Chapter 23 Persistence

A fierce light flashed in the slender and deep eyes of King Aldashier of Sassan, and his hands were tightly pinched into a ball. The piece of wood recording the information of the Vietnam warship was folded into two pieces. Hearing the sound, the spy standing in front of him bent down and shivered and knelt directly on the ground with a "plop".

Aldahir's breath became thicker. This was a sign that he was going to kill. The spy lay on the ground and did not dare to move. He sweated like rain, and soon the loess under him was wet.

"Get up and go out." The sound of Ardahir suppressing his anger came from above his head. The spy kowtowed hurriedly like an amnesty, turned around and flew away.

Aldahir looked at the pool of sweat under his feet, lowered his head in frustration, spread out his palms, looked at the piece of wood that had been pinched into pieces by him, and muttered, "Is there really no way to get the secret of the Vietnamese warship?"

Several important ministers did not dare to say anything, and even his brother Akaz, who was most trusted by Ardahir, shut up. From the day of the establishment of the Sassanid dynasty, Aldahir began to pay attention to the surrounding information. Originally, Yue did not enter his sight. After all, Tianzhu was far enough, but Yue was still outside Tianzhu. For Sassan, the existence of Yue had no influence on him. Even if Alexander hit the Ganges, He just controlled the north of Tianzhu, and there was still a large area of land that had not been conquered. Aldahir once thought that he and Yue would never have any intersection.

However, all this was quickly broken, not because the envoys of Yue - Taixi Fengcheng often have messengers from distant countries, which is not surprising - but because the Yue warships occupied the sea, and the Han merchants monopolized maritime trade, whether in the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf, almost overnight, all Almost all the goods come from Han merchants.

The first thing they feel is that the amount of spices is small, but the price has risen. In the past, although spices were very expensive, as long as you have money, it is not difficult to buy them, but now it is different. If you have money, you may not be able to buy them. Of course, the spices you can buy are also high-quality spices. You don't want to buy those spices anymore. Suitable defective products.

Come with spices, as well as exquisite silk, beautiful glassware and porcelain, each of which is a boutique. Every one can make people believe that these are treasures that are hard to find. As soon as you get them, you can't bear to put them down. You can only pay for it obediently. Aldahir is a smart man. When many people are addicted to the exquisite goods brought by Chinese merchants, he has been aware of the crisis: in this way, a large amount of money will be swept away by Chinese merchants. If it is not used much, Sasanne's economy will have problems.

At that time, Aldahir promised to build a transportation business with the Vietnamese people, while starting to build a shipbuilding, preparing to compete with the Vietnamese for maritime trade rights. The first item was very smooth, but the second item was stranded at the beginning of the progress. The reason was that Aldahir found that his warship could not seize the hegemony at sea even if it was built. The reason was very simple. His warship was similar to that of the Roman warship, and it inherited the Phoenician warships, regardless of length, width or soldiers loaded on the ship. The number of people is not the opponent of Yue Ren. At best, it is not much different from those Tianzhu people who have been beaten by Yue Ren. Even if he can recruit excellent sailors and improve some combat effectiveness, in front of the powerful warships of Yue Ren, he is basically dreaming of winning.

Aldahir stopped building. He had to find out what the Vietnamese warship looked like before it was imitated and upgraded. At least he had to build a warship similar to the Vietnamese, and then consider the issue of fighting with the Vietnamese. For this reason, he sent a large number of spies. Contact with Chinese merchants in various ways, contact with Yue [***] people who go ashore for recreation, hoping to find out the news from their mouths. At the beginning, Aldahir was very surprised. The warship of Vietnam was about 50 Han feet, equivalent to 150 feet, which was twice as long as the Roman warship and could carry thousands of people. Not to mention weapons on it, with such a size, in the naval battle with collision as the main tactic, the Vietnamese warships had enough advantages. .

What made Ardahir more depressed was that he sent a large number of secret agents, that is, he could not inquire about the situation of Yue people's weapons. Finally, he sent people to the Vietnam warship, or he only saw the crossbows on the medium-sized warship from afar. The weapons on the main warship could not see anything. All they could see was the frame on the deck. It can be speculated that Yue people's weapons are hidden under the deck, and it is difficult to see what the weapons under the deck look like. After sacrificing a few of the best spies, they still get nothing.

It's not that Aldahir doesn't want to kill people. He has killed more than a dozen people, but it still doesn't work. This shows that it's not that these spies are incompetent, but that Yue Ren really keeps his mouth shut.

Thinking of this, Ardahir was very angry. If he couldn't get the secret of the Vietnamese warship, he could not compete with the Vietnamese at sea, and he could not regain the right to trade at sea. He may be able to dominate on land, but without maritime trade, Sassan may grow up like a weaned child, but he will certainly not be very strong.

Aldahir is very angry, but he is not an impulsive person. He knows that he can't turn against Yue Ren until he has enough strength. Otherwise, once Yue Ren cuts off the business road from the sea, Sassan will soon get into trouble. Not to mention fighting against Rome, his survival will be affected to a certain extent.

What's more terrible is that if the Vietnamese and the Romans join hands, it will definitely be a big obstacle to his great cause of rebuilding the Persian Empire.

Ardahir pondered for a long time. After discussing with the high priest, he decided to temporarily accept the mediation of the Yue people and further improve the relationship with the Yue people to see if he could take the opportunity to learn about some of the Vietnamese warships, and then make a big plan.

Aldahir wrote a beautifully worded letter to Sun Shao, praising Sun Shao's kindness, and then expressing his eagerness to meet Sun Shao at sea, and sending two good horses to pay tribute at the same time.

... Lu Xun stroked his beard in one hand, held the book in the other hand, and read the book with a bright candlelight. Perhaps because of excessive use of his eyes, he is now a little dazzled. If the book is not raised a little higher, it is difficult to read the handwriting clearly. Although the books published by Yue Guoshufang have always been known as "paper is as white as cotton, and the words are as big as money". Sun Xiuying, who was big-bellied, sat opposite and looked at her dark husband, full of joy: "Are you still leaving when you come back this time?"

"I don't know." Lu Xun stretched out his finger, dipped some saliva on his lips, turned over a page of the book, glanced over the page, looked at Sun Xiuying with a smile on his face, and picked the corners of his mouth: "How about Te Mucheng? I don't think it's as good as Yangon, and it's not as good as New Wucheng.

Xinwu City is a city built by Lu Xun in the southern foothills of the Himalayas. Like Sun Shao's Summer Palace, it is a very mild place. Sun Xiuying takes Lu Kang there to escape the summer heat every summer, and the child in her womb was conceived at that time last year.

"New Wucheng is good, but it's too deserted. Except for soldiers, it's still soldiers. There's no way to liven up in the special pastoral city." Sun Xiuying smiled and said, "You see, it's the same. As soon as I go back to the special pastoral city, I like something. I don't want to come back to the kindergarten these days."

"What can kindergartens learn? Let him come back tomorrow, and I'll teach him myself." Lu Xun said disapprovingly, "Zhou Gongjin's daughter didn't know that? I have read the "New Mountain and Sea Classic" she wrote in every issue, and the writing is just so-so.

"You have a high vision, so why don't you write a book for me to read?" Sun Xiuying smiled and said that although she was not convinced, her heart was sweet. Of course, she felt that Lu Xun's level was better than Zhou Yu's. If Lu Xun was willing to teach Lu Kang to read in person, it would certainly be the best.

"I don't have that spare time." Lu Xun put down the book and rubbed his eyes. Sun Xiuying quickly got up and moved over, knelt behind Lu Xun, stretched out his hand and kneaded his shoulder for him. Lu Xun held her hand with his backhand and advised, "Just let the maid come. You are pregnant. Why do you have to be tired?"

"No way!" Sun Xiuying said anger, "I just won't let those barbarian girls and Japanese girls touch you, and you don't want to take them as concubines. If you want to take a concubine, I'll show you a few good women.

"Who wants to have a concubine?" Lu Xun smiled and let go of his hand. Sun Xiuying gently pinched his shoulder, and happiness came out of his eyes undisguised. Lu Xun is the mountain in her eyes. She wants to firmly surround the mountain and not let other women go around it. Thinking of this, she blamed her brother Sun Shao for coming up with some bad ideas and encouraging men to take concubines. Now men in Yue have to marry one or two concubines as long as they have some ability. Lu Xun didn't mention it, but looking at other people's families giving birth one by one, she was actually very anxious. After giving birth to Lu Kang five years ago, she had never been pregnant, which made her anxious to increase the population of the Lu family.

Knowing that the son of the girl can't compete with her son for inheritance, which is beneficial to her, she still hopes that Lu Xun can have more real Han descendants, rather than those bastards. Although the law of Yue has not been clearly stated, everyone knows that these bastards will certainly not be comparable to the real descendants of the Han people in the future. In the face of the interests of the Lu family and her own favor, she finally chose the former.

"Father!" Lu Kang, who was tied in a bun, ran in from the outside and stood panting under the hall. His little face was red and red. He looked at Lu Xun and pointed to the door. He wanted to say something, but he only opened his mouth and gasped, and didn't say anything.

"What's going on, such a gaffe?" Lu Xun's face sank unhappily.

"Big... The king is coming." Lu Kang was shocked, and the joy on his face disappeared. He stood up straight and arched his hands in front of his chest, just like a young scholar. Lu Xun had just eased his face. When he heard that Sun Shao was coming, he couldn't help but be shocked. Just as he was about to get up to greet him. After thinking about it, he sat back. He just straightened up and turned to Sun Xiuying and said, "Madam, the king is coming. Please avoid it."

Sun Xiuying wanted to stop talking. She wanted to say that her brother had come and there was nothing to avoid, but Lu Xun had this temper, and she could only get up and pull Lu Kang to prepare to enter the inner room.

"Oh, hey, third sister, why did you run when you saw me? Is it convenient to have such a big belly? Sun Shao, dressed in casual clothes, rushed into the main hall with an arrow, held Sun Xiuying and said with a smile, "Why, you treat me as an outsider?"

Sun Xiuying squeezed her eyes at Lu Xun, who was sitting upright, and whispered, "You talk first, and then my sister will treat you to dinner."

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao let go of Sun Xiuying, shook his front, sat opposite Lu Xun, and said with a smile, "My brother-in-law's family rules are so big. Is it the most praised by the gentleman in the kindergarten? Compared with him, those in my family are simply wild monkeys."

Lu Xun didn't change his face. He tidied up his clothes and said respectfully: "General Wu, my foreign minister Xun, I'd like to see His Royal Highness the King of Yue."

Sun Shao was stunned, and the smile on his face was a little stiff. Sun Xiuying, who had already walked to the back wall, listened and sighed silently. She stood for a moment and left quietly.

Sun Shao looked at Lu Xun lying on the ground, was silent for a moment, smiled again, and smiled again. He didn't ask Lu Xun to get up. He raised his hand and said, "Jingfeng, come in and make coffee first. Your uncle has to kneel for a while. He has many rules."

Lu Kai came in with a set of coffee-making utensils. Looking at Lu Xun, who was kneeling on the ground, he didn't worship. In the end, he had to bow with the utensils and bow without saying anything. He walked aside, made a fire and made coffee. Sun Shao didn't say anything. He looked at Lu Kai's busy work, as if he had forgotten that Lu Xun was still kneeling aside. It was not until Lu Kai cooked the fragrant coffee. He took a cup first, and then motioned Lu Kai, who was sweaty, to bring a cup to Lu Xun.

Lu Kai smiled silently, walked to Lu Xun with a cup of coffee with a white Yuzhang porcelain plate, knelt to the ground, and whispered, "Uncle, the king gives you coffee."

Lu Xun had kneeled so much that his legs were numb, and his waist was sore. His hands couldn't help trembling, but he refused to live up. He still thanked him rigidly: "Thank you for your kindness." Then he straightened up and took the coffee, but his hand couldn't hold it and almost spilled it on his body. Fortunately, Lu Kai held it in time.

Sun Shao tasted the coffee, looked at Lu Xun's elegant little sip, and laughed softly, "General Lu, how does it taste?"

"It's great." Lu Xun took a small sip of coffee, and his white face suddenly recovered. He took a breath and praised, "It must be a newcomer." When he was fighting in Tianzhu, because he often had to stay up late to read documents, it was essential to drink coffee to refresh himself, which was one of his few habits to change.

"This is a wild coffee sent by the Romans. It is a wild coffee from Axum (Ancient Ethiopia). It is said that it can't produce a few pounds a year." Sun Shao put down the cup and said with a bad smile, "I know you are good at tasting coffee, so I specially sent it with you."

"Thank you very much, King." Lu Xun is still lukewarm, and he is not shocked by favors and humiliations.

"You're welcome. Anyway, it's only once." Sun Shao waved his hand with a smile: "The quantity is limited. I can only invite you to taste it."

Lu Xun frowned slightly, but he looked a little sorry. Just now, he had already felt the uniqueness of this kind of coffee. Unexpectedly, he could only taste it once. Instead, it's better not to taste it. It's just that he was hard to raise his surname. At one thought, he suddenly felt that he had committed greed and hurriedly reflected on it in his heart.

Sun Shao looked at his expression in his eyes, just smiling faintly, but not breaking it. He gently put the thin cup on the table and was silent for a moment: "Do you know where these porcelain cups come from? Who is the producer?"

Lu Xun shook his head. Although it was not the first time he used such an exquisite porcelain cup, he also knew that the porcelain came from the State of Wu, but he did not know where the State of Wu came from, let alone who supervised it. For him, it had nothing to do with him.

"It's produced by Zi Gao." Sun Shao sighed quietly: "Zigao wrote a letter before, saying that he had experience in making porcelain in the end. He was preparing to write a book "Yuzhang Porcelain Art" about the firing technology of porcelain in detail. Now he is going to write 30 volumes, one volume a year, and it will take 30 years to finish it."

Lu Xun raised his head in astonishment and looked directly at Sun Shao: "Why?"

"People are alive and always have to do something." Sun Shao picked up the coffee cup again and looked at Lu Xun while drinking: "Does General Lu have any similar plans?"

Lu Xun looked at Sun Shao blankly and didn't know what Sun Shao meant. Sun Shao looked at him for a while, smiled, shook his hand, and gave Lu Kai a look. Lu Kai hurried out of the hall, took a brocade box in the hands of the Lang official waiting under the hall, then returned to the hall, knelt on the ground, opened the brocade box, took out a roll of silk books from it and spread it on the ground, and slowly unfolded. Lu Xun narrowed his eyes, looked at the silk book that was gradually opened, and looked at it for a moment. Then he exhaled gently: "The map of Rome, Sassan, Guishuang, and the four countries of the Han Dynasty?"

"Exactly." Lu Kai took a look at Lu Xun with admiration. When he first saw the map, he was not distracted for a long time. There were many people who knew the approximate location of the four countries, but the relative position among them was so clear that it was very limited. Sun Shao should know, and Chen Hai, Cui Qian and Yue Hai, who often escort to the Red Sea, should also know, but Lu Xun has never been exposed to similar intelligence. He can see it at a glance, which only shows that he has done a lot of preparatory homework for these.

Sun Shao put away his smile and said seriously, "King Sassan accepted my mediation and was willing to sit down and negotiate with the four countries, which is inconsistent with his usual surname. If something goes wrong, it is a demon, and I must be prepared for the change. As you know, I never put my hope on the shoulders of outsiders.

He looked at Lu Xun, in which the word "outsideman" was very heavy. Lu Xun's eyebrows shrugged and immediately knew Sun Shao's meaning, but he didn't say anything, as if he hadn't heard anything. He just looked at the map attentively.

Sun Shao was a little disappointed. He had already made the situation so clear that Lu Xun was still stubborn. Did he really think that I couldn't find a second person to preside over this matter? Yes, it's okay for Cui Qian and others to charge in the battle, and it's okay to sit on one side, but this kind of thing between Sassan and Rome is not something they can handle, but this does not mean that they can't find the right talent in Vietnam. Like Shen Xuan and Zhang Wen, they are all more suitable candidates. The reason why he chose Lu Xun is to know that he knows. At present, it is still a gem that is far from shining, so I want to give him a chance. Of course, this is inevitable because compared with others, he believes more in Lu Xun, who is related to him.

But Lu Xun didn't appreciate it. That matter had to be said twice. It was really impossible for him to hand over this task to an outsider.

(to be continued)