Chapter 401 Sogdian Businessman

On the eve of the war, Samarkand, the city of Samarkand was once again shrouded in the clouds of war, but the Samarkand people who were used to the war did not show panic. They still came and went quietly and lived their ordinary life. There was a huge white building in the east of Samarkand. This is the headquarters of the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce. The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce is the most powerful non-governmental organization in the Hezhong region. The Sogdians are famous for doing business. In the hundreds of years of trade history, Sogdian merchants gradually organized for common interests and finally formed the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce. The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce is so powerful that they were able to decide the candidates for the kings of the various countries in the Hezhong region.

After experiencing the impact of repeated wars, the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce also suffered heavy blows, especially the Tang Dynasty and the Dashi were in a state of hostility, which greatly weakened their trade interests. The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce was in an unprecedented crisis, and for this reason they ran around and called for a new way out of trade.

On that morning, merchants gathered in the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce, and hundreds of chambers of commerce members from various countries in the river gathered here. The war crisis in the river and their concerns about the future made them unable to wait any longer. At this time, they received a notice from the Chamber of Commerce that Li Qingan, the governor of Anxi, will discuss the future of the Sogdians' trade with the Chamber of Commerce. The merchants temporarily put down their affairs and rushed to Samarkand.

In the front hall of the Chamber of Commerce, several Chamber of Commerce leaders were negotiating the content of the talks with Li Qing'an. What kind of request should they make? The Chamber of Commerce has a total of ten leaders, from Sogdian countries, among which most of them were merchants in Kang's country, which was also determined by the status of Sogdian countries. For example, Bukhara is a famous cultural and artistic center, and its commercial atmosphere is relatively weak, while Samarkand is a handicraft and trade center, which has become the largest trading center in the countries in the river. There are especially many big merchants, and there are ten leaders of the Chamber of Commerce, and they occupy four.

The convener of this meeting was Mikhail, who was about seventy years old and the oldest and most wealthy businessman in the chamber of commerce. At the same time, he was also a devout Muslim. Although among these ten leaders were both Muslims and Zoroastrians, faith was no longer an obstacle to them in the face of common commercial interests.

"Everyone, I don't need to say the current situation. Everyone should be very clear. The war has stopped the trade between the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Dynasty. Just like two bridges connecting the isolated island were demolished, we became helpless people on the isolated island. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty directly started trade with Byzantium, but we were unable to get a share of the pie. Now our situation is extremely critical, and it can be said that life is hanging on the line. This time, King Zhao came to Samarkand to prepare for the Abbasid Dynasty, but yesterday I contacted Lord Chang Shiluo, and he expressed his willingness to appeal to His Highness King Zhao for us. According to the news just now, His Highness King Zhao will come to our chamber of commerce today, so this will be an opportunity to determine our destiny, and we must seize it."

"Uncle Mikhail, you are our most experienced elder, just tell me what you think!"

Mikhail waved his hand and continued to say to everyone: "Actually, my idea is very simple, to convince His Highness Zhao to allow us to participate in the trade with Constantinople. So far, no one of the Sogdians has obtained a trade license from the Broken Leaf. We hope to get such an opportunity, and at the same time, we hope that he can allow us to continue trade with the Arabs."

"Uncle Mikhail, it may be a bit difficult to continue trade with the Arabs. After all, the war between the two countries is about to break out, and the army cannot allow us to cross the border."

"I know! I know!"

Mikhail hurriedly said, "So we have to explain to him that we will not traffic in military supplies to Arabia. We will only traffic in luxury goods, such as porcelain, silk, tea, etc., to understand them with reason and emotion. I believe that His Highness Zhao's attitude will be relaxed. I have invited a few special friends to help us."

Speaking of this, Mikhail nodded to the two old men sitting at the edge. Everyone had noticed them for a long time, but they didn't know who they were? One of the old men with bronze skin stood up and introduced themselves: "My name is Salda, I am from Tuozhi City, and I am also a member of the Chamber of Commerce."

Someone had heard of him and couldn't help but nod. This was also an old merchant who went to the Tang Dynasty to trade. Mikhail smiled and further introduced to everyone: "Salda and His Highness Zhao had a relationship seven years ago. At that time, His Highness Zhao was just a brigade commander of the Tang army. At that time, Salda accompanied Princess Julan, Shiguo, and later the Saint Julan, to Anxi."

Everyone showed a hint of envy. If you have such friendship with King Zhao, this Salda can make a fortune! But Salda smiled bitterly and said, "Seven years have passed, I wonder if Your Highness Zhao still remembers me."

At this time, the second old man stood up, bowed and smiled, "I am Borodo."

Borodo is the spiritual leader of the Muslims in Samarkand. He has great medical skills and a high prestige in Kang Country. However, he rarely appears in appearance, so everyone only hears his name and does not see him. When he heard that this person is Borodo, everyone couldn't help but applaud. Borodo is the famous Muslim doctor who cured Li Qing'an's descendants. He has a good relationship with Li Qing'an. Mikhail invited him in just hope that he could help the Chamber of Commerce.

With these two people helping each other, everyone felt hope and cheered up. At this time, a businessman hurried in and whispered: "The Palace of King Zhao is coming down!"

Everyone stood up and followed Mikhail to meet the gate.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Since taking down the river three years ago, Li Qingan has come to Samarkand three times. This time it is the fourth time, but it is the first time to come to the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce. Li Qingan is not unaware of the importance of the Sogdians to trade in the East and West, but the Sogdian merchants are too powerful. In the last turmoil in the river, they not only did not help Li Qingan quell the situation, but secretly supported the conflict between the two sects, especially the rebellion of the Muslim radicals.

After this incident was exposed, Li Qing'an was very dissatisfied with the Sogdian merchants. In order to punish the Sogdian merchants' infidelity, he ordered that the Sogdian merchants not be qualified to participate in Byzantine trade, and at the same time stopped trade with the Dashi. In addition, the Suiye government also restricted the scale and number of Sogdians' trade to the Tang Dynasty. After a series of severe measures, it effectively and severely cracked down on the Sogdian merchants.

This time he came to Samarkand to direct the war with the Great Food, but Luo Qiming, who was in charge of government affairs in the river, asked him several times to relax his suppression of Sogdian merchants. Considering the role of Sogdian merchants, Li Qingan finally agreed to Luo Qiming's request to visit the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce.

Under the strict escort of more than 100 personal soldiers, Li Qingan walked into the chamber of commerce gate, and Luo Qiming and more than a dozen officials from the river also accompanied him.

When I walked into the gate of the chamber of commerce, I saw a wide square, with hundreds of Sogdian merchants standing on both sides, and more than a thousand Tang soldiers had already come in advance, fully armed, one post at three steps and one whistle at five steps, with a strong guard against the merchants, and were not allowed to approach Li Qing'an. Especially when the war was about to break out, various security guards became extremely tight.

At this time, the ten leaders of the Chamber of Commerce came up, and Mikhail fell to his knees first and said excitedly: "The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce welcomes His Highness, General Zhao!"

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "I have always wanted to visit the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce. Last time I wanted to come, but it was affected by the civil strife in the river, so it was cancelled."

Li Qing'an's words were accompanied by a thorn, and he implicitly mentioned the civil strife in the river, which meant that it was the civil strife in the river that made him give up the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce.

These Sogdian merchants were all extremely smart. How could they not hear what Li Qing'an said? Mikhail immediately said sincerely: "This year the situation in the river is calm, the people live and work in peace, and Samarkand has gradually recovered its former prosperity. These are all thanks to His Highness. Each of us Sogdians is grateful. The Sogdian Chamber of Commerce hopes that the river will become more prosperous under the rule of His Highness. For this reason, we will fully support His Highness every decision."

Although Li Qing'an hoped that the Han merchants in the Central Plains could replace the Sogdians and were active on the Silk Road, he also knew that this would not be possible within at least five or six years. Not to mention that most of the Anxi immigrants were farmers from the Central Plains, and their business awareness was relatively indifferent. Li Qing'an also needed them to consolidate their occupation of land, especially in trade with Byzantium. Anxi was mainly dominated by officials and businessmen, but relying solely on officials and businessmen was far from enough. Moreover, officials and businessmen were rigid and far less flexible than Jewish merchants. Recently, a large number of Jews participated in the trade between Byzantium and Anxi, so Li Qing'an finally decided to lift the trade restrictions of Sogdian merchants.

When he came to the Sogdian Chamber of Commerce today, Li Qing'an also wanted to listen to his words and observe his actions. They had a good attitude and had already repentance of guilt, but this was not enough. He also needed Sogdian merchants to take practical actions.

"You guys get up! I'll take a look first."

Mikhail quickly stood up and walked towards the inner court with Li Qing'an. When he walked to the door, Li Qing'an saw Borodo and was stunned. Last time he left without saying goodbye in Hexi, he unexpectedly met him here. Li Qing'an immediately pulled him aside intimately and thanked him in a low voice: "My son is pregnant, Rushi has also given birth to a daughter. I want to thank Bowen again."

"The General does not need to thank me. It is my duty to cure the disease and help the wounded. I only beg the General to give these poor merchants a way out for the sake of the Sogdians who are also part of Anxi. The Sogdians establish business based on business and cannot engage in business. It will be a disaster for the Sogdians. I am the same clan of Sogdians, so how can I not be anxious? If the General wants to thank me, please give us a chance!"

After saying that, Borodo actually knelt down to him. Li Qingan quickly helped him up and sighed: "Boweng is worthy of being a kind person, okay! For Boweng's sake, I will give them a chance. I will have a good talk with them later."

At this time, Salda also walked forward, bowed deeply to Li Qing'an, and said, "General, do you still remember me, an old businessman?"

When Li Qingan saw that he looked familiar, he couldn't remember for a moment, "You are..."

"General, Princess Julan went to Anxi with me."

"You are Uncle Salda!" Li Qingan suddenly remembered.

"If you don't dare to be a lie, how dare you let Your Highness call me an uncle?"

Seeing Salda, Li Qingan remembered Princess Julan again. He nodded silently and said, "Uncle Salda is also from the Chamber of Commerce! If you have any needs, come to Thunder Ye to find me at any time, and I will do my best to help you."

"I can no longer run. My son inherited my career. He wanted to go to Constantinople and Chang'an, but he did not have a business license and could not pass the border army. I begged the general to let the Sogdians participate in the trade with the Romans. I am grateful."

Two acquaintances came to plead for mercy, and Li Qingan could not erase this face. He nodded and said to Mikhail: "Go to your conference room, I'll have a good talk with you!"

Mikhail was overjoyed and quickly respectfully invited Li Qing'an into their conference room. The conference room had been arranged. In order to please Li Qing'an, the merchants took every detail very carefully. First of all, they did not dare to sit on an equal footing with Li Qing'anping. They specially learned the etiquette of the Tang people and laid soft mats on the ground. Everyone sat on the ground. Li Qing'an sat in the middle, a mat made of gold foil. Sogdian merchants and officials sat down separately, in a row on the left and right. In addition to the ten leaders of the chamber of commerce, more than thirty powerful merchants also quietly squeezed in to listen.

Li Qing'an sat down, and a beautiful Sogdian girl served him tea. Li Qing'an was serious and said to everyone with a serious face: "There is a saying that I want to say first. Since this year, why do I suppress you Sogdian merchants? The reason is that many of you played a disgraceful role in the religious conflict in the river at the beginning of the year. I am trying my best to calm the conflict between the two factions, but some of you are secretly supporting the radicals. I searched in the palace of your former king Xiaofen.

A list was released, with as many as 200 people, of which there were 128 Sogdian Chambers. Although the old saying does not blame the masses, to me, it is all implicit. Therefore, you cannot get a business license with the Romans. I know that some of you still did it quietly, but I want to tell you that last month, three Sogdian merchants were suspected of trafficking in smuggling orders and were killed on the spot by the Talas border army and confiscated the goods. This is the punishment for you to oppose me."

Li Qing'an's eyes swept sternly across the faces of dozens of Sogdian merchants. They were anxious and lowered their heads.

Mikhail stood up and said ashamed: "Your Highness, we are all wrong. From now on, we will fully support your highness's decision, including fighting against Dashi. I am willing to donate money and support the Anxi army."

Li Qing'an's face cleared a little and nodded, "The reason why I am willing to sit here today is because I feel your sincerity. In fact, from me personally, I will never despise merchants. I even organized trade between officials and merchants and Romans. Trade can exchange materials, make the economy prosperous, and ensure the government's fiscal and tax revenue. Especially Anxi needs materials from the mainland of the Central Plains, so I have always put trade first. I set up the Sixth Division and the Ninth Division, the First Division is the Ministry of Revenue, and the First Division is the Finance and Taxation Department. This shows my importance to trade. Li Qing'an is also a broad-minded person. As long as you can show your support for Anxi through practical actions, I will also give you equal trade qualifications and truly regard you as the people of the Tang Dynasty."

"We are grateful for your highness's tolerance. I wonder what your Highness needs us to do. Please tell me clearly."

Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "It's very simple. I only have one condition, that is, you must get the qualification of a lord, and you will get the corresponding trade rank. The higher the qualification of a lord, the more trade discounts you will get. You can not only trade in Chang'an, but also trade with the Romans, and even continue to trade with Dashi. No matter how high the level is, I can also exempt you from taxes and send troops to escort you for safety. So my condition is very simple, that is, a lord. If you want to get a license to trade with the Romans, you must at least be the Lord of the Shangqiu Captain."

Lord is a measure taken by Li Qing'an to promote sinology in the river, such as learning Chinese, Chinese rituals, sending children to the Chinese school, etc., and all of them can get the lowest level Lord Yunqiwei. There are many benefits to obtaining the lord, such as tax reduction and exemption, getting bronze medals for disaster year relief, building houses can get help from the army, etc. If you want to get a higher lord, you must make greater efforts. Like Li Qing'an said, the Shangqiuwei must build at least two Han schools, or sponsor fifty Sogdian teenagers to go to Thunder Leaf to study for three years.

Sogdian merchants were extremely powerful in the Sogdian region. The essence of the merchants was profit-oriented. They did not care whether Sogdian would be sinicized. They traveled between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions, and many people admired the culture of the Tang Dynasty. Many people would take the initiative to accept the influence of Han culture. Li Qing'an saw this very thoroughly. He wanted to use the power of Sogdian merchants to spread Chinese studies for him.

After hearing Li Qing'an's conditions, the leaders of the chamber of commerce all whispered. At this time, Mikhail said: "Your Highness, are the conditions of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the rank of the

Li Qing'an shook his head and said, "This was decided by me after careful consideration. If I don't have the ability for the time being, then trade between the Western Regions and the Central Plains first. After waiting for the ability, I will go to Constantinople. I have handed over the specific terms to Luo Changshi. You can go and consult him."

Speaking of this, Li Qing'an smiled and said, "In addition, I have opened up a new trade route for you, namely Sindh, Punjab and India. The conditions are also that if you get the Lord of the Shangqitu, you can go there to do business and trade. I will order the army to protect your safety. If you are interested, you can even build sea ships and go from the Punjab port to the south of the Tang Dynasty. There are endless business opportunities there. As an overseas trader, I will not only exempt all the tax on goods, but also provide free food and fresh water. How about it, those who are interested can give it a try."
Chapter completed!