Tang Xun said: "Thank you, Lord Wang, the minister will speed up the construction of ironclad ships with quality and quantity." ”

Li You took off his work clothes and said as he walked: "Master Di, it is already late September, I plan to go to sea in mid-October, and you still need to prepare all the necessary materials." You go back with me, I will give you a bill, and this matter will bother you. ”

Di Zhixon said: "Your Highness, rest assured, the minister will definitely complete the task you assigned." ”

Yangzhou Governor's Mansion.

On the second day of October, Li You received a telegram from Wu Xu, and after reading the telegram, Li You smiled and said: "Byzantium, I'm here." ”

The Byzantine Empire was actually the Roman Empire, and after the division of the Roman Empire, the dynasty established in the western region was called the Frankish Dynasty, and the eastern region was still called the Roman Empire, because their capital moved eastward and established a new capital city in Byzantium, Constantinople. Therefore, historians call it the Byzantine Empire in order to distinguish it from ancient Rome.

The Tang Dynasty had long had contacts with the Roman Empire, which were largely officially promoted, but were manifested in the form of people-to-people exchanges, which had a special reason for this era.

In this era, due to the backwardness of transportation, merchants under normal circumstances, to traffic goods to Byzantium, it would take four years for a single trip, and eight years for a round trip, such a long distance, under normal circumstances, even if the delivery of valuable goods, except for the consumption on the road, the commercial value is not large. And for such a long time, there will be various natural and man-made disasters on the way, and many people will die on the way.

However, there are still businessmen who are resilient enough to complete such a difficult business journey.

There is only one reason - driven by huge interests.

In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the Byzantine emperor caused a huge sensation when he wore a robe sewn entirely of silk at a meeting. The ancient Romans did not know that silk was woven from silk, and they believed that the material used to weave silk was grown from trees, which could only grow in the Tang Dynasty.

The value of silk in Byzantium was several times more expensive than gold, and the goods transported by merchants in the Tang Dynasty to Byzantium were basically silk. The value of silk in Byzantium is hundreds of times or even more expensive than in Chang'an.

When the merchants of the Tang Dynasty returned from Byzantium, they would buy a large amount of gold and silver jewelry from there, and the Byzantine handicrafts were extremely developed, and their jewelry and jade were loved by the Tang Dynasty nobles, and after returning to the Tang Dynasty, their value would also increase by hundreds of times or more, so the merchants would not be afraid of the hardships to complete such commercial trips.

The Tang Dynasty and the Byzantine Empire encouraged this kind of people-to-people exchanges, because the Tang Dynasty, as a great power in the East, and the Byzantine Empire, as a great power in the West, both had their own pride and hoped to be able to show off their strength and wealth in the world.

For geopolitical reasons, there was no official interaction between the two empires.

It is interesting that due to the lack of information, just as Westerners now think that Chinese know kung fu, Byzantines believe that everyone in Chinese can live more than 200 years, and Tang people think that good things come from Byzantium.

After Wu Xu became the Minister of Commerce, he began the Tang Dynasty's commercial operation of the Silk Road, setting up many commercial institutions along the way, even crossing Byzantium and reaching Africa, where commercial establishments were also established in Constantinople.

Wu Xu said in the telegram that the merchants of the Tang Dynasty were harassed by the Romans in Constantinople, and that they not only detained the goods of the Tang people, but also put the merchants in prison, and Wu Xu hoped that Li You would solve the matter.

Li You came to the Tang Dynasty, relying on knowledge and technology that exceeded thousands of years, and had defeated almost all the strong enemies around the Tang Dynasty. Wu Xu's telegram finally brought him a little interest, and he smiled: "Roman Empire, it's a little interesting. We'll meet them. ”

Li You called Wu Xu back, and said in the telegram that he should not be afraid to spend money, let her try to find a way to save the lives of the Tang Dynasty, and not have a head-on conflict with them, and he would personally go to the emperor of the Roman Empire to judge.

Then he sent a telegram to Pedilan.

Pei Dilan was almost in the Persian Gulf, and after receiving the telegram, he was very happy, and said to Qianyu: "Your brother has thought too much about us, and has solved a most important problem for me. ”

Historically, since the establishment of the Great Food Empire, it has launched more than 100 years of expansion wars, in order to have a lofty position in the Great Food Empire, the establishment of military merit is a necessary way, although Pei Dilan has won a lot of benefits from the Tang Dynasty over the years, and has solved a lot of problems for the Great Food Empire, but he has not made any achievements in the military, so he does not have much influence in the country.

At present, the main foreign war of the Great Food Empire is against the Byzantine Empire, which is also a powerful country, and the two sides have won and lost each other's wars, and the Great Food Empire has not made significant progress.

Li You suggested that after Pei Dilan returned, he would first deal with the affairs of the court, and then take the initiative to participate in the war against Byzantium, so as to seize military power. Li You told him that he would go with him to attack Byzantium, help him build up his military merits, strengthen Pei Dilan's strength, and expand his influence in the Great Food Empire.

At the beginning of October, the construction of the ironclad was finally completed. Li You reported his next trip to Li Chengqian, and Li Chengqian approved it. Soon after, Li You set off from Yangzhou, and in mid-November, Li You came to Cam Ranh Bay and was warmly welcomed by Li Ke, the king of Lingnan.

At the reception banquet, Li Ke said: "I know you are delicious, I specially selected some delicacies from Cam Ranh Bay for you, the chefs are all local celebrity chefs, I don't know if you like it." ”

A local chef introduced the various delicacies on the table: "It's pho, spring rolls, fried elephant fish, chicken broth and all kinds of local seafood ......"

Li You pointed to a delicate small stove on the table and said, "This dish looks good, you can focus on it." ’

The chef praised: "The prince has a good eye, this is Lu Wang's scorched fish, the main ingredient is dace, after peeling the thorns, the secret seasoning is marinated, sandwiched in the bamboo charcoal grill. His Royal Highness saw a small stove, with spiced fried peanuts, baked dough rice noodles, cumin, chives and coriander, dipped in shrimp paste, lemon juice, and chili peppers, which will not disappoint the prince. ”

When Li You heard that there were chili peppers in this dish, he said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that in such a short time, chili peppers would actually appear here." ”

After the banquet, Li You was about to rest, and Li Ke's guard captain came over with a real beauty.