sweeping the world

Chapter 683 The Great Siris
"This is the first time we have stepped into the country of Sinae (Seres), right?"

"Yes, we've wanted to be here for a long time, but never had the chance."

Aulus Sextus Cicero is the envoy of Rome this time, and the person who is talking to him is Marius Ugli.

Just as the past dynasties called the distant area Daqin, so the "Great Qin" mentioned by the Central Plains Dynasty did not only refer to Rome.The various dynasties of Rome are called the Central Plains Dynasty as Seris.

Seris is a transliteration, the text is translated as "Silk Country", and the Western world calls the current Central Plains Dynasty "Silk Country", of course because of the relationship between silk.

It is a mistake for contemporary Romans to think that no one of them has been to the Central Plains Dynasty. In fact, in [-] AD, a Roman business group arrived in Luoyang at that time, and received the Han and Emperor (Liu Zhao) interview.Such a thing is recorded in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty. He Di Ji", and it was also the first group of Romans who came to the Central Plains Dynasty by land.

The name Siris was named by the ancient Greeks. The Romans inherited some of the culture of the Greeks. At the same time, they also inherited the name of the Central Plains Dynasty as Siris. It was not changed until the Khitan Liao Kingdom and the Northern Song Dynasty. China.And this China actually refers to porcelain.

China...that is, the "Porcelain Kingdom" refers to the Khitan and Liao Kingdom, not the Northern Song Dynasty.It must be understood that the Western countries at that time were basically exposed to the Khitan and Liao Kingdom.However, the Khitan and Liao Kingdom cut off the communication between the Northern Song Dynasty and the outside world from the land. As a result, most countries in the West and Central Asia did not even know the existence of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In terms of geographical location, whoever occupies the Central Plains is the "Zhengshuo". It is normal for the Khitan and Liao Kingdom to be mistaken by Western and Central Asian countries as the descendants of the Zhuxia civilization.At that time, the name of the Khitan and Liao Kingdom by Western and Central Asian countries, that is, China, was fixed.

So, whether it is Seres or China, it is a foreign name for a certain product, which is extended to the name of the country that produces this product.

Coincidentally, the Central Plains dynasty also had its own way of naming foreign countries. In the earliest period, it was called "Da Qin", and the source of "Da Qin" was "Hou Han Shu" and "Wei Lue".

In the later period, that is, during the Song Dynasty, although the people of the Song Dynasty came into contact with a wider world due to the prosperity of maritime trade, it was due to the rise of Confucianism. Take things outside the "world" seriously.At that time, in Central Asia, because of "religion governing the country", it was a social trend to wear uniform styles of robes. Song people only distinguished by clothes, so there were "white clothes", "green clothes", " These inexplicable countries.

It had been six days since the Roman, Frankish, Burgundian and Alemannic envoys arrived in Han. They also landed at Jingkou. The exclamations of the previous envoys were echoed by them again. The same thing I also went to the market to buy silk.

The silk on the market in Jiankang was bought up as early as the first batch of envoys arrived, and the shops that sold silk hadn't had time to restock, so the envoys that came later naturally couldn't buy them.

The second batch of envoys arrived at the Pingman Captain's Department after a very difficult breakthrough. There were a lot of ships sunk and captured when they broke through the interception of the Sasanian Navy at sea. Most of the supplies they carried were lost. .Later, they came to Jiankang on the ships of the Han Dynasty. They learned from the first batch of envoys to take out the few remaining goods for sale, but encountered embarrassment for the first batch of envoys. Not interested.

In fact, although the Franks, Burgundy and Alemannia have already established their own countries, they are not actually recognized. They were only recognized after the collapse of the Western Rome, but that was at the end of the fifth century AD.

Among them, the Franks developed the best in the future. They took advantage of the collapse of Western Rome to expand aggressively, and successively defeated other Frankish forces such as the Huns, the Rourans (Avars) and the Germanic tribes.Later, they defeated the remnants of Western Rome in Gaul, occupied the Gaul region, established the Merovingian Dynasty, took Paris as their capital, and even expanded the territory repeatedly and crowned them as emperors to establish the Charlemagne Empire.

Charlemagne's empire split into three parts in 1970 AD, namely the Western, Central and Eastern Frankish Kingdoms.Until AD [-], [-], after the adjustment of the "Melson Treaty", it became the embryonic form of the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Italy and the First German Empire.

Therefore, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Italy and the First German Empire in later generations are actually branches of the Germanic nation.In the modern part of France, the Franks merged with the Gauls, and only then did the French really separate from the Germans and Italians.

Although Rome has formed a split at present, it still belongs to Rome as a whole in terms of name. The Romans did not recognize the existence of Frank, Burgundy, and Alemanni as a country, and still regarded them as tribal forms. , so the Romans brought them over to Han, they did not have their own envoys, but were included in the Roman envoys.

The Hongru Hall, which receives the diplomatic missions from various countries, actually does not know that much. They record according to their respective registrations. If future generations look through the history books, they will not see the relevant records of Frank, Burgundy, and Alemanni. Both are covered in the records of the Roman missions.

Compared with other countries, the Romans in the Han Kingdom are actually more pleasing to the eye. Both sides have black hair and black eyes, but there are obvious differences in the outline of the facial features. However, the hair and eye colors of the other countries are not the same as those in the Han Kingdom, and their skin is also different. Obvious difference.

"Serris is an amazing country." Marius Ugli said about the huge city of Jiankang and the fact that there are more than one million people living in the same city: "This is a historical heritage that will not be lost. To our country, they stood up again after the barbarian invasion. Their emperor wiped out the barbarians in the north and tried to conquer more countries and occupy more land."

In fact, the Roman missions had already left Jiankang. When they took the national highway to the north, they were as shocked by the road as the first group of missions. They were even more surprised to see the labor scenes of Han people along the way.

"Seres' invasion of Gupta has caused us great trouble." When Aulus Sextus Cicero said this, he did not show any hatred for the Han Kingdom, but was more annoyed: " In the first war between Siris and Gupta, Siris won the victory, and Gupta will not let it go."

The maritime trade between Rome and the Gupta Dynasty was very prosperous. The exporting country of the trade was the Gupta Dynasty. While providing luxury goods, it mainly provided metals such as steel, iron, and copper, and sold a large number of finished weapons.

In contemporary times, Rome is the gold-importing country of the Gupta Dynasty, and the export of gold from the Roman conquests was concentrated on the Gupta Dynasty. That is because Rome itself did not attract the goods of the Gupta Dynasty, which was tantamount to an unbalanced trade. , but the two sides didn't feel that there was anything wrong, it belonged to one willing to fight and the other willing to suffer.

The Han Dynasty extended its tentacles to Asanyang, and the sea raids against the Gupta Dynasty greatly interfered with maritime trade. Until the first Hanji War, in fact, there were still Gupta sea merchant ships that were able to penetrate the defense and go to Rome. The trade will not be completely terminated until the end of the first Hanji War.

The suspension of maritime trade between the Gupta Dynasty and Rome was only a matter of recent months. It had an impact on Rome, but it has not been fully revealed. It is because the previous trading materials have not been exhausted, but there is no lack of understanding. People are worried. .

The eastern part of Rome is not the old nest of the Romans. Some European regions such as Italy, Gaul, and Spain are considered the old nests of the Romans. However, although the current Rome is regarded as a whole in terms of political status, the contemporary Augustus Order can play its role. The effect was only in Eastern Rome (modern Turkey), making the Roman army fighting against the Sasanian army really need materials from the Gupta Dynasty.

To say what purpose the envoy led by Olus Sextus Cicero came to Han, the primary goal was to mediate the war between Han and the Gupta Dynasty, but they were not arrogant enough to think that they could order Han or Gupta, just had to try.

While some envoys came to Han, Rome actually had another envoy to the Gupta Dynasty, also seeking mediation.

"In fact, from a geographical point of view, Seris should choose us as an ally." Aulus Sextus Cicero has already inquired about the news that the Persian Sassanid wants to form an ally with Han. It is a Persian It was not kept secret, and the Han side didn't take it seriously at all, and it was easy to find out relevant information: "We are at the westernmost end, Siris is at the easternmost end, and the Persians are in the middle. Once we reach an alliance with Siris, Persia can be partitioned from two directions."

Speaking of which, the Romans really liked to find allies. Every step of expansion was to find a country or tribe in the area as an ally, to jointly carve up the strongest country or tribe in the area, and wait for the country (tribe) in the area. After the end, they turn their faces and deny people, so they expand to the Mediterranean Sea and become their inland sea. However, various countries and nations have repeatedly been fooled by the Romans.

Before Aulus Sextus Cicero and others set off, they were directly authorized by the contemporary Augustus Constantius, and had the right to form an alliance with any country or nation. One of the goals of their mission is to make China an ally.

Compared with Persians such as Chianush Arta Ardashir who felt that the Han people would "renew their relationship" because of the friendship of their ancestors, Romans such as Aulus Sextus Cicero wanted to There is a lot of reason, and forming an alliance is just an attempt. Of course, it is a great joy to be able to form an alliance. If you cannot form an alliance, at least you must reach a non-governmental trade.

Of course, what the Romans wanted most was to mediate the war between the Han Kingdom and the Gupta Dynasty, that is, they knew very well that they had no bargaining chips, let alone threats. Trade, such as purchasing the much-desired silk, seeks to purchase large quantities of metal or weapons from Han.

The envoys from all parties met in Shouchun. During this period, the Romans and Persians encountered all kinds of troubles after the meeting, that is, the two sides finally did not lose their minds, and knew that the land under their feet was the land of Han. There was no bloodshed of sanity.

They went all the way north under the personal leadership of Yuan Qiao, and they saw the big projects underway in the Han Dynasty, and at the same time saw the desolation that should be there after the war.

For the construction of the national highway from Jiankang to New Chang'an, a segmented model is adopted. No matter which missions are surprised after understanding this work, the missions that produce words all use words to record, and regard this discovery as a Kui Bao.

After three months of journey, they can be regarded as entering Guanzhong, and when they pass through Tongguan, they will inevitably express countless feelings about the steep and majestic pass.

"The land of Seris is too vast!" Aulus Sextus Cicero saw too many things along the way, and it is relatively certain that there are no facade projects in Han, and there should be some prosperity. , the ruins devastated by the war also existed, thinking that what I saw was a real Han country: "What surprised me the most was the organizational ability of the Seres people. They were able to manage millions of people to do the same job!"

Any outsider would be amazed by Han's organizational ability, especially the large number of slaves besides managing free people. Someone asked Yuan Qiao, and the answer he got was that riots did not break out in various road sections of the project. More or less I still believed Yuan Qiao's words, after all, I didn't see it all the way.

"The territory of Seris is close to 1000 to [-] million square miles (not kilometers), which is about the same as our land territory." Marius Ugli's source of information is Yuan Qiao, and he doesn't think it is necessary for Yuan Qiao to tell lies : "This is the territory that Emperor Siris spent eight years conquering."

Rome is expanding around the Mediterranean Sea. Except for the tip of Europa, the rest of its territory is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It may not look like a large land territory, but its actual control range spans the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Mediterranean was labeled as an "inner sea".

On the side of the Han Kingdom, the plateau is not considered the territory of the Han Kingdom, the west is stopped at Shanshan, the north is stopped at the later Inner Mongolia, and the frontier of the northeast is the dense forest (Da 1 Qing). Although the southwest peninsula was captured, it is not considered. The current total land area of ​​the mainland is about 590 million square kilometers, which is actually smaller than the land territory of Rome.

"The Sires are seeking more expansion. They spent three years in the south (Indochina Peninsula) destroying two countries and countless tribes, and recently launched an invasion of Gupta." Olus Sykes When Tus Cicero said this, he had a bitter expression on his face: "We are constantly retreating."

(End of this chapter)