Chapter 491: The Trade Road to the Western Regions
Zhao Kuo didn't like drinking very much, but he still vaguely remembered that he still owed a banquet. He had promised one of his Wei friends that he would have a good drink with him.
The friend had long since rested in the land, and with Fusu's words, Zhao Kuo made up for the banquet he owed.
In these decades of war, Zhao Kuo has lost everything he can. After working for most of his life, all he has left is his old and sick body and his idea of running for the common people in the world.
Only these two things have not been taken away. At this age, Zhao Kuo has also turned a blind eye to matters of life and death. He does not care about his own life or death, but he hopes that this concept of serving the world can continue to be passed down.
Go down.
To be honest, Zhao Kuo has not been able to find a suitable successor so far. He has many disciples, and the best among them, like Han Fei, has already become a world-famous scholar, even though his official position is lower than that of Li Si
, but in terms of prestige in the Qin State, the three Li Si's tied together are not as good as Han Fei. However, Han Fei is Han Fei. After absorbing Zhao Kuo's ideas, he formed his own unique and advanced Legalist theory.
This is different from Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo's core idea is the people, while Han Fei's core idea is the country. They seem to be the same, but things are different. For example, Zhao Kuo believes that the temple system must first benefit the people, while Han Fei believes that the temple system must first benefit the people.
and the country. In the original timeline, the "country" in Han Fei's heart was the king, who made an indelible contribution to centralization and promoted unification.
Today, Han Fei, under the influence of Zhao Kuo, the concept of the country is no longer limited to the king, but it is still very different from Zhao Kuo's country where the people are the people.
Zhao Kuo did not force it. At the beginning, Confucius taught more than 3,000 disciples, and each disciple had his own opinion. No one inherited Confucius's teachings and thoughts unchanged, including Confucius's own family, who also gradually changed and formed their own unique
Theory, Xunzi was very angry about this, thinking that they distorted Confucius' theory. In fact, so was Xunzi. Xunzi's thoughts were still different from Confucius's, but Xunzi believed that he was the most perfect successor.
Mencius and Xunzi are probably the best inheritors of Confucius' thoughts. Zhao Kuo likes these two people very much. A person who can calmly say that he is a person who sacrifices his life for righteousness is really exciting. Zhao Kuo still remembers that he was a student in his previous life.
After reading this text, the young man held the book and read it over and over. His mind was filled with the scene of a strong and kind middle-aged man with his hands behind his back shouting to sacrifice his life for righteousness. This made him very excited and he could not forget it more than ten years later.
.
As for Xunzi, when he first read his exhortation to learning, Zhao Kuo was not that excited. He just felt that this man's old-fashioned preaching had no meaning and was far inferior to Mencius. However, when he came to this era and saw it in person
After seeing this great Confucian, Zhao Kuo was shocked. This great Confucian had a different kind of charm in his words and deeds. His thoughts were advanced and he had the world in mind. This was probably what Zhao Kuo could imagine of a saint.
Mencius's remarks were so generous and exciting. He loudly expressed his pursuit of benevolence and righteousness, excitedly expressed his love for the people, angrily accused the king, and asked the ministers to resist. He seemed to be standing on the thunderbolt.
In the middle, pointing to the sky, his figure was so tall. But Xunzi was very calm. He calmly talked about his worries about the world, calmly said the words "water can carry a boat" to express his love for the people, and talked about the nature of human nature.
Evil came to persuade everyone to learn. If Mencius stood in mid-air, looking up at the sky, thunder flashed around him.
Xunzi must have been standing on top of the abyss, with his head lowered, looking at the suffering people in the abyss, and calmly reaching out to them.
There is no distinction between the two, nor can we say who is better. Both of them are the light of civilization. They inherited the thoughts of Confucius and continued to practice asceticism. Zhao Kuo did not dare to compare himself to Confucius, and neither did Xunzi or Mencius.
At best, he is a plagiarist, bringing thousands of years of experience to this era. However, Zhao Kuo still hopes to find someone who can inherit his ideas and pass on this unique people-centered thought.
During his lifetime, Lu Buwei recommended a Northerner who was proficient in various languages. A few months later, this Northerner came to Xianyang and was brought to Zhao Kuo. The Northerners called him Zhang Pu.
Although Zhang Pu was brought with him, this man was rough-looking and tall, but he did not look like jade. After he arrived, Zhao Kuo asked Zhao Gao to bring Gan Luo over. Although Zhang Pu was tall, in front of Zhao Kuo,
He was still a little restrained and his hands were shaking slightly.
"Are you from the North?" Zhao Kuo saw that he was so nervous, so he could only use some common words to calm him down. Sure enough, when Zhao Kuo asked him about his family situation, the recent harvest, etc.
The local people are no longer so nervous. He is now engaged in farming and has a lot of land in the north. Zhao Kuo talked about the language problem. The man smiled and said: "I dare not hide it from you. During my eldest father's time, I
I was convicted of doing business with barbarians."
"My father fled Qin and went to Zhao, and then continued to trade with the Hu people. It was at that time that I learned the Hu language."
"Can you speak Yuezhi language?"
"Of course, the Yuezhi trade with us the most. My father even has a few friends in the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi are not as cruel as the Huns. The Huns often kill merchants after getting the goods. Their reputation is not good.
Well, the Linhu people are poor and have nothing to trade with, so trade is carried out with the Donghu and Yuezhi people. The Donghu people have trade relations with Zhao and Yan. They do not kill merchants. The Yuezhi people themselves
Very good at trade."
"They often go to the Western Regions and even the north to trade with tribes such as Ding Ling. They have a lot of good things there, and they are trustworthy and will not rob or kill merchants." Zhang Pu began to explain these cold facts to Zhao Kuo. The Yuezhi people did
There is a lot of business, they like reselling, and they control the trade routes between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, and even the grasslands, so they are very rich, but the price of being rich is that their combat effectiveness is not very high.
They are very tolerant of merchants and will not rob or kill merchants. Of course, if they compete with them for trade routes, the situation will be different. According to Zhang Pu, the Xiongnu once sent a caravan to the Western Regions, but were stopped by the Yuezhi people on the way.
The purpose of robbery and killing was to monopolize the trade routes between the East and the West. The Xiongnu did not value trade very much. If they liked something, they preferred to rob it rather than buy it.
In the eyes of the Central Plains people, they are all Hu people, but they are all different from each other. There is also the Donghu. The Donghu maintains trade with the Central Plains and has the most trade with the Central Plains. This results in their higher degree of Chineseization.
In the later Han Dynasty, these descendants of the Donghu people became the mercenaries of the Han Dynasty, and even helped the Han Dynasty guard the Northeast for a time. However, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the temples could not afford military expenses, and these mercenaries could not support themselves.
, and started looting again.
Cao Cao defeated them once. In the following days, the descendants of the Donghu became more and more sinicized. They eventually went south and established their own dynasty, and even almost unified China for a time. Among the Hu people from all over the world, the Donghu
Descendants are the fastest to integrate into the Central Plains, which is also inseparable from their higher degree of Chineseization. Zhang Pu really knows a lot, Zhao Kuo listened to him carefully, but felt a little worried in his heart.
He originally thought that the Yuezhi people had no hatred against the Qin State, and by sending envoys, he could let them pass and open up the road to the Western Regions. But now it seems that the Yuezhi people don't like others bypassing them to conduct trade. They guard Hexi.
Corridor, wants to monopolize the trade routes here. If the Qin State wants to open up the Western Regions and establish a trade route, the Yuezhi people will never agree. It seems that this can only be solved by war.
The combat effectiveness of the Yuezhi people is not too high, but it is definitely not bad. After all, they can occupy the Hexi Corridor. This strength is still there. In the original historical line, they were not lucky enough to meet the first hero of the grassland.
The Yuezhi people who were attacked by this hero fled away. The Yuezhi people were no match for the hero and fled to the Western Regions. They defeated Wusun, a country near Dunhuang, on the road, killed their king, and then fled to the Western Regions.
It was also the Yuezhi people's misfortune. The prince of Wusun, a country they killed on the road, fled all the way to the male lord. When the male lord heard about him, he felt pity for him and adopted him as his own.
After the prince grew up, he immediately led the knights to kill him. How did the Yuezhi people know that they had caused such trouble? Under the attack of Prince Wusun, they were defeated again, even in the Western Regions.
I can't wait any longer.
They could only continue to run west, and then ran to Daxia. The Yuezhi people, who had been defeated continuously in this way, came here, and they were surprised to find that they were actually the first-class fighting force here, so they defeated them.
They conquered the surrounding land and established an empire, called the Kushan Empire. The place where they came was even the Indians who later became unlucky. They were eating fruits and singing songs at home, and the Yuezhi people were driven over.
However, they were also lucky. It was the Yueshi who came instead of the Xiongnu. It is said that after the grassland hero negotiated peace with the Han Dynasty in his later years, he thought of setting out from the Western Regions to attack Daxia and other areas (India). However, he still
He died before he could send anyone. Compared to the ferocious Huns, the Yuezhi people were like cute little sheep. Let’s talk about Wusun. If the people who attacked him were Huns, I’m afraid there would be no prince to take him with him.
The tribesmen escaped alive
Zhao Kuo frowned. Can the Western Region be opened up only through war?
Zhao Kuo doesn't like war, especially now, when people everywhere have a rare opportunity to develop. The Northern Army is fighting the Yue people in the southwest. After pacifying the Baiyue people, Qin will definitely need some time to recover, and it will attack non-stop.
Yuezhi, this will cause a big problem. Zhao Kuo looked a little worried, and Zhang Pu looked a little confused. Zhao Kuo told him his original thoughts. Zhang Pu laughed and said, "You don't have to worry."
"The current King of Yuezhi is a fatuous king. He cannot listen to the advice of his ministers. He is greedy for money, lustful, short-sighted, and has no ability. As long as you send someone to give him some gifts and persuade him to let Qin's envoys go to the Western Regions,
Or promise him that if Qin's caravan heading to the Western Regions pays him, he will definitely agree. Even if his ministers know that this is wrong, they will never dare to dissuade him. Those who dare to dissuade him will be killed by him."
Zhang Pu said with particular disdain: "When Touman Chanyu of the Xiongnu was defeated by General Li Mu, the Yuezhi people wanted to take the opportunity to attack the Xiongnu. The Yuezhi general at that time led his people to attack. As a result, the Yuezhi king took advantage of the general's absence.
At that time, he robbed the general's wife and daughter. The wife and daughter couldn't bear the humiliation and committed suicide. In order to prevent the general from taking revenge after learning the truth, he actually sent another general to attack the previous general."
Zhang Pu shook his head. It could be seen that he had nothing to say about the character of the Yuezhi King. Zhao Kuo also looked a little angry, saying, "Worthless than a beast."
Gan Luo soon arrived at Zhao Kuo's residence, and Zhao Kuo introduced Zhang Pu to him. After the two got acquainted, they sat in front of Zhao Kuo and began to discuss the matter of the mission. Gan Luo listened carefully to Zhang Pu.
After introducing the situation of the Yuezhi people, he thought for a long time and finally said: "In this case, I am confident that I am willing to send an envoy to the Yuezhi people. I will ask this Zhang Jun to be my deputy and go with me."
Of course, Gan Luo couldn't go empty-handed. After asking Zhang Pu about King Yuezhi's preferences, Gan Luo knew what he should prepare, and the next thing had to be left to Li Si and the others, because the mission was
It was a major event, and Zhao Kuo was only the minister in charge of education, so he was not in charge of diplomacy. Qin's Dianke was originally in charge of Qi, but later Qi became the imperial censor, and the position of Dianke was given to the king.
string together.
Zhao Kuo wrote a letter and asked Gan Luo and Zhang Pu to go to the Prime Minister's Mansion to find Li Si.
Sitting in the prime minister's house, Li Si read Zhao Kuo's letter carefully. He was a little confused about why Zhao Kuo was so concerned about the Western Regions and was so determined to open up the Western Regions. However, Li Si never asked about this. He just
An executor, he hid the letter and did not give it to Han Fei to read. He calmly said to Gan Luo: "Okay, I understand, I will arrange it."
Gan Luo was a little surprised. He thought Li Si would ask some questions about the mission, but he didn't expect that he would do things so neatly. Li Si immediately handed over the matter to Xiao He and asked Xiao He, Meng Yi, and Zhang Cang to come.
Prepare the things Gan Luo needs, prepare personnel and supplies, etc. Li Si leaves the matter to these young people, and he takes Gan Luo to the palace. He wants to report to the emperor. As the prime minister, he does not dare to make his own decisions.
No matter how big or small the matter is, always ask the emperor for his thoughts.
This is why he has been able to stay where he is now.