sweeping the world

Chapter 836 Silk in one hand, sword in the other

The appearance of Constantius II made the meeting hall quiet, and the noise did not reappear until he took his family and guards to the high platform.

Wang Meng knew some Roman language, but the scene was too noisy, even if he was proficient in Roman language, he couldn't understand what the Roman councilors were muttering.He only has one feeling now. The Romans seem to be too casual. When the supreme ruler is away, he can do whatever he likes. Constantius II has come, but he is still talking nonsense.

Constantius II did not sit down right away. On the contrary, all the men and women who came with him sat down, and the guards also formed a cordon near the high platform. He looked at Wang Meng with interest.

Wang Meng was watched by at least a thousand pairs of eyes. It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous, but even if he was nervous, there was not much.There was a reserved smile on his face, his waist was straight, the arm holding Tianzi Jie was still strong, and the other hand was holding the sword hilt at his waist.

Seriously speaking, the current service in the Han Kingdom has been improved on the basis of the early Han Dynasty, especially the official robes, which are divided into two styles: civil and military. The clothes of the warriors are naturally close-fitting, while the literati are more Elegant.

Wang Meng is now wearing a warrior style. The color of the clothes is mainly red. There is a phoenix pattern embroidered with gold thread on the chest. There are yellow trims on the left and right hems. There are no long sleeves that can be danced, and the hands are small. There are wrist guards on the arms, a jade belt around the waist to tighten the abdomen, and long hard-soled cowhide boots on the feet. The overall look is close to the body and full of beauty, making it look heroic.

Constantius II looked at the bag on Wang Meng's chest curiously, as if trying to guess what was inside.He was even more curious about the Tianzi Festival held in Wang Meng's hand. It looked like a weapon, but because of the animal fur, tail, feathers and bells, it was obviously a ceremonial staff.

In fact, Rome also has its own characteristic scepter, which is a cane that looks like a short stick, but this thing is not a weapon for fighting. The scepter will be made very beautifully, and it is inlaid with gold and silver. Jewelry such as gemstones and diamonds will also be set.

In the early days, the scepter of Rome was an honor given to the consul, and later members of the legislature rushed to imitate it. Now it is the leader of each legion, and they also have a special style, which is used as a token of the commanding legion.Therefore, both ends of their scepters will be engraved with various types of patterns, which is equivalent to a kind of seal.

As long as you look closely at people of high status in Rome, they will also wear a varying number of rings, and the rings will usually also have seals engraved on them.

In fact, the ring was actually invented by the Romans. At first, it was only used as a seal. After the aesthetic concept was cultivated, it developed a new development. It gradually pursued beauty and became a kind of jewelry.

Later, when the Romans got married, they even had the folk custom of exchanging rings. They believed that the ring finger of the left hand was connected to the heart. Wearing a ring was not only attached to the artistic conception of "communication", but also felt that it was good for the heart. (It seems that it has been scientifically confirmed, does it really work?)

The discussion in the conference hall was slowly lowering the volume, and the Roman councilors who were originally standing also sat down in twos and threes.They did not gather in this parliament hall because of a major event, they were originally notified that they would welcome the envoys of the Han Empire here.

In fact, what to welcome is just a formality. Members are concerned about the sea routes, and at the same time, they are also looking forward to the inevitable trade between Rome and the Han Empire.

The welcoming ceremony of Gallus turned into a bloody fight. When the news reached the parliament hall, any Roman member had only one attitude. The Persians who entered Constantinople armed with weapons must die, and the Han people should also be punished. Punishment. As for the culprit, Archbishop Peter, everyone should never have such a person, and Gallus will also get the punishment he deserves.

Regarding how to punish the Han people, the Roman parliamentarians have reached a consensus. It is obviously impossible to kill the envoys from the Han Empire, and there is even no detention at all.They will fine the envoys of the Han Empire up to [-] gold coins, and at the same time ask the envoys of the Han Empire to present the blueprints of the Shanghai routes.If possible, they even have quite a few things they want. Anyway, the lion opened his mouth wide, and whatever he can get more is what he wants, and he will distribute it internally after the things are in hand.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Meng, who had been standing all the time, found that the council hall had become quiet. He glanced at the scene, kept a reserved smile, but didn't intend to speak first.He also discovered a very special phenomenon, that is, among the three women who came with Constantius II, the two young women kept pointing and whispering to him. expression, and the other is a face of tangled.

Constantius II stood on the high platform and nodded to Wang Meng from a distance, but turned his head and said a word to the woman with a troubled face.

From the conversation, Wang Meng knew that the woman with a troubled face was called Helena, and remembered something Julian had said, that was the princess that Constantius II might choose to marry with Han.

Helena stood up slowly, and she took a few steps forward to the edge of the high platform. The long skirt she was wearing was really too soft when she was walking, and while the skirt was swaying all the time, it might be because the slit was too high Some, a pair of snow-white long legs were exposed all the time, making Wang Meng frown constantly.

"Angel from the distant kingdom of Seris, Rome welcomes you." Helena's voice was very crisp, and she spoke Chinese with an accent. She turned her head and glanced at Constantius II before looking back at Wang Meng , and continued: "I will be the interpreter for this meeting.", and said a strange etiquette.

Wang Meng was a little stunned in his heart. If he read correctly, Helena's etiquette should be the court etiquette of Han Dynasty?That means placing your hands on your lower abdomen, standing with your legs together and bowing in greeting.It's just that it's the way of salute of a court lady, not the etiquette of the people, let alone the etiquette of aristocratic women.

"Thank you, Your Excellency." Wang Meng also bowed and bowed back: "Please, Your Excellency."

There is nothing wrong with his address. There is no such thing as "His Royal Highness Princess". ", can also call themselves "this palace".

And "this palace" is not something that a queen, queen or concubine can call themselves. At the same time, there is no such thing as a "concubine". The emperor's self-proclaimed "Chen" is definitely not "Concubine", and it is impossible to call himself "Chen Concubine".Official wives of sufficient rank are eligible to call themselves "concubines" to the emperor. Their claim is not really the emperor's concubine, but is actually a very high-level etiquette.

Only one group of people would call themselves "confesses" to Zhu Xia Zi, that is, the heads of state in the Zhu Xia tribute system. There is an old rule in the pre-Han period that the frontier countries scrambled to be the concubines of the Han family. At the same time, the qualifications to call themselves "concubines" were limited to the leaders, and the rest were not eligible.

The origin of the word "Chenqie" comes from the first emperor, and all countries other than the Qin Empire after the unification were concubines, but this was really achieved during the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun (that is, Liu Bingji). "Wherever the sun and the moon shine, and where the rivers and rivers go, are all the concubines of the Han Dynasty" that really happened in the known world of the Western Han Dynasty.

It is also the orthodox habit for Wang Meng to call Helena the princess, as all noble girls in the Han Dynasty have a "court", and they are also called "out of the pavilion" when they get married.The residence of the princess is the pavilion, and the full name of the official occasion is "Princess Your Excellency", which means that other than the princess, you cannot call anyone other than the princess "Your Excellency" on any formal occasion.

There is also an honorary title of "Wengzhu", but Liu Yan has no sisters and brothers, and there are no princes and kings in the Han Dynasty, so there is actually no "Wengzhu" in the entire Han Dynasty.

Of course, with the development of time, many titles have loosened their boundaries. For example, not everyone can be called "Gongsun" in ancient times. They have to be the heirs of princes and kings (duke). However, the mergers of various countries are too frequent, and quite a few The Duke's Kingdom perished, but the Xia had the custom of endless heirs. The perished Duke's Kingdom still had heirs to pass on the incense. They did not use Gongsun as their surname at first, but it just showed that their ancestors had also developed. Later, they were called It becomes a surname when it is called.

Helena could understand "Princess", but she didn't understand what "Your Excellency" meant.The current occasion is not suitable for asking questions. It is only a polite address, which is also in line with the original intention.She walked down the high platform and stood not far from Wang Meng, and said again: "Did the angels come with war?"

"This envoy has silk in one hand and a sword in the other." Wang Meng found that Helen was very tall, and she was about the same size as himself.At the same time, he found that Helena's hair was not pure black, and even her eyes were not black but blue. While observing, he did not forget to say: "It is up to the people of Daqin to choose whether to hand out the silk or hold the sword." .”

Helena frowned and translated Wang Meng's words, followed by the loud voices of the congressmen, but Constantius II still kept smiling.

"This envoy has just arrived here and felt the enthusiasm of the people of Daqin. I am grateful for the grand welcome from Daqin. When I was full of joy, I heard the declaration of war." Wang Meng put away his smile, but his face was not stiff or ugly, just a little expression None, and did not deliberately raise his voice: "If Archbishop Peter can represent Daqin, I can only understand that Daqin chose the sword."

Helena waited for Wang Meng to finish speaking and was going to translate, but just as she was about to translate, she looked at Wang Meng and asked with a confused expression: "I don't understand some words about angels. What is Daqin?"

"The great Han is thousands of miles away from your country, and every country with a long journey, and every powerful country in the world is located to the west of the Great Han..." Wang Meng was right, but he didn't express the real connotation, such as naming a certain country. Whether it is Daxia or Daqin, they are all listed in the list that must be annexed: "You can call it 'Daqin'."

"Then I can understand that all the great powers recognized by the kingdom of Seris can call 'Great Qin'?" Helena translated the words after receiving Wang Meng's approval, which provoked many people, including Constantius II. The laughter of all the Romans within.She waited for Constantius II on the high platform to say something, and then continued to say to Wang Meng: "Augustus, please ask the angel, since your country recognizes the power of Rome, why do you want to break out of war? Don't you Worried about your safety? After all, the land you are standing on is Roman land."

"The Son of Heaven does not tolerate disrespect. Any Han Chinese is willing to go thousands of miles away just to defend the Son of Heaven." Wang Meng raised his head as he spoke, with a haughty expression on his face for the first time: "Ah San spying on the southwest of the Great Han, the Heavenly Soldiers of the Great Han appeared In Ah San Continent, Ah San is suffering the punishment he deserves."

Helena's expression became very strange. She continued to translate Wang Meng's words. This time, there were bursts of roars, especially the loudest roars from some congressmen whose trade with the Gupta Dynasty had been damaged.

"As for the safety of this envoy..." Wang Meng continued to raise his chin, looked around, especially to those who roared loudly, and said sonorously: "In the early years of Yuan Shuo, Murong Human killed the Han envoy. In the sixth year of Shuo, the country built by Murong was destroyed."

"Excuse me, that country called Murong, how big is the territory and how many troops does it have?" Helena asked herself. After being corrected by Wang Meng, "It's a fake Yan country", she asked with interest: "Can the angel tell ?"

"Equivalent to the country of Asan?" Wang Meng could still see that Helena asked the question himself, but he didn't mind answering: "When the Hu Man army was at its peak, it had more than [-] troops."

Helena subconsciously covered her mouth, and she also took a step back, without exclaiming, but with deep doubts, she asked again: "Seres' army must have suffered a lot, right?"

"Not at all." Wang Meng said truthfully: "In the battle of destroying the country, the great Han casualties exceeded [-], and the main force of the puppet Yan was wiped out over [-]."

Helena didn't know whether to believe it or not. A young boy above asked what they were talking about, and she translated it. As a result, the Romans who heard it were stunned for a moment, but then they laughed, probably thinking that Wang Meng was talking. boast.

Wang Meng did not refute, he told the truth, the Romans believed it or not.

After listening to some words of Constantius II, Helena translated and said: "Our envoy sent back a message that about five years ago, the Sires wiped out a country with a population of more than one million. The race was wiped out, and more than 300 million people died in that race war, is it true?"

Wang Meng nodded and said, "It's true."

Of course, Helena translated it. At that moment, the entire parliament hall was so quiet that a needle could be heard falling on the ground.

(End of this chapter)