Back to the Warring States Period as Zhao Kuo

The general known as Hamilcar was silent for a while, and said: "Actually, I don't know if the Han Congress will help us, but now that the Romans are aggressive, we have no choice but to find allies."

The guard asked, "Where are the countries in Greece?"

Hamilcar shook his head and said, "If it was a few years ago, they would still be able to fight.

But now, they have all been terrified by the Han Dynasty, and even self-protection is already a problem, so how can they help us again? "

While speaking, the ship has slowly leaned against the pier.

Hamilcar jumped off the boat and said to the dock officials who came forward: "I am Hamilcar, the envoy from Carthage. I hope to meet your Majesty the Emperor of Han."

That night, Hamilcar met Zhou Dongzheng, the current governor of Egypt in the Great Han Kingdom.

Zhou Dongzheng is 36 years old this year, and he is also the first batch of graduates in the Dahan Guoxue Palace. After working hard step by step, he finally reached a high position.

Zhou Dongzheng stared at Hamilcar in front of him, and said slowly: "The envoys from Carthage have traveled thousands of miles to the land of our Great Han Kingdom. I don't know what they have in mind?"

The territory ruled by Carthage is mainly in the later Tunisia and northern Algeria, and there is a Libya separated from the westernmost territory controlled by the Han Dynasty, the province of Egypt.

Hamilcar gave Zhou Dongzheng a courtesy, and then said very solemnly: "Dear Governor Zhou, hello, I am Hamilcar, the envoy of Carthage. Now the despicable Romans are invading our territory. We hope I can get your help."

After Zhou Dongzheng listened to Hamilka's words, his expression was quite subtle.

As the governor of the Egyptian province, Zhou Dongzheng actually had another secret mission besides governing Egypt well, which was to help the intelligence department of the Han Kingdom collect information on Carthage and Rome.

Why collect information on these two places?

Zhou Dongzheng knew it without thinking, of course it was to prepare for the future conquest of these two places!Unexpectedly, there are still people from Carthage who come to the door on their own initiative, which is really beyond Zhou Dongzheng's expectation.

Zhou Dongzheng pondered for a while, then slowly said: "I need to know the actual situation before I can make a judgment, whether or not to let your envoy rule over to our great Emperor."

Hamilcar also seemed to have been mentally prepared, and told the whole thing in detail.

In fact, it is also very simple, that is, after the new Roman Republic became stronger, it began to try to continuously expand abroad.

In the process of this expansion, the Roman Republic slowly advanced from the central part of the Apennine Peninsula to the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula, which happened to be the territory of Carthage.

By chance, a war broke out between the two sides because of the city of Mosina in Sicily.

Over the past few years, the Roman Republic has won successive victories, while Carthage has suffered successive defeats.

As the original supreme commander of Carthage, Hamilcar was dismissed because of too many defeats.

He was not willing to just fail like this, but he knew very well that the current Carthage was indeed not the opponent of the Roman Republic, so he thought of asking for help.

Legend has it that the invincible terrorist empire Han, which came from the far east with the help of thunderous giants, became the object of Hamilcar's help.

After listening to Hamilka's words, Zhou Dongzheng couldn't help asking: "What's the matter with this thunderous giant helping out?"

Hamilka was also stunned when he heard the words, and couldn't help asking: "Don't you all know?"

Zhou Dongzheng: "" At this moment, Zhou Dongzheng actually understood.

The so-called thunderous giant might be talking about dynamite?

Thinking of this, Zhou Dongzheng was a little dumbfounded.

Sure enough, things like rumors just got more and more outrageous.

Zhou Dongzheng collected himself, he had already made up his mind, so he spoke.

"As for your request for help, I am only a governor of the province, and of course it is impossible to make a decision.

You have to go to our imperial capital and meet our emperor there, and then our emperor can make a decision. "

Hamilka was not surprised after listening to Zhou Dongzheng's words, and said, "Before I came, I was already ready to meet Your Majesty."

Zhou Dongzheng chuckled and said, "You may not know that this place is tens of thousands of miles away from the imperial capital of our Great Han Kingdom."

Hamilcar was stunned: "Thousands of miles?"

Although the unit of distance used by the Carthaginians was not "li", he still heard the vastness of the Han Kingdom from the "ten thousand".

Zhou Dongzheng nodded seriously, and said, "If I were you, I would set off tomorrow, and at the fastest speed.

Otherwise, you may not be able to make it to Dunhuang City before the snow falls, and you will not be able to see our Emperor this year. "

Hearing this, Hamilcar was stunned again: "This" is still summer now!The Egyptian governor of the Han Kingdom in front of him actually said that he wanted to set off at the fastest speed. Did he think that half a year would be too late to reach the imperial capital?

Even seeing the serious and serious expression on Zhou Dongzheng's face, Hamilka still couldn't help feeling that the other party might be joking with him.

Zhou Dongzheng did not explain to Hamilka, but waved his hand: "Take a good rest, I will send someone to escort you out tomorrow.

If you really hope that our Great Han Kingdom can send troops as soon as possible, then I hope you can do so as soon as possible when you are on your way. "

That night, Hamilcar sat in a guest room of the Governor's Palace, thought for a while, and wrote a letter.

"Dear wife, I have arrived in Alexandria safely, and the governor of the Han Kingdom here will send someone to escort me to the capital of this mysterious and unknown country to meet their great and powerful emperor His Majesty.

Take good care of our newborn son Hannibal Jr. My heart will always love you. "

Chapter 1288 Zhao Qian Wants to Visit Carthage

"A messenger from Carthage?"

Zhao Kuo was quite shocked when he heard this sentence.

For Zhao Kuo, Carthage is indeed the next attack target of the Great Han Kingdom, and he did ask people to start collecting information on Carthage, but he didn't expect that the other party would come to his door before he started. up.

Interesting, very interesting.

Just when Zhao Kuo was concentrating on thinking, Zhao Qian who was on the side also spoke.

"Father, this request from Carthage for help should be an opportunity for us Han to intervene in the middle of the Mediterranean."

Most of today's eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt and the Asia Minor peninsula, are controlled by the Han Kingdom, and the small countries left by the Alexander Empire can only survive in the small area of ​​the original Greek Macedonian generation.

Now the western part of the Great Han Kingdom has begun to plan a war to attack Greece. As long as the Macedonian region of Greece is occupied, the next step is naturally to enter the Apennine Peninsula westward along the Adriatic Sea in Europe, and along the Sahara Desert in Africa. The coast attacked Carthage all the way west.

Zhao Kuo smiled and agreed with Zhao Qian's opinion: "You are right, we can indeed intervene, but in the short term, we should mainly focus on diplomatic intervention."

It's not that Zhao Kuo doesn't want to fight, but that the naval strength of the Han Dynasty there is not enough.

Fighting in the Mediterranean region is very disadvantageous without a navy.

Historically speaking, the first Punic War between Rome and Carthage was defeated by Rome because of Carthage's insufficient naval strength, which eventually led to the failure of the entire war.

Some people may ask, the warships of the Han Dynasty have been launched in batches, why is the navy not strong enough?

The answer is actually very simple, it is because of the distance!The warships of the Han Kingdom are concentrated in the East China Sea and the South China Sea Fleet. These two fleets are on the mainland of the Han Kingdom, and the Mediterranean where Carthage and Rome are located is extremely far away from the mainland of the Han Kingdom by sea. It is truly thousands of miles. away.

Don’t forget that there is no Suez Canal in this era, so if you really want to reach the Mediterranean, you can only enter from Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, East Africa, South Africa, West Africa, and finally enter the Mediterranean from the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain. This length is comparable to traveling around the world!Zhao Qian made a suggestion: "Father, I think it's not very good to go on like this. Maybe we should vigorously develop the power of the navy in Egypt."

For Zhao Qian, the expansion of the Han Kingdom is a must.

Since the current Han Dynasty needs a navy on the western border of the Mediterranean Sea, there should be a navy!As for the cost and the like, there is no need to consider it, because the current Han Dynasty is very rich, very rich.

How rich is it?

Last year's treasury of the Han Kingdom had a balance of 100 billion!Some people say that this 100 billion seems not high, isn't it just the market value of a few listed companies in the Han Dynasty?

This is a misunderstanding, because this is a surplus, a pure profit that can continue to remain in the treasury of the Han Kingdom after deducting all expenses.

The real expenditure of Dahan Kingdom last year was 300 billion, and the tax revenue recovered from various channels was equivalent to more than 400 billion, so there was a balance of tens of billions.

In a word, our big Han country has plenty of money!Of course, these are only calculated in copper coins. If they are calculated based on the purchasing power of gold or the silver taels that have been slowly spread over the years, there will not be so many.

But you must know that this is not modern times, but ancient times. To be able to have such a huge scale of trade volume is already something beyond the times.

After listening to Zhao Qian's words, Zhao Kuo said with a smile, "Actually, the shipyards in Egypt and Asia Minor are already under construction, but it will take some time to form combat effectiveness."

Of course, Zhao Kuo had already thought of what Zhao Qian could think of.

As early as after conquering the Ptolemaic Dynasty and the Asia Minor Peninsula, Zhao Kuo has vigorously collected many craftsmen, as well as technical drawings of local shipbuilding and so on.

Not only that, but Zhao Kuo even dispatched a group of master shipbuilders from the mainland of China to guide the construction there, hoping to open up an exchange and integration of Eastern and Western shipbuilding technologies.

Huaxia Ming is meant to embrace all rivers and absorb all things that are beneficial to development for my own use!After Zhao Qian received Zhao Kuo's reply, he also felt itchy, and suddenly made a suggestion.

"Father, if possible, my son hopes to go to Carthage as an envoy of the Great Han Kingdom. I wonder if Father can agree?"

After these years of Zhao Kuo's words and deeds, Zhao Qian, the crown prince, has also become a very adventurous person who likes to accept challenges.

So after Zhao Qian heard the news from the distant kingdom of Carthage, his first thought was to see it with his own eyes.

Even with Zhao Kuo's disposition, he couldn't help being surprised after hearing Zhao Qian's words.

"You're going to Carthage?

you sure? "

Zhao Kuo really did not expect that Zhao Qian would make such a request.

This son is really getting bolder and bolder!Zhao Qian nodded vigorously, and said to Zhao Kuo very sincerely: "Father, my son really wants to see these different countries and civilizations."

Zhao Qian agrees with Zhao Kuo's words, that is, Huaxia Ming should be a very tolerant Ming.

However, if you don't even understand other civilizations, how can you achieve good tolerance and assimilation?

Zhao Qian felt that a personal experience and experience is needed here.

Zhao Kuo stared at Zhao Qian, and after a long time, smiled.

"good, very good.

If this is the case, then you go. "

Zhao Kuo was quite satisfied in his heart.

For Zhao Kuo, his requirements for his heirs have always been very high. They must be aggressive, have a smart and wise mind, and have a compassionate heart.

If the previous Zhao Qian still lacked something, then the current Zhao Qian is really relying more and more on Zhao Kuo's expectations.

This is simply a good thing!Hearing this, Zhao Qian was also pleasantly surprised, and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Father!"

Zhao Kuo chuckled and waved his hands: "By the way, remember to bring Zheng'er with you. He is also a person with ideas, and he should be able to give you a lot of help at critical moments."

Zhao Zheng is the first emperor of Qin in history, and it would be great to use him to escort Zhao Qian.

Hearing this, Zhao Qian also smiled happily: "Father, the child thinks so too!"

At this moment, Zhao Qian was already looking forward to the arrival of those Carthage envoys!

Chapter 1289 Hamilcar's Miraculous Journey

Hamilcar was tired.

It's normal for anyone to get tired after a long journey.

But the only problem is that this trip has actually far exceeded Hamilka's imagination!Looking at the endless desert in front of him, Hamilka was a little confused, and said to the guide of the Han Kingdom beside him: "Mr. Li, do we really have to continue on the road for at least a month?"

Beside Hamilka, Li Jian sat on the carriage and yawned loudly: "Don't worry, Lao Ha, we haven't reached the Western Regions yet."

Li Jian is now the chief intelligence officer of the entire Western Han Kingdom, including the homelands of the three great empires of Ptolemy, Seleucid, and Antigonus. According to normal circumstances, he would report back to the Imperial Capital every three years. Once, this time, I happened to go back to the imperial capital with Hamilcar.

The most important ability to do intelligence work is definitely the interpersonal relationship. Today, Li Jian is proficient in the languages ​​of almost all countries in the Mediterranean basin, including Carthage and Rome, and there is no obstacle for the two to communicate at all.

After saying this, Li Jian narrowed his eyes again and said, "Old Ha, I'll sleep for a while, remember to wake me up when it's time to eat."

Hamilcar: "..." At this moment, the former supreme general of Carthage was actually quite speechless.

Obviously, I am also a dignified messenger, why am I here to provide wake-up service for you all day long?

Hamilcar shook Li Jian's shoulder directly: "Mr. Li, get up, let's chat."

Li Jian rolled his eyes helplessly, and said to Hamilka, "What do you want to talk about?

Don't we talk enough these days? "

Hamilcar said: "I want to know more about your Emperor."

Li Jian shrugged his shoulders and said, "Didn't I tell you already?

This month has told the life story of our Majesty several times. "

Hamilcar said seriously: "To be honest, I still feel that the deeds of His Majesty the Emperor you mentioned are myths, not things that can actually happen to a person."

Li Jian laughed loudly, and said seriously: "Then you are wrong, you know?

No one can tell such a long myth over and over three times without any mistakes, omissions and flaws. This is really a true fact. "

Hamilka: "..." Hamilka suddenly realized that Li Jian's words really made him unable to refute in any way.

Suddenly, Hamilcar looked up and found an oasis in the distance.