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Chapter 7: Witness Iwu

The Wusun people were an extremely ancient nation and lived in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, they had close ties with the Xianbei people, but they were repeatedly oppressed by the Rouran people and were eventually forced to retreat to the west of the Pamir Mountains. A small number of Wusun people remained, and Yiwu was a country built by some Wusun people.

Like other countries in the Western Regions, Yiwu has a complex ethnic group. In addition to the Wusun people, there are also Tielchuyue people, the later Shatu people, there are also a small number of Qiezi people, some Western Turks, and even hundreds of Huhua Han people. They are descendants of the Han people in the original Yiwu County and live in Yiwu City. They have intermarried with the Hu people for a hundred years. Their language and customs have been Huhua. In addition to their appearance, they are also slightly characterized by Han people, and the rest are completely different. There is no trace of Han people in them.

Among these complex nations, the Tielchuyue tribe has the greatest influence. They occupied the most abundant pastures in this area. The grasslands around Pulehai were occupied by them, while the Wusun people were mainly concentrated in Yiwu City and its surrounding areas. They established an army of nearly 6,000 people.

The king of Yiwu Kingdom is Mochuo. He is about forty years old this year. He is quite obese. He has more than a dozen wives and concubines. He has given birth to dozens of children for him. Especially his three older sons have fought for power and profit in recent years, and each robbed territory, which has caused panic among the Yiwu Kingdom.

But the real trouble of King Mochu was not the struggle for power by his sons, but the external trouble, the threat and control of the Western Turks on the Iwu Kingdom. Before the death of Datou Khan, the entire Western Regions were under the control of the Western Turks. After Datou's death, the struggle for power and profit began to occur within the Western Turks. The countries of the Western Regions and Tiel tribes took the opportunity to escape from the control of the Western Turks, but the Yiwu Kingdom could not escape the control of the Western Turks. This was not because the Wusun people were willing to be slaves of the Western Turks, but because the powerful Chuyue tribes always threatened the survival of the Iwu Kingdom.

It was precisely because of the mediation of the Western Turks that the people of the Chuyue tribe dared not attack the Yiwu country, and the Western Turks used the powerful pressure of the Chuyue tribe to prevent the Yiwu country from betraying it.

This is a painful balance, the price is heavy taxes every year. Half of the treasury income of Yiwu is paid to the Western Turks every year. For this reason, the Western Turks also specially established a financial supervisor called Tutun to station in Yiwu to supervise the payment of taxes in Yiwu.

This situation has been going on for many years, from the initial rebellion and gradually obeying, until now I am used to it.

The cruel exploitation of the Western Turks made the people of Yiwu generally poor. The city walls were still built by the Han Dynasty hundreds of years ago. The erosion of hundreds of years has made the city walls low, and there have been several landslides that cannot be repaired.

The city is divided into two, and there are two completely different worlds. To the west is a civilian area, with short and dilapidated houses, crowded houses, sewage everywhere, and children on the street are running naked and have no clothes to wear. Most of the people in Yiwu country are civilians.

On the east is a place where a few nobles and merchants live together. The houses are neat and shops are densely packed, and silk, porcelain, pottery and various daily necessities from Dunhuang. The nobles on the street are well-dressed and red, most of them are wives and concubines, and they live in luxury. They enjoy duty-free privileges, and the Western Turks cannot exploit them.

At the end of the middle street is the Iwu Palace, which is also a magnificent palace where King Mochu and his dozens of wives, concubines and children live.

That afternoon, Yiwu City was still as lively as usual. The news that the Sui army attacked Rouyuan Town did not reach this place. Although the weather was extremely hot, Yiwu civilians must be busy for survival. The streets were bustling and bustling.

"The caravan has entered the city!"

Someone shouted, and people rushed to the city gate from all directions. A huge caravan came in from the city gate, consisting of more than 200 camels and thousands of horses, loaded with pottery, cloth and other goods. At the head of the horse, a young flag bearer raised a big flag high, and the word "Xiao" was written on the big flag. This is the Xiao caravan from Dunhuang.

The flag bearers raised their flags into the city at the last few horses, and the words "Xie" and "Shen" were written on the banner. These were also the two major families in Dunhuang. The caravans of the three major families came to Yiwu Kingdom together, which made Yiwu City boil. The caravans surrounded the three layers of the inner and outer layers. Everyone's eyes were full of enthusiasm, which was a desire for wealth. The children ran barefoot with the caravan and shouted happily.

Countless merchants came to the scene after hearing the news and were about to grab the goods. At this time, the great prince Aman led a team of cavalry to come. Aman was in charge of Yiwu's trade. The arrival of the caravan in Dunhuang also made him smile. The caravan could increase the income of the national treasury and also allowed him to promote political achievements in front of his father.

"Big Prince, there are three caravans here!" An official shouted in surprise.

Next to the eldest prince Aman is a bald old man, about fifty years old. He is Tutun, a Western Turkic sent to Yiwu Kingdom, and is also a tax supervisor. His name is "Shun". Everyone calls him Tushun. But Tushun frowned and said to himself: "It's strange. In the past, autumn was coming. Why did the midsummer come now? How did they pass through the Gobi Desert?"

"Your Excellency Tutun, it doesn't matter when you come. What's important is that they bring wealth. In this way, we can pay the tax in autumn and spend a winter comfortably. Isn't that a good thing?"

The eldest prince Aman was very excited. He ignored Tutun and urged the horse to meet him.

"Mr. Xiao!"

He saw the leader Xiao Yuansong, shouted and went up to meet him.

Almost everyone in Yiwu City knew Xiao Yuansong, and everyone called him Xiao Caishen because he always brought abundant goods to Yiwu City and earned a lot of coins.

Xiao Yuansong was surrounded by more than a dozen merchants. The merchants not only wanted to sell his goods, but also sold the local local products they usually purchased to Xiao Yuansong. Although the Xiao family was not the largest caravan, and several Sogdian caravans were bigger than him, the merchants in Yiwu City did not like the Sogdians' cunning, and they were more willing to do business with the Han people.

When Xiao Yuansong heard the shout, he turned around and saw the great prince Aman. He walked forward with a smile, hugged the great prince immediately, and joked: "Dear Your Highness, you are thinner than last year. I am worried that there is enough food in the city to satisfy these greedy guys under my command."

Only then did Aman realize that there were much more caravan men than before. There were only two or three hundred people, but now there were nearly a thousand people. He was shocked, "What are you doing with so many hands?"

Xiao Yuansong smiled and introduced to him: "It's not entirely my friend. There are two other caravans. Haven't you noticed that the goods we shipped are twice as much as before?"

Aman nodded. How many guys come has nothing to do with him. He doesn’t have to care about food and accommodation. Moreover, the more people come, the more money he spends. This is a good thing for Yiwucheng. He also smiled and said, “As long as you can afford the meal, you will have as much food.”

Both of them laughed. Xiao Yuansong saw Tutun. He didn't like this black fat bald old man. He came to take stock of his goods every time, as if he was the owner of the goods. This time, his goods could not be counted.

Xiao Yuansong had a solution. There was an unwritten rule here. You could not take stock of merchants' goods, but you had to pay a redemption money to Tutun, which was considered Tutun's private income.

He urged him to go forward and bow, "Great Lord Tutun, I'm just about to find you."

"What are you going to do for me?" Tutun smiled with his eyes narrowed, his little eyes flashing with a bright color of desire. In fact, he also hopes that the Dunhuang caravan will come ten times a year.

Xiao Yuansong scratched his head, looked at the caravan, and said helplessly: "I plan to pay the money for the redemption this time. I will do business soon and will go back tomorrow morning."

"Why are you in a hurry to go back? Don't you stay for a few more days?"

"There is no way. There was a grand chamber of commerce in the capital in early August. We went to attend the main house, so we could only come early this year."

"No wonder!"

Tutun stared at the caravan with bright eyes, thinking in his mind, he whispered a few words to Xiao Yuansong with his ears, Xiao Yuansong frowned, "There's too much, minus a little."

"Why should Mr. Xiao be so stingy?"

Tutun refused to give in, "If you don't do it, then I can't do anything!"

Tutun caught the caravan and was eager to return, and did not give in at all. He looked at Xiao Yuansong with a smile. His term of office will expire next year. How can he not hurry up and get more money?

"All right!"

Xiao Yuansong had no choice but to agree, "I'll settle down first, and according to the old rules, I'll go to your house tonight."

"welcome!"

Tutun laughed and turned around and left.

Seeing that the prince and Tutun had left, Xiao Yuansong shouted to various merchants around him: "The merchants of the inn come first, we must stay in first, at least twenty inns are needed.

Dozens of innkeepers gathered around and shouted loudly, "This restaurant has exquisite food, and that restaurant can provide beautiful girls with various characteristics to compete for a rare big deal this year."

Shen Guang, who was mixed in the team, looked at the city and the city gate, curled his lips and looked at it disdainfully. He said to Su Lie: "For such a dilapidated city, there is no need for the general to use this "conceal the world and the army will be crushed as soon as it arrives."

Su Lie said coldly: "What do you know? The general is a soldier who cherishes his brothers and defeats others without fighting. Do you understand?"

Shen Guang didn't dare to say anything. At this time, Xiao Yuansong picked up the inn and the owners led them to the inns everywhere.

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As night slowly descended, more than 4,000 Sui cavalry slowly stopped and looked at Yiwu City ten miles away from afar. Under the bright moonlight, Yiwu City was particularly clear.

Wang Wei whispered a little worriedly: "General, Captain Su is not experienced enough, I'm a little worried."

Yang Yuanqing smiled, "Don't worry, although he is not experienced, he is very smart and not reckless. He will act according to my plan. As long as he is given more opportunities to exercise, he will be a famous general of the Sui Dynasty in the future."

"I hope there will be no accidents, too."

"Even if something happens, you're not afraid. This low and dilapidated city cannot stop the cavalry of the Great Sui cavalry. I just don't want to consume too much of the Wusun army."

Yang Yuanqing turned around and ordered: "The three armies are not allowed to slack off and be prepared to charge at any time!

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