At this time, Constantinople was far smaller than Istanbul in later generations.
To the north was the Golden Horn, a waterway about ten kilometers long, with a main channel of nearly 500 meters and many docks for ships.
The berth has been a gathering place for merchant ships from all over the world since ancient times, bringing wealth to Constantinople.
It was at this Golden Horn that Zhao Ziliang and his caravan entered the port by boat across the Bosporus.
At the junction of the Golden Horn and the Bosporus, there is a sea-blocking iron cable across the sea.
Once an enemy fleet attacks or special circumstances occur, the sea-blocking iron cable will be pulled up, and ships in the Golden Horn will be pulled up.
They can't go out to sea, and ships from outside can't come in.
To the south of Constantinople is the Sea of Marmara, with two ports, Theodosius Port and Julian Port.
These are two military ports where the Byzantine Empire’s naval fleet is stationed to guard Constantinople’s coastal defenses. , to the east is the entrance to the Bosporus, and it looks like an isosceles triangle falling to the right.
The Qin's caravan's office is in Galata, north of the Golden Horn, and is not in the main city of Constantinople.
Zhao Ziliang and others first took a ferry across the Golden Horn waterway, from the Holy Land on the Golden Horn sea wall in the north.
Entrance to Theodosia City Gate Entering the outer city of Constantinople, the outer city is the area between the Constantine wall and the Theodosius wall.
It is located in the west of Constantinople.
The outer city covers an area of almost the entire Half of Constantinople.
In fact, both the south and north sea walls have city gates leading to the inner city.
There is no need to detour to the outer city and then enter the inner city.
However, Zhao Ziliang wanted to walk through the entire Constantinople, so he took a detour to the body.
The Dosia Gate enters the outer city.
Walking on the streets of Constantinople, Zhao Ziliang, Dugujun and others were like curious babies.
Among them, only Liu Shan looked calm.
He once served as an envoy and stayed here for four years. , to the local people in Constantinople We are already familiar with the scenery and buildings.
Although Zhang Huchen and several guards are also curious about everything here, they still remember their guard duties, so everyone is very careful and observes the surrounding situation and pedestrians with vigilance. .
After walking for a while, Liu Dan introduced: "This is the Avenue of Ernazias.
In front of it is the Golden City Gate.
It stands astride the Avenue of Ernazias.
It is also called the Arc de Triomphe and has the same name as the Arc de Triomphe in Rome."
Everyone looked up and saw a golden city gate.
The gate had an exquisite architectural structure and was made of large marble cubes without cement.
It had three arched structures and a large number of carvings, including the one on the top.
Sculpture of a bronze chariot drawn by elephants, modeled on the triumphal gates of Rome.
Dugujun was quite shocked, "This is all made of pure gold."
"Hahaha" Liu Dan laughed loudly, "How is it possible that if it is all made of gold, even if we send troops here day and night to handle the situation, some people will take risks to rob it.
The city gate is plated with gold, not all made of gold."
Dugujun breathed a sigh of relief: "Let me tell you, I really thought that the Eastern Roman Empire was so rich that even the city gates were made of pure gold."
Although the defensive status of the Constantine City Wall was lost due to the completion of the Theodosian Wall, there are still soldiers stationed at this golden city gate, but no city tax is collected.
Zhao Ziliang and others are standing here.
They stopped to watch under the golden city gate, which attracted the attention of the Eastern Roman soldiers standing guard.
Dugujun looked at the exquisite stone carvings on it and couldn't help but admire: "I have to admit that Western civilization is unique.
This kind of architectural style would never be designed by our architects in the Western Qin and Tang Dynasties.
No carver can carve this style of stone carving.”
Zhao Ziliang said with a smile: "The culture is different, and the aesthetics are also different.
When we Eastern women look at Western men, they think they look like wild beasts.
They have not lost their body hair and are not yet civilized.
Western men think Eastern women are too ugly and weak.
They like them."
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How wonderful it would be for a woman with big arms and a round waist to be able to give birth to children and do heavy work at the same time."
"Hahaha" everyone burst into laughter.
An Eastern Roman soldier standing guard next to him immediately came over with a spear in his hand and shouted loudly.
Although Zhang Huchen, who was a personal guard, could not understand, he knew that the soldier must be rude, and he immediately changed his face and started to take action.
Zhao Ziliang stopped him: "Forget it, why are you arguing with a soldier?
Let's go into the inner city and have a look."
Although the Eastern Romans regarded themselves as the successors of the Roman Empire and had a sense of supreme pride and superiority in their hearts, the current world situation has clearly shown that the strength and prestige of the Eastern Roman Empire is declining day by day.
The Tang Dynasty and the Western Qin Dynasty in the East Just as the sun is at its peak, in Dongluo Even the villagers in the Ma Empire knew the power of the Western Qin Kingdom.
Even the official people did not dare to easily offend the merchants from the east, let alone the civilians.
Naturally, a small soldier standing guard at the gate did not dare to offend too much.
Seeing Zhao Ziliang Don't dare to make a fuss when others leave.
Entering the inner city is even more prosperous, and the streets are clean and tidy.
It must be said that Roman civilization has been well inherited and continued in Constantinople.
There is a complete water supply and drainage system in the city, and there is a small river named Likos River running through the city.
After flowing into the Sea of Marmara, there are eight elevated aqueducts that bring running water from the Thracian plain sixty miles away to supply the daily needs of the city.
Along the way, Zhao Ziliang and others discovered that there were many shops along the street selling various goods.
These goods came from the East, Eastern Europe, Nordic barbarian tribes, the Frankish Kingdom in Western Europe, Italy, Cyprus, North Africa and the Middle East.
In addition to the shops, Zhao Ziliang and others also discovered that there were many churches, a large number of bathhouses, public meeting halls, a large number of colonnades along the streets, theaters, granaries, and luxurious public bathrooms in the city.
In later generations, Zhao Ziliang once read The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, a British historian in the 18th century.
Since its publication, this history book has become extremely famous.
There is no other work that can compare with it in the Western historical circles.
The world is amazed and cherishes and respects it more. , most of the understanding of the Roman Empire and European history by later generations comes from this history book.
According to Edward Gibbon's statistics, there were 2 theaters, 4 basilicas, 8 luxurious public baths, 153 private baths, 52 colonnades along the streets, 5 granaries, 8 elevated aqueducts, 14 churches, 14 palaces and 4,388 noble residences.
Zhao Ziliang looked at it while walking and asked: "It is said that Constantinople was just a small city in the beginning, called Byzantium.
More than 400 years ago, the Roman Emperor Constantine I expanded on the original site of Byzantium and named it New Rome. , but everyone in the world calls this city after him.
Later, Constantinople was expanded again and the Theodosian Wall was built.
"Dugu, look at how this city compares with Chang'an and Xinjing."
Dugujun said: "From a military strategic perspective, Constantinople is indeed a natural fortress, surrounded by the sea on three sides, easy to defend and difficult to attack.
But in terms of layout and area, it is smaller than Chang'an and Chang'an.
Xingjing is much worse.
Chang'an is the ancient capital of many dynasties, and its prosperity is even better than Constantinople.
Xingjing's shortcomings are its lack of historical and cultural heritage, and everything else is far better than Constantine.
Fort" Zhao Ziliang smiled, and this is what Liu Dan said: "In front is the Holy Apostles Cathedral, which is one of the most magnificent churches in Constantinople.
It is said that Queen Theodora was buried here after her death."
Dugujun said in surprise: "Is this Queen Diodora famous?"
Zhao Ziliang smiled and said: "This is an amazing woman who has become a queen from a low-level prostitute.
How much effort it takes, how much tenacity and deep scheming it takes to climb to that position."
Liu Dan asked: "Should we go directly to the envoy's residence or should we first visit the famous buildings along the road?"
"Let's talk about the visit later.
Let's go to the envoy's residence first."
"yes" Dugujun originally wanted to send someone to the envoy's residence to call Liu Chongwen to see Zhao Ziliang, but after much deliberation, he gave up.
Liu Chongwen was the plenipotentiary envoy of the Western Qin State stationed in Constantinople, and his every move attracted attention from all sides. , if Liu Chongwen is called out, it will definitely attract the attention of many forces.
The official residence of the envoy is located near Theodosius Square.
This residence has an oriental architectural style.
On the porch is a plaque of the official residence of the envoy of the Western Qin Kingdom, written in both Chinese and Greek.
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Dugujun was about to go up to several Western Qin soldiers standing guard and ask them to call out the envoy Liu Chongwen to greet him.
Zhao Ziliang grabbed his arm and said: "You go in first as the caravan manager, and then take out the The accompanying token asked the officials in the official residence to meet Liu Chongwen, and we were waiting outside."
"I understand."
Dugujun immediately came to his senses and knew that this was a way to prevent his identity from being leaked.
He immediately walked to the gate of the mansion to negotiate with the soldiers guarding the gate.
Almost all the people from the Western Qin and Tang Dynasties who came here had official business.
The soldiers at the door were not embarrassed, and a soldier led Dugujun in.
Not long after, I saw a small official in official uniform hurriedly walked out, saluted Zhao Ziliang's people with fists in his hands, and ushered everyone in.
Everyone was led to a relatively remote house in the official residence and approached a secret room.
Then the door of the secret room was closed.
A middle-aged official and Dugujun were waiting inside.
When they saw Zhao Ziliang walking in, they immediately saluted: " The minister Liu Chongwen pays homage to His Majesty.
The Holy King has come to Constantinople.
If the humble ministers are at a loss to welcome you from afar, they will all die."
Zhao Ziliang saw a big chair placed against the wall to the north.
He walked over and sat down, raising his hands and saying, "This time I came secretly with the caravan.
I mainly wanted to see the customs and social conditions of the Western world.
I thought it was a mountain tour."
Playing in the water without informing you in advance, what crime have you committed?
Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty":