When the sun is blazing, there is not a hint of breeze in the air, the sultry breath wanders between the noses and cheeks, the cloth canopy is set under the houses made of loess bricks, the men with thick curly hair sit under the canopy and sell it, and the occasional curly girl with curly waist and black veil walks through the street with fruit-covered dustpans on their heads, and goes straight to the majestic palace in the center of the city.

The Kingdom of Voodo, Cairo, a city far from the Central Continent, was once an economic powerhouse.

Click!

The sweet flesh bursts with juice, and on the soft woolen blanket, a curly-bearded man with a black scarf on his head and eyes like a falcon leans on a cushion to enjoy the fruit sent by the girls.

The curly-bearded man ate the fruit and swept his gaze to the officials kneeling on one knee in front of him, and only after the girls put down the fruit and quietly left the room with their bare feet did he say in a deep voice: "Sit down, sit beside me, let go of your inhibitions, and talk to me like a friend." ”

"Thank you, Sultan."

The officials glanced at each other, but they didn't dare to get up, but the old man kneeling in front took the lead in standing up and setting an example, and then led everyone to sit on the blanket, even so, everyone still didn't dare to gasp loudly, and kept their heads down.

Known as the Desert Eagle, a man nicknamed the Sultan, the monarch who fought against the invading armies of the Knights 700 years ago, no one in the Voodoo Kingdom has surpassed his exploits for hundreds of years, and his name is still carved on the monument in front of the pyramid.

Amalek Saladin!

A legend!

Many of the officials present at the table had the highest reverence for this great national hero, and even the enemies he repulsed, the army of knights who had crossed the sea to invade the kingdom of Voodoo, called Saladin 'the monarch of chivalry'.

What a privilege!

Seeing it in person, of course, will be a little nervous.

"Arif, Arif, you are an elder whom even I have to respect, the previous Sultan spoke highly of you, and I also believe that you are the best candidate for Pharaoh."

Saladin plucked a grape and handed it to the old man sitting on his left, who accepted it with both hands and said in a respectful tone: "Great Sultan, you are the pioneer appointed by Dembala, the god of voodoo, and I am willing to assist you in creating a career and recovering the lost holy land. Jerusalem! ”

"Jerusalem!"

The officials shouted in unison, their eyes full of longing to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Jerusalem is said to be the birthplace of Dembala, the holiest place of the Witch God Cult, but now, Jerusalem does not belong to the Voodoo kingdom and has been taken by the enemy.

"Yes, yes, I understand my duty." Saladin nodded slowly: "In the last life, I took advantage of God's will and led God's people to recapture the Holy Land and defend the dignity of the sect, and in this life, I should do the same." ”

Pharaoh Arif immediately lowered his head and crossed his hands in front of his chest: "Your greatness will shine on Cairo!" Your gaze will surely pass through the desert and have mercy on the people of the Holy Land! Your name will make the enemy tremble! ”

Saladin did the same, responding to Pharaoh's praise: "God has favored me and given me strength, and I am fearless." ”

After saying that, Saladin took a bite of the uneaten apple and asked, "Arif, I just woke up and don't know much about current affairs, but I heard that Caesar was resurrected, before I was resurrected, is that true?" ”

"Yes, after Caesar's rebirth, he restored the Roman Republic, led the dictator, and was in charge of affairs, and his return is obvious to all."

After a pause, Arif added, "As for the fact that Caesar was resurrected earlier than you, it is because God is watching, and no one knows whether the resurrection of the dead will affect the world. ”

"Don't get me wrong, Arif, I believe God has his own considerations, I have fallen asleep, and if I don't need to, sleep is my best destination." Saladin smiled.

"And Napoleon Bonaparte." "He was also a powerful monarch, the Great who led the Gauls to conquer the Central Continent and narrowly escaped success, and I think he was no less of a threat than Caesar," said one official. ”

Napoleon Bonaparte, Saladin had never heard of it, he was too unfamiliar with the name, he had no impression at all, he was an active monarch half a century ago, 650 years later than himself, the time difference was too far, it was normal not to hear of it.

The official who spoke had already prepared the relevant information about Napoleon and handed it over to Saladin for review.

When Saladin was looking through Napoleon's information, a Siamese cat walked into the room with graceful steps, walked to the carpet as if no one was there, sniffed the fruit in front of everyone, turned his head uninterestedly, came to Pharaoh Arif, was attracted by his curly beard, pounced on it and pulled it down, the corner of Arif's mouth grinned, patiently picked up the cat, and let it play aside.

Everyone was accustomed to the cat's behavior, and no one showed a look of surprise, even Saladin glanced at the cat and did not react at all.

Unlike the statues enshrined in the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate and the Cult of Wisdom, the Witch God Cult exists in totem worship, and their totem is the cat, which has a high status in the voodoo kingdom and has a whole set of legal protection, because in the eyes of the Witch God Cult, cats are psychic creatures that can communicate with the dead and are worthy of worship.

"Napoleon Bonaparte."

After reading the information, Saladin put down the document, and his face was much more solemn than before: "It is indeed a person, defending the revolution, promulgating the legal code, expanding the territory, and establishing the country and becoming the emperor. In terms of scope alone, he even did what Caesar did not do, and it is not too much to call him an emperor. ”

"It's a pity that he failed in the end, miscalculated the strength of both the enemy and the enemy, failed to take into account the weather factors, was dragged down alive, and was ambushed by the Allies on the way back"

Saladin shook his head, as if he regretted what had happened to Napoleon: "It's just one step away, but it also proves that his ambitions don't match his strength, and if he can stop as soon as possible and secure the territory he has already won, the outcome may be different." ”

"Napoleon failed more than once, his second rise was still defeated." Pharaoh Arif said: "I think that although he is a threat, he is not the enemy we need to fear the most, and we want to expand eastward and recover the Holy Land of Jerusalem, which is too far from the First Bonaparte Empire." ”

"Such an emperor must have a long-term strategic vision." Saladin said in a deep voice: "Back then, the Knights participated in the Eastern Crusade, and their threat should not be underestimated, not to mention that the transportation is so convenient now, distance is no longer the biggest problem."

"So, Sultan, what kind of strategic approach do you think we should implement next?" Arif asked, "Do you have an idea?" ”

"Caesar is busy rectifying internal affairs, the current Rome is not the Rome I know, the Rhine League has also collapsed, the Popon Kingdom has become the First Bonaparte Empire, and the Windsor Kingdom is the leading boss"

Saladin pondered: "Originally, Caesar should have been the biggest threat to us, but now he has no time to pay attention to what is happening in the outside world, and in the same way, the Kingdom of Frederick is the same, they are busy annexing the Rhine Alliance, they will never make trouble, but will be as low-key as possible. ”

"I think that the greatest threat to us today should be the Kingdom of Windsor and the First Bonaparte Empire, which at present have enough strength to wage war, but are gathering strength for the time to change, and such an enemy will surely keep an eye on what is happening around them, and will not miss any trouble."

"If we choose to march east at this moment and recover the Holy Land of Jerusalem, it is not surprising that we will be blocked by them, because geographically, if we control the coastline, including Jerusalem, it will completely cut off the connection between the Central Continent and the Southern Continent, which is not what they want to see."

The officials listened carefully to Saladin's account, and they were amazed and even more convinced.

"Sultan, you mean we can't send troops to reclaim the Holy Land now, can we?"

"It's not that you can't, but you have to wait for an opportunity." Saladin said: "Just as I raised my army against the invaders, if it were not for the Knights' invasion, how could I have a chance to rise?" ”

Everyone looked at each other, some understood Saladin's meaning, and some were puzzled, feeling that they understood, but they didn't seem to understand.

"There's a lot of stuff I don't know, like industry."

At the mention of unfamiliar words, Saladin pondered for a while, analyzing the meaning of industry: "How does the industrial level of the Voodoo Kingdom compare with the Kingdom of Windsor and the First Bonaparte Empire?" ”

"This"

Pharaoh Arif was silent, as were the officials, and seeing their reaction, Saladin understood.

There is no comparison at all, everyone is not on the same order of magnitude at all.

"Sultan, in the age of magic, industry can only play a supporting role, not the tide of war." One official said, "We should use the power of Dembala to attack the enemy's weaknesses with our strengths!" ”

"Weaknesses?"

Saladin looked at the official who spoke, stared at him for a long time, and said faintly, "Is our strength the enemy's weakness?" Do you really think so? ”

"The great Dambala is unbeatable!"

Saladin withdrew his gaze, not wanting to continue the discussion, for it was pointless.

Talking to a person who is not self-aware is a pure waste of time, because any insights he gives are based on unfairness and are not nutritious.

Dembala is indeed powerful, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have opponents, if Dembala is invincible, why did he resurrect Saladin?

Saladin was seriously discussing with the officials a plan for his rise, but some people were joking, so there was nothing to say.

Seeing Saladin's disappointed eyes, Pharaoh Arif spoke: "We should be cautious about the true strength of the enemy, although Dembala is strong, but if other sects join forces, it will also cause him a lot of trouble, this is a fact, don't forget, Napoleon was defeated by the allies in the first place!" Conceit brings bad luck! Don't you want to reclaim the Holy Land? ”

"In the age of magic, of course magic is important, but magic is limited." Saladin said word for word: "Only believers who believe in gods can obtain the power to use magic, and gods cannot give gifts to every believer, and there is a limit to the number of believers who can use magic." ”

"Limited determines the upper limit, for example, if I have 100 heavily armed heavy cavalry, and the enemy has 5,000 people, I can lead the heavy cavalry to kill 5,000 people, but what if the enemy has 50,000 people?"

"Industry can raise the ceiling of a country, such as the railways and cruise ships I saw on the outskirts of the city, these are all industrial products, which can change the lives of the people, a real king, to fear the true God, to understand the people's feelings, and to care about the people's suffering."

Saladin stood up and walked barefoot to the window, the scorching midday sun shining on his resolute face: "I fought for the gods and for the people of Cairo, my name is Saladin, before me, no one knew Saladin, after me, Saladin belongs only to me." ”

He turned around, looked at the group of officials and said, "Industry can be used for war!" Our warriors need food, water, railroads and boats! We need canned food, weapons! All this requires an industrial base! ”

"If we don't have that, how can we fight against the Kingdom of Windsor, the First Bonaparte Empire? If the Knights' army attacks again, will we still be able to defend ourselves against the enemy's guns and iron horses? ”

The ministers were speechless and could not generate the motivation to refute.

"Do you want to carry out reforms, Sultan?" Pharaoh Arif asked, "A reform of the powerhouse?" ”

"Yes, I'm going to start a reform, which God needs and what his people need!"

Saladin looked at the houses made of loess bricks outside the palace, and couldn't help but shake his head: "If you want to conquer, you must first strengthen yourself!" When God gave me a second life, when he gave me Cairo, I knew that sooner or later the gates of Jerusalem would open to me! The Holy Land is waiting for us, we must hold on to the ropes that God has thrown, and make the country rich and strong! ”

Knock knock!

The door opened, and a masked maid entered, bowed to Saladin, and said, "Sultan, a man named Adam claims to be your friend and wants to see you. ”

"My. Friend? Saladin frowned, he had been dead for 700 years, where did he come from?

Could it be that he jumped out of the grave?

"He, he claims to be the owner of the Adams Chamber of Commerce," said the maid.

Saladin looked at Pharaoh Arif, who explained, "The Addams Chamber of Commerce is a potions company established in Cairo in recent months, specializing in the purchase of potions, and has established a cooperative relationship with the Witch God Cult, and their president is called Adams, a native of Windsor. ”

"Why did he see me?"

The maid shook her head, and said hesitantly, "He said that he had received instructions from the prophet and had come to visit."

Prophet!

The high-ranking clergy of the Witch God Cult! The status is equivalent to that of the Holy Maiden of the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate! Dedicated to conveying God's will!

Saladin didn't know the prophet's will beforehand, but since the other party mentioned the prophet, he had to take it seriously.

After a moment's thought, Saladin waved his hand and said:

"You go down first, and I'll meet the merchant."

(End of chapter)