Capital Datang

Looking from Li Ke's boat from afar, I saw a sea of ​​people on the pier. Almost all the people in Constantinople who heard the news came, stretching their necks and looking out to the sea.And in this sea of ​​people, facing the direction of Li Ke's bow, a group of people stood there surrounded by soldiers to protect them, separating other civilians. They were obviously nobles in the city.

In front of these large number of nobles, there was a small group of people wearing gorgeous purple robes.Li Ke had been introduced by Ke Lisi and knew that purple was the exclusive color of the Eastern Roman royal family. In the front of this group of people stood a man and a woman. The man was wearing a crown on his head and holding a crown in his right hand. The scepter, the left hand holds the orb that symbolizes the earth, and the young face is full of majesty. He should be Constans II.

And the woman next to her is also very young, with delicate features and fair skin, long brown hair draped over her shoulders, with a reserved smile on her face, luxurious and polite, no need to guess, this beautiful Roman The woman should be Queen Irina of the Eastern Roman Empire.

When Li Ke was looking at the people on the dock, the people on the dock were also looking at their fleet that came from afar, but most of them didn't notice Li Ke on the warship, but focused their eyes on On the four warships in front, although the Eastern Romans were always proud of their navy, it was the first time they saw such a huge warship, especially compared with the Roman warships leading the way ahead, it seemed even more like Li Ke and the others. The warship on board is tall and mighty.

"It's such a huge warship. No wonder the Han people who came to Rome said that although our navy is strong, it is much worse than the navies of the Tang and Qi. I didn't believe it at first. But today I saw the Han people. Warship, now I finally believe it." Irina next to Constance II stared at her beautiful eyes.Said with an unbelievable expression on his face.Capital Datang 648

"That's not necessarily the case. There are many factors that affect the outcome of a sea battle. It doesn't mean that a big ship will definitely win. If you let your subordinates fight with the Han Chinese navy, you may not be sure of defeating them!" Hearing Irina's words, standing Forres, who was behind Constance II, spoke a little unconvinced.

Speaking of which, Forres is not from the royal family, his title is only Grand Duke, and he should stand among the courtiers outside the royal family.But because of his special relationship with Constans II, no matter what the occasion, he is the closest person to Constans II after Queen Irina.

"The Grand Duke is right. Although the warships of our Roman Navy are small, they are rowed by oars. They are very flexible in combat, and the bow can also spray Greek fire that cannot be extinguished, so as long as our warships Relying on the flexibility to approach such a huge warship, no matter how huge it is, it will be burned to ashes!" Although Constance II was shocked by the size of the Han warship, he was also very confident in his navy , plus in this case.In any case, he can't say that his navy is inferior to others.

Except for the three of Constans II, almost all the nobles and commoners around were discussing the four warships brought by Li Ke.Instead, he ignored Li Ke on the warship until the warship slowly docked.Constans II and the others just woke up, and immediately stepped forward to meet Li Ke.

"Wu Wang Li Ke of the Tang Dynasty. Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of Rome!" Li Ke saw that Constans II stepped forward to greet him in person, stepped off the boat immediately, and then bowed and saluted.

Originally, according to the Roman law, foreign envoys were also required to kneel when they met the Roman emperor, but this law only applies to those weak countries, and countries like Datang that are several times stronger than Rome are naturally not there. What's more, Li Ke is still the prince of the Tang Dynasty, and his status is not inferior to that of Constans II. Therefore, when meeting for the first time, Li Ke only needs to follow ordinary etiquette.

At this time, Xi Luo also came down and was in charge of interpreting for Constans II, and Constans II also seemed very excited after hearing this, stepped forward to help Li Ke up himself, and then said: " Your Highness King Wu is welcome, your presence will make the entire city of Constantine feel radiant!"

One is the emperor of Rome and the other is the prince of the Tang Dynasty. The meeting between the two is obviously of great significance. Coupled with the alliance between Rome and the Tang Dynasty, the meeting is very pleasant, although the language is somewhat However, because of the two interpreters, Xi Luo and Ke Lisi, the communication was very pleasant.

After all the following fleets docked, under the warm welcome of the residents of Constantinople, Li Ke took the same car with Constantinople and his wife, and then entered the Holy Palace.In the La Magnol Palace in the Holy Palace, Constance II first greeted Li Shimin behind Li Ke, and then chatted a few words about the relationship between the two countries, as well as the recent developments of Dashi. Then he changed the subject and asked Li Ke the purpose of his trip.

And Li Ke didn't hide it, he told Constance II very generously that he was going to America, but just happened to meet Lu Wan and his fleet exploring the route, so he took the risk to cross the Red Sea and Suez Canals come to Rome.In addition, Li Ke also expressed the hope that Constance II can provide some convenience for their fleet, so that the fleet can complete maintenance and replenishment as soon as possible, and also hopes that the other party can provide a guide to keep their fleet safe. across the Mediterranean.

After listening to Li Ke's words, Constans II frowned imperceptibly. At first he thought that the other party was a special envoy sent by the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, but he didn't expect that the other party was just passing by, so this made him Somewhat disappointed.However, Queen Irina, who was next to him, looked at Li Ke with admiration, because she never thought that this distinguished Tang prince would risk his life to explore the sea.

However, Constantinople quickly reacted, because no matter what the purpose of Li Ke's trip was, the key point was that he had already come to Constantinople, and the political significance contained in it was extremely important, which was very important for the emperor. For Tans II, it was enough.

Thinking of this, Constance II showed a sincere smile again and said: "It turns out that this is the case, don't worry, Your Royal Highness, I will order people to prepare everything your fleet needs in the shortest possible time, but Your Highness finally came to Rome, so don't leave in a hurry, I believe that many nobles in the court are waiting to entertain His Highness, and then you can also appreciate our Roman customs."

After listening to Xi Luo's translation, Li Ke also laughed and replied: "Your Majesty is so kind, how can Li Ke refuse? What's more, before I came to Rome, I planned to appreciate the customs of Rome."

After talking about the business, Li Ke and Constans II began to chat about some digressions. Among them, Constans II was very interested in the customs of the Tang Dynasty. He had learned about it through Xi Luo before, but he did not Comprehensive, now that Li Ke, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, is here, Constance II will naturally not miss this opportunity, so he asked him a lot about the customs and customs of the Central Plains, and Li Ke also took the opportunity to learn about Eastern Rome. The state of the empire.

The conversation in the morning passed quickly, and in the afternoon, Constance II held a grand banquet in the Holy Palace to welcome Li Ke and his entourage.

It was the first time for Li Ke to attend a Roman banquet, so he asked Chris for some precautions.Speaking of which, the Romans had a strong class concept, and even banquets were divided into grades. For example, in this banquet, Constans II and his wife and some princes and grand dukes were the first class. They will bring their wives to the banquet , and only responsible for entertaining the four main characters Li Ke, Lu Wan, Wang Fangyi and Cen Changqian, and the other people were entertained by the corresponding nobles in another palace.

The place where the banquet was held was the Daffna Palace, where Constans II lived, which highlighted the high standard of the banquet. Because Roman women had a higher status, the Roman nobles who attended the banquet were all They brought their female companions, most of them were their wives, and some men brought their own daughters to participate, and all of them were young aristocratic women. It is estimated that they are also very interested in Li Ke, the heroic prince of the Tang Dynasty. So I want to get closer to each other at the banquet.

This was a relatively formal banquet, so Li Ke was wearing gorgeous and cumbersome royal clothes. Originally, he did not bring his own royal clothes when he left Taiwan, but later he decided to come to Rome, so he needed royal clothes. The king's clothes are very complicated, and it won't be ready in a short time. In the end, I had no choice but to borrow a set from Li Zhen. The two of them are about the same size, so there is no problem in wearing them.Capital Datang 648

Because you can bring a female companion, and because Ke Lisi is also Li Ke's translator, this little slave girl also put on the gorgeous palace attire of a Han woman, took Li Ke's arm, and followed him to the banquet hall nervously. .And behind them, there are the three of them who are single, Lu Wan. They would like to bring a female companion, but except for Ke Lisi, the entire fleet is all men, and since they just arrived in Constantinople today, there is no I came to know the local aristocratic woman, so I can only come here alone.

After Li Ke and the others came in, the entire banquet hall was closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Constance II and his wife and the nobles attending the banquet had already arrived ahead of schedule.There are more than a dozen large marble tables in the hall. The tables are covered with clean white tablecloths. Next to the tables, there are three beds. When eating, men can lie on the bed to eat, but women and children can eat. Can only sit and eat.

It's not that the Romans discriminated against children and women, but that they believed that eating while lying down had higher demands on the stomach, and women's children had weaker stomachs, so they couldn't afford this relaxed way of eating.

Seeing Li Ke coming in, the nobles sitting there stood up to greet him, and Ciro helped introduce themselves, but Li Ke couldn't remember the names of the Romans at all. Fortunately, the little slave girl next to him was very smart. After Xi Luo introduced it once, she could remember it, which saved Li Ke a lot of trouble.

At this moment, Constance II greeted Li Ke: "His Royal Highness King Wu, please sit on my right, the banquet is about to begin!" (To be continued...)