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The Wind Rises in Chang'an Chapter 326 Who is Siris?

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    Arriving at Ephesus meant that the caravan had completed more than half of its journey, and the rest only needed to cross the Aegean Sea and set foot on the land of Athens before entering the territory of Rome.  ¦ç Athens, the crown jewel of ancient Greek civilization, has long been conquered. Although the ancient Greeks hinted to themselves time and time again that they were just a group of barbaric and stupid upstart Romans, the shadow of failure could not be erased after all.  The caravan had a three-day holiday and sold the Persian blue pottery, precious spices and gorgeous dyes trafficked from Parthia along the way in exchange for travel capital.  Ephesus merchants were very fond of guests from the East. The items they brought were contraband that was not allowed to be circulated by the Seleucid enemy country. The ancient Seleucid enemy country was at war with the newly born Parthian Empire.  Materials are never allowed to flow into its own sphere of influence. Although the Seleucid Empire is too weak to suppress the former vassal Kingdom of Pergamon, the dignity of a large empire still worries bold merchants.  This is not the main reason that prevents merchants from taking risks. The Parthian Empire from the east does not trust the Seleucids and the Pergamons, who are of the same species. Greek merchants who are good at doing business cannot get the benefits of being hostile to Greece.  The civilized Parthians understood that in the past, as many Greek merchants as possible were detained, no one dared to go to the Parthian Empire to grab this business.  The cutoff of trade is the most terrifying thing. It will cause prices to rise and in-demand materials to be sold at sky-high prices, causing the Kingdom of Pergamon, which has become increasingly rich and poor, to fall into a greater financial crisis and be unable to extricate itself. When a commercial civilization falls into the predicament of commercial decline,  They will inevitably fall into a vicious cycle in which the poorer they are, the more they are taxed, and the more they are taxed, the poorer they become.  The great Seleucid Empire.  The small Kingdom of Pergamum was in a similar embarrassing situation, just because of the sudden rise of the Parthian Empire in the east.  The important trade routes to eastern India were cut off, and everything from the stone honey spices loved by the nobles to the cheap food available to the common people disappeared without a trace.  They were not Parthians who were half-cultivators and half-grazers. They could not afford to give up business and rely solely on herding to eat. The depleted social resources caused violent social conflicts. This was the fundamental reason for the decline of Greek civilization.  Zhang Qian and Sima Tan walked around the streets of Ephesus with books on their backs, recording every bit of the ancient Greek city they saw for the first time in their lives. The buildings and streets leading to the aristocratic and academic districts were clean and tidy.  The civilian area that occupies the vast majority of the area is dirty and chaotic, with sewage flowing across the streets and a stinky smell, making it feel like living in hell.  The luxurious life of the upper-class aristocrats is in sharp contrast to the difficult plight of the lower-class residents who have nothing to offer.  The aristocratic life in Ephesus reminded them of the aristocrats in Chang'an. The difference was that the Greek aristocrats had more seafood in their diet, while the aristocrats in Chang'an would use birds, animals and fish to cook. The difference was the life of the lower class residents.  "I have never seen such miserable civilians. They only eat the minimum amount of food every day, and they live by collecting shells, fishing for seafood, and working as cheap labor for others. The poor have no clothes to wear and no food to eat, and some make a living by begging. This is  It is incredible! There are no beggars in our great Han Dynasty. Our villages are neatly organized and well-organized. Our cities are designed in the same way as the villages. All Han people in the world perform their duties, and only a few natural disasters will cause refugees.  Our bureaucrats will take care of those poor people properly." Helixis acted as his guide while recording and chatting.  Zhang Qian told Helixisi about his hometown. When he talked about the Han people's military mobilization system with great interest, Helixisi's expression was extremely wonderful.  Feeling indescribable surprise, confusion and reverence, she felt more and more the powerful power exuded by that strange civilization.  "Dear Qian, you told me that your home country has one million standing professional corps and seven million military mobilization force. But I don't understand what kind of country it is. Can you tell me why?" "Will you go?  Heli, this is a great system passed down by our great ancestors. We call it farming war. It takes the free people who cultivate the land as the core and the village as the basic mobilization unit. It relies on the mobilization power of the grassroots to accumulate layer by layer to the entire empire.  At the level of our history, half a million troops have been used to destroy the country several times, 300,000 troops have been used dozens of times, and 100,000 troops have been used hundreds of times. Many records from two thousand years ago cannot be verified, otherwise it will be more  "Zhang Qian happily recounted every detail of his hometown. When he mentioned that Chang'an City, the capital of the Han Empire, had a population of 200,000, it was surrounded by six urban agglomerations with a population of 200,000. The entire Guanzhong was called Nei.  There are seventy-five counties under the administrative unit of Shi County and a population of 5.7 million. Especially when this number is based on data from seven or eight years ago, Helixis's expression is very exciting.  At its peak, the Seleucid Empire had a population of 20 million, including the indigenous Indians thousands of kilometers away from Antioch. The total population of the area under actual control at that time was only 13 to 4 million.  Ryugu Empire?With the current situation of total decline, the total population is only 6 million people. One administrative district of the Han Empire has the total population of the Seleucid Empire. It is already very difficult for her to maintain a calm attitude.  "Dear Qian, didn't you lie to me? Is there really such a big city in the world, a city with a population of 200,000? As far as I know, Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Empire only had 50,000 people, including Rome.  The floating population is only 80,000. It is impossible for a city to have a population of 200,000. Ephesus only has a population of 20,000. I can¡¯t imagine a city ten times as big as Ephesus. Please forgive me for not believing your words.  Because that's so so unbelievable." Helixis covered her mouth and said excitedly that she really couldn't understand.  She didn't know that Zhang Qian just wanted to tell him that the city of Chang'an was as big as fifteen Ephesus, and that the Weiyang Palace in Chang'an, where he had been on duty, could accommodate two and a half Ephesus. Zhang Qian opened his mouth and gave up the excuse. It didn't matter.  Spread your hands and she will see you sooner or later. I hope she will still remain calm and composed then.  A group of seven people visited the narrow and low-rise Ephesus civilian area and arrived at the clean, spacious, bright and atmospheric academic area. Before they could quickly appreciate the cultural city with a strong academic atmosphere, they were stopped by a group of uninvited guests.  "Hello Eastern travelers, our teacher has been observing you for a long time and hopes to communicate with you some Eastern things." The four guards stood nervously apart and stared at the three young Greeks in white robes.  People, they smile kindly and hold out their hands and step back to show that they mean no harm.  Helixis asked: "Are you the Platonic school, the Stoic school, or the Epicurean school?" "We do not belong to any of the three schools. Our name is the Eye of History school, or Hero.  Dodd school, my common teacher is Herodotus, welcome to Seres." Zhang Qian was slightly startled and said: "You have the wrong person, we are not Seres." "It doesn't matter, please.  Follow me, our teachers are waiting for you. "Following the footsteps of three young men in white robes, they walked through the quiet college area and came to an inconspicuous building. They saw a large group of men, women and children in white robes, hundreds of people, all copying marks.  After reading, organizing and recording the Greek text on the parchment, Zhang Qian spoke very ordinary Greek and didn¡¯t know much about the text. Helixis quietly told him that a volume of text seemed to contain the history of the Greco-Persian War.  The most eye-catching thing is that there are so many women doing academic work. At least 30 of the more than 100 people are women. This feature is also a major feature of Greek civilization. Zhang Qian found it very novel and did not find it incomprehensible. The big man  The empire inherited the customs and habits of ancient times, so there is no such thing as favoring boys over girls. In ancient legends, there were as many virtuous women as bright stars, and even in modern times, there was a talented woman named Zhuo Wenjun.  He thought it was interesting and took note of it. Unknowingly, he followed the three young men in white robes to a quiet room.  The room is very large, with countless parchments on the huge bookshelf. Three old men in the room are recording with simple pens supported by feathers.  "Well, you are here. My name is Lysis Herodotus. As you may have guessed, my ancestor is Herodotus. These two are my best friends who helped me complete the manuscript of my ancestor.  "Come on, this is Carneades, the former leader of Plato's school, and this is dear Agathalcides." The three old, gray-haired Greeks gave them a very strange courtesy:  "On behalf of Phoenicia, Ionia, and Greece, I welcome you, Sirians." "Sorry, you must have remembered wrongly. We are not Sirians. Your pronunciation reminds me of another ethnic group, our merchants."  There are indeed people in the team, but they are definitely not me and my companions." Zhang Qian refused the title without hesitation.  "No, please don't refuse hastily. Please believe in the eyes of Herodotus. His records have been tested by practice. No doubts or slanders can change the existence of the eye of history. You are Siris or were once called Siris.  Now I just give up or forget the name Siris." Zhang Qian shook his head and said: "I am proficient in linguistics, master seven different languages ????and can use fifteen other languages ??for daily communication. I can tell you with certainty.  You are definitely not like this. Our ancestors were called Xia two thousand years ago, Shang 1,500 years ago, Zhou a thousand years ago, and now they are called Han, but they are definitely not Seris. Seris reminds me of Sezhong.  "People, do you know? Sezhong is our casual name, he should be called Saka" "What you said is basically correct, there is another pronunciation of Seris (Serica) in ancient Greek.  It was a spoken language in the early days of ancient Greece and the Ionian era seven hundred years ago. No one in Greece can use it today. As the literal meaning is, Seris is the land of King Agatha.  Kidders stood up tremblingly and said. ?"Even so, what does this have to do with us? We are not called Siris. Siris is just a tribal civilization on our western border." Zhang Qian said suspiciously.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster! PS: In the very strict literature, Seris is basically restricted to Central Asia and the Western Regions. The descendants of the Saka people live very well, such as Kazakhs (  Also called Hasaka, Saka is saka).
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