sweeping the world

Chapter 704 Expectations from the Romans
"Is this Siris?" Aulus Sextus Cicero didn't know what to feel: "The Siris we saw with our own eyes is very different from the rumors."

In fact, what the Romans knew about the Central Plains dynasty was basically second-hand or third-hand...even several hands-on information. After getting some information, they added their own imagination, either thinking in a better direction or thinking in a worse direction. , That's what people who haven't witnessed it with their own eyes will basically do.

The Central Plains Dynasty imagined by most Romans should be that anyone can wear silk, gold can be picked up everywhere on the road, and the sights must be full of jade buildings, representing the extreme wealth of the world.This part of the Romans imagined the Central Plains Dynasty in this way, simply because silk was too expensive after it was introduced to Rome, and they subconsciously believed that a country that could produce silk should be very rich, and because of the distance, beauty was created.

The most representative thing is that a businessman named Marco Polo did not actually go deep into the Central Plains. He traveled to the East. Travel Notes".

In that book "The Travels of Marco Polo", there is a country in the east where the ground is paved with gold, where the rivers flow not water but milk, and everyone can afford to wear silk and everyone can eat it. Delicacies from mountains and sea.

Marco Polo was a character in the Mongolian Yuan period. If he had really arrived in the Central Plains, he was also under the rule of the Mongolian Yuan. The Mongolian Yuan divided people into four classes. The first class is of course the Mongols. The following is Semu Chinese, Han Chinese, Southerners.He happened to be the second level of the Mongolian Yuan four-class system.

If he really went to the Central Plains, Marco Polo would naturally receive all kinds of preferential treatment, but he would definitely not see any gold everywhere, and he would not see most people living a happy life. He should see the desolation after the war. After all, Mongolia People's continuous southward invasion brought endless destruction and murder.

No matter whether Marco Polo really visited the East or not, his "Marco Polo's Travels" gave the West endless longing for the East. He may not think that the country in the east is so powerful, but I think that country in the East is extremely rich.I don’t know how many generations of people have fantasized about the wealth of that country in the east. I don’t know how many people want to find the “legendary country”. They have made unimaginable contributions to the great voyage of Europa.

For example, Columbus originally wanted to find the "legendary country" but accidentally found America.This mistake was the beginning of the domination of the earth by the white-skinned race. They developed and accumulated their own navigation skills through constant robbery, and plundered endless wealth and species from everywhere. The "robber" culture It also began to penetrate deep into the bone marrow.

Of course Aulus Sextus Cicero has never read "Marco Polo's Travels", but like many people who have never been to the east of the world, they are more or less unfamiliar with distant countries. Will have longing.He saw the prosperity of this country in the Yangtze River Basin, which was more or less in line with his imagination of this country, but everything changed as he went north.

A country that has just stopped fighting will definitely not lack the destructiveness of the war that has just stopped, and the trauma caused by the war can be seen everywhere.How can such a country see what is rich?
It is true that the state of Han is not rich now, and even in some respects, most areas are still quite poor, which is different from their imagination.

From Jiankang to Guanzhong, you need to walk thousands of miles inland. Aulus Sextus Cicero has fully seen the vast territory of the Han Kingdom, because the Han Kingdom is vigorously building the road from Jiankang to Guanzhong Almost everywhere you go, you can see a large number of people working on the national highway, and they have an impression of "this country has a large population" along the way.

Construction means vitality. A country that is under construction is more than just vitality. It means that the country has come out of the trauma of war and is working hard towards the better life it expects.

They went all the way from Jiankang to Guanzhong, and then to the old and new Chang'an. No one can deny the greatness of this oriental country, that is, the Han country can organize the cooperative labor of millions of people, and maintain a good order even with a large number of people. .To be honest, not every country can organize millions of people to work together. There are so many people who have to be able to organize. Usually, countries with so many people do not have that kind of organizational power.

The higher the status, the clearer their cognition of organizational ability, which is order and ruling ability. Today, millions of people can be organized to work, and enough people can be mobilized when needed. to arm.The ruling class treats the country differently from ordinary people. Whether you are rich or not is not the key, but whether the people are willing to obey the state's assignment is the key!
"So when Seris's country was in ruins, they could still send out troops to fight against the outside world." Aulus Sextus Cicero recalled what he saw and heard in the Pingman Captain's Department, and added later He said: "The people of Seres are keen on war, from soldiers to civilians are eager for war."

It’s not wrong to say that, the garrison of the Pingman Colonel’s Department is for the war. The domestic soldiers envy the comrades who can go to the battlefield to make contributions. The common people know that the reason for the war is to plunder food. People benefit, and most people do not reject that kind of war.

The Romans had their own thinking in the contact with the Han people. The people they came into contact with were all supporting the war against the Gupta Dynasty. They did not understand the deeper relationship, and they were only terrified by the cohesion of this country.

In fact, the former Roman citizens have always supported foreign wars, because everyone can get war dividends.But now Rome is becoming more and more disgusted with war, and we will never see the situation in which Roman citizens fully supported the war in the era of the Big Three. It is not that Roman citizens cannot receive war dividends because of external victories, but that Rome’s foreign wars are more and more victorious. The less, the greater the sacrifice, and the less the gain.

The Romans became powerful because of wars, and their territory became wider and wider in the constant wars. If you want to say which country was the most warlike in ancient times, it is undoubtedly Rome.

Today's Rome is in a period of contradictions. On the one hand, most Romans have a sense of rejection of war because of the ongoing civil war in their country. On the other hand, they have to face up to the growing threat of Persian Sassanid. The Romans are looking for a wise leader to follow, hoping to end the civil war quickly and unite with the outside world.

The reason why Aulus Sextus Cicero followed Constantius was not because of anything else, but when other separatists were biting the country, Constantius still did not Forget about defending against the Persians.He believes that only Constantius, who has not forgotten his foreign enemies, is worth following, and only Constantius can restore the glory of Rome.

The current Rome is dealing with the Persian Sasanian with partial strength. Everyone knows that Rome in a divided state is not the opponent of the Persian Sasanian at all.

There was no possibility of peaceful coexistence between the Romans and the Persians, and even if there was peace, it would be quite short-lived.Whether it is Constantius, Constantine (II), or Constants, they all understand this, but the division of Rome will not end in a peaceful way, which leads to everyone needing external support. help.

Compared with Constantine and Constans, the situation of Constantius is worse.

Constantine controlled the Italian peninsula, and North Africa and Egypt were also areas under Constantine's control. He could be regarded as the most powerful "princes".It has to be said that the Italian peninsula has always been the homeland of the Romans, not to mention the most densely populated, and there are also many workshops.

Constance controls the part of Europa from Spain to Gaul, which is an extremely vast territory. Although it is not comparable to the Italian peninsula, it is really not that far behind.He also accepted the advice of his advisers to give preferential treatment to some Germanic and Celtic barbarians. For example, he acquiesced in the establishment of some countries such as Frank, hoping to unite the barbarians as a boost in the civil war.

The territories controlled by Constantius were the eastern provinces (modern Turkey). Rome did not pay much attention to this side before, and it could not be called any development or development.

In the divided Rome, the monarchs of the three groups are all descendants of Constantine I. The relationship between the youngest son Constantine and the former two is more complicated. Constantine (II) and Constantius are Really bad relationship.

The fact that Aulus Sextus Cicero brought Frank, Burgundy, and Alemanni to the Han Kingdom proved that Constantius had exchanges with Constantius, and their But there was no one from Constantine (II) in the envoy.

"Of course we don't want to see an alliance between Siris and Persia to deal with Rome." Marcus Maca knew that Han had already formed a partial alliance with Persia Sassan: "I hope that the alliance between Siris and Persia will only be limited to Deal with Gupta.”

Liu Yan inspected the northwest, and some envoys were not rejected when they requested to go with them. For example, Rome and Persia had important personnel accompanying them, but the rest of the envoys did not pay much attention to it. land.

"We have also achieved results, haven't we?" Aulus Sextus Cicero stroked the horse's mane, looked at the endless plain, and said somewhat relievedly: "At least the people of Seres are willing to Trade with us."

Rome... At least Constantius' group tried to bring about a truce between the two sides. The reply from Gupta's side was that he was willing to accept Rome's mediation, but the Han State expressed a strong attitude when Rome mentioned it. That has nothing to do with Rome.

Han's tough attitude made Aulus Sextus Cicero realize that they had no way of influencing Han's will, and they did not persecute foolishly, they stopped after recognizing the reality Mediation, looking for new points of interest.

"In addition to food, the people of Seris are willing to trade with us enough items." Marcus Maca is actually a person from Constance: "Silk, weapons, armor... what you need, and what we need , the people of Siris did not refuse."

In fact, what satisfies the Romans most is that the Han Kingdom does not necessarily require precious metals to pay the bill, and even does not need to pay before the items from the Han Kingdom arrive in Rome.There will be Han people who will follow the Romans to Rome with goods. At that time, if the Romans are precious metal tribes, they can also use food or what the Han people think is acceptable to pay the bill.

Aulus Sextus Cicero smiled instantly. Their group is in desperate need of armaments. Even if the Gupta Dynasty could provide the quantity, it has never been enough. Furthermore, the weapons made by the Gupta Dynasty are not the best. For the Roman army, such as knives, the Romans were not very good at using them, especially scimitars.

The weapons that the Romans were best at and most accustomed to were swords and spears, and most of the weapons they purchased from the Gupta Dynasty were these two.It is impossible for the Gupta Dynasty to use wootz steel when manufacturing Roman military purchases. In fact, it is also an ordinary iron product. The weapons that really use wootz steel are all in the style of knives.

Aulus Sextus Cicero expressed to Lu Yi that he wanted to purchase arms. Lu Yi originally refused in his heart and replied that he needed to discuss it. Liu Yan gave the opinion that it was completely possible to sell arms to the Romans.

There are many types of weapons used by the Han people. The swords and spears that the Romans are best at are actually the weapons that the Han people are best at, but there is a big difference in length.

The Romans used short swords and short spears, which were basically adapted to a method of warfare with shields.

The use of swords by the Han people is a process of increasing length, and swordsmen generally do not hold shields.In terms of spears, because the main enemy of the Han people is the nomadic cavalry, the pursuit of the spear needs to be long enough, and the spearman is troublesome enough to hold the spear, and will not ask to wear a shield.

"Actually, we are very similar to the people of Seres in many ways." Aulus Sextus Cicero was not talking about the hair and eyes of course: "The people of Seres have been plagued by barbarians throughout their long history , so do we."

Marcus Maca thought about it carefully, and it seems that there are really great similarities. The appearance and the troubles of the barbarians are one aspect. Both of them are still leading the progress of neighboring countries and nations, and they have always been civilized. of high-end.

"It can be seen that the people of Siris are very friendly to us..." Olus Sextus Cicero was silent for a while, and added: "It's not like they treat the Persians. They cooperate with the Persians. In order to deal with Gupta, their friendship with us is more like a...how do you say it? Comes from appearance or...culture? Like a sense of intimacy?"

"We are all in the far corner of the world, and we have the same level of brilliant civilization." Marcus Maca said with a smile: "In fact, we and Siris are natural allies."

"What you said is so good." Aulus Sextus Cicero said very sincerely: "We can't just think like that, the people of Seris should also face this point."

(End of this chapter)