Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 756 Arrived in Byzantium

The steam ship runs fast, not to throw off the large troops, but to detect the sea conditions for the large troops behind. The water ships made in Datang are naturally not afraid of the little wind and waves in the Black Sea, but they are produced locally. The sailboats in China are different. Even if they are sailing on the Black Sea, they often capsize because their shipbuilding technology is too backward.

Therefore, this era, including the Byzantine Empire with the most advanced technology in this area, does not have the level of sailing to explore and discover the New World.

In five days, the fleet finally crossed the Black Sea, and after concentrating the whole fleet, it began to approach the pier along the coast of Constantinople.

Perhaps it was stimulated by Datang. After Heraclius came back, he still worked hard on infrastructure construction. Although their efficiency was not high, with ten times the cost, they could only make a project like Datang's. Half of the effect on the other side, but the part of the capital Constantinople, after several years of transformation, is much better than other places in this area. At least, this wharf is quite grand, at least one-third of Weinan Wharf The size is naturally incomparable with Datang's largest Guangzhou Bay Harbor Wharf.

"Ambassador Sun, it's great to see you in your own country."

On the pier, Heraclius was dressed in the purple robes of a Byzantine emperor, with a pure gold crown inlaid with gems on his head, and holding a scepter inlaid with gems in his hand. Sun Xiangfu, who came down from the springboard, stretched out his arms and said.

I don't know why, seeing Heraclius's appearance, Sun Xiangfu suddenly thought of those diamonds in his own basement, plus the collection in the past few years, there should be at least a dozen tons!If a similar crown and scepter were built for Li Shimin, and cut and polished diamonds were inlaid on it, telling everyone that diamonds are eternal, just like the authority of the emperor, then the value of these diamonds may be incalculable.

"Your Majesty Heraclius, your Chinese level has improved a lot. It seems that our future exchanges will be even more barrier-free."

The representatives of both sides did not bend down or touch their chests to salute each other, but followed them after Heraclius and Sun Xiangfu warmly embraced and looked towards the carpet laid behind the pier.

On both sides of the carpet are the top dignitaries and ministers of the Byzantine Empire, and at the end of the carpet is a ball-bearing carriage purchased from Datang. The carriage is open and surrounded by flowers. There are eight tall white horses in front of the carriage. pull cart.

In front of the red carpet, Queen Heraclius and his sons and daughters stood. After introducing Sun Xiangfu in Chinese, Sun Xiangfu got a glimpse of the atmosphere of the Byzantine Empire during this period.

It was midsummer in July, and the empress, who represented the pinnacle of Byzantine women, wore a purple robe that exposed half of her breasts in public.

Moreover, their long skirts do not sew slits, it is more like wrapping a piece of purple silk cloth dyed purple around the body with a purple ribbon. When they walk, the slits will separate, standing Beside her, you can basically see the roots of her thighs.

Fortunately, they introduced clothing such as bras and panties in Datang. Otherwise, some of her organs might be exposed when a gust of wind blows. They are deeply influenced by Greek culture. When the weather is hot, they just use a piece of cloth , Cover up your body casually, some women from common people's families are even half-naked, no wonder those Byzantine prostitutes who went to Datang to do flesh and blood business were naked in the street, and they didn't feel ashamed at all.

On the contrary, they can implement monogamy in such an open atmosphere, which makes Sun Xiangfu quite admire.

What's more interesting is that on their side, the spouse and daughter of the head of the family also have the right to inherit, even including the throne, or the property and power of some big families. Such a tradition is almost comparable to the succession laws of various countries in later generations.

Another thing that surprised Sun Xiangfu was that the high-ranking dignitaries of the Byzantine Empire can now speak some Chinese. At least, there is no problem in simply saying hello.

It seems that the frequent exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and the Byzantine Empire in business and trade these years have played a role. Under the operation of Qu Tuquan, the secret guard commander, those students who returned from studying in the Tang Dynasty were all in the Byzantine Empire. His political path is going smoothly, and there are already many people in high positions.

"I heard that your Datang has started to mass-produce a steam car last year. Like a steam ship, it only needs kerosene to drive continuously on the road. Unfortunately, we do not have such a car in Byzantium. Please, Ambassador Sun. Concede, take our float and accept the warm welcome of all the people in Constantinople." After introducing the important figures of the country, Chirac slightly pointed to the carriageway covered with flowers.

In Sun Xiangfu's eyes, he saw not only the carriage, but also the people who were arranged by Heraclius on both sides of the road, surrounded by three or four floors. These people lined up from the pier to the city gate. Under the scorching sun, they were white His skin was already a little red.

"I am very grateful to His Majesty Heraclius and the people of the Byzantine Empire for welcoming us. On behalf of His Majesty the Tang Emperor, I have brought some gifts to the people of Byzantium. Please join me Wait for a while, the people of our mission need to unload the gifts brought over and distribute them to the people."

Sun Xiangfu said, and waved to the people on both sides of the road. At this time, Heraclius saw the Tang army guards who went ashore. They quickly unloaded the carts from the boat one by one. Assemble them, and at the same time, some baskets filled with colorful papers were also unloaded from the sailing cargo ship. These colored papers were wrapped with fruit-scented candies.

One car, two cars, three cars, until Heraclius couldn't count how many cars there were, Xue Li ran over and reported to Sun Xiangfu that it was almost enough, and Heraclius realized that Sun Xiangfu was going to give everyone The people who came to welcome them hand out candy.

You must know that the price of these candies that are produced in the Tang Dynasty and can be sweet to people's hearts is more expensive in Byzantium than in the Tubo Plateau. Coming here is several times farther than transporting to the Tubo Plateau.

But Sun Xiangfu is going to distribute it to everyone now. You know, there are tens of thousands of people, and even if each person has one, it will cost more than ten thousand catties.

And would Sun Xiangfu do such a stingy thing, just give out one candy to the common people?
Of course not, he represents Datang's face.

Therefore, after the floats started to move, the guards mobilized 1000 people, in groups of two, to pull [-] freshly assembled carts, and began to distribute candy to the people.

There are a total of more than 1 people in the mission, and the rest of the staff also help together. A group of more than a dozen or twenty people surrounds a sugar cart and hands out candies to Byzantine people on both sides of the road. People who can reach out to the envoy team, no matter men, women, old or young, can get a lot of candies.

These cars may not look like assembled carts, but one cart can pull nearly a thousand catties. Five hundred carts are enough to weigh nearly 50 catties. With 50 people, there is simply no way to send them all.

On the boat, this time Sun Xiangfu brought 200 shi of candy, which was more than [-] million catties, enough for him to send special missions in various public places in Byzantium.

"That's too, I'm so sorry."

Seeing those people who had already dispersed in the queue because they had candy to take, Chirac said a little embarrassedly.

It is also a big empire, and Datang's wealth and wealth even made him feel inferior, but he didn't know that after the 36 states of Anxi were taken over by Datang, many orchards had been developed long ago, and these candies were made on the spot Yes, the cost of arriving in Constantinople quickly by boat is not as high as before, and you can buy at least five or six catties with usual money.

And these people who reached out to the mission and ate candy will definitely plant a seed of goodness from Datang people in their hearts. This is much more meaningful to Datang than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sun Xiangfu smiled and waved to the people on both sides of the road, and then took the words, "There is nothing to be ashamed of, the wish of His Majesty the Tang Dynasty has always been to make the lives of the people in the world better, whether it is to join, It's the same for those who haven't joined our Datang.

Therefore, I was sent to help you develop the agricultural planting industry, hoping that the people in your country can also have endless food and sweets, and live a better life. "

Speaking of this, even a person like Heraclius who has already raised his guard against Datang has nothing to say. Datang has indeed done what they said, giving the people of every merged kingdom, Allocate land and housing industries, and do public infrastructure construction, so that the local people can live a good life quickly.

The people in those newly merged areas only need to obey the government's arrangements, and their lives will get better and better. When this situation becomes a common understanding of everyone, those who originally belonged to various countries The common people will be very active and consciously cooperate with the arrangements of the Tang government, which makes the government's work of Anmin more smooth, forming a virtuous circle.

Moreover, these things cannot be imitated by Heraclius, because they do not have science and technology, and they do not have capable talents in all aspects. The various departments of the Tang government have prepared quite complete and professional officials.

For example, the officials in charge of engineering must have graduated from engineering colleges. He knows how to do most projects and how to lead the people to do the work beautifully and easily.

The officials in charge of agriculture come from agricultural colleges. They only need to survey the land under their control to know which crops will be high-yield, which land is suitable for planting, and which land is not suitable for planting.

And after they report these statistics to the county magistrate or the governor of the state, they will soon be included in the overall planning of the construction of cities and villages. When this happens, the agricultural output and agricultural efficiency of the entire region will increase a lot.

In addition, the government has a complete set of plans for the price of the various crops after they are produced, sold to merchants, or organized, processed into commodities and then sold to the outside world. Like the parents of the common people, they lead the common people and do things for their benefit, so that these ordinary people who can't do anything seem to be able to do everything suddenly. Then, after a comparison, the whole gap , went to the sea.

There is no comparison between a country that is constantly improving in a virtuous circle and a country that is constantly falling in a vicious circle. Therefore, Heraclius can only watch Sun Xiangfu do small favors to buy people's hearts in his country, and Sun Xiangfu The real purpose of coming to Byzantium is not to give small favors, but to give real benefits to the people of the Byzantine Empire.

(End of this chapter)