Looking at the towering city not far away, everyone couldn't help but open their mouths, and there were Hu merchants from far away from Great Qin (Rome), and after seeing Chang'an City, they couldn't help but be very surprised. Qiqiu City, the capital of Great Qin, was already the largest city in his cognition, and he couldn't think of Chang'an City, which gave him a more shocking feeling.

It is also true that the city of Rome, when Aurelian became emperor, was only 6 meters high and 20 kilometers in circumference. However, the current Chang'an City has a wall as high as 12 meters and a circumference of 25 kilometers......

Seeing that everyone was extremely shocked, Ding Yi was very proud in his heart. I deliberately stayed in Chang'an City for a few more days, so that the Hu people could have a good visit to Chang'an City. The two completely different architectural concepts of the East and the West had a great impact on the Hu merchants. And they also feel extremely new to everything in the city.

After Zhao Yun was stationed in Chang'an, this ancient Xiongcheng ushered in its new life. Roads, walls, buildings, public health systems, etc., many places have been rebuilt or repaired. Ding Yi: They came at the right time. After Liu Bei pacified Guanguan and Liang, many people who fled gradually moved back to Guanzhong, and Liu Bei also moved some displaced people from Guandong and rewarded the fields here to some soldiers who were discharged due to disability. At this time, although Chang'an has not completely recovered, it has also begun to show its weather. Some Hu businessmen have completed the transactions they are looking forward to here one after another. However, no one left, and they still wanted to go to the city where the emperor of the Han Dynasty lived.

After Ding Yi and the others passed through Luoyang, they took a boat all the way east to Qingzhou. Liu Bei got a report early, saying that the envoys of the Western Regions and Hu Shang and others came to the east. So he ordered Da Hongluqing to prepare for the reception. Han Chinese officials have long been surprised by the Hu people. Han Tong Western Regions for hundreds of years, during this period, there are not a few Hu people who came to Han soil. Even the emperor of the Great Qin Empire, Marcus Aurelius, who was far away in the far west, also sent an envoy to the Han Dynasty in the sixth year of Yanxi. Of course, no one knows whether this mission is real or not. It's just that the imperial court at that time was also quite skeptical. Shi Zai is suspicious of the heralds, suspecting that they are here to do business, and then pretend to be the mission. It is estimated that it was because the person who came from afar was a guest, and there was a language barrier, so he did not pursue it.

Linzi, even in the Han Dynasty, is a heroic city with a glorious history. Since Zhou Tianzi began to enshrine Jiang Taigong in Qi and Duyingqiu (Linzi), it quickly became the center of the East. Su Qin, who wore the seal of the six countries, once described the grand scene of Linzi: "Linzi is very rich and practical, and its people all play the flute and drum, play the piano, fight cocks and dogs, and bow in the six games." The way of Linzi, the car is hitting, the shoulder is rubbing, even the curtain is formed, the coat is curtained, the sweat is like rain, the family is rich and rich, and the ambition is high...... "Until now, Linzi has always been the state of Qingzhou of the Han Dynasty and the capital of Qi.

Although the majesty and magnificence are not as good as Chang'an and Luoyang, it is still a prosperous place that is difficult to see in the north at this time. Because of the imperial court and Liu Bei, Linzi became the center of the north. And Liu Bei did not discriminate against merchants like other princes. So all walks of life here come together and are extremely prosperous. The Hu businessmen opened their eyes and felt that this place was more in line with their hearts than the previous Chang'an and Luoyang capitals. The Hu merchants began to trade with the merchants of the Han Dynasty with great interest. After arranging for the envoys to live in the pavilion, Ding Yi entered the general's mansion. He was summoned by Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was very interested in Ding Yi. It's not just because of the recommendation in the koji newspaper. Mainly because of Ding Yi's identity. The Han Dynasty had been cut off from the Western Regions for many years. After the death of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the old ministers and border generals gradually withered. Looking at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, it is already very difficult to find a Western Regions Pass. Ding Yi has been in the Western Regions as a Hanchen for decades, and who else knows the Western Regions better than him in Linzi? Liu Bei needed a very accurate information about the Western Regions to support his future strategy towards the Western Regions.

When Liu Bei met Ding Yi, the appearance of four elephants in the palace caused a sensation. Elephants are not rare, China itself has them, but for many years of war, the Son of Heaven and his ministers have not seen elephants. What's more, this is a tamed elephant contributed by the king of Khotan thousands of miles away. The symbolism is huge.

Everyone watched the excitement for a long time in the small garden around the four elephants. Someone played: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty, Siyi to come to the court, domestic guests, this is a sign of my great Han Zhongxing!" ”

The people of the Han Dynasty, no, it should be said that the Han people, have liked this routine since ancient times. He thinks he is the center of the world, he is born high, and everyone else is a barbarian except for his own race. When the Son of Heaven heard this, he was naturally overjoyed, so he held a banquet, congratulated the ministers, and ordered Honglu Temple to reward the envoys of the Western Regions according to the rules, and sent the protons of the countries to study in Taixue or the academy.

After Ding Yi saw Liu Bei, he reported to Liu Bei one by one the situation in the Western Regions and the whereabouts of Duan Xuan and Lu Yi after they arrived in the Western Regions, and then he spoke earnestly and persuaded Liu Bei not to give up the Western Regions. Ding Yi also didn't know how long Liu Bei could hold out after recovering the Western Regions this time. There is no long-term stable and reliable strategic attitude towards the Western Regions. He didn't want the Han army to just go around the domain this time, preach its majesty, and then retreat.

Liu Bei listened, the smile in his eyes flashed, and then said: "If the imperial court guards the Western Regions, the money and grain consumed every year will be hundreds of millions. ”

What Liu Bei said is also true, the strategic value of the Western Regions is far greater than its economic value. After all, the Han Dynasty emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and the vast majority of those who came to the Han Dynasty to trade silk were Hu merchants from the Western Regions. In this place of the Western Regions, there are many small countries, and the economy is extremely weak, when Wang Mang wanted to send an envoy to the Western Regions, the Cheshi Kingdom did not dare to receive it, and even almost fled to the Xiongnu. The reason is that the Cheshi has just received a Han Dynasty mission and has not yet recovered, and if it is received again, the economy will collapse. They are all poor like this, let alone rely on them to feed the Han Dynasty's garrison in the Western Regions. Therefore, the Han army in the Western Regions has always been self-sufficient and self-sufficient.

The reason why the Han Dynasty controlled the Western Regions was not because it wanted to obtain any economic benefits from there, nor was it possible to obtain any economic benefits, even if there was trade in silk and other items, but compared to the Han Dynasty's expenditure in the Western Regions, it was simply a drop in the bucket. The existence of the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions was only to control the countries of the Western Regions and not to fall to the Xiongnu. This point, Ban Chao has already clearly explained to the emperor. So, just like Liu Bei said now, the Northern Huns fled, the Southern Huns surrendered, and Xianbei was also beaten down by him, what value does the Western Regions have to him?