After the defeat of Firedigan, the Hu Lawyers Association did not continue to command the people to continue to march forward, but instead led his troops with Ulolanto to live in Naissus, after all, this battle can be said to have been killed all the way from the Dnieper, and now it is necessary to take a break for a while. However, they were not idle, on the one hand, they sent small groups of cavalry and scouts to reconnoiter Pannonia and Dalmatia in the west, and on the other hand, they informed Dou Lin, who commanded the remaining 10,000 cavalry, of the situation of the battle, telling him not to continue south, but to turn west on the north bank of the Danube and take the region of Upper Dacia. Of course, the Hu Law Association did not forget to piggyback on the good news sent to Constantinople, and it also made it clear to the emperor of the eastern part of the Roman Empire that the Goths had already cleaned it up for him, and the Roman Empire should also pay some money.

After waiting for more than ten days in Naissus, he soon received a reward from Dou Lin and Theodosius. Dou Lin agreed to the plan of the Hu Lawyers Association to transfer the combat objectives to the west, and had already combined Murong Ling's advance troops with his own headquarters and marched west along the Danube, preparing to echo the Hu Lawyers Association's headquarters across the river in Upper Dacia. In the letter, Dou Lin also reminded his friend that Hu Lawyer's Association, who is now the chief general of the Western Expedition, is now winter, and the weather is getting colder and colder day by day, so he should be prepared for winter, and any battle plan must be cautious.

Hu Bar Association is very receptive to this reminder, and he is aware of his friend's concerns. Although the Danube region is warmer than Mobei, it is a foreign land for the Chinese Western Expeditionary Army, and there are many differences in water, soil, food, etc., which is a test for the body of the Chinese cavalry. Now it's freezing again, and it's easy to get sick if you're not careful, and although there are military doctors and medical nurses in the army, it's not fun to have too many sick people in the army.

However, as a very experienced general, the Hu Lawyers Association has long been prepared. After Naissus was stationed, he not only received all the cattle and sheep brought with him by the Goths, but also demanded grain and grass from all over Messia as an ally of the Roman Empire. Along with this order were the fierce and vicious Chinese cavalry. It was not the power of these cavalry or the deterrence of the capitals on the Danube, and most of the nobles and officials in the various regions of Messia honestly paid a certain amount of grain, grass, cattle and sheep. There are not many Chinese cavalry moves.

In addition, the Hu Lawyers Association also stepped up the replenishment of ordnance, medicine and tea. Not to mention ordnance and medicine, tea is another very important "strategic material" of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Because Zeng Hua accidentally saw a story when he was "surfing the Internet in another world" before, saying that the British army was fighting everywhere. Tea is very helpful to them because a certain substance (tea polyphenols) in tea can reduce and prevent diarrhea caused by water and soil adaptation. Therefore, starting from Beifu, once the Chinese army went on an expedition, easy-to-carry tea bricks were indispensable. These supplies were loaded by ship from the town of Wutou at the mouth of the Wushui River, through the Caspian Sea, the Volga River, the Don River, and finally through the Black Sea to Timia near the mouth of the Danube, and then transferred to Naissus. Because they were fighting for the Roman Empire, the Romans were sending people and cars for both sea and land transportation. The Huaxia people are just responsible for escorting.

Theodosius' reply surprised the Hu Lawyers Association. In the letter, Theodosius readily told the Lawyers Association that the Roman Empire had willingly paid as much as one million Aureu gold coins and ten million dinars of silver (Aureu and Denariu were both ancient Roman units of gold and silver, and one Ori was equal to 25 dinars). One Orie weighs 1/30 pound. After gradually decreasing to 1/70 pound. And it is guaranteed to be a gold and silver coin of high fineness, and will never be used to pay the Chinese people with bronze coins such as Sesteti. The gold and silver would be loaded onto ships from Constantinople under the supervision of Chinese merchants and envoys, and shipped directly to the city of Aconitum, where they would be accepted and received by the long-awaited Chinese officials.

At the end of the letter, Theodosius said in a very sincere tone that he would soon come to Naissus to visit the heroic Chinese soldiers. The reason is that he will bring a large number of wine, food, beauties and a large number of grain and grass materials to comfort the Chinese warriors who have worked hard and made great achievements.

After reading the Diodosius dictation, the secretary of the Chinese envoy wrote it, and then there was a reply signed and stamped by Theodosius, and then the date was calculated, and it was found that the emperor of eastern Rome was already halfway there.

Hu Lawyer's Association handed the letter to Ulolanto, and after he read it, he sighed: "The fox will not easily go to the wolf's den, and the emperor of the Roman Empire may not have anything good?" ”

Ulolanto didn't seem to care about this, but said angrily: "Damn, why are there so many emperors in this Roman, I heard that there is one in the east." There are two more to the west. ”

"You see a sign of that, too?" Hu Lawyer's Association asked with a smile, although Ulolanto is famous for his bravery, but he is also a very intelligent figure, otherwise he would not have survived for so long with a weak tribe surrounded by strong enemies, and finally took a ride on Beifu, he quickly saw some ways from this letter.

"Haven't you heard an interpreter who is well versed in Roman affairs explain that the Roman emperor is not the same as the emperor we call it. It is said that the emperor of the Roman Empire actually literally means Imperator, which is estimated to be about the same level as the general of the Northern Mansion before King Ming. Then by their senate they added titles such as supreme acting consul, consul for life, tribune, high priest, first senator, Augustus, father of the fatherland, etc., and thus became the emperor of the Roman Empire. ”

The excellence of the Hu Lawyers Association is that it is very studious, before following Zeng Hua, he knew seven languages, such as Eile, Rouran, Turkic, Xiongnu, Zhongxianbei, etc., and later became a general of Beifu and began to learn Chinese characters, and began to read many books. This expedition to the west. Along the way, he consulted with the interpreters who were familiar with Roman affairs.

"Sixty or seventy years ago. There was an emperor in Rome named Diocletian, who ruled four emperors. There were two emperors in the east and west, one was the main position, called Augustus, and the other was the deputy position, called Caesar, and the supreme power belonged to himself, and it was also stipulated that the deputy position was the adopted son and son-in-law of the main position, and the main position must give way to the deputy position after twenty years of reign. ”

After saying this, the Hu Lawyers Association sighed: "The Roman Empire is so big, and there are Germans, Goths and other barbarians in the north, Persians in the east fighting for hegemony, and Afrigians in the south who do not submit to the king, so they are forced to set up emperors to govern, and sooner or later it will be divided, at least these two parts." In the tens or hundreds of years, I am afraid that it will be divided into two countries. The present of the Roman Empire is really worth learning from......"

Hu Lawyers Association just said this, but found that these things were not his own worries, and immediately turned to other words.

"Our goal was to go west. If Theodosius' intention is to keep us talking to the West, there is no problem, I am just worried that Theodosius will have other schemes. Although we are now slaughtering in all directions, we are alone after all, and it will be troublesome if these Romans secretly dig some kind of hole for us. ”

Ulolanto nodded and replied, "That's true, let's talk to Theodosius and deal with it carefully." ”

Theodosius instigated his mount. Escorted by thousands of Janissaries, he walked on the hilly avenues on the banks of the Danube. Countless snowflakes fluttered in the sky, and these white velvet flowers fell on Theodosius's fur coat. This trip to Neissus was decided by Theodosius after thinking about it for a long time, because he knew that if he wanted to sit firmly in the position of emperor of the east, if he wanted to unify the entire Roman Empire under his name, these 30,000 Chinese people were a key force to be reckoned with.

Theodosius saw the vast land of Messia slowly filling the white, and remembered the present of the Roman Empire, his ideals and mission. Suddenly, a quote from Marcus Aurelius popped into his mind: Seeking the impossible is madness, and it is impossible for the wicked not to do such things.

Marcus Aurelius (the old emperor of the gladiators), although he was a true philosopher and possessed good virtues, failed to prove the success of Plato's "rule of the philosopher-king". Mark's wife was unusually lascivious, but Mark was the only one in Rome who didn't know about it, and was convinced that she was loyal and affectionate. When she died, Marco asked the Senate to build a temple for her, which was nothing short of a grave act of blasphemy.

And it was the emperor Marcus Aurelius who allowed the northern barbarians to be stationed on the Roman border as mercenaries for a long time, laying the foundation for the rise and invasion of the barbarians now. It was also this Mark, who was the first Roman emperor to designate his own son Commodus as his heir. As a philosopher. He was fully aware that Commodus was a piece of rubbish, but he stubbornly believed that a group of old generals, generals, and scholars could help his son rule this great country. As a result, the Roman Empire received a great gladiator emperor, and Commodus personally went to the gladiatorial arena more than seven hundred times during his lifetime. If it weren't for his lover's mercy on him to drink the poison, and then a wrestler "mercifully" snapped his neck, the entire Roman Empire would still be in this endless farce.

What happened to the Roman Empire? What happened to this great empire that it had served for decades? Theodosius sighed secretly.

Theodosius, with his modesty and tolerance, won a great deal of support from various powers in the Constantinople area, and the church, the army, the officials, and the senate were all moved by his good character, simplicity and diligence, and they all wholeheartedly supported him as the true ruler of the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The heads of most of the Goths were now piled up outside the city of Naissus by the Chinese. The leaderless Goths finally succumbed once again to the Romans and the Chinese, and fell to their knees under the banner of the Roman legions. Although it relied on its brave and warlike allies, the Chinese, the Romans did not care about this, and they still gave all the glory to Rome, to Theodosius, who held on to the walls of Constantinople in times of crisis. And those Chinese are just an army of allies who are "greedy for money". Their nearest territory and the Roman Empire were separated by a vast Black Sea. So no matter how much credit they make, they still have to go home eventually.

But in the joy that pervades everywhere. Theodosius knew very well in his heart that the Roman Empire was no longer the Roman Empire of Octavian, Marcus Aurelius, and Trajan, and that the glory of this great empire had long since been left in luxury, fornication, depravity, idleness, cowardice, and rebellion. While Theodosius was leading the army and civilians against the Goths, the newly elected bishop of Constantinople, Gregory Nazianten, took advantage of the fact that the new eastern emperor was a staunch Orthodox Christian, and drove out the Arians, who had been entrenched for more than forty years. And at the bishop's request, Theodosius issued six strict edicts against heresy in just one year.

As soon as the Gothic danger was removed, Naziantsen and a group of sub-Orthodox bishops began planning to convene a Christian synod in Constantinople to define and complete the Trinitarian theology proposed at the Council of Nicaea. Theodosius, though a staunch supporter of Orthodox Christianity, believed that the most important thing now was to stabilize Thrace and other regions that had been in disarray by the Goths, and to comfort the Roman people who were suffering there. Order and production there can be restored, and those religious affairs can be completely suspended.

But Theodosius did not stop Naziantsen and others from making moves, because most of the Roman army were Orthodox Christians, and Theodosius had to gain their support. But the Arians were not willing to be captured. This Christian faction, which believed that Jesus was inferior to the Father and opposed the Church's great wealth, had great influence among the common people and even the Goths, and they were one of the causes of unrest in the east, and Theodosius had to fight to suppress them.

In addition to these various internal troubles and troubles, there are also "external troubles" from the west, among which Ambrose, the Archbishop of Milan, is the most headache. Ambrose was born into a family of captains of the Roman Emperor's Guard. Growing up in Rome, he was governor of the provinces of Liguria and Emilia, but after four years as governor, he suddenly announced his candidacy for the archbishop of Milan, and he was elected.

The main argument of the Archbishop of Milan was that the state must be subordinate to the Church in certain matters, and that the Church should be independent of the state. In his epistle to Theodosius, which historically appears separately in letters to other emperors, the archbishop unceremoniously pointed out that the bishop was the judge of the Christian emperor, and the emperor was not the judge of the bishop. The palace belonged to the emperor and the church to the bishop. Theodosius was also asked to enact more laws to strengthen the Christian position, and Theodosius was also asked to "do what others did." You have to do it yourself. The emperor made the law, and he should be the first to obey the law. ”

In his letter, Bishop Ambrose pointed out in a threatening tone that if Theodosius did not follow these rules, "Your Majesty may come into the Church, but then Your Majesty will not find a priest, and even if you find one, you will certainly be an opponent of Your Majesty." ". Another man who "cared" Theodosius was Gratian, the Emperor of the West who had always displeased the army because of his cowardice and moodiness, and finally these armies had proclaimed his five-year-old half-brother Valentinian II as the "Augustus" of the West, but this title had not been recognized by Gratian and Theodosius. It's normal that Gratian doesn't admit it. Theodosius did not admit that he felt that the time had not come, although he felt that the young Valentinian II was more suitable to be emperor of the west than Gratian, who was almost twenty years old. Maximus, the governor of the province of Great Britain, had always had bad intentions and led a powerful army in northern Gaul, but there was a very crucial external cause that was missing all this, which was also the reason why Theodosius came to Issus.

Just as Theodosius lowered his head and pondered, an officer urged his horse to come to him: "Your Majesty the Emperor, there is a cavalry of the Chinese people in front. ”

After a while, several Chinese cavalry leaders were brought to Theodosius. At a glance. These Chinese cavalrymen, dressed in shearskin and lambskin hats, were no different in Theodosius's eyes. His body was relatively short, dark-skinned, and his brown-black eyes looked at him indifferently, and that look reminded Theodosius of the distant gaze of the snowwolf standing at the edge of the forest.

"I am here to greet His Majesty the Emperor of Rome on the orders of General Hulu." A Chinese cavalryman said in his deep voice.

Theodosius listened to the translation. It was finally discovered that the left arm of this Chinese cavalryman had a distinctive armband. There are two three-cornered stars under a galloping horse, which may indicate that he is an officer.

Theodosius thought to himself. While continuing to look at the Chinese cavalry on the opposite side, he wanted to try to find out the reason why these Chinese cavalry defeated the Goths without much effort, knowing that these Goths had caused the Romans to be anxious.

The curved saber that was very different from the dagger, the bow and arrows that closely resembled the Scythian bow, the horse that was also unassuming, and the unusually high saddle were the reasons for the victory over the Goths.

After a few words of conversation with the captain of Theodosius' guard, the Chinese cavalry rose to their feet and gave a sharp whistle for a while. From behind the white woods and hills in the distance, a group of cavalry, also dressed in fur sheepskins and lambskin caps, slowly marched their mounts to the side of the Roman guards.

Speechless all the way. The Chinese cavalry did not surprise the Romans too much, and Theodosius did not find what he was looking for. Soon the procession reached a short distance from Naissus, and the first thing that came into Theodosius' sight was a pile of heads, which were rumored by the Romans to be known as the "Beijing Temple".

There were about a thousand of them in each pile, and I watched as the blood-stained heads maintained their dying demeanor in the cold weather. All the Romans, including Theodosius, shuddered. These mouths open, staring at a pair of hollow, dry eyes, looking at the gloomy sky, as if to say something, their pain or their remorse?

Looking at these piles of heads set up between heaven and earth, Theodosius couldn't help but think, Phredigan, Savolax, these names that once made the Romans tremble. It should be the same as their heads, all of which were left here by the Huaxia people.

Theodosius couldn't help but turn his head to look at the herdsmen who had been silent all the way, and even looked no different from a herdsman in Asia who had kept to himself, but was it really they who had piled up this pile of heads?

Walking into the big tent of the Chinese people, through the translation and the Hu Lawyers Association and Ulolanto introduced each other, and exchanged each other's respect and admiration for each other, Theodosius went directly to the topic.

"I hope that your ministry will continue to move forward and help the Roman Empire eliminate the Franks and Alamani of the Upper and Lower Germanic provinces, who have harassed our borders for hundreds of years."

After listening to the translator's words, Hu Lawyers' Association couldn't help but smile and said, "As far as I know, it belongs to the emperor in your western region. Why didn't he contact him about this matter, but asked you to contact him. ”

Theodosius was stunned for a moment, he could not imagine that these tyrannical and bloodthirsty Chinese people (the Romans did not consider the Chinese barbaric) seemed to see through their intentions, but Theodosius was still unwilling to show his hole cards too early.

"The situation in the western part of Rome is now chaotic, and as a co-emperor, it is my responsibility to work for the peace of the empire's borders."

"Your Majesty the Quarter Emperor," the title of Hu Lawyers Association is a bit nondescript, "we Chinese people have come all the way here. It's not for the gunners. ”

I don't know how the translation expressed this meaning, but it seems to have made Theodosius understand this meaning.

Theodosius blushed, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked, "What do you need?" ”

Hu Lawyers' Association continued to smile and said, "My subordinates want to visit the city of Milan. With that, he looked at the translator and Theodosius with interest.

Theodosius's face turned green all of a sudden, and if he had promised to let these Chinese go to Milan, the western center of the Roman Empire, he would have left a name for himself in Roman history forever. Because he knew that these Chinese people were enough to plunder all the wealth of the city of Milan.

"I know His Majesty the Emperor will not agree. So be it, for the sake of our allies. We give up Milan. "Hu Lawyer's Association seems to be very empathetic. Theodosius couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"But Rome must pay a sum of money enough to redeem the city of Milan." The next words of the Hu Lawyers Association made Theodosius's heart sink into the sea.

Seeing Theodosius hesitating in silence, the Hu Law Association continued: "We will drive all the barbarians of the Danube and the Rhine five hundred kilometers westward, as long as they put pressure on the western border, the situation in the west will definitely be more chaotic, and as long as that Gratian or Valentinian II loses a few battles, I think your glorious Roman legions will not support them again." When the time comes, you will be able to rescue the western region in the name of a quarter, and then we will cooperate with one or two, and Your Majesty the Emperor will not worry about making great contributions, and you will naturally be able to ......."

At this point, Theodosius didn't care about anything, nodded and agreed to the asking price of the Hu Lawyers Association, and reached a deal with him.

After receiving the guarantee from Theodosius, the Dihu Law Association said: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Quarter, we have to move faster, our Majesty the King of Ming has only given us one year, that is, by the autumn of next year, we must withdraw our troops and withdraw to Zhaozhou, east of the Wushui River. ”

"What? What are you going to do with these areas north of the Black Sea? Although Theodosius knew that the Chinese would return to China, he did not expect that they would withdraw so simply. On the contrary, there is enough time, more than half a year is enough time to do a lot of things.

"This is not a matter of heart, we just need to listen to His Majesty King Ming's decision." Hu Lawyers' Association said, "Also, our trading remuneration is only limited to gold and silver, and as for the conditions for peace negotiations in other aspects, it is natural that our envoys will negotiate with Your Majesty." ”

Theodosius responded depressedly one by one, is this Chinese general a soldier or a businessman? However, what he didn't expect was that this Huaxia general used to be a horse thief and an arms dealer.

On the way back to Constantinople, Theodosius, who knew a lot about the Chinese cavalry, was thinking about a question, how could the monarch of China, their Ming king, turn these brave barbarians into his most warlike army, but nothing like the Goths would happen? So Theodosius wrote a letter, handed it to an envoy, and immediately crossed the sea to the city of Aconitum Huaxia and handed it to Zeng Hua.

When this letter crossed the Black Sea, the Don River, the Volga River, and the Caspian Sea to Zhaozhou, China, and then passed through the vast Zhaozhou to enter Xizhou, the European continent began to melt and spring warmed, and the spring of the fourth year of China came.

And in this season of giving birth to the vitality of all things, more than 20,000 Chinese cavalry began to launch a fierce attack on the entire plain of the middle reaches of the Danube. All the tribes here were unprepared, because according to their habits, it was only the season of the first thaw of the snow and ice, and the earth was still deposited in the snow water, which was very unfavorable for the march and battle.

But they did not expect that the area inhabited by these Chinese cavalry was far colder than that of the Danube Valley, and that they had taken advantage of the weather to surprise their traditions, which their ancestors had used to launch surprise attacks on the Central Plains Dynasty of China, and now it was used on them. As a result, the middle Danube soon fell into a great panic and chaos.