Eagle Byzantium

The arrogant accession of the female Caesar Anna Doukas to the throne with the golden crown of the Seven Ridges did not actually cause much shock on the entire plateau and ocean: Alexios was saddened by the loss of his daughter, but he soon had to return to the imperial capital. , start to deal with the 260,000 new dynasties that will appear in half a year Saint; Merik was so proud after capturing Konya and Ankara that he was recruiting troops and forming an offensive and defensive alliance with Marash's "Greater Armenian Empire". He even entered into an alliance with Theodore of Trabzon with the emperor's acquiescence. General Luo Gabuas opened the trade route: Pisa and ** ships have begun to shuttle along the route from Smyrna on the east coast of the Holy Sea, to the Marimara Sea, and then to Uxion, in the land of Trabzon and from the Sivas Plateau. The camel team and the horse team are in a line, alum, frankincense, honey, fabric, white Wax and other commodities began their wonderful and long journey, from the ocher yellow and emerald plateau to the black ocean, and then to the blue sea of ​​arches, and then sailed to the Apennines shrouded in sea fog, and then crossed the Alps. Pass was marketed throughout the West.

On the other hand, a large amount of light luxury goods from the newly established "State of Tarsus", represented by saffron, as precious spices and medicines, traveled along the Cyprus Sea in the cabins of Venice and Amalfi after a short voyage. In the areas of Antioch, Aleppo and Egypt It is also very popular - the entire eastern land and sea, except for Jerusalem and Tripoli, which are still raging at war, other places are unusually prosperous and peaceful. Crescent believers can already argue with the Christian kingdom merchants about the price of goods without any hesitation. .

A fast merchant ship flying the red hand flag diverted from the port of Salamis in Cyprus and entered the port of Alexandria. Then several Amalfi merchants and Tarsus merchants carried a small guard. Escorting the mules and horses, we trekked over the land, crossed the vast desert sea and the majestic pyramids, and headed to the old city of Cairo, which is now the most prosperous trading area. Stat, under the towering mosque spiers of this old city, there are squares, trade tents and countless blocks. Jews holding scriptures, Saracens in turbans, and Venetian tourists wearing soft hats. The streets were filled with the smell of the dung of beasts of burden, which hit my head. There were also some deer that had escaped from the caliphate's palace and were wandering around openly.

As a Crescent poet said, "Cairo is the anthill of all mankind."

The city now surpassed Constantinople and had a population of half a million.

This caravan from Tarsus, carrying letters written by the female Caesar Anna and the great patron Gawain, struggled to squeeze among the crowds carrying various jars, along the narrow streets like a honeycomb, and finally ended up everywhere. In the exotic building, a mysterious businessman that Gawain hoped to invite was found.

Previously, under the mediation of this mysterious businessman, Egypt's Grand Vizier Avdel finally made up his mind and formed an alliance with the pilgrims to deal with the Turks.

But now the life of this mysterious businessman is a bit sad - Godfrey, Baldwin and others began to march towards the Holy City with arms indiscriminately, which made Alfred very unhappy. The mysterious businessman was also afraid of David In revenge, Zier made up his mind to leave Cairo and go to Tarsus in Gawain to negotiate, to repay the trust of the previous grand vizier and to give him an explanation.

In the living room on the building, when the caravan representative was invited up, he saw an elegant living room with elegant scrolls hanging on the pink walls. There was only a couch, a mat, a window, and a small stove in the whole room. Just furniture. There was a red flame burning on the stove. Two young girls wearing crimson silk clothes were sandwiched in the middle of the stove, using round fans to fan the fire. They seemed to be boiling some drink in the pot. .

Another old servant with a long beard and a bun was standing at the corner of the house. He placed a ball of fine white Seleucia paper into a green "wooden trough" and quickly pounded it with a wooden pestle. While grinding, someone nearby raised a small sieve to catch a powdery substance at the exit of the wooden trough, then raised it and sifted it carefully.

The whole house was filled with light fragrance. The person leaning against the window with his back to everyone was the mysterious businessman who was also the owner of this place. He was wearing a white linen robe and a black gauze hat, and he was holding a small pair of gleaming scissors in his hand. , he was pruning a flower there in a daze, which made several Amalfi businessmen confused - what are you doing with the flower branches?

"What a pity, there is no snow all year round in the land of Malaba, only the boundless sea. I will definitely not be able to enjoy the elegance of making tea and enjoying the snow." The man sighed, put down his small scissors, and spoke in a very polite tone. It was a pleasant melody, but the Amalfi businessman did not understand the content. Then the long-bearded old servant stood beside his master with his hands folded and translated. The merchants of Amalfi and Tarsus finally understood that the mysterious man was complaining that the whole of Egypt was full of sand but no snow, which interfered with his interest in sipping the leaf drink.

The businessmen didn't understand the difference between sand and snow, but they didn't ask any questions.

Then the two girls heard the subtle boiling sound of the bottles and kettles on the stove, and said, "Master, you have to carry two and three." The man slowly took out a circle of green porcelain cups and lined them up, " The insects are chirping, the cicadas are chirping, the pines are blowing and the cypress trees are raining, it’s just the right time.”

The two girls took the bottles and pots from the fire and placed them on the small table beside the couch. After the boiling sound completely subsided, they then used another boiling kettle to rinse and preheat the green porcelain cups one by one—— The mysterious man held a porcelain dagger in his hand, scooped out some boiled oil-like substance from the bottle, and then brewed some Put boiling water in, then use the porcelain dagger to continuously tap the cup, then pour the boiling water in, and then use the porcelain dagger to quickly and lightly rotate inside, as if weaving a colorful cloud... and so on. It took seven times for the man to deliver the completed green porcelain cup to the leading businessman with a smile.

The businessman lowered his eyes and couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise. In the green porcelain cup, there was amber-colored soup with "everything is perfect, color, clarity, and weight" (the businessman could only use these words to describe it), surrounding it. There is a milky white fragrant mist, and the fine white foam in the soup outlines thin lines, which actually wind up into the shape of a bird fluttering about to fly, which is lifelike.

"How to divide tea as well as sencha, and sencha is not as skillful as dividing tea." The host looked at the astonished expressions of everyone, and suddenly felt proud, and recited this sentence, like a Sufi mystical ballad.

Then, the owner looked at the leading businessman who picked up the cup, raised his neck and drank the carefully prepared drink and "bird" in one gulp. The expression on his face was really "indescribable", and then he sighed slightly, but Still politely continue chanting, "No matter what you encounter in life, you will know who is the best if you have hobbies from the north to the south - give all the guests some ginger salt."

As a result, when ginger, coarse salt and pepper were added to the soup, the Amalfi and Tarsus merchants drank it with gusto. (To be continued ~^~)