Fortunately, there are no obstacles in the journey ahead.
Under the guard of cavalry, the mission headed west along the river. Along the way, it encountered security forces sent by the local governor many times. Therefore, although it encountered disturbances from bandits, it did not delay the journey.
On another two occasions, the guide vowed that a certain village ahead could accommodate the delegation and provide clean water and supplies. However, when they arrived, they found that the entire village had been destroyed, the blood of the deceased was mixed with the gravel, and the corpses were dried. So the whole group
The team had to hurry up and arrive at the next scheduled camp in advance.
However, this situation no longer occurred after the mission gradually approached Baghdad. It is obvious that the fortress checkpoints along the road are becoming more and more dense, the patrols and inspections of the troops are becoming more and more strict, and the equipment of the troops is becoming more and more sophisticated.
It is becoming safer and safer along the way.
On the contrary, it must be admitted that the spirit of the Arab soldiers who appeared later became more and more loose. Their posture on horseback was obviously different from that of real warriors. Some of the cavalrymen did not have armor underneath their black robes.
Wrapped in gorgeous silk from the East. When they waved to the mission, the discerning members of the mission said that they could not see any calluses on their hands.
In the next few days of the trip, some people who looked like local officials followed the mission and kept chattering. According to the interpreter, they wanted to do some business before the nobles in Baghdad, get some porcelain or silk in advance, and invite the mission to
Take one of their relatives or slaves with you to Baghdad to give them a chance to show off your skills.
To be honest, if foreign envoys arrive in the Zhou Dynasty, the laws of the Zhou Dynasty will never allow local officials to communicate with the envoys without authorization. If these Arabs are to be lax, they are really lax.
Only at certain specific times, when everyone kneels down and kowtows regardless of who they are, they become more and more uniform.
The members of the mission generally did not have such strong beliefs. The Great Zhou Dynasty allowed all kinds of religions to be tolerated, but Quanzhen Sect had the responsibility of worshiping heroes and martyrs, so it received some preferential treatment. So at first, when everyone saw this kind of worship that happened every day, they still
Very fresh pointers and discussions.
Later, seeing the awe in their pious expressions, no one dared to disturb them anymore. Later, everyone simply calculated the time and got off the road in advance every time, taking the opportunity to drink water, eat and cool off, and wait for them to kowtow.
After that, continue on your way.
Before the prayers on this day, everyone was riding their horses slowly, wearing tarpaulins to protect themselves from the sun. Suddenly, they saw the first few Arab guides dismounting from their horses and kneeling devoutly toward the distance. These people took the lead and followed behind.
The cavalry, herdsmen, servants, etc. all stopped and dismounted, and the whole team suddenly became shorter than the wind and grass.
The procession suddenly stopped, and the smoke and dust stirred up by the horse and camel caravan in front slowly fell, as if the curtain had been pulled aside.
The members of the mission took off their scarves and looked ahead. They saw a white city wall stretching in front of their sight, reflecting dazzling colors in the sun. Behind the city wall, there were layers of buildings, with tall arcs or circles.
The shaped roofs and those metal or stone tops also radiate light.
Everyone looked at the majestic city that suddenly appeared, and couldn't help but be fascinated by it. Shi Tianze was taking off the turban that covered his face and wiping his face with a wet cloth. He was shocked by the huge city, and he couldn't move his hands until he was halfway still, and then a burst of yellow sand rolled over him.
, a layer of it stuck to his sweaty face.
At the front of the team, there was the sound of thumping footsteps, and it was the captain of the Arab cavalry who was running quickly.
Along the way, sometimes he tried his best to kill the thieves who blocked the road to show the strength of the empire; sometimes he wanted to explain that the empire's control over the local area was still stable, the subjects were united, and the petty thieves who appeared everywhere were not worth mentioning;
At that time, he had to tell the envoys that some subjects were actually heretics and must die... These three were so contradictory that it was impossible for them to appear at the same time, but the cavalry captain had to make his words smooth no matter what. This kind of entanglement was really confusing.
He worked very hard, and the members of the mission sympathized with him.
But at this time, the embarrassment finally disappeared from his face, and only pride remained. He puffed up his chest and said loudly:
"Messengers of the East! Look, that is the God-given city, the city of peace, the eternal city! It is Baghdad, the common capital of all those who believe in Allah from the east to west Africa, from emperors to beggars! We have arrived in Baghdad!"
Following his call, the cavalry, shepherds and servants all raised their hands and sang loudly.
This strong sense of pride made the members of the mission feel solemn.
The mission had done their homework carefully before setting off. They had long heard of the reputation of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid dynasty.
In recent hundreds of years, the heart of the Han Dynasty has continuously changed its location with the change of dynasties, from Chang'an to Kaifeng, from Kaifeng to Lin'an, and now to Daxing Prefecture, Zhongdu. However, the heart of the Arab Empire has always been in Baghdad for five hundred years.
It hasn't changed since.
After the establishment of the Abbasid Dynasty, the initial capital was located in Anbar on the upper reaches of the Euphrates River. Mansur, the second caliph of the empire, believed that Anbar was too remote and inconvenient to be the capital of a large country, so he surveyed everywhere and finally selected it.
A place located on the right bank of the Tigris River was named Baghdad.
He said that this place is an excellent camp. There is the Tigris River here, which can connect us with distant China, and can transport us all kinds of seafood and food from Mesopotamia, Armenia and the surrounding areas.
Here is the Euphrates River, which can bring us the products of Syria, Raqi and the surrounding areas.
So he spent four years and spent 4,883,000 dirkhans, recruiting countless architects and craftsmen from Syria, Mesopotamia and other parts of the empire to build this magnificent capital city.
We know that the monthly income of an architect is only thirty dirks. This is evident from the huge scale of the project.
The city is circular in shape and is divided into the outer city, the inner city and the imperial city. It has three city walls, each with four gates. Outside the city, there is also the huge Eternal Palace and noble mansions, and the number of residents is often
It has more than a million merchants and numerous markets and shops, which is no less impressive than any other large city in the Han Dynasty.
In the past few years, more than two to three thousand Han merchants have been stationed in the market in Baghdad that specializes in Chinese silk, porcelain, tea and other commodities. And the benefits brought by these two to three thousand people operating here are enough to drive
The Great Zhou Dynasty migrated and expanded tens of thousands of people to the South China Sea and other places every year.
Based on this understanding, Yuan Haowen and others had already imagined the scale of Baghdad, but what they saw now still made everyone extremely excited.
During the 11,000-mile voyage, they had seen various regimes that were called countries but were actually tribal governments. They had seen some cities that were called capitals but were actually worse than a rural village in Han Dynasty. There were also all kinds of arrogant arrogances.
Although the number of characters has gradually decreased in the past two years, a few will always be bumped into by the mission and become the butt of funny jokes.
With so much knowledge like this, even if they know that there are mountains of gold and silver along the sea route, they will inevitably have a little contempt when evaluating each country, feeling that foreign countries cannot be compared with China after all, even if that country is comparable to China in legends
Even the comparable Arab Empire may have had its maritime merchants deliberately boasting and exaggerating.
Until now, I saw Baghdad. At this time, everyone was sure that no matter how the Abbasid Dynasty was governed, or whether the dynasty would fall apart or come to an end, the city itself was really shining, enough to compete with Han'er.
comparable to any construction.
There was a restlessness in the team, and even Yuan Haowen, a mature, capable and well-informed envoy, couldn't help but be a little excited. He clapped his hands and called his followers repeatedly, asking them to prepare the envoy's guard of honor, and then urged them
Everyone arranged their clothes and faces to ensure that the delegation would look graceful and graceful when entering the city, and would not lose the majesty of the Great Kingdom of China.