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 today's Asia. Its capital Malakanda is in today's
Samarkand.【】
The Sogdians are a nation that is good at doing business. During the Tang Dynasty, the largest minority living in Dunhuang was the Sogdians, and the majority of Hu merchants in Chang'an were the Sogdians. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Sogdians were gradually invaded by Turkic forces.
Part of the 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, earning money from
Get commission.
Because of this precarious position, their professional ethics becomes 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. His shrewd eyes were not dull at all: "Sir, it's getting late. Should we go to the city and find an inn to stay? What kind of goods does the master have? Come back.
Let me tell you, here, there are special stores for all kinds of goods. Really high-quality goods can only be sold at high prices there. I can just let you know what goods you want to buy on your return trip.
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, and just wanted to use it to hide his true identity, so he didn't take these words seriously and just smiled. He was not familiar with it here, and the local language was not Chinese.
With this guide, it will be enough to have someone to guide you when traveling or staying.
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 cars, horses, cattle, camels, and all kinds of livestock slowly coming and going driven by business travelers.
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, strong women with wheat-colored skin, and others.
There were children of seven or eight years old, and there were often old people in their late teens. After listening to Dumb's introduction, Xia Xun realized that these old people were all skilled craftsmen with specialties in a certain area, so they were sometimes popular goods.
Liu Yujue was very curious, and everything was full of exotic customs. Xia Xun's keen eyes were scanning everything he saw, but what he paid attention to was completely different from Liu Yujue's. What he paid attention to were the roads and the composition of the city's residents. He
I 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 and completely governed by urban residents.
.
In fact, this is also true. The businessmen here are not like the original businessmen, who have a low political status and must rely on wealthy and powerful people. Here, as a successful big 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 whole city to discuss and solve the problem 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,
The slaves were beaten to death, and those who disagreed with each other drew their swords to fight. Not only did no one care, but a group of people cheered and cheered. If the party who died in the battle did not have relatives and friends to take care of him, he would be stripped naked by thieves immediately.
Everything of value was taken away, and the bloody bodies were thrown 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?"
There are many hotels near me, should there be a place to stay?"
Duan tightened the reins, waited for him to catch up, grinned and said: "Master Ying said that this is the first time he comes back here to do business, and it is true. Master, there are indeed some inns here, but it is too chaotic here, people die every day, 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."
Duan stretched out his hand and pointed forward, and said to Xia Xun with a lively expression: "Sir, turn around that alley, which is where the city lord and the wealthy merchants and gentry of this city live. The place where Dui wants to take the master is Mr. Argus
The thieves and gangsters would not dare to enter Lord Argus's tavern. There are the best wines there and the richest businessmen. Maybe the master can find buyers there without having to travel around!"
Xia Xun touched the thick money bag that Ying Zhan gave him before leaving, took out one, shot it at Dumb with one finger, and said with a smile: "Okay, no need to talk, just take us there quickly, I will
I think what I need most now is a good bath, and then a big soft bed!"
When Ah-Dai saw a golden thread being thrown down in an arc, he quickly stretched out his hands to catch it. When he caught it, it turned out to be a gold coin. He couldn't help but be overjoyed, and quickly joked: "The master is young and strong, so he probably needs someone beautiful and hot."
The girl warms the bed. The master is so generous and young and handsome. The girls there will definitely rush to sleep with the master. Hehehehe, Lord Argus’s tavern has the most beautiful Saji in the city.
(Beauty serving wine).”
※※※
The Argus Tavern can no longer be described as a pub. It is an extremely luxurious hotel. Entering the magnificent stone door, you will first see a beautiful garden, square roofs, and semi-circular roofs.
, often with gorgeous buildings supported by huge stone columns and colonnades, hidden in the garden, you will vaguely notice 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 person in front of him was the soil brought by An Hanzi.
merchant.
Ah-Dai hurriedly stepped forward to greet him. The two of them said a few words affectionately. 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."
Dui smiled and said: "The most important festival for people there is birthdays. Although this is the first time for me to come back here to do business, I am very lucky. Can we meet Mr. Argus first?"
Xia Xun nodded obediently. After a while, a tall and sturdy man strode out with a sweet smile: "I was about to send someone to buy it. I heard that someone brought goods from the East to my hotel.
?”
Xia Xun glanced around and saw that the person 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. He was busy working.
The dumbfounded Ah-Dai quickly ran over to introduce Xia Xun. He greeted Xia Xun, nodded arrogantly, and said in a coquettish voice: "Great, I will hold a grand banquet soon to entertain all the leading figures in the city.
I need some beautiful silk, exquisite porcelain and fine tea. Come on, take me to see your goods first to see if they are worth my money!"
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, call me 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 sturdy 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.
Duan 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 great 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 local people like to buy things that are not available to ordinary people. 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 looks like you are going to 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 appears, but I’m really too tired, so I’ll leave this surprise for tomorrow. Argus is the introduction to the appearance of an important character, so I want to introduce it, um... I have to bother everyone with guessing for the whole night, sorry.
,Feel sorry.
I just clocked in at nine o'clock, and I was so tired that I couldn't hold on anymore, but I gritted my teeth and persevered. With my hard work and seriousness, I sincerely ask for monthly votes and recommendation votes from all my friends 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!