sweeping the world

Chapter 830 What a fool!
Constantinople served as a capital for only 32 years. Before becoming a capital, it was a trading city located on the coast.

Because it is directly connected to the sea and it is at the intersection of the East and the West, merchants are willing to come to Constantinople to do business, which has given the city extraordinary prosperity and made it a crystallization of Eastern and Western civilizations. city ​​of.

It was the first time for the Han Chinese who came to Europa to see a serious city wall, or a towering city wall made of bricks and stones. Most of the cities they saw before had no city walls, and even if they did, they were low rammed earth walls, or It is simply a defensive circle formed by a fence.

Everyone knows that the fence protection ring is at most a defense against wild animals. If there is an army attacking, the fence can only play a very slight blocking effect. It doesn't need any siege equipment to destroy it. It can be pushed by soldiers alone. The function of the wall is only a little bit stronger than the fence, but no matter whether it is in the Persian Sasanian territory or the Greek Peninsula, most cities only have fences.

"The city wall on the sea side is not the tallest. I heard that the city wall on the other side of the strait gate reaches 50 meters, and the city walls on the north and east sides are 58 meters." Cai Mian said in admiration: "The base of the city wall is made of huge stones. Using earth and gravel as the core and then laying bricks and stones on it, it can withstand the continuous bombardment of catapults for ten days without collapsing."

Everyone was on a boat on the sea, and since they were close enough to the city wall, people had to hold their heads up if they wanted to see the flag on the city wall, which could better support the magnificence and towering of the city wall.

The ships at this pier are already being driven away, and the city defense forces from Constantinople are doing this.Waiting for the ships on the pier to be driven away is the time for the Han Dynasty envoys to land.

"Several other small countries have also sent people." Marus Utansis seemed very dissatisfied with this: "It's like a thief!"

"Where are the other co-governors?" Cai Mian asked curiously, "Have they sent anyone here?"

Marus Utansis' expression instantly became very strange, full of complacency and a strong smile.

The so-called co-rulers are actually the opponents of Constantius, that is, Constantine II and Constantine I. The three of them once fought to the death for the only name of Augustus.

Rome fell into a civil war, but their civil war seemed very strange, for example, no one would easily massacre the city, and then they were all at war without severing contacts.

The sphere of influence of Constantine II is Spain, France, Germany (parts) and Switzerland in later generations. He has three less reliable younger brothers, they are Frank, Burgundy and Alemanni.

Before the fall of the three Constantine IIs, Frank, Burgundy, and Alemanni had been flirting with Constantius, and later directly became Constantius' vassal states.The last time Constantius sent an envoy to Han, envoys from the three kingdoms accompanied him.

The sphere of influence of Constantius I was Italy, the birthplace of the Romans, and together with Constantius, he controlled the Greek Peninsula.

The news on the Han side was seriously behind, and the Romans did not disclose it to the Han people. In fact, Constantine II and Constantine I had died successively.

The death of Constantine I happened 11 years ago. He led his troops to invade the sphere of influence of Constantine I and was resisted by Constantine I. That time became his last attack with an army. Killed after defeat.

Constance I died at the hands of his subordinates, but he also found death and believed in the wrong person.

Magnus Magnentius rebelled and killed Constans I. Before Magnus Magnentius could integrate the forces belonging to Constans I, Constantius led After the army was killed and Magnus Magnentius was defeated and killed, Constantius did not immediately annex the territory that originally belonged to Constantius I, but adopted partition.

In other words, the current Rome has actually been unified once again, but these Persians who knew about it did not mention it, and the parties themselves never mentioned it.

In fact, as long as the Han Dynasty thinks clearly why only Constantius sent an envoy, it will be overwhelmed. After all, if Rome is still in a civil war, the other two forces will not just watch Constantius. Si seeks new allies, even if they don't jump out to compete, they should do their best to stir up trouble.

Another point is that the second royal member who appeared in Rome was Julian. The Egyptian part represented by Julian had no hostility to Constantius at all, and they could even act with unified orders.

However, the Romans will not be able to hide these things for a long time. The reason why the Romans are hiding the truth is to test and test the country of Han, such as whether the Han will seek cooperation with the enemies of Constantius.

The Han people who didn't know that Rome had been unified, heard a rush of trumpets before they had time to think about it. At the same time, there were many more people in monk's robes on the pier.

Those were not monks, they were actually clergymen from Christianity, and the one walking in the front was carrying a cross in his hand and raised it high.This cross is very beautiful, the surface seems to be plated with gold, and it is also inlaid with gems. Under the sunlight, it is simply golden and shimmering.

The robes of the clergy are mainly white, and they seem to have different colored corners and borders according to different classes. At the same time, the patterns and colors on the robes are also different.They still wear a small round cap on their heads, which is still specially worn at a slant. It is doubtful whether the small round cap will fall off if the movement is too large.

When the Han people didn't know why, a burst of bel canto appeared suddenly, and it sounded like they were singing some kind of hymn.

"The Lord's servants are everywhere." Marcus Maca clearly rejected him: "They will never let go of any important occasion to show their presence."

The hymn was sung by dozens of people. The voices were both male and female. They even covered their heads in cloaks. Everyone put their hands on their lower abdomen, and their bodies trembled when they sang high-pitched.

The sound of neat footsteps mixed in, and a young man who looked very young appeared first on horseback. He was wearing a white silk robe and an olive laurel crown on his head.

"Julian..." Marus Utansis looked quite excited: "Augustus sent Julian to greet him, he is really a grand and surprising guide."

Wang Meng and Cai Mian looked at each other in an instant, and they could see surprise in each other's eyes.

According to the information of the Han people, Julian was an ally of Constantius. He ruled Egypt and a continent in Africa, and he was not weak among all the co-rulers of Rome.

Allies are just allies, and the rulers of both sides will never easily go to each other's capital, let alone accept assignments to do some work.

Wang Meng and Cai Mian, who sensed something was wrong, did not make any changes. No matter what the political situation of the Romans was, and no matter what important Romans came, they knew very well that unless Rome was about to break out of war with Han, there would be absolutely nothing. People dare to hurt.

Roman soldiers wearing red war robes and heavy armor began to appear in large numbers. They all had cloaks and they formed a cordon around them when they arrived. At the same time, they stood guard every two meters on the street. The next person, forming a cordon of soldiers blocking both sides of the street.

After Wang Meng and the others boarded the pier, they looked at the street and were surprised to find that there was a red carpet extending to a distant corner that could not be seen by sight.

There were a lot of people watching around, they were already cheering and shouting Julian's name when Julian appeared.Julian frequently waved to the onlookers, and even louder cheers were greeted.

"Friends from afar..." Julian smiled very nicely, and stretched out his right arm to Wang Meng: "Welcome to come."

Wang Meng knew the etiquette of the Romans, that is, they clasped their right hands, but what they held was not the palm, but the small arm.What seems to be the story behind this etiquette?
Julian was greeting in Chinese, and the Chinese he spoke sounded very pure, without any weird accent.What he said later was in Roman, translated by Marcus Macca, saying that he only knew that one sentence and had practiced it for a long time.

The distance between Han and Rome is too far away. Han people are very unfamiliar with Rome, but they are more or less aware of some Roman systems. For example, the emperor is called Augustus, and the Romans will also appoint Caesar. Caesar is the deputy emperor of Rome. , but also have multiple Caesars.

If Wang Meng heard correctly, Marcus Marca called Julian Caesar just now, so Julian who came to greet him and others is one of the Caesars in Rome?

But that's not the case. In fact, Julian has just ended his exile. He was Maseru who stayed in Cappadocia (belonging to Turkey) before, and only restored his noble status a year ago.He is not one of the Caesars in Rome. It was Constantius who disclosed the news that Caesar was to be canonized, and the people under him also called him Caesar.

Julian had a half-brother named Gallus, who was one of the Caesars in Rome, and there were two other Caesars, both descendants of Constantius' brothers (cousins), In charge of the Roman territory of Europe and Africa.

"No, I'm not Caesar yet." Julian heard Wang Meng also call Caesar dare not be sloppy with this kind of diplomacy, but after denying it, he said, "I will marry Helena this year, and then I will be appointed as Caesar." Caesar."

Wang Meng instantly understood the implication, which meant that Julian was feared by Constantius, and he needed to be kissed and kissed before he could be trusted.

Helena is the sister of Constantius, and Julian is the nephew of Constantius, if Julian marries Helena, then Julian becomes both the nephew and brother-in-law of Constantius , the relationship is really messy enough, but this is the characteristic of the Roman royal family.

In the history of Rome, marriages of close relatives in the royal family were very frequent. For example, a brother married a sister, or a sister married a brother. There were even cases where a biological father married his own daughter. They called this keeping The pure blood, and then gave birth to a lot of deformed or mentally retarded children.

In history, even if the marriages of close relatives in the Roman royal family were not deformed or mentally retarded, the children born to close relatives were also born with congenital diseases. For example, in a movie called "Kingdom of Heaven", Baldwin IV, the king of Jerusalem, was a close relative. He had a very serious skin disease since he was a child, he was tortured by skin disease all his life, and later died of severe skin inflammation. (I highly recommend watching this movie)
"It might not be Helena." Julian twitched his lips, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a smile, "If the emperor of your country is willing to marry Rome."

Wang Meng's expression remained unchanged, but he noticed it in his heart.This was not the first time he encountered such a situation. For example, when he went to Ctesiphon, Shapur II of Sassanid Persia sent someone to test it out. Later, Shapur II personally went out to discuss the marriage with Han. A Persian Sasanian princess could be married, and this princess could be the daughter or sister of Shapur II, so that the two countries could become blood relatives.

At that time, Wang Meng's reply was that he needed to return to China to ask for instructions before he could give a formal reply.Shapur II did things very directly. He selected the most beautiful sister and daughter and took a boat to the Han Kingdom in the name of entertainment.

"Helena is very beautiful, the most beautiful flower in Constantinople." Julian walked side by side with Wang Meng on the red carpet, always showing a talkative appearance: "She is not only beautiful, but also a very knowledgeable woman. scholars and artists."

Of course, the conversation between Julian and Wang Meng was carried out under the translation of Marcus Maka. They talked and laughed along the way until they reached the city gate.

When they were far away, everyone saw that the city gate was specially decorated, and some olive branches and some colorful satin were indispensable. When they got a little closer, flower petals had already been sprinkled on the city wall, "Dou Du du" The sound of the trumpet did not stop.

"My fiefs are in Egypt, Nicomedia, and Cappadocia, mainly in Asia Minor." Julian saw Wang Meng's relatively obvious stunned for a while, and he didn't know what the purpose was, and said: " One thing the angels need to know is that Rome is not in a period of division right now."

Wang Meng stopped all of a sudden, and his stop also stopped the whole team.

"Obviously, the Persians didn't inform your country?" Julian smiled very brightly, but what he said was somewhat sinister: "The Persians have never been qualified allies. They have too many little thoughts, and their strength and ambition Never a match."

Indeed, the Persians must have known that Rome had regained its unity, but they had never mentioned it to Han, and even misled Han in certain directions.

The Romans themselves didn't mention it, but the Han people had no place to blame or complain about the Romans.After all, the Han people didn’t ask, so why did the Romans say it?
(End of this chapter)