The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire.

This is an ancient empire that has lasted for thousands of years.

Of course, this does not mean that the inheritance of the empire has lasted for thousands of years, but specifically the inheritance of civilization, such as writing and language.

During this thousand years, the Byzantine Empire lasted for a total of twelve dynasties.

The current dynasty is the Palaiologos Dynasty.

The monarch was the tenth emperor, Manuel II Palaiologos.

The Palaiogrid Dynasty is somewhat similar to the current Ming Dynasty. Before the founding emperor of the Palaiogrid Dynasty, Mikhail VIII Palaiogrid, ascended the throne, Constantinople, as the symbol of the Byzantine Empire, had already fallen.

The Palaiologos dynasty recaptured Constantinople, which meant the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.

This situation is like the Central Plains dynasty was invaded by the Mongols, and then recovered by Zhu Yuanzhang and returned to Han rule again.

However, after more than 130 years of rule, the Palaiologos dynasty had clearly reached its end.

In fact, when Mikhail VIII led his army into Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire had already become a second-rate small country and was a country that could only be on the defensive.

The empire has begun to gradually decline internally, and is facing even greater military threats externally. The surrounding countries are eyeing it covetously, all wanting to bite off a piece of meat from this ancient empire.

Currently, the empire restored by the Palaiologos dynasty consists only of the two cities of Constantinople and Thessaloniki, as well as small unstable areas in the surrounding areas and two territories.

It was surrounded by Bulgaria and Serbia in the north, while the Asia Minor region was almost completely occupied by the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to the serious external threats, the more important issue is the internal ruling crisis of the empire.

The three civil wars that lasted for more than sixty years have turned the current Palaiologos dynasty's imperial power into a complete laughing stock.

Even the residents of Constantinople dared to laugh at their emperor without any scruples.

Apart from the chaos in the political sphere, social and religious conflicts have evolved into a real class struggle.

Just when the Ottoman Empire surrounded Constantinople some time ago and prepared to launch the final attack, the clergy of the Byzantine Empire were still arguing endlessly in Hagia Sophia about the issue of unity or division.

Archbishop Lucas Notaras even publicly declared that he would rather see the capital ruled by Turks wearing turbans than by Latins wearing triple mitres.

The serious civil unrest caused the collapse of the entire country's economy, especially the agricultural economy, which was almost completely destroyed under the double blow of civil unrest and foreign invasion.

When a country's traditional agricultural tax revenues were all lost and domestic trade with grain and agricultural and sideline products as the main commodities completely disappeared, the Palaiologos dynasty was completely at the end of its road.

It seems that even God can't save this dynasty.

In order to overcome the crisis brought about by the civil war, successive emperors of the Palaiologos dynasty did not hesitate to implement some wrong foreign policies based on selling out national interests.

These erroneous foreign policies that shook the foundation of the country not only failed to save the empire, but instead brought even more serious political, economic and military crises to the empire.

By now, the Byzantine Empire under Manuel II was a complete mess.

During these most difficult and financially demanding years, royal banquets were held on clay utensils, as the expensive oriental porcelain had long been sold for money.

In the absence of gold and jewelry, worthless glass and leather crafts had to be used instead.

At Manuel II's wedding, the clothes and ceremonial dress he wore only appeared to have gold and gems, but were actually made of gold-dyed leather and/or decorated with colored glass, maintaining a slightly decent and remaining dignity.

At this time, a large number of residents of Constantinople had already fled, and the entire city seemed very empty. The few residents were ragged and thin.

Even though the news of the Ottoman army's withdrawal spread throughout Constantinople, these numb-faced residents did not show any emotional fluctuations, and many even felt it was a pity.

Maybe if the Turks ruled this castle, they would have a chance to eat?

There was no light in their eyes anymore.

However, today, Manuel II seemed extremely excited after hearing the news from the guards.

"Are you sure that they are nobles from the far east, the Ming Empire?"

The guard saluted perfunctorily and then said, "Your Majesty, how can I deceive you at this time?"

Manuel II did not care about the guards' rudeness because he had no way to pay the salaries of the guards who guarded the palace.

The reason these guards are still guarding the palace is because there is nothing else to do.

Those who had a way out have already left, and the rest can only live day by day.

"Take me there quickly." Manuel II urged impatiently.

Nowadays, anything related to the East is a symbol of wealth.

Not to mention the nobles from the distant East.

Manuel II did not have any other ideas, he was just extremely poor, and hearing that a rich man had arrived was an opportunity no matter what.

"Wait a minute, I want to change into a dress." Manuel II was about to get up when he suddenly stopped.

The guard was a little impatient: "Your Majesty, you will keep the distinguished guest waiting."

Manuel II pointed to his tattered clothes and said, "This will make the noble Eastern nobles feel that we are looking down on them. I heard that the nobles in the distant East are the most civilized countries that pay attention to etiquette."

The clothes of Manuel II were torn to pieces by angry priests when he was arguing with them in the Cathedral of Santa Fesoa.

The royal family had no money to buy new clothes, so they could only ask the tailor to make some simple repairs.

The tailor was an apprentice, and because the skilled tailor had long since run away, the traces of repair on Manuel II's clothes were very obvious.

This is what happens in the palace on weekdays.

Now that we have to receive nobles from the East, things are naturally different. We have to take out the clothes that are most precious in our wardrobe.

However, the fact that Manuel II had to explain the situation to his guards shows that the royal family has now lost all power.

After listening to what Manuel II said, the guards felt that what he said made sense and agreed.

Manuel II, wearing new clothes, couldn't wait to go there.

The area of ​​Constantinople is dozens of times larger than that of the ancient city of Byzantium and far larger than that of the old city of Rome.

On the hill where the old city of Byzantium was originally located is the Grand Palace of the Empire. The old city walls of the ancient Byzantine city were rebuilt as the outer walls of the palace. The Grand Palace is also known as the 'Holy Palace'.

It is located on the commanding heights of the city, facing the Sea of ​​Marmara to the south, and covers an area of ​​nearly 1,000 acres, which is more than 600,000 square meters according to Western calculations. It is the most luxurious building complex in the entire Constantinople.

In addition to the royal family, the palace was also home to groups of palace maids, eunuchs, imperial guards, priests and court officials. During the heyday of the Byzantine Empire, its population reached 20,000, almost equivalent to a city.

It consists of several adjacent palaces, including the Ramanuol Palace, which is used exclusively for official ceremonies, the Dafna Palace where the royal family lives, the Schalk Palace which also serves as an exhibition hall, and so on.

The palaces were connected by arcades, and the courtyards between the palaces were developed into royal gardens.

The place where Manuel II met with nobles from the far East was the Imperial Garden.

In the garden, dozens of fully armed guards stood solemnly. The armor they wore was completely different from that in the West.

With black hair and black eyes, he is a genuine Oriental.

In the center of these guards, a middle-aged man in a Confucian robe was leisurely drinking tea. The expensive tea leaves from the East exuded a leisurely aroma.

The palace guards nearby watched this scene from afar with envy in their eyes.

They are well aware of the strong purchasing power of tea leaves, which are almost equivalent to gold.

The tea that the nobles drank from the far east was almost like drinking flowing gold in their eyes.

But they did not dare to show the slightest greed, because this oriental noble not only had dozens of powerful guards, but also more than a thousand fully armed knights outside the Holy Palace, equipped with powerful firearms.

Today's Constantinople no longer has the ability to fight against more than a thousand knights.

What's more, this is a noble from the East.

That’s right, this nobleman from the far east was none other than Zhao Yuanhong, the military advisor Zhu Ying once sent to Annan.

The year before last in Annan, after being imprisoned because of Hu Jima's rebellion, Zhao Yuanhong decided to capture Li Laosi, who caused the loss of a large number of soldiers, and enforce the family rules of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

He took two hundred people and set out from Annan on a ship, tracking and capturing Li Laosi all the way west.

Originally, Li Laosi had not planned to run far, but by coincidence, the soldiers who followed Li Laosi discovered Zhao Yuanhong.

After all, Oriental people are too conspicuous in Southeast Asia and the West, and their traces will be easily revealed.

So Li Laosi fled overnight, and Zhao Yuanhong of course rushed to chase him.

The two sides kept fleeing and chasing each other for nearly two years.

It crossed the entire Indochina Peninsula, crossed the Arabian Sea, landed in the Persian Gulf, and arrived in Central Asia.

Then they crossed Central Asia and arrived at the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

Now it has even come to Europe.

Fortunately, the reputation of the Ming Dynasty has spread throughout Central Asia and even to Europe through maritime trade.

Whether it was Li Laosi or Zhao Yuanhong, they both benefited from their status as Ming people and were treated with respect along the way.

It was only because of the language barrier that Zhao Yuanhong's pursuit of Li Laosi became difficult.

Especially with two hundred guards, it would be easy to arouse the fear of some forces passing by.

A lot of time is spent on communication.

Li Laosi felt much more relaxed. After all, there were only a few dozen people, and it was easy to be accepted in the name of a caravan from the Far East.

While drinking tea, Zhao Yuanhong looked at the imperial garden and nodded slightly with satisfaction.

Although no one has come to maintain it and there are fallen leaves everywhere, and some trees even show signs of withering, the atmosphere of decline cannot conceal the grandeur of this place.

Manuel II was in a hurry, and there was even a little sweat on his forehead because of jogging all the way.

When I arrived in front of the garden, I was dazzled by the sight of an oriental noble drinking tea in the courtyard.

But when he wanted to go in, he was stopped by Zhao Yuanhong's guards.

"How dare you! Back off!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yuanhong scolded in a dissatisfied tone.

"Yes, sir."

The two guards who were blocking the way immediately bowed their heads to Zhao Yuanhong, clasped their fists, and made way for Manuel II to enter.

Although Manuel II did not understand Chinese, he could understand what was going on from the context and actions.

Such authority made Manuel II, who had long lost his power but still held the title of emperor, extremely envious.

At this time, Zhao Yuanhong also stood up, clasped his fists and said to Manuel II who walked up to him, "I am Zhao Yuanhong, the imperial envoy from the Eastern Celestial Empire, and I am honored to meet His Majesty the Emperor of the ancient Byzantine Empire."

Zhao Yuanhong greeted Manuel II in unfamiliar and broken Latin.

Latin was widely spread throughout Europe due to the power of the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. With the prevalence of missionary work and the increase in the power of the Pope, Latin is now the main medium of communication in the Middle Ages.

Unlike the hieroglyphics of the Central Plains, both Latin and Greek are phonetic scripts, while Chinese characters are ideographic scripts.

For Zhao Yuanhong, learning Latin mainly depends on memory. It does not require any overly profound understanding. One word has one meaning.

Zhao Yuanhong was able to obtain the title of scholar because he was naturally extremely talented in reciting.

Moreover, the reason why he did not achieve the title of Juren was only because of bad luck. He himself was very talented, otherwise he would not have been valued by Zhu Ying.

On the Ottoman side, there were many merchants who knew multiple languages. After finding a translator who knew Chinese, they began to learn the local language.

Reciting and memorizing is really child's play for Zhao Yuanhong.

No matter how difficult Latin is, can it be more difficult than the Four Books and Five Classics?

In just one month, Zhao Yuanhong was able to basically understand Latin and communicate with others in Latin.

It’s just that the pronunciation is a bit unfamiliar, with a strong oriental accent.

However, this oriental accent sounds more noble and elegant to today's Europeans.

"Your Excellency, the noble nobleman from the far east, on behalf of the Byzantine Empire, I welcome you."

Manuel II expressed his respect to Zhao Yuanhong using orthodox Roman etiquette, and there was even a hint of humility in his tone.

Of course, Zhao Yuanhong couldn't tell the humble feeling because his Latin had not yet reached such a level.

The rich aroma of tea flowed through Manuel II's nose, further confirming the identity of this oriental nobleman.

Zhao Yuanhong waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty, please take a seat and taste our Dongfang Daming tea."

"This is the most precious West Lake Longjing in the Ming Dynasty. Even in the Ming Dynasty, it is a treasure that only the royal family can taste. I don't usually taste it. I only took it out to entertain Your Majesty today."

After almost two years of changes, Zhao Yuanhong's face no longer has that gloomy look, and instead appears to be somewhat dignified and gentle.

The reason for this change is that while traveling on the road, Zhao Yuanhong's identity changed, from a military strategist hidden behind the scenes to the front of the stage.

He needed to deal with a large number of nobles and monarchs from various countries. As the number of times increased, naturally his temperament changed.