In mid-September, under the single-hand planning of the Wu people, the "black laborers" in Sparta, that is, the Helots, finally set off a large-scale uprising.

"We used to be like donkeys with unbearable burdens on our backs, oppressed by violence!"

"Half of the fruit of hard work shall be sent to the master's barn."

"Brethren! Dear friends, it's the other way around! Kill all the Spartans! ”

"This land was originally the homeland of our Shilots, and it was the Spartans who robbed us of our territory and brutally enslaved us!"

"Kill all the Spartans! Kill! ”

In the countryside of Sparta, the Helots who had obtained weapons such as swords, guns, swords, halberds and other weapons from the "merchants" of Dawu were overwhelmed, and finally resisted the Spartans and began to attack the Spartans on a large scale.

Hearing of the outbreak of riots in the country, the king of Sparta, Archidamus, who had been arming around Corinth, was shocked.

This was followed by another king of Sparta, and letters from the elders, telling Archidamus to return home as soon as possible to suppress the rebellion of the Helots.

It is true that the kingdom of Sparta is a soldier for all people, men, women and children can be sent to the battlefield to fight the enemy, but "the tiger can't stand the wolves", the number of Helots is too large, several times that of the Spartans, once the rebellion spreads further, the Spartan city-state is afraid that there will be a danger of destruction......

In view of this, Archidamus gave up the position of commander-in-chief of the allied Greek army to the Athenian consul Ephealtes, and then led the Spartan army and returned to the country in a hurry.

Qingji, who learned the news, was overjoyed and immediately gave the order to march into the army.

The western expeditionary army was 250,000 cavalry and 50,000 sailors, one-third of which were composed of Wu people, and two-thirds were composed of the original Persians, Lydians, Syrians, Egyptians and other foreign races.

Qingji learned the lesson of the last time, these alien soldiers are not mercenaries, but real "Wu Army", at least with the establishment of Wu soldiers, the same implementation of the 20-level military merit title system, relying on military merits to ascend to the position.

Therefore, this greatly stimulated the fighting spirit of the alien soldiers and won their sense of belonging to Dawu.

In order to completely destroy the enemy in the Balkans, the Qingji soldiers divided into two routes.

One route, with Wu Zhang, the king of Liao, as the commander, led 100,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Thrace and Macedonia from the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula.

One route is led by Qingji to lead an army of 200,000 land and water, crossing the Aegean Sea, and is expected to land on the Marathon Plain.

However, before that, Qingji still sent troops to capture Cyprus, an important city in Asia Minor, as well as Byzantium.

In Cyprus, Qingji also met a famous ancient Greek figure -

Themistocles!

Themistocles, who is in his fifties, has gray temples, looks old, and is still on crutches, looking very energetic, but his eyes reveal a wise light, which people dare not underestimate.

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor of Great Wu, Themistocles, a native of Athens, salutes you and sends you the highest greetings!"

Themistocles, after seeing the celebration, bent down and saluted according to the Athenian etiquette.

Qingji didn't mind that Themistocles didn't pay a big salute to himself.

"Mr. Themistocles, sit."

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor Xie."

Themistocles sat down slowly.

He didn't forget to look at the man in front of him, and said with emotion: "Your Majesty the Great Emperor, you are younger and more heroic than I imagined. ”

"I heard that you are in your sixties, nearly seventy years old, I didn't expect to look like a person in your thirties and forties, could it be that Your Majesty can really live forever?"

Beside Qingji sat a mature and beautiful woman, who was none other than Judy.

Judy is an Athenian, a native of Athenians, so this time she acted as a "translator", accompanying Qingji and translating for Qingji and Themistocles.

At this time, after knowing what Themistocles said to him, Qing Ji smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Themistocles, immortality is just a cloud of the past. ”

"It's just that I pay attention to health preservation, and I have the art of rejuvenating my appearance, and I can't talk about real immortality."

"I see."

Themistocles was actually deliberately complimenting Qingji.

Qingji smiled and said, "Mr. Themistocles, you once had a classic sentence that I agree with——"

"Whoever is the master of the sea will become the master of the empire sooner or later!"

"I know what you have done, and I admire you, and with your talents, if I were still the chief consul of Athens, I am afraid that I would not dare to attack the Greek city-states and attack Athens easily."

"His Majesty the Great Emperor has praised it falsely."

Themistocles said bitterly: "I think of myself as an Athenian, but the Athenians, especially the nobles in the Athenian city-state, have never regarded Themistocles as their own......"

"Themistocles, will you help me defeat those stupid Greeks? After the war, I will make you the lord of Athens and give you a thousand taels of gold, how about it? ”

Qingji made a condition that Themistocles would find difficult to refuse.

Themistocles was born into a merchant family.

His father, though wealthy, did not belong to the most prominent family in Athens, while his mother was from the Gentile Thrace and was not descended from Athenian citizens.

As a result, Themistocles suffered all kinds of discrimination from the children of famous and noble families when he was a teenager......

Fortunately, he has been intelligent and eloquent since he was a child.

His teacher, Mnesiferos the Wise, admired Themistocles and said of him: "This child will surely become a great man in the future, either for good or for trouble." ”

In fact, it is.

Themistocles was an outstanding statesman and military strategist in ancient Greece.

He advocated the expansion of the navy and began the construction of the port of Piraeus and its "long wall" connecting the city of Athens to defend against the Persian invasion.

After the Battle of Salami Bay, Themistocles, who had defeated the Persian fleet, reached its peak of personal prestige and power.

However, the Athenians feared the emergence of a military dictator, and Themistocles was also hated by the aristocratic faction led by Kemon, so they exiled him through the method of banishment of pottery tablets and fled from there......

Thinking of these past events, Themistocles sighed.

However, he still did not think of betraying his motherland and fighting against his compatriots.

"Your Majesty the Great Emperor, thanks to your attention, I always consider myself an Athenian, and I can't do anything to betray my compatriots."

"Whatever you want."

Qing Ji smiled and said, "Mr. Themistocles, you are a wise man and should see the situation clearly. The army of tigers and wolves of my Great Wu is not comparable to the Persians back then, and the Greek city-states either surrendered or ...... Die. ”

“……”

Themistocles was silent.

Literary Network