Cleopatra returned to the palace at dawn, her face crimson, her smile regaining confidence, and her eyes were very content.Aya was in a complicated mood and dressed the thinly dressed queen, and the queen's confidant, Apollodorus, who was the "Nome Chief" of the city of Heriopolis and had a scar on his face, was also in the palace.They are all people who have sworn to follow the queen to the death, and follow her on the run and adventure, and they are curious to know what kind of deal the queen and the Seris have reached?
It was as the queen wished, marrying General Ren, so that Egypt would have a new king, and in this way, Ptolemy XIII would become the queen's "ex-husband" and could be crushed by the Seris.But the queen shook her head, but this matter, she did not talk about it, although General Ren ate the sugar coating, but returned the cannonball, obviously not planning to take any responsibility."
Extorted gold?"
It is difficult for Apollodorus not to think that Egypt was rich, but it had long since weakened, and fought six Syrian wars with Seleucus, which eventually exhausted its national strength, and was instead taken advantage of by the Romans.From Ptolemy XII onwards, Cyprus, the last overseas territory, was also taken away by Rome, and Egypt was overwhelmed by the large tribute it had to pay."
Neither."
The queen's eyes sparkled, and she was extremely satisfied with the deal: "General Ren's conditions are extremely beneficial to Egypt, and you can't imagine it!"
”The conditions were negotiated on the bed, and Ren Hong's demands were simple: first, he recognized the queen as the only pharaoh in Egypt, and the queen should try her best to win over the chief of Nome and the priests who held real power in Upper and Lower Egypt, provide food, clothing, and livestock for the Han army, and ensure a smooth march to Alexandria.Second, after the capture of Alexandria, the queen must pack the hundreds of thousands of volumes in the Great Library and the Erudite Library, along with the Greek scholars who lectured and researched in the library, to the Han army!
Then provide ships and let the Han army transport them all.In addition, 100 glassmakers and 100 stonemasons were to be handed over.Third, from now on, the tax on Han ships from India will be halved, and free food will be provided for sailors stranded in Egypt.Fourth, the queen should send an envoy to the Han Emperor to be a vassal and receive the Han seal.The seals of the Han Dynasty to the surrounding tributary states are regular: the Dongyi snake button, the Western Regions camel button, the Xiqiang sheep button, the Xiongnu horse button, and some small states in India that have recently been newly proclaimed under the persecution of Ren Hong in the past ten years, have received their favorite cattle buttons.Thinking more openly, the country of Egypt can be the whole Sphinx.Thousands of years later, when Egypt is archaeological, it may be possible to dig up the "seal of the pharaoh of Han Egypt".The more they listened, the more surprised they became, and they also felt that this condition was very favorable to Egypt, because not everyone loved books and knew the importance of knowledge and scholars as Aristotle and Ptolemy I did.And the queen listened to Ren Hong say that the tribute with the Han was rewarded, which was many times better than the greed and tyranny of the Romans.The Romans had been riding on Egypt for a long time, and ten years earlier there was a mutiny in Alexandria, and the queen's father, Ptolemy XII the Piper, had to take her aboard a warship and flee to Rome for help.The Piper borrowed money from Rome and agreed to any exaggerated terms, scraped together 10,000 tarrants, hired a powerful Roman legion, and finally recaptured Alexandria and regained his throne.and ordered the brutal execution of the rebellious daughter Belenician IV, the sister of the Queen, to end her reign.She remembered that her sister was stripped naked, beheaded naked in public, and her head was carried by her father on a tray and taken to the palace banquet for public display, and it was also passed in front of her!
Cleopatra vomited on the spot, and if she failed and was captured by her brother, this would probably be her fate.Although Egypt was recaptured, Ptolemy XII owed Rome a large debt, and the Romans sent a mercenary army to collect the debt in Alexandria, and every year they brought a large amount of grain from Egypt to feed the legions of the Roman generals, and when they died, they even more confusedly said that they would "give the country to Rome".And when her brother first succeeded to the throne, he was blackmailed by Rome and forced to give a large amount of gold and grain, just in exchange for a "friend of the Roman people and the Roman Senate".Egypt was already a Roman protectorate, and it would not be worse with the introduction of the Cyris."
Now Pompey and Caesar are also at war, the intervention of the Seris, the silk trade that can be very profitable, and even have the opportunity to give Egypt the opportunity to become independent from Rome, and the Ptolemaic royal family will be glorified again!"
It was the Queen's dream, a treaty she had earned in exchange for her groveling and ketones, but nothing more than a few old and useless books to the Serisians, a bunch of scholars who ate their rice and babbled, and lowly craftsmen, and vain names of vassals.I thought that General Ren was going to make some harsh demands on her with all kinds of blows, and that's it?
That's it?
Cleopatra felt that she had taken advantage of it last night!
Thinking back to the events of last night, the queen breathed a sigh of relief, lay down at the table a little tiredly, looked at the patterns of intimacy between men and women on Greek pottery, reached out and gently stroked her lips, and whispered a word to the gentle and generous General Ren."
Thank you!"
And the next day, when Ren Hong met the queen again, he gave her a gift.It was a beautifully crafted bamboo instrument, fingertip-to-elbow long, resembling her father's favorite flute, and was nicknamed "The Piper" for its expertise.However, General Ren said that this thing is not blown horizontally, but vertically.Cleopatra understood: "Much like the Avros tube." ”But the Greeks' Afros Pipe, which had two pieces of wind music, was often used for Dionysian hymns and theatrical accompaniments, but it had only one piece."
It's called Shaw."
Ren Hong brought this instrument to his lips and tried it, and there was a beautiful sound between the fingertips pressing, but it was a song of Li Yannian's beautiful woman in the north.Looking at the city and then the country, it is indeed very suitable for Cleopatra in history.He taught the queen by hand, and gave her the oriental instrument as a gift from last night, saying that Cleopatra would definitely be good at it."
Isn't your father known as the Piper?"
General Ren had bad intentions and said with a smile: "Maybe after the queen is perfected, she will be crowned with the title of Cleopatra VII the." ”Although the queen is experienced, she is still too young to understand this stalk, and after receiving Dong Xiao, she raised her head and said: "No, I hope that my future title is Isis!"
”Almost every monarch of Ptolemy had the nickname, I as the "Savior".And Isis, one of the nine pillared gods in Egyptian mythology, ruled over life, magic, marriage, and fertility, and was regarded as the model of the perfect woman and the symbol of the Nile.The Queen's desire to revive the dynasty is on full display, and she believes that she is a newborn Isis, as alive as the Nile!
Next, in the temple of Ptah, in front of the statue of the sacred cow of Apis, a sacred blessing ceremony was held, and the priests of Ptah unanimously supported the queen as the only female pharaoh of Egypt, like Nefertiti of the Eighteenth Dynasty!
With the food and men ready and the soldiers rested, it was time to leave Memphis and march to Alexandria, where the northern delta meets the sea.The queen, hoping for revenge, put her brother's head in a tray, while General Ren Hong went to get his spoils.On the eve of departure, the queen didn't care whether the old Ren Hong could eat or not, slipped into his room again, buried her head in the futon, and couldn't help but come out afterwards and asked: "Now I and the general, what are they?"
”The marriage she envisioned, the Egyptian female pharaoh marrying the king of India, was a failure, and General Ren was unwilling to stay in Egypt, and sooner or later he would leave, maybe never to see him again, so he and her, are they lovers who take what they need?
The two have no feelings, but Cleopatra knows that she has to pretend to be infatuated, like a little girl in love, which will make the old man opposite feel extremely satisfied and proud.He thought she was his, no, she was human!
The queen was so convinced that she would try to make General Ren fall in love with her, so that she could gain more control in this alliance.Cleopatra pretended to be sad and pronounced the word "mistress" in Egyptian and Greek, wondering what the Han called this relationship.In this regard, she is really thirsty for knowledge.Ren Hong fell into thought, their relationship, adulterer?
After making the mistakes that men will make, Ren Hong is a little weak now, and it is cool to raise a junior to steal food, but this matter is not easy to explain when you go home, it hurts to fall down and hit your face.Wait, there seems to be a historian in the army!
It's still damn Yang Yun to come in, if he is like Sima Qian, remember some things that he didn't go up to, but because of the monsoon, if the matter in Egypt can't be concluded before the end of autumn, they will not be able to return until at least March next year, counting the days, eleven months, maybe they have children.The boat is naturally straight to the bridge, and it is naturally straight.Ren Hong comforted himself like this, but he didn't forget to take advantage of it, and smiled at Cleopatra: "In Dahan, you and I have this kind of relationship, the queen can call me" "Righteous godfather!"
”