sjar Chapter 487 Kushan Empire.
Chapter 487 Kushan Empire.
Tan Bamao said with a smile: "Godfather's small steel cannon is ready. Let's set it up on top of the city wall of Zhuojun. Let's fire a few shots to show the might of the Han Dynasty!"
"it is necessary."
Ye Kun smiled and gestured: "When the time comes, I will make you a pistol. You can wear it on your waist at ordinary times. It will be so impressive!"
"What's a pistol?"
"It's a very small gun that can be fired with one hand. It's only seven inches long, but it can still kill people."
"Haha, by then I'll have two, one on each waist!"
Tan Bamao laughed.
A day later, Ye Kun received envoys from sixteen countries.
The envoys went up to the palace to present their credentials, and there were four guys among them, all claiming to be envoys from Rome and Qin!
Ye Kun smiled and said, "You four all claim to be Roman envoys. Which one is real and which one is fake?"
The Roman translator on the side stepped forward and explained:
"Your Majesty, the Roman Empire collapsed, just like China ten years ago, it has been divided into many small countries, and everyone is attacking each other, claiming to be the Roman Empire."
Ye Kun calculated the approximate time and said:
"The period of the Five Good Emperors of the Roman Empire has passed. The next emperor should be Anthony, who also died decades ago. The current Roman Empire has indeed fallen apart. But you all call it the Roman Empire, which makes it difficult for me to distinguish."
The Roman envoys introduced the situation of their own countries and even quarreled with each other in the hall.
Ye Kun waved his hand: "Alright, I will consider you all as envoys, and each of you will have a reward.
Regarding trade, we have set up the Silk Road Trading Center in Chang'an City. If you want to do business, go to Chang'an City, where you can find everything. "
At the beginning, Ye Kun wanted to place the Western International Trade Center in Dunhuang, the westernmost of the four Hexi counties.
However, considering the difficulties faced by the people, it was decided to place it in Chang'an.
Because of this, merchants from the Western Regions and Rome continued to pass through the Hexi Corridor, bringing employment opportunities in the transportation industry to the ordinary people along the road.
The common people of the four counties in Hexi could also sell some specialties to Western caravans in exchange for wealth.
Another thing is that Chang'an is managed by Wen Qi, who collects taxes in a unified manner and brings in a lot of money.
The Roman envoy said: "We want to buy swords, spears, arrowheads, wire, crossbows, and armor from the Han Dynasty..."
At this time, Rome was in the midst of a civil war, and the armies of each side were similar, still equipped with cloth armor, and their weapons were javelins, bronze daggers, and ordinary bows and arrows.
Ye Kun looked at Wu Qiong and smiled at the Roman envoy:
"The steel of our Chinese people is made from 100-fold refined steel. Now it has been upgraded to 1,000-fold refined steel, which is very expensive. If you want it, you can exchange it with copper, gold and silver. Or, good iron that won't rust will also work. There are also some other minerals that will work. I'll show you samples later."
Good steel that doesn't rust refers to nickel.
China discovered nickel a long time ago, but thought it was iron, good iron that would not rust.
Because this thing has a similar specific gravity and melting point to iron, it was difficult for the ancients to tell the difference.
Adding appropriate amount of nickel to steel can increase its hardness and corrosion resistance.
The meteorite iron, which was called black iron by the ancients, is mostly iron-nickel alloy. When it is made into weapons, it is said to be a magical weapon.
Nickel exists in nature, mostly in the form of tiny particles. If you find nickel ore, you can pan it for it.
And other minerals, Ye Kun refers to "pyrolusite powder".
Manganese was discovered very late.
However, human use of pyrolusite can be traced back to the Neolithic Age.
Ancient people painted on rocks and used pyrolusite powder as pigment!
Especially pyrolusite powder, which is abundant in the West.
Elemental metallic manganese can be obtained by charcoal reduction at a temperature of about 800 degrees.
With manganese, we can make manganese steel, a real magic weapon that could cut gold and jade in ancient times!
Wu Qiong understood when he saw Ye Kun's eyes, and said with a smile: "As long as you have money, or something suitable to exchange, we can sell our weapons and armor."
This is a very familiar scene.
That year, Xiao Dequan bought weapons from Ye Kun and went to fight Xiahou Chang.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Dequan and Xiahou Chang were both defeated by Ye Kun in the end.
The Roman envoy was very excited. He took out the blueprint and asked for a custom-made steel dagger according to their requirements.
When Ye Kun saw the blueprint, he couldn't help but sigh.
Rome, declined.
They are inflexible and unwilling to make progress, and still think that the weapon styles from hundreds of years ago are the best!
This broad short sword is probably a weapon from the Alexander period.
Because the Romans used bronze swords, they couldn't be too long.
It was too long and easy to break, so the only thing they could make was a two-foot-long bronze dagger, which was very wide.
In China, it's like a hammer!
The Macedonian spearmen, once famous throughout the world and powerful in Europe, Asia and Africa, seem to have disappeared.
Ma Zhengyang came over, took a look at the blueprint, and said with a smile: "This thing is very easy to make. It uses the steel clamping method and only requires a small amount of good steel."
The clamped steel method, as we often say, uses good steel on the blade.
The wide short sword that the Romans wanted was very suitable for the sandwich steel method, which saved materials, time and money.
Ye Kun nodded and said with a smile:
"No problem. We will make it whatever you want. We will discuss the details and let the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Finance and Taxation contact us after the meeting."
The Kushan Empire envoy from the Indian Peninsula also stepped forward and said:
"Emperor of the Han Dynasty, we also want to buy your weapons, iron pots, and porcelain..."
Ye Kun looked at the envoy of the Kushan Empire and suddenly smiled:
"Your Kushan Empire is quite powerful. You came from the northwest of China, went to Rome to fight for the world, and then went to the Indian Peninsula. You have been around China for most of the time."
The predecessor of the Kushan Empire was the Dayuezhi in the Western Regions during the Qin and Han dynasties.
The Great Yuezhi were unable to defeat the Xiongnu and were forced to move westward, but they established the Kushan Empire in West Asia, gradually became stronger, and then moved southward, occupying the northern part of the Indian Peninsula.
A hundred years ago, there were only four major powers in Europe and Asia: Rome, the Kushan Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Han Dynasty.
Unfortunately, the decline of the Kushan Empire was almost in sync with that of the Roman Empire and the Chinese Empire, both of which went from prosperity to decline in 200 AD.
Although the current Kushan Empire is large in area, it is also falling apart and facing internal and external troubles.
Ye Kun is still entangled with Liaodong, Goguryeo and Jiaozhi. Although he knows that Rome and the Kushan Empire are both in decline, he is unable to do anything and is very anxious.
The envoy of the Kushan Empire said: "Our ancestors were indeed neighbors with the Huaxia Kingdom. But now we are too far away and can only communicate with each other through the sea. We have money and countless gold and silver. As long as you are willing to sell your weapons, no matter how much you want, we have them."
Wu Qiong looked at Ye Kun and whispered:
"We can take India's gold, silver, grain, sugar, and some rare minerals. As for the rest, we don't need them. Although we are not short of food now, we still need to have enough reserves to feel at ease."