After Seymour left, the emperor's grandson Wu Ji, who had been sitting on the sidelines, stepped forward and asked curiously, "Grandfather Emperor, why didn't you agree to help the Israelites restore their kingdom?" ”

"The grandchildren of Palestine (the land of Canaan) know that this land is rich and rich in water and grass, suitable for cultivation or grazing."

"But, after all, the place is not big, and compared to the conditions given by the Israelites, it is not impossible for the imperial grandfather to help them restore the country."

Hearing this, Qingji glanced at Wu Ji meaningfully, and said slowly: "Ji'er, it's not that I'm stingy, and I'm not even willing to give a piece of land to the Israelites. ”

"Let them return to the country? No way. At most, I will allow them to live in Palestine, but I will never allow the Israelis to establish a state. ”

Wu Ji was still a little puzzled.

Qingji patiently explained: "The Israelites are difficult to tame, they have been dead for hundreds of years, and they still cherish their homeland, I am afraid that they cannot be assimilated by my Great Wu, at least not easily." ”

"If possible, I also want to divide the Israelites and move them to various places to settle in order to assimilate these unobedient kings."

……

With the help of the Israelites, Qingji infiltrated the tunnels with an elite army, entered the city of Babylon, and seized the gates.

In less than half a day, the warriors and mercenaries of the Wu army occupied this incomparably rich city and captured Xerxes, who was still planning to flee.

Xerxes I was a legendary emperor.

According to the Hebrews, Xerxes wielded unimaginable power, holding life in his left hand and death in his right.

And which hand he stretched out, no one can guess.

Everyone in the empire prostrates at his feet, and no one but him enjoys security and dignity.

The queen was his slave.

He once ordered the queen to go to the drunkards and show her beauty.

He's like a rich man showing off his jewelry.

The queen refused this order and defended her dignity.

But she paid a terrible price, and she was immediately deposed and sent to the cold palace.

The concubines in the harem, if they are not summoned by him and enter the dormitory without authorization, will be in danger of their lives.

If Xerxes had stretched out a golden scepter to her, then she would have been pardoned. If he hadn't reached out, then she would have been put to death - even if she was the queen.

The Prime Minister is his slave.

He could easily raise up a prime minister, or he could have killed him with the same carelessness.

While a prime minister can amass vast wealth and wield great power, a single wrath of Xerxes can wipe it out.

As for the Hebrews who spread throughout the empire, they were even more of his lowly slaves.

The life and death of the entire Hebrew nation depended entirely on his thoughts.

Will they suffer a terrible extermination, or will they enjoy the favor of the king?

All the Hebrews trembled and awaited the royal decree from the palace of Susa.

A nation's waiting and struggling between life and death......

Of course, this is an exaggeration.

Throughout the emperors of all Chinese dynasties, the closest to him is Emperor Yang of Sui.

"Will you kill me?"

When he saw Qingji, Xerxes asked such a sentence.

"No, it won't."

"Will you make me a slave then?"

"No, it won't."

"Will you exile me, then?"

"Not really."

This made Xerxes very depressed.

"And what will happen to me?"

Qing Ji smiled and said, "Xerxes, don't worry. I will let you live in the capital of my Wu Empire and enjoy your old age in peace. ”

“……”

Qingji is so tolerant, which is really unexpected by Xerxes.

In fact, Qingji can have Xerxes executed, but it will have some negative consequences.

Xerxes was not an accomplished emperor compared to his father, Darius I.

However, he played well with power, and since the defeat of the Greco-Persian War, Xerxes has been indulging in alcohol and cronies, leading to civil strife in the Persian Empire.

In the original history, Xerxes was murdered a few years later by the Prime Minister Ardaban.

Now, with Xerxes being captured alive, the originally powerful Persian Achaemenid dynasty has also come to an end.

However, this does not mean that the Wu army has ended this westward expedition.

After the meeting with Xerxes, Qingji also visited the legendary "Hanging Garden" with great interest.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also known as the Hanging Garden, are one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It is located in the city of Babylon and was built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II.

The reign of Nebuchadnezzar II was the heyday of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom and was known for its magnificent city and palace architecture.

According to legend, the Hanging Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar II to please his concubines.

It is a cascading terraced garden filled with exotic flowers and plants, and a secluded mountain path with a murmuring stream beside it.

There is also a castle tower in the center of the garden, which stands in the sky, which can be described as an ingenious garden scenery.

It is worth mentioning that the Hanging Gardens originally looked like a green mountain made of mud bricks, rising from the middle of the city.

Since the garden is higher than the palace wall, it feels like the entire imperial garden is suspended in the air.

After visiting the Hanging Garden, Qingji felt bored.

But that's it!

……

The time entered the forty-third year of Wu Shi Huang, that is, in 471 BC, the tenth lunar month.

Qingji led his army to capture the city of Babylon, and after capturing Xerxes I, he gave the order to continue the westward expedition.

Wu's soldiers were divided into three routes.

The Middle Route Army was led by Wu Zhang, with 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 mercenary cavalry, responsible for conquering Assyria, Lydia, Macedonia and northern Syria.

The Northern Route Army was led by Wu Ji, with 15,000 cavalry and 30,000 mercenaries, responsible for attacking the Medes and Armenia.

The Southern Route Army was led by Wu Fan, with 15,000 cavalry and 30,000 mercenaries, responsible for attacking southern Syria, Egypt, and Libya.

Qingji wants to knock down all the territory of the Persian Empire in one breath.

Let the children and grandchildren go on the expedition, and Qingji is to sit in Babylon by himself, and arrange the grain and heavy loads.

After three months of conquest, Wu's army of all walks of life reported successively, and successively conquered the vast lands from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, including Medes, Armenia, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Assyria, and Lydia.

Wu Jun did not meet with decent resistance elsewhere, and basically pushed through.

However, the most difficult fight was the middle route army led by Wu Zhang.

Wu Zhang led his army south along the west coast of Asia Minor, successively occupying Lydia, Caria, Lykia and other places, and then went north to Angola, east to Cappadocia, and then south to Cilicia.

However, in the coastal fortress of Tyre, Wu's army met stubborn resistance from the Phoenicians.

Compared with the smooth sailing Southern Route Army and the Northern Route Army, the Central Route Army was in a small fortress, kowtowing and bleeding.