In the seventh century, with the birth and spread of Islam, the Arab-Islamic culture was born, which brought the Arabs together in a very short period of time, endowed them with miraculous powers, and allowed them to move out of the Arabian Peninsula and establish a vast Arab empire. In the process of their outward expansion, the Arabs quickly grew from a backward nomadic people to a nation that carried the torch of civilization throughout the Middle Ages.

Moreover, many of the regions within the territory of the Arab Empire were advanced regions of ancient civilization, which enabled the Arabs to extensively inherit the rich cultural achievements of different peoples. The Arabs were open to all rivers, connecting the ancient Greco-Roman culture with the modern Western culture, and acting as a medium in the blending of Eastern and Western civilizations, gradually integrating the Greek, Persian, Indian and Arab cultures within the empire in the long-term development.

The emergence of culture is first due to the importance and promotion of culture by successive caliphs. In order to ensure the prosperity and consolidation of the country, they attached great importance to the absorption of advanced culture, and put forward the motto that "the most beautiful ornament of a person is knowledge". The Arab Empire's caliphates, while organizing efforts to translate and study ancient Greek, Persian, and Indian cultural texts, encouraged Muslims to travel far and wide, collecting classical texts and studying in various fields such as philosophy, literature, historiography, art, and natural sciences.

During the Abbasid period, the caliphs also established a large-scale translation and research institute in Baghdad, known as the "Palace of Wisdom". These efforts created the spirit of medieval Arabs who were good at learning, advocating education and scholarship, and brought about the prosperity of culture. It continued to develop through the Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid and post-Umayyad dynasties in Spain. Arab culture matured, and they achieved great success in philosophy, medicine, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, linguistics, literature, history, and many other fields. A large number of outstanding thinkers, scientists, and writers have emerged, and have reached the forefront of the world.

During the flourishing period of Arab culture. Cultural centers such as Baghdad, located in present-day Iraq, were formed. Baghdad is located in the middle reaches of the Tigris River and Euphrates River basin, one of the cradles of human civilization, the geographical location is very ideal, for several centuries, it is not only the capital of the Arab Empire, a famous city of Islam, but also the center of economy, trade, culture and transportation in West Asia and the Middle East, and has also become a link between Eastern and Western civilizations, where Eastern civilization spreads to the West; In the same way, Western civilization spread from here to the East......

As a descendant, Zhao Ta knew very well that there was also a civilized world in the west of the Great Song Empire. However, due to the fact that the Central Plains Dynasty of the past dynasties was complacent, believing that it was the center of the world, it has always held an attitude of rejection of external civilizations and denounced it as 'Yi'. This view naturally led them to reject external civilization and regard what they had learned as orthodox, so that although they traded with the West, they were wary of the entry of their culture.

After the rise of the imperial examination, Confucianism became dominant, and natural science became a 'miscellaneous art'. Naturally, cultural people will not devote time and energy to these carving insect skills, and those who study and study have become different. Even if there is an appointment, it is only to use its calendar to predict bad luck. It is difficult to make great achievements and breakthroughs in the treatment of diseases, and the craftsmen who are practitioners are also listed as untouchables. Their achievements are difficult to summarize and promote, and often people die and lose their art. It cannot be passed on to future generations.

Zhao Ta knew that the driving force for historical progress was not those beautiful paintings and poems, but the natural sciences that had always been despised by the Central Plains culture. He has been trying to change this state of affairs since he came to this era. Establish a technical school in his own Zhuangzi to train craftsmen, and encourage the craftsmen in the workshop to strive for innovation; After succeeding to the throne, he recruited a group of outliers with various skills, established a research institute in 'Gen Yue', and taught them some of the knowledge he had learned in his previous life, so as to make up for the lack of this aspect and promote the development of natural science.

But Zhao Ta was not a natural genius in his previous life after all, and he couldn't do anything about many things, which made him think that the one he had coveted for a long time was far away in the Western civilized world, and it was easier and faster to 'take it' than to study it with all his might. And it is necessary to punish the Seljuk Empire for obstructing trade under the pretext, otherwise he will be scolded by those 'old antiques' for his reckless military expulsion by plundering foreign culture.

Of course, Zhao Ta did not rule out that he wanted to see if the world was really as mysterious and prosperous as depicted in "One Thousand and One Nights", experience the exotic customs of ancient times, stroll through the streets of Baghdad and meet Ali Baba, leave the ink treasure of 'visit here' on the gate of the palace and the Grand Mosque, personally listen to the teachings of those sages, select some of everyone's works in the 'Palace of Wisdom' to bring back to China, and by the way, lead them to the Great Song Dynasty to study and preach, what a wonderful thing it will be!

But his good wishes were ruined by those hateful bureaucrats in the DPRK and China, so Zhao Ta had to give up this rare opportunity, and could only select some elites from the 'Gen Garden' to form a task force to realize his wishes. Some of them are proficient in the language and writing of the Arab region, and are familiar with the geography and humanities of the countries here; Some people are responsible for foraging livestock, crops, fruits and vegetables, and collecting seeds. There are also those who specialize in the acrobatic arts here and are excellent craftsmen themselves; Of course, there are also intelligence personnel who collect information and special talents who are skilled in warfare, good at sliding doors and picking locks, tying tickets and beating stuffy sticks!

Zhao Tan's plan to bring the doctors, alchemists, craftsmen, and well-known scholars and linguistic talents proficient in mathematics, astronomy, and geography to the Great Song Dynasty were all in the city of Baghdad, and books were another target of looting, a tool for the transmission of knowledge, which must not be let go. Zhao Tan planned to use their knowledge to promote the scientific and technological level of the Great Song Dynasty, as for those religious people and what kings and officials were not interested in it at all, it was better to keep their families and harm themselves, or not to come to the Great Song Dynasty to grab territory......

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"Your Majesty, what your majesty means is that the value of these scholars and craftsmen is much higher than that of gold and silver, and if we march into the city now, they may die in the war or go into hiding, which will bring us great trouble, if we lure them out and capture them first, and we can divide and disintegrate their internal forces!" Chen Gu briefly explained the emperor's meaning to the two marshals, and explained that he was powerful, and he did not take advantage of the situation to oppress others because he held a gold medal.

"Eh, fortunately, Vice Chan reminded me, otherwise it will be a big mistake if you don't get it right, but please make it clear how to act!" Cheng Xishou sighed and said, it seems that the emperor still sees far. As an old sailor, he has a deep understanding of the role of talents, from the earliest double-cannon armed small merchant ships to the current tall and mighty giant warships equipped with hundreds of guns, all of which are the credit of those craftsmen, and every progress is indispensable to the whimsical ideas of those people in the 'Gen Garden'.

"Hehe, the marshal still remembers how the Jurchens besieged our Bianjing City and disarmed the people in the city step by step, so that they could enter the city without bloodshed, and they emptied all the century-old accumulation of our Great Song Dynasty without moving their fingers, and the officials and craftsmen took them away!" Chen Gu said with a smile.

"Oh, Vice Chen is really smart, this ready-made method has been forgotten!" Ma Wei and the others were unlucky with the emperor back then, and they all left Bianjing City, and they were not able to see the tragic situation when the city was broken, but this did not prevent them from knowing the events of the day and the methods played by the Jurchens.

"It's really impermanent, back then, I hated the Jurchens for breaking through the capital and looting my Great Song Dynasty, but today we want to pick it up and use it on the big cannibal!" Cheng Xishou said with a wry smile.

"Don't think too much, the emperor once said that this world is respected by the strong, as long as you win, no one will feel inappropriate because of the way you adopt, complaining is just the helpless moaning of the loser!" Ma Wei said......

The next day, the Song army shot a letter to the inner city of Baghdad, saying: Heaven has the virtue of a good life, and the scholars, craftsmen, healers, and alchemists in the city can leave at sunset with their belongings and their families, and the heavenly soldiers will ensure their safety and not infringe on their belongings. When the soldiers enter the city, those who resist will not be killed, and those who surrender will not be guilty, and they can leave the city after sunrise tomorrow!

At sunset, the Song army really opened the west gate, but no one knew whether it was true or not, and they did not dare to rush forward, until someone had the courage to try to walk towards the city gate, and the Song army did not stop them from leaving. Seeing that some people had escaped safely, people poured out of the city gate in groups of three or five, and these people also left. Seeing that the enemy army was trustworthy, more people rushed out of the city gate in batches, but outside the west gate was a big river, and the upstream and downstream were blocked, and if they wanted to leave, they could only take a boat.

Song Jun was very considerate to prepare a boat for those who went out of the city, but if they wanted to get on the ship, they had to be examined. Those in charge of the examination had very vicious eyes, many people pretending to be scholars and other identities were pulled out of the crowd, ordinary people and property were confiscated, beaten and sent back to the city, and if they were officials, priests, etc., they were sent to the barracks. Those who pass the examination will register their names and expertise, and they can board and leave in batches!

"Vice Chen, how can you tell at a glance who is the real scholar and who is pretending?" Ma Wei was very curious about Chen Gu's methods and asked in a low voice.

"Hehe, it's very simple, the people who carry books and tools with us are the people we want, that is their most precious property and tools for making a living; As for the gold and silver in those luggage, they are naturally impostors who want to fish in troubled waters and want to get out. Chen Gu said with a smile.

"I'm afraid these people on the ship will never come back, right?" Ma Wei sighed and asked knowingly with deep sympathy.

"Hehe, then it depends on whether Your Majesty is gracious or not!" Chen Gu grimaced and said...... (To be continued......)