Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 553 Eight-Nation Alliance Envoys
In the spring of the eighth year of Yongyuan,
The emperor appointed Lady Yin as empress, hoping to emulate the deeds of his ancestor, Emperor Guangwu, by loving her and raising a wise successor.

quickly,

He truly became the second "Guangwu"—

While strolling in the palace
He met Consort Deng Sui, whom he was meeting for the first time.

The emperor greatly admired her personality and wisdom. After they practiced a few sets of questions together using the book "Mingwu," the emperor liked her even more.

He felt that Deng Sui's intelligence was similar to his own, and that her personality, while inherently gentle, also carried an obvious and unyielding strength, which was completely different from Empress Yin's.

Having just become the empress whom her family had been talking about and whom she had always longed for, Yin Shi hadn't been happy for more than two months when she discovered that the emperor was showing signs of infidelity and soon began to resent Deng Sui.

Having already taken his eldest son on a tour of various parts of the Central Plains, they finally arrived at the imperial palace to visit the current emperor, where they happened to witness this tale of love, hate, and grudges.

He Bo then sighed, "Their combined age isn't even as many as the pigs raised by Old Man Liu, yet they've managed to end up like this."

Over the years, Liu Tuan had grown somewhat weary of farming, so he turned to Yi Zhong to learn pig-raising techniques.

The latter was overjoyed and even pulled Liu Taigong into his new breeding plan, wanting to select superior pig breeds from various regions and eventually cultivate a new breed with more meat and faster growth.

The two old men hit it off immediately, and now they have successfully raised their first batch of "superior" piglets.

Upon hearing this, Yege'er laughed and said, "Even someone as carefree as Grandfather can get tired of things that don't change over time, let alone a restless young person?"

While the emperor's achievements were indeed remarkable, his age should not be overlooked.

Young, huh?
Sometimes, our thoughts, ideas, and actions are simply irrational.

Furthermore, the concubines in the harem were, according to etiquette and law, the emperor's women.

Why can't he have multiple pairs of wings?
To put it another way,

In the depths of the palace, the emperor's favor was of paramount importance.

There are already many examples of people who gain wealth and status but lose their lives in the process.

Since the Yin family prospered because of Yin Lihua, a descendant of Emperor Guangwu, they naturally had more plans and vigilance in this regard.

Even if Empress Yin herself did nothing, her family would push her to do something.

"However, compared to the Roman court, the Han dynasty was still quite good."

Skipping over the emperor's harem,
Having witnessed the top-tier ecosystem of the Central Kingdom, Yege'er couldn't help but sigh as he recalled his life in Rome.

In a corner of the palace,
He Bo casually brushed away the fallen leaves and green treasures from the stone, then sat down.

"How so?"

Rome today has absorbed much of the culture of the various Chinese civilizations.

However, it has never changed its fundamental nature and still has the pride of being a major power in the world, so some traditions have been continued.

Even someone as noble as Augustus could only have one wife in name.

Children born to lovers may be shown to the world and enjoy wealth and honor, but they cannot overcome traditional barriers to obtain the right to inherit the throne.

of course,

This marital status is just a minor matter, and it even aligns with the "fairness" pursued by the Way of Peace.

But what Yggdrasil wanted to complain about was an ancient tradition passed down in the Roman court—

Perhaps every nation that values ​​lineage and whose rulers call themselves sons of God has a system of "sacred marriage."

Perhaps it was simply because women in the West also had the right to inherit their family's property, and in order to prevent the family from declining and being usurped, they wanted to "keep the wealth within the family."

all in all,
Compared to the virtuous men of the Chinese nation who long ago explicitly prohibited marriage between people of the same surname, the Western elites were somewhat wild and unrestrained in their private lives.

This,

It was the result of the hard work done since the first Augustus, Lord Octavian, to curb the decadent atmosphere.

"Anyway, my plan to retire comfortably in Rome was ruined because of it!"

Recalling the grand reception he received upon arriving in Rome, and the enigmatic struggles that followed, the elderly Jake leaned on his cane and sighed.

He originally thought that all he needed to do in his life was to educate the Germanic barbarians, and that Rome looked so glamorous that he didn't need to put in much effort.

Who knew that his half-hearted attempts in his youth would ultimately lead him to a deep pit in his old age.

But yes,

Who would expose their private affairs to the sunlight, allowing passersby to easily peek in?

He Bo listened quietly from the side, glancing at his eldest son's face, which was full of memories. He planned to ask the Mediterranean pigeons about Yege's specific experiences in Rome later.

Previously, I thought that as the child grew up, the beautiful curly hair he had when he was young would lose its luster with the passage of time and lie limply on his head, so God stopped watching him so often.

We should respect adults' little secrets!

But looking at it now...

He probably missed out on some fun.

Tsk,
It's a real shame that there are fewer Western material passages in "A New Account of Tales of the World"!

……

"The wind has arrived."

As a new sunrise arrives,

Just as God was about to send his son, who had finished his travels in the Middle Kingdom and fulfilled his last wishes, back to the West, God suddenly looked up and gazed towards the direction of the sea.

Yage quickly realized what he was referring to.

"The envoys from various Western countries have finally successfully landed."

In previous years,
The various Xia states, which had already established themselves in the West, came to Guangye for their annual alliance meeting and subsequently formulated a plan to "pay homage to the Son of Heaven in order to rectify the origins of their nation."

However, the distance is far, and it requires crossing mountains and seas, so it cannot be accomplished in a short time.

The most pressing problem was the obstruction posed by the Roman Empire, which dominated the Mediterranean.

till this moment,

Although the sea routes opened up by the Xia people were extensive, reaching Yinzhou to the east and circumnavigating most of Shenzhou to the islands in the northwest corner of the west,

However, to travel between these two extreme regions, one still needs to pass through Lixuan, which was once part of Western Qin, and is now the province of Egypt in Rome.

The canal that originated with the Egyptian pharaohs and was widened and dredged under the Qin dynasty, connecting the two seas, also gained the attention of the Romans and became a lifeline and a jewel on the long Silk Road.

It received careful protection from the Romans.

Therefore,
If the gentlemen of the Western Xia wanted to travel along the canal, they had to negotiate with the Romans to avoid being blocked halfway and having to turn back empty-handed.

then,

While preparing tribute gifts for the emperor...
The envoys of the various Chinese states also arrived in Rome and met with the newly enthroned monarch, Constantineus.

It stands to reason,

The Western Xia, whose main lineage originated from the Western Qin, should be furious at this monarch who was the first to succeed to the throne as the eldest son since the founding of the Roman Empire.

Because after his father conquered the neighboring Ning Kingdom to the east and ascended to the throne of Yu Bi City, he renamed the beautiful and prosperous capital of Western Qin after him and granted it to him as his fief.

This is truly a disgrace to the Western gentlemen who have the blood of the Qin people flowing through their veins.

But after thinking it over,

Paying respects to the emperor is still more important.
Since the Northern Qin side didn't even vent their anger at Rome because of this, how could they possibly take the lead?

The Roman emperor heard of their request and accepted the generous gifts, but did not object.

Recalling what his father had done, he arranged for some people to go with him to the Central Kingdom to strengthen the friendship between the two countries.

When the combined fleet of seven countries, including Rome, Chu, and Jing, passed through the canal and along that narrow sea area, just as they were about to cross the bend formed by the Rongzhou continent extending into the ocean, they encountered the people of Liang.

Forced by Rome, these descendants of the Qin people migrated south, eventually reaching the plateau. After conquering the barbarians who claimed to be white but were actually dark-skinned, they sought to emulate their ancestors' ways, sailing to the other side of the river to introduce seeds and dilute the local color. Who would have thought they would establish contact with their compatriots in northern Ctesiforme, separated from their homeland by Rome?
Upon hearing their plan to pay homage to the emperor,
King Liang looked at some of his many sons, some of whom had rather dark skin, and then at the envoy from the Western Liu Chu Kingdom, whose curly hair required a net to tie up his hair. With a wave of his hand, he also joined the fleet.

Although they had not been in the highlands for long and Liang Kingdom's resources were not yet abundant, fortunately, they had recently discovered a gold mine that was relatively easy to mine.

otherwise,

Liang Guo also lacked the confidence to raise the sails and launch a major talent recruitment drive in his hometown.

that's it,
The envoys from Liang also joined the Western delegation, bringing the total to eight nations, and they headed towards Luoyang, where the emperor resided.

When passing through the State of Qi,
When the King of Qi heard about the alliance of eight envoys, he was very surprised.

Then he said regretfully, "Unfortunately, not long ago, an envoy from the Protectorate of the Western Regions arrived here. I have already arranged for the envoy to accompany them by land to pay homage to the Emperor!"

otherwise,

He could send an envoy in, which would also help to improve relations among the relatives of the Xia people.

It is important to know that after the rise of the State of Qi,

With the state of Qi busy vying for legitimacy with the Sui state in the east, busy beating and expelling its poor brothers in the north, and the Qin state in the west engaged in a fierce battle, it seemed to have no time to pay attention to outsiders. As a result, Qi's interactions with other states of the Xia were not frequent.

King Qi really wanted the latter certification to further enhance his own "Zhu Xia" (a term referring to various Xia states) status, so he could argue with the Sui state.

When the envoys from the Eight Nations Alliance heard him say this, they simply smiled and made an appointment with the King of Qi to meet his envoys in Luoyang.

The King of Qi nodded in satisfaction, bestowed upon them many gifts, and then casually asked:
Will it still dock at ports in the Sui Dynasty?

"We will resupply there."

"Would he be as enthusiastic as he was with the Sui emperor when he spoke to me?"

"That shouldn't happen."

The delegation had already asked Master Gao De to calculate the route.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the fleet only needs to stop on the west coast of the Sui Dynasty, without having to go around to the east.

The ports on the west coast were far from the capital of the Sui Dynasty and were not connected by any major river, making it inconvenient to transmit messages.

Unless the Eight-Nation Alliance envoys are willing to delay for a while and wait for the Sui Emperor's response.

How is this possible?
"That's good!"

King Qi received the answer he wanted and smiled happily before seeing the delegation off.

When passing through Central and Southern China,
The King of Yue, who was busy fighting against the surrounding barbarian tribes and expanding his territory, did not learn about the mission in time.

The latter only made a hasty resupply before turning north and entering the Han Dynasty's territorial waters.

The envoy from Liang Kingdom responded as follows:
"It's better not to see each other, to avoid embarrassment!"

The Liang state was descended from the Qin dynasty. They were driven from the rich Mesopotamia to Egypt, and then from Egypt to the Rongzhou highlands.

Although the fate of our nation is now firmly established, it is still quite shameful compared to the great achievements of our ancestors.

Not to mention the skin color issues that were addressed during the treatment.

The Yue state was also descended from the Qin dynasty. A member of the royal family from a remote area abandoned his family property and fled to the Sui state, and then to the central and southern regions. Through marriage alliances, the Yue state rose to prominence and eventually established itself.

However, influenced by the climate and soil of the Central and Southern regions, this Qin people, who originated north of the Yellow River, flourished in the Western Sea, and then came south of Lingnan, not only took the lead in submitting to the Han Dynasty, but also had many Xiong Chu characteristics in their system.

If the envoys from the two families met, after discussing their family lineage and generational relationships using the genealogy, they would immediately turn around and ask, "Why aren't you called 'Qin'?"

"How did you establish your country and build your career?"

"How much of the spirit of the Black Bird still remains in your current traditional Chinese style?"

Wouldn't that be like staring at each other blankly, making us a laughing stock for the envoys of the other seven countries?
Don't say

There was even a curly-haired envoy from the State of Chu in the delegation!

After going around in circles,

It took a long time.

The envoys from the eight nations finally sailed through the waves and docked at the port of the Great Han.

Next,
They will follow the same route taken by the Roman envoys last time, bringing gifts from afar to Luoyang to meet the emperor.

along the way,

These envoys from the far west were naturally amazed by the prosperity and splendor of the early Han Dynasty.

However, Tacitus, the Roman envoy accompanying the group, felt somewhat uneasy.

He privately told his friends, "It's amazing that an authoritarian state can actually create a power that surpasses Rome."

Tacitus,
He was a renowned scholar in Rome during his time, and also had considerable knowledge of the Chinese civilization.

just,

Even though he was born under an authoritarian regime and witnessed the rule of the first emperor, Alexius, he still harbored resentment towards the centralized power of successive Roman monarchs and constantly criticized it.

on the one hand,

This is because Rome's long-standing republican tradition has not completely disappeared to this day.

Even Augustus's position could not be passed down within a single family and surname, as was the case in the Chinese states.

Essentially, it was still the Julius family, descended from Octavian, who ruled in conjunction with Claudius, descended from Tiberius.

Ok,
In this light, the purity of the bloodline of the late Emperor Alexius was only slightly lower than that of Octavian and Tiberius.

After all, no matter how you look at it, you can trace it back to the founders of these two families.

On the other hand,

Everything must be done in accordance with Augustus's wishes.

This was naturally difficult for classical scholars like Tacitus to accept.

He even sought out a highly respected Taoist priest from various regions to confide in him about his troubles.

Then the Taoist priest stroked his beard and thought for a moment. He did not explain the difference between "republic" and "centralized power" to him, but simply directed him towards the area east of the Reina River, which the Romans called "Greater Germania" and which was now occupied by several Chinese holdouts.

"Some things cannot be explained in words."

"If you have any doubts, you can go and see for yourself, and listen for yourself."

then,

Tacitus was then taken by Gaudí to the Greater Germania region, where he traveled for four or five years.

Until the year before last,

He was summoned back to Rome by the monarch Constantineus and given a central government position, which ended his wanderings among the Chinese and barbarian tribes.

Subsequently,

Because of his extensive knowledge and fluency in the refined language of China, he became a Roman envoy for the new era.

He came to the Central Kingdom,
This is the most centralized, largest, and most populous country in the world, and I, as a scholar, was amazed by it.

"But my thinking hasn't changed much."

Even the best systems have their drawbacks.

"I cannot turn a blind eye to this."

Having witnessed the scenery of many places in the Central Plains, and with the magnificent city of Luoyang looming in the distance,

Tacitus was still debating his views with his friend.

The friend, thinking about his upcoming meeting with the emperor, only said to him:
"Ah, yes, yes!"

(End of this chapter)