Li Xin, Li Ren and other less than 30 people entered the city, and at a glance, they saw a straight avenue.

The avenue is actually a dirt road, but now it is covered with snow, and the road is lined with one- or two-story buildings, and it is rare to see more than two-story pavilions.

In every city, there will always be people in the aristocratic area, the commoner area, and the slum area, and the Yixun city is naturally no exception, the direction they enter is the commoners, and everything they see is the residential situation of the commoners in Loulan.

Li Ren heard from Mai Maiya, a merchant who accompanied him, that in winter, people stay at home unless there are special circumstances, so they look lonely.

"If we're here in the spring or summer, we'll see vines on the walls of the house and potted plants on the eaves." With a look of reminiscence, Mai Mai said, "The scenery is simply beautiful. ”

The yellow mud floor, with the gray-yellow colorful walls, the intercolored wooden roof, the blue sky and white clouds overhead, the vines climbing on the wall, the green branches and leaves hanging down from the eaves, and the flowers of various colors blooming, it is indeed a good view to listen to the description.

The question is...... Mai Mai Ya had never been to the cities of the Yangtze River valley of the empire, and the place he went to was Guanzhong, which had been ruined after the war. If he goes to the Yangtze River basin ......, no! Perhaps you only need to enter the Central Plains, which has gradually recovered its vitality, and you will definitely be able to see a scenery dozens of times more beautiful than the one just described.

Li Ren didn't have time to describe the beauty of China, he was inquiring about other things.

"The population distribution in the city?" Mai Maiya looked embarrassed and said, "Actually, I also heard some Loulan merchants talk about those words just now. ”

Yes, the city-states and kingdoms of the Western Regions are actually quite "xenophobic", and each city is not able to enter and exit casually. When people describe their hometown, they usually describe the beautiful side, but also bring subjective conjectures, and what the real situation is is is a matter of opinion.

"Thanks to all the nobles. The villain is also entering Ixun for the first time. Mai Mai Ya looked sorry and said: "It's winter now, but I can't see the scenery that my friends talked about." ”

Li Ren saw that he couldn't find more useful information on Mai Maiya's side, so he accosted one sentence at a time, and even stopped talking later.

On the other side, Yu Duli was enthusiastically telling Li Xin about Loulan Kingdom, and basically introduced everything that could be said.

Loulan is actually a relatively interesting country, and their swinging style is quite famous in the Western Regions, so they can't get too "sincere" allies, but because Loulan is really not weak. Even if other city-states or kingdoms despise Loulan in their hearts, they don't want to be too evil.

Because there are many city-states and kingdoms in the Western Regions, there are actually many camps, and it is normal for some city-states and kingdoms to form alliances to protect themselves. Loulan is currently an ally with Wanguo and Shache, and Wanguo also has some allies such as Shanguo, Yuli, Shule, Shache, and Xiuxun.

Wanguo is a pan-regional power in the southwest of the Western Regions, and it can be called one of the powerful countries that compete with the north and south of Wusun in the past hundred years. In the middle of the Western Regions, there are Qiuci, Cheshi and Pu, among which Qiuci is relatively strong, and Qiuci is allied with Pu and Shanguo, which can be regarded as the central camp.

There is no country that is always strong, and there is no unswerving ally. While the Western Regions are divided into three camps, Southern, Central, and Northern, the leaders of each region have actually been changing, and Wusun's hegemony in the northern part of the Western Regions can be regarded as the longest.

"At present, the central countries such as Qiuzi, Pu, and Beilu are led by the Cheshi to form a new central alliance." Mai Mai Mai is still thinking about getting along with the soldiers from the Empire. Seeing that Li Ren had lost interest in speaking for the first time, how could he continue the topic, and said: "The Che Master originally wanted to form a pole when he saw the decline of Wusun, and he was even interested in forming an alliance with the Maodun Xiongnu. Attack Usun together. ”

Li Ren was really attracted by what Mai Maiya said, "Oh? With a sigh, his eyes fell back on Mai Maiya.

"In fact, the armies of Cheshi's tangled allies have already assembled in Jimi (almost modern Urumqi). It is claimed that there are 50,000 coalition troops. Mai Mai Ya blinked and said, "But I heard the wind later, saying that the imperial army was marching into Wusun, and the chariot division did not march into Wusun as planned." ”

Li Renguaner, the news said by businessmen is generally exaggerated, because they are all hearsay, and while listening to the wind and rain, the authenticity will also be added a lot.

There are many city-states and kingdoms in the Western Regions, even if the Cheshi is a powerful country in the central part of the Western Regions and has many allies, it is impossible for the Central Alliance led by the Cheshi to gather an army of 50,000. It's not that the Central Alliance can't take out an army of 50,000, it's that there are still wolf-like Maodun Xiongnu in the west of the central region, and the Cheshi and other countries will raise the whole country's troops to attack Wusun when they are stupid, and they will not leave the necessary troops to guard against the untrustworthy Maodun who has always been untrustworthy. In addition to the need to guard against the Maodun Xiongnu led by Che Shi, does the southern Wan and other countries not need to be guarded? Therefore, Mai Maiya said that the Cheshi and other soldiers from all over the country were going to attack Wusun, which was pure nonsense.

Mai Maiya was choked by Li Ren's words, and said, "So it's a rumor." Rumors are always exaggerated. ”

Yixun City is not large, and Li Xin and the others can't guess how much it occupies for a while, but from the time they proceeded to the arrival of the so-called city center, they have always arrived near the City Lord's Mansion, and it took almost half an hour.

"Please wait here for you. I went to find the lord of the city and explained the situation. Yu Duli smiled brightly and said, "There are Wanguo, Shache, Shanguo, Shule, and Yuli in the city...... and other nobles of the country, they will surely come to accompany them in the evening. ”

The host holds a banquet for the guests, which is used to welcome guests from afar, and the whole world will have almost the same etiquette, and this is what Yu Duli said.

Tax collector is not a small official position in the Western Regions, and Wei Duli probably often comes to Yixun City, and when he arrives at the gate of the city lord's mansion, he only talks to the guards and goes in.

In fact, at present, in the whole world, except for the official positions of the Chinese civilization that will be divided into many levels, there are really not many official positions of the rest of the ethnic groups.

Take Greece as an example, as the cradle of Western civilization, they will have kings, parliamentarians, governors, tribunes, tax collectors, and then large, middle, and small captains (village leaders and other nobles), which shows that there are really not so many official positions. The Mediterranean civilization system and the surrounding countries influenced by Greek culture. The division of official positions is according to the Greek, and there may be some changes in the name, but the responsibilities are actually similar.

In the absence of communication at all, there are "kings" in all parts of the world at the same time, that is, the supreme leader after the formation of the state system, but some civilizations have gradually perfected their own consuls, and some civilizations have remained in place.

In the same way, after the emergence of the "king", the position of governor appeared in the West and Central Asia for the needs of the next class of rule. If there are people, they need protection, and they also need to provide tax revenue for the state, so there are civil protectors and tax collectors.

The Western Regions are close to Central Asia and East Asia at the same time, but the Chinese civilization has been in internal civil war for a long time, and very few people from China will travel thousands of miles to the unknown wilderness, but the people of the West have continued to explore the surrounding areas and brought culture, so Central Asia was influenced by the West, and Central Asia then influenced the Western Regions, and many cultures in the Western Regions were dyed with Greek civilization characteristics.

Many city-states and kingdoms in the Western Regions. The lord of each city is actually the governor of a place, with both military and political powers, according to the Chinese civilization, the city lord (governor) is actually a local emperor. Therefore, basically this type of position is also held by the king's cronies or relatives.

The city lord of Yixun City didn't let Li Xin and the others wait long, and it was almost ten minutes after Wei Duli entered the City Lord's Mansion, and a middle-aged man in a white loose robe walked out first, followed closely behind him by Wei Duli. Behind him was a large retinue of samurai and maids.

The loose robe on the city lord's body dragged on the ground, and if you looked closely, you could see that the robe was embroidered with some gold wire patterns, and the belt around the waist was an inexplicable jade. In addition, it is set with colorful gemstones. He walked briskly, and the words from his mouth translated: "Welcome! Guests from the Empire are extremely welcome! ”

"Wu Daqi respects the guests who come from afar, usually he will only let the visitors enter the mansion by themselves, even if he comes out to meet anyone, he will take a sedan chair." Mak Mai Ya made a point out of his mind.

Li Xin and Li Ren looked at each other and smiled when they heard this, and did not make any comments.

Under the translation of the merchants, Li Xin repeated that the words were the forerunners of the army and also had intentions, but this time he also showed his condemnation of Loulan's participation in the battle at the source of the Yellow River.

"Blinded, we are deceived by Maudun!" Wu Daqi looked a little nervous, explained, and then said: "We got the news a month ago that an imperial army was halted in the east, and it turned out that this news was true. ”

Wu Daqi is talking about Meng Tian with the reorganized Third Cavalry Corps, a reorganized corps marching and stopping in Dunhuang County.

Meng Tian is the general of the expedition to the west, and the 80,000 Western Regions dispatch army and the subsequent Third Cavalry Corps stopped in Wusun, the entire 130,000 army will be combined into a new expeditionary corps, as long as you pay attention to the movements of the empire, it is not difficult to inquire about such a little news.

The city-states and kingdoms of the Western Regions did not understand the culture of the empire so much before, but even if they didn't understand it, they should learn to understand it when the times demanded, and gradually they also understood what some official positions in the empire represented. And what did the Imperial General of Zhengxi do? Isn't it just the army that gathers a large army to go west, and where else can the empire go west to conquer, it can only be the Western Regions.

The empire wants to go to the Western Regions, and the name of the division is to take revenge on those who followed Maudun to the source of the Yellow River to fight a battle, such a reason is definitely a famous division, and it also scared many of the city-states and kingdoms that sent people to follow Maudun to the empire, they have long been thinking about how to reach an understanding with the empire, and the envoys sent to the empire have not sent any news back, but the empire has sent a pioneer, how to treat them well first, trying to reach some understanding or something.

With the intention of reaching an understanding, all parties must come out with the most enthusiastic attitude, Loulan is the first Western Regions Kingdom to receive the "envoys" of the empire, Wei Duli is the first person to entertain as a high-ranking official, and at the first moment, he took out the gift of "welcoming guests with corpses", and Wu Daqi, who is at the level of the city lord, needs to show sincere treatment.

Walking out on foot was Wu Daqi thought that there was a lot of sincerity, and he also took his concubine out to greet him, and said some words of welcome, secretly hinting that if Li Xin and the others had women who could look at them, those women would definitely be sent to the bed of the distinguished guest at night.

"They have basically learned the 'Love Sutra' from far away, and the 'Love Sutra' from the South and the West are involved." Wu Daqi said reservedly.

What is the Sutra of Love? It is rumored to come from Indochina and is a skill of the kingdom of God that can only be taught in high-level temples, but there is another theory that there is also a love sutra in Egypt. The Ai Sutra is nothing more than teaching women how to serve men, whether it is from Indochina or Egypt, there is a common recognition, that is, collecting at least one concubine who can love the Sutra is the greatest enjoyment of being a man.

In the plan of Li Xin and others, it is necessary to befriend at least one high-ranking official in Loulan, and the plan can be carried out in the future. Naturally, they responded appropriately to Wu Daqi's personal enthusiasm and entered the City Lord's Mansion with a smile on their faces.

That night, Wu Daqi really invited the nobles from all over the world who were in the city to come as Wei Duli said, and the nobles from all over the world brought rich gifts until the banquet was dispersed, and all the people of the empire, including Li Xin, except for their pockets, were a little bulging, and they also chose eye-catching foreign women to warm their beds.

The attitude of Li Xin and the others made Wu Daqi breathe a sigh of relief, and he complained to Wei Duli unabashedly: "This idiot has offended the empire, but he wants me to blush and flatter. ”

Yu Duli knew early on that Wu Daqi actually didn't think much of his nephew king. On the way, he didn't know how to talk to Li Xin, and when he heard Wu Daqi's words, he didn't defend the king, but lowered his voice and said, "The partial generals on the imperial side...... That is, a high-ranking general who leads more soldiers than the commander-in-chief of our national army. He told me very clearly that His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire could not forgive Loulan who sent troops to war, and that the Empire had gathered a large army to destroy the country and destroy the country. ”

Wu Daqi's face did not change color, the corners of his mouth hooked, and asked, "Then what?" ”

"He asked me......" Wei Duli gave a long note, and then said: "It should be through my mouth to ask the nobles of Loulan whether they want the whole of Loulan to be destroyed, or whether the king will bear the necessary price after making a wrong choice." ”

"Huh! I knew it was like that. Wu Daqi was not surprised at all, and said: "It has always been like this, but before it was someone other than the king who paid the price, and now the empire wants the king's head." ”

Hehe, the truth in the world is the same, there is a price to pay for doing something wrong, and there is no uncommon thing in the Western Regions that needs to introduce a scapegoat.

"The benefits belong to me...... Or add your benefits. Wu Daqi only said this, as for knowing that the empire wants to support another head, that is the empire's business. (To be continued.) )