Chapter 45: Fang's brothers Si Letu, Marco Polo returns to his hometown

After writing the letter, Emperor Mikheil chatted with Marco Polo again.

Marco Polo said, "Your Majesty, when I came to your palace, I didn't expect to meet three old friends on the way!"

The talker is unintentional, and the listener is intentional. Mikhaile said "Oh" and thought to himself, "an old friend of the Venetian? Is it my official? If so, I have to be careful of internal traitors. So he asked with great interest, "Your old friend? What kind of person is he?"

Marco replied, "They were originally Chinese in the far East. When I was a teenager, they came to Venice to teach me the knowledge of the East. I have today thanks to their enlightening! They are erudite and talented!"

As soon as Mihar heard that he was Chinese, his tense nerves immediately loosened. He suddenly thought of an important thing.

I heard that in the new city of the Golden Horde, a Chinese led an uprising to establish a country called Yanhan, repelled the attack of the Mongolian army, and destroyed the Principality of Mogiglio and other countries in East Slavs. East Slavs believe in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Mikherr, as the Byzantine emperor and patriarch of the Orthodox Church, cannot but pay attention to this. He quickly sent someone to Yan Han to understand the situation and inquired about the merchants, and got the impression that the Yan Han monarch was very wise and the country was prosperous.

This is an emerging force! Mikhail, who has a very good political intuition, attaches great importance to this and hopes to prepare for a rainy day, establish contact with Yan Han, and improve relations as soon as possible to avoid becoming the enemy of the empire in the future. It would be better if it could be established as an ally!

Since some Chinese came to Constantinople, Mikheil thought he could not miss it and said eagerly to Marco, "Do you still have any old friends from China? In this case, why don't you invite them to the palace together? I'm looking forward to seeing them!"

Marco said quickly, "How dare I make a failure without your majesty's permission? Since you want to see them, I will invite them.

So, Marco invited the three Fang brothers to the Byzantine palace together, and Mikheil even held a grand banquet for them - nominally to welcome Marco Polo, but in fact, the real intention was to attract the three Fang brothers!

At the grand event, the two princesses were called out by their parents to entertain distinguished guests. They are elegant, fragrant and delicate. As soon as they appeared, they were shocked all over the stage. All the people are sincerely sighing and praising their beauty and upbringing.

The noble princess refused to come out to see people easily. Now for a few businessmen, let two precious daughters come out to welcome them. Mikhaile's behavior is really incredible!

The three brothers Fang Qinzhi, Fang Mianzhi and Fang Jian have long heard of the princess's reputation, and they can't help but be extremely praised at first sight.

One of Qin's appearance was as if he saw the heavenly man and said, "The two princesses are really beautiful! In our Chinese words, it is - 'the appearance of sinking fish and falling geese, the appearance of closing the moon and shy flowers'!"

Mianzhi was also shocked: "Yes, yes!"

Jane was so shocked that she almost sweated: "Big brother is right! What better description is there?"

The gentle Princess Julia covered her mouth with a fan and smiled, "Really?"

Princess Su Feiya, who is only 17 years old, smiled lively and curiously, "I don't know what you mean. Can you explain it to me?"

Dumbly explained: "The meaning of 'sinking fish' means that the beauty is so beautiful that the fish is surprised to see her and sinking!"

mian said, "The meaning of 'falling geese' is so beautiful that the geese in the sky love her and rush down when they see her!"

Jane's hand danced and said, "'Closed the moon' - the moon was so jealous that she didn't see anyone, 'shameful flowers' - flowers are too ashamed to raise their heads when they see her!"

The two princesses were so happy that they bent down with laughter. The guests around all cheered, and Emperor Mikhail also felt a light on his face - although there have always been many people who praised the princess, no one has ever praised her so apitable! It's worthy of being Chinese!

A few days later, Fang Qinzhi, Fang Mianzhi, Fang Jianzhi and Marco Polo said goodbye at the port of Constantinople.

The morning sun in winter is bright but not dazzling. The water vapor from the sea of Marmara made the port shrouded in a layer of mist, and the breeze was cold and refreshing.

Marco will take a boat to the southwest, pass through the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea, go to Rome, meet the Pope, send the letter of Kublai Khan, and then return to his hometown Venice. The Fang brothers will take a boat to the northeast, cross the Black Sea, dock at Rostov, the capital of the Principality of Rostov, and then go to Yanhan to deliver a letter of state to the Byzantine emperor Mikheil VIII.

In this way, the three Fang brothers have to say goodbye to Marco and go their separate ways.

Ma Ke is ambitious. After returning to his motherland, he not only wants to continue to operate business, but also wants to devote himself to the military and political circles to do a big cause for the prosperity of Venice. Thieu Polo of the Polo family is the leader of the Republic of Venice today. With this relationship, it is not difficult for Marco to join the army and politics.

The three brothers of the Fang family are the descendants of Fang Xuanling, the famous prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. They are deeply influenced by the political ideas of their ancestors. The concept of merit and fame in their hearts has always been very strong, just like the poem they chanted on the day of the Spring Festival: "Although my brother is free, it is better to live in Yuting arrogantly!" At the end of the Song Dynasty, they became businessmen and went abroad to escape from the war. They have been used to wandering for more than ten years and wanted to find a happy land to settle down. It would be great if you could go back to your own people, gather together when the wind is against the moon, and appreciate it when you sing and sing for a long time! However, where is there any Han country in the world?

Unexpectedly, last year, they began to hear about Yan Han. So during the business trip, they paid great attention to collecting information about Yan Han. Now he is entrusted by the Byzantine emperor to Yanhan, just to see it clearly. Therefore, although the families of the three brothers settled in Venice, and Marco Polo also warmly invited them to work together for Venice and join the army and politics together, the three brothers felt that the top priority was to figure out what kind of country Yan Han was and then make plans. So they said goodbye to Marco.

He said, "Brother Marco Xian, I'm here today, and I don't know when we can meet."

Dearly, "Brother! After returning to China, please take care of my wife and little dog.

Simplified: "Brother! Shiyun: 'There are confidants in the sea, and the world is like neighbors. Wuwei is on the wrong road, and the children are covered with towels.' Don't sigh, take care of yourself!"

Marco said, "The three brothers are right! Shi Yun: 'Don't give up the donation, and try to add food.' I hope you take care of yourself. See you later!"

The three were overjoyed. Marco has learned Chinese culture more deeply in China for so many years, as if he were already half a Chinese, and he was really happy to talk to him. Now say goodbye and board the ship separately. The two ships sailed to the southwest and northeast.

The words are divided into two parts, not to mention Marco Polo's meeting with Pope Nicholas III in Rome and then returning to Venice, only talking about the Fang brothers. The Fang brothers, escorted by several Byzantine knights, came to the port of Rostov to land. They took the letter of the Byzantine emperor Mikhail VIII and gave it to Constantine Borisovich, Grand Duke of Rostov.

Contin's country is at odds with Yan Han. When he sees the Fang brothers who are Han, he can't help but be very vigilant. If it hadn't been for the Byzantine emperor and Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, they would never have been allowed to step into the king's palace!

Unexpectedly, the Fang brothers made Constantine very happy. From being full of hostility, they suddenly became kind and kind!

It turns out that the three brothers are so flattering that no matter who they meet, they can skillfully flatter them. Few people don't like this - it's common human nature to like to listen to praise!

"Hahahaha..." Constantine laughed happily and said to the three brothers, "It's rare for you to worship me, a strong and prosperous country so much. Then, you can bring a message to King Yanhan and tell him to be careful. Don't think it's great to destroy Mogiglio. Mogilio is just a poor country under the rule of a mediocre monarch. If I want to destroy it, it can be destroyed at any time, but I just take a step slower and give him the lead. If he dares to be hostile to our country, he will definitely be hit hard by me.

"Yes, yes!" The third brother said, "We are far away in Byzantium and even Rome, and we hear that merchants are talking about your wisdom. It's unwise to be your enemy.

"It's not only unwise, it's simply looking for death." Fang Mian, the second brother, said, "Only friendly cooperation with you is the way out for Yan Han. His Majesty Mikheil sent us to deliver letters. On the one hand, it is to express our condolences to you for your continuous contributions to the Orthodox Church; on the other hand, we should inform Yanhan that we should not be the enemy of the God- blessed Orthodox country, and we should be harmonious and develop our business together.

It turned out that Mikhaile learned from businessmen that Yanhan was vigorously developing industry and commerce and protecting merchants passing through the territory, making the north road of the business road in Asia and Europe more and more important in the minds of businessmen. Mikheil thought carefully: The South Road of the Eurasian Business Road from Persia, Arabia to Southern Europe and Western European countries will not benefit Byzantium; if the North Road thrives and merchants can go out from Yanhan through Rostov to Constantinople, it is expected to further prosper and regain the throne of Europe's first economic center. . The plan has been completed, so Mikhaile wanted to use Chinese businessmen to contact Zhao Jin, the king of Yanhan. On the one hand, he wanted to know more about Yan Han, and on the other hand, he tried to propose to Zhao Jin to jointly develop commercial activities on the North Road.

"Because of His Majesty's mission, it is really a happiness that our ancestors have accumulated for three lifetimes to meet the Grand Duke!" The eldest brother Fang Qin enthusiastically praised Constantine's merits again and made Constantine very angry. So Constantine also sent knights as guards to escort the Fang brothers to Yanhan with the Byzantine knights.

(To be continued 46: Avoiding only because of respect and contempt, flattery regardless of high or low)

Note:

President: that is, the president. For example, until modern times, the Japanese called the President of the United States as the "President of the United States".