In mid-January, Li You led the Tang Dynasty expeditionary fleet to Abu Dhabi on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf, where he was welcomed by the Persian Emperor Hamid, who had made a special trip.

Li You and Hamid have maintained a close relationship for more than ten years since they met, and the two brothers are naturally very affectionate when they meet. After Hamid saw Li You, he hugged him warmly, and the first sentence was: "Lao Li, I invite you to taste our Persian cuisine, I have prepared special dishes from all over Persia for you, and the two of us brothers will eat it for a month before speaking." ”

Li You laughed and said, "Lao Ha, you still know me, what you didn't say, eat it first." ”

Li You and Hamid's unique opening remarks caused a burst of laughter from the accompanying Tang army generals and Persian ministers.

Hamid took Li You's hand and walked towards one of his palaces there.

The two talked affectionately as they walked, and from time to time burst into happy and hearty laughter. The Persian Empire was once on the verge of extinction, but now it has retained half of its territory, and has curbed the attack of the Great Food Empire on the Persian Empire, ushering in a good environment for the peaceful development of the Persian Empire, all of which is mainly due to Li You's help. For the strength of the Tang Dynasty, the Persian ministers were well understood.

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was so close to the powerful figures of the Tang Dynasty, the ministers of Persia, who had been war-torn in the past, felt a sense of security, and everyone was very pleased.

Hamid's palace was not far from the sea, and it didn't take long for everyone to enter the palace.

Foodies are different, when the heads of state of the two countries meet, they usually go to the meeting room to talk first, Hamid is different, he has already prepared the banquet, and directly led everyone into the banquet hall.

Hamid lived in the Tang Dynasty for many years, and was also deeply influenced by the Tang Dynasty in terms of food culture, when the Persians dined, they usually sat on the carpet, and each person put a few tables in front of them, similar to the Tang Dynasty people before Li You crossed over. Later, Li You rose up to eat at the table, and Hamid also brought this way of eating to Persia.

After everyone was seated in the banquet hall, Hamid did not make an enthusiastic speech before the state banquet as usual banquet ceremonies, but directly called his head chef, and he said, "Lao Li, first listen to what kind of food I have prepared for you."

The head chef first introduced the delicacies on the table, including mire grilled fish, dolma, koji mutton, tasureb, mahrama, etc., and he gave many names in one go, and the list was numbing.

Hamid felt that he was a little too verbose, so he interrupted him and said, "Don't report it all, just talk about the general arrangement." ”

The head chef said that His Majesty the Emperor personally prepared 999 Persian specialties for His Royal Highness the Northwest King of the Tang Dynasty, and 94 dishes were arranged today.

Hamid arranged it like this, and he used his brains to do so. The Tang Dynasty people take 9 as the biggest, 999 is a noble and auspicious number, and the dishes prepared today are a total of 94 dishes, which is also arranged by Hamid after careful study, because the emperor of the Tang Dynasty is known as the Ninety-Five, in order to highlight Li You's lofty status, and avoid the status of the Tang Emperor Li Chengqian, it was decided to arrange 94 dishes for him.

Li You smiled: "Okay! I want to taste all of these 999 dishes. Alright, don't go any further, let's eat! As he spoke, he took the lead in raising his chopsticks. Hamid was not polite and ate along.

During the banquet, Li You said to Hamid: "Lao Ha, I came in a hurry this time, and I didn't bring you any gifts. ”

The white tiger hurriedly handed over the gift list, which said that there were 50 boxes of Tianzhu jewelry and 10 Tianzhu beauties.

Amid smiled: "Do our brothers still need to be so polite?" Hamid motioned for his court chief to take the order.

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has a heart. The conversation between Li You and Hamid was very flat, and those Persians didn't feel anything, but Liu Renliang and other Tang army generals felt a burst of pride. Over the years, countless national emperors have sent their princesses or other aristocratic ladies to the prince, and even the last time Hammett came to Chang'an, he also sent 100 Persian beauties to the prince. But his own prince has never sent the women of the Tang Dynasty out.

This time, even a friend like Hamid, the prince just gave him some Tianzhu women, these things fully reflect the prince's love and respect for the people of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty people originally inherited the complex of the central power since the Han Dynasty, and the strength of the Tang Dynasty, especially the advanced culture brought by Li You, greatly promoted the economic and cultural development of the Tang Dynasty.

The pride of the people of the Tang Dynasty is inherent in their bones, and it has penetrated into their blood, and no matter where they go, it will naturally be revealed in their words and deeds.

In fact, what happened in Constantinople has a lot to do with the temperament of the Tang Dynasty.

A few months ago, Constantinople.

Constantinople is located at the eastern end of the Balkan Peninsula, bordering the Bosphorus Strait, the gateway to the Black Sea, and is strategically important when it is a key point of communication between Europe and Asia.

Constantinople was the third largest city in the world at this time, with a current population of more than 400,000, second only to Chang'an and Luoyang in the Tang Dynasty. Historically, in the middle of the ninth century, the population once reached more than 1.4 million, making it the largest metropolis in the world at that time.

After Wu Xu served as Minister of Commerce, he carried out extensive commercial trade with the surrounding countries of the Tang Dynasty, and since the Tang Dynasty signed a commercial agreement with the Great Food Empire and the Persian Empire, the land Silk Road was unimpeded, and Wu Xu extended his commercial tentacles to Byzantium and established commercial institutions in Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium. Since the sea passage had not yet been opened, land transportation was difficult, and only short-distance trade with Persia, the Great Food and the Franks was carried out by land.

One of the purposes of Li You's expedition to the sea was to open up the Maritime Silk Road.

Wang Huili, 32 years old, was originally a staff member of the Western Division of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, and when he was a child, he went to Byzantium with his father and had a certain understanding of Byzantium, so he was sent to Constantinople and served as the head of the trading company.

On this morning, a batch of goods was transported from Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, mainly industrial products such as silk and glassware.

It was at this time that a major event took place in Constantinople.