other ethnic groups should be careful when seeing Han people.
Because the Central Plains Dynasty changed its owner.
The new owner seems to have a bad temper and is unreasonable in defending his shortcomings. If the Han people are bullied in Nanyang, the warships of the new dynasty will soon come.
They didn't ask for the reason at all, nor did they search for the troublemakers. They just bombed the local area wildly.
Every time this was done, the local officials would quickly find the troublemaker and behead him in front of the Han army.
For a period of time, people all over Southeast Asia feared and hated the Han people.
However, as time went by, people gradually discovered that as long as they did not bully the Han people and ensured fair trade, the Han army was reasonable.
Order is gradually established under such circumstances.
Of course, what was re-established was the proud bones of the Han people.
After all, anyone can be proud if they have hundreds of cannons behind them to help them at any time.
The same is true for the people here in Champa. When seeing Han people, they have to be careful but also very happy.
Because the Han people are very rich, they buy a lot of goods every time they come here. The prices are very fair and they don't take advantage of others by chance.
In the eyes of local people, every Han person is shining.
But something unexpected happened today. Someone actually had a conflict with the Han people.
The Han merchants were surrounded by a group of Annan people.
When the Annan people saw them, their eyes were full of irresolvable hatred, and the yells in their mouths never stopped.
Although the number of Han people was small, they were not afraid of this and immediately fought back.
The shouting match quickly turned into a fight, and the fight quickly turned into a conflict.
If the conflict escalates, there will be blood.
When they saw a Han merchant with a hole in his stomach, spitting blood from his mouth and falling down unwillingly, everyone had a premonition...
Disaster is coming!
Temasek.
The headquarters of the Third Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet.
The commander of the detachment, Xu Xizhong, was dressed neatly early and stood upright at the command post, staring at the sea.
He is waiting.
Waiting for the results that are already known.
He smiled as soon as he saw a clipper rushing into the harbor like its butt was on fire.
"The whole army sets out, the goal is to capture the city."
Temasek, which had been quiet for a long time, quickly became noisy.
All the merchant ships coming and going in the strait were like sheep encountering tigers, and they all ducked aside in panic.
Their eyes widened as they watched a huge fleet consisting of fifteen third-level battleships, twenty fourth-level strategic ships, and one hundred and ten transport ships move northward along the coast in a menacing manner.