A bird boat on the Bian River in Kaifeng City, traveling westward along the river. The boat is long and slender and very fast, just like a bird skimming the water, so it is called a bird boat. It is now a popular vessel for short-distance travel on the internal river waterways of the Song Dynasty. Two choices.
There is a tent in the middle of the boat, built with wooden frames and covered with oilcloth and brown felt on the top, which can prevent rain and provide heat insulation. Yue Zhuoqun and Lopez sat inside, watching the scenery outside the window fly away.
"Kaifeng City is really prosperous, and you never tire of it." Yue Zhuoqun stared blankly at the street scenes on both sides of the river, and murmured, "Over at the Painting Museum of Hongwen Academy, I heard that a group of painting masters were organized to prepare for the painting inside and outside Kaifeng City. The scene is drawn into the painting. The leading painter is called Zhang Zeduan. I heard that he is only twenty-seven or eighty years old, but he is a talented painter..."
Lopez, the plenipotentiary envoy of Byzantium, now has a Song name called Luo Peisi - which is said to have the beautiful meaning of increasing blessings, longevity, and having many children and grandchildren.
Luo Peisi looked at Yue Zhuoqun opposite with a complicated expression. Well, the Greek name is John Aksuhe. I wonder if he still remembers it?
"John——"
"Luo, please call me Yue Zhuoqun. We are now in the Song Dynasty, and it seems very suitable to be called such a name. And I guess I won't be called like this for long."
"It won't take long. Do you plan to return to Byzantium with us?"
"Yes, how long have I been in the Song Dynasty? It's been more than three years. I've seen enough and understood it in detail. It's time to go back."
Luo Peisi was silent for a while, "I thought you didn't want to return to China."
"I really can't bear to go back. The place is prosperous and peaceful, especially the city of Kaifeng, which is now the brightest beacon in the entire civilized world. Here, I can enjoy all the material and spiritual wealth that human beings can create. Don't worry. The day is precarious - this is an idiom from the Song Dynasty. I love this condensed and profound way of expression. This is the elegant way of speaking of a civilized person."
Luo Peisi shrugged, saying that although I didn't agree with it, I could accept it.
"Yue, are you sure that the Song Dynasty will bring us great help to Byzantium?" Luo Peisi did not forget his most important mission.
"Luo, our biggest dilemma in Byzantium is that we are faced with enemies from both sides. In the front are the damned Saracen pagans; in the back are the mercenary Venetians and the greedy and arrogant Franks. They are united by the Roman Pope who hates us. We are in a very difficult position. In a dangerous and critical position, it has brought us countless wealth, but also brought us endless disasters - too many wolves are peeping at and coveting it."
Luo Peisi looked at Yue Zhuoqun with approval and admiration.
"Your words make me believe that you did learn a lot of real knowledge in the Song Dynasty. What you said does make sense, but I still have the same question, can the Song Dynasty really help Byzantium?"
"Don't you understand that I've been taking you around and visiting these days? Luo!"
"Yue, you took me to visit the Hongwen Academy and saw the splendid culture of the Song Dynasty; you took me to visit the Gewu Academy and saw countless researchers and craftsmen, well they are now called engineers, doing research that is surprising and Fearful technology, physics, chemistry - these words are very interesting, Yue, did you translate them from Greek words?"
"I admit that I played an important role here." Yue Zhuoqun spread his hands, smiling with pride and pride on his face.
Luo Peisi continued: "You also took me to visit the largest library in the Song Dynasty, the Lantai Library. There are vast books in it, some of which are even thousands of years old. I admit that at that time,
I was shocked. The library I imagined in Alexandria, ancient Egypt, was less than one-tenth of its size."
"You also took me to visit the highest institution of learning in the Song Dynasty, two universities called Cheng..."
"Chengjun University and Biyong University, Chengjun University is a comprehensive university focusing on literature and philosophy, politics, law, and finance; Biyong University is a comprehensive university focusing on science, engineering, agriculture, forestry, and medicine. It is the sun and moon of the Song Dynasty.
.”
"Yue, thank you for your addition. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw thousands of young elites from the Song Dynasty studying and studying in the spacious and beautiful campus, preparing to become the rulers and builders of this country.
, I am also very envious. It would be great if Byzantium had so many talents."
"You also took me to the Akakura Factory to visit the machinery factory and watch factory... Seeing those machines powered by water and animal power, which are continuously producing various products, I understand why the Song Dynasty is so rich. But Yue,
These things will not help Byzantium. The Venetians, Franks, and Saracens will not be persuaded by those who have studied in universities, nor will they be bribed by products produced in factories."
"These will only make them more greedy and arrogant. Only blood and fire can make them wake up and make them surrender. My brother-in-law, these days, I really can't see how I can make those damn guys wake up and surrender.
Something to surrender to.”
Yue Zhuoqun asked back, "Luo, you participated in the Song Dynasty's Nanhai Navy's attack on Li Yue Kingdom. Can those ships and artillery make the Venetians wake up and surrender?"
"Yes!" Luo Peisi finally gained some confidence.
"The Song Dynasty has between 400,000 and 600,000 elite cavalry, divided into four large tribes. His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty sent hundreds of confidants to firmly control him. Let me tell you a secret, Luo, His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty once
Take me to the Military Counselor's Office of the Privy Council, which is now called the General Staff Office, and there is a place called the Operations Office."
"There, I saw a map, a magical map, which was said to have a map of the entire world."
Luo Peisi was startled, "God, is this so possible? Such a map can only be drawn by God, how could it fall into the hands of the Song people?"
"Maybe only God knows." Yue Zhuoqun shrugged, saying that I couldn't figure it out either.
"Yue, what exactly did you see?"
"I only saw what I should see. Most of the map was covered up, and I only saw the Zuzhou and Liuzhou parts. This is a continent that spans thousands of miles from east to west. From Mobei in the Song Dynasty,
Along the endless stretch of desolate grassland, you can go directly to the place where the Slavs live, which is the northern shore of the Black Sea. Luo, do you know what this means?"
Luo Peisi almost jumped up, "This... this..." he hesitated for a while and asked, "That journey is very far. Can the Song cavalry go there?"
"The Magyars and Pechenegs that we Byzantium fought against, and the Avars who fought against the Franks, and the Huns who attacked the Western Roman Empire are believed to be the Huns from the north of the Song Dynasty.
, Rouran, Turks, Xianbei and other nomadic tribes moved westward, absorbing and integrating them along the way. Luo, these nomadic tribes can go, why can’t the cavalry of the Song Dynasty go?”
Yue Zhuoqun became more and more excited as he talked, "As long as the Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of powerful cavalry launch an attack on the grasslands in the northern part of the Black Sea, hundreds of thousands of nomadic tribes and Slavs there will be like a group of frightened rabbits, running westward like a tide.
Flooding into the German regions and the Frankish hinterland."
"Luo, these people may be rabbits in front of the Song cavalry, but they are evil wolves in front of the Germans and Franks. Think of Attila, the whip of God of the Huns, and think of our ancestors and the Franks eating them up.
The Avars are in trouble. By then, the Venetians and Franks themselves will not be safe. What threat will they pose to Byzantium?"
Luo Peiji fell into deep thought. When the Song people left the Western Regions, they could directly enter the Khorasan and Persian regions. Further west, they could directly enter Asia Minor and the Mesopotamia region to fight against the Turks and Saracens. This southern march route, he
It's clear. Along the land Silk Road, as people in the Song Dynasty called it, you can directly reach the Byzantine city.
This north road was the first time he had heard of it today. If it was true, it meant that as long as the Song people were willing to take action, they could really help Byzantium deal with its powerful enemies from the front and back.
"Yue, why are people from Song willing to help us?"
Yes, this is the most critical question.
"Luo, because of our Byzantine position. The Song people need an ally, occupying the land and water routes on two continents, becoming an important trade transit point, dumping their endless goods to all civilized worlds. This is our greatest advantage.
It is also the place that most impressed the people of Song Dynasty."
Luo Peisi thought for a while and admitted that this was very reasonable, but he felt that the journey was too long and that he would have to wait too long to help Byzantium solve the problem of life and death.
"Yue, my only regret now is that Byzantium is too far away from the Song Dynasty. We will have to wait a long time for this powerful reinforcement to arrive."
"No, Luo, believe me, Byzantium is too far away from the Song Dynasty, which is our greatest luck!" This chapter has been completed!