The Mad Tycoon of Rome

Chapter 284:

The name Buyeo was familiar to him, even though it was not as close as Goguryeo or Baekje.

It had not been long since the problem with Sharons daffodil had erupted.

And now, a person from Buyeo had come here, which made Marcus feel a strange impression.

Bring that merchant to me. I want to see him myself.

Is he worthy of your direct attention, brother? He is just a merchant from a country that we dont even know where it is attached to

Its curious, isnt it? He came all the way here from a country that we dont even know where it is attached to. It would be only fair to reward him for his hardship.

As always, you are merciful, brother. Then I will bring a translator who can speak Han language with me.

Of course, there was not a single person who could speak Buyeo language here.

Marcus was curious whether he could communicate with Goguryeo or Buyeo people, but he thought it would be unlikely.

But the Buyeo merchant who came with the Han merchants must have been proficient in Han language.

There would be no problem if he used a translator as he did when he talked with the Han merchants.

With that judgment, Publius called a translator and ordered him to bring the Buyeo merchant to the audience hall.

Marcus deliberately finished his cup of coffee slowly and then got up and headed to the audience hall.

When he arrived, an oriental man in a white robe was kneeling in front of the throne with a nervous face.

Everything around him looked amazing to him.

He was overwhelmed by the radiance of the walls and floors decorated with gold and various jewels. He looked down at his colorless robe with dismay.

O great Shahanshah, the perpetual governor of Rome and the protector of Egypt, the master of Arabia, the living incarnation of Jupiter, bow before him!

The usher struck the floor with a golden staff.

The loud thud startled the Buyeo merchant and he quickly bowed his head.

It was a more tense moment than when he met the emperor of Han.

He did not know where Arabia was, but he had studied well about Rome and Egypt.

He also knew that Shahanshah meant king of kings.

He greeted him with an extreme respect as he had practiced before when he stood in front of the emperor.

Among the great kings, the greatest name. I thank you for giving me the honor of meeting the king of kings. My name is Hae Dae-seong.

Welcome to Rome.

Marcus looked down at the merchant who still had a bewildered face and greeted him back.

You look like you dont understand why I wanted to see you.

I am grateful that you took interest in me, Shahanshah.

As Marcus said, Hae Dae-seong had no idea why he singled him out among hundreds of people.

There must have been some reason why he picked him out and wanted to see him.

Considering his purpose of coming here, it would be good to get along with Shahanshah, but he was anxious because he did not know the reason.

In fact, Marcus had no special reason.

He just remembered as a Korean and called him because he was curious about Buyeo people.

But when he heard the merchants name, he became more curious.

Isnt Hae Dae-seong the surname of Buyeo royal family?

Hae Dae-seongs face turned pale at the unexpected question.

What? How do you

I know more than you think. Let me ask you again. Are you from Buyeo royal family? Who is the current king of Buyeo Kim Wan?

Yes, thats right. But I am not from the direct line. I am from a branch family

Hae Dae-seong felt his face flush.

He never imagined that the other party would know so much about them.

He had heard some rumors that Shahanshah of Rome was not human on his way here.

It was natural for them to say that he had divine blood as a royal family, so he did not pay much attention to those words.

But when he came here and faced him directly, he thought that maybe those words were not exaggerated.

Whether he was really a god or not aside, it seemed true that he had wisdom that reached heaven and knew everything.

So, even though you are from branch family, you are still a royal family. Why did you come all this way among merchants? I dont think your only purpose is to buy sugar in bulk.

The fame of Rome has reached heaven and even reached where I live.

Is that so? Tell me more specifically what kind of rumors are going around.

Its not very detailed rumors. But since a few years ago, envoys who traveled to and from Han brought some strange news. They said that if you go further west from Han, there is a country where all the wealth of the world is concentrated, and that it has technology that even Han cant match. These words are floating around like rumors.

Buyeo had always been a country that grew by quickly absorbing foreign cultures.

Buyeo had already adopted the bronze and pastoral culture of the Huns around the 3rd century BC, and later absorbed the iron and agricultural culture of the Han people.

Of course, agriculture was not very developed due to the climate difference, but their characteristic of being sensitive to external news was still the same.

Marcus took it as a positive sign that the rumors were spreading faster than his calculation.

After all, it was beneficial both in the short and long term for the power and influence of the Han dynasty to weaken.

What about the reaction of the Han army? Do they call it Hangunhyeon over there?

Did you know about their existence?

Hae Dae-seong felt not only surprise but also awe.

From Eastern Hu to Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, it was so far away that it could be said to be on the other side of the world.

From the perspective of ancient times, it was natural that they could not even recognize each other.

But the ruler who ruled over the entire western world knew everything about their situation, which was astonishing.

The four prefectures established by Han are under Hans control, so there is no change from before or now. But I think it would be difficult for them to control the surrounding small countries as smoothly as before.

That makes sense. The perception of people has a great impact on domination and obedience.

As you said. Even among our nobles, there are words that Han is not as great as we thought.

There was a huge difference between thinking that the neighboring country was the most powerful country and the center of the world, and recognizing it as just a slightly stronger country than themselves.

If history continued like this, Middle Kingdom ideology would have to be abandoned without further development.

The Han dynasty would continue to proclaim Middle Kingdom (China) within themselves, but it would be nothing but a firefly if no one responded from outside.

So you came here because you wanted to check if those rumors were exaggerated or not?

Thats not all. My top priority was to take as many precious goods from Rome as possible to my homeland. We used to get Roman goods through Han. But lately we couldnt get any

Oh, right. We reduced the amount of exports to Han, so they must be lacking for themselves.

Marcus understood why there were quite a lot of foreign merchants mixed in this merchant group.

Han had been sending tribute goods to their tributary countries as if they were generous, but when that stopped, they came here to get goods directly.

I understand your situation, but isnt Buyeo too far from our homeland? It took you years to get here, so it would be hard to trade regularly.

Isnt there any way we can do that?

Well Let me think about it for a while. But dont get your hopes up too high. The distance is too far even physically.

It would be possible if it was around Southeast Asia, where they could ship goods from India, but Manchuria was too far no matter how they thought about it.

It would be impossible even if they improved their ships to make ocean voyages possible.

They would need at least trains or steam engines on their ships to even consider it.

As of now, there was no way for Rome to trade directly with Buyeo by any means.

It would be possible if they went through several stages in between, but then the price would go up too much.

Of course, if Buyeo could afford the price, it would be fine, but Buyeo was only a confederation of kingdoms at best, and not very wealthy either.

It did not seem like they could match the value that Rome wanted.

But it would be a pity to just send them away like this

Considering the declining prestige of Han and the relations with neighboring countries, he thought he could come up with a plausible picture.

According to the original history, Former Han was already on its downhill and would soon perish.

Then it would go through Xin dynasty, the shortest unified dynasty in history, and flow into Later Han era, but there was no guarantee that it would go exactly the same way.

Especially Emperor Liu Shi of Han had more days left to live according to history, but he heard rumors that he was dying these days.

Maybe because of Marcuss deliberate scheme, he received too much stress and it had a bad effect on his health.

If Former Han collapsed within ten years like this, the situation in East Asia itself might change drastically.

Of course, from Romes perspective, it might just be watching fire across the river.

But if he considered a little more long-term future, Marcus needed to control the flow as he wanted.

Good. Lets start by dismantling Han army and Military Camp first. And then I can break up the rest slowly.

It was easy to shake a country that was already on its downhill, even if it was hard to do anything to a country that was enjoying its revival.

After finishing his calculation in his head, Marcus opened his mouth with a gentle voice to Hae Dae-seong who was restless with anxiety.

I thought about it from various angles, but Buyeo would have to pay a huge cost to trade with Rome.

I am prepared for that.

Buyeo cant trade by sea because of its location, so carts have to move by land, and then they will inevitably go through many middlemen. You will also have to set up several offices in each province of Han. No matter how I think about it, the tail will be bigger than the body.

Then is it impossible?

As Hae Dae-seongs shoulders were about to droop, Marcus threw a sweet bait.

But if you move as I want, it might not be impossible. I will send you goods with very generous and special conditions.

Hae Dae-seongs eyes, which were filled with gloom, sparkled with hope again.

He leaned forward without knowing and asked.

What is it? We will do whatever you ask if we can.

If Buyeo could get Roman goods, they would have tremendous influence on the surrounding countries.

They could accept anything as long as it was not too unreasonable.

And if he succeeded in this deal and returned, Hae Dae-seongs position in Buyeo would be much stronger.

Marcus did not open his mouth right away, but leisurely observed the reaction of the other party who was burning with eagerness.

And at that moment when Hae Dae-seongs impatience reached its peak, Marcus began to reveal his demands one by one.

End