Looking from a distance on Li Ke's boat, I saw a sea of people on the dock, and almost all the people in Constantinople who heard the news came, stretching their necks one by one to look at the sea. And in this sea of people, in the direction of Li Ke's bow, there was a group of people standing there, surrounded by soldiers, separating the other civilians, obviously the nobles of the city.

And in front of these large number of nobles was a small group of people wearing purple ornate robes. Li Ke listened to Coris's introduction and knew that purple was the exclusive color of the Eastern Roman royal family, and at the front of this group of people, there was a man and a woman, among whom the man was wearing a crown, holding a scepter in his right hand, and holding a treasure ball symbolizing the earth in his left hand, his young face was full of majesty, he should be Constans II.

And the woman next to her is also very young, with delicate facial features and fair skin, long brown hair draped over her shoulders, and a reserved smile on her face, luxurious and polite, you don't have to guess to know that this beautiful Roman woman should be Queen Irina of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Just when Li Ke looked at the people on the dock, the people on the dock were also looking at their fleet from afar, but most of them did not notice Li Ke on the warship, but focused on the four warships in front, although the Eastern Romans have always been proud of their navy, but it is the first time to see such a huge warship, especially the Roman warship leading the way in front of the comparison, it seems that Li Ke and the warship they are riding are tall and mighty.

"Such a huge warship, no wonder the Han people who came to our Rome said that although our navy is strong, it is compared to the navies of the Tang Dynasty and Daqi. But it's much worse, I didn't believe it at first. But when I saw the warships of the Han people today, I finally believe it now. "Irina next to Constans II stared at her beautiful eyes. Said with an expression of disbelief.

"That's not necessarily, there are many factors that affect the victory or defeat of the sea, it doesn't mean that the ship will definitely win, if you let your subordinates fight with the Han navy, you may not be sure to defeat them!" Hearing Irina's words, Forris, who was standing behind Constans II, spoke a little unconvinced.

Speaking of which, Foris is not a royal family, his title is only the Grand Duke, and he should stand among the courtiers outside the royal family. But because of his special relationship with Constans II, he is the closest person to Constans II after Empress Irina on any occasion.

"The Grand Duke is right, although the warships of my Roman navy are small, they are rowed by oars, and they are very agile in battle, and the bow can also spray Greek fire that cannot be extinguished, so as long as our warships rely on their flexibility to approach this huge warship. No matter how big it is, it will be burned to ashes! "Although Constans II was shocked by the size of the Han Chinese warships, he was also very confident in his navy, and on such occasions. He can't say in any way that his navy is inferior to others.

Except for the three of Constans II, almost all the nobles and commoners around were discussing the four warships brought by Li Ke. Instead, he neglected Li Ke on the warship until the warship slowly approached. Constans II and the others came to their senses and immediately stepped forward to prepare to meet Li Ke.

"Li Ke, King of Wu of the Tang Dynasty. Meet His Majesty the Emperor of Rome! Li Ke saw Constans II personally come forward to greet him, and immediately walked off the ship quickly, and then bowed and saluted.

Originally, according to Roman law, foreign envoys also needed to kneel when they met the Roman emperor, but this law only applies to those countries that are weak, and countries like the Tang Dynasty, which are several times stronger than Rome, are naturally not among them, not to mention that Li Ke is still the prince of the Tang Dynasty, and in terms of status, he is not under Constans II, so when they meet for the first time, Li Ke only needs to do ordinary etiquette.

At this time, Ciro also walked down and was responsible for translating for Constans II, and Constans II was also very excited after hearing this, stepped forward to personally help Li Ke up, and then said: "Your Royal Highness King Wu doesn't have to be polite, your arrival makes the entire city of Constantine feel full of brilliance!" ”

One is the Roman emperor, the other is the prince of the Tang Dynasty, the meeting between the two is obviously of great significance, coupled with the alliance between Rome and the Tang Dynasty, so this meeting seems very pleasant, although there are some language barriers, but because of the two people of Ciro and Coris as translators, it is also very pleasant to communicate.

After all the ships behind had docked, Li Ke was warmly welcomed by the residents of Constantinople, and then entered the Holy Palace. In the La Maniol Palace in the Holy Palace, Constans II first greeted Li Shimin behind Li Ke, and then chatted a few words about the relationship between the two countries and the recent developments of Da Shi, and finally changed the conversation and asked about the purpose of Li Ke's trip.

And Li Ke did not hide it, he told Constans II very generously that he was originally going to the Americas, but he happened to meet Lüvan and their fleets to explore the route, so he ventured across the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to Rome. In addition, Li Ke also expressed the hope that Constans II could provide some convenience for their fleet, so that the fleet could complete maintenance and supply as soon as possible, and also hoped that the other party could provide a guide so that their fleet could pass through the Mediterranean Sea safely.

After listening to Li Ke's words, Constans II frowned imperceptibly, originally he thought that the other party was a special envoy sent by the Tang Emperor, but he didn't expect that the other party was just passing by, so this made him a little disappointed. However, the queen Irina next to him looked at Li Ke with great admiration, because she really didn't expect that this noble prince of the Tang Dynasty would risk his life to explore the sea.

However, Constans II reacted quickly, because no matter what the purpose of Li Ke's trip was, the key was that he had come to Constantinople, and the political significance contained in it was extremely significant, which was enough for Constans II.

Thinking of this, Constans II showed a sincere smile again and said: "So that's the case, although His Royal Highness the prince can rest assured, I will order someone to prepare everything that your fleet needs in the shortest possible time, but Your Highness has finally come to Rome, so don't leave in a hurry, I believe that many nobles in the court are waiting to feast on Your Highness, and then you can also appreciate the customs of our Rome." ”

After listening to Xiluo's translation, Li Ke also replied with a laugh: "Your Majesty is so gracious, how can Li Ke refuse?" What's more, before I came to Rome, I already planned to appreciate the customs of Rome. ”

After talking about business, Li Ke and Constans II began to talk about some digressions, among which Constans II was very interested in the customs of the Tang Dynasty, he had learned some through Ciro before, but it was not comprehensive, and now there is Li Ke, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, Constans II will naturally not let go of this opportunity, so he asked him a lot of customs in the Central Plains, and Li Ke also took the opportunity to learn some about the Eastern Roman Empire.

The morning conversation passed quickly, and in the afternoon, Constans II held a grand banquet in the Holy Palace to welcome Li Ke and his entourage.

Li Ke attended the banquet of the Romans for the first time, and for this reason, he also specially asked Chrysy for some precautions. Speaking of the Romans, the class concept is very strong, and even the banquet is divided into grades, such as this banquet, Constans II and his wife and some princes and dukes are the first, they will bring their wives to the banquet, and only responsible for entertaining Li Ke, Lu Wan, Wang Fangyi and Cen Changqian The four main figures, the others are entertained by the corresponding nobles in another palace.

The venue of the banquet is in the Daphna Palace, which is also the place where Constans II lived, which highlights the high standard of this banquet, because the status of Roman women is higher, so the Roman nobles who participated in the banquet came with female companions, most of them were their wives, and some men brought their daughters to participate, and all of them were young noble women, it is estimated that they were also very interested in Li Ke, the heroic prince of the Tang Dynasty, so they wanted to get close to each other at the banquet.

This is a more formal banquet, so Li Ke is wearing a gorgeous and cumbersome royal dress, originally when he left Taiwan, he did not bring his own royal clothes, but later decided to come to Rome, you need to use the royal clothes, and this kind of royal clothes is very complicated, not a moment and a half can be done, in the end, in desperation, I had to borrow a set from Li Zhen, the two of them are about the same figure, there is no problem in wearing them.

Because she could bring a female companion, and Coris was also Li Ke's translator, this little slave girl also put on the gorgeous palace dress of a Han woman, held Li Ke's arm, and came to the banquet hall with him nervously. Behind them, there were three single Lu Wan, who wanted to bring female companions, but the entire fleet was full of men except for Chris, and they had just arrived in Constantinople today, and they had not come to know the local noble women at all, so they could only come alone.

After Li Ke and the others entered, the entire banquet hall was closed and no one was allowed to enter or leave, and the couple of Constans II and the nobles attending the banquet had already arrived in advance. In the hall there are a dozen large marble tables with white tablecloths, and next to the tables, there are three beds, where men can recline on their beds to eat, but women and children can only sit and eat.

It's not that the Romans discriminated against children and women, but that they thought that eating while lying down was more demanding on the stomach, and that the children's stomach was weaker and therefore could not afford this relaxed way of eating.

Seeing Li Ke come in, the nobles sitting there got up to greet him, and Ciro helped introduce himself, but for the name of the Roman, Li Ke couldn't remember it at all, fortunately, the little slave girl next to her was very smart, as long as Ciro introduced it, she could remember, which saved Li Ke a lot of trouble.

At this moment, Constans II greeted Li Ke and said, "Your Royal Highness King Wu, please sit on my right, the banquet is about to begin!" (To be continued......)