Chapter 190: The Relations of the Great Nations
Chapter 190: The Relations of the Great Nations
Marcus had not anticipated that the conflict between Caesar and Sextus would escalate as he headed to Alexandria.
Around the time Caesar accused Gabinius, Marcus was crossing the sea a day away from Alexandria.
He was in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, so he could not hear what was happening in Rome.
Rather, he believed that Sextus would do well on his own since he had warned him so much.
He breathed in the cool air from the bow of the ship and felt the salty scent of the sea permeate his senses.
The sea breeze that brushed his cheeks and blew his hair also added to his freshness.
“I might not be able to rest for a while, so why don’t I take a month off and relax this time?”
Marcus, who had recently increased his worries, felt a sense of liberation for the first time in a long time.
In fact, none of his problems had been solved, but it was also true that there was nothing he could do right now.
To be honest, he wanted to tell Caesar to handle the Huns and the civil war himself and just rest.
He thought it would not be bad to enjoy the Nile cruise that Arsinoe had suggested on this occasion.
“If I’m going to rest, it wouldn’t be bad to invite all my family members. Publius would probably prefer coming to Alexandria than going to Rome.”
It was more than twice as short to come to Alexandria from Antioch than to go to Rome.
Berenice also wanted to return to Egypt, so he thought she would surely welcome it.
“Publius should be leaving Han soon by schedule…”
When he first sent his brother as an envoy, he had nothing more to ask for than bringing back some silk, but now his thoughts had changed a bit.
Now he wanted him to bring back the trends and information of the northern nomads more strongly.
Of course, he did not say that beforehand, but if the Huns really invaded Serica, there must have been a significant reaction from Han as well.
Marcus hoped that Publius would carefully observe the atmosphere of Han.
And fortunately, Publius was acting according to Marcus’s wishes.
He enjoyed Han’s culture with Berenice while sorting out valuable information worth investigating.
Of course, among them, things like the trends of the Hunnic tribes were pushed back considerably in priority.
From Publius’s point of view, he did not think he needed to know much about the nomadic tribes that were not on good terms with Han.
He also faithfully followed Marcus’s advice beforehand.
He would eat as many different dishes of Han as possible and not skimp on compliments.
And he would actively experience Han’s cultures and not skimp on good words here either.
Publius gladly did so.
Rome was basically not resistant to accepting other cultures.
Berenice also showed a lot of interest in Han, recognizing it as the eastern Egypt.
She wore silk clothes and unique accessories that were popular in Rome and walked around in them.
The nobles of Han liked her behavior very much.
They thought that the royal family of the western power who came from afar was civilized by the superior culture of Zhongyuan (the central plain).
It was the same with eating food.
At this time in Han, foods such as alcohol, vinegar, yeast and soy sauce were being made slowly.
It was around Han when tea, which was regarded as a medicinal herb in Jin Dynasty, began to change into a luxury item.
Publius enjoyed Han’s food culture actively.
Thanks to the characteristic of Romans who ate fermented fish, he could easily adapt to Zhongyuan’s food.
The rumor of a westerner who enjoyed all kinds of delicacies from Zhongyuan soon became a hot topic among Han’s nobles.
“Hahaha, Your Highness Publius. I am hosting a banquet this time and I would appreciate it if you could attend and brighten up the place.”
“I also want to make a place with Your Highness Publius at our house. Please grant me permission.”
Han regarded Marcus as equivalent to an emperor of the west, so they treated Publius as royalty.
And not just ordinary royalty, but an important person who received special treatment from Tianzi (the Son of Heaven) himself.
As such, the nobles tried hard to host Publius and Berenice in order to show off their family’s status to outsiders.
Of course, Publius did not accept any invitations from any nobles.
He established his authority by visiting only the houses of officials who were in the rank of Sangong (the Three Excellencies) or equivalent.
His pleasant life in Chang’an was also coming to an end.
Hyoseon Emperor held a grand farewell event for Publius, who had to return to Rome.
“Eat well, since you have a long way to go.”
Publius, who thought he was used to Han’s way of doing everything big and loud, could not hide his surprise this time.
The banquet held by Han’s Tianzi was of a scale that he had never seen before.
It was a time when there was no concept of Manhanjeonsik (a full-course meal consisting of dishes from both Manchuria and Han) yet, but the court banquet of Han at this time was incomparable to anywhere in the world in terms of size.
For two days, the dishes representing each region continued endlessly.
Even the feast of Lucullus, who was famous for his cuisine in Rome, was nothing but a firefly in front of the moon compared to this.
Hyoseon Emperor placed Publius’s seat next to Tianzi’s at this event.
He even exempted him from the mandatory ritual of bowing to Tianzi before the event.
On the contrary, Hyoseon Emperor seated Publius near himself and checked on him from time to time to see if he was uncomfortable.
“Haha, the Shahanshah of Persia has been exchanging relations with Tianzi of Zhongyuan as equals since before. So you, his brother, don’t need to bow to me as you did when you first saw me. It’s not a tribute mission, but a visit of a guest of honor.”
Hyoseon Emperor laughed heartily and ordered the interpreter at the guesthouse to translate.
Publius bowed his head politely and replied after hearing the translation.
“I’m just grateful that you have been so attentive from beginning to end. I hope that the friendly relations between the two countries will continue as they are now.”
“Well, they should. By the way, it seems that you like the food here, which is fortunate. You enjoyed it almost every day while you were here, didn’t you?”
“Yes. It was amazing how each region had its own distinct characteristics, like different countries’ cuisines. It was a really enjoyable experience.”
“Actually, they were different countries in the distant past. Even the dishes that are coming up here have nothing in common.”
Publius seemed to be completely captivated by the feast of various delicacies that were served without a break.
Hyoseon Emperor took advantage of that and whispered a small order to Wujing Guo, who was sitting next to him.
“Record it as if he bowed formally as before. And you decide on a suitable rank and name for him and grant it.”
“Yes. I will prepare a rank for Marcus Shahanshah of Persia and his brother.”
“And as soon as Rome’s envoy leaves, call the painters and order them to draw what happened today. You know how the picture should look like, don’t you?”
“Of course. I will tell them to put their utmost effort into showing your majesty’s glory that reaches far beyond the western region.”
Hyoseon Emperor smiled broadly as if he was satisfied.
Contrary to his worries, Publius did not show any strange behavior in Chang’an.
He said he was collecting various information, but he did not act secretly and the contents were also nothing more than what an envoy would normally ask.
He did not show any interest in the principles or production processes of other technologies that Han boasted.
He seemed to have come purely to focus on the activities of the envoy.
He felt like he had overreacted by telling him to pay special attention to security.
‘It would be normal for him to try to steal the silk production method secretly, but it seems like it was a false alarm.’
In fact, among the envoys who came to pay tribute, there were quite a few who tried to steal the silk production method.
He thought that Rome, which imported silk in large quantities, would naturally have such a desire.
But Publius did not even mention silk at all, let alone wear it.
He only asked if he could take some tea after drinking it a few times.
Hyoseon Emperor laughed out loud and ordered him to give him plenty of tea leaves.
In the end, Publius did not receive any suspicion until he left Chang’an.
※※※
The carriage carrying a sack full of tea leaves slowly returned to Rome.
It was easier to return than when they came.
It was because Hyoseon Emperor personally gave him a carriage with his seal on it.
The carriage with Tianzi’s name on it did not have any delays at any gates or city walls.
The carriage that did not receive any interference from anyone continued to speed up and hurry along.
Publius frowned in the rattling carriage and bit his tongue softly.
“Tsk, what a lousy ride. It would have been much better if we just rode our own carriage.”
Berenice sighed and shook her head without any objection after hearing Publius’s muttering.
“We can’t help it. The emperor gave us this carriage himself, so someone with a matching status has to ride it. Otherwise, it would be rude.”
“What kind of useless and complicated procedures are there…”
“But you enjoyed your life there quite a bit, didn’t you? You looked like the happiest person among us.”
“Well, that’s because the food was delicious and I could see that they cared about us too. There’s no one who doesn’t like being treated generously. You seemed to lose your mind in the glamorous life you experienced in a foreign country.”
“That’s because you told me to enjoy myself… no, please have some relaxed days as you please. I just did as you told me.”
“You did very well. Thanks to you, I also enjoyed myself and the work went well.”
Publius looked happy.
He really was.
He felt a sense of accomplishment for completing the heavy task that had been weighing on his chest since before he came.
“I never thought there would be such a big and powerful empire in the east. I bet Alexander the Great didn’t imagine that there was a stronger country further east than India either.”
“They probably found out about Rome’s existence very late too. Maybe they feel the same way as we do?”
“Maybe. It’s lucky that Han is far away from Rome. If they were adjacent countries, we might have fought over each other’s specialties.”
Publius analyzed Han’s national power that he saw, heard and felt coldly.
“I’ve been saying nice things all along to make you happy, but I saw some shortcomings. Even this carriage we’re riding is like that. Doesn’t it differ a lot from Rome’s?”
Berenice nodded her head without any disagreement this time.
The carriage they were riding was going on a paved road, but they could not get rid of the faint pain in their buttocks.
They planned to switch to their original carriage as soon as they left Han’s territory.
“Come to think of it, the status of women seemed a bit low here. Until the previous dynasty, there was hardly any education for women, they said.”
“To me, it looked similar to Athens. They were indeed stronger than expected, but their technology and culture were incomparable to Rome. Their population was also not as large as Rome’s… Well, the food was delicious, at least. I have to admit that.”
Publius thought that Han was roughly equivalent to Rome before Marcus’s intervention.
But Rome had changed drastically since then.
The development of technology was one thing, but more importantly, the immense power of increased productivity and improved hygiene was another.
With the annexation of the Mesopotamian plain, the introduction of new farming methods, and the cultivation of the fertile land of Gaul, Rome’s food production had jumped more than twice as before.
With the improvement of sanitation, the mortality rate had also dropped dramatically, and the population growth rate had increased accordingly. It was inevitable that the population would explode.
The signs of that were already visible in the Italian peninsula and the eastern provinces under Marcus’s rule.
Having seen Han, which exerted a strong influence in the east, Publius had a chance to look back at how much Rome had entered its golden age.
Publius smiled faintly as he looked at the bamboo cane he had received from Tadius.
“We completed our mission successfully. It was easier than I thought.”
Inside the hollow cane, there was a silkworm that Tadius had secretly taken out.
While Publius enjoyed his gastronomy and seemed to have no worries, Tadius had secretly stolen the silkworm.
Berenice, who looked at her husband’s smug face, tapped her chin with her index finger and lightly bit her tongue.
‘He seems to be becoming more like someone… Could this be a family trait too?’