At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Have you forgotten the grief and pain in your heart?

Have you forgotten your determination to prosecute the atrocities of the Romans in place of the people of Ctesiphon?

Cao Chongzhi scolded himself loudly in his heart.

Then he accepted the gift of gratitude with a smile.

No way, Caracalla gave too much.

A complaint is a complaint, and a gift is a gift. These are two different things and should not be confused.

To use a sentence often said in Taixue to describe it - [should be viewed dialectically].

Not only that, Caracalla also rewarded Cao Chongzhi with the three young and beautiful resting women who had been looted.

"These three are aristocratic women, young and beautiful, unmarried, you have been with me for a long time, I know you have no women to take care of you, this is very inconvenient for you.

Of course you need to ask your father about your marriage, but if you find a few women to serve you, you don’t need to ask your father. These noble women are also worthy of your status, right? "

Caracalla is very grateful to this Wei Guojun who saved his life in times of crisis.

He loves wealth so much and needs wealth to realize his ambitions, and he is also very greedy for those three angelic-looking Anxi noble women.

Even so, he is willing to take out one-tenth of his huge wealth and these three beauties to thank Cao Chongzhi.

Thank him for saving his life and allowing himself such a glorious moment.

Without Cao Chongzhi's protection, he didn't know if he would be able to escape the assassination of that damned traitor, further kill Macrinus, and fully control the real power of the Imperial Guard.

Emperor Caracalla was very happy, and he wanted to repay Cao Chongzhi heavily.

Then he told Cao Chongzhi that he was going back to the city of Rome, showing off his achievements in front of all Roman citizens, and let all Romans know that their emperor was so glorious and good at fighting.

In this way, he can really establish his prestige, and based on this, he can start to implement his plan.

plan?

Cao Chongzhi didn't know that Caracalla had another plan.

"Yes, my plan."

Caracalla blinked at Cao Chongzhi: "I am very envious of your emperor who can let the people of the whole country directly pay taxes to him. I decided to learn from him and use all means to become him. I also want to let everyone in the country pay taxes to him." Pay taxes directly to me!"

Caracalla smiled and said such words, but Cao Chongzhi didn't think he was joking.

He really intends to do it.

But, my lord Caracalla.

You know that His Majesty the Emperor whom I am loyal to... No, it is His Majesty the Supreme Emperor now, do you know what he did to complete such a great cause?

Do you know how many people he killed, how many battles he fought, and how many years it took him to accomplish such a feat?

Do you want to learn from him?

Do you want to be him?

for real?

Caracalla's ambition immediately made Cao Chongzhi feel that the burning Taixi Fengcheng could not attract his attention so much.

This guy actually wants to be the second Guo Peng!

So what is his first step?

Go to war with the Senate in Rome, seize all the power of the Senate, and then go to war with the military leaders of the whole country?

Can he really do it?

Cao Chongzhi suddenly felt that it was extremely dangerous to stay by this guy's side, and what he was going to do might be very surprising.

And in the process, can he reach Guo Peng's position, or be killed soon... Cao Chongzhi thinks the latter is more likely.

If he stops here as an authoritarian dictator, he may still be able to maintain his status and honor. If he wants to seize the interests of those nobles and military leaders, he will simply go to war with the whole of Rome, and his reliance is a victories and a Praetorian Guard.

Cao Chongzhi now seriously suspects that Caracalla has not figured out what the source of his power and the basis of his rule are. He is even a little worried about his future and the commercial interests of the Wei Empire in the Roman Empire.

The Maritime Silk Road, which was finally opened, must not be broken because of this guy's mess.

What the Wei Empire needs is a guy who can be an emperor harmoniously, not a lunatic.

Ctesiphon's conflagration seemed to be Caracalla's insane desire for power, which would destroy anyone who stood in his way, until he himself was consumed.

Cao Chongzhi began to think about his retreat.

And Guo Peng and Guo Chengzhi are still walking westward, all the way westward, crossing the Hexi Corridor, passing through the Yumen Pass, and heading towards the vast land of the Western Regions.

The Great Chi Road in the Western Regions has been planned and laid since Yande returned to the Western Regions in four years, and it took ten years to finally build it successfully.

Starting from the west of Yumen Pass, it leads straight to the Zhenxi Dufu Mansion in the west of the empire, spanning thousands of miles, connecting the two ends of the empire together.

Walking on this big road, you have already entered the jurisdiction of Beiting Duhufu.

A large number of caravans can still be seen going back and forth here, and all signs show the prosperous commercial and trade exchanges in this area.

Chapter 1532 One thousand four hundred and fifty two official services provided by Zhuge Liang

Unlike inland caravans, most caravans in the Western Regions use camels as their main means of transportation.

The reason is that there are many sandstorms and few oasis water sources in the Western Regions, and horses are not as resistant to wind, sand and drought as camels, and cannot last as long as camels, and are not economical and durable enough.

Therefore, people chose camels as the main means of transportation in the desert in the long-term natural selection.

In addition to supporting the operation of the main body of the empire with the four major army horse farms, the Wei Empire also raised camels on a large scale in the Western Regions as the main force of transportation. The guardians of the three prefectures of the Western Regions all have an important mission, that is, to raise enough camels for urgent needs for.

There are obviously no shortage of camels in Guishuang, Anxi and other countries. From west to east, and from east to west, the long caravan of camels stretches endlessly.

Some large caravans had as many camels and vehicles as could be seen at a glance, and it seemed that the entire queue was even longer than Guo Peng's accompanying guards.

The camels strolled leisurely, advancing slowly at a leisurely pace, their mouths were constantly chewing, and their eyes protected by thick eyelashes blinked and blinked. It seemed that nothing could embarrass them or make them lose This calmness now.

"A lot of camels."

Guo Chengzhi and Guo Peng rode side by side on horseback, looking at a caravan of camels approaching with curiosity in their eyes.

"Camels are more suitable for business in the Western Regions. The Western Regions lack oases and water sources. Horses are not as durable as camels, and they can't move at high speed like the army, and they can't get a lot of supplies like us. Therefore, it is more economical and durable to choose camels."

Guo Peng smiled: "This is also the so-called adapting measures to local conditions, using different methods to deal with different changes in the right place, this is the way of doing things, Cheng Zhi, this is also the reason why Dafu took you out for a walk, you Remember all this."

"Yes, Chengzhi remembered."

Guo Chengzhi nodded slowly, looking at all this curiously.

"Back then, the Western Regions were not what they are now. Back then, the Western Regions were full of turmoil and endless battles. The former Han, the Xiongnu, and other countries in the Western Regions, countless heroes fought in this land. Time has passed and circumstances have changed. It is only now that there is such a prosperous scene."

Guo Peng sighed and exclaimed: "It is not easy to regain peace."

"Father said so."

Guo Chengzhi looked at the leading camel in the caravan, but he didn't know what he was thinking.

After the establishment of Beiting Duhufu, Tagancheng, the original capital of the Western Regions Duhufu, was used as the capital of Beiting Duhufu.

What is different from the past is that after Zhuge Liang took office as the Protector of Beiting Protectorate, he followed the Shanbei Dachi Road in the Western Regions, built new cities along the Shanbei Dachi Road, or used the old cities in the past, and transformed eight cities along the route. , set up eight counties to divide the jurisdiction of Beiting Duhufu.

The level of the Duhufu is the level of two thousand stones. Like a county, Zhuge Liang's official rank is the level of the county guard, and the eight cities under its jurisdiction are naturally the county seats of eight counties.

The county towns of the eight counties are distributed along the Dachi Road and the oasis, respectively guarding the various traffic hubs of the Dachi Road, lying on the traffic route, and becoming a natural resting place and pause point for businessmen.

Relying on the docking, rest and consumption of merchants, these eight counties have developed slowly, and they all have a decent shape. The agriculture in the surrounding oases is also developing, which is good anyway.

Zhuge Liang has made great contributions to the development of Beiting Duhu Mansion, which has a relatively inhospitable climate, to its current state.

Due to the small population, the combined population of the entire Beiting Duhufu is not as large as that of a large county in the Central Plains, so it can barely reach the level of self-sufficiency, and it is no longer necessary for the four Hexi counties to send food here to help them survive. It's a crisis.

From this point of view, the ability of the Northern Court to protect Zhuge Liang is beyond doubt.

Because the distance between the cities is relatively long, Guo Peng went to see every city along the way.

The city here is equivalent to a weakened version of Liangzhou city. From the very beginning, the layout did not deliberately plan a strict boundary between the living area and the commercial area, but broke this boundary and included the living area and the commercial area together.

The commercial area is arranged along the periphery of the living area, as if the closer the commercial area is to the living area, the better.

Many people simply open the front door to do business and leave the backyard for their own living, or build a two-story building, the first floor is used for business, and the second floor is their home, so small shops such as restaurants and restaurants are set up.

A family is not just doing business or simply farming, but half of the family is farming, farming the allocated land, and half of the family is doing business and running, earning some extra money, without delay, and living a decent life.

There are not many official facilities in the city, and it can even be said that there are relatively few. Apart from the county government, many officials are even stationed around the commercial area. If there is anything to do, the processing efficiency is very high and the speed is very fast.

In contrast, the rules of commercial trade and the laws and regulations that cannot be violated are written on paper and posted in the streets and alleys of the city.

As Guo Peng and the others walked, they could see a sign standing in front of them, with a piece of paper pasted on it, which read [Any dispute over a catty can be weighed on a fair scale to determine the result. The offender shall be imprisoned for five days and fined five hundred dollars].

There are many such wooden signs and legal notices throughout the city. The content of the posted notices is often different, but they are all related to the specific transaction process.

The whole city has a very strong commercial atmosphere, which makes people feel that it is a purely commercial city, and even the officials are concerned about dealing with commercial crimes, not other issues.

It seems that the whole of this city is business and trade, and there is nothing else.

All you can see in the streets and alleys are small merchants hawking along the street, as well as people carrying light boxes or pushing carts while walking and hawking.

In addition to these small local merchants, there are also many foreign merchants.

Foreign merchants often bring a large amount of bulk goods here to rest, rest, eat, visit the city of Wei State, and a few merchants choose to trade here.

Guo Peng asked the accompanying interpreter to go up and talk to them, and asked them if they could safely trade in these cities, and they got an affirmative answer.

"They said that the eight cities of Beiting Duhu Mansion have exactly the same laws and regulations and fair scales, and there are many relevant officials in each city to strictly supervise the process of commercial trade. Once a dispute arises, it can be argued and resolved on the spot.

The prestige of these officials is often very high in the local market, and they are trusted by the locals and businessmen, so in any of the eight cities, as long as it is suitable, they can trade and pay taxes on the spot, which is very safe and fast. Soon, don't worry about being cheated or robbed. "

Guo Peng nodded slowly.

Of the three prefectures in the Western Regions in recent years, the one receiving the most support from the imperial court is the Zhenxi Protectorate's Mansion with the heaviest military mission, but the one that pays the most taxes to the imperial court is the Beiting Protectorate's Mansion.

These taxes are mainly commercial taxes.

So much commercial taxation obviously cannot be obtained by Beiting Protectorate's Mansion doing nothing, but Zhuge Liang's actions make all of this seem very reasonable.

Zhuge Liang did not make any changes to the system and policies, he just provided an official service on top of this - a perfect trading environment.

The government and the market are infinitely close, the government is in the market, any disputes are resolved on the spot, any conflicts are resolved on the spot, and the credibility of the government is relied on to provide convenience for buyers and sellers.

Due to the meticulous regulations and strict enforcement, the market in Beiting Protectorate Mansion is regarded as a first-class good market in the eyes of merchants, which can safeguard their interests, and they are very willing to trade in such a market.

This is actually a very smart move.

Guo Peng walked all the way, kept inquiring about the people's situation, but also heard some bad things.

Not as good as the market-related officials in some areas are very irresponsible. Some businessmen have suffered heavy losses due to the fraudulent tactics of their trading partners. When they turn to market officials for help, they turn a blind eye to it, don’t care at all, and don’t help them. Sit back and watch their losses.

Trading in the market in these areas is very risky and very chaotic.

Although it is not enough to kill people and steal goods, it is not uncommon to be cheated and cheated, and businessmen often suffer losses.

When I was born in an unfamiliar place, I was deceived by the local people, and I was blackmailed by some local people for eating, drinking and living.

At the beginning, not many people did this, but everyone found that they could make a lot of money, so they followed suit, and those who did business honestly were squeezed out and could not survive, a typical example of bad money driving out good money.

The government turned a blind eye to such a situation. On the surface, it encouraged commercial development, but in fact it didn't care at all. It just wanted to lie down and collect money, as long as the commercial tax was high enough, the rest was not important.

In this kind of thing, only one person may be deceived at the beginning, and then more and more people will be deceived and cannot get help. They will tell their resentment to their companions, and spread it to ten, ten, and hundreds of people in this city. reputation is tainted.

Over time, the merchants knew that transactions in this city could not be protected, and food and lodging were easy to be blackmailed. They could eat food at sky-high prices and stay in hotels at sky-high prices.

Being deceived once, merchants would rather sleep in the wilderness than come to this city to rest and trade. When they saw this city, they would take a detour and would not come in at all.

Then the city withered, and the profiteers in the city went bankrupt and closed down. The whole city became lifeless because of the loss of commercial vitality, and the government could no longer collect commercial taxes.

Among the two states of Yongliang and Liangzhou, Guo Peng has seen more than one city like this, and he deeply understands that the harm caused by this kind of laziness is no less than corruption.

Some officials seem to feel that nothing else matters as long as there is no corruption.

This strange idea annoyed Guo Peng very much.

But Beiting Dufu Mansion is not like this.

Chapter 1533 Reunion after 450 thirty years