The oil lamp on the desk emitted a bright light, which Zhao Xingde bought at the market in Diodosi's Square, it is said to be produced in the old Lumei period, the side is delicately patterned, there is an oil hole on the lamp plate, and the lamp plate is a scene of two gladiators fighting, one is wearing a helmet decorated with this feather, holding a shield in his left hand, and a short sword in his right hand, is attacking his opponent, while the other is holding a fishing net and a harpoon, and is spreading the fishing net in an attempt to cover the sword and shield gladiator.

Lu Mei's wealth was increasingly concentrated in the hands of the nobles in the city, and many people relied on helpers and alms to live, which greatly eroded Lu Mei's national strength. Whenever foreign enemies invade, the sons of the nobles' daughters are unable to sit down, break their families for the country, and sacrifice their lives to righteousness. And ordinary people cannot sacrifice their lives for the illusory honor of the empire. Except for a few people, everyone is just immersed in nostalgia for the glorious past, and they just get by. During this period of time, Zhao Xingde explored the cause of the decline of Lumei, and the collapse of the military system was the same as that of Middle Earth.

After the three drums, the sergeants had already fallen asleep, Zhao Xingde patrolled the sentry post, took out Chen Dong's letter, read it, muttered for a long time, and began to reply.

“...... I have heard the way of self-cultivation, the inner strong, the outer courage is self-evident. So it is with people, so it is with the nation. Those who want to strengthen the country must first strengthen their people. He pondered for a moment, and then put pen to paper, "Mencius said, the people are the way, those who have constant production have perseverance, and those who do not have permanent production have no perseverance." I look at the anointed land of the Central Plains, and the people have lost half of their land, and the people have lost half of their perseverance. The weak are worried about seizing the tenants, and they are at the mercy of the gentry, just like selling themselves as slaves. The strong become thieves, and it is difficult to keep morality for their own gain. When Di Yi invaded, the weak were helpless, and the strong were waiting for the price to sell, thinking that today was just a change of proprietor's ear. This does not establish a field system, and it is not also harmful. If a drowning person is like a drowning person, the water reaches the chest and slowly reaches the neck, can he abandon it and let it drown? This remnant of the people and the government of the country is not taken by the saints. Yi said, Tianxingjian, a gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement. If you don't do anything, there is no hope of success. If so, there is a chance to redeem it. The world is the world of the people of the world. I think that the prosperity of China should start from the Litian system. The people's morale is vigorous, and foreign enemies cannot invade them. Now if we don't set up a field system, sit back and watch the people's morale, and hope that the country is stronger than the four yi, it is better to build a castle in the air......"

He wrote a thousand words in a flutter before he stretched out his stiff fingers, sighed, and put the letter in an envelope and marked it with beeswax. Tired and desperate to sleep, I blew out the oil lamp and went to bed. The three thick white folded clothes sent by Li Ruoxue were placed next to the pillow, and Zhao Xingde sniffed the unique smell of the new clothes, and fell asleep unconsciously.

The day after returning to Lumei City, most of the sergeants of Ming Hongdu, who had completed military affairs, took leave and left the camp. Jian Cheng and Chen Yongqi beckoned a group of sergeants to play in the large arena that could accommodate tens of thousands of people, where there were not only horse races and carriage races, but also Xiyi acrobatics and circus dances.

Du Fujiao took a dozen sergeants to visit the largest bazaar in the city near Theodosius Square, and he walked from the easternmost pot smith shop to the westernmost spice shop, and stopped for a long time in front of the gold and silver shop in the middle, but he was always greedy, looking more and buying less, and everyone laughed at him that he was about to hold back the gold coins of Lumei for a few sons. There are the best wine, meat, fish and shrimp, vegetables, fruits, honey, cheese and pastries in Lumei City, silk jewelry, leather glass, perfume and spices, etc., all day long is bustling with people, and the ears are full of bargaining sounds. If some rare things of Western specialties are brought back to Chang'an, the price will increase more than tenfold.

Zhao Xingde and Jin Changtai, Huang Zongdao and others together, first went to the north of the Agudus Square, in the area of Hagia Sophia and Constantine Square, the entrance of the Senate is the place where the dignitaries of the Lumei Kingdom give speeches, and many idlers wander around here, ready to cheer for the nobles. The recent national events in Lumei Country, whether true or not, can find some rumors here. The saying that "the Rus' are the most reliable and stable allies of Lumei" is very popular in this area. The news that the widowed Princess Anna is going to marry King Rus' is also discussed by many people in private. Some people are worried about the throne of His Royal Highness Prince John, while others think that this is not a bad thing for the country of Lumei. There are also many sighs such as "the noblest and delicate lady of the reed eyebrows will become the playthings of wild beasts". It seems that this ambitious princess still has many admirers among the nobles and the commoners of Lumei. Zhao Xingde didn't feel a little embarrassed.

After a general understanding of the topics of discussion outside the Senate, Zhao Xingde went to the library of Constantine as usual, and while consulting the classics and excerpting Lu Mei's information, he started to write the Cheng Wen presented to the General of Xia Guo's mansion. He felt that moral decay was particularly corrosive to Lumei, and that ordinary Lumei people lacked a sense of responsibility to the country, and that for the low-ranking nobles and common people, if the Great Eating Turks were paid high enough, they were likely to fight for their enemies. Even though the country's situation has improved slightly, the emperors and famous ministers of Lumei are often obsessed with the past glory of the empire and are obsessed with restoring the western homeland that originally belonged to Lumei. However, the so-called old land of these Lumei countries has long been lined with many countries, and the inhabitants no longer regard Lumei as their mother country at all. Lu Mei launched one campaign after another in vain, and finally exhausted the national strength, often after one or two generations of revival, quickly fell into civil strife, the surrounding barbarians invaded, and the country was weaker than before.

At this time, Zhao Xingde couldn't help but think of the Song Dynasty known to later generations, and sighed slightly, coming to this world, many things have changed.

Lu Mei is extremely nostalgic and attaches great importance to the Western homeland, which makes it not a threat to the Xia Kingdom. If the Xia State annexed Lu Mei, it would be a long time to shed blood to defend this targeted territory, and judging from the increasingly embarrassed finances of the Lu Mei court, it is likely that the benefits extracted in Lu Mei will not be able to offset the increased costs.

While contemplating and thinking, a figure came behind her, she stood behind Zhao Xingde, and said in a deep voice: "Do you think our country is hopeless?" Zhao Xingde looked back and saw that the big-eyed girl he had met here was staring at the information he had excerpted with an angry face. All of this information implies that although Lumei still has the reputation of a great empire, it is full of ills inside, and the momentum of weakness is difficult to return, and it only takes one or two major defeats to completely collapse.

Zhao Xingde was slightly stunned and explained: "I just think these things are somewhat similar to my hometown." ”

"Really? Aren't you from the Xia Kingdom? "The merchants of the Xia Kingdom not only control the largest silk and tea business, but also compete fiercely with the Rus' in the fur business, so most of the nobles of Lumei are no strangers to the clothing and face shape of the Xia people, but unfortunately, they are not devout believers, otherwise, they are better allies than the Rus. But the national power of the Xia Kingdom is rising like the sun, and compared with the Lumei of the rivers and rivers, there is really nothing in common, and it has nothing to do with the excerpts of Zhao Xingde.

"Although I am a sergeant of the Xia Kingdom," Zhao Xingde said stiffly, "but my hometown is further east, bordering the East China Sea. It is also an ancient country of civilization, and it is eyed by the surrounding barbarians. ”

"Really?" The girl was suspicious, "Are you a native of the Xia Kingdom stationed in the camp of the Praetorian Guard next to the Holy Palace?" ”

Zhao Xingde nodded affirmatively.

"I'm Natalia Brynius." The girl said in a low voice, secretly surprised when she saw that Zhao Xingde did not react. "Didn't he hear my name?" Natalia is Princess Anna's beloved daughter, who has just quarreled with her mother and came out to breathe. met this stranger who was scheming to study the government of the Lumei Kingdom, and was originally going to find him troublesome and angry, but who would have expected that this person was not only a Praetorian Guard, but also didn't know his identity. The bloodline of the purple-clothed nobleman is disdainful of concealing his identity, but if the other party is still confused after the name is announced, things will become interesting.