The small Waiguo market in Luoyi, once a tribute field, has now been occupied by a large number of clan clans. Rows of roofs are connected together. The defense function of the traditional city has been weakened to the extreme.
In recent years, with the birth of a large number of new things, things such as "East China Sea Glazed Pearls" and Five Lakes Pearls have become a trend pursued by nobles.
In addition to being traded and sold in the market, Waiguo Small Market has now become a playground for small and medium-sized nobles and brokers.
Here, many private resales and transactions are very prosperous.
Some down-and-out samurai would often sell their family's honorary title here to a businessman who needed it at a very generous price.
Small clans such as the Man clan, the Man clan, the Qian clan, etc. have raised a large number of fake children, creating a very unique atmosphere in Luojing.
There was even a merchant's son who, if he had been beautiful since childhood, dressed up like a girl for the Luojing warriors to enjoy.
These warriors who grew up during the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, in addition to their ancestral bronze swords, bronze spears, and bronze armor, can also show their status. They can't even kill a chicken.
On the contrary, those sluts who look like women often have to act as guards while being molested.
Merchants don't have much concern for their own descendants. As long as they can get a title from a noble and change their appearance, they can go to a small country and gain a good status.
With a title below that of Emperor Zhou's country scholar, plus being rich, he could naturally transcend the limitations of his status.
But since last year, the titles of warriors seem to be even more difficult to use.
The emerging local powers in the south did not value aristocratic blood. One after another, and at the same time, more and more formal examinations were conducted, allowing businessmen to choose to speculate on both ends.
If you can pass the exam in Huaizhong City, that would be great.
If not, you can still hold a title here as Emperor Zhou.
But no matter what, because of the rise of new local powers in the south and the reputation of the old nobles, prices have naturally fallen again and again, which has caused businessmen to return to their true nature as businessmen and pursue profits crazily.
A large number of luxury goods are traded here. The Waiguo Small Market runs eastward along the Luoshui River. At the intersection of the Yishui River, there is the Jiangyin Guild Hall.
It became the largest wholesale market within the actual rule of the Zhou Dynasty.
Not only luxury goods can be wholesaled, but also furs, livestock, white silk, burlap, fine linen, green linen, dyed silk, etc. can be wholesaled.
Ordinary furs are not valuable, but in this winter, they are very important and are what the middle and lower classes in Luojing need most.
The annual family income can still allow the residents of Luojing to collect two or three sheepskin jackets.
Linen outside and leather inside, or linen outside and linen inside, plus plush mixed with reed flowers and the like in the middle, is a very good jacket. Covered with a vertical pullover, a large pullover like a curtain, it can keep you warm.
Even if the crotch is not covered, there is no need to worry about freezing, because the heat will rise and the wind will not get in from underneath.
For such a set of configurations, slaves would be exchanged for five to ten, depending on the bargaining power of the merchants.
Only this time, the merchants in Luojing were very nervous, because news came from the south that the Hanzi Kingdom in the south seemed to be crazy.
Not only did they carry out large sacrifices unscrupulously, they even prayed to heaven and honored King Wu Wei Gouchen as the "Emperor of Heaven".
Who is the emperor?!
The emperor will also be hung up and beaten!
When such explosive news came out, no one believed it at first, but soon, all the Han people in Zhou State admitted it.
The old nobles of the Zhou Kingdom were stunned, and the merchants were also extremely panicked. If the Han Dynasty engaged in such a move, it might be a world war, with an unprecedented scale, far exceeding the time when the Jin Kingdom attacked Chu.
In the small market in Waiguo, businessmen with extensive connections quickly inquired for more accurate information.
Especially the Jin people, there are a lot of them in Luojing, and they have a very good relationship with the Wu people. The northernmost country is the best informed.
At this time, Qin and Jin continued to contact and test each other, but due to the winter war, both families carried out large-scale construction projects and quickly built military fortifications.
Both families also had civil construction experts from Huaizhong City to help supervise the battle. There were trenches, military stations, sentry towers, and watchtowers everywhere throughout Hexi and Weishui.
Even with heavy snowfall, tunnel operations did not stop.
Even in the respective rear positions of the two armies, there are small metallurgical workshops piled up, where copper and iron are smelted every day, and then tools needed for civil construction are manufactured.
"How could it be the Emperor of Heaven! Do the Han people want to rule the world..."
Jin people in a small city shut up when the words came to their lips, and the whole world was the enemy? It seems that the Han monarch has always done this.
"What do you think the Han people...the Han people want?"
"I heard from the people of Wu that the Five Lakes in Suzhou are in ruins, and the country of Wu... is probably about to fall."
"The Wu people are going to be defeated before the Han people take action?"
"The man was not rebellious and was granted the title of emperor. Furthermore, the Li family was promoted by King Wu Wei. He was originally a "Baisha" barbarian and was not familiar with Chinese etiquette. At this time, he respected King Wu Wei as the "Emperor of Heaven", and everyone
Most common people think that he is loyal and good. Let me ask you, if you were in Gusu City at this time, how would you treat Li?"
"this……"
As long as you think about it from another person's perspective, you will find that this matter is very complicated.
To say that Li Jie is rebellious, yes, he is rebellious.
But to the old ministers of King Gou Chen of Wu Wei, especially the lower-level officers with humble backgrounds, Li Jie was a traitor, but he was rebelling against Wu, and he did not betray the late king.
As for the military leaders and aristocratic families in Gusu, their thoughts are even more pure. They do look down on Li Jie, but they look down on the current King of Wu Ji Yi even more.
Why do these idiots have the right to point fingers at them? And they deliberately allowed Taishu Mao to win over and suppress the old ministers? What are they trying to do? They are trying to rebel!
As for the veteran soldiers such as the Ju Qu family, it is not so much that they are loyal to the state of Wu, but rather they are loyal to Wu Wei Wang Gouchen.
Now, the most famous general in the Wu Kingdom is actually Li Jie, a man who holds the seal of the Twelve Kingdoms and was granted the title of Emperor.
Coupled with various unverifiable legends, they actually can't say whether "King Wei's Posthumous Letter" exists or not.
Because it is difficult to explain the achievements of the late king when he was young from the perspective of military tactics. I always feel that he just made a random operation, and then everyone swarmed in and risked their lives, and ended up winning inexplicably.
If it happens once, you can still accept it, but if it happens every time, the soldiers will have to doubt their life.
Especially the last battle, the operation to destroy the Yue Kingdom, is simply incomprehensible.
But unfortunately, the Yue Kingdom was really destroyed.
As a result, I respected him more and more, and I became more and more unsure of the legend. Is Li Jie really the bastard of King Wu Wei Gou Chen?
It didn't matter before, but it matters now.
For the old ministers, and even for Ju Chuze, the lower-level warriors of the Wu Kingdom who came from a lowly background, this was a kind of sustenance, and they would only obey the strong.
King Wu Wei was a strong man during his lifetime and even more so after his death.
The little kid in Suzhou City is nothing!
"When the Wu people went north, they became the Han people."
Suddenly, someone suddenly said something like this, which made the surrounding Jin people stunned for a moment, but he immediately said something even more shocking, "Jin people, just like Zhong Xingyun, if they go south, they are also Han people."
"Zhong Xingyun, Wei Yu, Xu Fei... were all talented people in the middle of Jin Dynasty, but now they are talented people in the Jin Dynasty."
"There is a rumor in Jiangyin Guild Hall. I wonder what the second and third sons think?"
"But the Huaizhong scholar passed the three passes and entered the Chu region to govern?"
"Xiucai?"
"Those who succeeded in taking the examination in Huaizhong City were praised by Mrs. Yinxiang as 'talented ones', so they were called 'xiucai'."
"Speaking of which, what I admire most about a man is that Mrs. Yinxiang is still the official wife to this day."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Someone immediately laughed after hearing this and said, "If a frustrated person in Jiangcheng would have traded his wife long ago in order to make progress. Comparing the two, I admire the man."
"Although some people at that time said that men were 'ghosts and gods in lust', now it seems that they are just lustful. In terms of character, they are superior."
As they chatted, the topic among the Jin people gradually turned to whether the daughter-in-law of the Wei family could play a role in Huaizhong City, and whether it would be less interesting than Princess Wei.
Just when the fellow Jin countrymen were about to speak in a yellow accent, they heard a huge noise coming from outside.
Before they could go out, someone rushed in and shouted: "Two or three sons! Han has sent an envoy, and the envoy is in Luonan!"
"messenger?"
"at this time?"
"Could it be a tribute?!"
"Absolutely impossible! The attack on Chu has now come to an end. The Empress Dowager Zhao has returned to the capital of Ying, and as for the King of Chu, he is imprisoned in the Zhu Palace. If it is a tribute, the King of Chu will definitely accompany her."
"That makes sense..."
If it was really a tribute, it would be impossible for the King of Chu not to be brought along.
If King Xiong Sheng of Chu was taken north, the news would not just be that Han sent an envoy.
In addition to keeping an eye on the war in Kansai, the Jin people also have to pay close attention to the change of power in the south. Now the Han Dynasty is the strongest, and both Wu and Chu are in trouble.
The only ones that could be used were originally the Yue and Song dynasties, but the Yue Kingdom was destroyed and could not be restored.
Even if the Yue King Zongsang is still alive, he cannot get out of Gusu City, and the resistance of the Yue Kingdom is nothing but scattered sand.
The State of Wu is a scattered State of Wu. There are more and more mountains between each other, but the State of Yue is not much better.
At this time, there were very few princes who could threaten the Han Dynasty.
"Let's go! Go out and take a look!"
"Go together and go together."
The Jin people went out to watch and inquire about the news.
Soon, I saw the horse team slowly approaching.
The queue was very long, and in addition to the horse team, there were also mules of various coat colors.
These mules are equipped with spear-wielding warriors riding on them.
As for the convoys, the number is a bit smaller, but just looking at the convoys, horse teams, mule teams, and the number of large livestock types in the Hanzi Kingdom, it is quite impressive.
Especially mules, which are obviously much more stable than horses.
"I heard that this is a breed of 'Lushu'. It eats very few beans. It is produced by the Huaizhong City Human and Livestock Breeding Center."
"Last year I went to Huaizhong City. The chief there was Sha Gua, who was an expert in raising Lu Shu."
"Huaizhong calls 'Lushu' a donkey, with horses on the left and households on the right."
"Then what is the name of this thing?"
"Mule."
A Jin person who had been to Huaizhong City traced a word on his palm with his finger.
"What's the price?"
“Not takeout.”
"Not for sale?"
"Not for sale."
The man sighed as he spoke, "This is a good thing, but it's a pity that it's not for sale."
With that, he recounted his observations of mules in Huaizhong City, which immediately cheered up many Jin people.
This kind of large livestock that can withstand roughage and can be worked better than horses can definitely be purchased. If there are two or three thousand of them, the battle in Hexi will not take much energy to push through Xianyang Palace. There is a maneuver to release them on the Wei River.
There will be more troops, and there will also be more supplies that can be transported.
Wherever it is now, trenches are being dug on both sides, and earthen walls are rising one after another.
In just a few months of armed conflict between the Qin and Jin Dynasties, more fortifications, especially walls and trenches, were built than on the border in the past hundred years.
A few months can be compared to a hundred years. It is actually the method of fighting in winter, which is to consume each other's blood.
It couldn't be used before, but now that we have advanced tools and special construction methods in Huaizhong City, the entire Qin and Jin Dynasties are facing each other in trenches in the confrontation area.
Both sides have purchased a large number of long-range weapons that can be used in winter combat, especially baleen bows and blended bows. The cold will reduce their power, but it will not affect winter combat.
At the same time, both sides also purchased a large number of eagle feather arrows and two levels of armor. These armors flowed into their respective battlefields through different procurement channels of the Qin and Jin sides.
Although the casualties are not large, as long as there is a war, the casualties will skyrocket in an instant.
"How come the Han people came from Dongyu?"
"The one I left should be Yingshui. I also returned from Dongyu last year."
"I'm afraid that the Han people still want to inquire about the battle between Wei and Zheng."
"Nowadays, if the news that Chinese people respect King Wu Wei as the 'Great Emperor' reaches Luojing, it will definitely reach Xinzheng, Chaoge."
"Who will be the envoy for the Han people to enter Luojing this time?"
"It's just Yun Yan Wuji and others."
While they were chatting, they heard someone coming from outside and said breathlessly, "Do you know who the messenger is?"
"who?"
"Lyuba, who was envoy to Chu last year, is now envoy to Luo Jing."
"Liuba?"
"Originally he was the son of the Six Kingdoms. He named himself 'Xia Liu' for some reason and went about his life with that name. Later he became the 'Liu family' of Baisha, Yinxiang, and Huaizhong. It was Li who helped him when he rose up in the grass. In order to envoy the old Taoist, he
Zi Qi, the Grand Prime Minister of Wu State, also valued and admired him very much."
"This person should be strong."
"How about we go together?"
"It's better to prepare generous gifts first. I heard that this person is greedy for money. He is similar to the prince of Wu State. He is also eloquent and can not be underestimated."
"That's true."
After thinking about it, all the Jin people prepared generous gifts, packed their carriages and horses, summoned hundreds of slaves, brought a large number of concubines, and went to welcome the envoy from Hanzi Kingdom.
Among the envoys from the Han Dynasty, Liuba was overjoyed when he heard that the Jin people came to greet him, and thought to himself: Now, I am a high official of the superior country!