The distance from Athens to Smyrna is 300 kilometers, but the fleet led by Mussos sailed for a total of ten days, and the sail-powered ships are still not fast enough.

Later generations this place was called Izmir, belonging to Turkey, that is, descendants of the Turkic people, later generations here is completely oriental-style architecture, not at all like what is in front of you, very similar to the kind of white houses in Athens everywhere. It can be seen from the ship that there are different statues of gods standing in many places, perhaps left over from the ancient Greek period, but unfortunately this kind of statue has been completely lost in later generations, and it is estimated that years of war have long burned all this in front of you.

Lao Luo is not an archaeologist or a philosopher, but he likes beautiful things with the same psychology as everyone else, and he can't help but feel helpless when he thinks that the exquisite is replaced by the vulgar and the civilization is conquered by barbarism. This has nothing to do with his national position, nor does it have anything to do with wars between friend and foe, but only a regret for wasting resources and manpower.

The port of Smyrna was very busy, with porters, caravans on and off ships, cargo piled up on the docks, and men soliciting business everywhere. Lao Luo's group, most of them are strong men with big shoulders and round waists, but there are also guys from hotels or commercial houses who come up, Lao Luo didn't expect Zhang Lu to be a person with eyebrows, but he and Max Oude quickly chose a suitable hotel, accommodating more than 100 people in their line without any problem.

Although the two also had the experience of facing the Holy See together, the relationship did not get closer, but always maintained a simple relationship between the passenger and the owner. So even if it's the last goodbye that can't be seen again, it's not sad or anything.

The city in front of me is still part of the territory of the Byzantine Empire, but it is not so peaceful, according to which it is not far from the border with the Abbasid kingdom, although the Abbasid kingdom has been declining over the years, but it is also because of the Babylonian Caliph's lack of control over the place, the Abbasid territory near this side is always in dispute.

According to passers-by, in recent years, the Fatimid Kingdom has expanded, and a border province has been attacked by Fatima, which is probably the dispute between Hamdan and Fatima mentioned by Li Ji. These battles inevitably affected Byzantium as a neighboring country, and the first to bear the brunt of it was the city of Smyrna, where Lao Luo had now arrived.

The local Ionians were a branch of the Greeks, who were more craftsmen, farmers or merchants, and had few warriors, so they relied more on others to protect themselves. At present, the chaos in the east has a great impact on the city, many civilians or merchants fleeing the scourge of war have fled to this city, and there are also adventurers who hope to make a fortune through the war come here to find opportunities.

Alhesion was interested in the busy city in front of him, but only in the city's architecture, with its many Greek temples still standing on the ground, where Christianity was still weak. However, this is only a port city, but there are no scholarly texts that he is most concerned about, and it is impossible for Lao Luo to reveal the information he received from Constantinople, so it is obvious that this land is still under the jurisdiction of the Byzantine Empire is not a suitable place.

However, the first thing to consider at the moment is not this, Lao Luo looked at the busy crowd, and the battle slaves were all helping to carry the goods unloaded from the ship. There are a lot of people around him, Li Zhan and Zhang Lu are also there, "Uncle Longping, are you familiar with doing business?" ”

"There's no problem, San Lang, you think?" Zhang Lu is not false, everyone walks the same way, there is really nothing to hide.

"Well, in this way, I don't plan to stay in this city for too long, the way to the east is still very long." Lao Luo looked at the other party who nodded, and then said: "We bring too much olive oil, and some wine, these things will be very inconvenient on the road, Uncle Longping, you take someone to find a buyer to sell these goods, okay?" ”

"It's a simple thing, but, Saburo, these are good olive oils, and if you take them a little further, for example, to Maitropol, you can sell them for a better price." Zhang Lu said with some seriousness.

"Maitropol? Where is that? Lao Luo was a little curious, he never remembered such a place.

"It's Anker, the easternmost stronghold of the Western Qin, where they built a castle and another name called Maitropol, where there was a big market. It's very prosperous, we used to pass by there when we came from the east. "When Zhang Lu is talking about, of course, we mean Li Zhan, Li Ji, and these people.

"Well, I understand, but there's no need, Uncle Longping, we're not really businessmen, just keep the goods you bring at a loss." When Lao Luo heard that the easternmost stronghold of the Western Qin people was the so-called Maitropol, he knew that the so-called Maitropol was Ankara in later generations, the capital of Turkey.

"Okay, I'll take care of that." Zhang Lu is a cheerful person, not to mention that there is nothing difficult about this matter.

"Also, Uncle Longping, you are familiar with the needs of the east, and if there are any things in demand in the market, you might as well use the funds from the sale of goods to buy them back, or barter them can also be made." Lao Luo plans to hand over the matter of disguising the merchant on the road to Zhang Lu in the future, although these trivial matters are not particularly important, but they need a delicate person to take care of them, and it seems that only Zhang Lu is the most suitable person at present.

"It's rare that San Lang trusts me, so I will take care of this matter, and I promise to do it neatly for you." Dozens of barrels of olive oil and wine are a lot of goods, you must know that it is a barrel of nearly 300 liters, and it is not a small income to sell them all, such trust makes Zhang Lu a little surprised, fortunately he is also a person who has the courage to take responsibility, not to mention the understanding of this time, he also knows that Lao Luo is a person who does not say anything.

"However, Uncle Longping, it's very chaotic here, no more than in Athens, Pei Hong (Zhang Lu's original attendant) can't protect your safety," Lao Luo said to Olki, who was always following him: "Olki, call the laid-off Sass to come over." ”

"Yes, boss!" The quiet-spoken Olki is a Visigothic, and although he looks as big as other gladiator-born guys, he has a sophisticated temperament, and his best characteristic is that he is loyal to his duties and never compromises his confession to Lao Luo, which is similar to that of the Norman Siedeknord.

Shaoqing, the broad-shouldered, broad-minded and fierce-looking Gonzas came over, followed by Alke, who was in charge of collecting intelligence information, and the head Gonzas asked in his loud voice: "Boss, you called me?" ”

"Gonzas, arrange a team to follow and protect Uncle Longping, we need to start to strengthen our vigilance when we get here," Lao Luo is very relieved about this Gonzas, this guy was originally a professional warrior from the Thracians, good at using a variety of cold weapons, and is also a good trainer of soldiers, although I have not seen him fight, but his usual performance is very satisfactory to Lao Luo.

"Understood, I'll arrange it." Gonzhas turned around in a hurry.

Lao Luo happened to look at Alker who came over, Alke is a Visigoth, his figure is relatively thin, with a long face with sharp bones, he and several other Visigoths like to paint black around their eyes, "Alke, you came just in time, find two guys with clever tongues, and also follow Uncle Longping, by the way, to find the latest business information." ”

"Yes, boss," Alke replied, then looked at Lao Luo with some hesitation and asked, "Boss, do you want to find out about the surrounding situation?" Especially the eastern ones? ”

"Well, you can arrange this," Lao Luo is very happy that Alke took the initiative to consider things, it is a good thing to have someone take the initiative to share the worries, which shows that the personnel are in their hearts, and he can also save some effort to use it on other things, "The intelligence side is handed over to you to be responsible, I don't care what you do, as long as you ensure that the information is comprehensive and there are no errors, of course, the premise is to ensure the safety of our people." ”

"Understood, boss." A month and a half is enough for Alke to understand what kind of person the master in front of him is - strong and does not use brute force, wisdom and does not play tricks, and what he needs in front of him is to keep his own people safe as the premise, indicating that the master cares about the lives of his own people, and of course he is a good master without sacrificing in vain.

Li Ji has always followed Lao Luo from the time she was on the boat, and at this time she couldn't help asking, "Third brother, what should I do?" ”

"You," Lao Luo looked at her somewhat haggard little face, "You can help sort out the room here, take a good rest, although you are not tired on the ship, but you haven't eaten and slept well all the way, and you will go to take a shower and arrange to get some fresh food after you are busy." By the way, don't forget to give Hua Biao a bath too, this little guy's hair is gray. ”

Li Ji smiled and looked at Hua Biao at his feet, this little guy has grown up a lot, more and more like a little leopard, weighing thirty pounds, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a serval, "Okay, this task is handed over to me." ”

Lao Luo was amused by Li Jiao's love for Hua Biao, probably because the two had something in common, Li Jiao was a fire girl, and Hua Biao was not a docile kitten, and there was always a lot of fun every time the two were together.

Not to mention the people who went down to work, Lao Luo watched Stan command everyone to sort and place the goods properly, and greeted him casually: "Stan, let the others be busy, you and I go out to see the horses and camels, we need mounts." ”

"Okay, boss, I'll be right away." Hunky Stan is the strongest of them all, including the two-meter-tall Ro, who stands in the crowd like a camel standing in the middle of a herd of horses.

Naga, who was originally next to Lao Luo, has been learning various tactics from Gonzhas recently, but Mnachi has followed Stan, so Stan handed over the arrangement of goods to Mnaqi, and Max Ode followed the coordination, so he didn't worry about any mistakes in these little things.