Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1043 [Eastern Roman Mission]

Pope Eugene III was so miserable that he couldn't even afford three meals a day, let alone send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty.

This guy had just ascended the throne of Pope when he was driven out of Rome by a low-level Roman priest.

The poor priest was particularly arrogant, angrily denouncing the Pope as a bloodthirsty person and claiming that the Roman Cardinals were a group of robbers. He also advocated the abolition of the Pope's secular power and believed that the clergy must return to the poverty of the apostolic age.

The Roman citizens were incited by these words and expelled the Pope from Rome, rebuilt the Temple of Jupiter, and elected consuls and the Senate...

Pope Eugene III fled in panic and is now sending envoys to various countries to borrow money to solve his survival problems.

He heard that the County of Edessa had fallen, so he started planning to organize a second crusade. If this was accomplished, he would regain his prestige and use the crusade to return to his loyal Rome.

But looking at all European countries, only King Louis VII of France responded to the call.

Louis VII was also young and frivolous, and had set fire to churches. He had broken with the Roman Catholic Church for many years. Now he suddenly became pious, and naturally he had his own plans, but the French nobles ignored him.

Now, a pope who was driven out of Rome and a king who once burned down churches, these two are the only ones clamoring for a Second Crusade.

Europe's piety is clearly revealed here.

The Pope could not send envoys to the Ming Dynasty, but the Byzantine Emperor could!
Well, they are called Eastern Rome.

The Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel I had been on the throne for less than two years, and his process of coming to power was somewhat similar to that of Hu Hai.

His father died in the army far away from the capital. He quickly handled the funeral, gained the support of the army, and led the army back to Constantinople in a hurry.

As for his brother, he was impatient and unsuitable to be emperor, so he was arrested and placed under house arrest.

This was a heroic ruler who revived the Eastern Roman Empire and was known in history as "the Great Emperor" and "the Divine Emperor".

Although he had only been on the throne for more than a year, he had already repelled the backstab of the Principality of Antioch and fought against the Seljuks many times when he was a prince.

Last year, Manuel I took advantage of Fulk's death to ask his widow, Queen of Jerusalem, for the Sun Mirror.

The queen flatly refused, claiming that it was the Mirror of Heaven, which only the King of Jerusalem could possess.

The regent Artush said: "Your Majesty, the empire is now surrounded by enemies. The Seljuks in the east and the Normans (Kingdom of Sicily) in the west are the most urgent threats to be eliminated. We should first reach a reconciliation with the Germans (Holy Roman Empire), then use the Crusades to hold back the Seljuks, and then concentrate all our efforts to defeat those Norman barbarians!"

Manuel I asked: "How to reconcile with the Germans?"

"Marry a German noblewoman," Atush said. "The sister-in-law of the German king (Holy Roman Emperor) is still unmarried. I heard that she is a lady of noble character and is fully qualified to become the empress of our great Roman Empire."

Manuel I nodded and said, "This is a good suggestion. If we can resolve the conflict in the north through marriage, I can free up my energy to do more things."

Artush continued, "The Imperial Navy is too weak, and the Norman barbarians (Sicilians) often plunder our merchant ships and ports. Now we should build a strong navy and grant trade privileges to the Venetians so that they can help us defeat the Normans."

"I hate both the Normans and the Venetians," said Manuel.

Atush smiled and said, "First, we will use the Venetians to defeat the Normans. When our navy becomes truly powerful, it will not be too late to turn against the Venetians. By then, the merchant ships of the Roman Empire will be able to traverse the Mediterranean and obtain those precious oriental goods continuously."

Manuel thought about it carefully and said, "The Venetians are greedy and stupid. As long as we give them enough benefits, we can easily take advantage of them. Speaking of oriental goods, was the Jerusalem Sun Mirror really bought from a peach stone merchant?"

Atush said: "Your Majesty, don't be deceived. The so-called Sun Mirror is just a peach blossom stone mirror. I heard that the King of Egypt also has one."

"Jurhan from Xia Taohuashi defeated the arrogant Seljuk Sultan," Manuel said, "and those exquisite Taohuashi goods. I am very interested in the distant Taohuashi Empire. Perhaps I can send an envoy to visit the Taohuashi Emperor with gifts and letters."

Atush said: "As you wish, your Majesty."

The envoys of the Eastern Roman Empire were able to easily enter the Red Sea.

One route is to go through Jerusalem and cross the desert to Aqaba, which is where the Ming envoys traded with the Crusaders a few years ago.

But there are no ocean-going ships there, only some small offshore boats used for smuggling.

Moreover, this smuggling behavior was quite a joke. A group of Arab small merchants, who were greedy for money, bought Eastern goods in the Persian Gulf and secretly transported them here, and then resold them at high prices to the Crusaders, the mortal enemies of the Arab world.

Another route is to go through Cairo and take a ship to the East at a Red Sea port.

Although the Eastern Roman Empire and Egypt were mortal enemies, they recognized and respected each other, and even allowed each other's citizens to build pagan temples in their own countries.

Manuel sent someone to notify the King of Egypt, and the two sides happily reached a consensus that the Eastern Roman delegation could pass through the country to the Ming Dynasty.

…The second generation of officials traveled around the Chola Kingdom, and found that the South Indian temples were quite spectacular.

The essence of Chola art lies in bronze statues, and its bronze statue-making techniques are the best in the world, even surpassing the Ming Dynasty at that time.

This was of course due to official encouragement. While the Chola Empire was building temples all over the country, it was also casting majestic and exquisite bronze statues.

After visiting more than ten Brahman temples, Fan Chengda couldn't help but sigh: "There is really no shortage of copper here. The bronze statues are bigger than each other."

Bai Shihou was playing with a Chola copper coin and couldn't help but complain: "Is this thing a king? Why does it look like an octopus?"

"It does look alike." Lu You said with a smile.

This kind of Chola copper coin was commonly known as the "Octopus Man Copper Coin" in the collectors' circle in later generations.

But it is indeed the king, with the front showing the king sitting sideways with legs bent, holding a lotus, and inscribed with the Sanskrit words "Auspicious Rajaraja". The back shows the king standing, with a lamp post on the left and a mantra and lotus on the right.

What's even more ridiculous is that this copper coin contains gold and is golden in color.

Five people were chatting there, and one person was watching intently.

This is a newly built temple where South Indian painters are creating murals.

Wang Lianqing held a small notebook in his hand and kept writing, drawing and taking notes. He even wrote down how the painter's assistant mixed lime plaster.

The layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

After a few days of touring, Wang Lianqing already understood the composition of Chola murals: columns up and down, parallel left and right, with a complex composition centered on a statue or building.

The style is extremely bright and gorgeous, the details are intricate and exquisite, and the colors are bright and visually impactful.

Wang Lianqing plans to borrow some techniques and combine them with Chinese mural techniques to create works in palaces or temples in the future.

There are many murals in the Northern Song Dynasty Imperial Palace.

At this time, Chinese painting art was still mainly following the realistic route, and perspective techniques had already been mastered by painters.

……

When Wang Lianqing returned to Wangxiang Port with his friends, carrying many copied drawings, the treasure hunting trio had already purchased the goods and were ready to set sail.

An Arab fleet also arrived at the port.

The Arab merchant said to the Eastern Roman envoy: "Dear Prime Minister, my merchant ship has arrived here. But you don't have to worry, this port has been occupied by Taohuashi people, and many Taohuashi merchant ships go back and forth every year. You only need to go to pay a visit to the governor and you will be warmly received."

The leader of the Eastern Roman delegation was called Aksukh, who served as the commander-in-chief of the army, the last prime minister, and held the national seal.

He was once a Turkic slave, the old emperor's childhood friend, and the old emperor's most trusted lifelong friend.

The new emperor’s ascension to the throne as the youngest son was inseparable from Aksuhe’s support!
Before Aksukh set out, the new emperor Manuel said to him: "Uncle, you should know that the Roman Empire was able to revive in my father's hands because he appointed many foreigners as ministers. The Roman aristocracy had long been corrupt, and the Roman system had fallen behind the times. I will continue my father's career and introduce more excellent foreign systems..."

"Taohuashi is a powerful country. There must be something worth learning from it. Others who went to Taohuashi as envoys could not understand the system, but you, uncle, can. I want to reform the Roman Empire and make it regain its great glory. I want to learn the good things of the West and the good things of the East."

"Uncle, you are the only one who has no interest in religion and treats all religions equally. If other ministers were sent to visit Taohuashi, they would definitely resist the truly excellent things in Taohuashi because of their different religions and customs."

The reason why Manuel was able to revive the Eastern Roman Empire was because he was not influenced by tradition.

His mother was Hungarian, his wife was German, and after his father's death he left him a group of foreign ministers, some of whom were even pagans.

The most outrageous thing is that Aksukh, a Turkic slave, actually became the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Roman Empire, the last prime minister of the interior, and the minister who held the seal.

Now, the Eastern Roman Emperor wanted to examine the Ming system and draw on its advanced experience to carry out a series of reforms.

Aksuhe hired an interpreter on the Arab merchant ship and soon met Xia Yuqing.

The translator said to Xia Yuqing: "There is only one emperor west of the Arabian Peninsula, and that is the Roman emperor (the Holy Roman Empire was ignored). This gentleman is the chancellor and commander-in-chief of Rome. He has been ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty and ask the governor to help arrange ships."

Xia Yuqing was delighted by the word "Governor". He bowed and said, "Welcome to the Ming Dynasty. There are several ships ready to return."

Two days later, the Eastern Roman delegation boarded the ship of the treasure hunting trio and stayed in the cabin next to that of the six second-generation officials.

(End of this chapter)