What an incredible thing! Persia, with a million troops, was defeated by an expeditionary force with less than 50,000 men even counting the handymen!?

It seems like...... Seem...... Maybe...... Isn't it incomprehensible, didn't the former Shang Dynasty also have millions of soldiers, and then was destroyed by tens of thousands of people surnamed Zhou Guoji?

Oh! That's because the elite regular army of the Shang Dynasty either fought the Dongyi people in the east or the Li people in the south, and the surname Zhou Guoji also bribed many princes of the Shang Dynasty, and then created public opinion almost didn't fight hard to make the king of Zhou have a mental breakdown, and then self-immolated in the city tower.

"Public opinion? Yes, public opinion is quite important, and Alexander, of course, did not give up on leading public opinion. Sherrianto was already walking on the streets of Nanton County, he was almost dazzled by the prosperity in front of him, and while looking at all the strange things curiously, he responded to Huang Ye's question: "Any public opinion must have a certain basis of truth, and it is precisely Kodoman (actually called Atashata) who is a promiscuous person. ”

"Those who have attained the Tao have much help, and those who have lost the Tao have little help." Huang Ye nodded: "It's not difficult to understand. ”

Xuelianto didn't seem to understand, and was stunned to guess most of the meaning, and explained: "Actually, Persia didn't collapse from the beginning, it was because Kodoman was ...... in Minor, where is Minor?" Let me think. ”

Asia Minor, or Western Armenia, is a peninsula in southwestern Asia. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Armenian Plateau to the east. It is mainly composed of the Anatolian plateau and the low mountains of western Turkey. It is 1,000 kilometers long from east to west, about 600 kilometers wide from north to south, and covers an area of 525,000 square kilometers. On the southern edge are the Taurus Mountains, on the northern edge are the Krolu Mountains and the Eastern Kadeniz Mountains (the two mountains are collectively known as the Ponting Mountains), and on the eastern side are the Armenian Plateau. It forms a topographic feature that is surrounded by mountains on three sides, open on one side, and gradually decreases from east to west.

To put it simply. In fact, it is the vast majority of the modern Turkish peninsula. There are quite a lot of stories here, such as the Trojan War in 1200 BC for a half-old lady on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Really, can it not be a half-Xu old lady? Helen was in her thirties when she was brought to Troy, and the Greek army led by Agamemnon and Achilles attacked Troy led by Paris and Hector for ten years, and Helen should have been in her forties.

Thenceforth. The mighty Persian Darius the Great, Alexander the Great of Macedon, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Empire ruled the magical land of Asia Minor. It has been built by countless empires, and has experienced the violent collision of different cultures of the East and the West.

"Incredible!" Li Qi, a young man, once again seemed to be shocked: "Wage war for a woman, and fight for ten years??? ”

"Hehe, maybe yes at first, but then ......" Sherianto was actually quite curious about the woman named Helen, but he still made another assertion: "Actually, Troy is located on the main transportation route, the business is developed, the economy is prosperous, and the people there live a prosperous life. So the kings of Asia formed an alliance and elected Agamemnon as their commander. They have long coveted the richest regions of the Mediterranean coast. Determined to take it for himself, he used Helen as an excuse to start a war, which was the real purpose of the Trojan War. ”

Huang Ye didn't understand the strange name very well, but he grasped a key, that is, the war was not for women as imagined, but should be for obtaining rich land.

"Is that place called Asia Minor rich?" One of the soldiers in charge of surveillance was half curious and half salivating: "How far is it from the Western Regions?" ”

Most of the slaves looked at each other, and they understood the name of Asia Minor from the pronunciation, and some of them looked at Sherianto angrily after looking at each other. Others are with obvious schadenfreude.

Asia Minor has always been a relatively rich land, both in the past and now. The geography was destined for a bit, with a thriving coastline trade and trade linking the Mediterranean and Asia, all of which combined to make the land seem rich.

There are not a few countries that exist in that land at present, they are Pergamum, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus.

Pergamum, known as the ancient kingdom of Anatolia in later generations, was actually a Greek city-state about 26 kilometers from the Aegean Sea. The country existed after Alexander the Great's crusades. The Mediterranean region entered the so-called Hellenistic era, and Pergamon became a kingdom ruled by independent princes after the Diadochi Wars. Under the rule of the Atalus dynasty (282 BC ~ 129 BC), Pergamon became a fairly powerful state for a time.

Bithynia exists as a highly autonomous region, bordered by the Propontes, Thrace, Bosphorus and Black Seas (formerly known as the Euxin Sea). Located in northwestern Anatolia, it was first inhabited by warlike Thracians. Later, Alexander the Great went on his crusades to the east, and the majority of the local population was gradually replaced by Greeks.

Galatia is an ancient kingdom that has existed for a long time, inhabited by a group of Celts who migrated from nowhere, and then the country was weakened by the repeated invasions of Pergamum and Ponticus, and was encroached upon by Cappadocia from the south, and was actually half-dead.

Pontus, the name is the highest Greek description of the Black Sea, that is, Pontos-Euxeinos, which is actually a pleasant sea. First it was a Greek colony, then as an autonomous city-state, until Pontus began to find himself powerful and formed a kingdom. And the establishment of a kingdom after a strong state is generally a characteristic of the Greek mentality.

The two men who looked at Shelianto angrily, one of them was from Pergamum, the other from Bithynia. These two people already knew the strength of the Eastern Empire, and even more knew that this Eastern Empire was expanding at a high speed.

A rapidly expanding empire is the most frightening and frightening, because such a country must be full of lust for land and wealth~ longing, as long as you know that the first thought of a rich land is definitely an invasion.

Asia Minor was now in a very complicated phase, with the powerful Pergamum constantly provoking the Seleucid Empire, and the alliance of Aetolian Alliance, the rival of Atalus I and Philip V of Pergamum. Strangely, Philip V decided to ally with the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal and join forces against Rome, and became involved in the Second Punic War. Therefore. The Romans began to look for allies in Greece to contain Philip V, and in 211 BC Rome concluded an alliance with the Aetolian League, which allowed the powers of the previous alliance with the Aetolian League to join, making the Kingdom of Pergamon one of the Roman allies.

It was the year 206 B.C., three years before Asia Minor had been at war, and it was Pergamum's Aetolian League that had united with the Romans. A war is being waged against Macedonia. However, the Romans and the Carthaginians were fighting in many directions, and in fact the Romans were a little tired of the war, and were secretly seeking to reconcile with Philip V, that is, the alliance of Pergamum's Aetolian League would soon be betrayed by the Romans.

In later generations, the Turkish Peninsula was in chaos, not only in Asia Minor, but in fact, because the Seleucid Empire was working hard, the later A~La~Bo Peninsula and even Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and other regions were in a state of war.

There were many factors that caused the chaos almost everywhere, some of which were already known on the Empire's side, and some of which were due to the fact that sources were blocked from the Parthian and Bactrian sides. However, as many slaves from the Mediterranean and Central Asia were resold to the Empire, many of the news that Parthia and Bactria did not want to pass through the mouths of the slaves was actually known to the Empire.

Huang Ye didn't know that, Li Qi didn't know either, and even the Emperor only recently learned the news, and the center was working out a plan for intervening in Central Asia, but only if more detailed and clear information was obtained. And for reliable information, the Empire can currently rely on the envoys that have been sent. But the envoys were still being caught up in the Western Regions.

Central Asia and Asia Minor, and even Euro-Rome and Africa. If it weren't for the lack of information, and the fact that many countries had no contact or communication due to geographical factors, the period from 215 BC to 206 BC that occurred could be regarded as a world war that took place BC. The reason why I would say this is relatively simple, and that is because of the countries known in the world. Almost two-thirds were drawn into the war.

In Europe, Africa, and Central Asia, almost all countries were at war, and the far east was the point in time when the Qin Empire collapsed, but the east was Lu Zhe's efforts to complete unification again in the past ten years.

After the unified empire, the current enemy is not too strong. The empire was engaged in the war of the steppes, and also sent a corps to gradually expand to the Western Regions, but in fact it did not go all out, and there was still room for another war.

The more they learned about the Eastern Empire, the more shocked and frightened the slaves from Central Asia or the Mediterranean became, and they could not imagine what would happen if the Eastern Empire intervened in Central Asia, or simply extended its hand to the Mediterranean.

"Bentley, you can't do that." A slave from Pergamum, he spoke very quickly: "You have always been a Greek, and you were once a nobleman, can't you imagine what it would be like for this large and powerful empire to join in?" ”

Yellow Leaf ...... It should be said that the soldiers, including Li Qi and the two soldiers who were watching, looked at the emotional slave strangely.

Bentrian, whose first name and Sherrianto's last name, looked at the Pergamon and said, "Do you think they don't know?" ”

The Pergamon froze and opened his mouth to say no more. He knew what Sherrianto's cooperative attitude was for, and in fact they were happy to be accepted by Sherrianto, and it would be a very good thing if Sherionto could become a member of the Empire, which would prove that they could too.

Huang Ye understood a little Greek, and he asked the Pergamnes, "I can see that you are afraid of the Empire's meddling in Asia Minor?" ”

The Pergamon smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency, Greece is in the midst of a civil war, the Romans obviously have bad intentions, and the Seleucid Empire will not let go of Pergamon who had had friction before. Parthia and Bactria were resisting the Seleucid Empire, and the Seleucid Empire was attacking Ptolemy in Egypt, how would Parthia and Bactria react if the Empire marched into Central Asia? ”

It sounds a bit winding, and Huang Ye didn't figure out what the situation was in so many countries.

In fact, there are not many people in the empire who can figure out what the situation of those countries are, because of the asymmetry of information, the empire also knows that Parthia and Bactria are allied against the Seleucid Empire, and other than that, a lot of information is relatively vague.

"As far as I know, the empire actually already has a large army heading towards Central Asia, isn't it?" Sherrianto was referring to Liu Bang's envoys, who said: "Once this military force has passed, Parthia and Bactria cannot ignore it. ”

"The Legations." Huang Ye corrected: "That's not a legion used for conquest, it's an envoy corps. ”

"An envoy corps with tens of thousands of warriors?" Sherrianto's face was full of weirdness: "I know this is a magical country, but this is beyond my thinking. ”

Yes, who in the world would consider a corps of more than 50,000 soldiers to be an envoy corps?

"There are only twelve thousand guards in the legations, and we are the sons of our Majesty who command them." Huang Ye explained very seriously: "The rest of the samurai, they are hired by the accompanying merchants, and they cannot be counted as the escort of the envoy group. ”

Is there a difference? Xue Lianto's expression was strange, but he obviously wouldn't be serious with Huang Ye on this issue. After recent contact, he has already figured out what kind of people Huang Ye and Li Qi are. Of course, he didn't understand what Confucianism was, but he knew that Confucianism was one of the many schools of thought in this empire. And it seems that he saw from a number of things that the situation of Confucianism in the empire was not very good, at least the soldiers and people of other schools of thought clearly did not like Confucianism.

If there was an additional choice, Xue Lianto was actually not so willing to engage with the ostracized Confucian members, after all, the other people's rejection of Huang Ye and Li Qi was too obvious, and he didn't want to be angry because of his contact with Huang Ye and Li Qi.

It's a pity that except for Huang Ye and Li Qi, who are Confucian disciples, who are willing to chat with the people who became slaves and try to understand the slaves' hometowns and cultures, the rest of the imperial people have no interest in understanding at all, and Xue Lianto can only put his hope on Huang Ye and Li Qi.

"If I work hard and cooperate ......" asked Sherionto, with a look of longing, "Will I be able to become a member of the Empire?" He then added: "It is to be a freedman, and to be able to be protected and participate in the duties of the Empire." ”

This time, Huang Ye and Li Qi looked at each other. (To be continued.) )