"Marco Polo!"

"Ma Boru?"

"Hahaha, my name is Ma Boru. I want to study and travel. I want to take the official position in the Tang Dynasty!"

"Do you like spicy food?" Ma Zhiyuan said: "Would you like to have a celebration banquet with me? Eat a new dish from Sichuan, the spicy rabbit head banquet."

"Have I eaten? I have eaten, but I am willing to go to the celebration banquet..."

~~

Thirty-three years after the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Taicang Port.

With a huge rumbling sound, a large merchant ship slowly docked on the shore.

Someone got off the boat.

Marco Polo immediately went up to him and said enthusiastically: "May I ask if it's Chief Engineer Zhu in person? I'm going to dismount Boru, I have long admired the name of Chief Engineer Zhu."

"What's the matter, Mr. Ma?"

"I traveled to the south of the Yangtze River and heard that Mr. Zhu is one of the most outstanding scholars of ancient times today. I came here specifically to visit him and gain more knowledge."

Someone came forward and introduced Zhu Shijie. He said, "Mr. Ma is a famous explorer in the world."

"Explorer?"

"That's what His Majesty calls him..."

After Zhu Shijie heard this, he raised his hands to Marco Polo and asked: "Mr. Ma is from Venice?"

"General Manager Zhu also knows my hometown."

"People from our trading company have been there, and there is a fixed route to the Mediterranean, which goes back and forth once a year..."

Marco Polo was shocked.

It should be noted that twenty years ago, when he first came to the Tang Dynasty, he waited for two months in Hormuz but did not encounter a ship coming from the East.

The journey that year took him four years.

"Mr. Ma? Mr. Ma?"

"What did Mr. Zhu say?"

"I just said that if we take our newly built Huihang, we can arrive in Venice in half a year if everything goes well. Mr. Ma, please let me know if you need it."

"No."

Marco Polo felt inexplicably afraid, took two steps back and said, "I won't leave."

He lost his composure, glanced at the Huihang moored at the harbor for the last time, held his hand to Zhu Shijie, and ran away in a hurry.

~~

The first year of Taihe, Beijing.

"Xuanyou Sanqi often serves as a servant, Boru, to come to the audience!"

With loud shouts, Marco Polo entered the palace and paid homage to the new emperor.

"Ma Qing is in peace."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"After all, I have known Ma Qing for thirty years. Time flies by and we are not forgiving."

"I have the honor to witness with my own eyes the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty for thirty years and the wisdom of two generations of emperors. I only wish that your majesty and the Supreme Emperor will live forever and that the Tang Dynasty will be strong and prosperous forever."

"With Ma Qing's auspicious words, I would like to send Ma Qing as an envoy to the Mediterranean to convey my edicts to Western countries and spread the culture and education of the Central Plains. You are willing to share my worries."

Marco Polo was stunned for a while and opened his mouth several times.

Finally, he bowed solemnly.

"My lord, I obey the order!"

~~

The ship cuts through the waves.

A bearded Tang Dynasty official was sitting in the cabin, holding a pen in his hand and writing something solemnly.

"It will be difficult for me to describe the great achievements of His Majesty the Emperor throughout my life, but I have decided to do my best to spread some of his deeds to the West."

"His Majesty's royal name is Li, and his royal title is Emperor. In our language, this word means the king of kings. He deserves this title."

"Because in terms of the people he rules, the vast territory, and the huge taxes, he has surpassed all the past and present monarchs in the world. Moreover, there has never been a monarch with as much authority as him and the absolute worship of the people under his rule.

"
Chapter completed!