Umar didn't answer him right away, and said coldly, "Just let me stand here and talk?" Is there such a hospitality as you? ”

Umar was deliberately so arrogant that he was angry at the Romans for framing and forcibly imprisoning Wang Huili and others; Second, he has no fear, knowing that he is not in danger.

Grand Duke Stefan held back his anger and ordered, "Give him a chair." ”

When Umar sat down, he crossed his legs, took out a letter from his sleeve, and said, "Here are the letters of your daughter and son-in-law, so look at them for yourself." ”

Grand Duke Stefan's butler took the letter and handed it to Grand Duke Stefan.

Grand Duke Stefan eagerly opened the letter, and immediately recognized the handwriting of his own daughter, and first looked at the inscription, and the signatures below were his daughter and son-in-law, and their handwriting was no problem. He hurriedly read on.

The letter said that because the Romans unreasonably forcibly detained Wang Huili and others, the daughter and son-in-law of Archduke Stefan, as well as thousands of Roman officers and soldiers and warships, were also seized by the navy of our Tang Empire.

The navy of the Tang Empire demanded that Archduke Stefan exchange hostages and release Wang Huili and others, and the navy of the Tang Empire would also release his daughter and son-in-law accordingly, as well as the dependents of high-ranking officers and some Roman officers and soldiers.

The daughters and sons-in-law of Grand Duke Stefan specially emphasized that they and the dependents of those high-ranking officers were treated preferentially, and hoped that Grand Duke Stefan would treat Wang Huili and others well.

So much for the contents of the letter, Grand Duke Stefan had a lot of questions, he looked at Umar and asked, "Are you ......?"

If you say too much, you will lose, and Umar understands this. He wouldn't tell Archduke Stefan more about the problem.

He directly interrupted Grand Duke Stefan and said, "Don't ask me other questions, I won't answer you." I just want you to answer in the affirmative, whether and when? ”

Knowing that his daughter and son-in-law, as well as the families of the senior officers, were in a better mood, Grand Duke Stefan said politely: "Please give me some time, I need to consult with the generals of the Admiralty." ”

He said to the butler, "Take care of this Tang Dynasty guest." ”

With that, he hurried out.

Archduke Stefan rode out of the mansion in a carriage, he had wanted to go to the Admiralty, but he felt that his sudden return to the Admiralty was too big, so he went to the house of an admiral, and asked his guards to inform the admiral, and also to meet the admiral's home.

Soon after, the high-ranking generals of the navy hurried in, and Grand Duke Stefan showed them letters from his daughter and son-in-law.

The admirals were shocked when they read the letter, which, although brief, revealed a lot of information.

For one, the daughters and sons-in-law of Grand Duke Stefan, as well as the dependents of high-ranking officers, fell into the hands of the Tang people, at least for the time being.

Second, the enemy was the Tang Dynasty, and they came for the detention of Wang Huili, a merchant of the Tang Dynasty, and others.

Third, it is said that the Tang Dynasty was thousands of miles away in the east, and they were able to come to Rome, which proved that they had strong seafaring capabilities, and were able to seize all two fleets of Rome, which also showed that they had strong naval combat capabilities.

Grand Duke Stefan asked, "What should be done about this matter?" ”

An admiral who had been detained from his family said, "Your Excellency, it is imperative that your daughter, son-in-law, and our family be exchanged. ”

"yes, yes, let's get people back first." The admirals said one after another.

Grand Duke Stefan nodded and said, "I agree the same way. In addition, what other questions are there to talk about? ”

An older admiral said: "Your Excellency, although I have not seen the true appearance of the Tang Dynasty navy, there is no doubt about the strength of the Tang Dynasty navy.

The two fleets of the powerful Roman Navy were either far superior to the Roman Navy, or they were very numerous.

Of the two possibilities, the former is more likely.

First, the navy of the Tang Dynasty was able to come to Rome from the far east, which could not be done without strong and advanced warships, and the navy of the Roman Empire was very advanced, but the ability to carry out the ocean was still insufficient, and it should not be comparable to the navy of the Tang Dynasty in this regard.

The navy of our Roman Empire is extremely powerful, and neither the Franks, nor the Persians, nor the Great Cannibals are any match for my Roman navy. Thousands of officers and men of the Roman Imperial Navy with rich combat experience and nearly 100 advanced warships were silently seized by the Tang Dynasty, and they could not run a single person or ship, which is enough to prove the advanced warships of the Tang Dynasty.

Second, the number of warships of the Tang Dynasty must not be large, otherwise, their logistical supply will not be able to bear the sea voyage thousands of miles away. ”

This person's judgment is generally accurate.

As the saying goes, the "century-old navy" can only be formed in the process of perennial inheritance to optimize the navy's management system and improve the quality of its talents.

The quality of the Roman naval commanders was extremely high, which was incomparable to the navy of the Tang Dynasty, and the navy of the Tang Dynasty was too short to be formed, and what they could rely on was the advanced warship construction technology brought by Li You.

Another admiral also agreed with him and said: "Yes, it is certain that the warships of the Tang Dynasty are advanced in weapons and sail at such a fast speed, which our army has never seen before, and their advanced warships are difficult to deal with, and our army is not sure that they can deal with such advanced warships of the Tang Dynasty."

The lowly suggestion is that our Roman Imperial Navy should not be hostile to these Tang Dynasty people from the east, and immediately negotiate with them and exchange hostages. ”

Grand Duke Stefan nodded and said: "What you said is very reasonable, these Tang Dynasty people have no grievances with our Roman navy, and the reason for the seizure of Tang Dynasty merchants is not caused by our Roman navy, and it can even be said that it is our Roman navy that protects them Tang Dynasty people." ”

"Yes, it was the people of the Constantinople City Hall who seized the Tang Dynasty merchants, they almost killed the Tang Dynasty merchants, and it was our navy that protected those Tang Dynasty merchants."

The admirals thought that the Tang people would not resent the Roman navy because of the affairs of the Tang merchants, but should be grateful to the Roman navy.

Thinking of this, the admirals all relaxed, thinking that the risk of exchanging hostages was very small.

Grand Duke Stefan sighed and said: "What I'm worried about now is not the safety of the hostages, but the question of how to keep it secret, the disappearance of thousands of officers and men of the Roman navy, nearly a hundred warships, especially in the battle, there will be a large number of casualties among the officers and men of the navy, how to explain these problems?"

Once the imperial court sends someone to investigate, there will be big trouble. ”