In the first year of Yongchang, after more than ten years of division and disputes within the Great Jin Dynasty, with the fall of a large number of heroes and Hulu, there are only the three major forces of Liaodong, Jiangzuo and Chenghan left. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In addition to the changes in the Great Jin, the past few years have also been a year of changes in the world situation.

First of all, in the West of the world, the contradiction between East and West Rome is becoming more and more acute. And with the expiration of the five-year peace agreement signed in 316, at the beginning of last year, Licinius and Constantine broke out again at war.

Of course, Liaodong's 'credit' is indispensable here, and it is Liaodong's unremitting support that allowed Licinius to come out of the shadow of defeat in the last war in the shortest possible time.

Trade with Liaodong made Eastern Rome a lot of money, and Licinius used a lot of money to buy a large number of ordnance from Liaodong.

Therefore, when the Roman Civil War broke out, unlike the defeat in history, Licinius had the upper hand in the early stages of the war.

However, although the military strength of Eastern Rome was very strong, Licinius lacked flexible political skills, which made Eastern Rome full of internal contradictions, and completely unable to use all its strength to serve the front line.

Therefore, more than half a year after the outbreak of the Great War, as most of the stored materials were gradually consumed, Eastern Rome gradually fell into disadvantage.

At the same time, with the decline of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and South Asia, three major powers were born on the ruins of the empire, namely Sassanid Persia, the Gupta Empire, and the Ganda Kingdom.

Among them, Sassanid Persia successively occupied a large area of territory in the western part of the Kushan Kingdom, such as Khorasan and Huathornzim, and successfully replaced the Kushan Empire as the hegemon in Central Asia and West Asia.

The Gupta Empire, which was born in South Asia, was originally only a small city-state, but in 320 AD, when Chandragupta I ascended the throne, the Gupta Empire began to prosper and flourish, successively entering the eastern and southern territories of the Kushan Empire, and gradually developed into a huge empire dominating the South Asian subcontinent.

Under the blows of the two great powers of the Gupta Empire and Sassanid Persia, the remnants of the Kushan Empire could only shrink in the north and central parts of the country to survive.

But even so, the ill-fated Kushan Empire still couldn't live in peace.

Because on the other side of the northern Fushui (now Amu Darya), there is a powerful nomadic force, the Bada Kingdom (White Xiongnu), which is also eyeing the remnants of the Kushan.

The northern Kuda people continued to attack the remnants of the Great Moon Clan's Kushan, and the Kushan Empire has been in ruins ever since. They could only flee to the homeland of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) to temporarily maintain their independence, but they were still constantly invaded by the Bada people.

Of the three fast-rising powers in Asia, only Persia occupies the middle of the Silk Road, and at the same time, Persia continues to expand its influence to the east, so it will pose the greatest threat to China in the future.

Fortunately, Sassanid Persia, like the Great Jin Dynasty, had a turbulent internal situation, and a civil strife had broken out eleven years earlier. Dissatisfied with the reign of Hormizd II, the Persian nobles colluded with foreign enemies to murder him.

After the death of Hormizd II, the thriving Sassanid Persia declined, and even the Arabs from the south began to take advantage of the opportunity to invade Persia. They ravaged and plundered cities in southern Persia, and at one point even attacked the Fars region, the birthplace of the Sassanid emperors.

Under external pressure, the Persian nobility put an end to their internal strife, but in order to prevent royal reprisals, they killed Hormizd II's eldest son, blinded his second son, and imprisoned his third son, and finally put Hormizd II's widow son Shapur II on the Sassanid throne.

The Persian aristocracy thought that by choosing a baby as emperor, they would be able to continue to control Persia, but they did not know that Shapur II had far more political and military talent than his father's and grandparents.

Shapur II was a rare king of this era, and compared with Constantine, Chandragupta I, and Wei Shuo, he was not inferior to other emperors in any other way, except for his young age.

While the Persian nobles continued to enjoy the luxurious life of the young Shapur II, the imprisoned Hormizd III fled to Rome, the Persian feud, in 312 AD, in an attempt to regain the Persian throne with the help of Roman power.

Unfortunately, when Hormizde III came to Rome, the Roman Empire was in the midst of civil strife, and the Eastern Emperor Licinius had no time to care about Persia, so that Hormizd III spent several years in Rome without accomplishing anything.

Just when Hormizd III was despairing of returning to Persia and intending to die in Byzantium, the presence of the Liaodong gave him and his followers a glimmer of hope.

"Arhan, are we really going to Seris? Do the Liaodong people have the strength to help me regain the throne of the Sassanid Kingdom? ”

In an ornate courtyard of the Byzantine city, a young man in a white robe was talking to a middle-aged man who was clearly not a Roman. I don't know what the middle-aged man said, the young man's face was full of hesitation.

"Third Prince, at present, Eastern Rome is fighting with Western Rome with all its might, and there is no way to support our return to the Sassanid Kingdom, so there is no point in waiting in Byzantium. Besides, Rome has a feud with the Sassanid Kingdom, and even if Licinius has the opportunity to support His Highness's return to Persia in the future, we will have to guard against the Romans. ”

Arhan's words darkened the young man's face, and since he had fled to Eastern Rome eight years earlier, the Eastern Emperor Licinius, who had treated him well, had never expressed his support for his return to Persia. This was because Licinius was threatened by Constantine and was powerless to support the restoration of Hormizd III.

The turning point came six years earlier, when the Eastern Emperor Licinius organized a massive fleet to the East in search of the fabled Land of Silk. Originally, many people did not have expectations for the voyage, but no one expected that this voyage would really find the country of silk in the East, and the Eastern Rome would establish trade relations with it.

Over the next few years, the northern governor of Seris, Wei Shuo, became a prominent figure in Eastern Rome. In word of mouth, Wei Shuo is described as an open-minded, wise, handsome, and courageous person. His heroic deeds were widely spread in Eastern Rome, and even Hormizd III heard a lot.

According to legend, Wei Shuo rose to prominence in a barren seaside city of Seris, and gradually became the most powerful local governor in Seris on his own. Not only did he control the largest fleet at sea in Seris, but he also had hundreds of thousands of brave and invincible cavalry under his command.

"Third prince, I heard that the territory of Liaodong is just adjacent to the Western Regions, and beyond the Western Regions and then to the west is Sassanid Persia.

"And in history, there is no conflict between Liaodong and our Persia, and there is no need to worry about the other party's conspiracy when cooperating with it. More importantly, Liaodong is located at the easternmost point of the overland Silk Road, and Persia is located in the middle of the Silk Road. ”

"In the future, even if Rome becomes strong by relying on the maritime Silk Road, Persia may not be much weaker than Rome with the land Silk Road, and this is the real reason why his subordinates tried their best to persuade His Highness to go to Liaodong."

Holmizd III bowed slightly, agreeing with Arkhand's proposal to use the Silk Road to prosper Persia.

In recent years, he has witnessed how silk, porcelain, and glass from the Seris swept across the Roman Empire, and it is said that even the Western Emperor Constantine had to bow his proud head and be forced to accept the terms of the Seris.

"But I have heard that Seris is in the same civil strife as the Romans, and that they have the strength to support my restoration? Won't you just talk and not practice like the Romans? Let me wait for time in vain? ”

Hormizd III was so heartbroken by the Romans that he really didn't want to be treated the same way after going to Liaodong.

Hearing this, Arhan fell silent, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, even if there is one in ten thousand hopes, we must fight for it, otherwise as time goes by, once Shapur II grows up, you will never have the opportunity to return to the Sassanid Kingdom." ”

Arkhand was right, Shapur II was no simple man, he was the founder of the first golden age of the Sassanid dynasty in history. It was under the rule of Shapur II that Sassanid Persia flourished, and the army began to conquer the east and west, and its power expanded to the west of the Green Mountains, becoming a veritable overlord in Central and West Asia.

Persuaded by his henchmen, Holmizde III sailed from Rome to the East in 322 AD. (To be continued.) )