"Come!"

Antioch III stood on the balcony on the second floor and looked down at his imperial capital. Under the warm sunshine of early spring, the entire capital looked gray, but he felt inexplicably irritable and uneasy.

"Dear Your Majesty, what are your instructions?" The Minister of Internal Affairs hurriedly came.

"Go to invite the officials of the Qin Dynasty to have a drink and a banquet in the garden today, and find a few translators who are proficient in the language of Daxia and Dayuan!"

Although Antioch III was tortured by a group of wives all night, he was in pain and happiness. It was obvious that the gifts sent by the Great Qin delegation yesterday gave him a lot of face.

Three years ago, his war to capture Syria was defeated. Although he did not occupy the eastern bank of the Tigris River and his desire to move the capital westward was not fulfilled, he still snatched back a beautiful princess Asia from Susa.

This Princess Asia is extremely beautiful, Nian Fang is fifteen, but she is arrogant and indifferent. She would rather die than surrender in the face of Antioch's tyranny of the third generation, which made Antioch very depressed. However, after getting up, the cold princess finally couldn't stand the temptation of silk. She hoped to see the envoy from the distant Qin Dynasty and promise Antioch that if she could get her a hundred pieces of silk as a betrothal gift, she would willingly marry him.

It is impossible to have a hundred silk pieces. The ten pieces yesterday were all divided by the queen and a group of concubines. No one who made the pants left him. But it doesn’t matter at the moment. There must be a mysterious Qin in the distant east. Therefore, he needs to ask Li Shun and others about it today and must send envoys and caravans to Qin to buy silk back. Asia is the princess of Susa, with Egyptian and Greek royal blood. It is very important to him. Moreover, marrying Asia can also be recognized by the Persians, which will be of great help to his future occupation of West Asia.

Moreover, not only did his women like this silk, but the nobles of Egypt, Rome, Greece, Seleucid and other countries must also like it to be crazy, and of course there are porcelain and glass.

When Antioch III thought of porcelain, he blushed and ashamed.

Originally, he thought that the best and most beautiful porcelain from twenty gold coins were bought in the world, but he didn't expect that the set of porcelain sent by the Emperor of Qin was even more exquisite. Not only were there teapots with strange shapes, but there were six tea cups of exactly the same size and no different sizes. For Western countries, such an exact same thing was almost impossible, because everyone who had seen porcelain did not know what the porcelain was and how it was made, let alone exactly the same.

As for glass, in the eyes of Antioch III and all the noble ministers of the Rest Empire, it was even more mysterious and incredible. There were no such crystal clear and flawless crystal products in the world, let alone the six were exactly the same.

Is the Qin Dynasty a country controlled by gods?

It’s not that Antioch III thought so, but that he had to force himself to think like this, otherwise what silk is made of, how porcelain and glass are made, and what tea is, it smells weird, and the other three are so precious, and tea must be very precious. I didn’t ask clearly at the banquet yesterday, and today I must have a good exchange with the envoys of the Qin Dynasty and then further think about its relationship with the Qin Dynasty.

Starting from Daxia, I traveled thousands of miles to Anxue. Now, Emperor Anxue has such solemn and warm hospitality and meticulous care. The entire mission relaxed and enjoyed. Last night, he had enough food and drink and hugged the Persian lady for a long time and had to sleep until the sun was noon. He was shouted from the bed by the officials from the palace, then washed his face and brushed his teeth and tidied it up, and went to the palace with two dark circles.

Today is sunny and the climate is dry, but there are still many flowers and plants in the palace garden blooming brilliantly this spring. When Li Shun and others came to the garden with the ministers of the palace, the banquet was ready, and the beautiful maids were passing by. Antioch III brought his queen and two concubines to warmly receive Li Shun and others in the garden.

Although Antioch's arrangement today is not as grand as yesterday, it is more relaxed and enthusiastic from the reception venue and specifications. Apart from the beautiful queen and two young and beautiful concubines, no other nobles or officials attended. It is obvious that this is a relaxed family banquet, expressing Antioch's intimacy with Li Shun and others. Obviously, he is very satisfied with the identity of Li Shun and others and the gifts given by the Emperor of Qin yesterday.

Although the cultures of the East and the West are huge, Li Shun and others came all the way to understand these exotic etiquettes in Central and Western Asia. After their respective translations, the two sides greeted each other very politely and greeted each other.

The dining table was filled with various gold and silver tableware and pottery products. The large pot was filled with beef, mutton and even camel meat. The cooked were smoked, as well as sour milk and cheese, roasted apples and some dried fish, and even the wine was goat milk and camel milk wine. The whole banquet exuded a strong primitive and rough Persian style.

If Li Shun sneered at these barbaric and simple foods before he arrived in the Western Regions, but it was a blessing to be able to eat clean and hot meals on the way, and it would be even more difficult to drink a few sips of horse milk wine that were difficult to swallow even before. Compared with the endless fruit wines such as Daqin wine and mulberry wine, ordinary wealthy families could drink wine when various wines flooded the market. However, in Western countries, drinking wine is indeed an extremely luxury that only nobles can enjoy. In the arid semi-desert environment, making wine is a very difficult thing. So along the way, the entire mission has only drank wine several times in the capitals of several major countries. Therefore, facing such a sumptuous banquet arrangement by Antioch III, Li Shun and others expressed their satisfaction.

"I am very happy to have come from afar and have sent such exquisite and precious gifts. I will set up a banquet today to thank you. I hope that after you return to the Qin Dynasty, you will convey my gratitude to Your Majesty the First Emperor of your country. When you set off and return, I will also give you some exquisite specialties from your country to express your feelings. Please~"

After both sides sat down, Antioch III made a courteous speech and invited Li Shun and others to start drinking and eating meat.

The chef who was standing next to him also quickly picked up a knife and cut pieces of meat and put them on the silver dining plate in front of everyone.

Li Shun and others were not polite, and let go of their hands and feet and started eating meat and drinking in large cups. Along the way, there were countless banquets of kings of all sizes. Eating, drinking, chatting, and communicating the information they wanted was the biggest purpose.

Since ancient times, the wine table has been the best way to communicate. Whether in ancient times or later, whether in the East or the West, wine is a favorite of men... besides women and gold.

The conversation between the wine and the cup was very lively. Although most of the time, they could hear the fog and mist, they didn't know why, but it did not prevent them from toasting each other more enthusiastically.

Although Anxi is a powerful country, from the perspective of his experience, there is a considerable gap between him and the Qin Dynasty, whether it is buildings or weapons, whether it is civilians' lives or soldiers. Li Shun and others are convinced that as long as the Qin Dynasty can maintain sufficient logistical support, there is no problem in sweeping and crushing Anxi along the way. Moreover, after looking at the capital and palace of the Anxi Empire, he naturally has a relatively superior psychological advantage. He eats meat and drinks very generously. He drinks until he is in a deep state, and he is almost holding the arm of Antioch III to call him brother.

"Dear Messenger, as long as you can get a hundred pieces of silk for me to transport it, I promise to send you one hundred of the most beautiful waves...Persian women..."

Li Shun blew the Qin Dynasty into a mess, and Antioch III also started to knot his tongue when he drank it.

"Female...woman...haha, okay, since Your Majesty said that, Shun will do it. Although one hundred pieces of silk are indeed expensive, as long as the First Emperor speaks, it is not a problem for you to want a thousand pieces. Yes...you can use the set of crystal glasses that you gave to Your Majesty yesterday to drink. It is better than this silver...silver cup..." Li Shun looked through the silver wine glass that weighed half a pound in his hand, and was a little jealous.

Although crystal glass cups are indeed relatively expensive, and they cannot be bought in Daqin people. They are all sold in Qinghe Shopping Mall, and the price is hundreds of dollars per set, and the complete sets are more expensive. The main reason is that high-quality crystal ore is difficult to collect, but ordinary glassware is still cheaper, and cheaper than porcelain, one is only a few dozen dollars. But if you can get peace, one can cost at least ten or twenty gold coins.

Since leaving the Qin Dynasty, Li Shun and others found that both the Western Regions and the Western countries did not use copper coins, and their common coins for trading were gold and silver.

The gold coins of the Ayami and Daxia countries are both standard gold coins of the Macedonian Empire, with a strong Greek style, and exquisite patterns on both sides. They are the sequelae left by Alexander the Great after the Eastern Expedition. They are slightly heavier than the small golden cake of Daqin, and naturally have higher value. In addition to gold coins, Western countries circulate more silver coins, which are light and heavy, and have different values. But overall, gold and silver, as precious metals, have been used as currency by civilizations on the whole earth, and have become means of trading and measuring wealth with each other.

Gold and silver were scarce in Daqin, and the commercial development of Daqin was not enough, so copper coins became an important currency.

These Western countries weigh half a pound of silver cup to Daqin, and can be exchanged for at least 500 yuan by weight. Although it doesn't seem to be much, the advantage of gold and silver is that it will not depreciate or be afraid of breaking. Any shape of transporting back to Daqin can be directly exchanged for money, and even directly circulated. At present, all the commodities and specialties of Western countries are garbage in Li Shun's eyes. It is almost a loss-making transaction when transported back thousands of miles away. Only gold and silver will make money when transported back, because Daqin is too short of money and is short of money everywhere.

Rest in peace is the last stop of this mission trip, and it seems that it is time to make some extra money for yourself and everyone in the mission.
Chapter completed!