Chapter 35 Worries

The unexpected death of Master Ma Ming did not have any adverse impact on the negotiations between the four countries. On the contrary, it promoted the negotiations. At the sign of Sun Shao, Cheng Jun and Lu Shan appropriately relaxed some conditions, so that Gui Shuang, who was about to collapse, signed the contract with Rome satisfactorily, but Shapur was greatly disappointed. He was in the third The share of the country is the least, but he can't help it. Even if he knows that Sun Shao has bad intentions and pulls Rome and Guishuang to suppress Sasanne, he can only put up with it. After all, the initiative is in the hands of Yueguo, and he pays attention to voluntary business. If they don't want to do business with you, you can't force it. This is not robbery.

Seriously, Shapur wants to rob very much. Although he signed it, he has made up his mind to rob. Whatever you want, I don't care about it. I don't care about you. When I get to Sassan, I don't care about you. I have a horse and a knife, and this contract is useless.

Shapur was not interested in talking anymore, but Alexander was very excited. On the one hand, he learned martial arts from Sun Shao, and on the other hand, he hoped to make some deals with Sun Shao in private. It's easy to teach martial arts. Sun Shaohe has come up with a way to practice. Whether you can practice it or not depends on whether you work hard or not. When talking about business, you have to be cautious. It's not my business alone. I have more rules than the country. I don't do business at a loss, and I don't do business without confidence. If you can't let me make money, then don't talk about it. It's useless if I just want to promise you, because my ministers won't agree, and the businessmen won't agree. It's unprofitable business. People can't do it. If you invite him, he won't come.

Alexander was at a loss by his straightforwardness for a while. It took him a long time to react. He thought about what else Rome could do business with the Yue people. Later, after being reminded by Quintus, he finally remembered one thing: making paper.

Han people's papermaking is the world's leading technology. Even Rome does not have such advanced papermaking technology. Han people's paper is also one of the best-selling products here. The sales volume is very large. Paper is shipped from Funan. The cost is very high, and of course the price is not low. Alexander told Sun Shao that the price now seriously affects the market of paper. If the king can set up a paper factory in Rome, the cost will drop a lot, the market will be greatly open, and you can make more money, and we in Rome can also profit from it, which is in line with your win-win purpose.

Sun Shao also thought it was feasible, but he immediately said that our Yueguo's papermaking is a secret. Will it cause a leak if I put the paper workshop in Rome? If the papermaking is leaked, not only will you be unprofitable, but we will also return the cost. It's okay to make paper in Rome. I want you to draw a separate place to come out. It should be managed by me. It's not everyone who can make a leg. Of course, if you want, I can share shares with you and make money and share dividends with you.

Alexander was overjoyed. There was no reason not to agree. He wanted to cooperate with Sun Shao, not to make money for the Romans, but first of all to make a fortune. The strongest army in Rome is the Guards, and generations of the Seviru family have been adhering to the last words of Seviru the Great: "Be kind to your soldiers and don't care about the life or death of others." Alexander believes that as long as the hearts of the Guards are held, no matter how chaotic the world is, he is not afraid. And if you want to collect people's hearts, you need money, at least pay, right? Therefore, his desire to make a fortune is much stronger than that of other Romans. It can be said that Sun Shao's proposal is in line with his heart.

The two got along with each other. Sun Shao arranged someone to open a paper shop in Rome, which was managed by the Han people, sold by Alexander, and then distributed dividends according to the shares. Alexander roughly estimated the number, and he was so happy that he couldn't find the north. It's too profitable to cooperate with the Vietnamese. For this alone, the military benefits of his tens of thousands of guards are settled.

With this successful beginning, Alexander took active action and won several cooperation projects. Sun Shao asked Cheng Jun and Lu Shan to calculate. As long as it is in line with the interests of Yue, he can agree. Of course, it is inevitable to gain more benefits, and he can't leak the secrets of Yue. Cheng Jun has been pacing the order for more than ten years. These methods are very skillful. When he made Alexander feel that he had made a lot of money, Yue also made a lot of money.

Sun Shao finally said to Alexander that if you want to cooperate with us, you have to be honest, and the first thing is to bring up the gold coins of your Rome. You Romans are too unnatural now. They say it's gold coins, but at most 50% of them are gold, and the rest are inferior metals. Do you think I'm a fool? Let me tell you, if you don't bring up the color of gold coins, I will refuse to accept Roman gold coins in the future and exchange them in kind. If you have nothing to exchange, don't do business.

Alexander is very embarrassed that Rome's gold coins are indeed a little unnatural now. Because the domestic economic situation is not good, the pace of Roman expansion has long stopped. If they do not expand, there will be no trophy. Without the stimulation of trophy, the morale of the army will not rise, and the morale of the sergeants will not rise, and it will be more difficult to win the battle. Yes. Rome has fallen into a vicious circle. The huge empire has long been strong, otherwise it would not have been bullied like this by the new Sassanians.

Alexander patted his chest and promised that he would solve this problem when he went back. At least he would make sure that the gold coins he traded with Yue people were enough, and he would never let his friends suffer losses.

Looking at Alexander who was rushing away, Xiahou Rong hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, will we raise tigers? Although the heat of this Alexander is still much worse, he is still young after all, with the assistance of people like Quintus, and the help of his mother, Rome..."

"Will Rome come back to life?" Sun Shao smiled and said first. Xia Hourong nodded. He was worried that if he raised Rome, a sick tiger, in order to contain Sassan, it would be worth the gains and losses for the State of Yue and the Han.

"You Quan, you have read so many articles about Rome, but you still don't see the crux of Rome." Sun Shao sighed with some regret. Xia Hourong blushed a little, but listened carefully. He knew that since Sun Shao dared to do so, he must have his consideration. In some details of government affairs, Sun Shao may not be as good as him, but in the overall thinking, Sun Shao always has eye-catching views. Just like climbing a mountain and looking far away, the scenery you see in the middle of the mountain is very different from that at the foot of the mountain, but every time you go up, you can always see more scenery. If you want to take the overall situation, you must climb to the top of the highest mountain.

Recently, he felt that he had been climbing mountains, and the speed was very fast, but every time he chatted with Sun Shao, he found that he was still a distance away from Sun Shao. He had the feeling of "looking forward and suddenly behind". He could have the opportunity to hear Sun Shao's views on the crux of Rome. Maybe one or two words could be opened and covered. The floating clouds that covered his sight made him feel like the clouds were open.

Xia Hourong never let go of this opportunity. He was afraid that Sun Shao was on guard against him, but he refused to tell him that after all, he was still a native of the State of Wei and a important minister of the State of Wei. Obviously, he was unlikely to throw himself into the embrace of the State of Yue like Lu Xun.

"You Quan, you have been a prodigy since you were a child, but do you believe that you can fight against the whole State of Wei with your own strength?"

Xia Hourong was a little puzzled. He asked about Rome. What did Sun Shao say about the State of Wei? He thought for a thought, shook his head and said, "It's impossible. Let's not say that the name of a child prodigy is exaggerated, even if it is really a child prodigy, I'm afraid there are limited actions. King Wu was extremely smart, and there were so many capable sages under the account. In the early stage, he broke Lv Bu in the east, Yuan Shao in the north, Ma Chao and Han Sui in the west, and Liu Biao in the south. It can be said that he was often broken, but later... in the face of the resistance of the scholars, he was also helpless.

"The example you gave is very good." Sun Shao straightened up, gently patted the railing with his hand, and looked at Alexander's team, which was getting farther and farther away: "Cao Gong is a great hero. The reason why he can become strong from weak in the early stage is that he combines the power of Ruying Scholars and Qiao Peihaoqiang as the main force, and everyone works together, so he can get stronger and stronger, and then During the period, there was a disagreement between Ru Yingshi and him. Although Qiao Peihao's strength was stronger than before, the power within the State of Wei was scattered. Ru Ying people led by Xun's uncle and nephew broke away from the core one after another, and the victory of the king of Wei came to an end. In fact, when I think about it, from the moment the King of Wei became Prime Minister, his smoothness came to an end.

Xia Hourong frowned slightly. After thinking for a moment, he sighed gently: "Yes, it is said that the defeat of Chibi is the turning point of King Wu's life. In fact, before Chibi, this turning point has begun."

"So, with the power of the individual and the collective, even if it is a genius, it can only remain unbeaten at most. It may be possible to win once or twice, but if you want to defeat everyone alone, it is basically a madman's dream. The Jews have a saying that if God wants a person to perish, he must first make him crazy, thinking that his invincible person in the world is probably the madness before death.

Xia Hourong smiled and said, "So the king still believes my words, but he can't argue with him, so the world can't fight with him?"

"If you don't fight, I don't fully agree with your understanding of Laozi's words." Sun Shao shook his head: "Tianzhu people believe in Buddhism, pursue liberation, and pay attention to obedience, but look at what they look like now. It's just a plate of loose sand. I believe in the way of ease. A gentleman is self-improvement, and a gentleman carries things with virtue. Don't count on other people's kindness, but make yourself strong first so that others dare not bully you. And we are strong to protect ourselves, not to bully others. This is called virtue. If you are weak and weak, but you want others to be benevolent, such a person can only die.

"And if you want to be strong, you must combine the abilities of more people and give full play to the ingenuity of more people, just like you organize Zhuya College and Funan College, and spare no effort to support those scholars and craftsmen to do research?"

"Yes, why is our country so powerful now that we can mediate powerful countries such as Rome and Sassanian with the strength of one country? It's not because of me, but because of the strength of the strength of Vietnam. Our ship can sail thousands of miles, which can deter the covement of the ugly. Our goods are so exquisite that they can't put them down and empty their purses. Our Han scholars can travel around the world and increase their knowledge by teaching Chinese. Why? It's not that I'm strong, but that I'm strong. Sun Shao raised his head and exhaled a long breath: "Of course, our Yue country is not strong enough. Otherwise, we don't need to spend so much effort to deal with them. We can directly destroy those greedy nobles and give favors to those people to welcome Wang Shi. At present, I can only think about the long flow of water and work on some water grinding skills.

"What's wrong with water mill kung fu?" Xia Hourong smiled and said, "Isn't it more natural for water to fall through the stone, and the water breaks through the embankment? If you want to conquer, many people will die, and the resistance is still difficult to eliminate after all. It's better to be safe in this way.

"You're right." Sun Shao laughed and said, "But there is a condition that we can't put our hope on one or two people, but on generations, so the spirit of the same line is very important."

"I know." Xia Hourong nodded with understanding: "No matter how smart Momia is, no matter how hard Alexander works, he is just as majestic as Emperor Atlashen, and he can't cure the root after all."

"Hey hey, that's right." Sun Shao no longer said in detail. For a smart person like Xia Hourong, just break a little trick. Naturally, he will think along that idea. If he speaks too carefully, it will hinder his own reading and thinking.

"You Quan, the negotiation is almost over. When Ma Ming dies, I guess King Guishuang will not come here to the alliance in person. I think it's over. I will stay in Aksum for a while. You rush to the other side of the Red Sea and meet the King of Sheba. I want to control the whole business road in the Red Sea, and they will definitely be affected. If they are willing to let us coexist peacefully, I can consider giving them part of the business road on land, so that everyone can make a fortune together.

Xia Hourong smiled. He has been with Sun Shao for so long. Of course, he knows Sun Shao's temper. Everyone makes a fortune together, drags the other party step by step with the strong economic strength of the Han people, and captures the other party quietly. This is his favorite way to fight. If the other party doesn't know each other, he has to be an enemy. Sun Shao is not likely to conquer by force at the right time, provided that he can solve the problem cleanly and neatly, and will not leave future trouble, just like solving Funan. Sun Shao asked him to negotiate with the Sheba people on the surface, and secretly there must be another way to check their terrain and strength.

What he was curious about was that Sun Shao actually entrusted such a thing to him.

"That land is rich in good horses and camels, and the terrain is very special. If there is a conflict with Sassan in the future, the south can be used as a base, and the north is the best battlefield." Sun Shao did not look back at Xia Hourong and continued: "First occupy the south, let our riders familiarize themselves with the environment here, and then develop to the north and advance steadily. There are fleets to support at any time in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Whether facing the Sheba or Sassanids, we can advance and retreat freely. Of course, this is just an invincible place. If you want to win, it depends on whether Ziwen and Bo Yan can cooperate tacitly and show their power.

Xia Hourong smiled, and Sun Shao's real intention was finally exposed. He bowed and said, "Come on!"

The negotiations ended quickly, and Alexander, Shapur and others left Axum one after another and returned to various countries. Alexander gained a lot this time and was very excited. Along the way, after he thought that Rome's economic problems had been alleviated, he led an army to attack the Sassanids to relieve the happy situation of his chest, and he couldn't help smiling. Although Quintus felt that Alexander was a little unable to calm down, he was also very satisfied with the thought of this harvest.

Back to the palace, Alexander and Momia met and smiled at the same time. Momia's face showed a blush, and she subconsciously gave way: "Is it settled?"

"Mother, don't you know all about it?" Alexander rarely joked that he was in a very good mood today. Seeing his mother's shy smile, he couldn't help laughing prankly.

"I know something, but I still want to hear you say it yourself." Momia coughed and barely maintained her solemnity: "I know you talked to him secretly about a lot of terms later. Looking at your happy face, you must have gained a lot."

When it came to this thing that made Alexander happy, Alexander suddenly came to his senses. He didn't care about the joke and told the situation in detail. Sun Shao is willing to open various factories such as paper mills and wineries in Rome. At the same time, he is also invited to invest in shares. At that time, the dividends will be very considerable, and the emperor's economic difficulties will be alleviated, and they will have more money to recruit more troops.

Momia listened with a smile, but she didn't say anything. It was not until Alexander stopped the topic, picked up the cup and drank water that she frowned slightly and said, "In this way, the advantages of Han Dynasty businessmen are more obvious, and it is more difficult for us to compete with them. I'm afraid it won't take long. We can't even fight with the Han Dynasty.

"Fight with the Han Dynasty?" Alexander smiled in surprise and said, "Why should we fight with them?"

"Alas--" Momia sighed silently, "My Alexander, how can you think so? You and him get along well, but after all, this is just a personal relationship between you two, which does not mean that the Han Dynasty and Rome will definitely maintain this harmonious relationship for a long time. When you signed this contract, we will benefit from it, but other Romans will also benefit from it. Once there is a conflict of interest between the Han Dynasty and our Rome, the first thing they think of will be their own interests, and they will use various ways to prevent us from fighting with the Han Dynasty. At that time, it will be too late for you to regret it.

Alexander's face twitched and glanced at Momia unhappily: "Mother, I'm still young, and he is still young. As long as we can get along well, there will be at least a few decades of peace. In these decades, I think I can come up with a good way.

Momia frowned and her face suddenly sank, but it was only in a blink of an eye, and soon she laughed again: "Alexander, I'm so happy that you think so. As a mother, I just want to remind you not to be blindfolded by the immediate interests, but forget the danger in the distance. I also hope you can coexist peacefully with him and be a great emperor.

Alexander then smiled, put his arms around Momia's shoulder, and said something in her ear. Momia frowned and blushed strangely, "Is this also what a son should ask his biological mother, the great emperor?"

Alexander laughed.

... Texi sealed the city, the Sassanid temple of Zoroast, the Sassanic king Aldahir, dressed in a golden silk robe, put his hands on his chest, knelt in front of the altar burning with the sacred flame, and closed his eyes to read words. Shapur knelt behind him and recited his prayers. The two high priests in the priest's uniform stood behind the sacred flame and looked condescendingly at the two most powerful people in Sassan.

I don't know how long it took for Aldahir to finally finish his prayer and make a respectful salute. Then he stood up. The two priests hurried over and led him to the side hall to rest. Shapur followed closely and watched Ardahir finish washing his hands and sit on a large chair. He slowly ate some snacks, drank some wine, and held his breath, but did not dare to say a word.

Aldahir sucked his fingers in his mouth, took a towel and wiped his hands. Then he opened his slender eyes and glanced at Shapur, and asked faintly, "Don't the Yue people have cavalry?"

"No." Shapur replied, "I only saw that they had 10,000 guards, and some sailors by the sea did not go ashore, but judging from what they took from Aksum City, the number was only 10,000 at most. I guess it should be the escort fleet stationed in the Red Sea in the future."

"Oh, and what's more, who is the general of the Red Sea Fleet? Do you know?" Ardahir said unmovedly, "In addition, there are more than 10,000 sailors in Vietnam. Since they have come to the Red Sea, there should be some in the Persian Gulf, right?"

"The generals of the Red Sea Fleet are called Zhu... Ge... Zhi." Shapur was particularly difficult to make these sounds. After elonging his voice, he felt very uncomfortable: "It is said that the general in Ceylon has been following Sun Shao for nearly ten years. He is a very steady person. The Persian Gulf also arranged a fleet, and the leading general was Chen Hai, who was also in charge of the Arabian Sea.

Shapur was a little proud. He had long known that Aldahir would ask these questions, so he inquired about them in advance, and even paid attention to some generals' personal hobbies. For example, he knew that Zhuge Zhi had no bad hobbies, but he liked to read books. On the contrary, Chen Hai hates reading very much, but he likes to compare with others, hold banquets, and invite people to drink on his boat.

"What about another one named Cui Qian?" Ardahir asked quietly: "It is said that this person is one of the most capable generals under Sun Shao, and he is also a good fighter. In order to fight, he doesn't even do the rich South China Sea governor. Since he is here, how can he have no task?

The color on Shapur's face suddenly disappeared. He found that he had made a big mistake. He only inquired about Cui Qian at the beginning. Later, he saw that Cui Qian had not appeared. He thought that Cui Qian was not in the arrangement this time and subconsciously ignored him. Now after Aldahir reminded him, he Only then did I find that Cui Qian, who disappeared, seemed to be the most important one.

"It's just like playing chess. Everything on the chessboard is dead, and the piece hidden in your hand is the killer." Ardahir stood up and walked out slowly. When he walked to the door, he stopped and ordered, "Sent someone to investigate and see where this pirate general of Yue has gone."

(to be continued)