Chapter 152: The Envoy from the Middle Kingdom
Chapter 152: The Envoy from the Middle Kingdom
The war between Rome and Parthia ended with Sanatruces signing the surrender document.
Of course, not everyone accepted Rome’s rule just because the king surrendered.
It was because there were still some nobles who had enough strength left, as the war ended too quickly.
Most of them were willing to acknowledge Rome’s rule if their privileges were recognized, but some hardliners did not stop fighting.
But naturally, their resistance did not last long.
Surenas attacked the anti-Roman nobles simultaneously and swept them away before they could form an alliance.
The only result they left was delaying Marcus’s return for a few months, who wanted to quickly settle Parthia and go back.
Thanks to that, Marcus had to spend the winter in Parthia without being able to reorganize the provinces.
“It’s unrealistic to annex the entire territory of Parthia. It would only widen the administrative area unnecessarily.”
Marcus had no intention of blindly expanding the land without a plan.
In fact, Rome’s territory was already almost at the limit of its administrative capacity, even without exaggeration.
If he expanded the territory further east from here, he would have to seriously consider dividing the empire.
No matter how much he thought about it, maintaining the current state was the best option with Rome’s current level of technology and system development.
He had a plan to improve the administrative system by referring to the Yuan Dynasty’s postal relay system, but it was still in the preparation stage.
To reach that point, Marcus had to be able to wield his will over all of Rome’s decisions.
“But I can’t just leave it as it is after declaring a province in a war…”
Especially for the provinces that were in charge of the border, it was crucial to have a fast communication system.
Parthia’s eastern border was a place where nomads from the north and Indian forces from the south could invade, so they had to be especially vigilant.
After much deliberation, Marcus finally made a decision.
He would merge the land directly into Rome’s territory up to the Iranian plateau, which could be used as a natural border line.
He divided Transoxiana, Khorasan, and Baluchistan, which were further east, into two and established two vassal states in the north and south.
This was a fairly large area that corresponded to modern Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and part of Pakistan.
The two states that would enter here would serve as a breakwater for Rome’s east.
He chose the Karen family as the royal dynasty for the northern state.
Karen, who had lost twice to Rome and swore allegiance to Marcus, was someone who knew Marcus’s fear better than anyone else.
He was originally not eligible to be the head of his family, but he inherited it thanks to all of his predecessors and their sons dying in the war with Rome.
So he had a fear of Rome, but not a resentment that ran deep in his bones.
As expected, Karen thanked Marcus and swore absolute loyalty to him.
He established Surenas’s family as the royal dynasty for the southern state.
Surenas himself had to stay under Marcus, so he chose one of his close relatives and made him king.
These two states were nominally royal dynasties, but in reality they were vassals under Rome’s governorship.
They had to get Rome’s permission to decide on major national affairs such as succession, diplomacy, and war.
They were more like feudal kings than sovereign kings.
Marcus then called Karen and Surenas to warn them and set up a new state system.
“By the way, Marcus sir, what will you do with Sanatruces?”
“Sanatruces? Well… I decided to send him to Rome, but I haven’t thought about anything beyond that.”
“Then may I tell you my opinion?”
Surenas, who had not raised a single objection until now, suggested his opinion for the first time.
Marcus gestured with his hand for him to go ahead without saying anything.
Surenas hesitated for a moment and then cautiously continued his speech.
“Sanatruces is a traitor who tried to assassinate you. He deserves more than humiliation as a spectacle at a triumph. He needs a heavier punishment.”
“So you want him to suffer more than Orodes did.”
“Yes.”
“I understand your feelings, but I can’t sentence him to death or slavery. Death goes against Rome’s tradition, and slavery would cause discontent among the local Parthian nobles. It would be an insult to Rome’s dignity to treat someone who was once a king of a country like that.”
A shadow crossed Surenas’s face.
It was not just because he couldn’t take revenge on Orodes who he had served in the past.
Surenas wanted to make him pay for creating a situation where he had no choice but to destroy Parthia with his own hands.
He also wanted to mock him for ending up like this after pushing them away and taking the throne.
Of course, he knew that this was nothing more than venting his anger.
Marcus also guessed Surenas’s psychology, but he didn’t bother to point it out.
It was natural for a human to feel anger or resentment.
Marcus was rather satisfied to confirm Surenas’s emotional side.
“Sanatruces will inevitably face Orodes when he goes to Rome. Wouldn’t that be the greatest humiliation and pain for him?”
“…I see. Now that I think about it, that might be the case.”
“And even if we go back to Rome, it won’t be until next year at the earliest, so there’s no need to decide everything right now.”
“I’m sorry. If I had suppressed the rebellion faster, there wouldn’t have been any delay in our schedule…”
“No, it was inevitable that we would be late anyway, since we had to create two new provinces. We should enjoy this rare leisure time while we can.”
Marcus poured himself some of his reserved wine and drank it leisurely.
If Clodius did his job properly, there wouldn’t be any problem with their plan even if they were a bit late.
No, maybe their delayed return would actually create a more dramatic effect.
There was no point in regretting what had already happened.
It would be much more efficient to review and revise their future plans.
Marcus intended to fully enjoy this relaxing break that he had found after a long time.
But the butterfly effect of his delayed return brought a bigger event than he expected.
“A messenger from the East has arrived and requested to meet with the governor who conquered Parthia. He crossed the border and is expected to arrive here in Ecbatana in a few days.”
“From the East? Is he from India, Scythia, or Satabaha?”
“No, he is from a country called Han, which is even further east than those places.”
Marcus’s expression changed at his subordinate’s report.
“A messenger from Han? Did Parthia have such frequent exchanges with Han?”
One of the Parthian bureaucrats stepped forward and answered Marcus’s question.
“According to what I know, Parthia and Han have been exchanging messengers for decades.”
“Do you mean they exchanged official envoys between the two countries, not just merchants?”
“Yes. The Han Empire in the East was a powerful country that had more territory and national power than Parthia at its peak. Their king called himself the Son of Heaven and wielded absolute power.”
Marcus was well aware of this information.
‘If they knew such detailed information and exchanged messengers, then it must be true that they had quite a lot of interactions.’
In history, Rome’s first direct contact with Han was during the reign of Emperor Aurelius in the 2nd century.
Even then, it was unclear whether it was an official contact or just a visit by a merchant.
Considering this, Parthia had established relations with Han almost 200 years earlier than Rome.
The reason why Rome couldn’t easily communicate with Han was not only because of the distance.
It was because Parthia, which was located right in the middle, interfered with them.
Parthia imported wine and goldsmithing from Rome and sold them to Han, while exporting silk from Han to Rome.
Of course, they took a huge commission in the name of tolls.
Because of this, the prices of sugar and silk that Rome and Han recognized were several times higher than the normal prices.
But now that Rome had conquered Parthia, there was no longer any obstacle to trade between the two countries.
Marcus also planned to send an envoy accompanied by merchants to Han when the time came.
But thankfully, they came to him first.
A historic meeting that happened hundreds of years earlier than the original history was about to take place sooner than expected.
“He is a precious guest, so treat him courteously and comfortably. I will meet with them as soon as possible, so make all the necessary preparations. I will not tolerate any mistakes.”
“Yes. We will carry out your orders immediately.”
Marcus ordered them to bring all the official documents that Parthia had exchanged with Han as soon as possible.
The purpose of the visit of the Han messenger was most likely to renew the treaty they had made with Parthia with Rome.
Then he needed to know all the agreements that had been made between the two countries so far.
Soon after, a bureaucrat came back with a pile of documents and translated them one by one from the oldest ones.
Marcus didn’t know Persian, so he had no choice but to go through this process.
Before long, he realized that Parthia had a closer relationship with Han than he thought.
And he also guessed why that was.
The sugar that Marcus made was the reason.
Unlike in the original history, Parthia sold sugar imported from Rome to East Asia and made a huge profit.
The merchants of Han were willing to pay a huge amount of money to get this sugar.
Some merchants even traded silk for sugar with extra money on top.
The sugar that entered Han naturally went into the mouths of the royal family.
The reaction was dramatic.
The current emperor of Han, Hyoseon (Liu Xun), ordered his merchants to import this sugar in large quantities.
Of course, he didn’t intend to eat it all by himself.
He planned to give some of it to his tributary states as a show-off.
The effect was amazing indeed.
The tributary states that received sugar from Han for the first time were astonished by the incredible technology of the Middle Kingdom.
In the case of Buyeo, they increased their tribute by almost 20% and asked for more sugar.
Now, sugar was the most desired commodity for the countries around Han as a tribute.
Hyoseon used this mysterious powder that tasted sweet as one of the means to show off his imperial dignity.
To do that, he had to monopolize the export of sugar.
So Han paid a huge amount of money to Parthia and obtained the exclusive right to import sugar.
It was a good offer for Parthia as well, since they could monopolize the sales channel and get more money.
The two countries had maintained a decent relationship until then.
After hearing the report up to this point, Marcus knew for sure what the Han messenger would ask for.
‘He wants me to sell sugar only to them, just like Parthia did.’
It was not an unreasonable proposal, as long as he paid a fair price.
Marcus decided to meet with the messenger personally and negotiate the details.
The Han messenger who arrived in Ecbatana a few days later was more polite than Marcus expected.
He bowed respectfully to Marcus, who was sitting on the throne and receiving him.
“Greetings, great ruler who conquered Parthia. I am Buan, who came with the order of the Son of Heaven.”
“Welcome. I am Marcus Crassus, the governor who oversees the eastern provinces of Rome.”
Buan looked confused by the word governor.
He didn’t show the arrogance that was typical of the envoys of the Chinese dynasty, which was quite different from the prejudice.
“I apologize, governor. The position of governor is unfamiliar to us, so it is difficult for us to gauge your status accurately. Please teach us so that we do not make any mistakes.”
“Didn’t you hear anything about Rome when you traded with Parthia for a long time?”
“We knew that all the precious goods that Parthia sold came from a great country in the west. We call your country Daechin, but we are ashamed to say that we don’t have much information yet. In fact, we wanted to have direct exchanges with Daechin, but Parthia didn’t let us. So we decided to visit this place with the intention of opening up mutual exchanges and getting to know each other better.”
“That’s good to hear. We have no objection to that proposal either. And our political system is too different from Daechin’s, so it might be hard to explain it right here. Let me put it simply for now. You can think of it as I have been delegated the right to rule over this entire Parthia and the western provinces that I originally governed.”
“Oh, I see.”
He exclaimed, but Buan still didn’t quite get it.
It was true that he conquered Parthia and had military power, but administration and diplomacy were another matter.
As if he could see through Buan’s awkwardness, Marcus continued.
“The right to rule means exactly what it says. In both Parthia and the western provinces that I conquered, all the powers of judiciary, legislation, administration, and diplomacy are concentrated in me. You can understand it that way.”
“Now I understand clearly.”
Buan nodded humbly and thought he did well to address him as a ruler at first.
If he handled all the judicial, legislative, and administrative affairs and made diplomatic relations as he pleased, then he was a king, what else?
In Buan’s mind, Marcus became a shahanshah who destroyed Parthia and took its place.
“Then, governor, I sincerely congratulate you on your glorious victory. Actually, I have one more reason for visiting this place. This proposal will not harm Daechin at all, so I ask you to consider it once.”
“Alright, let me hear it.”
“As you may know, we had promised Parthia exclusive supply of sugar. But now Parthia is gone and Daechin has taken its place. We want to continue the contract with Daechin under the same conditions as before.”
“I’ve thought about that too. If you guarantee us a higher profit than selling it to various countries, there’s no reason why we can’t make the same treaty.”
Buan’s face brightened when he heard an immediate positive answer.
“Of course. Parthia also made that agreement because they calculated that selling sugar only to us would be more profitable.”
“Let’s see… how about this price for sugar?”
Marcus offered a price that was 30% higher than what he used to sell to Parthia.
Of course, it was still an incredibly cheap price for Han, who had been buying sugar from Parthia at a huge markup.
“We can afford that.”
Rome didn’t care who supplied them with sugar, as long as it was Parthia or Han.
But their profit increased by 30%, so they were making a fortune by just sitting still.
Moreover, as Han was able to buy sugar at a lower price, Rome could also purchase silk from Han at a much cheaper price.
“It’s truly a pleasure to have a negotiation that satisfies both parties.”
Marcus smiled at Buan, who couldn’t hide his glee.
“I have one more proposal to make, if you don’t mind.”
“Yes, please tell me anything.”
“Since we are meeting for the first time, I think we don’t know much about each other. How about exchanging ambassadors as a way of cultural exchange?”
“Oh, that’s a brilliant idea. The Emperor will be very pleased.”
Buan nodded without hesitation.
He had been thinking of gathering accurate information about the Great Han Empire.
If he could send an ambassador and get official information, there was nothing more he could ask for.
Especially if he could secretly learn the production method of sugar.
Of course, Rome might also try to steal the manufacturing technique of silk, but he was confident that it was impossible.
Silk was made from the thread extracted from the cocoons of silkworms.
This fact was kept as a strict secret, so not many people knew it at this stage.
But Buan didn’t even imagine it.
Marcus already knew everything about silk production.
He could even find ways to improve the quality of silk more than Han’s silk.
All he needed was a breed of silkworms that produced good quality silk.
If he didn’t show any interest in silk production, Han’s surveillance would be relaxed.
There were plenty of ways to get silkworm eggs in that gap.
Marcus and Buan, who had different hidden agendas, discussed the departure schedule of the ambassadors with smiles.
Marcus didn’t know it, but Buan recorded Marcus’s title as Shahanshah, which means King of Kings, the title used by the king of Parthia.
Ironically, the first record that marked Marcus as a king was found not in the west but in the east, in Han’s record.