A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

The Roman delegation met with Vizier directly in an official capacity.

Wei Qi warmly received them.

Upon meeting the Roman delegation, Wei Qi felt a sense of kinship seeing faces identical to theirs.

The same was true for missions of the Roman Empire.

The countries surrounding them are mostly inhabited by people with white skin, and they have all sorts of hair colors—blue, red, green.

Only the Han people were as powerful as them, and they all had yellow skin, black eyes, and black hair.

The vast distance between the two countries also ensures that there will be almost no major friction between them.

"Respected General of the Great Han Dynasty."

"On behalf of the Roman Empire, I hope to establish a friendly and cooperative relationship with the Han Empire."

"On behalf of the Han Empire, I also hope to achieve friendly cooperation with your country."

Wei Qi took out the staff bestowed upon him by Emperor Zhao of Han. With this, he was qualified to make alliances with other countries.

Following friendly talks, the Roman delegation made a request.

"We hope to purchase silk and porcelain directly from the Han Dynasty."

"No problem."

Wei Qi had long heard that the Parthian Empire sold silk to the Roman Empire for more than gold.

He would have been more than happy to be able to bypass this middleman and do business directly with the Roman Empire.

Therefore, he secretly instructed his men to inform the merchants to drastically increase the prices.

In an attempt to buy time, Vizier led the Roman delegation to a room containing a chest of silk that he had brought with him.

It was filled with the finest silks he had brought from the Han Dynasty.

It even contained two pieces of Shu brocade.

Only the tribute silks he kept in private were of a higher grade than this.

Shu brocade, as the finest silk of the Han Dynasty, was never sold to foreigners.

They presented these two bolts of Shu brocade to the envoy of the Roman Empire.

"Please, messenger, help me deliver these two bolts of silk to your esteemed Augustus (the title of the Roman Emperor)."

The envoy stared wide-eyed at the two bolts of Shu brocade.

"Is this really a gift for Augustus?"

He carefully wiped his hands with his clothes, but then felt it wasn't enough.

I asked someone to bring me a basin of water, and after carefully washing and drying them, I dared to touch the two pieces of Shu brocade.

"It's so smooth!"

"That's natural. Even in the Han Dynasty, only the most elite nobles could afford it."

Wei Qi smiled; of course, this meant nothing to him.

After all, their family was the most prestigious family in the Han Dynasty, second only to the emperor's family.

Even the feudal lords couldn't compare.

During festivals, the emperor would bestow large quantities of tribute silk upon their family, along with some ordinary Shu brocade, which was something their family had no shortage of.

They mostly used tribute-grade brocade; this kind of Shu brocade was rarely used.

"On behalf of Augustus, I thank the General for his generosity!"

The envoy bowed solemnly and said.

"Furthermore, I would like to ask if your country sells silk of this quality in the Western Regions?"

The Roman envoy looked at the fine silks pressed beneath the Shu brocade, silks of a quality he had never seen before.

"Of course there are."

Wei Qi nodded. Although the quantity of these high-end luxury goods that they sold to the outside world was not large, the most powerful kings in the Western Regions and the great nobles of the Parthian Empire had bought quite a lot of them.

"Damn it!"

"Those vampires of the Parthian Empire are hoarding such exquisite silk and refusing to sell it to us!"

"Once I get back, I must report this to Augustus and teach the Parthian Empire a good lesson!"

The Roman envoy said angrily, then looked at Wei Qi.

"Can I buy all the silk here?"

"sure."

Wei Qi nodded. "We will sell what the Parthian Empire sells, and we will sell even more what the Parthian Empire refuses to sell."

"Sell first, discuss later, cash on delivery."

"Is that clear enough?"

"handsome!"

The Roman envoy gave a thumbs up, feeling that Wei Qi looked absolutely radiant.

"What are the prices in your country?"

Wei Qi thought for a moment and then held up two fingers.

"How's this number?"

The Roman envoy shed tears of emotion, making Wei Qi wonder if he had asked for too much.

I'm about to lower the price a little to avoid scaring this fat sheep away.

Then they saw the Roman envoy, who suddenly looked up.

"General, you're such a conscientious businessman!"

Wei Qi scratched his head. Could this envoy have thought he was referring to the five-zhu coin?

Didn't they say that the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire used gold for settlement?

Could the information be incorrect?

"We're talking about gold."

Wei Qi reminded him.

The Roman envoy was taken aback, and this surprise left Wei Qi somewhat bewildered.

"Anyway, it's not a five-zhu coin."

"Gold, of course!"

"Does the General look down on our Roman Empire?!"

"I was referring to two chests of gold!"

"I'll write to the government right away and ask them to send gold over!"

The Roman envoy was somewhat indignant. What did the Han Empire take them for?!

"..."

Wei Qi was speechless after hearing that.

Two boxes of gold?!

What did he originally mean?

Yes, that's right, two boxes of gold.

All he initially wanted were two boxes of gold.

That's right, that's it!

The Roman delegation, carrying the finest silks they had purchased at high prices, detoured through the southern part of the Parthian Empire, bypassing its territory, and returned to the Roman Empire.

Wei Qi was also involved in this; he secretly dispatched Han Chinese men to protect the Roman delegation.

To ensure the safe return of the Roman mission to the Roman Empire.

After all, Rome had placed a large order for silk with them, and when they came back next time, they would bring enough gold and silver to buy more.

Such a big deal can't just be blown out of proportion.

Upon their return to Rome, the silk carried by the mission was looted.

Only the two bolts of Shu brocade and a few bolts of fine silk remained.

The rest were on the way and were robbed by those Roman nobles.

It can't be called robbery; it's more like forced buying and selling.

They paid them.

And it cost more than what he bought.

But these are meant for Augustus!

There was nothing he could do; he was just a lowly envoy, and he couldn't possibly stand up against the coercion and extortion of those powerful nobles.

He managed to protect the rest by risking his life and using the name of the Council of Elders.

After arriving in Rome.

This was explained to Lucius in detail about everything that had happened to the official.

Lucius looked at the brightly colored Shu brocade in his hand, as well as the other fine silks.

He launched into a tirade of insults at the Roman nobles on the road.

The elders of the Senate did the same, claiming they would take all the silk back.

They might even have to mobilize troops and go to war with them directly.

In the end, Lucius, having regained his composure, persuaded him to return by arguing that they could still purchase goods from the Han Empire.

Enticed by the allure of silk, the Senate quickly convened a meeting of its elders.

The meeting unanimously agreed to use a large amount of gold and silver to purchase silk from the Han Empire.

Some of the more radical elders were green with envy when they heard that the Parthian Empire had multiplied the price of silk so many times over.

They even suggested that Rome should join forces with the Han Dynasty to destroy the Parthian Empire, the middleman.