choke element

Chapter 1052 Baghdad (Part )
The Arabs’ architectural style favors tall and dense spires and huge, open domes. When the Han people look at their own city from afar, apart from the city walls on the horizon, there are at most a few towering pagodas. But Baghdad is different. Within the city walls, there are still layers of buildings that raise the sightline.

When everyone looked at the city, it was actually still a long distance away from the city, and when they got closer to the city, the road began to become winding and rugged.

Because there are large tracts of farmland, forests and gardens outside the city, which are maintained by a network of irrigation systems. The entire irrigation system consists of deep wells and multiple channels underground and on the ground, and relies on complex water-lifting facilities to fill the scattered pools on the high ground. Roads must bypass pools and channels, and in many places, flying bridges are used to cross the obstacles of pools.

There were also many checkpoints near these water conservancy facilities. The group either quickened their pace or urged their horses to walk for nearly an hour before they reached the deep moat outside the outer city. The weather was so hot that many people's faces, which had been wiped clean, were now covered with sand and dust. The interpreter who was supposed to be at the front of the team jumped into a pond to wash when passing by, but was left behind by the team.

Fortunately, there was no need for an interpreter here. A few days ago, someone had already passed the news of the arrival of the delegation to Baghdad. After the officials at each checkpoint confirmed that the visitors were from the East, they were very respectful. Not only did they not stop them, they also sent their men or led the team themselves.

By the time the soldiers guarding the city came up to inquire, there were already hundreds of people following the delegation, and they all rushed forward to introduce themselves to the soldiers.

The soldiers looked the members of the delegation up and down. Their captain shouted to his men to open the city gate as wide as possible, and said in surprise: "A delegation from China? Judging from their appearance, they look like the Chinese merchants in the city! You should quickly enter the city, cross the river along the main road, and go to the Eternal Palace in the east... There is a palace there specially for receiving distinguished guests!"

Yuan Haowen thanked him with a smile and led the team slowly into the city. The caravans on both sides of the road had already moved aside in advance to make way for them.

The road they were going to take was not the main road leading to the Golden Gate Palace in the center of Baghdad, but a side road that formed an arc along the outer city wall and extended from south to east. According to the instructions, at the end of the road, they could cross the river on the bridge and see the Eternal Palace.

Baghdad has been expanding since its establishment. About sixty years ago, foreign invaders invaded the city and the Golden Gate Palace changed hands in a blink of an eye. The caliph at that time led the army and civilians to retreat to the newly built Eternal Palace area on the east side of the city, on the other side of the Tigris River, and repelled the enemy through fierce battles, thus continuing the Abbasid Dynasty.

From then on, the caliph's residence had two locations, east and west. If we use the situation of the Great Zhou as an analogy, we can regard the Jinmen Palace in the center of the old city circle in the west as Daxing Prefecture, and the Yongheng Palace in the new city in the east as Tianjin Prefecture. Daxing Prefecture is certainly the capital of the country, but Tianjin Prefecture is the military, economic and circulation center of the Great Zhou, and it is also the place where the emperor actually issued orders.

The group crossed the bridge and arrived at the palace area, where they were greeted by a large number of officials dressed in luxurious brocade robes and smiling, and there were also quite a few eunuchs among them. Some of these eunuchs had pure white skin and deep blue eyes, while others were dark-skinned, just like the Kunlun slaves commonly seen in the Central Plains in recent years.

The eunuchs managed the palaces on behalf of the Caliph. They often scolded other officials but were very polite to the members of the delegation. They quickly led everyone to a palace built of white stone, bypassed the exquisite fountain outside the palace, and settled everyone down.

Just as everyone settled down and their luggage was not properly packed, a large number of maids came in. The maids all wore thin veils, so their faces could not be seen, but they were dressed lightly, revealing their snow-white slender waists and elastic bellies. Not to mention that their waists and hips twisted with their steps, which was extremely attractive, making several members of the delegation blush.

They carried plates inlaid with gold and silver and presented them to the members of the delegation. The plates were filled with a variety of foods.

Among the officials of the delegation, Shi Tianze was the most popular among the emperors at a young age and had always been a little detached. He had traveled a long way today and was a little hungry, so without waiting for Yuan Hao to ask him anything, he reached out and took one, feeling that it was soft and fluffy, and began to chew it.

"Delicious! This is deep-fried puff pastry coated with honey!"

The maid who was walking in front of them, carrying a tray, had a gorgeous jeweled belt around her waist. She was probably the head maid. The head maid smiled at him and whispered, "Zarabiye."

"Zarabi leaf? Is this thing called Zarabi leaf?"

Shi Tianze took another one in his hand and turned to look at the second plate. On this plate was a crescent-shaped food. It looked like soft tofu soaked in milk, with colorful candies, nuts, bananas and raisins on top. It was scooped up with a spoon and swayed, which was very cute.

Shi Tianze swallowed it in one gulp, and smelled the aroma of milk. It turned out that the base material was some kind of moist cheese. Then he looked at the head maid. The head maid pointed and said, "Huskananaji."

His interest piqued, so he took the head maid to taste the food one by one and asked the names of the food.

Although the interpreter was nowhere to be found, Shi Tianze had learned a lot of Arabic words during the journey of tens of thousands of miles and could barely hold a conversation. There were also some merchants in the delegation who knew some Arabic. The host and the guests were all happy. After half an hour, the desserts and water brought by the maids were all eaten and drunk. Another eunuch came over and said that there would be a banquet in the evening, so the members of the delegation were asked to rest at ease.

After the eunuchs and maids had left the palace, everyone began to assign specific residences and arrange the storage of gifts and goods. Amid the noise, several important officials in the delegation gathered together and discussed in low voices.

Shi Tianze came back and heard Yuan Haowen say in a deep voice: "Something is wrong."

"It's definitely not right." One person said, "We are here on behalf of the Celestial Empire, so how important is our status? Half a year ago, the Arabs confirmed that the vizier, whose status is second only to the caliph, would come out to greet us. Now we have arrived in Baghdad, but where is the vizier? Not only the vizier, but also the caliph's attendants or the sultan of high status, we haven't seen them. Come to think of it, since we entered the city, not a single official of sufficient weight has come out."

Another person also said: "This is not the first time that envoys from the two countries have exchanged. Four years ago, our sea merchants were commissioned by the court to carry the seal to Baghdad. At that time, they were placed outside the Kufa Gate in the south of the old city of Baghdad, close to the market where Han merchants gathered. After that, two more envoys arrived and were placed there. I heard that the embassy building was expanded on a large scale last year... Why were we led here?"

"If we want to go outside Kufa Gate, we have to take the southern main road, but in fact, we were led to take a small road. Now that I think about it, the merchants on that road acted too uniformly. Are they real merchants? Could it be that they are disguised to deceive us?"

"It's a pity that the interpreters are nowhere to be found, and I didn't have a chance to find out on the way..."

"The interpreter hasn't come back yet? This is even more wrong!"

Having said this, Shi Tianze left the crowd and walked towards the palace gate. There, dozens of eunuchs and maids were waiting, ready to help at any time. Shi Tianze talked and gestured with them, and after a while, he brought back a plate of dessert.

"They didn't allow us to go out, and just kept saying that whatever we needed would be provided."