Of the five hundred people Zhao Xin led out, only thirteen returned. More people were lost along the way, and it was uncertain whether they could be found.

Zhao Xin said, “We had just passed Jiuquan when we encountered a band of horse bandits. They had nearly a thousand men and had cordoned off a piece of land to build a city. The walls were piled with yellow mud, not very high, but you could see it was shaped like a city. The guide said that during these years of great war in the Central Plains, the Western Regions hadn’t been peaceful either, and countless large and small tribal states had fallen, so he assumed this was a newly established small tribal state.”

“As a result, we were captured as soon as we entered. In the end, we fought our way through the horse bandits, seized the city, and gave them a new leader before leaving. Before departing, we even sent people to deliver a message to Xiliang, hoping Xiliang could send troops to claim the land and people. Because time was urgent, we didn’t wait there.”

“The Western Regions are indeed chaotic. The various tribal states refuse to submit to each other and frequently wage war. But we had the national credentials and travel documents given by Your Majesty, and most tribal states let us pass. Those unwilling to let us go were convinced by Zhang Shi.”

Zhao Xin continued, “Zhang Shi is proficient in Buddhist doctrine, and most of the tribal states along the Western Regions’ route follow Buddhism, so relying on his knowledge, even when we encountered difficulties along the way, he could resolve them. When we reached Lop Nor, we still had four hundred and eighty-nine people.”

How did those people disappear?

Because after entering Lop Nor, they were extremely unlucky. It was a desert wasteland, difficult to navigate, and even though their guide had traveled there before, they still got lost when they entered again.

Before they could find the right direction, they encountered a merchant caravan being chased by horse bandits. Zhao Xin immediately turned and led his people to flee, but Zhang Shi drew his sword and charged forward.

He had no choice but to turn back and rescue Zhang Shi. In the chaos, people screamed wildly, and then a sandstorm suddenly arose on the horizon, rapidly sweeping over them.

Zhao Xin only had time to reach out and grab Zhang Shi…

When he woke up again, only about fifty people remained beside him. The rest had been swept away somewhere, and besides Zhang Shi whom he’d clutched in his hand, among the remaining people were three merchants from the caravan and two horse bandits.

Zhao Xin directly killed the horse bandits, then accepted the three trembling merchants, continuing westward while searching for people.

Then they were sold out by the three merchants.

Zhao Xin prided himself on being clever, and Zhang Shi was no fool either, yet neither of them saw through the cunning and treacherous nature of these three merchants. After pretending to pledge loyalty, they claimed to know the westward route and could recognize directions. After all, they had traveled this trade route for many years, and what the guides knew, they knew too!

Zhao Xin and Zhang Shi both felt they were honest, plus they were indeed Western Region merchants.

Oh, all three had pale faces with deep-set eyes, typical Western Region features. Zhang Shi had encountered many Western Region merchants and patted his chest to assure Zhao Xin, “Western Region merchants value trust and keep their promises. They won’t deceive us.”

Then the entire group was sold to a slave trader who wanted to take them to mine gemstones.

Zhao Xin naturally wouldn’t submit without resistance. He led his people in revolt and escaped, but then they were caught by the local authorities and dispersed to various parts of the tribal state to work as slaves.

Herding sheep, feeding horses, cutting grass, planting grass, even dumping night soil—they had to do such work.

Because the personnel were scattered, Zhao Xin didn’t find an opportunity to escape for half a year. Finally, he used his silver tongue to persuade the tribal king to establish diplomatic relations with the Hua Kingdom, and only then were they released.

But before they could rejoice, just after leaving that tribal state, the small state and its neighbor went to war over water disputes. The battle was quite intense, and the king who had seen them off just two days earlier was killed. Then they were caught up in the war, captured, and led northwest. By the time they tried every method to persuade the new king to also release them, a year had passed.

Besides that, there was more. Due to getting lost midway and various accidents, they had no idea where they were, and the small states only had hearsay impressions of the Central Plains. They wouldn’t have detailed routes to Kashgar either. After asking many people, only a few could roughly point them in a direction.

Zhao Xin gripped Zhao Hanzhang’s hand and cried profusely, “But the directions they pointed were also wrong. With directions, the slightest deviation leads to a thousand-mile error. We walked into increasingly colder regions, finally reaching a place called Khovd, and only then did we realize we’d gone the wrong way.”

But Zhao Xin felt that since they’d already made such a mistake, they might as well continue with it. Crossing Khovd, passing through Northern Xiongnu territory to Wusun, then from Wusun to Dayuan, they finally turned back to Kashgar.

All along the way, they collected local crop seeds. Besides that, there were also medicinal herbs and local products. They saw cotton in some places in Wusun, Dayuan, and Kashgar.

Without exception, these places had particularly strict control over cotton seeds, and they had lost a large amount of money. The travel expenses and money to buy seeds were all earned on the spot.

The Zhao family’s business acumen awakened in Zhao Xin’s veins. His keen eye found goods needed at the next stop, buying low and selling high, supporting the diplomatic mission all the way.

When they reached places with cotton seeds, he racked his brains even more, knowing that the city gates scrutinized these foreign merchants very strictly.

After several experiences, Zhao Xin, who had originally wanted to establish diplomatic relations with them, also became wise. He no longer presented the national credentials right away but would first probe around discreetly.

Finally, Zhao Xin and his group conducted business in the cities, spending nearly two months in each place building connections. They purchased cotton seeds in large quantities outside the cities, then secretly assembled merchant caravans and fled back.

The return journey was also difficult, but much smoother. Having traveled it once and gained experience, they avoided many dangers on the way back.

But some dangers were unavoidable, such as the horse bandits roaming everywhere on the grasslands, the Gobi, and the deserts.

Their luck was terrible—they encountered a large group of bandits out foraging. Even though they were skilled in martial arts, they were still chased by them.

But their luck was also good—they incredibly ran into Zhao Erlang, who had wandered farther on patrol out of boredom.

Zhao Hanzhang asked, “So the cotton seeds were brought back?”

Zhao Xin replied, “Yes, they were brought back. Not only did I bring back a batch, but I also bought extras. When we encountered Hua Kingdom merchants along the way, I distributed seeds to them, entrusting them to bring them back. As long as they could bring them back to the Hua Kingdom, the seeds would be given to them completely.”

Whether they planted them themselves or sold them, the seeds could spread, which was a good thing for them.

Two carts of seeds were now waiting outside the palace gates.

Zhao Hanzhang immediately had people bring the items in, and everyone gathered around to watch the excitement.

The sacks were opened, revealing seeds wrapped in oilcloth inside. The civil and military officials couldn’t help but feel excited.

The civil officials thought: From now on, the common people won’t have to suffer from the cold anymore.

The military officials thought: From now on, soldiers on campaign won’t have to suffer from the cold anymore.

Cotton quilts and cotton-padded clothes—both civil and military officials had used them. Part of them were New Year benefits distributed by the court, but most were purchased with money.

Because cotton was scarce, the price was quite high. Not to mention ordinary common people—even minor officials with some assets would feel heartache when outfitting their entire family with cotton quilts and cotton-padded clothes.

Now with more seeds, the prices should drop, right?