The city of Smyrna was still expanding, many nearby Ionians moved here, and there were ethnic groups from the southeastern tribes who fled the war, and with the war of Basil II in Bulgaria, the city seemed to be more and more prosperous, and the Byzantine church organization was not so hard-line, so the local Greek primitive sect was not affected, but some of the temples that had been planned were suspended, and the temple of Atem, which had only one pillar left in later generations, was majestic and splendid at this time, more magnificent than the Parthenon in Athens.

Old Law and Stan led the group all the way through the city, passing by the Temple of Atme and then to the east, there are many exchanges of domestic animals or mounts, and of course, the product of the human market is also indispensable here. It's just that unlike cities like Cairo or Constantinople, the people here are more complicated, and the sources are uneven. ”

"I don't have to buy it anymore, I'm just looking at these almost unclothed slaves with some curiosity." Lao Luo looked left and right, but no, there were people coming and going in Nuoda City, and you could see that many of the slaves who were sold did not even have clothes, and even most of them were dirty, which was inferior to cattle and horses.

"Half of these sold slaves came from prisoners of war, and half were civilians captured by slave traders from all over the country." Olki spoke in a flat tone, but he couldn't hear any indignation or grievance, "Boss, I and the rest of us have walked through this place. ”

Lao Luo is not surprised, the group of gladiators is very complicated, even if the slave policy has been abolished in the East, but Lao Luo's memory of the chaos in the West has lasted for a long time, there is no stable political system, the feudal system can not be fully implemented, this slavery system will continue for nearly a thousand years. Lao Luo thought for a moment and casually asked Alki, "So what do you think of fate?" Even now, do you want to go back to your family? ”

Olki scratched his head, "Fate? You mean the goddess of fate? No, we are no different from the Thracians, we have more respect and faith in Kratos, the god of war. As for the family, the war has been fought for many years, and our family members have basically died in the war, or they can't find it. ”

As soon as Lao Luo heard Alki's opening words, he knew that he had asked the wrong question, many people in this era still believed in gods, and the word fate had not yet become a special word in its own right.

As for the goddess of fate, Olki refers to the three goddesses of fate of the ancient Greek gods, Croto, Lachesis, and Atropos. However, as a fighting race, the Thracians and the current Olki, the Bulgarians believe in the god of war, at this time there are three gods of war in mythological stories, Ares (Roman name Mars), Kratos and the female god of war Athena, among several characters known as the god of war, Kratos is the closest to the civilian class, rather than relying on blood to win respect, so it is the most respected among the Thracians, Spartans and even the Bulgarians in front of them.

"No, I'm not talking about gods, I'm talking about the trajectory of people's lives," Lao Luo couldn't use the word fate, so he had to change to a more detailed description, "After the war, the family was separated, and he was relegated to slavery, do you think it's unfair?" ”

"Why? Boss? Olki asked with some incomprehension, but then, perhaps thinking that his question was impolite, he continued: "I think this is God's tribulation of our lives, and the suffering is punished for my mistakes, and now we are lucky to meet someone like the boss." You see, that's how they see it. ”

Lao Luo couldn't help but look at him a little speechlessly, and then looked at the few people who followed him, even Stan who didn't understand Greek, all had the same expression. After all, he thought to himself that it was not the era in later generations that experienced the edification of the idea of "man is born free", but this may be a good thing, a simple mentality can ensure the purity of the hearts of the people in his ranks, and the disadvantage may be that his enemies can also encourage those simple people.

Just don't talk about this question anymore, there is no way to explain many things clearly, and there is no standard concept of happiness itself. Lao Luo looked into the distance, pointed to the front right and said: "Okay, don't talk about this, the front is the cattle and horse market, everyone be careful, this time we have to choose a good horse for long-distance running, if the supply is enough, equip everyone with one." ”

"Uha......" Everyone was excited, and everyone could save a lot of energy by having a horse to walk, including guys who didn't ride well, and guys like Stan, who rarely found a suitable horse.

The area of the cattle and horse trading market is very large, and it is said that cattle and horses, but in fact, it refers to large four-hoofed animals that can be found here, not only horses and camels for riding, but also large domestic animals such as cattle and mules, and even wild animals such as rhinoceros brought here from Africa. Although the Byzantine Empire inherited some of the concepts of the sanitation system from the ancient Roman Empire, such places are unavoidable, and the smell of cow and horse feces can be smelled from afar.

Equally ubiquitous is the presence of patrolling Byzantine soldiers, dressed in half-length plate or chain mail, with pointed fur hats, small round shields in their hands, and scimitars somewhat resembling Arabic styles hanging from their waists. It seems that this place is not very peaceful, Lao Luo told himself in his heart, maybe it is because there are too many outsiders.

Alki and Stan are also on high alert, not trying to attack anyone, but just to get involved in an inexplicable dispute. Because there are many people from different places here, the Bedouins, who are dressed in Arab clothes and have tattoos on their faces, that is, the nomads of the eastern steppes, they are the wandering tribes of the steppes, and they do not like to obey the rules of others; There were also Normans from the north, who were stout and majestic, and equally unruly; There were also Turks from the far east, dressed in bearskin robes and with precious machetes straddled around their waists. Although they all came here for trading, these guys are typical of unruliness, and it is estimated that the local security management will have a headache.

Lao Luo's group is also tall and powerful, especially Stan, a Nordic man, who is a head taller than most of the people around, with armor all over his body and six axes pinned to his waist, how do he look more like robbers than professional guards. Fortunately, Lao Luo wore a robe similar to the style of a Byzantine nobleman this time, his hair was also tidied and tied into a ponytail at the back of his head, his beard was also neatly trimmed, plus well-made boots, and he also carried three or four gemstone rings on his hand, looking like a luxurious rich merchant, so he was not surrounded by guards and questioned in detail.

Of course, there is definitely the necessary attention, and Lao Luo noticed no less than ten vigilant eyes on the way from the hotel. But there was nothing to worry about, he didn't want to stay in the city for long, and after buying the mount, everyone would drive all the way east.

Lao Luo, who had long been mentally prepared, led everyone all the way, while checking the supply of each ** horse and camel as if no one was around, and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the horses with his subordinates, but unfortunately there was only one Alki around Lao Luo who barely understood a little common sense, and the other gladiator-born guys were basically step generals, as for Stan, the same is true, it's not that he doesn't want to ride a horse, it's really that he is too tall, the average horse's shoulder height is only one meter six at most, and he is estimated to be as ridiculous as riding a donkey.

Lao Luo pondered in his heart, it seems that he has no choice but to let Stan act as a camel soldier, and suddenly he turned the corner and saw several tall figures in the horse farm in the distance, his heart moved, and hurriedly beckoned everyone to hurry up, so he went straight to the tall figures first.

This site is run by several Normans, surrounded by high wooden fences, and there are more than a dozen warmbloods on the periphery, depending on the type of Arabian horse and northern thoroughbred horse mixed horse breed, the appearance is very similar to the later Trekena horse, that is, commonly known as the Prussian horse, the horse's calves are white hair, and the upper body is black or brown or yellow.

Passing through this field, Lao Luo led everyone straight to the tall figure he saw just now, and before he could wait for the tall guys, a few Normans came over next to him, and the clothes should be the owner of the horse here, and he greeted from afar: "The guest has taken a fancy to our horses?" ”

"That's right, look at these tall guys." Lao Luo dealt with it casually, and continued to walk forward, and the people behind him naturally followed.

When he walked in to look, Lao Luo found that these tall guys were really pitiful in appearance, tall and thin skeletons were very large, but obviously the owner of the horse didn't care much about them, one by one they were listless, their bodies were skinny, and their fur was still stained with indescribable dirt. Lao Luo couldn't help but feel a little annoyed in his heart, and directly asked the Normans who came with him, "How did these people get like this?" ”

"Guest, do you have a crush on these horses?" The Norman who spoke was a slender face of almost 1.8 meters, and he was not badly dressed, but it was estimated that he couldn't pay attention to it in this horse farm, and his leather robe was full of dust.

"That's right, how did you get this horse?" Lao Luo's eyebrows were furrowed very tightly, and the few horses in front of him, if he was not mistaken, should be heavy horses like the British Shire Horse in later generations, which is very suitable for heavy cavalry, and the adult Shire horse may even be more than two meters tall at the shoulder, weigh more than a ton, and with heavy armor, this kind of guy can be compared to a tank on the battlefield.

"Guest, are you going to ride a horse?" The slender face was obviously a shrewd guy to speak, and he carefully looked at what Lao Luo and his entourage were wearing. However, he obviously felt that Lao Luo's Soma level was not very good, "These guys don't look tall, but they can only be horses, and the sprint speed is not fast, so they can't be horse-riding." ”

"Hmm," Lao Luo suddenly calmed down, could it be that there was no talk of heavy cavalry in Europe at this time? Or are these guys not yet aware of the value of these guys in front of them? Thinking of this, Lao Luo's face smiled slightly, and he pointed to a few tall horses in front of him, "Well, look at me, I'm just curious, you're the owner of the horse, right?" Tell me about the big guys. ”