The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 312

In July of the 13th year of the Republic of China, Quintus Severu (Qin Lun) hurried into Temu City, turning a blind eye to the bustling streets and people with different appearances, and walked straight to Dahonglu Temple, followed by The dozen or so entourages felt very fresh and looked around from time to time, but Quintus was a little impatient, so he drank with a sullen face, and the entourage did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly followed.

In front of the Dahonglu Temple, Quintus stopped in his tracks, and politely greeted an official who came up to him, and explained his purpose in proficient Chinese. The official listened and looked at the entourage behind him. Quickly led him in sideways, sat down in the waiting room, served tea, asked Quintus to wait, and then entered the inner hall by himself.

After a short time, Da Honglu Jiang Gan walked out quickly, shaking a folding fan. As soon as he saw Quintus, he put away the fan with a "shua" sound, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Brother Qin, are you all right?"

Quintus smiled bitterly, looked around, and then grabbed Jiang Gan's hand: "Mr. Ziyi, I'm here to ask for help this time."

When Jiang Gan heard this, he also put away his smile, took a look at Quintus, and pulled Quintus to turn around and leave: "Let's go, let's talk in the inner hall."

There was a warm current in Quintus's heart, and the tension of the past few days suddenly relaxed. He followed Jiang Gan into the inner hall and served tea again. Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Gan waved his hand and said with a considerate smile: "Qin Brother, don't worry, I can see that you have a lot to say, so let's talk slowly, you have traveled thousands of miles from Rome, it will take several months on the way, and it's not too short of time of."

Quintus sighed with emotion: "Mr. Ziyi is really a confidant. With what you said, I finally feel relieved. To tell you the truth, I have been really anxious for the past few months since I came out of Rome. .But General Chen has a lot of guests on board, and I can't find a chance to talk to him."

Jiang Gan smiled.This year, the right general Chen Hai is in charge of the escort. He is a very lively person. The life of the escort is relatively boring. He likes to chat with businessmen from various countries. There are almost banquets on his ship every day. It is true that he wants to be alone with him for a while. Not an easy task.However, Quintus came to Vietnam in such a hurry, and he couldn't wait to ask Chen Hai to find out the situation on the way. It seemed that the matter was indeed very urgent.

The year before last, Kong Zhu, the former Dahonglu, became an official in old age and went back to his hometown in Yue County for retirement. Jiang Gan, who played an important role in diplomacy, became Dahonghe, who was in charge of foreign affairs.Because Yue State has a lot of relations with foreign countries, the power of his Dahonglu far exceeds that of Dahonglu in the original sense. This makes Jiang Gan, who has not made achievements in half his life, very excited and full of energy. His emissary As far as big countries such as Rome, Sassan and Guishuang, he himself is often not in Temucheng. It is a common thing to travel around the countries by boat. He basically knows the major events of the countries.

Three years ago, the Sassanids invaded the Mesopotamian province controlled by Rome and attacked Nisibi with arrogance, but the Romans quickly acted. Emperor Alexander and Queen Momia personally conquered, and the three armies The attack blocked the Sasanian King Ardashir I's offensive, the battle progressed well, and the royal family's prestige increased greatly.Logically speaking, the current situation in Rome should not be so critical, but Quintus's expression shows that the situation in Rome is not as optimistic as Jiang Gan estimated.

While comforting Quintus, he quietly waited for Quintus to speak.Quintus took a few sips of tea before speaking slowly.

It turned out that although Alexander defeated Ardashir I, who was in the limelight, the casualties were very heavy and the national power was greatly affected. Although Sassan was defeated, he did not suffer any injuries. Fighting spirit, shortly after returning to China, he began to prepare for the next war. Of course, Alexander, who heard the news, did not dare to neglect, and concentrated the army on the Eastern Front to prevent another invasion of the Sasanian army.

However, something unexpected happened. The army concentrated on the eastern front, and the defense in the north became empty. The barbarians saw the opportunity and invaded on a large scale. They kept harassing the northern frontier of Rome. There was great panic in Rome. There was a conflict in strengthening the defense of the north, and Momia and Alexander thought that the barbarians in the north were nothing more than a trivial matter from an overall perspective, while the Sassanids were a major enemy that could destroy the Roman Empire. Discuss, but others—especially those nobles whose territories are being invaded—disagree. They think it is still unknown whether the Sassanids will invade. Looting is simply a woman's opinion.Who this woman is is of course self-evident.

For the sake of this woman, the seemingly bridged conflict between Momia and Alexander was exposed again. Facing the accusations of the nobles, Alexander responded silently, but Momia was furious, and she asked Alexander to order the arrest Those who spread rumors, but Alexander objected. He said that Rome never arrests people with speech, even the emperor.

Momia and Alexander started a cold war. Faced with the tense situation at home and abroad, both of them thought of the big man in the distance at the same time. They needed the wisdom of the Han people to help them tide over the difficulties, and they also needed the material help of the Han people.The reason is very simple. The huge Han Dynasty merchant group escorted by the Yue Kingdom Navy has almost monopolized the business in the South China Sea. The merchants from other countries cannot be compared with them at all. The scale cannot be compared. Safety on the way is not a concept. Dare to provoke the Han dynasty caravan escorted by navy, so they had to focus on these merchants. Under the double pressure, they went bankrupt one after another. Some gave up the sea business and became Han distributors instead. Others rented Han Chinese merchant ships for trade. Han Chinese ships were large and safe, and they only needed to pay a small sum of money to board, which was much more cost-effective than buying their own ships.

In a few years, the South China Sea and the Red Sea have become the territory of Han Chinese merchant ships. If the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are not connected, it is estimated that the Han people can directly do business in the Mediterranean Sea.As a result, the commercial tax of the Roman Empire has been greatly reduced. They can only purchase the goods they need from Han merchants for resale. Safety is safe, but the profits will not be as rich as before.

This is also one of the reasons why the Roman nobles were dissatisfied with Alexander and Momia. The royal family could buy relatively cheap luxury goods from the Han people to meet their needs, but the nobles now need to pay more gold coins to buy them. , and the aristocrats who are used to luxury can't control their desires in the face of the exquisite items of the Han people. They urgently need more sources of wealth, instead of sitting and watching their territories being robbed by barbarians.

Jiang Gan listened quietly, taking a sip of tea from time to time. After Quintus had finished the general description of the situation, he looked at Jiang Gan eagerly: "Mr. Ziyi, we Romans are in urgent need of your help. Meet the King of Yue."

Jiang Gan raised his eyes: "Want to meet our king?"

Quintus nodded: "Yes, the Sassanians are coming aggressively. According to reliable sources, he is very dissatisfied with your powerful Han fleet entering the Arabian Sea, but he is afraid that we Romans are your friends and dare not attack on both sides. The reason why they are so eager to defeat us Rome is that they hope to eliminate the threat behind them first, and then compete with you for the golden road at sea. We have received reliable news that the Sassanians are building a large number of ships and forming a navy. A lot of people were sent to your battleship to understand the situation, but your battleship is very tightly guarded, and they haven't received enough information yet."

Jiang Gan glanced at Quintus calmly. Of course he knew about the Sassanid shipbuilding. The Fifth Battalion spies under Zhou Dory are now all over the four empires. Of course, such a thing cannot be kept secret. There is no wind at all.Quintus told him these things in order to draw the country of Yue to the side of Rome and jointly fight against Sassan.And Jiang Gan is naturally very clear that what Sun Shao most wants to annex is not Sasan, but Tianzhu. With the strength of the Yue Kingdom, it is only five or five whether he can take Tianzhu now, let alone an expedition of thousands of miles. Go to war with the Sassanids.

"Brother Qin, I can't decide this matter." Jiang Gan said slowly: "If your emperor wants to meet my king, we have to see if my king has such a plan."

"Then please Mr. Ziyi take me to see His Royal Highness the great Yue King." Quintus had expected this result a long time ago. The reason why he told this matter as soon as they met was that he hoped to meet Sun Shao and then talk to him For other things, I don't want to talk to that shrewd old man Yu Fan first.

"Your Majesty is not in Funan." Jiang Gan chuckled, "He went to Yecheng."

Quintus was taken aback, very disappointed. He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll go to Yecheng."

……

Yecheng, Xuanwu Pool, the autumn wind brings coolness, and the floating light jumps into gold.

Holding a long knife in his hand, Tu Hu and Xu Chu stood beside the top door of the three-story building like two door gods, one on the left and the other on the right.They are very similar in size. They are tall, strong, with broad shoulders and thick waist. The vigorous leopard mercilessly tore the opponent into pieces.If Tu Hu's appearance was not slightly different from that of Han people, he would almost look like Xu Xuan's son.

Ten tiger warriors belonging to the Yue Wei Dynasty lined up along the corridor, standing facing the outside, and there were another 360 on the two floors downstairs. On the periphery of the small building, there were more than [-] tiger warriors waiting in line. Outside, the famous Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Wuwei Battalion surrounded the Xuanwu Pool like an iron barrel. Even the students of the Xuanwu Academy felt nervous, because there were also tiger warriors standing guard outside the academy gate, but they were not there to protect them. Instead, they are not allowed to go out.

Although there are more than 3000 soldiers armed to the teeth within a radius of one mile, the small building is very quiet, so quiet that you can hear the "squeak" sound of the pool water being blown by the autumn wind.

Cao Cao, the most powerful King of Wei in the Han Kingdom, and Sun Shao, the King of Yue, lay side by side on a sandalwood table, looking at the Xuanwu Academy on the other side in a daze. Little yellow door.

"Yuan Zhong, go and rest." Cao Cao patted the armrest lightly without looking back.

"Here." Cao Rui responded, got up and stepped back to the door, and bowed again: "Rui, leave!" Then he turned around, lifted the hem of his clothes, put on the shoes outside the threshold, and walked steadily up.Cao Cao didn't speak until the sound of Cao Rui's footsteps disappeared in the building, and then he said, "How is it?"

He spoke very slowly, with an indescribable sense of vicissitudes in his voice.

Sun Shao smiled, turned his head and glanced at Cao Cao, just as Cao Cao also turned his head to look at him, their eyes met, and they smiled at the same time. "I want to hear your opinion." Cao Cao said, "I don't want to hear what other people say. I just want to hear your opinion."

Sun Shao touched his nose habitually, and Cao Cao raised his eyebrows involuntarily. For so many years, there is no one who dares to do such a small gesture in front of him, and does it so naturally and casually. Sun Shao is the only one. One.

"Cao Gong's favorite person can be wrong? Of course it is good, very good, very good."

Cao Cao's face suddenly became very distorted, his eyebrows moved for a moment, and he laughed again, stretched out a hand to pat Sun Shao's hand resting on the armrest, and said, "Feng Xian, do you know what others say about our four kings?" ?”

Of course Sun Shao knew, but at this moment, he could only shake his head: "Dare to hear the details."

"The king of Wei is ruthless, the king of Wu is forbearing, the king of Shu is stupid, the king of Yue..." Cao Cao looked at Sun Shao, and looked at Sun Shao with a half-smile: "What do you think it will be?"

Sun Shao couldn't help laughing, he shook his body comfortably, shook his head and said: "Shao is also stupid, he can't guess, please speak up, Mr. Cao."

"Village." Cao Cao uttered the word lightly, and smiled, and after a while, he said again: "The village of the villager."

Sun Shao pouted calmly.He heard about this statement as soon as he arrived in Yecheng. According to Bai Ai, the school captain of the Fifth Battalion, this may be the statement of He Yan, a famous talker in Yecheng. Because it involves the king of Wei, people who know the source Not many, but the spies of the Fifth Battalion had their way of finding out.

This sentence means that Cao Cao, the king of Wei, was vicious in his methods and killed people without blinking an eye. In the first battle of Xuzhou, Surabaya did not flow; Sun Quan had tolerance, not only for the enemy, but also for his relatives. Ren, then to Sun Shaoren, and finally to his son Sun Dengren——Four years ago, shortly after Lu Xun and others left the state of Wu, Sun Quan, who had been in poor health, suddenly regained his energy, and sent his 16-year-old second son Sun Li He was granted the title of General of the Zhenjun, opened the mansion on holidays, and governed Banzhou, but he arranged for the crown prince Sun Deng to Yuzhang for a very high-sounding reason—Yuzhang has a shipyard, a college, and the only high-end porcelain kiln in the Han Dynasty. The annual income accounts for [-]% of Wu’s income—the few cronies who followed the prince were either suppressed or incorporated, without the constraints of the Jiangdong family that has always supported Sun Deng, all this is just a piece of cake for Sun Quan , Within a month, Wu Guo became Sun Quan's Wu Guo, the prince Sun Deng was abolished, and the actual governance for many years became a dream.In terms of tolerance, Sun Quan is number one, comparable to Goujian, King of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The latter two are also easy to understand. After the death of Liu Bei, the king of Shu, the crown prince Liu Chan ascended the throne, and the prime minister Zhuge Liang and the general Zhang Fei ruled. Calling Zhuge Liang the prime minister, those loyal to the royal family were greatly disappointed with him, thinking that all the great lands and mountains conquered by Liu Bei belonged to Zhuge Liang.

And Sun Shao is a well-known village.A villager, a villager, in other words, to put it bluntly: Without the air of a king, he is as worthless as a villager.In order to prove the principle of this statement, Sun Quan followed behind and suffered, because the arguer said that starting from Sun Shao's father, Sun Jian, he was a villager who didn't know etiquette. He once killed Jingzhou governor Wang Rui, Zhang Zi, the prefect of Nanyang, was a lawless thug.

"Hehehe..." Contrary to Cao Cao's expectation, Sun Shao smiled happily.Cao Cao also laughed, but it was a forced smile. When he heard this statement, he almost sent someone to kill He Yan. Later, He Yan's mother, Mrs. Yin, and He Yan's wife and half-sister, Princess Jinxiang begged, Only then did he spare him, but he was ordered never to be an official.He originally thought that Sun Shao would be furious because he was young and humiliated his ancestor, but he didn't expect that Sun Shao just laughed, and laughed happily.

"It's nothing to sit and talk about with guests." Facing Cao Cao's question, Sun Shao explained: "It's the real celebrities who are so romantic, those sour people who are painted all day long, say a few mysterious words, and speak out loudly. Talk about the way of heaven and earth, but don't even understand the most basic stargazing skills. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble with this kind of person to control qi? Cao Gong, let them make noise, and I will be free. The emperor tolerates me, Cao Gong tolerates me , why doesn't he tolerate me?"

"Rational, reasonable." Cao Cao nodded again and again. Since Sun Shao said that, obviously he always knew who said it.He brought the topic back again, and said with a smile: "I invited you to Yecheng to help me advise the successor. The old man is also unfortunate. He lost Zixiu and Cangshu successively. He never wanted to grow old." I also lost Zihuan, and now it is difficult to pass on the throne of King Wei to anyone. Feng Xiao, Wen Ruo, and Gong Da have all abandoned me. Looking around the world, the only person who can help me hold my eyes is you. This little friend."

Sun Shao received Cao Cao's invitation and knew about this problem before he came to Yecheng.Cao Pi struggled for many years and finally became the prince of Wei, but he was not blessed to wait until his succession. Cao Cao died of illness before he died. Everyone thought that he should choose between Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi, especially Cao Zhi, but Contrary to everyone's expectations, Cao Cao has never ordered the establishment of a prince. After inviting Sun Shao this time, he has always brought Cao Rui by his side. Sun Shao estimated that Cao Cao might have taken a fancy to Cao Rui.

Cao Rui is a smart man. He followed Cao Cao to gain knowledge since he was a child. Later, he was sent by Cao Cao to northern Xinjiang to practice. He stayed with Cao Zhang in the bitterly cold northern Xinjiang for two years. It is also loved by Cao Cao, and it is reasonable for Cao Cao to want to pass on the throne to him.

Sun Shao was a little surprised, but he didn't expect that history would go full circle, and in the end it was Cao Rui who succeeded to the throne. Although he was not the emperor of Wei, it was enough to make him feel emotional.He personally has no impression of Cao Rui, but after knowing Cao Cao's intentions, he still has a look at Cao Rui's situation. If it was him, he would definitely not choose Cao Rui as the heir, but as the heir of the Wei State, it will be another story, just like he did not appreciate Cao Pi at the beginning, but he did not object to Cao Pi becoming the crown prince of Wei Same.

"Yuan Zhong is ambitious, decisive, and knowledgeable. Emperor Qin, Han Wu, and his like are just a little smaller." Sun Shao said slowly: "However, it is more than enough to govern a Wei country, and there are Ziwen, Zijian and a whole family. Helping the clan, Wei Guo will be the enemy of our Yue Kingdom in the future."

Cao Cao couldn't help but waved his hand, and said dismissively: "Forget it, stop pretending in front of the old man, if Yuan Zhong can be of the same heart and mind as Ziwen and Zijian, in his hands Wei Guo may not be as good as Yue Guo Weak, if he is half-hearted, sooner or later Wei State will be reduced to the same level as Wu State, and when that time comes, the old man will definitely curse you to have a headache."

"Don't!" Sun Shao raised his hand and interrupted Cao Cao's words: "I still hope that Duke Cao will live a long life."

Cao Cao didn't smile, looked at the Xuanwu Academy in the distance, and sighed a long time: "I hope too, but unfortunately, my fate is up to me after all, I have heard the voices of Zixiu and Cangshu, alas , if Zixiu asks me where his mother is, how should I answer him?"

Sun Shao suddenly felt as cold as the back of his head, isn't this a hell in broad daylight?
The two were silent at the same time. After a long time, Cao Cao stood up slowly. Just as Sun Shao was about to stand up, Cao Cao patted him on the shoulder: "You can stay as long as you want, old man, I'm going to take a walk I haven't left for three days, and my legs and feet seem to be frozen." He walked towards the door, but stopped again, turned his head and looked at Sun Shao who turned to look at him: "Feng Xian, don't think that everything is under control. In the middle, my big Han caravan dominates the South China Sea, cutting off many people's fortunes, and there are not a few people who secretly hate you to the bone, so don't go out so rashly in the future." He pointed outside: "Fortunately, it is in our country of Wei, If you are in Tianzhu, even if one of you tiger fighters is outnumbered by ten, it may not be able to keep you safe."

"Thank you, Mr. Cao, for reminding me." Sun Shao didn't insist, he cupped his hands and said with a smile.

Cao Cao went downstairs slowly, Xu Yu led the people to follow, Sun Shao got up and walked to the side of the building, leaned on the mahogany railing, and watched Cao Cao, supported by two young women, walk along the white jade pool beside the Xuanwu Pool. The trail slowly went away, and then glanced at the Xuanwu Academy where no one could be seen in the distance, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a meaningful smile.

There was a sound of footsteps, and he walked two steps behind him and stood still. Cao Rui's voice rang out in the empty building: "Your Highness, Rui is very grateful for the kind words. My mother has something to say, prepare thin wine for Mrs. Xiahou , Your Highness, please give me permission."

Sun Shao didn't look back, he was still like a villager leaning on the railing, pouted his buttocks and faced Cao Rui: "Shao is here to congratulate the grandson first, Madam invites you, how can you not come? Please report to the Lingtang, and you will be there on time. Banquet." He turned around and looked at the calm Cao Rui, "Grandfather, we won't meet each other in the future, right?"

Cao Rui said hastily: "How dare Rui confront His Highness."

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao suddenly laughed, strode forward, and patted Cao Rui on the shoulder in an old-fashioned way: "Then it's a deal, if the Wei State wants to play bad tricks on the Yue State in the future, don't blame me for not doing it." For your face. How about it, Yuan Zhong, have you tasted the taste of women from the Western Regions? If you are interested, how about I give you two? How about Tianzhu? Or Persia? "

(End of this chapter)