Four-Armed Divine Emperor

The Xerxes gradually became a normal secular kingdom, but it was relatively closed. Its main communication with the outside world was either war - with the Western countries - or trade.

Their country's name came from that prince, and from then on they lived and multiplied in an unnoticed corner next to their ancestral land under the name of the Xerxes.

Out of caution, if Alan interfered too much in Xerxes' internal affairs, Xerxes would soon become a vassal of the empire. After all, no one had a deeper understanding of the exploitation of their own people than the Zoroastrians. Although they were far away from the extraordinary in Thurso, they could stay away from domestic turmoil. Otherwise, as a group of descendants of "survivors", if Xerxes was annexed by Alan, these indigenous dignitaries would soon be devoured by the garrison, governors, and dignitaries from the domestic families.

However, they were able to maintain the independent kingdom of Xerxes, which was established by the fire worshippers, and they were second to none and

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Being the king and hegemon of their territory, they enjoyed endless happiness, so the Xerxes never thought of going south to ask for reinforcements from the Alan Empire to help them eliminate the remaining Astarian nations. Not to mention whether the big brother was willing or not, after the war, the Xerxes Kingdom would probably be turned into a province and ruled by a governor appointed by the Iskhanfa court.

Chapter 127: Ardabil (17)

Relying on the indifference of the mages and the Xerxes' alternative approach and the good relationship they had established with the church over several generations, they, Huo Zun, moved the remains of a prophet of light to Parsamende, and donated a full ten years of the kingdom's income as offerings. They asked a high priest of the Holy Fire to designate Parsamende, the capital of Xerxes, as a "holy place" for fire worshippers at the Sunrise Conference, and at the same time sent the descendants of the previous high priest there to ignite the "Holy Fire of Vengeance".

To symbolize the sacred and eternal revenge of the Fire Worshipers on their former enemies.

Later, the Xerxes simply made this descendant of the high priest's bloodline the king and offered him countless wives and concubines. From then on, the "Priest King of the Holy City" became a custom in the Xerxes Kingdom.

In this way, Xerxes gained the favor of the church. A great prophet advised the King of Kings, who originally wanted to expand his territory to the north and was the first to bear the brunt of the Kingdom of Xerxes, to say:

The flourishing of branches and leaves, the large trunk and the small branches are the principles of all things. There is no tree without branches.

Xerxes was zealous for revenge, and he served the remains of the prophet devoutly, guarded the sacred places, and paid tribute year after year without disrespect, so it was useless to attack him;

Bullying outsiders was one thing, but bullying a loyal branch of the Zoroastrians was indeed a bit unreasonable. So from then on, the Alans never sent soldiers north of Semnan, the southernmost city of the former Kingdom of Xerxes, which is now Constantine.

From then on, the Xerxes lived safely and developed their own kingdom on this land, which was far less vast than Alan but was large enough for them to develop. Their wars were basically internal struggles or external provocations, and the attacks between them and their old neighbors and old enemies in the west were also evenly matched.

After the prince, the Xerxes never reached such a peak of power again; but in the same way, the remnants of Asta, without external threats, soon split into two, with kings being respected and princes rising up. There were both noble bloodlines falling into the mortal world and insignificant pawns rising up and usurping the throne.

According to statistics from Roman historians, there were a total of seventy-two countries, large and small, throughout the history of Thurso.

For example, Asseni and Mirre to the south of the Kingdom of Bleio once belonged to the same country, then split. Historically, they belonged to Bleio, but later became independent. Most of them are similar to this situation.

As for those who claimed to be kings (those who founded royal families or usurped the throne), there were even more of them. In this small place, there were many inspiring stories, including both majestic and moving epics and sad fairy tales.

The combined strength of the remnants of Ashtar far exceeded that of Xerxes, but it was impossible for them to unite and travel thousands of miles through foreign lands, over mountains, to eliminate an enemy that posed no threat to them.

It was also impossible for the Xerxes to conquer the Asta people in the west.

The two sides were separated by mountains, and occasionally fought each other out of habit, falling into a strange balance.

The expansion of Western Satrap and King Adwin has occurred in history, but after one or two generations of "effort", it will eventually fall back to its original position. However, he happened to encounter the birth of a variable.

The arrival of El broke this balance.

He first helped Dwengal defeat Adwin who was on the westward expedition, established his own territory in the Wall Plain, and then conquered the border areas. He unified the numerous mountain tribes through faith, steel, and the future, and made them his loyal force. He then controlled Dwengal's power to the west, and then started fighting with the feudal lords in the country. The king also fell, and the entire Kingdom of Brio fell into the hands of a "new country" called the Sage Council, which was actually dominated by him.

After that, it continued to expand towards neighboring countries, under the banner of revenge for their previous military intervention, it annexed countries with unprecedented force, quickly unified most of Thurso, and incorporated the power of the remnants of Asta into its own country.

Then he headed west and destroyed the Kingdom of Xerxes, which had stood in Thurso for thousands of years. This move caused dissatisfaction among the Alan people, especially the church, which was furious.

The Priest King and the Three Satraps were all held captive by Aiel as playthings for his amusement. The original Kingdom of Xerxes was split into three provinces. The holy city where the remains of the Prophet of Light lay, and Parsamende, who possessed the "Holy Flame of Vengeance," became the target of revenge by the Fire Worshipers.

Descendants of the Ashtar people.

mastered.

This is something that the church cannot tolerate, but the situation has been unstable in recent years, so they didn't know whether they did too much in the beginning.

But the King of Kings wanted to provoke a war to establish his prestige and use this opportunity to purge Iskhanfa, so a war broke out.

The Alan army marched into the land that originally belonged to the Zoroastrians with unstoppable force.

But what they saw was not food and drink to welcome the royal army.

Instead, it is a desolate and barren place with nine out of ten houses empty.

The people in this land seemed to have "disappeared".

Of course, people cannot disappear out of thin air, except by magic.

Instead, it was those guys who called themselves "Romans" who evacuated all the people from this land.

Chapter 151: Empty City

In the holy city of Parsamund, where the "fire of revenge" is burning.

The Alan Empire's northern expeditionary force easily "captured" the city, but the soldiers

Chapter 197

Our mood changed from excitement and joy at the beginning to boredom and irritability later, just from the time we arrived to the time we settled in for one day.

It went so well.

Like the cities their horses had previously trodden upon, this most prominent and prosperous city in the former Kingdom of Xerxes had been emptied by the Romans before the arrival of the Alans.

Even the curtains and carpets covering the palace where the priest king lived were rolled away.

During its heyday, the city had a population of hundreds of thousands. Even when the Romans captured it, there were nearly 300,000 people living around the city. However, when the Alans captured it, Pasamende was just an empty city.

There were no more than a thousand residents left in the city, either those who had hidden to avoid migration or those who were "ordered" to stay and were hired workers responsible for keeping the city clean.

It shows a kind of feeling of "I know you are coming, hey, I welcome you to come, I have cleaned the place and opened the door for you to come in..."

Provocative attitude.

Yes, some people may think that I am showing weakness by giving you the whole city without bloodshed, but from the perspective of the Alan people:

I came all the way to your poor place to fight for this broken city. What about that "holy fire"?

"Gold! Gold! My slave still has gold!"

The entire city was emptied by the Romans. The Alan people who came here with the dream of making a fortune did not move a single hair. There were less than a thousand people left in the entire city, which was less than the number of two Alan battalions combined. Unless they were made of gold, there would be no way they would be enough for the northern expedition army to share.

After entering the city, the Imperial Legion gathered these people under custody, designated an area for them to live in, and did not make things difficult for them. They only restricted them from going out without orders - in fact, this was a form of protection for these people.

Although mosquito legs are also meat, these people are not even mosquito legs.

There are only so few people left in such a big city. If they are treated as slaves and spoils without any explanation, even the Alan people themselves will find it unbearable.

From the time they assembled to the time they set out, the person who had traveled the farthest had walked for almost half a year (the conscription order was issued in advance, but the target was determined only after the legion was ready). Now they had finally arrived at the enemy's territory, but they didn't even see the enemy's shadow, which made the entire army from top to bottom extremely dissatisfied.

The commander of the vanguard angrily sent a battle report to the prince in the rear, describing the Romans as a group of "cowardly moles, despicable flying bats, maggots in the gutter..."

In short, all kinds of abusive words were used.

After asking the locals, they already knew how the Romans managed to evacuate a city in two months.

The north of Xerxes' kingdom was also connected to the steppe.

The Romans hired a nomadic Khanate, which was said to have expanded to the Altai steppe northeast of the Alan Empire, also known as the Western Sea. This was what the ancient East Continent colonists called it. They drove hundreds of thousands of livestock to help them empty Pasamende and take the smooth road from the north to the west back to Thurso.

This made the Alan people very angry. They had traveled a long distance on an expedition, but ended up gaining nothing. This was undoubtedly equivalent to "failure."

The prince, who was resting with the governor and his entourage in the capital of Shirvanshah province in the rear, was also annoyed when he heard the news, thinking that the Romans were really "unkind".

If you don't dare to fight, you can take the initiative to send people to cede land and pay compensation to surrender, giving up face and benefits. The prince is not going north this time to destroy Rome, but to set up a province to rule it.

But not daring to fight, withdrawing troops and giving up land, emptying the cities, and leaving no spoils for the enemy was indeed "unwise".

The Alan people love war because war can bring them benefits.

Whether it was the wealth directly looted or the enslavement of prisoners of war and civilians of enemy countries, it was an important factor supporting their enthusiasm for war.

But now they had come such a long way and gained nothing, and the soldiers were beginning to feel resentful. The prince himself stayed behind because he did not take the Romans seriously at all. His first priority was to be able to lead his troops back to Iskhanfa as soon as changes happened in the court, ascend the bright throne of the King of Kings, and inherit the throne.

But to achieve this, besides the death of the emperor, there is another key point - Prince Ahmed needs to get the support of his subordinates, the northern expedition army of up to 300,000 people.

Only in this way would he have enough confidence to claim the throne. With the endorsement of the Great Dharma King and the will of the "late emperor", it would be "reasonable" for him to sit on the throne of light.

Otherwise, an assassination or a mutiny would be enough to make all his and the emperor's efforts come to nothing.

Before setting out on the expedition, Ahmed and the emperor had planned that they would let the soldiers go without any worries, as they would be robbing "barbarians" anyway. As long as the legion could make a profit, they would naturally support Prince Ahmed. If something happened later, he would naturally produce the will and the testimony of the Dharma King, and call on 300,000 soldiers to support him in ascending the throne. He would then be given promotions and rewards. How could the legion not support him?

By then, he would have the late emperor's will and the Dharma King's witness on his left, and an army of 300,000 to support him on his right.

As long as the powerful people in Iskhanfa did not want to go to the point of civil war and the Northern Expedition Army following Prince Ahmed to turn around and head south to "suppress the rebellion", they had no choice but to recognize the prince's succession to the throne.

But the prerequisite for all this is that Prince Ahmed must be able to gain the support of this legion.

Chapter 127: Arda

Chapter 198

Buehler (18)

Now that they had reached Pasamend, the soldiers had not gained any spoils, and resentment had begun to grow among the lower classes. They had run so far but gained nothing. Although it was the enemy's doing, it was inevitable that this feeling of disappointment would extend to Prince Ahmed as well.

If this situation is allowed to develop, it will be much more difficult to gain the support of the Northern Army when the Iskhanfa Incident occurs and the King of Kings dies suddenly. When the prince plans to succeed to the throne, it will be much more difficult to gain the support of the Northern Army.

Even if he could be tempted with benefits, it would certainly cost much more than feeding the Northern Army during the northern expedition to Rome. Even if the prince could successfully succeed to the throne, fulfilling his promise would be a huge expense, and might even make his throne unstable.

But he is now in a dilemma.

The Romans made it clear that they wanted to avoid war and were even willing to give up all the territory of the well-developed former Kingdom of Xerxes, but they also relocated all the people to prevent the Alans from looting. This was a laborious but clever way to reduce losses.

Thurso is a land poor in magic. To be precise, within the scope of Constantine City, the magic contained in this land has dropped to a very poor level. This makes it impossible for many war machines that rely on magic to operate for a long time. All supplies can only rely on people and animals. Although the Alan Empire is rich, the daily expenses of 300,000 troops in the north are a huge expense, and it is definitely not sustainable in the long run.

In the Governor's Mansion in Shilvan, the prince was thinking about the next strategy.

It is normal for barbarians to have no honor and no shame.

When they encounter an opponent they know they cannot defeat, they hide in the ravines and curl up, just like wild animals know how to avoid hunters.

So how does he deal with these "rats"?

152: Bribery?

Caesar, dressed like a nomad, wearing a felt hat, holding a bow and carrying a bag, a long coat and a red cloak, was hunting on horseback with his "personal guards". He whistled, and a specially trained falcon landed on his raised right arm.

He took out the information from the Khan Court from the tube tied to the falcon's leg, laughed, and shared the information with his brothers.

"The Alan people want to hire us for a large sum of money."

A group of companions who usually disguised themselves as the most trusted guards of "Caesar Khan" and could handle the affairs of "Dragon Eagle Khan Court" on his behalf, but were actually his brothers or descendants, all laughed out loud and passed the paper around.

Caesar also found Alan's idea amusing, but he had more important things to do immediately.

【Father! 】

After reading the information, he immediately sent a request for a psychic call to Al in Constantinople.

A vast grassland, hundreds of kilometers away from Constantinople, located in the heart of the Cyrus Kingdom, but the third son did not have to wait long before he felt a great power descending upon his mind.

【What's up? 】

Far away in the capital of Rome, Al was lying naked in a bathtub covered with flower petals. Surrounding him were at least a dozen bodies, some plump, some young, and some charming. There was no place idle from head to toe, but the moment he received Caesar's call, he immediately cast his consciousness over.

After receiving his father's response, Caesar did not hesitate at all and immediately relayed the matter to Al, waiting for his father's instructions.

When Al in Constantinople heard the news, he spat out what he was biting and laughed.

"Then let's have a good talk with them. On a grassland where only the strong survive, it's not uncommon for greedy nomads to change their employers. However, obviously, this requires tangible benefits to be obtained."

[I believe you can do it. Please note that the Alan people may not fully trust you... but as long as they are willing to move forward, it's fine. I trust you to do the work.]

He instructed Caesar to cater to the enemy's calculations and play along with them in this drama.

The greedy Alans could not go to war without gaining anything, otherwise they would be defeated even if they won. No one from the top to the bottom could accept such an outcome, so Ai'er would rather spend a lot of manpower to relocate as many people as possible from Xerxes' original land, and also take away movable property and wealth, just to make the Alans choose to fight him seriously because their land had been "plundered" too cleanly and there was no room for looting, and they were eager to further invade Rome's "homeland" after "recovering" Xerxes' kingdom.

Because Rome adopted a strategy of avoiding war and relocating people, it was impossible to keep running away. Relocating to the west of the border mountains and into the territory of the Kingdom of Bleio was already a huge project. In fact, many people did not really reach this step, but were relocated to the original border mountains that had been continuously developed. The fanatical mountain people there could provide military and material assistance to the refugees. If the Alans really broke into the mountains, they, as local people, also had ways to deal with it.

Rome was a traditional kingdom composed mainly of cities and towns, not a nomadic people whose entire property depended on livestock and the backs of livestock. The migration of settlers meant giving up very important real estate such as land and houses, which was a huge loss. If the Alans could not move the land and houses, couldn't they just burn them down to vent their anger?

Even if we want to avoid war, there must be a limit. Otherwise, if the Alans keep advancing, will Rome keep moving westward and eventually move all the way to the sea?

Therefore, across the border, the place called "Norman" city is their first line of defense, or more accurately, the second line of defense. If the enemy is not stupid, they will definitely set up a large number of outposts and fortresses in the border area. The terrain here is rugged, and the Alan people came from afar. Even if they have a

Chapter 199

Even with the help of the law, it is very difficult for the army to march into the mountains, not to mention that they will be harassed by the enemy along the way.

After looking at the map of the Thurso kingdoms, Prince Ahmed and his followers quickly came to a conclusion:

If they wanted to continue the attack, they had to go north, around the grassland to the west, and then enter the Roman homeland through several passes north of Thurso.

Of course, a detachment could be sent through the border mountains to share the enemy's pressure, but this would definitely be a tough job. Mountain marching is hard and tiring, and the prince couldn't make a decision at the moment.