The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 344 East and west contend for supremacy on Kititi Island, Hanford City

Quintus walked into the palace excitedly with the good news in his hand. Momia was holding Philip and swinging around the long table, saying word by word: "Seris, Sai... ……Silk."

Philip rolled his big black and bright eyes, looked around the case, then turned his head to look at Momia's silk robe, and poked it with his fat little fingers.Momia couldn't help laughing, and kissed his little face forcefully: "It's so smart."

"Of course, he is my future Augustus, and he will be a great Roman emperor in the future. Of course he is a smart kid." Quintus said with a smile, and handed the good news to Momia, and opened his hands to Philip clapped, and immediately Philip opened his arms and leaned towards him, grinning loudly.Momia let go, opened the newsletter and read it, and said in surprise: "Three hundred miles apart, the Sassanians were hit twice in a row within three days? This is really happy news."

Quintus nodded happily, and lifted Philip up high. Philip grinned with joy, exposing two deciduous teeth and drooling.Momia turned the second page, her eyebrows and eyes suddenly moved, and there was a trace of fiery affection in her eyes, and then she glanced at Quintus with a guilty conscience, turned around subconsciously, leaned against the tall window sill, and muttered something in her mouth , as if reading a letter by light.

This is a letter written by Sun Shao, and it is his own letter. The recipient is Quintus, but Momia knows that it is actually written to her.She read it carefully, for fear of missing a word, read it over and over again, then gently pressed the letter to her chest, with a blush on her face, she let out a soft breath: "The gods By God, we have finally defeated the Sasanians."

Quintus smiled when he heard this, and walked over with Philip in his arms. He said with a worried face, "Do you think I should go?"

"Of course we're going." Momia said without thinking, "Not only are you going, but I'm going with you too. The Three Kingdoms joined forces to attack Taixifeng. This is a very important battle. If we win, we can In exchange for at least ten years of respite, and no one will make irresponsible remarks about your position as emperor. But if the Three Kingdoms cannot trust each other and the Sasanians find an opportunity instead, once he catches his breath, then We, Rome, may be the first to be attacked."

Quintus nodded with sympathy: "Yes, Guishuang and the Yue Kingdom are very close. Once the Sassanians attack them, it is quick to ask the Yue Kingdom for help, but we are too far away from the Yue Kingdom. Even if the Yue King is willing to help , It will take four or five months for his army to arrive here. With our strength alone, it is not easy to deal with the Sasanians."

"That's not necessarily true." Momia shook her head, disagreeing with Quintus' opinion: "Even if the main force of his army goes back, he will leave a garrison in Axum, plus the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. He has at least [-] troops left here. If something happens, they can go into battle at any time. In addition to those Bedouins, he can actually mobilize quite a few troops. What's more, if this time To conquer Ctesiphon, he still needs to divide some territory." Momia laughed, and there was wisdom in the laughter: "Do you think he invited you to help you build prestige? He is probably more For the sake of convenience and your benefit, don't be fooled by him, just make some preparations in advance."

Quintus was taken aback for a moment, then nodded as if realizing something.Sun Shao wrote to him that Gordian and his son defeated the Sassanids in the battle at Timsach Lake, plus his battle in Byzantium, their father and son have made great achievements. Gordian Ann was already well-known, and he has made such a great contribution. According to the rules of the Romans, he may become the emperor alongside Quintus.Therefore, Sun Shao suggested that the final siege of Taixifeng should be conquered by Quintus himself, so that he can gain enough reputation and create favorable conditions for future power struggles.

Although Quintus is the direct heir of the Severus family, the Severus family started as a warlord, and the relationship with the Senate has not been very good. This time, it is almost all because of Momia's support and pull The Senate must be dissatisfied with the arrival of Yue people as backup. They are likely to support the separation of powers between Gordian and Quintus. At that time, Quintus' position will be unstable.Although he is not too greedy for power and position, since he is in this position, of course he does not want anyone to share power with him. Sun Shao's suggestion is in his favor. He came here to discuss with Momia, just hoping to get her Support means that the Senate supports his personal conquest. After all, the mutual understanding with the Senate to a certain extent is due to Momia's contribution.

Momia not only supported him in his own conquest, but also accompanied him, which made Quintus very excited.Although Momia is his queen now, the two have been living apart, and he doesn't dare to take care of Momia's affairs. The two of them don't get close very often. to the palace.

But what Momia reminded him made his excitement stagnate. He has always regarded Sun Shao as a friend, and he was a very good friend. The Roman Empire was in such a big crisis, and Sun Shao helped. How much is this kind of kindness, and now he reminded him again, how could he have such an idea?But he had to admit that Momia was more sober than him on this point, and Sun Shao's temper was indeed that of the kind who can't afford to be early.

"I will pay attention." Quintus smacked his lips in embarrassment: "Then he said that he wants to share the profit, do you think it is appropriate?"

"That's a good idea." Momia sighed, "Isn't it because he keeps giving benefits to others, so he is always beneficial? If Alexander... oh..."

Quintus frowned and didn't speak, Philip giggled, grabbed Quintus' beard, and swayed from side to side, Quintus yelled exaggeratedly, making Philip happy, pretending not to hear Momi Ya just said.Momia also knew that she had made a slip of the tongue, she turned her back and said, "I'll have someone say hello to the Senate, you should take more people there, and you'll give them whatever Gordian can give them. Of course Now, there must be a distinction here, some people are unlikely to turn to us after all, so there is no need to please them and increase their strength in vain."

"Oh." Quintus responded and said a few more gossips, then handed Philip back to Momia, turned and left.Momia hugged Philip, pressed her face against his pink face, and murmured, "Philip, this is all yours. No one can take it away, not even him."

Philip looked at Momia, holding her face in his little hands, his eyes twinkling.Momia suddenly had a strange feeling, as if Philip had understood her words, and although he couldn't speak, he was telling her with his eyes that he knew what she meant.Momia was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled self-consciously, how could a child who is not yet one year old understand this.

With Momia's help and the temptation of benefits, Quintus successfully divided the members of the Senate. Nearly two-thirds of the members supported his personal recruitment, and more than a dozen of them were Momia's supporters. He even became the general who led the army. In order to prevent the previous emperors from being hijacked or even murdered by the guards, Momia signaled those supporters to propose a proposal to restore the original military system of the Romans and gradually control the The proportion of barbarian mercenaries, emphasizing the military service obligations of Roman citizens, especially Romans, conscripted Roman citizens into the army, and increased the proportion of Roman citizens in the army.

However, the idea is good, but it is difficult to implement.The reason why Rome’s original citizen military service system collapsed was because during the process of foreign conquest, the benefits were taken by the nobles, while the ordinary citizens who made huge sacrifices went bankrupt because they had been away for a long time and had no time to take care of their land. , In the end, military reforms had to be implemented to pay soldiers, but in this way, soldiers no longer had the sense of honor to fight for the country, and turned to be loyal to the generals who paid them, creating the possibility of forming warlords.Severus started his career by relying on mutiny, and also relied on his military power to rule. His most famous last words were "treat your soldiers well, and don't care about the lives of others". As a result, the 30 years of turmoil and the death of five successive emperors showed However, purely relying on military power is a double-edged sword, and it will hurt yourself more often.

Fortunately, there was a previous experience as a foreshadowing. Although things did not go smoothly, Quintus still recruited [-] troops. Under the escort of Cui Qian who came to meet him, he took a boat to Damascus to join Sun Shao .Halfway, they stopped at Kititi (Cyprus) for fresh water and supplies.

Kiti Island is the base of the paper workshop set up by Alexander and Sun Shao during the cooperation. According to the agreement between the two parties, Kiti Island is under the joint management of the Vietnamese and the Romans, and the city of Paphos, where the paper workshops are concentrated, is under the full responsibility of the Yue people. .

Paphos is said to be the birthplace of Venus, the god of love. It is an important city on the island of Kitti and was once the seat of the Romans in Kititi.Paphos is a seaside city on hills, with mountains to the northeast and the sea to the southwest. The rainwater flowing down from the mountains forms a dense river network, which supplies domestic and industrial water for the entire urban area. For Fang Fang, it is a unique condition.

Since the Yue people built a large number of paper mills here, the Romans moved to the nearby Ahailia. The reason why they did not simply move to the city of Lydra on the central plain is because of these paper mills. Taxation is a major economic income. The Romans were afraid that the Vietnamese would evade taxes, so they had to take care of them nearby, and they had to count how much paper was loaded on each ship going to sea.

And Paphos has indeed provided Rome with a lot of taxes in the past two years. In addition to paper, there are also a large number of Han merchants gathered here. Not only is there the protection of the Vietnamese army, but also a large number of living facilities of the Han Dynasty. Food and corresponding culture and entertainment, living here is very similar to living in their hometown. For businessmen who have been traveling for many years, this is a safe home. Many people buy real estate and settle here. Some of the economic strength is relatively weak. Raise funds to buy a courtyard as a clubhouse, and you can live in it when you come and go. Over time, Paphos has become a city inhabited by Han people. They think the name is not good, and they say that happiness should be everyone's hope. How can they be "afraid" Woolen cloth?So it was slowly changed to Foss City. Later, some people said that the arrival of our Han people brought blessings to this place, so it should be called Hanford. This statement was recognized by most people.

Because of their noble status, Quintus, Momiya and others were invited by Hanfuling Lu Mao to visit the city. They were shocked by the beautiful Han Dynasty buildings on both sides of the street and attracted by the bustling people on the street. Divided into inner and outer cities, the inner city is almost entirely Han Chinese, and the outer city residents are mainly Han Chinese, but many servants are not Han Chinese, but come from surrounding places, including Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and some Barbarians, and some foreign businessmen from all over the world, you can see several different skin colors at a glance, but most of them speak the same language, basically speaking Chinese, and even the signboards of the shops next to them are mainly Chinese characters .

Quintus speaks Chinese well. He smiled and said to the several congressmen and generals who led the army next to him: "Everyone, if you want to buy cheaper Han Chinese products in the future, you can't do without knowing Chinese."

"Can it be cheaper if you can speak Chinese?" A congressman named Chris Pirus curled his lips disapprovingly.

"Of course." Quintus nodded, pointed to the shop next to him and said, "If you don't believe me, go in and have a look. Even if your Chinese is awkward, you can get a smiling face from the shop owner. Needless to say, a [-]% discount is a It’s unavoidable. Otherwise, do you think there are so many teachers teaching Chinese in Rome, where can there be so many students?”

Crispilus was stunned, he smacked his lips, and remained silent.There were indeed many young scholars from the Han Dynasty in the Roman city. Some of them worked for merchants, and some made a living by teaching Chinese. It seemed that their business was doing well. This was the reason.The people next to him listened and looked at each other with different expressions. The accompanying scholar Balbinus stroked his beard and said worriedly: "Your Majesty, I am a little worried. In a few decades, our Roman language will have to change again. what."

The Romans mainly used Latin, but many official texts and classical documents were in Greek.Although the Greeks have declined, they stick to their own culture and refuse to switch to Latin. Many scholars who are obsessed with Greek culture write in Greek. Slowly, the current Latin language has Hellenized Now, due to the arrival of the Han people, the Chinese language is very popular, the transliteration of many Chinese words has entered the daily language of the Romans, and so many Romans are learning Chinese, the influence of Chinese on Latin is increasing day by day, so the scholar Balbinus That's why there are such worries.

Many people nodded in agreement, quite worried.Quintus himself didn't think so, but seeing so many people worried, he couldn't say much.Lu Hao listened to it, smiled slightly, and said in proficient Greek: "The ministers are not talented, but I feel that you are worrying too much."

Balbinus frowned and looked at Lu Mao.He is a famous poet, orator, and aristocrat. He has a great reputation in Rome. He is almost sixty this year. There are not many people who can criticize him face to face. Now a humble Han dares to say that he thinks too much , Isn't this catching lice on the tiger's head?
"What's your opinion, sir?" Balbinus was refreshed, and suddenly became full of fighting spirit.

Lu Hao smiled slightly, and said calmly: "I don't dare to take it seriously. I just have some immature opinions. I want to ask Sir for advice. I have heard that Sir is one of the most famous scholars in Rome. I think Sir will be able to solve the confusion in my heart." of."

"Don't dare." Balbinus raised his chin proudly: "Everyone discusses with each other."

"Your Excellency wants to keep the Roman dialect, and you want to keep the Roman language pure, isn't that right?"

"Of course." Balbinus nodded reservedly, squinting at Lu Mao, feeling a little contemptuous in his heart, do you still have to ask this question?

"Then what I want to ask my lord is, can you understand the original ancient books of the Romans?" Lu Mao smiled faintly: "For example, the original text of the Twelve Tables?"

Balbinus blushed. He was very clear about the Twelve Tables, and he could read the original text, but he was somewhat hindered. The Twelve Tables were written more than 600 years ago. Now there are quite a few differences. Even though he has profound knowledge and has done a lot of research on these words, it is impossible to say that he can understand all of them.He thought for a while, then smiled and said, "This is why I want to keep the language of the Romans pure. If we are still using the language at that time without any changes, wouldn't it be as convenient as reading the current law? "

"No." Lu Mao smiled strangely: "That's still not the original Roman language. I think it will be at least another 200 years, and the language spoken by people at that time may be the original Roman language. Because how many years ago? There are still some changes, although the changes may not be very big, do you think so?"

Balbinus nodded, "This is natural."

"Then go back a few hundred years to the time before the founding of Rome. The language at that time should be relatively pure. But I believe that if you push it forward, there is still the first, maybe, the first Roman language. There are only a few words, just like those babbling children." He turned his head to look at Balbinus and said with a smile: "However, what's the use of such a pure Roman language?"

Balbinus was speechless.

Quintus laughed to himself, and the other councilors were also a little embarrassed, and they all remained silent. Although they felt that Lu Hao was a little too forceful, they couldn't refute it. After all, no one can say what the purest Roman language looks like. Come.But just as Lu Mao said, what's the point if she's so pure that she can only be like a child?
"Hehehe... I have some stupid opinions, and there are some inappropriate things, please don't worry about it." Lu Mao smiled heartily, raised his hand and said: "The best wine shop in the city is in front, selling the best wines from my country. "Jiuzhonglu"." Lu Hao deliberately inserted a pure Chinese word in the middle, and then said with a smile: "Hehe, this word does not exist in Roman language, and I don't know how to explain it to everyone, so I invite His Majesty the Emperor and You guys have a taste, and then see how to translate this word."

Quintus laughed and walked forward first. The wine shop has already been under martial law, the shop has been cleaned up, and the redundant tables have been cleared out. The seats are arranged according to the seating habits of the Han people. Of course, Quintus They sat on the top, and the others lined up one by one, and then the representatives of the Han people who had been invited by Lu Hao in advance entered the table. Everyone greeted each other and knelt down on the table naturally.The Romans were a little at a loss when they saw it, but seeing that Quintus had already sat down, they had no choice but to kneel down with bitter faces.But their knees are obviously not used to this way of sitting. After a while, they can't sit still. They simply sit staggeringly. Compared with the Han people who are sitting still on the opposite side, their appearance is no different from that of barbarians. too much.

Fortunately, the food and drinks of the Han people were really good. They ate their stomachs to the full and were still enjoying themselves, which finally made up for some pain.After the banquet, Lu Hao generously gave them gifts, each with a bolt of silk, a catty of tea, a set of porcelain, and a roll of paper.Balbinus received special treatment and added another volume, which made the old man nod happily.

The paper made in Hanfu City is not the same as the paper made in the Han Dynasty. The Han people wrote with a brush. In order to pay attention to the effect, the paper should be looser to highlight the effect of the brush and ink, while the Romans used a hard pen to write on loose paper. Ink balls can't write characters at all, so a denser and flatter paper was developed later, known as cooked paper, which was more suitable for Roman writing.Most of this kind of paper is for the official use of Rome, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see it. Now Lu Mao gives each one a roll as soon as he makes a move, which makes these nobles smack their tongues.

"My lord, this paper is just like language, it is constantly changing." Lu Mao walked up to Balbinus, smiled and said to Balbinus who couldn't put it down and smiled while touching the paper: "This is to let Rome The paper is written in a comfortable and specially processed paper, if you don’t change it, I’m afraid adults only need to draw a few ink dots to show it, and others may think it’s the original Latin.”

"Hehehe..." The mouth of eating people is soft, but the hands of grabbing people are short. Balbinus is eating and grabbing today, and he is in a good mood: "Master Lu, the wine in your Yue country is very good. I ate a little too much today. My body is a little fluttering, and my tongue is not smooth, so I won’t argue with you now, when I go back and drink this sober-up tea, I will use your paper to write an article, then I will definitely have a competition with the adults, how about it?”

Everyone laughed.This time they were able to go out with Quintus to make meritorious service because Quintus promised them benefits. This is not yet Cetsyphon, and they have not even gone out of the Mediterranean Sea, so they received such a generous gift. It seems that this trip will definitely be Return with a rewarding experience.They were in a good mood, and took advantage of Jiuxing to joke with Lu Mao.Lu Mao spoke proficient Latin, and occasionally said a few common sayings and proverbs, which surprised the Roman nobles, and many people gradually put away their contempt for him.Lu Hao is only the county magistrate of Hanford City, and he is still under the governor of Kititi Island according to his official position. Of course, the nobles of the Senate will not take such a small official seriously. The reason why they are polite to him is because he represents King of Yue.Now that they have seen Lu Mao's eloquence and knowledge, they began to really pay attention to this little Han Fuling.

Quintus was very satisfied. He was the one who strongly advocated an alliance with the Han people. The generosity of the Han people now proves that his decision is correct, including Alexander’s decision to hand over part of the sovereignty of Kiti Island to the Han people. It will play a very important role in the future support of these congressmen.

The prosperity of the world is all for profit, and the world is full of hustle and bustle, all for the purpose of going.Quintus suddenly remembered a sentence in the ancient Chinese classics.

　Mengda's new book "The Wind and Cloud of the Great Sui Empire" has been uploaded, so stay tuned!There is a link in the through train, and you can enter it with one click.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)