Chapter 13 The Empress Dowager of Rome

The messenger was scolded by Zhang Wen, and he was kicked out without even a chance to speak. He stood at the door of the house and looked at the plaque hanging under the eaves. Although he did not know the Chinese characters on it, the dignified and generous official script was domineering in his eyes, revealing irresistible majesty. He sighed, looked at the soft pass in his hand, and ran out helplessly. As he walked, he muttered, "These damn Han people are really a waste. Such a good paper only wrote a few words."

Yes, this paper pass looks very wasteful. A red column was drawn on the snow-white rice paper one foot long and three inches wide. Zhang Wen wrote a few words on it, and then stamped it. That's all, the whole piece of paper looks very empty. Tianzhu does not produce paper, and even the scriptures are written on Beiye. Over the years, some Han merchants have shipped paper to Tianzhu for sale, but the price is very expensive. Not to mention that ordinary people can't afford it, they can only occasionally see it in the palace. Only when they ask senior monks to copy the scriptures, they are willing to use these pieces of paper as expensive as gold. Now, Zhang Wen casually wrote a hand order, using this kind of high-quality paper.

The messenger was very envious. When he handed the order to Zhou Xun, he looked at the paper reluctantly. Zhou Xun found the greed in his eyes and smiled, "How much is Tianzhu's paper?"

"It's hard to say. Some are very expensive, and some are slightly cheaper." The messenger muttered, "The gold I've seen in the palace is not as good as this paper."

"It will be fine after trade." Zhou Xun smiled, wrote his name on it, and then used the seal. The steady red mud with dark and shiny ink, coupled with his stretched and elegant calligraphy, even if he couldn't understand it, he could taste the beauty of it. Although the messenger didn't know Chinese characters, he was also attracted to smile: "Your Excellency, good calligraphy."

"I'm flattered." Zhou Xun smiled politely and asked the soldiers around him to lead the ship. Although the soldiers looked down on these Tianzhu people, Zhou Xun was very strict and did not allow them to be presumptuous to others, so they did not show much arrogance towards the messenger.

When they arrived at the seaside, a team took the documents and invited the messengers on the ship. Soon, the ship sailed out of the harbor. Many people greeted loudly along the way. They spoke Chinese, and even several Sinhalese people sandwiched in it spoke a hard Chinese. Although the tone was very strange, the soldiers on the ship were very enthusiastic. Respond to them. The Sinhalese smiled proudly and fought with the Han people next to them.

"You and the Sinhalese are very good." The messenger asked the team leader around him.

"We are friends." The team smiled proudly and said, "The most beautiful princess of Sinhala has become the Zhaoyi of our king. Ceylon and Yue are now in-laws."

The messenger frowned, stroked theboard of the ship, and was silent. The slender hull quickly separated the waves, like a flying fish, sailing forward briskly. The messenger looked at the ship. There were no weapons on the ship. In addition to carrying weapons with the team and several soldiers, the style of the ship was also a common warship in Vietnam, which was completely different from Tianzhu's warship. Just like this brightly painted hull, it is rattling, which makes people feel at ease.

"Is this ship safe?" The messenger said tentatively, "It's been a windy season recently."

"Don't worry, our ship can't be overturned by one or two waves." The team smiled, paused for a moment, and then said, "Even if we are unlucky and hit the reef, we can plug the loophole as soon as possible. No matter how bad it is, we will have enough time to escape. It will never ruin your life."

"Why?" The messenger looked curious.

"Why?" The team leader turned his head and looked at him, with an obvious sense of vigilance in his eyes. He was silent for a moment and said with a cover-up smile, "Because this is my warship in Vietnam."

The messenger was a little disappointed in his heart, but he did not dare to show it on his face, for fear that the team would be suspicious and unfavorable to him. He pretended to be inadvertently and paid attention to the ship. At the same time, he talked about some small business with the team leader. There were Ceylon and Vietnam. This team leader seemed to often perform such tasks and was wary of high surnames. When asked about confidential questions, he pulled the topic away, or simply didn't hear it.

As Zhang Wen said, one day and one night later, the ship arrived at the Pandia boundary, but it has now become Lu Mo's barracks. A large group of pirates who had just returned from fishing saw the messenger of Tianzhu from afar, screaming strangely, and some blew a loud whistle. The team led the messenger to the shore and found Lu Mao. Lu Mao, who was wearing a short suit, looked at the messenger and did not embarrass him. He gave him a fast horse.

The messenger rushed back to Madurai in just one day and told Akadi about Ceylon. Akadi became angry as soon as he heard it, but when he calmed down, he couldn't come up with a better solution. The messenger told him about what he had seen and heard in Ceylon in the past few days, because the Yue people built a city there, which was very lively now. Many rare goods were traded there. The Sinhalese could make a fortune, and they had in-laws with Yue. Even if they were greedy for their wealth, they could only watch.

Akadi thought about it all night, and finally had to leave immediately according to Zhang Wen's requirements. He was not afraid of Zhang Wen. No matter how good the country was, they did not have the strength to land and fight for the time being. What he was most worried about were Zhu Luo, Zhe Luo and Ji Luo. If they had a deal with the Yue people and he lost the opportunity, then Pandia, where they are in the middle, is in danger. This truth is not complicated, and Akadi is not a fool. In this situation, he can only swallow his anger and try not to offend others.

Along the way, he was on his way, thinking about the situation he might face. He was very entangled and sighed from time to time.

Akadi didn't know that Divia, the king of Zero, and Bahar, the king of Jiluo, were also on their way at this moment, and just one day in front of him, they received Zhang Wen's request like Akadi. With the same mentality, they did not dare to neglect it for a moment, for fear that they would become the least valued person.

Within four days, the four kings rushed to Ceylon one after another, and Zhang Wen began to negotiate with them. Zhang Wen proposed that the state of Yue was established by commerce and was not interested in your land, so you have a hundred hearts. The previous war was caused by Ferroz, the king of Zhuluo. He was defeated and captured and had received due punishment. The king of my family was mainly benevolent. In order to show goodwill, he prepared to send Zhuluo back and gave some property as compensation to show his sincerity. I invited you four families to come this time because I am going to do business with you. Here is a list of goods that I can provide and the goods that I need. You have a look first, and then bring out a list that you can provide for discussion.

After saying that, Zhang Wen sent a few pieces of paper to everyone's hands, and then looked at everyone with a smile, with a kind smile on his face, but in his eyes, he naturally had a little self-confidence and majesty unique to the imperial envoys.

The tedious negotiations began. On the surface, everyone seemed to be polite, but in their hearts, they were all thinking about other people's thoughts and measuring the pros and disadvantages of each condition for themselves. The most urgent thing is to see what goods Yue can sell and what goods to buy. Akadi and Divia exchanged eyes with each other and came together at the same time, while Salbaha, the new king of Zhuluo, came together with King Jiluo. Feroz is going back. Salbach is in a very difficult situation. It's hard for him to say that he doesn't want Feroz to come back. After all, Feroz used to be his king, and now he still has considerable strength in China, but he doesn't want to leave the throne. Otherwise, the future of his family will be worrying. At this time, like King Bahar, he needed to get along well with Yue people, but he could not be used by Yue people in vain. In the end, he could not get any benefits.

Zhang Wen was clear about the thoughts of these people. He steadily controlled the situation and let the four people with ghosts test each other. At this time, no one would believe anyone, and it was the best opportunity to make a profit. If he can't do such an easy thing well, he will have no face to stay under Sun Shao's hands, and he will be sorry for Yu's good intentions.

Sun Shao has never appeared. Accompanied by Nimar's father and daughter, he traveled around the island in his boat. Zhou Yu and a group of scholars from Funan College recorded the mountains and rivers of Ceylon Island along the way, and the monuments that had been submerged in the jungle. The craftsmen with good stele extension on the way, they used rice paper to expand pieces or incomplete or incomplete steles and brought them back to Funan for research.

"I want to write a Sinhala history for Zhaoyi." Zhou Yu said to Yesudhara with a smile.

Yesudara nodded happily, but she did not dare to speak up in front of Zhou Yu. She knew that the elegant woman in front of her was more noble than her. In order to please Zhou Yu, Yesudara, who never bowed to others, made a lot of efforts.

Zhou Yu knows that she is not as good at fighting as Guan Feng, and she will not be Xia Houhui's opponent in handling government affairs. Moreover, Zhou Xun and Zhou Yin are both leading soldiers. If she participates in political affairs again, it will inevitably arouse the fear of others, so she simply does it with all her mind. Although the Xinshan Haijing is still under the name of Sun Shao, in fact, Zhou Yu is now in the handling of everything from writing to illustration. She knows that Sun Shao's mind is not only in business, so she has been carefully collecting relevant literature to prepare for Sun Shao's decision-making.

Yasudra is now her close-in-spin and Sanskrit teacher.

The Sinhalese do not believe in Buddhism. They have always believed in Brahmanism. Sanskrit is the text specially used by Brahmanism to record scriptures. Originally, Buddha Jodhidama? When Siddhartha was alive, in order to distinguish it from Brahmanism, believers should not use Sanskrit to record Buddhist scriptures. In the end of his life, Buddhism was passed down by word of mouth, and the beginning of the Buddhist scriptures was "if I heard", which came from here. After the death of the Buddha, in order to sort out the scriptures, the disciples found that they could not do without Sanskrit. In the end, they could only use Sanskrit to record the Buddha's mission in those years. Zhou Yu had learned some Sanskrit before, but the Sanskrit of the bhikshuni was obviously not as original as the Sanskrit of Yesudhara. With the guidance of this princess who had been entiezed by Brahman teachings since she was a child, she began to read the Four Vedas of Brahmanism. Not only did she improve her Sanskrit, but also two different teachings. There is also a new understanding.

When the two women were laughing and laughing, Ferroz was kneeling in front of Sun Shao with a sad face. These days, he poured tea and water for Sun Shao like a guard. He was more a slave than a servant. All he wanted was to go back to Zhu Luo. But now Yue people are negotiating with Salbach, the new king of Zhuluo. Ferroz was a little desperate. When he found a few people, he simply knelt in front of Sun Shao and said his worries.

"What are you worried about?" Sun Shao smiled calmly and looked at the blue sea in the distance, with a comfortable heart. Worried that you can't go back to Zhu Luo?"

"I really want to fight with Your Highness, but I am empty now. How can I work for Your Highness?" Ferroz said cautiously, "If I can return to Zhu Luo, I can serve the king with the whole state of Zhu Luo. I know what kind of person Salbach is. He is willing to agree to anything now, but he will definitely ask the king to kill me. When the minister dies, he will break his promise in the name of my revenge and win the support of the Zhu Luo people.

"Is it?" Sun Shao didn't say anything: "If you return to Zhu Luo, how can you use Zhu Luo's power to work for me? Aren't you most worried about Zhu Luo's opposition to you?

"No." Ferros shook his head repeatedly: "The king is kind and gives grace to Tianzhu. If Zhu Luo is allied with the State of Yue, it will only bring benefits to the Zhuluo people. How can the Zhu Luo people oppose the king? They will not oppose the king, and of course they will not oppose me who is loyal to the king.

Sun Shao smiled and didn't say anything. He just looked at Ferroz. Ferroz's forehead was sweaty and he was very nervous. Of course, he would not be really loyal to Sun Shao. Everything he did now was to return to Zhu Luo, regain the throne of Zhu Luo, and then gather his strength to fight with Sun Shao to repay today's humiliation. Now Sun Shao has been hanging him. Obviously, he wants to get greater benefits. Of course, he hates Sun Shao's greed to the bone, but he also knows that at this moment, if he refuses to cut meat, he may eventually become a dream to return to Zhu Luo.

He gritted his teeth and said, "I would like to follow the example of the king of Sinhala, send my sister to the king, and then ask the king to send sailors to the port of Boduk to help him pace Zhuluo."

Sun Shao was moved. Port of Boduk is the best port on the southeast coast of Tianzhu mainland. There used to be a small country called Huang Zhiguo. This small country was once recorded in Hanshu, and now it is a city in the southeast of Zhuluo. If the east-west merchant ships can't cross the Bay of Bengal, but travel along the coast, they usually choose to dock at the port of Poduk. The commercial tax of this port is very important to Zhu Luo. Ferroz wants to dedicate this to him, which shows that he is really anxious.

"This...isn't it good?" Sun Shao hesitated for a moment: "If you give me Port of Boduk, what will your subjects think of you and me? They will think that you are a traitor, and I want to touch your land of Zhuluo. As you know, I don't have that in mind.

Ferroz's heart was dripping blood, but his face was still pious: "I believe in the king's kindness, and I also hope that the king believes in my loyalty. Port of Boduk is a good port, which is suitable for the king's sailors to dock. After I returned to Zhuluo, with the king's sailors to rely on, there is no need to build sailors to protect the coast. For me, this is a good thing. Of course, there are a few losses, but I believe that with more businessmen, the wealth they bring will definitely make up for these losses.

Ferroz tried his best to say that Sun Shao would take the port of Boduk, but Sun Shao did not agree to him, because he had never thought of taking this port. He was not confident about the proposal put forward by Ferroz. Port Boduk is good, but can he keep it with this strength? The more loyal Ferroz is, the more uneasy he is. He has seen too many such people. It can be said responsibly that in terms of forbearance, Ferroz is far worse than him. He wanted to put Ferroz back, not to really believe in his loyalty, but to put the evil wolf back and cause a struggle within Tianzhu. If Ferroz wants to take revenge, he must be exhausted, wanton, and even attack neighboring countries to strengthen his strength, so that he can cause trouble on the Tianzhu mainland. But if you haven't bitten others, you can bite Yue Guo first, and you will steal chickens and eat rice.

Sun Shao doesn't like to do such a thing.

"I believe in your loyalty, but this matter is too big. I will discuss it with the ministers and give you an answer." Sun Shao said with a smile, "Don't worry, no matter whether I want Port of Boduk or not in the end, I will definitely let you go back. The king has no joke.

Ferroz didn't believe Sun Shao's words, but now he looked grateful. He kowtowed repeatedly, then stood up, held the knife, stood respectfully in the distance, and acted as a guard loyally. Sun Shao narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look at Nimar in the distance. Nimar was looking this way surrounded by more than a dozen guards. When he saw Sun Shao looking at him, he tilted his mouth, shook his head, and unabashedly expressed his distrust of Ferroz.

Sun Shao smiled and suddenly had an idea.

...the city of Rome.

Alexander, the 17-year-old Roman emperor? Seviru stood in front of his mother Momia's door and looked at Quintus hesitantly. Severus (Qin Lun), the latter gave him an encouraging look and waved to him to hurry in. At the same time, he made a gesture with both hands to his mouth, signaling that the young Alexander would smile and not to go to Momia, the actual power of the Roman Empire, with a sad face.

Alexander nodded, pulled his silk robe, coughed, piled up a smile, walked in, and said loudly, "Mother, how are you? I'm coming to see you."

Momia, who was sitting in a daze in front of the window, turned around and looked at the stride with a smile. Although there was a smile on her face, Alexander, who had a different look in her eyes, sighed secretly. In the past two years, my son has grown up and gradually understood the benefits of power. He no longer relies on her in the years when he just ascended the throne, and his relationship with her is a little estranged. Although there is no shortage of men around Momia, who is a widow at a young age, her son has always been her most precious wealth. Now when she sees her son becoming strange day by day, she can only sigh. After a few years of power, it is impossible for her to completely give up these rights. She has been telling herself that her son is still young, and when he grows up, she will return the power to her, but she also knows that this idea is largely an excuse.

Betwean power and family affection, Momia has always been in a kind of suffering. She wants the best of both worlds, but the fact is not under her control. After several temptations were rejected by her, the helpless Alexander seemed to be a little self-abandoned and began to indulge in his voice. He didn't come to see her for a long time, even if he came occasionally. He also had a straight face and left after a few words. It's really surprising to walk in with a smile like today - although the smile is not so sincere.

"Dear Alexander, what makes you so happy? Do you like a beautiful girl again? Momia stood up, and the golden sunset shone on her still delicate back, as if she had a gold edge, making her look as powerful and intelligent as Minova.

"No--" Alexander raised his hands exaggeratedly, "Who else can be as beautiful and wise as your mother? Mother, I'm almost intoxicated by your beauty.

Momia smiled and stretched out her hand and gently twisted the corners of Alexander's mouth: "How can my Alexander talk so well today? He came to deceive his poor mother. I said, Alexander, what have you been up to these days? I haven't seen you for many days.

"Mother, I've been with Quintus for the past two days, listening to him tell the story of the Cyris people." Alexander stepped forward and gently hugged Momia's waist. At the age of 17, he was already taller than Momia. He bent down and kissed Momia's cheek gently. Then he looked at Momia's beautiful eyes and said affectionately, "Mother, I found that the Siris also have a female surname as great as my mother. It's really Amazingly, Celis and Rome are tens of thousands of miles apart, but a lot of similar things have happened.

Momia took a suspicious look at Alexander. Alexander and Quintus were together, and she had known it for a long time. Quintus was the son of the younger brother of Seviru the Great, who founded the Siveru dynasty, and was also Alexander's distant uncle. After the death of Severus the Great, his two sons, Caracalla and Geta became Roman emperors together. The next year, Caracalla killed Geta. Later, Caracalla was killed by soldiers, and Elagabalus became emperor. The bloodline of the Severus dynasty was actually broken. Quintus left Rome from that time and went out. Shang didn't come back until the end of last year. He brought back a large amount of spices and exquisite silk, as well as the unique lacquerware of the Seris people, which shows that his business in the East is credible. Quintus has been with Alexander since he came back. I don't know what to say. Momia once sent someone to inquire, but she didn't find out. Unexpectedly, as soon as Alexander met today, he took the initiative to talk about Quintus and said that she was a great mother, which surprised her.

"Oh, what kind of story is it? You can also tell me." Momia quietly took Alexander's hand to the window and sat down, smiling and said.

(to be continued)