Felix has been living in vertigo for the past few days.

When he knew that 600 of the 800 camels in Xiao Qu's sick team were carrying silver ingots, the whole person was a little shocked. When he followed this Tang army to the east, from Talas all the way to the east, passing through Kulan City to Broken Leaves, and then marching eastward for thousands of miles out of the Broken Leaf River to the vicinity of Gongyue City on the banks of the Ili River to catch up with the large army in front, he was completely stunned.

Tens of thousands of camels are endless, according to the Anxi army, more than 3,000 of them are carrying gold and dirham coins minted by the great cannibals, and more than 1,000 are carrying all kinds of precious stones, pearls, jade, seses, etc. The rest, such as spices, carpets, etc., are innumerable, these are the trophies of the Tang army's expedition to Hezhong and Khorasan.

Wealth drives people crazy, and Felix feels like he's going crazy. Because when he knew that these 5,000 camels were carrying gold, silver, coins and jewels, he subconsciously had the crazy idea of killing all these Tang people twice and snatching all these gold, silver and jewels.

But his intellect told him very clearly that this was impossible, not to mention that he only had a mission of more than thirty people now, even if he had an army of 100,000 now, he would not be able to do it.

Because it was 10,000 Tang troops who escorted this batch of treasures, each soldier exuded a fierce spirit of a hundred battles. Despite the fact that these people seem to be lazy and laughing and scolding most of the time, Felix knows that once there is a policeman, these hundred tigers will tear the enemy to pieces.

Not long ago, with more than 20,000 troops, they defeated a large food army of more than 100,000 and nearly 200,000. The big food prisoners in the team who were shivering with cold are proof of this.

In addition to these veterans of a hundred battles, there is another person who makes him even more fearful. It was Xiao Quai, who he once regarded as a student literati, a young man who looked like he was not yet twenty years old, and he didn't know what his origin was, but he seemed to know everything.

He knew the origins of Rome, the twin brother who was raised by a she-wolf, Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra, and Augustus Octavian, the founding emperor of Rome. He also knows a lot about the Byzantine Empire, knows about Constantine the Great, knows about the famous Byzantine general Belisarius, and knows that Byzantium and Sassanid Persia have been fighting for hundreds of years, and now they are fighting against the black-clothed food and the northern barbarians.

These are not nothing, he even knows many famous battles, such as Hannibal's Crescent Formation, such as Belisarius's use of cavalry, and explains various formations and tactics very well. is such a person, only twenty years old this year, he is already a high-ranking nobleman in the Tang Dynasty, and he will definitely be favored by the emperor when he returns to Chang'an this time. Felix believed that as long as he was in Datang for a day, Byzantium would never be able to be an enemy of Datang, even if he defeated the black-clothed Dashi this time and recovered a large amount of territory.

This Tang Marquis named Xiao Qubing had unparalleled prestige among the soldiers and other generals, and all the soldiers respected him like a god. Every time he set up camp for dinner, a large number of soldiers surrounded him and listened to him tell stories and tell history.

Now he is talking about how the Western Roman Empire fell: "...... Ever since Marcus Aurelius allowed the Germanic people to settle on the borders of the empire in order to alleviate the pressure on the empire, this laid the groundwork for future barbarian invasions...... Because Severus relied on force to rebel and become emperor, his rule was particularly dependent on the army. He expanded the Roman army to an unprecedented size, most of them barbarians, and did everything he could to entrap the army, pay the army high salaries, and reward the army without sparing......

In this way, the Roman Empire slowly came under the control of the border armies, and these feudal towns continued to kill emperors and install new emperors. In addition, the Roman aristocracy was extremely extravagant in the later period, squandering recklessly, and trying every means to loot the common people, and the politics were very dark. On the other hand, in their north, more and more barbarians arose. It is very ridiculous that the vast majority of the soldiers of the army used to defend the empire on the border are these barbarian mercenaries.

If you think about it, it's like a wealthy manor house, coveted by a gang of insatiable, bloodthirsty and brutal robbers, who are constantly harassing and attacking. The owner of the village changed several guards and the commander of the guards could not solve the problem, and at this time, someone came up with a way to recruit those robbers as guards. On the one hand, divide this gang of robbers, and on the other hand, use the robbers of Zhao'an to fight the robbers who do not accept Zhao'an, and the result is really good.

So this man was appointed as the head of the manor's guard, and was very much favored and trusted by the owner. On the other hand, the brothers and friends of these robbers who were recruited are still out there as robbers. And they are used to plundering, when they suddenly find out one day that as long as they want, they can rush into the village with their robber brothers outside, kill the owner of the village, and rob the money and women in the village. What do you think these robber-turned-guards will do? ”

"What else will you do, rush in and kill people, rob money and rob women! Isn't that clear? Li Ergou was the first to answer. He really couldn't think of a second answer to that question. Is Captain Xiao stupid? How could such an idiot question be asked!

Li Ergou's idea was agreed by everyone, and everyone nodded one after another. Li Sheng was very surprised, he didn't think that Xiao Quzhi would ask such an obvious question for no reason. Thinking of the way around, Xiao Qubing often came to talk to him, and he expressed his ambition no less than three times - to destroy the enemy and turn the tide. And Li Sheng faintly felt that what he meant was not the former, but the latter, turning the tide.

If it is peaceful today, Heqing Haiyan is in the prime of life, why does he always turn the tide upside down. Everyone said that he was a disciple of the Immortal Family, could it be that he or his master had foreshadowed it? But now the Tang Dynasty is prosperous, although the traitorous ministers in the court are in charge (Li Linfu killed Wang Zhonghe, Li Sheng was brought out by Wang Zhongsi), and the lives of ordinary people in some places have begun to become difficult, but they are still far from the building, right?

Li Sheng's mind suddenly flashed with inspiration, and he couldn't help but be secretly excited. Xiao Hou's secret prophecy will not be Lu Long, Hedong, and Fan Yangjiedu's envoy An Lushan. He felt that the analogy of this manor, the robber, and the commander of the guards, was exactly the same as An Lushan.

Didn't An Lushan also rely on division, co-optation, and recruiting Xi and Khitan in the north to stabilize the northeast border? And it is precisely because of this that he has been favored and relied on by His Majesty the Emperor. Thinking of this, Li Sheng's heart suddenly burst out, and he felt that a cold sweat was about to break out.

Xiao Quzhi continued: "But the owner of the village doesn't think so, the owner thinks that these robbers who were recruited used to live a life of food and clothing, but now he has given a stable and rich life, and this guard commander is kind to them, so he will not betray him; And if he promoted the commander from a small soldier to such a high position, and favored him so much, the commander of the guard would definitely not betray him, so Zhuangzi was safe. ”

Li Sheng had another sudden thought in his heart, isn't this His Majesty the Emperor?

Scout Brigade Marshal Zhang Xiaogou smiled: "General Xiao, you said it yourself, it was a group of insatiable, bloodthirsty and brutal bandits, they are used to plundering. When they found out that as long as they wanted, they could kill all the men in the Zhuangzi, and rob all the money and women in the Zhuangzi, how could they not be tempted. Even if they are grateful at first, they can't help it later. Because it's so difficult, it's like putting a fish in front of a cat, how can it hold back and not eat it! ”

"That's what I'm saying, this problem is not a problem at all, it's me and I'll go in and grab it."

"That's right, this gang of robber-turned-guards will definitely enter the manor, right?"

"Yes, of course...... General Xiao, what happened to you soon? ”

"It's gone, as you said, on the one hand, the Western Roman Empire was corrupted by the extravagance of the nobility, and on the other hand, it was constantly invaded by their barbarian brothers led by their own border generals, and soon it couldn't support it, and it was wiped out by the northern barbarians more than two hundred years ago." Xiao Quzhi smiled and said to Felix, "I'm right, Eastern Roman envoy?" ”

Felix nodded, "That's pretty much it, but a few things aren't very accurate. Half of the reason for the barbarians was that they wanted to invade Rome, and the other half was because they themselves were oppressed by the Huns from the east and had to invade Rome. ”

Xiao Quzhi sighed: "I just feel that the once glorious and great Western Rome will be conquered and destroyed by the barbarians. In fact, you don't know that in the heyday of Western Rome, in many respects far surpassed ours. Well, we were still in the Han Dynasty at that time. But do you know how dark and ignorant the people of that place are now?"

Gu Xiaojun said: "Say it quickly." ”

Xiao Quzhi said with a vivid voice: "In general, it is completely barbarian and ignorant, and the kings and nobles are illiterate and do not read. Their civilians live in the same house as pigs, sheep, chickens and dogs, they have no toilets, everyone goes to the toilet everywhere, there are no underground water pipes, and feces and urine are randomly discharged on the streets.

They have no utensils, they eat with their hands like savages, and they do not wash their hands when they are finished. They also did not bathe, believing that the water would make people sick, that the dirtier the more honorable, and that there was a king whose mother did not bathe all her life and was named the Holy Lady Agnès. ”

Wang Chengen laughed: "It's impossible, Xiao Hou, you are talking nonsense, right?" ”

Xiao Quzhi said with a serious face: "Absolutely not!" Believe it or not, if you ask Felix, they are neighbors of Byzantium and the state founded by the barbarians of Western Europe. ”

Everyone looked at Felix in disbelief, and Felix nodded a little embarrassed: "Xiao Hou is generally right, but we in Byzantium are not like this. And the King's Mother, who was canonized as the Holy Lady Agnès, I really haven't heard of it! ”

Xiao Quzhi thought about it for a while, maybe it would be in the future, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Maybe it happened not long ago, you don't know it yet." ”

"And how do you know?"

ps: Wait for another chapter, tomorrow into the second volume of "Chang'an Luoyang"