"The Baratina Palace was indeed remodeled by the craftsmen of Ala, a private hobby of His Majesty the Emperor, who favored Oriental art." Karl probably introduced the origin of this palace complex to Hong Tao, and it was worth saying that the emperor lived in a second-hand house. It started with the Phoenicians, then the Romans, the Byzantines, and the A-Laps, and every time they were occupied, there was a transformation, and this time, he simply combined the East and the West.

"I don't know how your cousin persuaded the craftsmen of A-La-Bo, who also carved this thing?" By this time the horse team had crossed the moat of the castle and entered the first doorway of the castle. Hong Tao found that there were exquisite relief murals on the walls on both sides of the doorway, and the content of the paintings was clear at a glance, the Crusades!

"You better ask His Majesty the Emperor in person......" Karl really couldn't answer this very serious question, he couldn't say behind his back that his cousin was not keen on Christianity, that wasn't a slap in the face. An emperor crowned by the Pope was not a devout believer, and Karl felt a little ashamed to say it.

Don't look at the exterior of the castle looks a bit Arabic, but the interior is still typical of Christianity, whether it is the gatehouse, drawbridge, watchtower is the same as those castles in the Lord of the Rings, but in terms of building materials, it is not as uniform as the castle in the Lord of the Rings. The castle in the movie is all made of large rectangular stones, and the castle of Cousin Kartha is more volcanic rock. Sicily is a volcanic island with few forests and many volcanic rocks.

Entering the gate of the castle, there is the vestibule, which is a bit like the urn city of the ancient Chinese city. There is also a wall and gate inside. That is the last barrier to the watchtower. At this time, a large group of men and women dressed in various robes were standing inside the city gate. Hong Tao's eyes swept for a moment, yes, he couldn't ride forward anymore, because he saw a middle-aged man with a crown on his head in the middle of the crowd. Don't say it, he does look a bit like Carl, but he is not as tall as Carl, and his eyebrows and eyes are almost the same, especially the red hair. Their family genetics are really strong.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, please accept the blessings of the guests from the Far East. Let me introduce myself, my name is Aite. Hong, the Nanyang ...... of the Great Song Empire Duke; This is my daughter, Vile. Flood; This is Luo ......, the Earl of Qiongzhou in the Great Song Empire; This beautiful young lady is the baron Jiang of the Great Song Empire. Hong Tao first put Jiang Zhuyi on the ground, and then dismounted himself. At this time, the eight knights in front of him happened to dodge to the left and right, he pulled Jiang Zhuyi with one hand and the Hong salamander with the other, dragged Luo Youde with his eyes, and walked to the Karl wearing a crown and a trumpet, and took the lead and bowed deeply. Then he began to introduce himself in Latin. This nonsense is not to mention how neatly it is, and in an instant a duke, an earl, and a baron are born. If he hadn't thought about this issue carefully before, he would have wanted to give himself the title of Prince of Nanyang, so that Hong Salamander could be called Her Royal Highness the Princess, how magnificent!

"According to the etiquette of our country, the lady should be introduced first...... Carl didn't mention that you were a duke. "Friedrich II didn't look like Karl a little like him, but his expression, temperament, and voice didn't look very similar. After listening to Hong Tao's skinless and faceless self-introduction, the emperor took two steps forward, holding Jiang Zhuyi's right hand, half-bowing his head as if he was going to kiss the hand, but half-stopped and tilted his head to look at Hong Tao.

"It's Germanic etiquette, but I'm the king of Sicily, shouldn't I use a hug?" Although Friedrich II did not smile, Hong Tao saw a sly light in his eyes, and he did it on purpose!

"You are still the Emperor, and a kiss is more appropriate...... I'm afraid Karl hasn't made it clear to you yet, I, the duke, am already very modest, and to be honest, it should be more appropriate to call the kingdom, or even more independent than the kingdom. Hong Tao thinks that Carl's cousin has a great sense of humor, and he actually wants to take advantage of Jiang Zhuyi, grandma! As for the title of duke, Hong Tao is not sorry at all. What is a makeover? O high-ranking imperial official who commands the military and political power of one side! In terms of title, you are at the same level as the vice-president, otherwise you are happy that the emperor is not willing to send you to be the envoy, and you can't suppress others! The Great Song Dynasty also had a title system, which was more detailed than that of Europe, with a total of twelve ranks, and the last fifth rank was the prince and uncle. If it is really according to the theory of the title of the Great Song Dynasty, it is not possible to make it a national duke, two levels higher than the duke.

"He wasn't good at dealing with these things since he was a kid...... This is my Empress Isabella II, heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. As for whether Hong Tao was a duke or not, Friedrich II did not intend to ask any further, no matter what Hong Tao's identity was, he was willing to entertain him. On the one hand, his cousin was rescued from the Far East, on the other hand, the emperor was also very curious about the Far East, and he was a very erudite and studious person, even if there was no Karl relationship, two merchant ships of the Great Song Empire came to his port, and the emperor would treat the captain as a VIP reception. Just like the princes and ministers and several noble ladies standing beside him, there were actually those who wore the robes of A-La-Bo, and his queen actually wore a white turban like the women of A-La-Bo.

There was no cowardice who could greet the guests at the gate of the tower with the emperor, and it was their title, not guts. Hong Tao followed behind the emperor, just like the heads of state in later generations when they visited each other, and greeted them one by one. It's just that there is no need to bow to them anymore, if the other party is a man, he will hug his fists, and if the other party is a lady, he will not suffer, and he will also give a kiss like the emperor.

Through a simple face-to-face, Hong Tao found that among these people, several were the emperor's cronies, a few were the emperor's favors, and a few were characters who were not very well received by the emperor but had to be treated. One of the things that caught Hong Tao's attention the most was an old man named Hermann von Salza, who was introduced by the emperor as the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and was also the emperor's personal diplomatic adviser.

This Herman has a typical German face, and if his hair is cut short and his beard is shaved clean, he looks much like an older version of Rommel, especially with his blue-black eyes, which are not big, but like an eagle, and seem to be able to see through the mind when he stares at you. And the middle name of his name also proves Hong Tao's guess, a standard Germanic nobleman. As for what the Teutonic Knights were, Hong Tao had heard of its name, the Temple, the Hospital, the Teutonic Knights, the three major Knights, and nothing else.

It was not his identity or his appearance that attracted Hong Tao, but his relationship with Friedrich II. The two of them had used German many times to communicate some simple questions, although the German at this time was not the same as in later generations, but with Hong Tao's imagination, he only needed to understand one or two words in a sentence to probably guess what they were communicating. The two men were exchanging their opinions about themselves in private, Herman was more inclined to believe himself as a duke, and the emperor was very skeptical of Hong Tao's claims.

Hong Tao was not interested in whether they believed that they were dukes or not, and they believed it or not. At that time, it was just a prank, there was no place to check it, and it was useless to ask Carl, he didn't understand the official system of the Great Song Dynasty. But the conversation between the two of them made Hong Tao very rewarding, this Herman is a person that the emperor trusts very much, at least he knows who he should deal with in the future. In addition, Hong Tao also saw that the emperor did not have much respect for the church, and his expression when introducing the bishop with a high hat was like introducing a servant, and he was very reluctant.

The castles in Europe look majestic and majestic from the outside, but after entering, they are full of things that are not like that, and they are not worse than the palaces of ancient China.

First of all, it's black! It's black and rumbling everywhere. The windows were too few and too small to be opened in the wind or rain, and there was no glass, so they were covered with two wooden boards. The hall of the palace is on the third floor, and there is a row of windows, but it is still dim, and if you want to have a party in the daytime, you have to light candles or torches.

The second is choking! The smell is not very good. You think, in the stone house where there is not much sunlight all year round, there are fireplaces and torches, plus the smell of animal skins and wood, if it weren't for Hong Tao to stop it with his eyes, Hong Tao would really have to cover his nose.

Finally, it's rough! The stone and wood are bare in many places, and although there are many gold and silver decorations and sculptures on the windows, porches, and columns, they are still rough in detail.

"Duke Ait, from here you can see the big ship moored outside the harbor, and Karl told me that you are a brilliant navigator, but also a brilliant designer and inventor. I agree with him that these two ships are really beautiful and very practical, and it is a great thing to be able to sail thousands of miles. There is still some time before the dinner, can the Duke tell us if the mysterious eastern country you live in is as beautiful as Baron Jiang. "At this time, the sun has not yet set, and it is indeed a little early to eat, originally I was going to arrange the accommodation of Hong Tao and his party first, and it was almost dinner time after washing and changing. But Hong Tao didn't want to go to the room so early, washing and changing clothes had just been done on the boat, there was no need to do it again, just do what he liked to do the most, chat. Coming to such a novel place, if according to his temperament, he can talk for several days without sleeping, and he wants to figure out every detail. The emperor didn't stop him, it seemed that he was in the same mood as Hong Tao, although according to Karl, his cousin the emperor had been chatting with him all night last night, but it was obvious that he still had a lot of questions in his heart.

(To be continued.) )

PS: (40 Monthly Pass Plus Update)