The eldest grandson of Emperor Ming Dynasty!

Chapter 645 Ming wants to seek the Byzantine Empire?

The Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire.

This is an ancient empire that lasted for thousands of years.

Of course, this does not mean that the inheritance of the empire lasted for thousands of years, but specifically the inheritance of civilization, such as writing and language.

During these thousand years, the Byzantine Empire lasted a total of twelve dynasties.

Today is the Paleoleg dynasty.

The monarch is the tenth emperor, Manuel II Paleoleg.

The Paleoleg Dynasty is somewhat similar to the current Ming Dynasty. Before the founding emperor of the Paleoleg Dynasty, Mikhail VIII Paleoleg, was a symbol of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople has fallen.

The Paleoleg dynasty recovered Constantinople, which meant the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.

This situation is like the Central Plains Dynasty was ruled by the Mongolian Yuan, and then recovered by Zhu Yuanzhang, and it was once again ruled by the Han people.

It's just that after more than 130 years of rule, the Paleoleg dynasty has obviously come to the end of the dynasty.

In fact, when Mikhail VIII led his army into Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire at this time had already been reduced to the status of a second-class small country, a country that could only be on the defensive.

The interior of the empire has begun to gradually decline, while the outside of the empire is facing even more military threats. The surrounding countries are eyeing each other, and they all want to bite off a piece of meat from this ancient empire.

At present, the imperial territory restored by the Paleoleg Dynasty is only composed of the two cities of Constantinople and Thessaloniki, as well as the surrounding small unstable areas and two dependent territories.

Surrounded by Bulgaria and Serbia in the north, Asia Minor was almost completely occupied by the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to serious external threats, what is more important is the crisis of dominance within the empire.

The three civil wars that lasted for more than [-] years have completely reduced the current imperial power of the Paleoleg Dynasty to a laughingstock.

Even the inhabitants of Constantinople dared to laugh at their emperor without scruple.

Apart from the chaos in the political sphere, social and religious conflicts have evolved into a real class struggle.

When the Ottoman Empire surrounded Constantinople some time ago and was preparing to launch the final attack, the priests of the Byzantine Empire were still arguing about unification or division in the Hagia Sophia.

Grand Priest Lucas Notaras even publicized that he would rather see Turks ruled in kerchiefs in the capital than Latins ruled with triple crowns.

Severe civil strife caused the entire country's economy to collapse, especially the agricultural economy, which was almost completely destroyed under the double blow of civil strife and foreign invasion.

When a country's traditional agricultural taxation is completely lost, and domestic trade with grain and agricultural by-products as its main commodities completely disappears, the Paleoleg dynasty is tantamount to a dead end.

It seems that even God has no way to save this dynasty.

In order for you to overcome the crisis brought about by the civil war, the emperors of the Paleoleg Dynasty did not hesitate to implement some wrong foreign policies based on the premise of betraying national interests.

These erroneous foreign policies that shook the country not only failed to save the empire, but brought even more serious political, economic, and military crises to the empire.

Up to now, the Byzantine Empire in the hands of Manuel II is completely a mess full of holes.

In these most difficult and difficult times, clay vessels were used for royal banquets, and expensive oriental porcelain had long been sold for money.

In the absence of gold and jewelry, it cannot be replaced by worthless glass and leather crafts.

At the wedding of Manuel II, the clothes and dresses he wore were only decorated with gold and gemstones. In fact, they were all dyed gold leather and decorated with stained glass, which remained a little decent. The only remaining dignity.

At this time, a large number of residents of Constantinople had already fled, and the entire city seemed very empty. The few residents were ragged, sallow and emaciated.

Even though the news of the withdrawal of the Ottoman army spread throughout Constantinople, these numb residents did not have any emotional fluctuations, and many people even felt that it was a pity.

Maybe the Turks ruled the castle and gave them a chance to eat?
Their eyes are gone, already without any brilliance.

However, today's Manuel II, after hearing the news from the guards, seemed extremely excited.

"Are you sure, are those nobles from the Ming Empire in the far east?"

The guard saluted perfunctorily, and then said, "Your Majesty, what else can I deceive you at this time."

Manuel II didn't care about the rudeness of the guards, because he had no way to pay the salaries of the guards guarding the palace.

And the reason why these guards still guard the palace is because there is nothing else to do.

Those who have a way have already left, and the rest will have to muddle through.

"Take me there quickly." Manuel II urged impatiently.

These days, anything that can be related to Dongfang is a symbol of wealth.

Not to mention the nobles from the far east.

Manuel II didn't have any other ideas, but because he was so poor that he heard a rich man came, it was an opportunity anyway.

"Wait a minute, I want to change into a dress." Just as Manuel II was about to get up, he stopped suddenly.

The guard was a little impatient: "Your Majesty, you will keep the distinguished guests waiting for a long time."

Manuel II pointed to the tattered clothes on his body: "Now this will make the noble oriental nobles feel that we are despising him. I heard that the distant oriental nobles are the most civilized countries that pay attention to etiquette."

The clothes on Manuel II were torn apart by angry priests when they broke up with the priests in the Santa Fessoa Cathedral.

The royal family has no money to buy new clothes, so they can only let the tailor repair them briefly.

The tailor was an apprentice, because skilled tailors had already run away, so the traces of mending clothes on Manuel II's body were very obvious.

It's like this in the palace on weekdays.

Now, if you want to receive nobles from the East, it is naturally different, you must take out the clothes at the bottom of the box.

However, from the fact that Manuel II needed to explain the situation to the guards, it can already be seen that the royal family has lost all power.

After listening to the guard, he also felt that what Manuel II said was reasonable, so he agreed.

Manuel II, who put on new clothes, couldn't wait to go.

The area of ​​Constantinople is dozens of times larger than the ancient city of Byzantium, and far larger than the old city of Rome.

On the small hill where the old city of Byzantium was originally located is the Grand Palace of the Empire. The old city walls of the ancient city of Byzantium were converted into the outer walls of the palace.The Grand Palace is also known as the 'Holy Palace'.

Located on the commanding heights of the whole city, facing the Sea of ​​Marmara in the south, it covers an area of ​​nearly 60 mu, or more than [-] square meters according to Western calculations. It is the most luxurious building complex in Constantinople.

In addition to the royal family, there are groups of maids, eunuchs, imperial soldiers, priests and court officials in the palace. During the glorious period of the Byzantine Empire, its population reached [-], almost equivalent to a city.

It consists of several adjacent palaces, including the Lamagnol Palace dedicated to official official ceremonies, the Dafna Palace for the royal family, and the Schalke Palace that doubles as an exhibition hall.

The palaces are connected by arcades, and the courtyards between the palaces are opened up as imperial gardens.

And the place where Manuel II met the nobles from the far east was the Royal Garden.

In the garden, dozens of heavily armed guards stood solemnly. The armor they wore was completely different from those in the west.

Black hair and black pupils are authentic oriental.

In the center of these guards, a middle-aged man in a Confucian shirt and long robe was drinking tea leisurely. The expensive tea from the East exudes a leisurely aroma here.

The nearby palace guards watched this scene from a distance, with envious expressions in their eyes.

They are very clear about how powerful these tea leaves, which are almost equivalent to gold, have.

This comes from the tea that the nobles in the far east drink. In their eyes, they are almost drinking flowing gold.

But they didn't dare to show the slightest greed, because this oriental noble not only had dozens of powerful guards, but also more than 1000 fully armed knights outside the holy palace, and wore powerful firearms.

Today's Constantinople has no ability to fight against more than 1000 knights.

What's more, this is an aristocrat from the East.

That's right, this nobleman from the far east was Zhao Xiucai Zhao Yuanhong, the military adviser Zhu Ying had sent to Annan.

The year before last in Annan, after being imprisoned because of Hu Jishu's rebellion, Zhao Yuanhong decided to arrest Li Laosi who had caused the loss of a large number of soldiers to enforce the family law of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce.

So he took 200 people on board and set off from Annan, all the way along the west to track and arrest the traces of Li Laosi.

Originally, Li Laosi didn't intend to run very far, but by coincidence, the soldiers following Li Laosi found Zhao Yuanhong.

After all, the orientals are too conspicuous in Nanyang and Xiyang, and it is easy to show their traces.

So Li Laosi ran away overnight, and of course Zhao Yuanhong hurriedly pursued him.

The two sides ran away and chased at the same time, and it lasted for nearly two years.

Pass through the entire Indochina Peninsula, cross the Arabian Sea, disembark from the Persian Gulf, and arrive in Central Asia.

It passed through Central Asia and reached the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

Now it's coming to Europe.

Fortunately, Ming's reputation has spread to the whole of Central Asia and even Europe along with the maritime trade.

Whether it is Li Laosi or Zhao Yuanhong, they all benefited from their status as Daming people and were treated with respect and courtesy.

It's just that because of the language relationship, Zhao Yuanhong's pursuit of Li Lao Si became difficult.

Especially with two hundred guards, it is easy to arouse the fear of some forces passing by.

It takes a lot of time to communicate.

And Li Laosi was much more relaxed. After all, there were only a few dozen people, and they were easily accepted in the name of the Far Eastern Caravan.

While drinking tea, Zhao Yuanhong looked at the imperial garden and nodded slightly in satisfaction.

Although no one came to repair it, there were fallen leaves everywhere, and some trees even showed signs of withering, but the breath of decline could not conceal the majesty of this place.

Manuel II hurried, because of the trotting all the way, there was even slight sweat on his forehead.

When he came to the garden, his eyes lit up when he saw the oriental nobles drinking tea in the courtyard.

But when he wanted to go in, he was stopped by Zhao Yuanhong's guards.

"Presumptuous, back down!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yuanhong scolded in a dissatisfied tone.

"As ordered."

The two guards who stopped him immediately bowed to Zhao Yuanhong, lowered their heads and clasped their fists, and made way for Manuel II to enter.

Although Manuel II could not understand Chinese, he also understood what was going on in the context and actions.

Such authority made Manuel II, who had long lost his power and carried the title of emperor, envy him.

At this time, Zhao Yuanhong also got up, clasped his fists to Manuel II who came in front of him, and said, "Zhao Yuanhong, the patrol envoy of Ming Dynasty from the Eastern Celestial Dynasty, has met His Majesty the emperor of the ancient Byzantine Empire."

Zhao Yuanhong greeted Manuel II in unfamiliar and poor Latin.

Latin was widely spread throughout Europe because of the power of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. With the prevalence of missions and the rise of the power of the Pope, Latin is the main medium of the Middle Ages.

Unlike the hieroglyphs in the Central Plains, both Latin and Greek are phonograms, while Chinese characters are ideograms.

For Zhao Yuanhong, learning Latin is mainly based on memorization, and there is no need for too advanced understanding, a word has a meaning.

Zhao Yuanhong was able to obtain the fame of a scholar, not to mention that he was extremely talented in reciting this piece.

What's more, the reason why he didn't get the fame of juren was just because of his bad luck. He was very talented, otherwise he wouldn't be valued by Zhu Ying.

On Ottoman's side, there are not a few businessmen who know multiple languages. After finding a translator who understands Chinese, they start to learn the language here.

For Zhao Yuanhong, reciting memories is really pediatrics.

No matter how difficult Latin is, how can it be difficult for the Four Books and Five Classics?

In just one month, Zhao Yuanhong was basically able to understand Latin and communicate with others in Latin.

It's just that in terms of pronunciation, it is inevitable that I am not used to it, with a strong oriental accent.

It's just that this oriental accent is more noble and elegant to the ears of Europeans today.

"Your Excellency from the far east, I welcome you on behalf of the Byzantine Empire."

Manuel II used the orthodox Roman etiquette to express his respect to Zhao Yuanhong, even with a hint of humility in his tone.

Of course, Zhao Yuanhong couldn't distinguish this humble feeling, and his Latin hadn't reached such a level.

The rich tea fragrance flowed from the tip of Manuel II's nose, further confirming the identity of this oriental nobleman.

Zhao Yuanhong said falsely with one hand: "Your Majesty, please sit down and have a taste of our Dongfang Daming's tea."

"This is the most precious West Lake Longjing in my Ming Dynasty. Even in Daming, it is a treasure that can only be tasted by the royal family. I don't know how to taste it on weekdays. Today, when I saw His Majesty, I specially brought it out to entertain you."

After almost two years of changes, the gloom on Zhao Yuanhong's face no longer appeared, instead, he looked dignified and gentle.

Such a change is because Zhao Yuanhong's identity has changed during the journey, from a military adviser who used to hide behind the scenes to standing in front of the stage.

He needs to deal with a large number of nobles and monarchs of various countries. The more times he has to deal with, the temperament of his whole person will naturally change.

(End of this chapter)