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Waragher lowered his head, let go of Shapur's aggressive gaze, and sat down in a chair of his own, rubbing the polished armrest with one hand and stroking the other porcelain cup with the other. The www.biquge.info chair is made of fine wood bought from the Yue Kingdom, and the porcelain cup is the famous Prince porcelain of the Yue Kingdom, one is heavy, the other is light, and the feel is excellent, which is his favorite thing. The wine bottle that was broken by Shapur just now was bought by him from a merchant of the Han Dynasty at a great deal of money, and he was really distressed when it was broken by Shapur, but he didn't dare to say anything.

Because he knows that although Axum still has some strength, in front of the Sassanids, it is not worth mentioning at all, and the four great empires in the world are now gathered here, how can he Axum speak. Shapur didn't even pay attention to Yue Guo, how could he put a little Axum in his eyes.

Sandwiched between such four great powers, Wallagher was very embarrassed, he was unwilling to be given to Yue by Rome as a gift, but he was not so rash as to turn into an enemy of Yue on Shapur's words, of course, he would not simply say no, since Shapur could tell him this, it was obviously not unprepared.

"There are 10,000 elites in Vietnam, 30,000 guards in Rome, and no matter how good the prince is, but there are only 1,000 iron horsemen, it seems that it is not easy to eat them with your strength, right?" Wallag thought for a moment, then raised his head to meet Shapur's playful gaze, showing a shallow smile, looking very sincere, as if he had agreed to Shapur's proposal and was considering a possible surname.

Shapur kept looking at Wallag's expression. Warag is not a mediocre lord who can be kneaded by others, in recent years, he has conquered the north and the south, and his power has expanded rapidly, but in front of big countries such as Rome and Yue, the gap in his strength is too great, and in the face of Roman oppression, he is powerless, so he has to bow down and be a vassal, otherwise the city of Axum will be bloody. The city was sacrificed, and the ministers were weighed, but Shapur knew that Wallagher was unwilling, so he came to Wallagram with great confidence. When he first arrived in Axum, he had a friendship with Warag, and he figured out a little bit of Warag's thoughts, and now when he brought it up, Warag was really tempted.

It's normal for Wallag to have concerns, but if there are no concerns, it's abnormal.

"You don't have to worry, although there are 10,000 elites in the Yue Kingdom, they don't have cavalry, and of course it's no problem to defend the city, but if you want to fight in the field, they are not my Persians' opponents. As for the Romans, hey, hey, hey......" Shapur sneered, slowed down his tone, and calmly analyzed: "They have long been hollowed out of wood by insects, which looks scary, but in fact, they fall down when they are pushed." You don't have to worry about these Romans, I have fought with them several times, and they are not the Romans of three or four hundred years ago. And I've figured out how to deal with them, but I can't say it yet, and you can understand that. ”

Valagher nodded considerately, silent, he wanted to analyze how credible Shapur's words were. Shapur said that the Romans were strong on the outside, and he believed in some things, but not completely. The Romans have degenerated, no longer the Romans of three or four hundred years ago, he believes this, after all, he is also a vassal state of Rome, Shapur said that the Romans' combat strength is not as good as their Sassanids, and he also believes that if Alexander was not so embarrassed by Ardashir, he would not have asked the Yue people to help, but Shapur said that the Romans would fall down as soon as they pushed, but he didn't believe it, if this is the case, then what judgment did Shapur come to talk about? Just direct their cavalry to rush into the city of Rome.

"For such a big thing, it is appropriate to be cautious." Valag said with something to say.

"The king is wise." Shapur stood up, placed the porcelain cup in his hand on the table next to him, and paced back and forth in the narrow chamber with his hands behind his back, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing through the chamber. Wallag remained silent, his eyes moving back and forth with Shapur's footsteps, and he knew that Shapur understood what he was saying, and he wanted to consider what information to reveal to him to boost his confidence.

Shapur walked back and forth a dozen times, his steps were steady, and finally he stood three steps in front of Warag, facing the torches on the wall, his eyes hidden in the sunken eye sockets, unable to see his eyes, but Warag still held his breath unnaturally.

"King, if my Sassanid army besieges the city, can you take advantage of it, create a little trouble for the king of Yue, make him tired of coping, and even open the city gate to welcome our army into the city?" Shapur didn't wait for Warrag to reply, and laughed again, but his laughter was a little dry, sounding like an ominous night owl: "If the king wishes, then Axum will always be the king's, and the fertile Nile to the north is also the king's." If the king has doubts, then it doesn't matter, we should not have said what we said today, and from now on, we will never meet again. ”

Warag's gaze tightened, he could hear the threat behind the words, and of course he was moved by Shapur's generous offer. He tugged at his thick beard and thought for a long time before he raised his head and stared at Shapur: "What if your army doesn't besiege the city?" ”

Shapur Waner smiled: "Of course nothing will happen." ”

"Okay." Waragher nodded heavily, stood up, pulled out a short dagger from his waist, and with a light stroke on his finger, a drop of blood came out, he raised his head again, and looked at Shapur calmly: "Let's take Ahura?" Swear in the name of Azda. ”

Shapur's eyes involuntarily contracted, and then he laughed again. The Sassanid people believe in Zoroastrianism, and his ancestor Sassanid was a Zoroastrian priest, and the reason why their family can rise so quickly is not only related to the talent of his father Ardashir, but also inseparable from the support of Zoroastrianism. Ahula? Azida is the only creator of the Zoroastrian faith, and taking an oath in his name is the strictest oath that no one can violate, otherwise he will definitely be ahura? Azda's punishment would also be rejected by the Zoroastrian priests. Warag is going to take Ahura? Azida's oath is arguably the best way to protect herself.

Shapur can refuse the Warrag, after all, Ahura? Azida is the supreme creator and cannot be sworn casually, but the stakes are high, and if he refuses, then Warag will definitely be suspicious.

"Of course, such an important matter must be sworn in the name of the Creator." Shapur drew a short knife from his waist, cut his fingers, knelt down on one leg with Warag in the direction of Sasanian, bowed solemnly to the flickering torches on the wall, then said the vows, stirred the severed fingers in the wine glasses, and took a sip of each, then took the other's arms, looked at each other and smiled.

Sun Shao sat on the ground floor of the royal palace, the tallest building in Axum City, looking down at the ancient city with different styles at his feet, his expression was relaxed and natural, he didn't expect that he could occupy a city in Africa so easily. Although the country of Axum is only two or three hundred miles in radius, and it is surrounded by deserts, he can't help but feel excited when he thinks that to the north is Egypt, an ancient civilization, and that it is tens of thousands of miles away from the Great Han.

"How's the talk? Did the Sassanids relent? ”

"It went well." Xiahou Rong smiled, "There are really many capable people around the king, not only has Cheng Jun who is good at business, but also Lu Shan, who is good at mental calculation, can be said to be a last resort, I almost don't need to do anything, just watch the Romans and Sassanids fight." He paused, and then said with some concern: "However, I am still a little worried, the Romans are eager to cooperate with us, which is understandable, but the Sassanids are also so zealous, it is a bit too much." ”

"What are you worried about? Worried that they are playing false, making a show for us? Sun Shao turned his head and glanced at Xiahou Rong, he could see worry in Xiahou Rong's eyes. Xiahou Rong didn't speak, just nodded. He was so worried that the Romans were anxious to cooperate with the Yue to resist the Sassanids, and if they suffered a loss in cooperation, it would be difficult for them to get effective help. For the Sassanids, this is just a means, and for the Romans, every concession is a loss of interests, and if it is really unprofitable, then this cooperation will break down if it is not broken. At that point, a good thing may turn into a bad thing.

"You don't have to worry about this, we just have to grasp the scale ourselves, of course we can't do things that are at a loss, but don't let the Romans be unprofitable. Let them bargain with each other first, and finally we will be good people, why not? Sun Shao smiled faintly: "If you want to talk about the shrewdness of doing business, how can Shapur be compared with Cheng Jun and Lu Shan, let him think he has a plan." ”

"But the Romans are in a hurry." Xiahou Rong reminded: "Didn't the king notice, Alexander has come less in the past two days, and the Romans look at us a little wrongly, especially that Maximus, who sees us as if he is an enemy." ”

"He's not right in his eyes." Sun Shao smiled: "But we are not afraid of him, his 30,000 people are outside the city, and our 10,000 people are inside the city, if you want to be unfavorable to us, he doesn't have that strength yet." Let him stare for a few days, and then we will give up a little more profit, and his eyes will look good. ”

Xiahou Rong was thoughtful, he thought for a moment, and was about to speak, when there was a sound of footsteps outside, and a dark guard came to salute, saying that it was the king of Axum, Walag, who asked to see him. Sun Shao and Xiahou Rong glanced at each other and waved their hands, "Please let him in." ”

Warag quickly walked in, knelt down and saluted as soon as he saw Sun Shao, and then saluted Xiahou Rong and said a few words of compliment. Xiahou Rong smiled: "The king's Chinese has improved, and he has become more and more fluent." ”

"Recently, there are a lot of Han people in the city, and you can hear Han everywhere, so there are many opportunities to learn." Warag rambled a few words, but he didn't get to the point, Xiahou Rong saw it, and said goodbye with interest. Sun Shao had been looking at Valag quietly, and especially noticed the beads of sweat in his sideburns. Axum is indeed hot, but the palace is built on a high place, the ventilation conditions are very good, and there are so many green plants to cover it, and the sun is not very strong today, the palace is not very hot, and there is no sweat on Warag's face, but there are beads of sweat hidden in his beard, indicating that he has something on his mind.

"My lord, my minister has something to report to the king." Valagher lowered her voice.

"What's so important?" Sun Shao showed a gentle smile: "Is there someone who is making trouble in the city and causing you trouble?" ”

Warag hurriedly shook his head: "The king's soldiers are very disciplined, compared to those Romans and Sassanids, it is simply a heaven and an underground, General Ding and General Zhou are very demanding, and none of the soldiers have any trouble." The people of the entire city of Axum say that the king is a god sent from heaven, and only the soldiers of the gods can be so good. ”

The corners of Sun Shao's mouth twitched, he knew that for the people of Axum City, he was now an invader, an invader farther away than the Romans, although the survival of Axum had no impact on those ordinary people and slaves, but people's psychology was a very delicate matter, if the soldiers were indulged in misconduct, it was easy to provoke psychological confrontation, so from the time he began to prepare to take over Axum City, he asked Ding Feng and Zhou Yin and others to strengthen discipline against the soldiers of the Destruction Battalion, so as not to cause trouble, now it seems, overall still good.

"If there's anything, just say it to me. Since the country of Axum has become my subject country, the people of Axum are also my people, and the soldiers of my country are to protect my people, not to harm my people, if such a thing happens, I will punish them severely. Sun Shao said: "Since this is not the case, then you are in such a hurry to ask for a meeting, what is the matter?" ”

Warag suddenly knelt on the ground with a thud and kowtowed: "The minister is guilty, the minister has come to ask the king for his guilt, and ask the king to punish him." ”

"Really?" Sun Shao glanced at him and continued quietly: "What kind of crime is it, you can talk about it." ”

"Minister...... The minister hid something from the king. Warag raised his head and said angrily: "A major matter, the minister has not dared to tell the king because he is worried. ”

"Big deal?" Sun Shao laughed, of course he knew about Shapur's visit to Warag's house, he hadn't said it for so many days, just to see how long Warag wanted to hide it, and whether he wanted to keep it hidden. Now that Wallag came to confess, it was a bit of a surprise to him. He originally thought that Warag would be reluctant to lose the throne of Axum, and that the Sassanids would provide him with an opportunity, and he should be tempted. "What's the matter?"

"My lord, three days ago, Shapur went to the minister's house and asked the minister to cooperate with him against the king and the Romans."

"Confrontation?" Sun Shao raised his eyebrows, and his interest increased sharply: "How to fight?" ”

"He asked his ministers to secretly spread rumors that the Romans had sold Axum to the Yue Kingdom for their own benefit, and then created a little trouble so that the Romans could no longer gain a foothold here and could no longer compete with the Sassanids, so that the Sassanids could get a little more share."

"Really?" Sun Shao raised his hand, rubbed his eyebrows, and asked casually, "What do you think?" ”

"Minister...... The minister should die, he said that he wanted to give the minister some benefits, and the minister was a little moved at that time. Later, although he saw through the sinister intentions of the Sassanids, he was afraid that the king would not believe in the ministers, so he never dared to report to the king. Warag said with a look of remorse: "The minister has betrayed the trust of the king. ”

"Then why are you here again now?" Sun Shao looked at him with a smile. Truth be told, if it was really what Wallag said, he would have been a little disappointed.

After thinking about it for a while, the Sassanids felt that they were not credible, compared to the mercy of the king, they were only deceiving the ministers, and with the strength of the Sasanians, it was impossible for them to protect the ministers, all of them wanted to take advantage of the ministers, and took advantage of the ministers' foolish minds. Great king, the ministers are guilty, the ministers are guilty......"

Looking at the weeping Wallag, Sun Shao was silent for a moment, sighed, leaned down, and helped Wallag up: "My King Axum, get up quickly, people are not gods, how can they not have a little selfishness, you can find your way back, it's a good thing, I won't blame you." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Warag nodded gratefully, and swore a solemn promise: "Please rest assured that the king will never associate with the cunning Sassanids again." ”

"No, you're going to keep in touch with him." Sun Shao shook his hand and interrupted Warag's words. Warag looked at him in surprise, and Sun Shao smiled: "If you don't associate with him, how can you know what bad things he is doing?" You have to associate with him, you have to associate with him like a good friend, and if you need anything, you can tell me and I will help you. ”

Warag suddenly realized, and nodded again and again: "The king is wise, the king is wise." The minister understands what the king means, Shapur, the insidious snake, even if he can't bewitch the minister, he won't give up, he will definitely go to bewitch others, and only by associating with him can the king keep abreast of his movements. ”

"You're so smart." Sun Shao laughed and patted Warag's shoulder affectionately: "Do it well, don't make Shapur suspicious." ”

"Yes!" Valag bowed respectfully, walked backwards to the door, and walked away with his head held high. Sun Shao looked at his back and smiled silently. After a while, one of the guards came in and said, "Great king, the Roman emperor has sent someone to invite the king to a banquet. ”

Sun Shao was a little surprised, Alexander had been busy negotiating in the past two days, and he didn't show up much, so how could he have time to invite him today. After a moment's thought, he felt the need to probe Alexander's current psyche, and nodded his head in response. It didn't take long for Tu Hu to take three hundred tiger guards to escort Sun Shao's luxurious chariot to Alexander's residence.

Wallag stood on a tall building in the distance, watching Sun Shao's team leave the palace, a sarcastic smile on his face. Shapur stood beside him, and also looked at Sun Shao, who was being worshiped by the people on the street, and laughed: "It seems that your subjects are very satisfied with this new king." ”

Warag snorted: "What do these stupid slaves know, they think that this king of Yue is a god sent from heaven, but in fact this king of Yue is a fool, I just made up a lie according to your instructions, and he believed it." ”

"Don't think it's that simple." Shapur leaned on the railing and smiled: "He can do this at a young age, how can he be an idiot?" Maybe he's testing you? ”

Waragher frowned, tugging at his beard and not saying a word, he thought for a moment and laughed again: "Whether he is real or not, at least there will be no problem for the two of us to meet now." As for what to tell him, it's not up to us to decide? ”

"That's a good thing." Shapur nodded: "Let me tell you something, the negotiations are almost over, and I have sent the news back to Ctesiphon, and my father will be here soon to meet them." ”

"How many people to bring?" Warag asked with concern: "There are a lot of people here, and there are too few people to surround the city." ”

"Not a siege this time." Shapur shook his head: "I also want you to do a favor, you go and tell the king of Yue, just say that we Sassanids may come to Axum with a large army, maybe it will be bad for him, so I want him to limit the number of people in advance to ensure safety." ”

"You don't besiege the city?" Warag was so surprised that he couldn't help but sink his face.

"It's not that it's not besieged, it's that it's not besieged now." Shapur didn't have to look back, he took a look at the suspicion in Wallag's tone, and continued to explain: "If we come to besiege the city now with a large army, we will have to bear the responsibility of breaking the covenant, and they will definitely be on guard, and we have little chance of success." Only when they let their guard down first, thinking that we will not come to besiege the city, can we besiege the city again, and then we can catch them off guard. He stood up, clapped his hands, and pointed to the seaside in the east and said, "Besides, now there are enough 100,000 troops in the city of Axum to feed a year's food, and there are only 40,000 troops in the city, and they can support two, but we have come from afar, can we besiege the city for two years?" I'm going to wait for the Romans to take the grain away, and there's not much to store here, and then I'm going to besiege the city, hehe, they're either going to die in the city or they're forced out of the city. As soon as they are out of the city, it will be time for my Sassanid knights to wield their might. ”

After listening to Shapur's explanation, Warague understood his intentions, but then he thought of another question: "If they are trapped in the city, will not my subjects starve to death first?" ”

"Don't worry, they won't stick to it." Shapur turned his head to look at Waragher, "There are three possibilities for defending the city, either you believe that the other party will have to retreat if you can't besiege it for too long, and you can hold on, or you will soon have reinforcements coming, or you have no way to escape and have to defend." But if the Vietnamese people don't have enough food, why should they hold on? Yue is more than 10,000 miles away from here, where do they get reinforcements? The city of Axum is not their land, so why should they defend it? ”

Warago pondered for a moment, and felt that Shapur was right, if the news of the sudden arrival of the Sassanid army came out, the most likely thing for the Yue people was to retreat to the sea before the Sassanids arrived, it was the safest place, and it was definitely not a wise choice to be trapped in the city of Axum.

"So, how long will it take?"

"If it's slow, it's a year, and if it's fast, it's half a year." Shapur said with confidence: "We will start a war at Armenesi first, and attract the Romans first." They are haunted by last year's defeat, and now that they have the support of the Vietnamese people, they will definitely be eager to fight us. When the Romans arrive in Armenia, I will personally lead a large army as the vanguard to help you restore your country. ”

He smiled: "The Han people's military book says that this is called attacking the east and west. ”

(To be continued)