It had been five days since Zhao Ziliang and Taoist Qingsong, together with 180 Dragon Guard guards, drove dozens of carriages loaded with goods to Adana.
They could have gone faster, but some of the guards were injured in the battle. , so the speed of the journey is slower.
Dugujun, Liu Dan and others had already arranged people at the gate of Adana.
Before Zhao Ziliang and others entered the city, Dugujun, Liu Dan and others got the news and rushed over.
"I'm so happy to see you're okay," Dugujun said sincerely as several people immediately came up to greet him.
Zhao Ziliang nodded and said: "Don't worry, everyone is fine.
All one hundred and eighty-eight guards are back.
It's just that some people were injured.
It took us an extra day to get here."
Liu Dan said "Hey" and asked, "Why didn't you see that Gaetia?"
"Ahem, cough, cough," Taoist Master Qingsong coughed a few times and whispered: "He is dead.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, it is best not to mention this person in the future."
Dugujun, Liu Dan and others looked at each other after hearing this, and nodded silently, looking like they were still frightened.
Everyone was interrogated by the gatekeepers at the city gate, and they were quickly passed.
After entering the city, Zhao Ziliang asked in a low voice as he walked: "Have you seen the Bishop Okowe whom Father Bablos mentioned?"
Liu Shan said: "Yes, we paid a visit to the Governor on the first day we arrived.
It was the Governor who personally took us to see Bishop Okowe.
Okowe used holy light to dispel the dark magic on the dozen or so guards.
They are fine now” Zhao Ziliang looked around at the situation in Adana City.
Although it was the capital of Cilicia, the city seemed a bit dirty.
There were people and animals walking around everywhere, and transactions in the market were also frequent.
Zhao Ziliang thought of something and asked: "What did you tell the Governor and Bishop Okowe?
Now let's unify our voices and don't expose the truth then."
Liu Dan whispered: "The mayor of Ceyhan Town, Varnado, wrote a letter in his own hand and sent someone to come with us to Adana and hand it over to the governor, detailing what happened that night, so we are here This matter was not concealed.
After Bishop Okowe heard that more than 180 of our guards were kidnapped by wizards, he set off to the north the next day.
Didn't you meet him on the way?"
Zhao Ziliang shook his head: "No, maybe he followed us on a different path.
After we rescued the people, we came directly to Adana with the carriage and goods.
Bishop Okowe may have gone to the small town of Ceyhan first."
Liu Dan thought for a while and asked: "If the governor and the priest of the church ask you how you escaped back, how should we answer?"
Zhao Ziliang thought for a moment and said: "Don't cause any more trouble.
If anyone asks, just say that we all fainted in the wild.
When we woke up, all the goods and carriages were there and nothing was lost, so we came directly to Adana.
Don't mention wizards.
We are not here to have a conflict with the capable people from the West.
Don't offend the wizards if you can, and don't offend the people in the church.
As long as the wizards and other related personnel are not mentioned, those people will not dare to touch us casually.
After all, we are the caravan of the Western Qin Kingdom, and we have the entire Western Qin Kingdom.
The country is backing us, and without sufficient reasons, even the Eastern Roman emperor would not dare to touch us casually. " "clear" Zhao Ziliang and others entered the city in the morning, and Bishop Okowe returned to the church in the afternoon.
The Governor and Bishop Okowe asked Zhao Ziliang, 188 and the caravan escort how they came back.
In the Governor's Mansion, Okowei looked at Zhao Ziliang, Taoist Qingsong, Liu Dan and Dugujun and asked: "Dear guests from the East, I have only one question.
How did you escape back?
Can you tell me?"
Liu Dan said: "Bishop, haven't I told you before?
Our people were all comatose in the wild a hundred miles northwest of the town of Ceyhan.
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When they woke up, they found that Jay was no longer there.
It’s a small Han town, and the carriages and goods are all there, not a single thing is missing.”
Okowi is a tall and thin middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a white priest's robe, a cross hanging on his chest, and a thick Bible in his hand.
He has a short beard and looks seriously.
Zhao Ziliang and Taoist Qingsong said: "I have already been to Alashan and entered the castle of the wizard Raphael.
There is no one in the castle, and there are traces of battle and magic aura remaining.
The entire castle has suffered a lot of damage.
It is definitely not the kind of damage that ordinary people's battles can cause.
Since you can escape from there alive, I think You should know what happened, can you tell me?"
Zhao Ziliang said: "Mr.
Bishop, we really woke up in the wild.
We have no idea what castle or wizard you are talking about.
We are also wondering why we suddenly fell into coma and suddenly disappeared a few meters away from the town.
Waking up in the wilderness more than a hundred miles away, there are a lot of goods and carriages.
This is really weird.
Lord Governor, the security situation in your Eastern Roman Empire is really bad.
There were demons and monsters attacking our caravan in the small town of Ceyhan.
This is terrible.
If this situation is everywhere in the Eastern Roman Empire, we believe that our merchants The caravan will never come again in the future, and other merchants from the Western Qin Kingdom will no longer organize caravans to come."
Governor Moricu said quickly: "Guests, please rest assured that this is just an isolated phenomenon.
We will definitely send priests, priests and exorcists to deal with the demons and ghosts that harm ordinary people.
I can assure you that this will never happen in the future."
"happen again" Okowi saw that Zhao Ziliang avoided answering several of his questions and deliberately diverted attention.
There was no way he could force Zhao Ziliang to tell the truth.
The priests and priests of the church are actually no different from ordinary people.
They will age, get sick, and die.
Their cultivation can only deal with wizards and dark creatures who have practiced dark magic, and they are completely unable to harm them.
Ordinary people, ordinary people can kill them too.
This is the same as the Taoist priests in the East who can only deal with demons and ghosts.
Ordinary people can also kill those who have achieved Taoism.
Even monks at the level of Qingsong are still no match for those with strong martial arts, but wizards and dark creatures , demons and monsters can easily kill ordinary people and even people with strong martial arts skills.
Zhao Ziliang and others rested in Adana for three days, and after completing some transactions with local merchants, they headed northwest to Ankara.
After that, the caravan headed to Ankara, and as expected, as Governor Moricu said, no more wizards happened.
The attack also shows that wizards were not everywhere in the Eastern Roman Empire.
Taboo, wizards are just a very small group, and they have not yet reached the point where there are wizards everywhere.
The pastors and priests of the church are not just for free.
In addition to preaching, they spend most of their time looking for dark forces everywhere.
These people, whom they called heretics, would be tried if caught.
Although the geographical location of Ankara at this time was important, it was only a small city.
It was built on land with lava exposed everywhere.
It was completely incomparable with the layout of the capital of Turkey in later generations.
However, at this time, many temples and temples were built in Ankara.
Churches, opera houses, bathhouses.
In Zhao Ziliang's view, the Romans and Arabs both had a very strange hobby.
No matter where they conquered, they would always leave traces of their conquests.
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The Romans always built a large number of churches and temples in the places they conquered. , bathhouses, and the Arabs liked to build mosques in conquered lands.
Not to mention, this approach is of great benefit to their rule in the conquered lands.
Not everyone can withstand their missionaries brainwashing you all day long.
The caravan did not stay in Ankara for too long.
It only stayed for three days before leaving.
However, this was enough for Zhao Ziliang to travel around Ankara and its surrounding areas to observe its castles, passes, mountains and rivers, garrisons, population, social conditions and customs.
Favor.
It has to be said that there are many ethnic groups on the Asia Minor Peninsula, both native ethnic groups and foreign ethnic groups.
The foreign ethnic groups are basically left here by the conquerors.
Whether they are native ethnic groups or foreign ethnic groups, their customs are both There are similarities and differences.
The main purpose of Zhao Ziliang's westward trip this time was not for trade, so the trip was not like other caravans.
It usually consisted of stops and starts, often camping in the wild.
The purpose was of course to see the mountains, rivers and terrain, and study the social conditions of the places along the way. , which allowed him to have a more intuitive understanding of the current situation of the entire Eastern Roman Empire.
After starting from Ankara and continuing westward, the caravan remained on the Asia Minor Peninsula for two consecutive months.
On the one hand, it was to understand the situation in various parts of the Eastern Roman Empire, and on the other hand, it was also because the roads were difficult and the traffic conditions here were not at all comparable to those in the west.
Compared with Qin, if it rains, there are many roads where carriages cannot walk at all.
They can only wait until the weather is clear and the roads are dried before setting off.
Some roads even have to pass through long forest sections.
On the fifth day of July, the caravan finally arrived at the east coast of the Bosporus.
Standing at the ferry port and looking across the strait, one could see a sea wall stretching from north to south on the opposite coast.
Large-scale attacks on the Eastern Roman Empire all reached here and launched sieges, but they were all blocked by this sea wall.
The Dashi Kingdom also lost most of its naval strength.
When the caravan arrived, the ferry was too small to carry the carriage across.
Zhao Ziliang and others could only have people unload the goods at the dock, pay the hired coachman, let them return, and then hired several ferries at the dock.
Transport people and goods to the opposite port.
Merchant ships and ferries traveled frequently across the strait, and the naval fleet of the Eastern Roman Empire often passed by.
Those who came to Constantinople to do business were not only Eastern merchants from afar, but also merchants from all over the Asia Minor Peninsula. , they are considered natives and are very familiar with this place.
They are very enthusiastic about Eastern caravans like Zhao Ziliang and others, because they can make a lot of money by doing business with Eastern caravans.
Any goods shipped from the East only need to enter Constantine.
In Constantinople, the market price will definitely more than double or triple.
For example, a piece of silk may only be worth seven or eight guan in the Tang Dynasty, but when shipped to Constantinople, it can be sold for more than 100 guan.
How is this?
Huge profits.
Of course, the cost of transportation is definitely not a small amount, and there are many risks.
Therefore, high selling prices are inevitable, but the nobles of Constantinople do not care about the price at all.
As long as the goods are good, they will Can be purchased at a higher price.
Zhao Ziliang was definitely not the only Eastern caravan that entered Constantinople.
After passing through the sea wall and entering the city of Constantinople, Zhao Ziliang saw the flags of five Eastern caravans in just half an hour. , many Eastern caravans have permanent residences in the city of Constantinople, with specialized personnel assigned to handle all aspects of affairs here.
Of course, the Qin family caravans also have their own offices here.
After the caravan entered the office of the Qin Family Trading Company, Qin Zipeng, as the shopkeeper, finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately sent someone to arrange food and accommodation for Zhao Ziliang and others.
Zhao Ziliang woke up from a long sleep and came to the front hall of the office.
He saw Qin Zipeng talking to the office manager who stayed behind.
He walked over and greeted: "The shopkeeper."
When Qin Zipeng heard the voice, he immediately turned around and saw that it was Zhao Ziliang.
He immediately told the steward: "This matter is settled.
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You go and do your work first."
"yes" Qin Zipeng waited for the steward to leave, and immediately bowed to Zhao Ziliang and said, "What are your orders?"
Zhao Ziliang waved his hand: "Pay attention to your attitude and don't show your flaws.
I just want to ask, are there many people coming here from Western Qin and Datang over the years?"
Qin Zipeng said: "Many, many" "How many" Qin Zipeng said: "It's hard to say.
Sometimes there are tens of thousands or more, and sometimes there are thousands.
There are also a lot of people who have settled here, and there are also those who committed crimes in the Tang Dynasty and Western Qin.
There are not a few people who have fled here to avoid being pursued by the government.
Constantinople is originally a place where people of all races live together, and people of all races and ethnicities can be found here.”
Zhao Ziliang thought for a while and asked, "Has anyone been to the envoy's official residence?"
Qin Zipeng replied: "Of course, every caravan manager from Western Qin and the Tang Dynasty must go to the envoy's official residence to pay a visit to the envoy.
After all, they are on their territory.
If they do not pay a visit to the envoy first, they will not pay a visit to the envoy."
The envoy's official residence reported the arrival of the caravan.
If something happened to the caravan, the envoy's official residence would not be able to get the news in time and To take corresponding protective measures, no matter what happens to the caravan or individuals here, the envoy's official residence needs to send someone to negotiate with all local parties.
Of course, those who sneak over here are another matter.
After all, they must come here illegally.
Without a legitimate identity, they almost always escaped here after committing crimes in their hometowns.”
Zhao Ziliang asked: "So if we go to the envoy's residence, we won't attract anyone's attention."
Qin Zipeng shook his head and said: "Definitely not.
Every day, many people go to the envoy's residence to do business.
Not only are there people from our country, but there are also people who want to go back.
There are also people from the Eastern Romans and other countries who want to go to the West.
Qin first had to go to the envoy’s official residence to apply.”
Zhao Ziliang nodded and said to a guard behind him: "Go and call Liu Dan, Dugu and Zhang Huchen over."
"yes" The few people who were notified came over quickly.
Zhao Ziliang said: "Let's go to the envoy's residence.
If there is nothing we need to prepare, we can leave now."
Zhang Huchen said: "I'll prepare the horse."
"No, let's walk there and take a look at the city's layout and customs along the way
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