​TIL in 550 AD the Byzantine Emperor dispatched two monks to smuggle silk worms out of China to bypass Persian control over the Silk Road. Hidden in the monks' walking sticks, the silk worms produced a Byzantine silk industry that fuelled the economy for the next 650 years.

公元550年,拜占庭皇帝派遣两名僧侣绕过波斯对丝绸之路的控制,从中国走私蚕虫。藏在僧侣手杖里的蚕,催生了拜占庭的丝绸工业,推动了后来650年的经济发展。