General Qin

"Zuo Shuzhang Ren Xiao, who conquered the southwest, captured and killed the leaders of the Dian people, subdued the barbarians, and promoted the power of our Qin army, was given two ranks of nobility, and was named Zuo Geng."

In the majestic palace, the monarchs and ministers of the Qin Kingdom were conducting a reward ceremony.

The visitor read out the edict aloud.

Ren Xiao looked excited and immediately saluted and accepted the reward. At the same time, he said loudly: "I, Ren Xiao, have been rewarded by your majesty for my humble contribution. I am so grateful that I will do my best in the future to contribute to our great Qin. For ten thousand years, your majesty, my great Qin will live for ten thousand years!"

After watching the triumphal ceremony, Martial Lord Zhao Tuo had already put on the gorgeous Lunhou attire and went to court. At this moment, he was standing next to Taiwei Wang Ben, watching the scene of Ren Xiao being rewarded, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Qin is full of talented people."

Zhao Tuo understood Ren Xiao's ability. He could not be said to be a top-notch general, but he was definitely a general who could be sent out to take charge of his own role. This expedition against the southwestern barbarians is a clear proof of his ability to lead troops.

In addition to Ren Xiao, Da Qin now has many generals that can be sent out to fight on the battlefield.

Belonging to the top ranks, two famous generals who once led troops to destroy a country and capture the king include Zhao Tuo and Wang Ben.

Next, as the backbone, there are generals such as Yang Duanhe, Li Xin, Tu Sui, Feng Wuze, Xin Sheng, Xin Wu, Ren Xiao, etc. These people have great military exploits and can serve as generals and commanders of an army.

After these generals, there are also flawed battlefield veterans like Qiang Yu who are also quite capable.

After that, there are new generation generals such as Meng Tian, ​​Wang Li, and Yang Xiong, who belong to the future of Great Qin.

From the top generals, to the backbone, to the new generation of generals, it can be said that there are many, and the lineup of generals is very gorgeous.

Coupled with the elite soldiers who had just unified the six kingdoms, the Qin State is now at its strongest military power.

"As long as the emperor doesn't mess around, with Qin's current general configuration and military strength, it will be difficult for anyone to rebel. Outside of China, there are probably not many countries that can compare with Qin."

The reason why Zhao Tuo thought about this was because he saw those white people during the triumphal ceremony. This unique racial symbol instantly woke him up.

Qin is not the real center of the world.

In the far west, there is an equally powerful civilization.

"Caesar seems to correspond to the Han Dynasty. After him was the Roman Empire. So the most powerful one in Europe now should be the Roman Republic?"

"I don't know if they are powerful or not."

Zhao Tuo murmured in his heart that he was very familiar with Chinese history, but he only had a rough idea of ​​the history of other countries except China.

Zhao Tuo had heard of famous figures such as Alexander and Caesar, and powerful countries such as Kushan and Parthia, but when it came to specific periods and events, he was at a loss.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo was very concerned about the appearance of those white people.

If those white people came from the northern grasslands, Zhao Tuo could still figure it out, but how could they come from the southwest?

Zhao Tuo was full of doubts and could only try his best to suppress his curiosity and wait until the award ceremony was completed before asking the relevant people.

Soon, after encouraging Ren Xiao and other meritorious soldiers, the First Emperor announced the disbandment of the court and said that a celebration banquet would be held in the evening.

After the emperor left, the ministers immediately relaxed and congratulated Ren Xiao.

"Brother Ren won this battle and was promoted to the title of Zuogeng. Congratulations."

Zhao Tuo stepped forward and congratulated Ren Xiao. He and Ren Xiao had a good relationship, but now they were in the main hall, with countless pairs of eyes staring at them. Naturally, it was inconvenient to ask more questions, so they could only say some casual remarks.

When Ren Xiao saw Zhao Tuo, he burst into laughter: "Junhou, Junhou, I can win big this time, thanks to Chen Ping's help. Without his advice, it would never be so easy to pacify the Southwest, Junhou You really recommended a good counselor to me."

Ren Xiao was a straight-tempered man and would never take credit for others' achievements. At this moment, he praised Chen Ping in front of Zhao Tuo, which immediately attracted the attention of Li Si, Wang Ben and others, who noticed this name whose reputation was not yet obvious.

Zhao Tuo shook his head and smiled: "Chen Ping is just a little smart. The one who can really decide the overall situation is Brother Ren."

He said a few more polite words, then gave up his seat to other ministers who came to congratulate Ren Xiao, then turned and walked out of the palace.

Tingwei Li Si looked at this scene, saying congratulations and his eyes full of pain.

Southwest is the place where Ren Xiao made his achievements and became famous, and it is also the place where his son Li You failed.

He was naturally very concerned about it.

"Chen Ping..."

Li Si remembered the name.

At this time, Zhao Tuo also found Chen Ping outside the palace who had just been rewarded and promoted.

"Chen Ping pays homage to the prince."

Seeing Zhao Tuo approaching, Chen Ping stepped forward and bowed to him.

"Get up, you and I don't need to do this big ceremony."

Zhao Tuo stretched out his hand to help Chen Ping up from the ground, looked at Chen Ping's handsome face, and joked: "I went to the southwest and everyone got a lot of tan. Why don't I change my nickname to the black-faced young man?" how?"

Chen Ping was startled, then laughed: "Your Majesty, please stop teasing Ping. Who knew that the sun in Dian is not that big, but it is quite powerful. After staying there for a while, people will turn black."

Zhao Tuo smiled. Isn't Yunnan the Yunnan of later generations? That place has high altitude, thin air, and very strong ultraviolet rays. It's normal to get tanned there.

After some joking conversation, the relationship between Zhao Tuo and Chen Ping became much closer in an instant, and Zhao Tuo took the opportunity to ask about the origins of those white people.

"Those people claim to be envoys and businessmen from the Shendu Kingdom. It is said that their country is thousands of miles south of the Dian Kingdom. It is a big country, comparable to our Great Qin."

Seeing Zhao Tuo's interest, Chen Ping immediately told the information he knew.

Body poison!

Zhao Tuo was stunned for a moment when he heard the name, and then he realized it.

What a poisonous country, isn’t this the India of later generations!

"So that's it, those white people are Aryans."

Zhao Tuo laughed dumbly.

He had been influenced by inertial thinking before and always believed that those white people came from Europe or West Asia and did not go to South Asia at all.

This is quite normal. The impression left on most people by Indians is that they have dark skin and short stature, which is almost a stereotype.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo did not connect those white people with India at first.

But in fact, in India, upper castes and lower castes are two different races.

They were black, short, and dressed in simple rags. They were local aborigines.

The tall white people are the foreign conquerors, the Aryans.

"I don't know whether the leading Aryan is a Brahmin or a Kshatriya?"

Zhao Tuo guessed in his mind, and at the same time, he was also thinking about whether there was any record of contact between Zhongyuan and Shendu during the Qin and Han Dynasties.

After some recollection, he finally found a clue.

It seems that during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions. As a result, Zhang Qian discovered Shu cloth, Qiong bamboo and other specialties of Shu in Daxia.

This made Zhang Qian very curious. Obviously, there were powerful Huns blocking the way between the Han Dynasty and Daxia, making it difficult for the two countries to communicate, let alone conduct commercial transactions. Why did the special products of Shu in the Han Dynasty appear in the Western Regions? summer?

After questioning, he learned that the specialties of Shu were purchased by Daxia people from the Shendu Kingdom.

Shendu was far to the south of the Han Dynasty, conducting commercial exchanges with the southwestern barbarians, so he was able to obtain special products from Shu County and resell them to Daxia.

After Zhang Qian returned to the Central Plains, the emperor was very interested in the Shendu Kingdom and sent people to the southwest to explore the location of the Shendu Kingdom.

As a result, the envoy was left behind by the King of Dian in Dian, and the people sent out to explore the road were blocked by the Kunming State. In the end, the Han Dynasty did not find the location of the Shendu State.

"This time the Qin army wiped out the Dian Kingdom, so they just blocked the envoys and merchants who came here. Seeing the strength of our Qin army, they proposed to come to Xianyang to pay homage to the emperor, and to have good relations and trade with me, the Qin Dynasty?"

Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes. Through Chen Ping's narration, he knew the origin and purpose of those poisonous people.

Then a question came to mind.

India is also a fertile land with vast territory and abundant resources.

I don’t know if there is any good stuff.

"Historical Records: Biographies of Southwest Yi": (Zhang Qian) saw Shu cloth, Qiong bamboo, and staff when he was living in Daxia. The envoy asked where they came from, and said, "It can be thousands of miles from the southeastern country to get the city of Shu Jia people." Maybe I heard that there is a country of Shendu two thousand miles west of Qiong... The emperor ordered Wang Ranyu, Bai Shichang, Lu Yue and others to send envoys out of the west of Yixi to ask for the country of Shendu. When they arrived in Dian, the king of Dian tasted the Qiang and stayed there, seeking the Way to the West for more than ten generations. For more than a year, they are all closed in Kunming, and they can't get through and poison the country.