However, compared with the batch of colored silks seized in Egypt at this time, the pale yellow silk shirt of Brutus's house, which was once regarded as a treasure, pales in comparison—the texture is softer and smoother, the color is more vivid and bright, and the appearance alone gives people a sense of luxury, and on the glittering silk surface is printed and dyed with countless kinds of extremely fine patterns, from flowers, birds, beasts and sea creatures...... The painting is gorgeous and realistic, full of novel and exotic, as well as a certain strange and elegant luxury atmosphere.

- Brutus could swear to the gods that whoever could bring this batch of silk to the market of Rome would surely make every noble lady scream with excitement, and make the ladies who were willing to compare pull out a coin from their pockets!

In addition to these dizzying printed silks, the Romans found many other novelties in the goods of the Egyptian royal caravanserais. They are some wonderful goods that the Romans had never heard of before, and each one is enough to amaze people.

For example, stainless steel tableware, which is as shiny as silverware and is said to never rust, is light and strong, and its appearance is also bright and magnificent. Glassware, cups, plates, wine jars, vases, and other types of glass, as clear as spring water, are invisible, and are superior to those produced in Tyre and Antioch, the most famous source of glass crafts in Western Asia at the time. A novelty paper that is soft and white and light in texture, better for writing than the most haode papyrus and parchment;

Furthermore. They also found small colorful transparent squares that were packed in large glass bottles, sparkling like gemstones. It contains a variety of fruity sweetness, and a taste of it will make you feel unforgettable - in the first century B.C., the Indian cane sugar had not yet been introduced to Europe, and neither the Romans, Greeks, nor Egyptians had ever seen such a thing, so they had to use fruit juice and honey as sweeteners.

In addition to the sugar cubes, the salt seized from this caravan was also a high-quality commodity. It's as white as snow, as fine as sea sand, and you can't even see a little impurity. So that the Roman soldiers couldn't help but exclaim one by one: "...... How is this done? How can there be such pure salt in the world? ”

- Although it has long been commonplace for modern people to deal with fine white refined salt, this ancient salt is not so white!

In ancient times, when the conditions of jishu were backward, sea salt was boiled in a large pot with seawater, and boiled until zuihou scraped the remaining crystals out of the bottom of the pot. It's sea salt that can be sold on the market. However. Obviously, there can be only sodium chloride dissolved in seawater, so this rough sea salt will inevitably be mixed with some other impurities, such as magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium carbonate, etc., the taste is also very bitter, plus some dust and sawdust in the boiling or transportation process, etc., there are more impurities mixed in the salt grains, not to mention that there are many profiteers who like to mix sand into the salt to cheat money.

Even those produced in natural salt ponds or salt mines are purported to be pure mineral salts. The amount of impurities contained in it is much smaller than that of sea salt. But it will not be completely absent, and it will not be like modern refined salt. It looked like snow, and you couldn't find even a single dark spot.

In addition, there was a thing called a match, which also amazed the Romans - it was very convenient to use a small short wooden stick to light an orange flame when rubbed into the box.

In ancient times, whether it was in the East or the West, making a fire was an extremely troublesome thing, and in those martial arts novels, the scenes where martial arts masters carried fire folds with them and could light a bonfire with a casual flick were obviously too artistic fabrications, at least they were very late in the age. In fact, when the ancients really needed to light a fire, they could only use a special knife to repeatedly hit the flint stone - a stone with a relatively hard texture that can produce sparks when struck violently - and let it burst out of the spark and burn the velvet to light a bonfire. Just by listening to it, you can see how troublesome this thing is. If you are a clumsy guy with your hands and feet, or in rainy and humid weather, it is not uncommon for you to toss for half an hour and still not catch fire. Therefore, in densely populated villages or towns, lazy housewives often go to the neighbor's house to "borrow fire".

In contrast, modern matches, which are easy to use, reliable and easy to carry, are too easy to use in the wild.

Next, cheap jewelry made of aluminum, glass, and plastic was also very popular with the Romans - at that time, fine glass was not much cheaper than precious stones, and aluminum alloy and plastic were things that the ancient Romans could not buy with money. And, thanks to advances in metalworking, these modern styles of jewelry are generally ornate in shape, colorful, and lightweight compared to the bulky jewelry of antiquity, making them ideal for everyday wear without having to worry about being weighed down by heavy gold or silver tiaras, as was the case with the ladies of the ancient Middle East.

The most novel and favorite goods of Roman magnates such as Pompey the Younger, Cassiillo and Brutus were the "porcelain" with a background as white as milk and a luster as bright as the moon, which at first glance looked as if it had been carved from a single piece of jade, and was more pleasing to the eye than the most ornate faience bowls of the Egyptians. Not to mention that on the crystal porcelain surface, there are actually beautiful oriental landscapes, flowers and birds painted patterns, which are very different from the Western artistic brushwork, blooming flowers and far-reaching artistic conception, which makes people involuntarily immersed in this beautiful artistic atmosphere. In the eyes of the Roman magnates, it was a wonderful work of art that was unheard of......

- In fact, not to mention that in Rome at the other end of Shijie, that is, in China during the Western Han Dynasty, porcelain was not really born, and archaeologists only found some very rough primitive prototypes, and they were not popularized at all, and even the Western Han Dynasty palace used only pottery. The more decent-looking early celadon will not be invented until the Eastern Han Dynasty in the next century......

Since even China, which was the first to invent porcelain, has no porcelain available at the moment, it is naturally impossible to transport it to the West via the Silk Road. Therefore, when these fresh goods that had never appeared before were found, the Romans present were all drunk for a while.

It is also said that Cleopatra and the Chinese city management are unlucky, and under the pressure of those huge deficits on the books, it is only natural that the traversers will repeat their old tricks again, pulling back a cart of small goods from the wholesale market, ready to dump them into ancient Egypt to make money...... After the catastrophe, Alexandria's commerce, commerce and shipping trade almost stopped, the bazaar and docks were almost in ruins, and the citizens who had a little spare money became refugees with nothing, and there was nowhere to sell these modern industrial products if they wanted to dump them.

In order to liquidate the goods as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the distant resumption of commerce in the capital, Queen Cleopatra had to organize a royal caravan to transport the goods by wagons and camels to Nokratis, the only complete seaport city in Egypt...... The goods were then delivered directly to the Roman army, and not only did not a single copper coin be exchanged, but it further aroused the greed of the Romans.

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“…… Originally, I thought that Egypt had just suffered a war, and I heard that there seemed to be a famine, and Queen Cleopatra was probably in an embarrassing situation, so I couldn't bear to extort too much from her. But as it stands, the queen should have a lot of good things in her hands! ”

Little Pompey casually draped a large red peony-patterned satin over his shoulders, and gestured, as if he wanted to make a very stylish silk cloak, and said to Cassiyo and Brutus in a flirtatious tone, "...... Since it is rare to visit Egypt, there is so much to gain. How about we take the opportunity to take Egypt and turn it into a province of the Roman Republic, providing us with a steady stream of wealth. ”

“…… Ahem, with all due respect, Your Excellency! Our priority at the moment is to counterattack Italy, defeat the remnants of Caesar, and liberate Rome from the minions of the tyrants, rather than being dazzled by the riches and produceries of the East! As long as we retake Rome, we will have as many good things as we need in the future! And if we fail, then what good is it to have more rare treasures around us? ”

The governor of Syria, Kasiyo, bowed his head and coughed lightly, and exhorted with a serious expression, "...... Caesar is dead, but his Gallic legions are still there! The opportunity for victory is fleeting, and we don't have much time to delay in the East, Lord Pompey! ”

“…… Ah—don't be so serious, dear Cassillo. I understand what you're saying, it's just a joke. ”

Little Pompey reluctantly put the silk back into the wooden box, and at the same time pouted and replied, "...... But at the very least, we should also loot more from Egypt, because the cost of fighting a war is really high...... Well, the price proposed yesterday is too low, and I'm going to raise it up to a thousand tarrants of silver, and a hundred ships of wheat or barley, and then I'll have another copy of these novelty goods, so it's all right, right? ”

In the evening of the same day, however, Pompey the Younger received a fiery reply from the Queen of Egypt, or an ultimatum threatening war.

Looking at the lines of foul language on the papyrus like a shrew scolding the street, and the words "Either get away with each other, or die obediently, don't be unpredictable", both Cassiyo and Brutus were so angry that their faces were red, and little Pompey was so angry that he jumped three feet high.

“…… This damn bitch! Enchantress! Little slut! He snorted and crumpled the letterhead, threw it into the oil lamp and burned it," ...... I have not yet held her accountable for my father's death in Egypt for how dare she treat the Roman army so rudely! It seems that we have to teach the Egyptians a hard lesson! Order the soldiers to pack their bags and go to Alexandria tomorrow to 'meet' the arrogant queen of Egypt! (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )