Chapter 377 A Friend Comes From Afar

Peter was shocked by Mason's extraordinary completion of the task. It seemed that the company's proposal had to be carried out. It was too difficult to rely on the company alone to carry out colonization. The Egyptian canal had to be accelerated, otherwise it would still be controlled by others.

Peter had already received a lot of information today, and he had to digest it well. There was also the task of receiving the special envoy tomorrow.

The next morning, the Great Palace of Constantinople was crowded with people. All the high-ranking officials and nobles came here, and Mircea also wore gorgeous clothes and sat on the throne with a crown on his head.

Zheng He formally met the emperor of the Roman Empire here. He claimed that he came to make friends with foreign countries under the order of the emperor of the Ming Empire and presented Mircea with gifts from the Ming Empire.

Including porcelain produced from official kilns such as Jingdezhen, silk produced in Jiangxi, Huguang, and Guangdong and Guangxi, and various decorations made of gems, the value of which is estimated to be worth half of the national treasury.

"This is really rich. Even if all my assets are added together, I can't afford these things."

"Yes, don't talk about me. I guess only your majesty can afford it in all of Europe. The other kings are poor and can't afford it even if they sell their crowns."

This is the truth. The kings of Europe don't care how vast the territory they rule is and how many people they have. But most of them are vassals, and they can only live on the income from the land they directly govern. This is why the French king is nicknamed the Count of the French Isle.

Moreover, the previous French king divorced Eleanor, the Duke of Aquitaine, and the other party married the King of England, which led to the British territory accounting for half of the area of ​​France. It took several French kings to restore it to what it is now.

As for the Holy Roman Empire, it is even more difficult for the emperor to get money from the broken states. Not to mention Poland, the nobles don't do it, and even war can hardly shake their willingness to save money.

Mircea is better than them. Although the royal finances and national finances are separate, the emperor still has the right to mobilize the treasury for royal construction. The royal family's insufficient expenses can be made up by the national treasury, which is already the best finance in Europe. But it is still vulnerable in front of the gifts from the East.

"The Roman Empire thanks your country for the gifts. The history of exchanges between the two countries is long. I hope your visit can open a new chapter."

Mircea asked Peter to entertain the envoys from afar, and also gave many gifts in return. The value is unprecedented in Europe.

"Please follow me, envoy."

Peter spoke in Romanian, and both sides understood after Mason translated. Peter also understood, but as the heir to the empire, there must be a translator, otherwise how would you explain if you suddenly understood the other party's words. God appeared?

"Emissary, please look, this is the greatest building in our country, Hagia Sophia, which is also the holy place of faith for our people."

Maybe Mason felt that the other party didn't understand the two words "holy place" directly, so he said it directly as the center. Zheng He nodded and admired the building.

"This is really incomparable. Few countries can do such a building."

He was blessed to be guided by the future ruler of an empire. In Zheng He's view, this imperial prince not only has strategy and courage, but also has approachable qualities and high diplomatic skills. It is not an exaggeration to call him the Tang Taizong of the West. Moreover, the other party has harmonious brothers and is the eldest son, which is also something that Taizong did not have.

(Tang Taizong was also a bit miserable. Although he created the Zhenguan Reign, he started a bad start by launching the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and none of his fourteen sons except Gaozong had a good end.)

Peter is more like a combination of Tang Taizong and the Ming Dynasty's Prince Yiwen. The victorious general on the battlefield can also handle politics with ease. Although he only met this person for one day.

Peter took Zheng He to visit Constantinople, which is the only city in Europe that can be shown off. Those cities in northern Italy are not safe at present, and he cannot put the envoy's life in danger.

In addition to the army and sailors, the Eastern Fleet also has doctors, craftsmen and other people engaged in other industries. They showed their craftsmanship in Constantinople and won the favor of many people.

And the most gift Mason brought to Peter from the East was a pile of books. It covers military, cultural, geographical and other aspects, such as the long-renowned "The Art of War" and "The Art of War by Sun Bin", and the "Seven Military Classics" of the Song Dynasty. Even those books hidden in the folk were dug out by Mason. I heard that a man named Shen Kuo wrote a book hundreds of years ago, and it took 800 taels of silver to get it. There are also those books on medicine and mathematics, which were obtained in Nanjing and Ningbo. After all, the cultural atmosphere in the Jiangnan region is strong. The difficulty of obtaining these is not too difficult.

Of course, the goods brought by Zheng He had to be sold. Mircea directly marked out a temporary place in the market as a sales area. The people in the fleet moved the goods for sale from the warehouse and sold them directly.

Thousands of people came to the market, they looked at porcelain, silk, tea and other things, and paid to buy them. Those wealthy businessmen and nobles were even more crazy about buying porcelain and silk, and they were very proud to take them out when inviting people to visit.

"Don't rush, there are plenty of goods, please don't rush."

In addition to local Roman merchants, merchants from Naples, Hungary, Poland, Hanseatic, Moscow, France and other countries in the city also went out to sell their goods as quickly as possible, and tried their best to buy the most Eastern goods to transfer to other countries for sale. This in and out can make dozens of times the profit.

The number of merchant ships departing from Constantinople every day is several times higher than usual. They are all anxious to sell goods. They also know that if the news spreads throughout Europe, a large number of merchants will flock here and buy these things to sell, so the price will drop, and they will lose more than they gain.

So they hurried to sell them while the news has not spread to the farthest places. Buda, Vienna, Ancona, Naples, Prague and other places are all markets. Dijon and Flanders in Burgundy are also big money holders. I believe that local merchants are willing to pay for these things.

Such market sales also put pressure on Constantinople. The mayor urgently asked some garrisons to maintain market order and modify taxes at the same time. These buyers of oriental goods have to pay one-eighth of the tax, which has increased the tax rate a little, but the result is still crazy.

However, fiscal revenue has increased a lot, earning 50,000 lei in just one day. And the goods have not been sold out. As the news spreads, merchants from all over Europe will come here, and the tax will have to be doubled again.