At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 599: Overthrow of Han imperialism and awakening of the elders

The Third Punic War ended with the death of Roman military consul Laenas, the death of tens of thousands of Roman soldiers, and the capture of tens of thousands of soldiers. Because of the defeat, Sica and Sardinia were ceded, and the entire island of Sicily was burned by the flames of war.

Even though the Carthaginians gave up Sicily later, they plundered everything they could on the island before leaving. They took away any gold jewelry, bronze, ironware, food, cloth, and even the sculptures on the fountains from the islanders. If Xiong Ju had not stopped them, the Carthaginians would have even wanted to set fire to the island before leaving.

Affected by the defeat, the once prosperous and bustling city of Rome became unusually depressed during this period. There was a hint of panic in the communications between Roman citizens. They were afraid that Carthage, the enemy that had brought huge casualties to Rome, had resurrected again, and that they had found a new general "Hannibal". The surname Barca had become a taboo in the city of Rome.

As a result of this war, the Han people, who had a very good reputation in Rome, also lost their reputation. In all the major taverns in Rome, people cursing the Han people and the Han people were everywhere.

Even in some high-end teahouses and coffee shops, Roman scholars and noble knights were criticizing the Han army's support for the Carthaginians, accusing the Han people of hegemonism. They said that the Romans should unite with the countries in the Mediterranean region to oppose the hegemony of the Han Dynasty. There were even Roman scholars saying that Daqinzhou belonged to Greek civilization, etc. In short, compared with the Roman citizens in the tavern, the insults these scholars said to the Han people were extremely harsh.

May 39, the 5th year of the Han Dynasty, Roman Port.

Dozens of young people dressed in Hanfu came down to the dock.

Claudius looked at his hometown and said excitedly: "Rome, we are back."

Then he looked at his companions and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Aemilius said: "I want to join the army and become a Roman general, conquer vast territories for Rome, and make the Roman Empire as great as the Han Empire."

Fabius said: "Nowadays, only by developing industry can a country become strong. I plan to build factories in Rome. Build textile mills and flour mills. Use the money earned from the textile and flour industries to build steel mills and steam engine factories. I want to build Rome into an industrial city like the Han Dynasty."

Cornelius said: "An industrial zone in the Han Dynasty requires tens of billions of dollars of investment. It is impossible for you to develop an industrial zone as powerful as the Han Dynasty with your own strength. I will find a way to become the lord of the local city first and use the power of the entire Rome to build industry."

Just when these returning international students were imagining their future, they suddenly found that the Roman citizens around them were looking at them with strange eyes, which made them feel puzzled. Was there something wrong with their clothes?

Someone pointed at their clothes and said, "These people are wearing Han clothes. They are Han people. Citizens should take off their clothes and burn them."

After that, a group of people asked Claudius inexplicably: "What's going on?"

Aemilius said, "Now is not the time to think about this. If we are surrounded by these people, we will not be able to escape. Let's form a formation and then charge in one direction."

In this era, military force is one of the most important components of national strength, so the Han Dynasty’s academies have one month of military training every year, just like the military training in later generations, except that this military training is more formal and students can also come into contact with muskets.

Claudius and his men had also gone through four years of training. After seeing this situation, they immediately formed a small square formation, discarded their luggage, and rushed in one direction.

The organized versus the unorganized, they broke out of the encirclement as soon as they met, and then quickly fled back to Claudius's home.

"What's going on? How come Rome has become so chaotic in just four years, with people looting in broad daylight?" Fabius said with lingering fear.

He never expected that when he returned to his long-missed homeland, he would be greeted not with a warm welcome, but surrounded by a group of rioters.

Claudius's butler said, "Young masters, don't wear Hanfu in Rome in the future, otherwise you will be considered as Han people by the citizens of Rome, and you may be beaten to death by them."

"A fine man?"

The housekeeper explained: "Han people in spirit."

Then the butler told Claudius and other international students about Rome's disastrous defeat in the three Punic Wars more than a month ago and the experience of ceding territory in exchange for peace.

The housekeeper said angrily: "It is because of the steel cannons provided by the Han army that our Roman navy suffered a disastrous defeat. Now the city of Rome is driving away Han merchants everywhere and burning Han people's silk, tea, spices and other goods. You will naturally be besieged by citizens if you come back wearing Han clothes.

Claudius and his companions looked at each other in bewilderment. They had boarded a ship and embarked on the journey back to Rome more than two months ago. At that time, the war had not yet broken out and the relationship between the Han Dynasty and Rome was still very friendly.

But what no one expected was that after they had only been on the ship for two months, the situation had changed drastically, and Rome and the Han Dynasty suddenly became mortal enemies.

However, when they heard that the Han army helped the Carthaginians, Rome's mortal enemy, defeat their own country and caused the Roman consul to die on the battlefield, even though these international students had a good impression of the Han people, they were still indignant.

"I discovered in Chang'an that the Han people are extremely overbearing. They always think that what they do is right and that their rules are the best in the world. They do not allow others to refute or oppose them. Now they are forcing the rules of the Han Dynasty on us Romans.

The Han Dynasty has now embarked on a wrong path. They are not following the path of the kingly way they claimed, but the tyrannical path of the Qin Dynasty, the imperialist behavior of the First Emperor. "Fabius became more and more angry as he spoke, and he took off his Hanfu, threw it to the ground, and stepped on it several times.

Then he said: "We should organize the citizens of Rome to march and demonstrate to protest the Han army's easy interference in the internal affairs of our Great Qin Continent. We should let the Han people see the power of our Rome."

Other international students also said excitedly: "Fabius is right. We must not only protest, but also severely condemn the imperialist behavior of the Han Dynasty. They are slaughtering our Roman citizens. They are committing a crime."

Even though these international students were close to the Han Dynasty, they could not accept the Han army invading their country and causing heavy losses to their country.

Claudius stopped them, saying, "This is Rome. What's the point of organizing a demonstration to protest the imperialist behavior of the Han Dynasty? The Han people are not in Rome. They can't see these actions at all. The citizens of the Han Dynasty may not know where Rome is, or even that there is a war."

Hearing this, the group of international students fell silent. They had been in the Han Dynasty for four years, but the mention of Rome in the Han Dynasty Monthly Report was very few. If they had not returned to China, they would not even know about this war.

What a humiliating thing it was. The Han army had dealt a heavy blow to the Romans, but the citizens of the Han Dynasty were basically unaware of this. They were like ants on the roadside, being trampled to death, and no one knew about it.

"Even if we want to take revenge on the Han people, we shouldn't use this method. Instead, we should find a way to develop our own Roman steel cannons, strengthen Rome's military power, and fight back. This is the right way."

Rome City, Zhao Mansion.

If you have money, you can live comfortably in most areas. Hu Hai had been in Rome for less than half a year, but because he was willing to spend money, he built a Han-style courtyard house in the core area of ​​Rome. The riots in Rome did not affect this area. The Roman elders took the initiative to send troops to guard the area around the consulate to prevent Roman citizens from entering, so this area remained peaceful.

Standing in front of this courtyard, Apatius couldn't help but sigh at the pure Han style of this courtyard.

Hu Hai adapted very well to life in Rome. Slaves were too cheap in Rome, and there were slave owners everywhere. He did not have to worry about being seen as an outsider by using slaves. He lived a life of feasting and drinking, and quickly penetrated into the upper class of Roman society.

Although the middle and lower classes of Rome had become the mainstream of society by cursing the Han people, and the Roman elders had to curse the overbearing Han people in front of Roman citizens in order to get votes, the upper class Romans, with fear and admiration, people like Hu Hai actually had a superior status in Rome. Hu Hai was originally a top-notch playboy, and this behavior habit made him more integrated into Rome. In addition, his Han identity and wealth helped him establish friendships with many Roman elders.

On this day, Roman senators such as Apatius and Maxius came to Hu Hai's courtyard.

Hu Hai naturally gave a warm welcome to his friends, and he specially brought out the singing girls he had been mediating for several months to show these Roman elders the authentic Han Chinese songs and dances. At the same time, he also set up a Han Chinese banquet.

Eating the big man's food, drinking the big man's wine, watching the authentic big man's songs and dances, these elders were dazzled for a while, but fortunately these elders had also experienced top-level enjoyment and recovered quickly.

Apatius said, "The Carthaginians were able to win this war. The 100 steel cannons that the Han Dynasty leased to the Carthaginians were one of the decisive factors for the victory of the war. I heard that you are the top private bank in the Han Dynasty and also a powerful top family within the Han Dynasty. I wonder if you can help us Romans get the technology to cast steel cannons."

At this time, Rome had not yet decayed. Their artillery was clearly nearly twice that of the enemy, but they were overwhelmed on the battlefield. Even a military consul was killed in battle. Naturally, the Roman senators had to investigate the reasons.

They questioned the captured soldiers and learned from them that the enemy's artillery was more powerful than theirs. Basically, the paddle boats would be sunk if they were hit by one shot. Moreover, the range was more than twice theirs. They had to endure more than 10 rounds of enemy artillery attacks before they could reach the range of their artillery. In the end, the enemy's artillery was also very accurate, with a hit rate more than twice theirs. So although they had more artillery, they were suppressed by the Carthaginian and Han coalition forces in terms of firepower.

The Roman elders were already preparing to solve the problem of ships. They had the Han Dynasty's ships in their hands. This war made them realize the importance of watertight compartments. Three of the five battleships eliminated from the Han Dynasty were sunk. Two were severely damaged but escaped from Rome.

The three battleships that were sunk were hit by more than a dozen shells. As for the two warships that escaped back to Rome, they counted that there were a total of 35 shells, which penetrated two and three watertight compartments respectively. However, because the other watertight compartments were intact, the two warships had already escaped back.

Now the Romans planned to fully learn the advanced technology of the Han Dynasty and build battleships with watertight compartments in their own shipyards. Even the battleships that were already under construction began to add watertight compartment structures, fully learning from the Han Dynasty's sea vessels, using harder wood and thicker decks.

However, there were real shipbuilding technologies that could be copied, and the Romans could learn from them, but they had only seen the power of the Han Dynasty's steel cannons. Once it was used against the Huns, and the king of kings, Laoshang Chanyu, died on the battlefield; once it was used against them, and the Roman navy was almost wiped out. These two wars made the Han Dynasty's steel cannons famous, and it was almost passed down as a sacred weapon, with the rule that anyone hit would die.

In this case, the Romans naturally wanted to copy the steel cannon, but they didn't know what the steel cannon looked like. But from the name, they could infer that it was a cannon made of steel, which could withstand greater pressure than iron. Roman engineers could also understand that the steel cannon had a longer range than the iron cannon.

But knowing about steel cannon is one thing, but how to make it has become a difficult problem to solve. The Romans did not have converter technology, and their steel was mainly fried steel. This technical process determined that Roman steel could not be mass-produced. A steel cannon required one or two tons of iron, but a pot of fried steel only weighed a few dozen kilograms, and it was difficult to exceed a hundred kilograms at most. With such a small amount of steel, let alone making cannons, it would be a bit difficult to even refine mortars.

The Roman engineers did experiment with using a traditional method to make steel cannons. They poured dozens of kilograms of steel each time and poured dozens of furnaces of steel to barely make an ugly steel cannon. As a result, during the experiment, eight gunners were killed directly. After that, the Roman engineers continued to reduce the amount of gunpowder and continued to experiment several times. They found that the range of the steel cannon cast in this way was not as long as that of the iron cannon.

The Romans did not want to be suppressed by the Han people in terms of weapons. They urgently needed to obtain steel cannon technology, but they asked dozens of Han sea merchants, but they all shook their heads and said that they could not get this technology. They did not even have a steel cannon. Finally, the Roman elders thought of Hu Hai, who was rich and powerful.

Hu Hai smiled and refused, "You elders, you think too highly of me. I am just a merchant in the Han Dynasty. The top families in the Han Dynasty are the dukes and marquises. For someone like me who doesn't even have a title, I have no right to be called a top family. The rich are not self-proclaimed."

Steel cannon technology is a technology that the Han Dynasty does not pass on to outsiders. Not to mention that he doesn't know it, even if he knows it, he dare not disclose it. Although the Han emperor has a good temper and a broad mind, he will ruthlessly wipe out anyone who is his enemy.

This is how the noble families of the Qin Dynasty were banished to the wilderness by the Han Emperor. Now almost all of the upper nobles of the Han Dynasty are new nobles, and have almost no connection with the original aristocratic system of three thousand years.

It can also be seen from this that becoming the enemy of the Han Emperor is an extremely terrible thing. Even his father, who was so powerful, was defeated by the Han Emperor. Anyway, he did not dare to be the enemy of the Han Emperor. He was able to live so freely these years because he knew that he could not touch the bottom line of the Han Emperor.

Although Apatius and the others had expected this, they were still disappointed.

This Punic War awakened the Roman senators and made them fully understand that the era when the Romans had the final say in the Mediterranean was no longer the era when they, the Romans, had the final say.

After waking up, these Roman senators were even more distressed. The Carthaginians were defeated by them, and the Seleucus was also defeated by them. There was no rival for them in the entire Mediterranean region.

According to their original strategy, Rome's strategy at this time should be to move eastward to occupy the rich Asia Minor region, but now after this war, they realize that their military strength is far inferior to that of the Han Dynasty, and they dare not bite the fat meat at their mouths. Unable to move eastward, and suppressed by the Han Dynasty in the Mediterranean region, where is their future? This is where the Roman high-level officials are confused.

Hu Hai thought for a moment and said, "Even if you Romans obtain steel cannon technology, you can't be the opponent of the Han Dynasty. The Suez Canal has been dug for more than three years. It is said that the project is going very smoothly. In seven years at most, the connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean will be opened. By then, the Han Dynasty's Tianzhu Fleet can enter the Mediterranean along the Red Sea. I won't talk about how strong the Han Dynasty's Tianzhu Fleet is. I will tell you that the Tianzhu Fleet has 1660 steel cannons and a flagship of 5000 tons. If these cannons bombard Rome, Rome will be reduced to ruins."

Apatius sighed dejectedly. In fact, when the Han people entered the Mediterranean region, he was vaguely aware that the Roman hegemony had ended, but he had always faced this problem. Now they were awakened by the Han people. Even if they really destroyed Carthage, they could not be the opponent of Carthage.

When Hu Hai saw the disappointed and desperate expressions on the faces of these elders, he felt extremely contemptuous. With such ability, they wanted to govern the country. He didn't even know if they could be a county magistrate in the Han Dynasty.

Hu Hai said: "If you can't attack the south, don't you have any idea of ​​expanding to the north? As far as I know, the north of Rome is an extremely vast area, where only natives like Gaul live. It's ok that you can't defeat the Han, but your muskets and cannons can't be so powerful that you can't even defeat the natives."

"Gaul?" Apatius had never really thought about this. It was like the expansion of the Central Plains dynasties. They rarely thought of expanding to the northern grasslands. When talking about the northern grasslands, everyone's impression was that it was a cold and barren place. Countless Hu people would come out of this land and kill all the people in the Central Plains. This had already been imprinted in people's minds.

The Romans were the same. They had the same impression of the Gauls: brutal, barbaric, poor, and often invading Rome. To the Romans, Gaul was a world outside of civilization.

Maxius said disappointedly: "Gaul has nothing but barbarians. What's the point of occupying such a wild land?"

Hu Hai said disdainfully: "How can there be useless land in this world? Even if it is used for grazing, it can still raise a lot of cattle and sheep. You have signed a trade agreement with the Han Dynasty, and these lands can also help you make a lot of money. If the Han Dynasty also thinks like you, there will be no huge territory occupying four continents."

Then Hu Hai took out a world map and said to the Roman region: "Look at your country, it is scattered in the east and west. It is only because of the sea transportation that your country can be connected. But now that the Han Dynasty has come, the advantage at sea has become the Han Dynasty's, and your country has been divided by the Han Dynasty. But if you, Rome, expand to the north and occupy the Gaul area, wouldn't the territory of Rome be connected as a whole, and have a depth of thousands of miles? This is the territory that a real great power should have. Now that you, Rome, occupy this little territory, how can you have the nerve to call yourself a great power?"

Apatius patted his head repeatedly, then looked at Hu Hai excitedly and said: "You are truly the prophet of Rome. Your wisdom is as broad as the Mediterranean Sea and as hot as the sun. You have pointed out the way forward for Rome."

With Hu Hai's reminder, Apatius suddenly realized that the times had changed and the level of technology had also changed. The Gauls, who were previously considered to be quite powerful by the Romans, could only sing and dance in front of the Romans' flintlock rifles.

In the past two years, the frequency of Gauls' invasions of Rome has dropped significantly. Even when there were reports of Gallic invasions, they were defeated by local legions. Rome's focus has always been in the south of the Mediterranean, and they did not pay attention to the news. For them, it was better if the Gauls' combat effectiveness decreased. However, they did not think deeply about whether the Gauls' combat effectiveness did not decrease, but their Roman combat effectiveness increased too fast.

And because of the Han Dynasty's advanced agricultural tools, the Gaul region that was difficult to develop before can now be developed. Just as Hu Hai said, even if it is just raising cattle and sheep, it can create considerable wealth, not to mention its military value. Only with these thousands of miles of hinterland can Rome be considered a real great power. Now Rome can only be a medium-sized country bullied by the Han Dynasty.

Apatius thought that as long as Rome developed the blast furnace area that covered thousands of miles, it would be able to feed tens of millions more Roman citizens, and then Rome would surely become a powerful country that even the Han Dynasty would not dare to underestimate in the future.

Apatius said respectfully: "If you have any other opinions about Rome, please enlighten me, Master."

"Master!" Hu Hai looked at Apatius with amusement. It was the first time that someone called him a master. The status of a master in the Han Dynasty was not low, especially since Xu Fan, the founding emperor, was a master. Now that he became the emperor emeritus, he appeared more often in front of the people of the Han Dynasty as a master, which further increased the sacredness of the profession of master.

At least Hu Hai was very happy to hear this. He smiled and said, "If a country wants to be rich, it must build railways diligently. If a country wants to be strong, it must build railways even more."

(End of this chapter)