The sea narrowed and narrowed, turning from a vast body of water into a wide river. This wide river is the Black Sea that flows into the Mediterranean Sea and reaches the Bosbrus. Through the binoculars you can see the tall city walls, the walls of Constantinople. Behind the miles of walls is Constantinople, the most magnificent and beautiful city in the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Several warships flying the flag of Eastern Rome approached, and after a burst of flag exchanges, the captain ran over and said to Hao Kang: "Little prince, Constantinople invites us to dock at the Golden Horn. ”

"Oh." Hao Kang replied casually. Unless it was the largest ship in the province of Great Song Europa, the rest of the fleets had to dock at the Golden Horn for supplies when they passed through the Bosburs.

When ships sailed into this natural harbor, there were not many ships at anchorage. It wasn't long before Eastern Roman ships came and asked to board the ship. An Eastern Roman official ascended the narrow gangplank to the ship, saluted Hao Kang with a little questioning, and then delivered a letter, "Good day, honorable duke." Barcellus invited the Duke to the palace for a banquet. ”

Hao Kang was stunned, and Li Tieniu, who was in charge of the guard, immediately asked, "This official, we are just passing by." ”

The official hurriedly explained: "The lower official only came by order, and he didn't know how Barcellus knew that His Excellency the Duke was on this ship. ”

Hao Kang opened the letter and saw that it was indeed an edict from the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. In addition to Greek, it is also written in Chinese very considerately. After reading the letter, Hao Kang smiled: "Since Baselus is willing to entertain you, there is no reason to refuse you." Don't know when to go? ”

"If it is convenient for His Excellency the Duke, please come with me to the palace now."

Li Tieniu was a little nervous, he looked at Hao Kang, who was easily relieved, and heard Hao Kang smile and say, "Okay, let me change my clothes." ”

Following Hao Kang into the cabin, Li Tieniu immediately said, "Little prince, I don't think this is appropriate." ”

"I don't think it's right either. But if we don't go, they're afraid they won't let us go. Hao Kang said as he changed his clothes. He kind of knew what was going on. In order to leave as soon as possible, Hao Kang directly used the special warrant of the Quadripartite Alliance. This level of warrant is only available at the very highest levels. If the Eastern Roman Empire used this kind of warrant to call the ships of the Yuan Kingdom, Hao Kang would also know that things were not simple. What's more, Hao Kang directly signed his name on the warrant, and no one in the Yuan Kingdom dared to impersonate him like this.

"In case the Eastern Roman Empire is unfavorable to the little prince, we can't afford it." Li Tieniu nervously suggested.

"Where you come, you are safe." Hao Kang said the result, but did not say the reason. He had also considered the danger and found that he had no choice at this time. After all, it was an invitation from the Eastern Roman Emperor, and it would be a bit rude not to go. What's more, Hao Kang has long wanted to go to Constantinople to see.

With twenty-four guards, Hao Kang disembarked accompanied by Li Tieniu and Yuan Guo's interpreter. At this time, there were already Eastern Roman guards on the shore who had come to accompany them. Under the protection of the Imperial Guards, the group marched to the palace.

The Eastern Roman Emperor Hao Kang held a banquet of considerable scale, which was first a simple reception, and then everyone was seated. In the crowd, Hao Kang soon saw a tall man. The fair skin was completely different from that of the Eastern Romans, and just by looking at it, he knew that it must be a Song person. If you look closely, you can see that the Song man is about thirty years old, shaved beard, and looks very young among the many long beards, short beards, and big beards. Beside him stood a young dressed Eastern Roman woman, both of whom looked at Hao Kang. Seeing Hao Kang coming over, the Song people also waved hello to Hao Kang.

Hao Kang couldn't help but walked over. When the two met, they greeted each other, "Hello, I'm Xie Song." "Hello, I'm Hao Kang."

The authentic Mandarin of the Jiangnan Plain made Hao Kang and Xie Song smile, Xie Song smiled: "I heard that the little prince has studied in the Great Song Dynasty for several years, and this accent reminds me of my hometown Songjiang. ”

Hao Kang didn't say that he learned his Jiangnan accent from the old lady Bao Xiqiao, but he heard that Xie Song turned out to be a native of Songjiang, and he was half a fellow countryman. Just when he didn't know what to say, he saw Xie Song introduce the Europa woman next to him, "This is Miss Sheila, the local comprador of our Europa office." ”

"Hello." Hao Kang greeted Sheila.

Sheila hurriedly saluted Hao Kang and said in Eastern Roman Chinese: "Hello, Your Excellency the Honorable Duke. ”

"As a nobleman, how could Miss Sheila become a comprador?" Hao Kang looked down at Sheila and asked with interest. In the Great Song and Yuan Kingdoms, the title of prince was a noble title. In Europa there is no title of prince, the equivalent title is duke. The Eastern Romans who could accurately use the Chinese language to express the title of Europa must have been a nobleman, and a comprador turned out to be a literate nobleman and a female nobleman. Hao Kang felt a little strange.

"My family is just a small nobleman, and I don't have a title." Sheila's voice was a mixture of pride and regret.

"I see." Hao Kang replied verbally, but he still didn't quite understand it in his heart. There were many women among the officials of the Great Song Dynasty, and there was a high proportion of women among the officials at the grassroots level. There are even female lieutenant generals like Hu Yuelian. In the official propaganda of the Great Song Dynasty, the slogan of the Zhao official family 'women can hold up half the sky' often appeared, and it was copied correctly when the Yuan State comprehensively studied the Great Song system. It is incomprehensible that a cultured woman should become a comprador instead of an official. Is it more profitable to be a comprador than to be an official?

Xie Song said: "Little Prince, we have received a telegram from Prime Minister Hao Ren, and the Prime Minister wants us to send the little prince back to Mongolia. ”

"There was a telegraph in the Eastern Roman Empire?" Hao Kang was shocked, he had never heard of Eastern Rome being so civilized before.

Xie Song smiled: "Well, it has not yet been laid to the border between Eastern Rome and Mongolia. However, there is also a way to pass on the book by flying pigeons. The prime minister worked hard to keep the little prince. "The flying pigeon passed the book very quickly, but there was a problem. Pigeons are subjected to various attacks along the way, especially by birds of prey. Now the telegraph has extended as far east as Ankara, and seven pigeons have arrived at their destination. This means that at least forty pigeons are released at the relay station. It takes a lot of effort just to transport so many pigeons from Ankara to the relay station. There was a lot of damage from the release of the pigeons from Baghdad to the relay station. It can be seen that Hao Ren is determined to chase Hao Kang back.

Hao Kang finally understood why the Eastern Roman Emperor invited him to a banquet, even if he did not agree to get off the ship at that time, he could not leave. I wanted to return to the Yuan Kingdom and resist my father's angry letter under the protection of my mother, but I didn't expect my father to even give me this opportunity.

Looking at Hao Kang's lost expression, Xie Song smiled and said, "If the little prince doesn't want to go back to Mongolia, why don't you stay in Constantinople for a while." ”

"Is that okay?" Hao Kang couldn't help but ask. When the words came out, he regretted it. forcibly pretended to be okay and smiled: "Forget it, I'll go back to Mongolia." ”

Xie Song was about to persuade him a few more words, when he saw a chamberlain walk quickly and said to Hao Kang: "Your Excellency Duke, Baseleus, please come over and speak. ”

Sheila watched the tall Hao Kang leave with the chamberlain, and walked out a long way and could still see the upper half of his head. turned his head to look up at Xie Song, who was also tall, but found that Xie Song didn't know when he walked away. casually, I saw that Xie Song was being surrounded by several Eastern Roman noblewomen talking.

After losing her support, Sheila only felt a pang of nervousness in her heart. It was the first time she had attended a banquet hosted by an Eastern Roman emperor, and she didn't know anyone in it. Although the Sheila family is a small aristocrat with a higher status than the commoners, they are at the bottom of the gang of men and women in front of them. Sweeping these people with the sensitivity peculiar to women, they saw that the jewelry on everyone's body was gold, silver and jewelry, and the only thing that Sheila had in common with them was the silk fabric of her clothes, which was the high-quality silk of the Great Song Dynasty that Sheila used her status as a comprador to get. In addition, the gold and silver ornaments are gold-filled and silver-plated, and the jewelry is the Great Song Dynasty cloisonne, although the color and style are very artistic, but they are not gemstones. Looking at those rich men and women, Sheila lowered her head, her heart unspeakably tangled.

"You're Sheila, aren't you?" A gentle voice sounded beside him.

Sheila looked up and saw a white-bearded middle-aged lady with a beautiful middle-aged lady with long braids stopping beside Sheila. Sheila didn't know Whitebeard and hurriedly said hello. Without waiting for Whitebeard to speak, the lady next to Whitebeard asked Whitebeard, "This little girl is the sister of Cicelius?" ”

"Yes." Sheila hurriedly replied. She was very surprised when her brother became acquainted with such a nobleman, and even she was heard by the nobleman and remembered his appearance.

The middle-aged lady looked at Sheila from top to bottom, and then smiled: "I am Catherine's aunt." ”

"Oh...... You are a member of the Leo family. Sheila was shocked. The Leo family is a famous family in the Eastern Roman Empire, and their ancestors once had emperors. Although it is a dynasty a long time ago, it is not prominent now, but it is a real noble. I don't know who my mother talked to, but the fiancée of my brother Sicelius is the daughter of the Leo family.

Whitebeard smiled, "I'm a friend of His Excellency Tiberius. I saw you when you were a child, and you and your brother Cicelius looked like each other. ”

Sheila kind of got it. Tiberius was a scholar at the university, and his brother Cicelius studied under the historian, and Sheila had met Tiberius many times. However, he couldn't remember such a white beard at all. All she could remember was Tiberius's big nose.

"Are your parents coming?" The noblewoman of the Leo family asked Sheila.

"I was the only one who got the invitation." Sheila suppressed her uneasiness and replied in as calm a tone as she could.

"Oh. Unexpectedly. The noblewoman's face showed an expression that made Sheila less pleased.

While he was talking, another pair of nobles came over to greet Whitebeard, and then they started chatting. Sheila obediently left, but she didn't know where to go.

I didn't expect to meet someone related at the emperor's banquet because of her brother's marriage, and Sheila didn't expect that she would clearly realize how estranged she was from the upper echelons of the Eastern Roman Empire. What are you talking about with them, last week Da Song brought a horse of fine silk, and the price that Sheila got was fifty percent cheaper than the one on the market? Or talk about the start of experimenting with peppers in the Ankara region this year, and if these nobles are willing to grow them on their own farms, there will be a very good market? Sheila can't talk to these guys about anything.

Standing so helplessly in the banquet hall, Sheila didn't know where she was standing. Before coming here, she thought that she would see all kinds of rituals at the upper level, but she didn't expect that there were no rituals at all at the upper level, everyone just stood and talked so plainly, and they didn't care about what others looked at them, and they didn't care about anyone next to them who didn't care.

Looking up, there were more young people on the balcony. But they are all young men and women in groups of three or five. Seeing the men and women who were close to each other exuding the happiness of dog food, Sheila didn't want to lean over. Just as she was looking for a place where no one was around, she saw Whitebeard beckoning to her. Sheila looked left and right, but no one was looking at Whitebeard. Looking at Whitebeard again, I saw that Whitebeard beckoned vigorously, and Sheila could only walk over.

When I got closer, I heard Whitebeard introduce to a graybeard man next to him: "This is Sheila, the sister of my niece and son-in-law." Now follow the people of Europa. ”

"Oh......" Whitebeard looked Sheila up and down, and asked a little suspiciously, "Little girl, are you in the agricultural business?" ”

At this point, Sheila replied with a bit of desperate anger: "I am in the agricultural business, but not in the cherry, olive, citrus business. ”

"You're in the grain business?"

"No, I'm in the pepper business in the East. Have you ever eaten chili sauce? ”

"Oh! Chili! Hua Baihu couldn't help but grin, obviously impressed by the strong sense of taste.

"I think chutney is very good." Whitebeard laughed.

"You sell chili sauce?" The noblewoman of the Leo family chuckled.

Sheila was very annoyed, so she replied solemnly, "No." I don't sell chili sauce. I was in charge of signing contracts with landowners to grow chili peppers, supplying seeds, and buying ripe chili peppers. ”

"Roar. Do you have a franchise? Whitebeard's eyes widened.

At this time, Sheila did not dare to say that she was only in charge of business in the Ankara region, and she replied solemnly with the helplessness of forcing Liangshan: "It is a concession issued by the office of the province of Europa in Eastern Rome." ”

"Interesting." Hua Bai laughed.

"What is the volume of acquisitions of franchises?" The noblewoman of the Leo family continued to ask, and her expression became more suspicious.

"In the next three years, I will harvest as much as you can grow." Sheila didn't care so much, she was directly stubborn.

"What a big breath." Hua Bai Hu said and put away his smile. As soon as he finished speaking, he beckoned to the front, "Your Excellency Xie Song, please come here." ”

Sheila only felt her heart pounding, only that her cowhide was about to be punctured. Sure enough, Xie Song came to these people's side, and Hua Baihu asked, "Your Excellency Xie Song, may I ask if Sheila has your chili concession?" ”

Sheila bowed her head, desperate. I heard Xie Song say: "If Your Excellency Zoe has land in the east, you can talk to Sheila about it." ”

She raised her head in surprise, not only surprised by Xie Song's words, but also surprised by Xie Song's familiarity with the great nobles of the Eastern Roman Empire.