Quintus walked into the palace happily holding the good news. Momia was holding Philip and wandering around the long table, saying word by word: "Serys, ¡¡Silk."
?? Philippe rolled his big black and bright eyes and looked around the table, then turned his head to look at Momia's silk robe, and poked it with his fat little finger. Momia couldn't help laughing and kissed his little face hard: "So smart."
"Of course, he is my future Augustus, and will be a great Roman emperor in the future. Of course he is a smart boy." Quintus said with a smile, handed the good news to Momia, and raised his hands to Philip patted him, and Philip immediately opened his arms, leaned towards him, and grinned. Momia let go, opened the victory report and read it again, and said in surprise: "Three hundred miles apart, two serious losses to the Sassanid people in three days? This is really happy news."
Quintus nodded happily and lifted Philip up high. Philip grinned his mouth with joy, revealing his two baby teeth and drooling. Momia turned the second page, her eyebrows suddenly moved, and there was a trace of fiery affection in her eyes. Then she glanced at Quintus guiltily, turned around subconsciously, leaned against the tall window sill, and murmured something in her mouth. , as if reading a letter by light.
This is a letter written by Sun Shao, and it is his own handwriting. The recipient is Quintus, but Momia knows that it is actually written to her. She read it carefully, fearing that she would miss a word. She read it over and over again, then gently held the letter to her chest, with a light blush on her face. She breathed out softly: "Gods By the grace of God, we have finally defeated the Sasanians."
After hearing this, Quintus smiled and walked over with Philip in his arms. He said with some worry on his face: "Do you think I should go?"
"Of course I want to go." Momia said without thinking: "Not only do you want to go, but I also want to go with you. The three countries have joined forces to attack Ctesiphon. This is a very important battle. If we can win, we can In exchange for at least ten years of breathing space, no one will make irresponsible remarks about your position as emperor. But if the three countries cannot trust each other and the Sasanians find an opportunity, once he takes a breath, then We in Rome may be the first country to be attacked."
Quintus nodded sympathetically: "Yes, Kushan and Yue are close. Once the Sasanians attack them, it will be quick to ask for help from Yue. But we are too far away from Yue, even if the King of Yue is willing to help. , it will take four or five months for his army to get here. With our strength alone, it will not be easy to deal with the Sasanians. "
"That's not necessarily true." Momia shook her head and disagreed with Quintus's opinion: "Even if the main force of his army goes back, he will leave a garrison in Axum, plus the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. He has at least 20,000 naval troops left here. If anything happens, they can go into battle at any time. Coupled with the Bedouins, he actually has a lot of troops at his disposal. What's more, if this time To conquer Ctesiphon, he will have to divide some more territory." Momia laughed, and there was wisdom in the laughter: "Do you think he invited you to help you build prestige? I'm afraid he is more of a For the sake of convenience and benefit from you, don¡¯t let him blind you, it¡¯s better to make some preparations in advance.¡±
Quintus was stunned for a moment, then nodded with understanding. Sun Shao wrote to him that Gordian and his son had defeated the Sasanians in the battle at Lake Timsach. Coupled with his battle in Byzantium, their father and son's achievements were already very great. Gordian An was already well-known and had accomplished such great achievements. According to Roman rules, he might become emperor alongside Quintus. Therefore, Sun Shao suggested that Quintus should fight the final siege of Ctesiphon himself, so that he could gain enough fame and create favorable conditions for future power struggles.
Although Quintus is the direct heir of the Severus family, the Severus family originated as a warlord and has never had a good relationship with the Senate. This time he became emperor almost entirely because of Momia's support and pull. With the Vietnamese coming as backup, the Senate will definitely be dissatisfied with this. They are likely to support the division of power between Gordian and Quintus. By then, Quintus' position will be unstable. Although he is not too greedy for power, since he has reached this position, he certainly does not want anyone to share power with him. Sun Shao's suggestion is exactly what he wants. He came here specially to discuss with Momia because he hopes to get her Support means that the Senate supports his personal expedition. After all, it is because of Momia that he and the Senate can reach a certain degree of mutual understanding.
Momia not only supports his personal expedition, but also goes with him, which makes Quintus excited. Although Momia is his queen now, the two have been separated, and he dare not interfere with Momia's affairs. They don't get close to each other often. If there is nothing to discuss with each other, he usually doesn't go to Momia.Come to the palace.
But Momia reminded him, and his excitement was stagnated. He had always regarded Sun Shao as a friend, and he was a very good friend. When the Roman Empire encountered such a big crisis, Sun Shao helped out. How heavy is this kind of kindness? Now he is reminding me, how could he have such thoughts? But he had to admit that Momia was more clear-headed than him on this point, and Sun Shao's temper was indeed the kind that would not benefit him early.
"I will pay attention." Quintus smacked his lips in embarrassment: "Then he said that he wants to divide the profits, do you think it is appropriate?"
"This is a good idea." Momia sighed, "Isn't it just because he always shares benefits with others that he always has disadvantages? If Alexandersigh"
Quintus frowned and said nothing. Philip chuckled, pulling Quintus's beard and shaking him around. Quintus shouted exaggeratedly, making Philip happy, pretending not to hear Momi. What Ya just said. Momia also knew that she had made a mistake, so she turned her back and said: "I will ask people to say hello to the Senate. You should bring more people there. Give them whatever Gordian can give them. Of course. Yes, there must be a distinction here. Some people are unlikely to turn to us after all, so there is no need to please them and it will be a waste of efforts to increase their strength."
"Alas." Quintus responded, chatted a few more words, then handed Philip back to Momia, turned around and left. Momia hugged Philip, put her face against his pink face, and murmured: "Philip, this is all yours. No one can take it away, not even him."
?? Philippe looked at Momia, holding her face with his two little hands, his eyes flashing. Momia suddenly had a strange feeling, as if Philip understood her words. Although he couldn't say it out loud, he was telling her with his eyes that he understood her thoughts. Momia was stunned for a moment, then laughed to herself. How could a child who was not yet one year old understand this?
With the help of Momia and the temptation of interests, Quintus successfully divided the members of the Senate. Nearly two-thirds of the members supported his personal expedition, and more than a dozen of them were originally supporters of Momia. She even became a general leading the army. In order to prevent the recurrence of the previous emperors who were kidnapped and even murdered by the Guards, Momia signaled those supporters to propose a proposal to restore the original military system of the Romans and gradually control The proportion of barbarian mercenaries emphasized the military service obligations of Roman citizens, especially Romans, and conscripted Roman citizens into the army to increase the proportion of Roman citizens in the army.
"However, this idea is good, but it is difficult to implement it. The original civil military service system of Rome collapsed because in the process of foreign conquests, all the benefits went to the nobles, while ordinary citizens who made huge sacrifices went bankrupt because they were fighting abroad for a long time and had no time to take care of their own land. In the end, military reforms had to be implemented to pay soldiers. However, as a result, soldiers no longer had a sense of honor in fighting for the country, and instead became loyal to the generals who paid them, creating the possibility of forming warlords. Severus relied on mutiny to make his fortune, and also relied on the military power in his hands to rule. His most famous last words were "Be kind to your soldiers, and don't care about the life and death of others." As a result, these thirty years of turmoil and the deaths of five emperors It shows that relying solely on military power is a double-edged sword, and it will hurt yourself more often.
Fortunately, he had the previous experience to pave the way. Although things did not go smoothly, Quintus still recruited 40,000 troops. Under the escort of Cui Qian who came to meet him, he took the boat to Damascus City to meet up with Sun Shao. . Halfway through, they stopped at Kitti (Cyprus) to replenish fresh water and supplies.
Kitti was the base for the paper mills set up by Alexander when he cooperated with Sun Shao. According to the agreement between the two parties, Kitti Island was jointly managed by the Vietnamese and the Romans, while the city of Paphos, where the paper mills were concentrated, was fully managed by the Vietnamese. .
Paphos is said to be the birthplace of Venus, the goddess of love. It is an important city on the island of Kitti and was once the seat of the Romans on the island of Kitti. Paphos is a seaside city on a hill, with mountains to the northeast and the sea to the southwest. The rainwater flowing down from the mountains forms a dense network of rivers, supplying domestic and industrial water for the entire city, and paper that requires a lot of water. For me, it is simply a unique condition.
Since the Vietnamese built a large number of paper mills here, the Roman government moved to nearby Ahalia. The reason why they did not simply move to the city of Ledra on the central plain was because of these paper mills. The tax revenue was a major economic income. The Romans were afraid that the Vietnamese would evade taxes, so they had to keep a close eye on them and count how much paper was loaded on every ship going out to sea.
Paphos has indeed provided a large amount of taxes to Rome in the past two years. In addition to paper, a large number of Han merchants have gathered here. Not only are they protected by Vietnamese troops, but there are also a large number of living facilities of the Han Dynasty. , food and corresponding culture and entertainment, life here is very similar to that in my hometown.Recently, for businessmen who have been traveling around for many years, this is a safe home. Many people have bought real estate here to settle down. Some people with relatively weak economic strength have raised funds to buy a courtyard as a clubhouse, where they can stay when they come and go. Inside, over time, Paphos became a city inhabited by Han people. They thought the name was unpleasant, saying that blessing should be something everyone hopes for, so how could they be "afraid" of it? So it was slowly changed to Fusi City. Later, some people said that the arrival of the Han people brought blessings to this place, so it should be called Hanfu. This statement has been recognized by most people.
Because of their distinguished status, Quintus, Momia and others were invited by Lu Mao, the commander of Hanfu, to visit the city. They were shocked by the beautiful Han Dynasty buildings on both sides of the street and attracted by the bustling flow of people on the street. Hanfu City It is divided into two cities: the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is almost entirely Han Chinese, and the residents of the outer city are also mainly Han Chinese. However, many servants are not Han Chinese, but come from the surrounding areas, including Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, and some Barbarians, as well as some foreign businessmen from various places, can see several different skin colors at a casual glance, but their languages ????are mostly the same. They basically speak Chinese, and even the signs of the shops next to them are mainly Chinese characters. .
Quintus spoke Chinese well. He smiled and said to the several congressmen and generals leading the troops next to him: "Everyone, if you want to buy cheaper Chinese products in the future, you will have to do it without knowing Chinese."
¡°It¡¯s cheaper if you can speak Chinese?¡± A member of parliament named Crispirus curled his lips disapprovingly.
"Of course." Quintus nodded and pointed to the shop next to him: "If you don't believe me, just go in and take a look. Even if your Chinese is awkward, you can get a smile from the shop owner. Needless to say, you can get a 10% discount. It¡¯s inevitable. Otherwise, how do you think there are so many Chinese teachers in Rome with so many students?¡±
Crispyrus was stunned. He smacked his lips and said nothing. There are indeed many young scholars from the Han Dynasty in the Roman city. Some of them work for merchants, and some make a living by teaching Chinese. It seems that the business is not bad. This is the original reason. The people next to him looked at each other with different expressions after hearing this. Balbinus, the accompanying scholar, stroked his beard and said worriedly: "Your Majesty, I am a little worried. In a few decades, our Roman language will have to change again." ah."
The Romans mainly spoke Latin, but many of their official texts and classical documents were in Greek. Although the Greeks declined, they stuck to their own culture and refused to switch to Latin. Many scholars who believed in Greek culture used Greek to write. Gradually, the current Latin language has undergone Hellenization. , now due to the arrival of the Han people, the Chinese language has become very popular, and the transliteration of many Chinese words has entered the daily language of the Romans. With so many Romans learning Chinese, the influence of Chinese on Latin is increasing day by day, so the scholar Balbinus That's why there are such worries.
Many people nodded in agreement, looking rather worried. Quintus himself didn't think so, but seeing so many people worried, he couldn't say much. Lu Hao listened on the sidelines, smiled slightly, and said in proficient Greek: "The foreign minister is not talented, but I think you are too worried."
Balbinus frowned and looked at Lu Hao. He is a famous poet, orator, and aristocrat with a good reputation in Rome. He is almost 60 this year. There are not many people who can criticize him face to face. Now a humble Han dares to say that he thinks too much. , isn¡¯t this a tiger catching lice on its head?
"What do you think, sir?" Balbinus was refreshed and suddenly became full of fighting spirit.
Lu Hao smiled slightly and said calmly: "I don't dare to take my opinions seriously. I just have some immature opinions. I would like to ask you for your advice. I have heard for a long time that you are one of the most famous scholars in Rome. I think you will be able to solve my confusion. of."
"I don't dare." Balbinus raised his chin proudly: "We are just discussing with each other."
"My lord, if you want to keep the Roman dialect, you want to keep the Roman language pure, is that right?"
"Of course." Balbinus nodded reservedly and looked at Lu Hao sideways, with some contempt in his heart. Do you still want to ask this question?
"Then what I want to ask you, sir, is, can you understand the original Roman classics?" Lu Hao smiled faintly: "For example, the original text of the Twelve Bronze Tables?"
Balbinus blushed. He knew the Twelve Bronze Tables very well. He could read the original text, but it was somewhat sluggish. The Twelve Bronze Tables was a document from more than six hundred years ago. The words used at that time were There are many differences between the grammar and today. Even though he is profound in knowledge and has done a lot of research on these words, it is impossible to understand them all. He thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "This is why I want to keep the Roman language pure. If we are still using the words of the time without any changes, wouldn't it be the same as reading the current language?Is it as convenient as the law? "
"Otherwise." Lu Hao smiled strangely: "That's still not the original Roman language. I think it has to be pushed back at least one or two hundred years. The words spoken by people at that time may be the original Roman language. Because these two hundred years There are still some changes with age, although the changes may not be very big, do you think that is true?"
Balbinus nodded, "This is natural."
"Then we go back a few hundred years, until before Rome was founded. The language at that time should be relatively pure. But I believe that if we go back further, there is still the original, maybe, the original Roman language. There are only a few words, just like those children learning to speak." He turned his head and looked at Balbinus and smiled: "But what is the use of such pure Roman language?"
Balbinus was speechless.
Quintus laughed secretly, and the other congressmen were also a little embarrassed. They were all silent. Although they felt that Lu Hao was a bit arrogant, they could not refute it. After all, no one could say what the purest Roman language was like. Come. But as Lu Hao said, if you can only be as pure as a child, what's the point?
"Hahaha I have some humble opinions and some inappropriateness, please don't worry about it." Lu Hao smiled heartily, raised his hand and said: "In front of you is the best wine shop in the city, which sells the best wines from my country. 'Nine Dew'." Lu Hao deliberately inserted a pure Chinese word in the middle, and then said with a smile: "Haha, this word does not exist in Roman, and I don't know how to explain it to everyone, so I invite His Majesty the Emperor and You guys, give it a try and then see how to translate this word."
Quintus laughed and walked forward first. The wine shop had already been under martial law, and the shop was cleaned up. The extra tables and tables were cleared away, and the seats were arranged according to the seating habits of the Han people. Of course, Quintus Sitting at the top, others lined up one by one, and then the Han representatives invited by Lu Hao in advance took the seat. Everyone bowed to each other and knelt down at the table naturally. The Romans were a little overwhelmed when they saw it, but when they saw Quintus sitting down, they had no choice but to kneel down with a grimace. However, their knees were obviously not used to this kind of sitting method. After a while, they couldn't sit still anymore, so they simply sat around and staggered around. Compared with the Han people sitting upright opposite them, they looked like barbarians. too much.
Fortunately, the food and wine of the Han people were really good. They ate so much that they were all full and still happy, which finally made up for some of the pain. After the dinner, Lu Hao generously gave them gifts, each of them a piece of silk, a pound of tea, a set of porcelain, and a roll of paper. Balbinus received special treatment and added another volume, which made the old man nod his head happily.
The paper made in Hanfu City is not the same as the paper of the Han Dynasty. The Han people used brushes to write. In order to pay attention to the effect, the paper should be looser to highlight the effect of pen and ink. However, the Romans used hard pens and wrote one word on loose paper. It was impossible to write with ink balls, so later a denser and flatter paper was developed, known as mature paper, which was more suitable for Roman writing. Most of this kind of paper was supplied to Roman officials, and it was rare for ordinary people to see it. Now Lu Mao would give everyone a roll as soon as he made it, which made these nobles stunned.
"Sir, this paper is just like language, it is constantly changing." Lu Hao walked up to Balbinus, smiled and said to Balbinus who couldn't put it down, touching the paper with a smile on his face: "This is to let Rome The paper has been specially treated to make it comfortable for people to write. If you don't change it, I'm afraid you can only draw a few ink dots to represent it. Others may think it is the original Latin text."
"Hehehe" With a soft mouth and short hands for taking people, Balbinus ate and took things today and was in a good mood: "Master Lu, the wine from your country is so good. I ate too much today. My body is a little wandering and my tongue is not smooth, so I won¡¯t argue with you now. When I go back and drink this sobering tea, I will use your paper to write an article. Then I will definitely compete with the adults, how about it?"
Everyone laughed. This time they were able to follow Quintus on the expedition and perform meritorious service because Quintus promised them benefits. They had not yet reached Ctesiphon and had not even left the Mediterranean Sea, yet they had received such a generous gift. It seemed that this trip would definitely be successful. Returned with a full load. They were in a good mood and joked with Lu Hao over the wine. Lu Hao spoke proficient Latin, and occasionally said a few proverbs and the like, which surprised these Roman nobles, and many of them gradually stopped their contempt for him. Lu Mao was just the county magistrate of Hanfu City, and in terms of official position, he was still under the governor of Kiti Island. Of course, these nobles in the Senate would not take such a small official seriously. The reason why they were polite to him was just because he represented King of Yue. Now that they had seen Lu Hao's eloquence and knowledge, they began to really pay attention to this little Han Fuling.
Quintus is very satisfied. It was he who advocated the alliance with the Han people. The Han people are so generous now, which proves that his decision is correct.?Including Alexander's decision to hand over part of the sovereignty of Kitti Island to the Han people was a far-sighted and wise move, which played a very important role in the future support of these congressmen.
The world is bustling, everyone is here for profit, the world is bustling, everyone is here, everyone is going. Quintus suddenly remembered a sentence from the Han classics.
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