At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Thinking of this, Caracalla relaxed a little, and greeted Wang Wei's arrival with a smile on her face.

Before the contact between the two parties, some Roman officials came out from the city of Rome to find Wang Wei, and discussed the etiquette of receiving them in public.

Because not only the army, but also Roman citizens will come to watch this historic meeting, the majesty of the Roman emperor must be guaranteed.

If there is something wrong with Chinese etiquette, it must be changed.

Wang Wei said that he is a soldier, so he will use the Wei Junjun salute to meet the Roman emperor, and then demonstrate the Wei Jun military salute, which is very imposing.

After reading it, several officials in Rome discussed it for a while and agreed.

Then I communicated with the translator next to Wang Wei for a while, and the translator communicated with Wang Wei for a while, discussing some details.

So when Wang Wei led the envoys to Caracalla, a series of salutes and Caracalla's return went quite smoothly.

This scene is indeed crowded with people, and there are quite a lot of troops maintaining order.

To be honest, Wang Wei did not expect that there would be so many people in the city of Rome.

With so many people in the capital, the population of this country will not be small.

Population can often represent the military strength of a country, and the reason is often that simple.

The communication between Caracalla and Wang Wei also needs to be carried out through translation. Fortunately, neither party said any difficult words, and tried to simplify the language as much as possible.

Anyway, Wang Wei heard Karakala chattering for a while, and then the translator told him what the emperor was saying.

Caracalla also listened to Wang Wei jumping out word by word, and then the translator told herself what the Chinese envoy was saying.

Caracalla soon learned that the country name of China was not Qin, but Wei. It was to the east of Anxi and Guishuang, bordering Guishuang.

It took them more than two months to cross thousands of miles of seas on a large ship, and successfully arrived at the border of the Roman Empire, sending greetings from His Majesty the Emperor of Wei to His Majesty the Roman Emperor.

Wang Wei was talking here, and the interpreter also translated in time.

Then Wang Wei saw someone beside Caracalla holding something that looked like a feather and writing on a piece of yellowed paper.

The historian next to the emperor?

here too?

Wang Wei was surprised.

But that person didn't use a pen, the writing medium didn't look like paper, neither the color nor the texture felt the same.

After the etiquette procedures were completed, the next step was to enter the city. Caracalla, as the host, personally led Wang Wei into the city. The translator said that the emperor would personally lead him to see the scenery of the great city of Rome, a city with a history of nearly a thousand years.

To be honest, Wang Wei actually didn't have much expectations for this city, or for the entire Roman Empire, he didn't have much expectations for the cities he saw along the way.

The reason is also very simple.

The stench buried deep in his memory has permeated his nostrils since he entered the first city in Egypt, awakening the painful memories he didn't want to recall many years ago.

It should be said that since Guo Peng became the most powerful prince in the world, he began to force every city under his control to build public toilets, calling on people to go to public toilets instead of urinating and urinating everywhere.

After he proclaimed himself emperor, he even wrote down the construction of public toilets and going to the public toilet to use the toilet in the Wei Law, stipulating that the people of the Wei Empire who do not have a toilet at home must go to the public toilet to use the toilet, otherwise it is a violation of the law, and they will be spanked in public if they are caught , to be watched.

So for many years, the Wei Empire didn't talk about every city, at least in the cities in the Central Plains, people who urinate and defecate indiscriminately were not seen, and there was basically no such smell in the cities.

The public toilets are cleaned regularly every day, and the feces are fermented to make manure, which is used in the fertilization work of the cultivated land. Then, the wormwood is fixed and smoked three times a day in the public toilets to solve the problems of odor and mosquitoes in the public toilets.

Wang Wei lived in Jingzhou under the rule of Liu Biao in his early years. At that time, Xiangyang City and Jiangling City were both dirty and messy, with the same foul smell permeating the air.

After Wei Jun went south to occupy Jingzhou, he forced the establishment of public toilets and public toilet use regulations in major cities. In a short period of time, the foul smell in the cities disappeared.

Later, Wang Wei went to Luoyang, Qingzhou, Yangzhou, and traveled to many places. Except for the need to fertilize the countryside and mountains, other places really seldom smelled that foul smell anymore.

So much so that when he just entered a city in Egypt, for a moment he almost felt that he had traveled back to Jiangling City in Jingzhou six or seven years ago across time and space.

Not only him, but also the people who accompanied him felt the same way.

After sailing into the Mediterranean Sea later, the salty sea breeze blew away the smell that permeated his nasal cavity, making him feel extremely comfortable.

After landing, the nightmare returned, and he had to convince himself to accept this reality, thinking that it should be much better after entering the city of Rome.

But even if you enter the city of Rome, it's not much better. It can only be said that the smell is slightly better than outside the city of Rome. Except for the foul smell, there is no smell of corruption outside the city, and I don't know what it is. reason.

But it should not be said, this city is really quite magnificent.

The entire city defense system looks very different from Luoyang City, but at a glance, you can also feel how majestic, tall, wide and deep, it is worthy of being the capital of a great country.

Chapter 1381 One Thousand 290 One Wang Wei Tours the City of Rome

After entering the city of Rome, Caracalla did not take Wang Wei directly into the city, but personally took him up the city wall.

Standing on the city wall, let him look directly at the great city of Rome from a high place.

It's true to climb high and look far away. The city of Rome seen from standing on flat ground and standing on a high place is completely different.

The building looks messy, but overall, it looks unique, with some strange order in the mess.

The entire city of Rome is not a flat land, but has some uplifts and some depressions, built on undulating terrain, which makes Wang Wei feel quite strange.

Wang Wei, who was born in the plain and grew up in the plain and has never been to the northwest, is quite unfamiliar with this kind of fortification model and doesn't quite understand it.

Wang Wei has never seen, let alone imagined, all kinds of buildings with strange styles.

These Romans seem to prefer to use stone instead of wood to build buildings, especially some buildings that look tall and look like official handicrafts, and many of them are made of stone.

Buildings similar to stone were mostly used for military purposes and official buildings in the Wei Empire.

Guo Peng felt that military buildings and official buildings should not be like civilian residential buildings. Even if the city was hit by fire, military buildings and official buildings should still stand.

Therefore, including Luoyang City, official buildings and military buildings in many cities use stone as the main building material.

Wang Wei is not an architect, nor does he have much interest in or research on art, but he just thinks it looks vast and exotic, completely different from the place he lives in.

In the face of Caracalla's inquiries and expectations, he gave a courtesy compliment, saying that he had never seen such a strange building, and it was very beautiful.

Caracalla felt that she was praised, so she was very happy, and invited Wang Wei to his palace to watch, and invited him to eat and drink.

He was invited to share a car with Caracalla and walked through the busiest streets in Rome. He saw many public buildings, as well as a large number of large squares, and some buildings carved with strange reliefs of human figures.

Wang Wei didn't know what these large open spaces were used for. He remembered that there was only one such large open space in Luoyang City, and that was the large square outside the imperial palace.

The large square outside the Luoyang Imperial Palace also plays a role in itself.

Whenever the emperor wants to promulgate some decree or do something, he will write the matter on paper and post it on the big square, so that residents in the city or people from other places can watch and discuss it.

For the time being, Wang Wei still doesn't know the function of these large squares.

The convoy would stop from time to time. At this time, Caracalla felt that he had come to the buildings that he liked or was very proud of. He would be very proud to introduce the origins and functions of these buildings to Wang Wei.

Then enjoy Wang Wei's amazed expression and eyes.

For example, the large library, which symbolizes the civilization of Rome, symbolizes that everyone is a literate and knowledgeable person, not just a martial artist.

This is indeed surprising.

However, Wang Wei felt that Luoyang Taixue was similar to other academies and schools. There were so many people studying, and His Majesty the Emperor even posted the Five Classics of Confucianism with punctuation on the big square for the people of the world to see. Could it be that the culture of Wei State is not as good as that? Rome?

His expressions are mostly polite or staged.

Then there are the public bathrooms.

Wang Wei has never seen this thing before. When the translator told him that this is a place where Roman citizens bathe, Wang Wei was really puzzled.

Shouldn't things like taking a bath be done by individuals in their own homes?

You actually engage in public bathrooms?

This kind of thing often only happens when the comrades who accompany us day and night are marching or in the barracks. Everyone takes a bath together, but ordinary citizens also take a bath together...

Is it hot water?

How to take a shower?

Is a group of people who don't know each other naked for others to watch?

This is ridiculous too.

Having said that, Wang Wei still nodded in praise, saying that this was a scene he had never seen before, which made Caracalla happy.

Next came the buildings that really surprised Wang Wei.

The Colosseum is very tall, covers a wide area, and can accommodate up to 9 people watching the game at the same time.

When the translator conveyed the emperor's words, saying that the place could accommodate 9 people to watch the game together, Wang Wei's expression was definitely not false, but genuinely surprised.

9 people?

Co-watch?

Is this circular building really that powerful?

And the game...

what match?

The translator of the Colosseum didn't know how to translate it to Wang Wei, so he said that there would be a competition where humans and beasts fight each other for people to watch.

Man and beast fight each other?

Wang Wei asked Emperor Caracalla directly, asking him if the game here is really a fight between humans and beasts?

Caracalla nodded proudly, saying that the Colosseum is a treasure left by previous emperors, and it has a history of more than 100 years.

People living in the city of Rome, as well as people in the territory of the Roman Empire, there is no one who does not know the Colosseum.

Caracalla warmly invited Wang Wei to watch the Colosseum game together, saying that a grand Colosseum performance will be held in a few days, people and people, beasts and beasts, and people and beasts.

Wang Wei was surprised and asked, isn't this a dangerous thing?

Caracalla also felt strange.

Now that you decide to enter the Colosseum, you must be prepared to die. The Colosseum can not only make people rich, but also make people die. Is there a problem with using life to gain wealth?

Wang Wei was speechless immediately, feeling that such a thing is just a formality, but the essence still exists in Wei State.

It's just that the people of Wei State can't make people fight wild beasts and watch them.

Wang Wei did know that there was a tiger hunting army in Yangzhou, which specialized in hunting and killing rare and ferocious beasts, skinned and cramped them or simply captured them alive, and sent them to the capital to curry favor with the emperor and dignitaries.

But the tiger catching army is the elite among the elite, with a large number of people, collective actions, and neat equipment. They often set traps in advance to capture beasts, relying more on wisdom than brute force.

Even elites like the Tiger Catch Army seldom bite the bullet and confront ferocious beasts head-on.

The ferocious beast has sharp teeth and sharp claws, and its claws are also powerful. Its strength is several times that of the elite tiger catching army, and its speed is extremely fast. Three or five people are no match for the ferocious beast at all.

According to the translator, the Colosseum only provides the challengers with the most basic equipment, and it is impossible for more than a dozen people to challenge a beast together, or even one person to challenge a beast.

This……

What kind of scene will it be?

Wild beasts kill and eat people on the spot?

Wang Wei was surprised when he thought about it.

But this is in other people's territory, the guest can do whatever he wants, and he didn't say anything, he just felt that when the time came, he would go directly to a real game and he would know what was going on.

At last they came to the Roman palace on a hill.

Magnificent and magnificent, like the Luoyang Imperial Palace, it is a large-scale architectural complex. According to the translation, this large-scale imperial palace complex includes palaces, baths, libraries, theaters, temples and gardens.

The Roman emperor dealt with government and military affairs here every day, and then watched plays in the theater, or went to take a bath, or went to the temple to pray for the blessing of the gods.

He can understand other things, the Wei Empire also had acts of offering sacrifices to gods.

Every spring, Emperor Guo Peng would lead civil and military officials to sacrifice to the gods and ancestors in Luoyang, praying for them to bless the world with a good harvest in the coming year, so that the empire would not suffer from famine.

But this theater...he didn't quite understand it.

The translator relayed that the theater is a group of people performing a story on stage for the audience to watch. They often play some real people or mythological or historical characters that no longer exist, and interpret the stories that happened to them. .

That's kind of interesting.

Wang Wei found it quite interesting.

In Wang Wei's opinion, the banquet held by the Roman emperor was even a bit too gorgeous, and the form was different from the banquet held by his own emperor. For example, it was not held in the hall or palace, but in the whirling garden and colonnade.

The dinner party is mostly held in the afternoon, and it will almost end at dusk.