Changsun Jun stood up, carefully tied the Hengdao around his waist, then took his clothes, some luggage, and letters and left the tent.
The oncoming cold wind was mixed with the strong smell of blood, making people feel agitated all over.
Dozens of dead soldiers stood outside the tent, each leading their horses. Except for the occasional snort, there was silence.
Changsun Jun got on the war horse he had brought with him, glanced at the dark camp, and said: "Leave a few people behind, burn half a stick of incense after we leave, and burn the camp clean, and then go to meet outside Damascus. We will meet up early tomorrow morning." , let’s go to the city together.”
"Here!"
The dead soldiers responded to the order and immediately left five or six people behind. The rest got on their horses and drove part of the carriages loaded with silk goods. They slowly stepped onto the road behind Changsun Jun. After walking a mile, they accelerated their horses. Run towards the city of Damascus.
Behind him, the fire light illuminated the entire sand dune, and the fire took advantage of the wind and burst into flames in an instant.
Several caravans encamped nearby were immediately alerted and started shouting. They were all Han caravans and could not stand idly by. Everyone rushed forward to put out the fire. However, the tents and goods were all covered with lamp oil, and the sky was dry. , how can the fire be extinguished by the wind? These merchants who want to put out the fire can only watch from a distance, and beware of the strong wind blowing up the sparks and falling into their own camps...
Changsun Jun looked back and looked at it from a distance, then ignored it and kept riding forward.
No one here recognizes him. Even if his bodyguards are missing from the corpse, no one will know who he is. As long as he enters the city of Damascus and spends some money, he can change his identity and become a trader from Chang'an. of merchants.
What happened here is no longer known.
…
When it was daylight, they finally arrived outside Damascus.
A low city wall surrounds the entire city, and the mountains are surrounding it. It blocks the cold wind and collects water. It is really a rare geomantic omen.
Groups of merchants and local people lined up in front of the city gate, and after being inspected, slowly entered the city.
While waiting to enter the city, someone came up to me and asked curiously: "Where does the young master come from? This is your first time doing business in Damascus. I'll see you next time."
Changsun Jun turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a rough appearance. He was wearing a bloated fur and a felt hat on his head. He had a curly beard and light blue eyes. He was obviously a man. Hu Shang.
Changsun Jun frowned slightly, not liking this kind of merchants who deal with people on poles, and said calmly: "How do you know that this is my first time coming to Damascus?"
The Hu Shang laughed loudly and showed his yellow teeth: "Our name is Baimao, and we are from the Qiuci royal family. We currently live in Huaiyuanfang, Chang'an. We walk on the Silk Road all the year round. For caravans of the size of the young master, we can also say that they are all I know him, but I have never met him, so I asked him this question."
Although only Changsun Jun and his own dead soldiers were left in the caravan at this moment, dozens of people were all powerful and murderous. This was extremely rare among the caravans, especially since he had Qin Changgeng's body in order to pretend to be a merchant. A batch of silk and porcelain were left behind, which made people notice something strange.
After all, although silk is precious, porcelain, which is heavy and difficult to transport, is even more valuable to merchants who travel long distances.
Just from the fact that the carriage loaded with porcelain walked on the snow and the ruts were deeply sunken into the snow, we can see that the carriage must be porcelain. Ironware cannot be trafficked from Chang'an to Damascus.
Damascus is the hometown of countless swords and swords in the world. Damascus swords are famous all over the world, but the horizontal swords of the Tang Dynasty are not popular here...
Changsun Jun secretly lamented that he was negligent and should not have brought porcelain. Moreover, just by looking at the name, this Baimao belonged to the royal family of Qiuci. Huaiyuanfang was where Hu merchants lived in Chang'an City. The name of the place was taken from "Huairou Yuanyi". First, these Hu businessmen deal with the dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty all day long. If they know themselves, it will be very bad.
Therefore, he did not want to talk to this Baimao, and said with a cold face: "In the past, the elders in the family were trading on the Silk Road. This year, the elders got sick, so they asked me to accept the business. I can practice one thing and understand the details. I want to enter the city. Yes, please help yourself."
Baimao thought that he had met a wealthy businessman from Chang'an and wanted to get close to him. He would be able to have someone to look after him in Chang'an in the future. Many friends would lead to many paths. After all, even if Hu Shang had great wealth, his status in Chang'an was extremely low. The real The nobles didn't even look at them, but most of these Han merchants were supported by princes, princes and ministers...
Feeling disappointed, Baimao had no choice but to step aside in disbelief.
I thought to myself that this boy is so ambitious, but he is just a businessman, and he is actually harder to serve than those children of noble families...
When Changsun Jun and his party entered the city, he was shocked to find that there were two Han Chinese among the soldiers at the city gate.
When he handed over his identity document, he realized that those Damascus men with dark faces and curly hair did not understand Chinese characters, and there were too many Han merchants, so they could only recruit Han soldiers to check the passing Han merchants.
One of the Han soldiers looked at Chang Sun Jun, then lowered his head to examine a pile of documents carefully, then turned back and said a few words to the Damascus soldiers, and a group of soldiers stepped forward to open all the boxes on the carriage and inspect them one by one.
Just when Chang Sun Jun thought that the soldier wanted to ask for benefits, he heard him say: "Enter the city immediately. This is your first time in Damascus?"
Changsun Jun quickly said yes, and his men were not slow to take out a few gold coins and put them into the hands of the soldiers.
The soldiers weighed it briefly, and a smile suddenly appeared on their faces: "First go to the government office in charge of trade in the city to report, pay the commercial tax according to the estimated amount, and then trade within the designated area in the east of the city. Remember not to wander around. , otherwise if you get into trouble, no one can protect you."
"Thank you very much."
Changsun Jun agreed repeatedly, and then ordered his personal followers to drive the carriage through the low doorway and into Damascus city.
After entering the city, what is in front of you is a long street. Looking around, you can see the easternmost city gate tower, which runs through the entire city from east to west. The left and right sides are crowded with shops, countless merchants, and people are hawking and shouting along the street. The sound is endless and it is very prosperous.
A variety of novel buildings are full of food style and look very unique.
At that time, some local merchants approached and asked, speaking in extremely awkward Chinese, what kind of goods they were selling and if they needed help.
I learned from Qin Changgeng a few days ago that these people were specifically running errands for Han merchants, helping them pay taxes, find warehouses for unloading, and even help find buyers to earn commissions.
It's just that most of these people are local gangsters, and the commissions they ask for are often very expensive. If you don't pay, they will collude with the Damascus government to cause you all kinds of trouble, and even find a reason to confiscate your goods, or even I'll simply put you in jail according to the crime, and you won't be left with any dregs...
Of course, Changsun Jun was not short of money. He was too lazy to walk around and be looked at by others, so he said to the man: "Pay the tax for us, and then find a place to unload the goods."
The man suddenly became happy. This was a business visit. He quickly said: "My brother, Abdullah, my brother Azmi is the general defending the city of Damascus. You chose me, which is the most correct thing! Please follow me. I come!"
He saw that Zhang Sunjun and his party were just new here and didn't understand the rules. Since you didn't ask how much the commission was, I wouldn't tell you either. After the trade, you'd ask for a sky-high price. If you regret it and don't give it, don't blame me for being evil, hehe. …
Immediately, he led Chang Sun Jun and his party to the government office in the city to declare taxes. A specialized official inspected the goods and gave a valuation, from which the taxes were paid in proportion.
As for whether this valuation is reasonable...it all depends on the mood of these officials.
However, Changsun Jun didn't care about this. He paid the tax happily and got a token. With this, he had an officially recognized identity in Damascus City. He could set up a stall in the market and trade his own goods.
Abdullah said: "Actually, you don't have to set up stalls in the market. There are too many local merchants there. They will pick and choose with you and squeeze your profits blindly. As long as you are targeted by them, there will be nothing else." Merchants come to trade with you. I have many connections in the city and know many merchants. Why don't you let me contact the buyers directly, and you can negotiate the price and give me some compensation."