The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 305
The envoy was reprimanded by Zhang Wen, and was thrown out without even a chance to speak. He stood at the gate of the mansion, looking at the plaque hanging under the eaves. Although he didn't know the Chinese characters on it, the dignified and generous official script In his eyes, he was full of domineering, revealing an irresistible majesty.He sighed, looked at the soft pass in his hand, and ran out helplessly, muttering while walking: "These damn Han people are such a waste, such a good paper has only a few words written on it."

That's right, this paper passport does look very wasteful. A red column was drawn on the snow-white rice paper that was one foot long and three inches wide. Zhang Wen wrote a few words on it, and then stamped a seal on it, that's all. , the entire sheet appears empty.Tianzhu does not produce paper, and even scriptures are written on bay leaves. Over the years, Han merchants have shipped paper to Tianzhu for sale, but the price is very expensive. Not to mention that ordinary people can’t afford it, even in the palace, it can only be seen occasionally. Only when eminent monks are invited to copy scriptures are they willing to use these Chinese papers, which are as expensive as gold, but now, Zhang Wen writes a warrant at random, using this kind of fine paper.

The envoy was very envious, and when he handed over the warrant to Zhou Xun, he glanced at the paper with some reluctance.Zhou Xun noticed the greed in his eyes, and smiled: "How much does Tianzhu's paper sell for?"

"It's hard to say, some are very expensive, and some are slightly cheaper." The emissary murmured, "The ones I've seen in the palace are about one gold coin, and they're not as good as this paper."

"It will be fine after the opening of business." Zhou Xun smiled slightly, wrote his name on it, and then used the seal, the steady and generous red ink pad with the black shiny ink, coupled with his stretched and elegant calligraphy, even Even if you don't understand, you can also taste the beauty of the atmosphere.Although the envoy didn't know Chinese characters, he was so attracted that he smiled: "My lord is good at calligraphy."

"Thank you, thank you." Zhou Xun smiled politely, and asked the soldiers around him to lead the envoy to lead the boat.Although the personal soldiers looked down on these Tianzhu people, Zhou Xun was very strict with them, and they were not allowed to be presumptuous to outsiders, so they did not show much arrogance to the envoy.

When they arrived at the seaside, a team took the documents and invited the envoys onto the boat. Soon, the boat sailed out of the harbor. Many people greeted each other loudly along the way. The few Sinhalese people on board all spoke blunt Chinese. Although their accents were strange, the soldiers on board responded enthusiastically to them.The Sinhalese smiled triumphantly and had a heated fight with the Han people next to them.

"You and the Sinhalese are very good." The envoy asked the team leader around him.

"We are friends." The captain smiled proudly: "The most beautiful princess in Sinhala has become our king's Zhaoyi. Ceylon and Yue are now the countries of in-laws."

The messenger frowned, stroked the side of the boat, and remained silent.The slender hull quickly parted the waves, like a flying fish, sailing briskly forward.The envoy took a look at the ship. There was no weapon on the ship. Apart from following the team and a few soldiers with weapons, the style of the ship was also the common warship style of the Yue Kingdom, which was completely different from the warships of Tianzhu. .Just like the shiny painted hull, it makes a thumping sound when it is slapped, which makes people feel at ease.

"Is this boat safe?" The messenger asked tentatively, "It's been a windy season recently."

"Don't worry, our boat won't be overturned by just one or two waves." The team leader smiled slightly, paused for a moment, and then said: "Even if we are unlucky and hit a rock, we can still go as fast as possible." If the loophole is blocked at a faster speed, no matter how bad it is, there will be enough time to escape, and it will never damage your life."

"Why?" The messenger looked curious.

"Why?" The team leader turned his head and looked at him, with vigilance evident in his eyes. He was silent for a moment, and then said with a concealed smile, "Because this is our warship from Yue."

The envoy was a little disappointed in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, for fear that the team would become suspicious and it would be bad for him.He pretended to be casual, and observed the ship carefully, while chatting with the team leader about some gossip without saying a word. There were people from Ceylon and some from Vietnam. Gao, as soon as a confidential question was asked, he would change the topic, or simply pretend that he didn't hear it.

As Zhang Wen said, after one day and one night, the boat arrived at the border of Pandiya, but now it has become Lu Mao's military camp. A large group of pirates who had just returned from fishing saw the Tianzhu envoy from a distance, making strange noises. They cried out, and some even blew loud whistles.The team led the envoy ashore and found Lu Mao. Lu Mao, who was wearing a bunt, looked at the envoy and gave him a fast horse without embarrassing him.

The envoy rushed back to Madurai in just one day, and told Akadi about the situation in Ceylon.Arkady became angry when he heard it, and flew into a rage, but when he calmed down, he couldn't think of a better solution.The envoy told him what he had seen and heard in Ceylon in the past few days, because the Yue people built a city there, and it is very lively now, and many rare goods are traded there, and the Sinhalese have made a fortune. The Yue Kingdom is married, even if they are greedy for their wealth, they can only watch.

Akadi thought about it all night, and finally had to set off immediately according to Zhang Wen's request. He was not afraid of Zhang Wen. No matter how powerful the Yue Kingdom was, they didn't have the strength to land and fight for the time being. He was most worried about Zhu Luo, Zhe Luo and Ji Luo. For the three countries, if they negotiate with the Yue people and lose their chance, then Pandya surrounded by them will be in danger.This reasoning is not complicated, and Arkady is not an idiot. In this situation, he can only swallow his anger and try not to offend Yueren.

Along the way, while he was on his way, he was thinking about the situation he might have to face. He was very conflicted and sighed from time to time.

Akadi didn't know that Jerome King Divia and Jiluo King Bahar were also on their way at the moment, and they were just one day ahead of him. They received Zhang Wen's request just like Akadi, and they had the same mentality. , I dare not neglect for a moment, for fear that I will become the person who is the least valued.

Within four days, the four kings arrived in Ceylon one after another, and Zhang Wen began to negotiate with them.Zhang Wen pointed out that the country of Yue built its country with business and has no interest in your land, so you can rest assured.The previous war was caused by King Feroz of Zhuluo. He was defeated and captured, and he has already been punished. My king regards benevolence as the main priority. In order to show his goodwill, he prepared to send him back to Zhuluo and gave him some property as a gift. Compensation, to show sincerity.The four of you are invited this time because my country of Yue is ready to do business with you. Here is a list of the goods that my country can provide and the goods that I need. You have a copy, first look at it, and then provide you with a copy A list can be provided for discussion.

After finishing speaking, Zhang Wen handed out a few pieces of paper to everyone, and then looked at everyone with a smile, a kind smile appeared on his face, but in his eyes, there was naturally a bit of the uniqueness of imperial envoys from the Kingdom of Heaven. confidence and majesty.

The tedious negotiations began. On the surface, everyone seemed very polite, but in their hearts, they were all trying to figure out what other people were thinking, evaluating the pros and cons of each condition for themselves.The first thing to do is to see what kind of goods Yue Guo can sell and what kind of goods to buy.Arkadi and Divia exchanged glances, and came together by coincidence, while Saalbaha, the new king of Zhuluo, came together with King Jiluo.Feroz is going back, Salbaha's situation is very difficult, he can't say that he doesn't want Feroz to come back, after all, Feroz was once his king, and now he still has considerable strength in the country, but he doesn't want to give up The throne, otherwise, the future of his family is in jeopardy.At this time, like Bahar, the King of Ji Luo, he needs to deal with the Yue people, but he cannot be used for nothing by the Yue people, and he will not get any benefits in the end.

Zhang Wen was very clear about the thoughts of these people. He firmly controlled the situation and let these four people with their own ulterior motives test each other. At this time, no one would trust the other. best chance.If he couldn't handle such an easy task well, he would have no face to stay under Sun Shao's command any longer, and he would be sorry for Yu Fan's hard work.

Sun Shao never showed up. Accompanied by Nimar and his daughter, he traveled around the island in his boat.Zhou Yu and a group of scholars from Funan College traveled together, recording the mountains and rivers of Ceylon Island along the way, recording those steles that had been submerged in the jungle.Accompanying craftsmen with good stele rubbings, they used Xuan paper to rub out pieces of complete or incomplete steles, and brought them back to Funan for research.

"I want to write a history of Sinhala for Zhaoyi." Zhou Yu said to Yasutra with a smile.

Yasudra nodded happily, but she didn't dare to push herself in front of Zhou Yu. She knew that the elegant woman in front of her was more noble than her.In order to please Zhou Yu, Yasudra, who never bowed to others, worked hard.

Zhou Yu knew that she was not as good at fighting as Guan Feng, and she would not be Xia Houhui's opponent in handling government affairs, and the two brothers Zhou Xun and Zhou Yin were both leaders of the army. If she participated in political affairs again, it would inevitably cause other people Because of her fear, she simply devoted herself to learning. Although "New Classic of Mountains and Seas" is still under the name of Sun Shao, Zhou Yu is actually handling everything from writing to illustrations.She knew that Sun Shao's mind was not only on business, so she had been carefully collecting relevant documents to prepare for Sun Shao's decision-making.

Yasudra is now her best friend and Sanskrit teacher.

The Sinhalese do not believe in Buddhism. They have always believed in Brahmanism. Sanskrit is the language used by Brahmanism to record scriptures. When the Buddha Gautama Siddhartha was alive, in order to distinguish it from Brahmanism, believers were told not to use The Buddhist scriptures are recorded in Sanskrit, and throughout the world, Buddhism is passed on orally. The beginning of the Buddhist scriptures is "Thus I heard", which is where it comes from.After the death of the Buddha, in order to sort out the scriptures, the disciples found that Sanskrit was still inseparable. In the end, they could only use Sanskrit to record the teachings of the Buddha.Zhou Yu had learned some Sanskrit before, but the Sanskrit of the bhikkhuni was obviously not as authentic as the Sanskrit of Yasudra. With the guidance of this princess who had been educated by Brahmanism since childhood, she began to read Brahmanism's "Vedas". Four Classics, not only the level of Sanskrit has greatly improved, but also a new understanding of the two different teachings.

While the two women were laughing and joking, on the other side, Feroz was kneeling in front of Sun Shao with a sad face.These days, he served Sun Shao tea and water like a personal guard. He was more of a slave than a servant, and all he wanted was to go back to Zhuluo.But now that the Yue people are negotiating with the new king of Zhuluo, Salbaha, Feroz is a little desperate. When there are few people to find, he simply kneels in front of Sun Shao and expresses his worries.

"What are you worried about?" Sun Shao smiled calmly, looking at the blue sea in the distance, feeling at ease. "Worried about not being able to return to Zhuluo?"

"I really want to fight thousands of miles with Your Highness, but now I have nothing to do, how can I serve His Highness?" Feroz said cautiously: "If I can return to Zhuluo, I can use the entire Zhuluo Kingdom to serve as the king. Sa What kind of person Erbaha is, the minister knows very well, he is willing to agree to anything now, but he will definitely ask the king to kill the minister. When the minister is dead, he will break his promise in the name of revenge for the minister, and win Zhu Luo human support."

"Really?" Sun Shao was noncommittal: "If you return to Zhuluo, how can you use the power of Zhuluo to serve me? Aren't you most worried that the Zhuluo people will oppose you?"

"No." Feroz shook his head again and again: "Your Majesty is merciful, and he is kind to Tianzhu. If Zhuluo forms an alliance with the Yue Kingdom, it will only bring benefits to the Zhuluo people. How can the Zhuluo people oppose the king? They don't If you will oppose the king, of course you will not oppose me who is loyal to the king."

Sun Shao smiled, didn't speak, just looked at Feroz.Sweat dripped from Feroz's forehead, and he was very nervous. Of course, he would not be really loyal to Sun Shao. Everything he did now was to return to Zhuluo, regain the throne of Zhuluo, and then gather strength to fight with Sun Shao again. Shao fought a bloody battle to repay today's humiliation.Now Sun Shao has been hanging on him, obviously wanting to get greater benefits. Of course he hates Sun Shao's greed, but he also knows that at this moment, if he refuses to cut his flesh, he may return to Zhuluo. It will end up being a dream.

He gritted his teeth: "I would like to imitate the Sinhala king and send my sister to the king, and then ask the king to send a navy to the port of Poduk to help me pacify Zhuluo."

Sun Shao's heart skipped a beat.Poduk Port is the best port on the southeast coast of the Tianzhu Continent. There used to be a small country called Huang Zhiguo here. This small country was once recorded in Han Shu, and now it is a city in the southeast of Zhuluo Kingdom.If merchant ships from east to west cannot cross the Bay of Bengal, but travel along the coast, they usually choose to dock at Poduk Port.The commercial tax of this port is very important to Zhuro, and Feroz wants to dedicate this to him, which shows that he is really anxious.

"This...isn't that good?" Sun Shao hesitated for a moment: "If you give me Poduk Port, what will your subjects think of you and me? They will think you are a traitor, and I want to get involved Your Chula land. As you know, I don’t have that in mind.”

Feroz's heart was bleeding, but his face was still devout: "I believe in the kindness of the king, and I hope the king believes in the loyalty of the king. Poduk Port is a good port, which is suitable for the king's navy to dock. After I returned to Zhuluo, there was no need to work hard to build a navy to protect the coast. This is a good thing for me. Of course, there is a little loss, but I believe that with more merchants, the wealth they bring will surely make up for these losses."

Feroz tried his best to persuade Sun Shao to accept Poduk Port, but Sun Shao did not agree to him, because he never thought of taking this port. He was moved by Feroz's proposal. Besides, some lack of confidence.Port Poduk is good, but does he have the strength to defend it?The more Feroz showed loyalty, the more uneasy he became.He has seen a lot of people like this, and it can be said responsibly that Feroz is far behind him in terms of forbearance.He wanted to put Feroz back, not because he really believed in his loyalty, but because he hoped to put the wolf back, causing a fight within Tianzhu.If Feroz wanted to take revenge, he would have to resort to military force, wantonly conscripts, and might even attack neighboring countries to strengthen his strength, so as to cause disturbances on the Tianzhu continent.But if you bite Yue Guo first before biting anyone else, then you won't lose money by stealing chickens.

Sun Shao doesn't like to do such a thing.

"I believe in your loyalty, but this matter is too big. I need to discuss it with the ministers before I give you an answer." Sun Shao said with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, it doesn't matter whether I want Poduk Port or not in the end, I will give you an answer." I will definitely let you go back. The king has no jokes."

Feroz didn't believe Sun Shao's words, but now he looked grateful, kowtowed again and again, then stood up, holding the knife, stood respectfully in the distance, and devoted himself to his duties as his personal guard.Sun Shao squinted his eyes, then turned to look at Nimar in the distance.Surrounded by more than a dozen personal guards, Nimar was looking at this side. Seeing Sun Shao looking at him, he twisted his mouth and shook his head, expressing his distrust of Feroz unabashedly.

Sun Shao smiled and suddenly had an idea.

……

City of Rome.

The 17-year-old Roman Emperor Alexander Severus stood in front of the door of his mother Momia, hesitantly glanced at Quintus Severus (Qin Lun), who gave him an encouraging look and waved his hand, He signaled him to go in quickly, and at the same time made a gesture with his hands around his mouth, signaling that the young Alexander should smile and not go to see Momia, the actual ruler of the Roman Empire, with a frowning face.

Alexander nodded, pulled the silk robe on his body, coughed, smiled, walked in, and said loudly, "Mother, are you okay, I'm here to see you."

Momia, who was sitting in a daze by the window, turned around, smiled and looked at Alexander who was striding forward, although there was a smile on her face, but there was a different look in her eyes, and she sighed secretly.In the past two years, my son has grown up and gradually understands the benefits of power. He no longer relies on her like he did in the first few years when he took the throne, and the relationship with her is a little alienated.Although Momia, who was widowed at a young age, has never lacked men, her son has always been her most precious asset. Now she sees her son getting stranger every day, but she can only sigh.After a few years of being in power, it is impossible for her to completely give up these rights now.She has been telling herself that her son is still young, and when he grows up, he will definitely return his rights to her, but she also knows that this kind of thinking is largely an excuse.

Between power and family affection, Momia has been in a torment. She wants to have the best of both worlds, but the facts are out of her control. After being rejected by her several times, the powerless Alexander seems to give up on himself and start to indulge Yu was sensual, and he hadn't come to see her for a long time, even if he came occasionally, he would keep a straight face and leave after a few words.Walking in with a smile like today - although not so sincerely - is really a surprise.

"Dear Alexander, what makes you so happy? Did you fall in love with another beautiful girl?" Momia stood up, and the golden sunset shone on her still delicate back, as if embracing her. With a golden edge, she looks as mighty and fit as Minova, but also full of wisdom.

"No—" Alexander raised his hands exaggeratedly, "Who else can be as beautiful and wise as you, mother? Mother, I am almost intoxicated by your beauty."

Momia smiled, stretched out her hand and gently twisted the corner of Alexander's mouth: "Why is my Alexander so talkative today? He actually came to deceive his poor mother. I said Alexander, what are you doing these days?" , I haven't seen you for many days."

"Mother, I have been with Quintus for the past two days, listening to him tell stories about the people of Siris." Alexander stepped forward and gently hugged Momia's waist. At the age of 17, he was already taller than Momia. Even taller, he bowed his head, kissed Momia's cheek lightly, then looked into Momia's beautiful eyes, and said affectionately: "Mother, I found that the people of Seris also have the same greatness as mother. Women, it’s really amazing that there are so many similar things happening tens of thousands of miles away from Rome.”

Momia glanced at Alexander suspiciously. She already knew about Alexander and Quintus being together.Quintus was the son of the younger brother of Severus the Great, who founded the Severus dynasty, and a distant uncle of Alexander.After the death of Emperor Severus, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, became Roman emperors together. Caracalla killed Geta the following year, and later Caracalla was killed by soldiers, and Elagabalus became The emperor, the bloodline of the Severus dynasty has actually been cut off. Quintus has left Rome since then, went out to do business, and did not return until the end of last year.He brought back a large amount of spices and exquisite silk, as well as the unique lacquerware of the Seres, which shows that his business in the East is credible.Quintus has been together in Alexandria since he came back. I don’t know what to say. Momia sent someone to inquire, but they didn’t find out. I didn’t expect that Alexander would take the initiative to talk about Quintus when they met today, and said she was A great mother, which surprised her.

"Oh, tell me what kind of story it is." Momia calmly took Alexander's hand and sat down by the window, smiling.

　Minova, the ancient Roman goddess of wisdom, is equivalent to the goddess Athena in Greek mythology.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)