Faith is an eternal legacy, and the Shrine is a mountain that rises majestically on the plain of faith. Every shrine has a legend, and these legends are the collective unconscious of the ancestors, which is engraved with all the past and constructs the core of civilization.

If you want to destroy her country, you must go to its history, but if you want to destroy a race or nation, you must erase her shrine and destroy her faith. Conversely, whether a group is strong and resilient can be judged by whether their beliefs are pious and whether their shrines are alive.

Hasdruba knew this logic very well - Carthage was a branch of the Phoenicians, and the Phoenicians were a branch of the Semites. The Phoenicians first lived in Canaan (meaning the plain, i.e., later Israel) and called themselves Canaanites, but the Greeks gave Canaan another name: 'Phoenicia' (Phoenician', which means 'purple land' or 'land of the red people').

The Semites seem to have a unique gift for religion, and Judaism, Christianity, and *** religion are all products of the Semites. As a Carthaginian, Hasdruba inherited the characteristics of the Semites and had the curiosity of a merchant people, and he liked to explore foreign religions, hoping to learn the most important secrets of the foreign race from this exploration.

The Bifang and the Ghost Car were sailing on the Mediterranean Sea at this time. After leaving Timia Trion, the two galleons, escorted by the Carthaginian five-pulp warship, passed through the Dachracles Pillar, which was more than thirty miles wide, and entered the western Mediterranean. The Carthaginians did not go directly to the city of Carthage, but first to Iberia, and accompanied by Hamilcar Baka's son-in-law and Hannibal Baka's brother-in-law, Hasdruba, the fleet went to Carthage.

Hasdruba is a beautiful man even by Eastern standards. He has a bushy beard, a handsome appearance, and an amiable smile. Although the words of the two sides are different, there is still nothing to talk about between him and Wu Gouchang. In the afternoon of that day, the two talked about each other's religions and shrines.

The most important carthaginian shrines were the god Baal Harmon and the god Tannit, the wife of the god Baal Hamon. This goddess has a not-so-good hobby, which is that she likes to eat babies. The Carthaginians sacrificed babies to the god Tennet every year, but only for the children of the nobility, especially the most noble, and only the noble-born babies could please the god Tennet.

It is not surprising that the sacrifice of living people is not long, and most of the sacrifices of merchants during the Yin Shang period were living people. Among these sacrificed living people were the Qiang people, the ghost people, the Chu people, and the Yin people's own nobles, who voluntarily sacrificed.

"The Chu people have Taiyi and Taishui; There are big orders, young orders, and of course, there are also disasters. There are gods of spring, summer, autumn and winter, as well as gods of sun, moon, clouds and thunder...... "The shrine of the Chu people can be said to be three days and three nights, but the state of Chu has no purpose of missionary work, and does not want others to know their religion, so there is no hook and only point. Instead, he said, "I have heard that the Greeks had twelve gods, the most exalted being Zeus, and the second being his wife Hera, who did not know the residence ......of the gods of your country."

The translator is a Persian, and the known world is the Hellenistic world, and the Persians in this world are only second-class peoples. The problem of no hook was actually in the Black Greeks, so he translated with euphoria.

"It was the Greeks who stole our god's house." Sure enough, Hasdruba said. "They constructed their own gods according to our gods, such as Zeus and Hera. Whatever we have, the Greeks also have, and they just change their Greek names, and they will be punished by the true God. ”

Hasdruba also wanted to say that the Romans were the same, but the Omgono was an alien with an unclear position, and he could not rashly accuse the Romans of what was going on, so he had to give up.

Hasdruba's words made Wugou feel that he was a pious man, and he asked carefully, "Carthage believes in God, I don't know what kind of taboo it is to go to Carthage?" If so, please let us know. ”

Carthaginian warships had to sail along the coast – it is said that the Roman generals in the last war did not heed the advice of their captains and insisted on crossing the Mediterranean, so they were almost all sunk in a storm. The Bi Fang and the Ghost Car that traveled with them could only sail along the coast with them, and they could not hang full sails.

"There are no taboos," Hasdruba said, looking at the Wugou long, perhaps having had a good conversation along the way, and after hesitation, he solemnly advised, "don't tell the Senate that you are going to Rome." ”

"Why?" Rome was the country that the fleet had to go to, and if it weren't for the fact that the Dakhlacules Pillar was controlled by the Carthaginians inside and out, Wu Gu might have gone to Rome first, and then to Carthage. "Your kingdom is at war with the Romans."

"It's better not to tell." Hasdruba admonished again, without explaining why.

Wu Gou had to keep this in mind, but he didn't think it was important. I didn't come to the Mediterranean to explore, and I will definitely come back when I return. The width of the Dakhlacules pillar is only a short little more than thirty li, and it does not exceed thirty-four li. Such a short distance, combined with the endless Carthaginian cities inside and outside the stone pillars, made it impossible to cross the strait without alarming the Carthaginians.

The Carthaginians were merchants and were themselves merchants, and a series of conflicts inevitably arose between merchants and merchants. The right thing to do should be to form an alliance with the Romans. Once allied with the Romans, Chu merchant ships were free to pass through the Carthaginian-controlled pillars of Dakhlacles. The Romans, on the other hand, did not have many merchant ships and did not pay attention to commerce, and there was little conflict of interest in forming alliances with them.

This is what the chief thinks at this time, he can not take the initiative to say that he will go to Rome, nor take the initiative to say that he will also do business in the Mediterranean in the future, but if the Carthaginians ask, he will not deliberately hide it. Because there was no need to hide it, two years later, when the merchant ships of the Chu State passed through the stone pillars of Dahercules, they couldn't hide it if they wanted to, so they simply told it bluntly to see the reaction of the Carthaginians.

According to Hasdruba, Carthage had more than 300 cities on the Libyan coast, and these cities numbered about 700,000. The largest city was the city of Carthage, which was about 80 miles around and was home to more than 700,000 people.

This number makes Wu Gou Chang naturally think of Xianyang, the most populous city in the world is Xianyang, but Xianyang is only 120,000 households, that is, 600,000 people, it is difficult for him to imagine how the city of 80 miles lives more than 700,000 people? But when he saw the city of Carthage through the mirror, the answer became clear.

The city of Carthage is built on a peninsula stretching from the mainland to the west, with a high headland to the north and a gentle slope to the south, and the walls of the city about six feet high can be seen in the dense olive groves, as well as the temple at the highest point of the city and some houses below the temple. Unlike the city, which was mostly one-story in East Asia, some of the houses in Carthage were as high as six stories, which may be why the city was only 80 miles in circumference and could accommodate 700,000 people.

To the north of the city is the commercial port of Carthage, which is filled with Mediterranean-style merchant ships. However, it is clear that the Carthaginians did not let the Bifang and the Ghost Car dock at this port, and under the guidance of the Wupul warship, the sailing ship slowly sailed through this commercial port, sailed over the high headland, and sailed to a harbor south of the headland, where there were already people standing on the pier to greet them.

The king of the world's easternest kingdom sent his envoys in search of the Dachracles Pillars, a process that took two years and took 150,000 Platforms to pass through India, Seleucus, and the vast southern continent. When he was still in the Iliban Peninsula, the story spread like wings throughout the Carthaginian Senate.

About 300 years ago, a Carthaginian navigator of Hanno led a fleet out of the Dakhlacles Pillar and fearlessly sailed south, sailing only to Liberia - the whole of Africa was like a small pistol with the muzzle down and the butt facing west, the Arabian Peninsula was the hammer of the gun, South Africa was the muzzle, Nigeria (the Gulf of Guinea) was the trigger, Liberia was the front of the butt, and the Dakhlacles Pillar was the rear of the butt.

- that is, the front part of the butt of the pistol, which was frightened back by the sound of flutes, gongs, and fires on the island. Even so, Hanno is still revered as a hero of Carthage. Now, the envoys of the Eastern Kingdom, which had bypassed the entire southern continent and connected Seleucus to India, had arrived in the city of Carthage, where the king and all the senators awaited their arrival.

"Their ship really didn't have oarsmen...... "The half-hung sails of the Bi Fang and the ghost car followed one after the other, and slowly entered the harbor with the Carthaginian warship. On the high walls stood one of the patriarchs of Carthage. They were not greeted at the pier, but mostly stood on the walls and watched. After all, merchants, the senators were very interested in sailing ships that did not use oarsmen. This will save those indispensable paddling slaves, who need a fortune to raise.

"They came from the south continent to the east, where there were countless frankincense and myrrh...... "Someone else said. Spices were the most valuable commodity, but because of their geography, it was very difficult for Carthage to obtain Arabic frankincense and Somali myrrh, especially now that the Egyptians occupied Canaan and Syria.

"How did their king know about Hannibal?" The senators discussed issues that had been discussed countless times, and King Sephax Margo said as he looked at Hamilcar Baca in front of him.

Like the Spartans, Carthage had a senate of thirty men, including two kings and twenty-eight senators. As a king, Siphax Margo cared not only for commerce, but for the all-knowing king of the most eastern kingdoms.

"Hannibal was going to be dedicated to God, maybe they heard his name." Hamilka explained, "I don't think it's important, it's their weapons and armor that matters. The people of Timia Trion said that their swords were so sharp that perhaps Seleucus II's weapons came from them. ”