The light-screen did not immediately return to Shu. Instead, it turned its gaze outward—far beyond mountains and rivers, beyond deserts and oceans.
[After the Chancellor stabilized Nanzhong, another historical episode deserves special mention.]
[According to the Book of Liang: In the fifth year of Sun Quan's Huangwu era (226 AD), a merchant from Da Qin—Rome—named Qin Lun arrived in Jiaozhi. The Governor of Jiaozhi, Wu Miao, sent him onward to meet Sun Quan. Sun Quan questioned him extensively about the customs, systems, and geography of his homeland, and Qin Lun answered in meticulous detail.]
The hall grew quiet.
Rome.
That name alone carried weight, even before the screen explained further.
[Ancient Rome's obsession with silk requires little elaboration. In surviving murals, Roman women are frequently depicted draped in silk garments. The fashion became so widespread that conservative factions in the Roman Senate issued explicit decrees forbidding men from wearing silk, claiming it weakened virtue and drained the treasury.]
[Pliny the Elder, a leading voice among these conservatives, once lamented: 'From the Han Empire to Rome, the price of silk increases more than a hundredfold!']
[He estimated that nearly half of Rome's annual coinage flowed eastward to purchase silk—amounting to as much as one hundred million sesterces each year.]
A collective intake of breath rippled through the side hall.
The light-screen obligingly translated the figure into clearer terms.
Gold. Mountains of gold. Enough to bury cities.
One hundred million sesterces—every year.
Mi Zhu's fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked. His voice trembled despite himself.
"A roll of fine silk worth two thousand coins… sold to Da Qin for the price of Shu Brocade?"
Two thousand becoming two hundred thousand.
He stopped there. He did not dare calculate the production cost. The profit alone was enough to make a seasoned merchant dizzy.
[A sesterce was a small Roman silver coin. One hundred sesterces equaled twenty-five denarii—or one aureus gold coin. And this figure only reflects coin outflow. To purchase silk, Romans also traded glassware, coral, topaz, amber, and precious oils.]
[Rome truly was the terminus of the Silk Road, single-handedly sustaining countless states along the route.]
Huang Yueying instinctively compared it to the most lucrative product she knew.
"A roll of Zhuge paper sells for one thousand coins. Materials cost one hundred fifty, labor one hundred eighty… profit a little over six hundred."
She stopped mid-sentence.
A profit of double was already extraordinary. A profit of a hundredfold defied arithmetic.
"The screen speaks truly," she murmured. "One trade route can feed several nations."
Liu Bei felt his chest tighten.
When he had once read of Emperor Wu sending armies to open the Southwest Road, he had quietly judged it reckless—too much blood, too much cost. Only now did he understand. If the Han had controlled even half of this profit, the empire's strength would have doubled overnight.
The generals calculated how many cavalry units that wealth could sustain.
The civil officials calculated how many provinces' worth of annual tax it represented.
For the first time, the ministers of Shu truly grasped the raw, almost frightening power of wealth.
Liu Bei's eyes burned.
"The top priority for Yizhou," he said firmly, "is to follow Kongming's example—establish the Silk Official!"
The light-screen continued.
[The timing of Qin Lun's arrival in 226 AD—the year after the Chancellor settled Nanzhong—is exceedingly subtle.]
[The Book of Liang is clear: Qin Lun was a merchant, not an envoy.]
[From Rome to Jiaozhou, Qin Lun most likely traveled by sea. He departed from the Red Sea, sailed around India, stopped at Ceylon—the 'Island of Gems'—then passed through the Strait of Malacca and north along the Indochinese coast to reach Jiaozhou.]
[This route was a wager with death. Why would a merchant risk nine deaths for one chance at life? There is only one answer: silk.]
[Only a hundredfold profit can make a man gamble against the ocean.]
Liu Bei measured the distance with his hand, eyes wide.
"Fifty or sixty thousand li… and only one chance in ten of surviving. This Qin Lun is no ordinary man."
[Qin Lun remained at Sun Quan's court for ten years before returning west, likely to open markets and stabilize the maritime route.]
[Why did he not visit Shu? One reason may be the low social status of merchants. Another is that the Chancellor had already thoroughly opened the Ancient Southwest Road, making Shu's position unassailable.]
Mi Zhu felt something stir fiercely in his chest. He stepped forward and bowed.
"I am willing to travel to Da Qin on my Lord's behalf."
The hall froze.
Liu Bei hesitated, unease written plainly on his face.
"Zizhong… this road is unimaginably dangerous. You have followed me for twenty years. If you were to perish at sea, how could I face the ancestors—or the underworld—alone?"
But Mi Zhu did not rise. His voice was steady.
"My Lord, I am your minister—but I am also a merchant. If there is a chance to lay a foundation for ten thousand generations, how can I turn away?"
"My writing is inferior to Gongyan and Jichang. My strategy is inferior to Kongming and Shiyuan. My martial skill is ten thousand times beneath Yunchang and Yide."
He pressed his forehead to the floor.
"My only talent lies in the way of commerce. I wish to follow the example of the Marquis of Bowang and open the path of the sea voyagers."
Liu Bei could not lift him. At last, he sighed.
"I know your heart, Zizhong. If a plan can be made without reckless risk, I will not bar your way."
The light-screen flickered again.
[One final matter must be mentioned: the only formal exchange between the Great Han and Rome.]
[In 97 AD, Gan Ying was ordered by Ban Chao to visit Da Qin. He was blocked by the Parthian Empire (Anxi).]
[The records state that the Parthians led him to the coast and told him: 'To reach Da Qin requires three months with a favorable wind—or two years if not. We must carry three years of provisions. The sea bewilders the mind; men become so homesick they leap into the waves to die.']
[Parthia fell in 224 AD, so we lack their records of this deception. Modern scholars believe Gan Ying reached the Persian Gulf. Rome lay only two thousand kilometers to the northwest.]
[They missed each other by a hair's breadth.]
Pang Tong spat in disgust.
"The future calls the Marquis of Bowang's path the Silk Road. The Parthians sat upon it, bleeding every caravan dry. A nation with no faith! Of course they feared direct contact between Han and Rome—where would they stand then?"
Kongming frowned slightly.
"Even if Gan Ying saw through the lies… the Parthians might have chosen darker methods."
Pang Tong sighed, irritation plain.
"A pity they fell so soon. I would have liked to punish them myself."
The light-screen continued, unhurried.
[While the Han's attempt ended in deception, Rome also sought contact.]
[In 166 AD, envoys from the Roman ruler 'Antun' arrived by sea, bearing ivory and rhinoceros horn.]
[The Han accepted the tribute and recorded the exchange.]
[Yet contemporary officials scoffed: 'Is that all?' These were merely products of neighboring regions. Some suspected the envoys were impostors.]
[Modern scholarship suggests otherwise.]
[The timing coincides with the reign of the 'Five Good Emperors.' 'Antun' corresponds to 'Antoninus.' At the time, Parthia had attacked Rome's eastern protectorates, plunging the empire into total war.]
[Marcus Aurelius needed allies.]
[And the only power worthy of a Roman Emperor's attention… was the Han Empire.]
The hall fell silent once more.
Two great empires, separated by deserts and oceans—
Close enough to touch history,
Yet forever passing by, just out of reach.