Chapter 20 Xuanwu on the Four Kings

July of the thirteenth year of the Republic, Quintus? Severus (Qin Lun) hurried into the special pastoral city, turned a blind eye to the bustling streets and different-looking crowds, and walked straight to Dahongyu Temple. The more than a dozen attendants behind him felt very fresh. From time to time, they looked around, but Quintus was a little impatient. He shouted with a calm face, and the attendants did not dare. I neglected and hurriedly followed.

In front of the Dahongyu Temple, Quintus stopped, politely greeted a servant who came up, and explained the meaning in fluent Chinese. The official listened, looked at the entourage behind him, and quickly led him in sideways. He sat down in the living room, served tea, and asked Quintus to wait for a moment, and then I have entered the inner hall.

After a long time, Da Hongyu Jiang Gan shook a folding fan and quickly came out. As soon as he saw Quintus, he put away the folding fan with a "bang" and smiled, "Brother Qin, are you all right?"

Quintus smiled bitterly, looked around, and then took 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, looked at Quintus, pulled Quintus around and left: "Let's go, let's talk in the inner hall."

A warm current surged in Quintus's heart, and the tension suddenly relaxed. He followed Jiang Gan into the inner hall and had tea again. Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Gan waved his hand and said with a considerate smile, "Brother Qin, don't worry. I can see that you have a lot to say. In this case, let's talk slowly. It takes you thousands of miles from Rome to get here. It will take several months on the way, and it's not a half of an hour.

Quintus sighed with emotion: "Mr. Ziyi is really a bosom friend. With this sentence, I am finally relieved. To tell you the truth, I've been really anxious in the past few months since I came out of Rome. However, there are many guests on General Chen's ship, and I can't find a chance to talk to him.

Jiang Gan laughed. Chen Hai, the right general, is in charge of escorting this year. He is a very lively person. The life of escorting is relatively boring. He likes to chat with businessmen from all over the world. There are banquets on his ship almost every day. It is really not easy to stay alone with him for a while. However, Quintus was so anxious to come to Vietnam, and he was eager to find Chen Hai to find out the situation on the way. It seemed that the matter was really urgent.

The year before last, his predecessor, Kong Zhu, was an old man and returned to his hometown in Yue County to retire. Jiang Gan, who played an important role in diplomacy, became Dahong, specializing in foreign affairs. Because there are many relations between Vietnam and foreign countries, his power is far greater than that of Dahong in the original sense, which makes Jiang Gan, who has not made achievements for half his life very excited and full of energy. His messengers are far away from Rome, Sassan, Guisand and other major countries. He himself is often not in the special pastoral city and travels around the boat. The country is a common thing, and he basically has a psychological idea of the major events of various countries.

Three years ago, the Sassanids invaded the Roman-controlled province of Mesopotamia and attacked Nisibi. They were very arrogant, but the Romans quickly took action. Emperor Alexander and Empress Dowager Momia fought in person, and the three-way army attacked at the same time, blocking the offensive of King Aldahir I of Sassanid. The war was progressing well. Emperor The prestige of the room has greatly increased. Logically speaking, the current situation in Rome should not be so critical, but Quintus' expression shows that the situation in Rome is not as optimistic as Jiang Gan expected.

He comforted Quintus and quietly waited for Quintus to speak. Quintus took a few sips of tea before he came slowly.

It turned out that although Alexander defeated the limelight Ardashier I, the casualties were very large and his national strength was greatly affected. Although Sassan was defeated, he did not hurt his muscles and bones. The failure stimulated Ardashir's fighting spirit. Shortly after returning to China, he began to prepare for the next war and heard the wind. Of course, Alexander did not dare to neglect and concentrated the army on the eastern front to prevent another invasion of the Sassanid army.

However, something unexpected happened. The army was concentrated on the eastern front, and the defense in the north became empty. The barbarians saw the opportunity and invaded in a large-scale manner. They kept harassing the northern border of Rome. There was a great panic in Rome. There was a contradiction in whether to withdraw the army on the eastern front and strengthen the defense of the north. Mommia and Alex From the perspective of the overall situation, Shanda believes that the barbarians in the north are just a small matter, while the Sassanids are the great enemy who can destroy the Roman Empire. The importance is very clear and there is no need to be discussed at all. However, others, especially those nobles who are being invaded by the territory, do not agree. They think that whether the Sassanids will invade or not is still unknown. The army was guarded on the eastern line, but it was a woman's opinion to see that the northern frontier was burned and plundered by barbarians. Of course, it is self-evident who this woman is.

For the sake of this woman's opinion, the seemingly bridged contradiction between Momia and Alexander was exposed again. In the face of the accusations of the nobles, Alexander was silent, while Momia was violent. She asked Alexander to order the arrest of those who spread rumors, but Alexander objected. He said, Rome never arrests people with words, even the emperor can't.

Momia and Alexander began the Cold War. In the face of the tense situation at home and abroad, they thought of the big man in the distance at the same time. They needed the wisdom of the Han people to help them get through the difficulties, and they also needed the material help of the Han people. The reason is very simple. The huge Han Dynasty business group escorted by the Yue sailors has almost monopolized the business of the South China Sea. The merchants of other countries can't be compared with them at all. The scale can't be compared, and the safety on the way is not a concept. The pirates dare not provoke the Han Dynasty caravan escorted by sailors, so they have to focus on these. On the bodies of merchants, under double pressure, they went bankrupt one after another. Some gave up the sea business and became distributors of the Han people, and some rented Han people's merchant ships for trade. The Han people's ships were big and safe. As long as they paid a sum of money, they could take it, which was much more cost-effective than buying their own boats.

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

This is also one of the reasons why the Roman nobles are dissatisfied with Alexander and Momia. The royal family can buy relatively cheap luxury goods from the Han people to meet their lives, but the nobles now need to pay more gold coins to buy them, and the nobles who are used to luxury to face the exquisite things of the Han people. Pin can't control their desires at all. They are eager to need more sources of wealth, instead of sitting and looking at their territory being robbed by barbarians.

Jiang Gan listened quietly and took a sip of tea from time to time. After Kuntus finished talking about the situation, he looked at Jiang Gan eagerly: "Mr. Ziyi, we Romans are in urgent need of your help now. Alexander is very much looking forward to meeting the great King Yue."

Jiang Gan's eyes were picky: "Do you want to meet our king?"

Quintus nodded: "Yes, the Sassanids came fiercely. According to reliable sources, he was very dissatisfied with your powerful Han fleet entering the Arabian Sea, but he was afraid that we Romans were your friends and did not dare to attack on both sides. The reason why they are so eager to defeat us, Rome, is that they hope to remove the threat behind them first, and then compete with you for the golden road at sea. We have reliable information that the Sassanids are building a large number of ships to form a navy. They have also sent a lot of people to your warships to understand the situation, but your warships are very well guarded, and they have not received enough information.

Jiang Gan glanced at Quintus quietly. Of course, he knew that the Sassanids were building ships. The fifth battalion of agents under Zhou Kun is now all over the four empires. Of course, it is impossible to hide such a thing, and there is no sound at all. Quintus told him that he wanted to pull the Yue country to the side of Rome and compete with Sassan. And Jiang Gan naturally knows very well that what Sun Shao wants to annex most at present is not Sassan, but Tianzhu. With the strength of Yue, whether he can win Tianzhu now is in the number of five or five, not to mention the expedition to fight with the Sassanians.

"Brother Qin, I can't make the decision about this." Jiang Gan said slowly, "If your emperor wants to meet my king, he must see if my king has this plan."

"Then Mr. Ziyi, please take me to meet the great King Yue." Quintus had expected this result for a long time. The reason why he said this matter as soon as he met was that he hoped to see Sun Shao and then talk to him about other things, so as not to talk to Yu Fan, the extremely shrewd old man first.

"The king is not in Funan." Jiang Gan smiled and said, "He went to Yecheng."

Quintus was stunned and very disappointed. He pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll go to Ye City."

... Yecheng, Xuanwu Pool, the autumn wind is refreshing, and the floating light leaps to gold.

Tu Hu held a long knife with his hand, and Xu Chu were like two door gods, standing on the left and right next to the door of the top floor of the three-story building. They are very similar in size. They are all tall, strong, with broad shoulders and thick waists. They are larger than ordinary people and look like mountains. However, their vigilant eyes make people feel that once they are in danger, they can become vigorous leopards and tear their opponents into pieces without mercy. If it hadn't been for the slight difference between Tu Hu's appearance and that of Han people, he would be almost like Xu Zhen's son.

Ten tigers belonging to Yue Wei stood side by side along the corridor, facing the outside. There are still 60 people on the two floors downstairs. On the periphery of the small building, there are more than 360 same tigers waiting for them. One mile away, the world-famous tiger and leopard riders and Wuweiying surrounded the Xuanwu Pool in an iron bucket, even the students of Xuanwu College. They all felt nervous, because there were also tigers standing guard outside the college, but not to protect them, but not to allow them to go out.

Although there are more than 3,000 fierce pawns armed to their teeth within a radius, the small building is so quiet that it can hear the sound of the pool when it is blown by the autumn wind.

Cao Wei, the most powerful king of the Han Dynasty, and Sun Shao, the king of Yue, lay side by side on the sandalwood, looking at the Xuanwu Academy on the other side. Cao Rui, who had arrived, knelt down in the back and held his breath, like a waiter's little yellow door.

"Yuan Zhong, go and have a rest." Cao didn't look back, and gently patted a few armrests.

"Oh." Cao Rui answered, got up and stepped back to the door. He bowed and said, "Rui retreated!" Then he turned around, picked up his clothes, put on the shoes outside the threshold, and walked away with a steady step. Cao Wei didn't say anything until Cao Rui's footsteps disappeared in the building, and then he said, "How's it going?"

His speed of speech is very slow, with an indescribable sense of vicissitudes in his voice.

Sun Shao smiled, turned his head and glanced at Cao Shen. It happened that Cao Shen also turned his head to look at him. The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time. I want to hear your opinion. Cao said, "I don't want to listen to other people's words. I just want to hear what you think."

Sun Shao was used to touching his nose. Cao Shen couldn't help raising his eyebrows. After so many years, he dared to do such a little move in front of him, and there was no one who did it so naturally and casually. Sun Shao was the only one.

"Can the person Cao Gong like be wrong? Of course, it's good, very good, very good.

Cao's face suddenly became very twisted. His eyebrows moved for a moment, and he laughed again. He stretched out one hand and patted Sun Shao's hand on the armrest and said, "Fengxian, 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 it in detail."

"The king of Wei is cruel, the king of Wu is tolerant, the king of Shu is stupid, the king of Yue..." Cao looked at Sun Shao and looked at Sun Shao with a smile: "Guess what it will be?"

Sun Shao couldn't help laughing, shook his body pleasantly, shook his head and said, "Shao is also stupid. I can't guess it. Please ask Mr. Cao to speak out."

"Village." Cao Xiu gently spit out a word and smiled. After a while, he said, "The village of the village."

Sun Shao curled his lips calmly. As soon as he arrived in Yecheng, he heard this statement. According to Bai Wei, the lieutenant of Yecheng of the Fifth Battalion, this may be He Yan, a famous talker in Yecheng. Because it involves the King of Wei, there are not many people who know where it comes from, but the detectives of the Fifth Battalion have their own way to inquire about it.

This sentence means that Cao Yan, the king of Wei, was vicious and killed people without blinking an eye. In the war in Xuzhou, Surabayan did not flow for it. Sun Quan had the surname of tolerant, not only to the enemy, but also to his relatives. First to Cao Yan, Liu Bei, then to Sun Shaoren, and finally to his son Sun Dengren - four years ago, Lu Xun and others left. Not long after the founding of the State of Wu, Sun Quan, who had been in poor health, suddenly became energetic. He appointed his 16-year-old second-year-old grandson as a general of the town army. He opened the government on a fake festival and ruled half of the state, but he was arranged by him to Yuzhang for a 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 30% of the State of Wu - several cronies who followed the prince were either suppressed or incorporated, and there was no constraint of the Jiangdong family that had always supported Sun Deng. All this was just a piece of cake for Sun Quan. In a month, the State of Wu became Sun Quan's State of Wu, and his grandson Deng was abolished for many years. The actual administration has become a dream. To say that he can bear it, Sun Quan is the first, which is enough to compare with Yue Wang Jujian in spring and autumn.

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. Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and the general Zhang Fei were in charge. Liu Chan only used the seal, which was no similar to the puppet. However, Liu Chan often praised Zhuge Liang and others in front of the gentleman, and even called Zhuge Liang his father. Those who were loyal to the royal family were very disappointed in him. They felt that the great country under Liu Bei had become Zhuge Liang's. Liu Chan didn't know whether he was in a hurry. It was really stupid to regard Zhuge Liang as a loyal minister.

And Sun Shao is a famous village. The villager, the village man, to put it bluntly: the spirit of no king is as tasteless as the village man. In order to demonstrate the principle of this statement, Sun Quan followed him and suffered, because the argumentator said that from Sun Shao's father Sun Jian, he was a villager who did not know etiquette. He once killed Wang Rui, the assassin of Jingzhou, and Zhang Zi, the governor of Nanyang, with fraud. He was a lawless thug.

"Hehehe..." To Cao's surprise, Sun Shao smiled and smiled very happily. Cao Yan also smiled, but smiled reluctantly. 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 to spare him, but ordered that he would never be an official. He originally thought that Sun Shao was a young man and humiliated his ancestors. Sun Shao would be furious, but he didn't expect that Sun Shao just smiled and laughed happily.

"It's not worth talking about." In the face of Cao's doubts, Sun Shao explained, "It's the real celebrities who are romantic. Those sour and rotten people who apply grease and powder all day long say a few mysterious words and talk about the way of heaven and earth without being afraid, but they don't even understand the most basic stargazing. Isn't it troublesome to treat this kind of person? Cao Gong, let them make noise, and we will be free. The emperor can tolerate me, and Cao Gong can tolerate me. Why doesn't he tolerate me?

"It's reasonable, it's reasonable." Cao Li nodded repeatedly. Since Sun Shao said so, it was obvious that he always knew who said this. If Sun Shao really cares about it, it would be a little difficult for him to deal with it. He pulled the topic back again and said with a smile, "I invited you to Yecheng to help me with the matter of the heir. Unfortunately, I also lost Zixiu and Cang Shu one after another. I never thought that I would lose Zihuan again when I was old. Now it has become a problem for the throne of the King of Wei to pass on to anyone. Fengxiao, Wen Ruo and Gongda have abandoned me. You are the only one who can help me.

Sun Shao received an invitation from Cao Wei and knew about this problem before he came to Yecheng. Cao Pi suffered for many years and finally became the crown prince of Wei, but he was not lucky to wait until he succeeded to the throne. Before Cao Wei died, he died of illness first. Everyone thought that he should choose one of Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi next, especially Cao Zhi, but to everyone's surprise, Cao Wei has not ordered the establishment of a crown prince. This time, he invited Sun Shao. After that, he kept taking Cao Rui with him, and Sun Shao estimated that Cao might have taken a favor of Cao Rui.

Cao Rui is a smart man. He has followed Cao Qian since he was a child. Later, he was sent by Cao Qian to the northern Xinjiang to practice. He followed Cao Zhang in the bitter and cold northern Xinjiang for two years. Even Cao Zhang praised him for his hardships and determination. After returning, he was loved by Cao Qian. It is reasonable for Cao Qian to want to pass on the throne to him. Love.

Sun Shao was a little surprised to think of a circle of history. In the end, Cao Rui succeeded to the throne. Although he was not the emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty, it was enough to make him sigh. Personally, he has no impression of Cao Rui, but after knowing Cao Rui's intention, he still learned about Cao Rui's situation. He always felt that Cao Rui was hypocritical, smart but not wise. He was not a truly qualified successor. If it were him, he would definitely not choose Cao Rui as his heir, but he would be the State of Wei. The heir is another thing, just like he did not appreciate Cao Pi at the beginning, but did not oppose Cao Pi becoming the prince of Wei.

"Yuan Zhong has ambition, determination and insight. The Qin Emperor and Han Wu are like him, but the pattern is slightly smaller." Sun Shao said slowly, "However, it is more than enough to govern the State of Wei. With Ziwen and Zijian and a group of clans, the State of Wei will be our great enemy in the future."

Cao Qian couldn't help but wave his hand and said disdainfully, "Forget it. Don't pretend in front of me. If Yuan Zhong can share the same mind with Ziwen and Zijian, the State of Wei may not be weaker than the State of Yue in his hands. If he has a half-hearted thing, sooner or later, the State of Wei will fall to the same as the State of Wu. It will really come to that time. I will definitely give you a headache under the nine springs.

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

Cao Yan did not smile. Looking at the Xuanwu College in the distance, he sighed: "I also hope too. Unfortunately, my life is up to me. I have heard the voices of Zixiu and Cang Shu. Alas, if Zixiu asks me where his mother has gone, how should I answer him?"

Sun Shao suddenly felt cold in the back of his head. Isn't he going to hell in broad daylight?

The two of them were silent. After a long time, Cao Jian slowly stood up. Sun Shao was about to get up, but Cao Jian patted him on the shoulder: "You can stay as long as you want. I'm going to take a walk. If I don't leave for three days, my legs and feet seem to be frozen." He walked to the door by himself, but stopped again. He looked back at Sun Shao who turned his head and looked at him: "Fengxian, don't think that everything is under control. My Han caravan dominates the South China Sea and cut off the financial path of many people. There are many people who secretly hate you to the bone. Don't be so rash when you go out in the future." He pointed to the outside: "It's a good thing that it's in my State of Wei. If you are in Tianzhu, even if you tigers take one to ten, you may not be safe."

"Thank you, Lord Cao, for reminding me." Sun Shao did not insist, and he arched his hand and smiled.

Cao Qian slowly went downstairs. Xu Zhen followed him with someone. Sun Shao got up and walked to the upstairs and fell on the mahogany railing. He looked at Cao Qian with the help of two young women and slowly walked away along the white jade path by the Xuanwu Pool. He looked at the Xuanwu College, which could not be seen in the distance, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly. , showing a meaningful smile.

A sound of footsteps came, and he stood behind him for two steps. Cao Rui's voice sounded in the empty building: "Your Highness, Rui is very grateful. My mother said that she would prepare thin wine for Mrs. Xiahou, and ask for your Highness's permission.

Sun Shao did not look back. The villager still lay on the railing and pouted his buttocks to Cao Rui: "Shao is here to congratulate Taisun first. How can he not come when his wife invites him? Please return it to Lingtang. You must come to the banquet on time. He turned around and looked at Cao Rui with a calm face. "Taisun, we won't meet with swords and soldiers in the future, will we?"

Cao Rui hurriedly said, "How dare you fight against Your Highness?"

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao suddenly smiled and strode forward. He patted Cao Rui on the shoulder angrily: "That's for sure. If the State of Wei wants to do bad tricks on the State of Yue in the future, don't blame me for not giving you face. How about it, Yuan Zhong, have you ever tasted the taste of women in the Western Regions? If you are interested, how about I give you two? Or Tianzhu's? Otherwise, Persian?"

(to be continued)