Four-Armed Divine Emperor

This was the best outcome for them, most of whom were women, children, the elderly and the young. Shafasha did not kill all the enemies who threatened him like the previous kings did. If they were to follow the standards of Artasis IX's brother, Ahmad IV, and his father, Artasis VIII, these people would not only be brought to Iskhanfa, but the fire priests would hold a religious ceremony for them, which was actually cremation, to preserve their appearance and bless their afterlife.

They were directly taken away for collective execution in pursuit of quick peace of mind. Once their heads fell to the ground and they were dead, they would no longer pose a threat to the emperor.

Some of these relatives who have no ability to resist will be executed, some will be enslaved, and some will be exiled. Only a very small number of people will survive to inherit a little inheritance and family name. This is a common practice among Zoroastrians. No matter how great the hatred is, they will not easily cut off the bloodline of a famous family. These few survivors will pass on the bloodline to show that there is no interruption in the family lineage and there is still a chance to make a comeback.

Artasis IX's handling of the matter could definitely be described as magnanimous, more merciful than several Shafashas before him.

......

The captives who were granted mercy and apologized were taken away, and then the Guards would send them home and then keep them under custody for a period of time, which was also a kind of protection to prevent other enemies from persecuting these orphans and widows.

This was one of the few large-scale bloody battles since Artasis IX ascended the throne.

The last event with such a great influence was when he overthrew the Grand Vizier who had supported him after he ascended the throne. In a sense, he was the imperial prime minister. Of course, the actual authority of this position was relatively floating, because there could be multiple Grand Viziers at the same time, so it depends on the specific situation.

The strong ones can control the government, depose and enthrone the king of kings, and defile the palace... If they are weak, they may become the scapegoat in Shafasha's hands and be manipulated at will.

None of the other visits had as far-reaching an impact as these two.

The overthrow of the Grand Vizier who supported him stabilized the throne of Artasis IX. Otherwise, the authoritarian Grand Vizier might have thought of deposing the emperor to establish his authority, deposing the more shrewd Artasis and supporting a leisurely prince like Prince Ahmed who was not involved in military and political affairs to succeed to the throne so that he could control the government.

With this victory, Shafasha undoubtedly completely consolidated and expanded the authority of his throne. This group of powerful people who offered sacrifices to the fire were the first hostile forces powerful enough to threaten the throne after the Grand Vizier. Now they were eliminated by Shafasha with thunder and lightning, and the main culprits were killed. At the same time, he showed his own skills and made his subjects realize the king's "benevolence and power" and "benevolent skills". It is believed that there will be no second group of challengers to the throne of light for quite some time.

Artasis already had numerous ideas on how to revive the empire, and the grand blueprint had been slowly unfolding.

He will move towards a great goal:

Revive the Empire!

Restore the glory of the Fire Worshiper Millennium Empire!

Now that he had won a great victory, the emperor, filled with pride, did not consider the idea of ​​abandoning his followers after the rabbit had died. He was confident that he could control everything. Even if Prince Ahmed won a great victory in the north and showed signs of rebellion, he was sure that he could control it.

If the latter behaved well and remained quiet after conquering the northern barbarians, the emperor would take advantage of his military prestige and would not hesitate to give his cousin more opportunities in the future.

Artasis IX wanted to be given glorious titles such as "Conqueror", "Victor", "Emperor" and "Legislator" by the people and the nations of Tartarus in the future. Next to the bright sun, there should be room for some stars whose brightness is far inferior to its own.

Judging by the time, Prince Ahmed’s battle in the north is about to be decided, right?

189: Little Bird

Throne Room.

Artasis IX sat on a throne that was a little smaller than the Throne of Light, but still exuded majesty and splendor. Three beautiful slave girls of noble descent, who were favored by Shafasha and had been awarded the throne, were serving the king wholeheartedly with their lips and tongues.

Chapter 237

Chapter 127: Ardabil (38)

The three beauties licked Artasis's naked body intently with their sweet tongues, and used their lips and tongues to apply a magic potion that could nourish the emperor's body.

The palace steward, who was also Shafasha's trusted right-hand man and the empire's greatest intelligence chief, was kneeling at Shafasha's feet, reporting all kinds of information collected by the palace network to the Supreme Being.

There were also several palace clerk slaves who prepared physical documents of all sizes. Whenever the steward mentioned something, they would immediately find the document with specific information and present it to the side of the throne.

These clerical slaves were all mute. They were loyal slaves kept in the palace for generations. A large number of such slaves formed a "silent cabinet" for Shafasha in the Iskhanfa Palace. Even if the emperor was completely in trouble and ignored the court meetings composed of viziers and pasha generals, or was excluded by the struggle, he could still rely on these loyal and unrebellious slaves to effectively manage the empire, or even launch a coup and purge, and then replace all court officials with royal slaves.

If Shafasha was interested in a piece of information, he would flick his left index finger slightly, and the clerks would unfold the information in front of the emperor for him to examine carefully.

Most of the things discussed and mentioned in the inner rooms of this forbidden palace are very confidential information that is not convenient to be made public.

For example, a conflict breaks out within a large family, and one faction is secretly accumulating strength and may resort to force to seize power; the governor of a certain place is brutal and unjust (considering the consistent characteristics of Zoroastrians, if even they consider him brutal, then he is truly brutal to the extreme), which has caused strong dissatisfaction among local powerful factions, and the possibility of a "civil war" breaking out in the nearby province cannot be ruled out;

Or perhaps a spy planted in the Iskhan Palace delivered crucial intelligence, involving the core secrets of a long-standing and prestigious family; or a spy planted near a governor or military governor conveyed their intention to establish a separatist regime or expand their power...

This report will present different types of information to Shafasha at different times based on urgency and category for his judgment and consideration.

As for Artasis IX, there are only two things that he cares about most at the moment:

First, he decisively resolved the reactions of all parties to the crisis faced by the core of the empire, namely the Iskhanfa.

The second is the progress of the war in which Prince Ahmed led an army of 300,000 to the north to fight against the newly emerged barbarians called Rome on the border.

He had not paid much attention to the Northern Expedition Army before, because his main energy was focused on internal affairs. He only took the time to make a remote projection to let the prince move forward boldly.

In order to announce the good news, the prince also slightly "polished" the battle report. For example, the Romans directly emptied the Zoroastrian holy site where the Fire of Vengeance was located, Pasamenes. On the territory of the former Kingdom of Xerxes, the northern expeditionary army of the Alan Empire "recaptured" it without firing a single sword or arrow.

But what they took over was an almost empty land. Apart from those deserted cities, there was nothing of value. The barbarians sacrificed their chariots to save their kings, and deliberately gave it up in the hope of satisfying the appetite of the Zoroastrians.

In the battle report that the prince gave to Iskhanfa, it became:

The might of Lai Shafasha spread far and wide. Our imperial army, like a celestial army, is invincible in every attack and every battle... At the sound of our drums, the barbarians are terrified and flee. Our army pursues them for a hundred miles a day, capturing more than ten cities...

Although there is no substantial record, it is true that at least judging from the description, there are not many problems.

The Zoroastrians were quite steadfast in their calculations and would not add zeros to a ten-digit military achievement, because the number of captures and prisoners was directly related to the rewards. Most of the time, the prisoners of the legion would eventually become the soldiers' own slaves, so they were particularly rigorous in this regard.

Experienced generals can often roughly judge what kind of battle it is just by looking at the battle report that states how many prisoners were captured and the number of casualties.

Shafasa didn't understand much of this, but the professionally trained slaves would make up for the shortcomings of the young and incompetent emperor to a great extent, as long as the emperor was willing to adjust his mindset and accept the slaves' advice.

"Tell me about the news of the Northern Army." Shafasa raised his fingers and changed his posture, from left to right, supporting his cheek.

He was a little tired. He had put a lot of energy into defeating his enemies during this period, often dealing with affairs day and night. Now that the dust had settled and his biggest worry had been eliminated, Artasis IX felt a little tired after his excitement and joy.

The wardrobe manager, nicknamed "Little Bird", is a little fat, which is normal for this position. After all, as a eunuch, as a man, he will never be able to experience the joy brought by good brothers in this life. It is very common for him to turn to pursue power, wealth, and satisfy his appetite.

He was wearing a loose silk robe and an Alan-style high-crowned hat, and looked a little funny, but outside the Iskhan Palace, no powerful person would not understand or fear this "Grand Chamberlain" who had served two kings of kings.

The Wardrobe Master has always been a trusted slave appointed by the Shafashas, ​​because this position can be said to be managing the eyes and ears of the King of Kings. He is also respected as the "Grand Vizier without a Cape". According to tradition, the prime ministers of the empire will be given a red satin shoulder cape by the court to represent their both civil and military prowess.

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of Rongxun.

According to tradition, after a new king ascends the throne, the position of Wardrobe Master will soon be replaced by a slave trusted by the new Shafasha, and the previous Wardrobe Master will retreat to the position of deputy to assist the new king and the new emperor, and will be honored in the palace for the rest of his life.

But "Little Bird" was able to serve Artasis IX's brother, Ahmet IV, and even after the latter died in unclear circumstances, the reason being that no one would believe was "drunkenness", and he was still valued by Artasis IX today, which shows his ability and skills.

.......

The fat "little bird" that could never fly knelt in front of the emperor. This is how reports have been made from the past to the present.

His mind worked quickly and his memory was strong. After a brief pause, he slowly and calmly told the news about Prince Ahmed's army that he had received from the palace intelligence network.

"Little Bird" originally planned to talk about this matter later so that the emperor could maintain his mood in advance to deal with the current matters, or relax.

But since the Supreme and Most Noble One has already asked specifically, it is only right and proper for him to report all the information truthfully to the monarch.

Chapter 190: What is the uniqueness of barbarism?

The portly palace steward paused. With his kind appearance and slightly tight service, no one would regard this harmless fat man with a smirk on his face as a threat.

"The most recent battle report was sent back fifteen days ago, at the end of July. The Northern Legion is besieging the enemy's fortress in the corridor leading to the interior of the barbarian country, north of the Thurso Mountains. The progress is smooth."

"'Remnant Ashes' sent back intelligence five days ago, saying the legion's attack was going poorly, the barbarians were resisting resolutely, and the northern army had suffered considerable losses. The prince had executed thirteen officers and then requested that the Parthian legion also join the battle and capture the fortress."

This is not a big deal.

After the emperor's position was consolidated, the importance of the prince's side declined greatly. What's more, they were fighting against a group of barbarians, a poor and demonic land that was of no use to the emperor except to exile troublemakers and settle refugees.

If a war breaks out with Western countries, the Fertile Land, or the Indian nations, military intelligence and war reports will definitely be reported to the king as soon as possible.

Shafasa drummed his fingers and frowned.

"Ahmed, is it pride or incompetence that made him unable to quickly defeat a group of barbarians even though he led the elite troops of the empire?"

The news from the Northern Army made the prince slightly disappointed.

At this important moment, when he had just defeated a group of enemies, he wanted to use the news of a victory to add glory to the throne. Expanding territory has always been the best way to strengthen the emperor's authority.

Conquering Rome would have brought nearly ten million more people—and possibly tens of millions more slaves—under the empire.

As well as a vast land that could be divided into eight or nine provinces, he could easily carry out a small-scale "granting honors to meritorious officials" on the frontier. Even though the output of the poor demon land could not be compared with the rich homeland of the empire, it was, after all, a developed and inhabited land.

Combined with winning the political struggle, this would greatly strengthen Shafasha's authority and provide more momentum for the reforms he wanted to implement later, but Ahmed's progress was obviously beyond the emperor's expectations.

Even if the prince had conquered the barbarian country with great force, and then privately rewarded his generals lavishly, and had made no secret of his ambition for the throne before the news of Iskhanfar's situation reached him, it would not have been surprising to him. But the fact that there was no progress - that there was no battle - was indeed something that Artasis had not expected.

"Could it be that the barbarians, like the Aegeans, have the descendants of those who stole fire supporting them behind the scenes?" Artasis began to doubt the Northern Army's poor progress and began to wonder if there were "foreign forces" interfering.

The predecessor of the Kronos Empire was a country founded by a governor who, after the collapse of the Ashtar Empire, grew tired of the chaos of the Successor Wars and led his army northward to expand into the heart of the Tartarus continent, which was still in the early stages of the tribal and city-state era and had a relatively backward civilization compared to the areas around the Titan Sea.

Although the people were no longer the same after several changes, the inheritance relationship still existed. This made the Alan Empire, which was severely hindered in all aspects by the other side and could not expand westward, very angry. They dug out a term from ancient books to describe the Asta people who led the army eastward to conquer and ravage the great ancient empire:

Fire thief.

To describe the Cronos people.

Because the Zoroastrians believed that the Aegeans and later the Ashtar Empire had stolen and robbed the knowledge and wealth of the Zoroastrian Empire, which was the most brilliant civilization of the Tartarus continent during the "Classical Empire Age" between the end of the Witch King Age and the beginning of the Mage Age, through various means. This led to the current situation in which the center of Tartarus civilization is gradually moving westward and northward. Therefore, they hated the Ashtar Empire and the Aegeans and called them "thieves."

But soon, Artasis shook his head again and clicked his fingers twice. The three noble female slaves who were licking his body immediately stopped their service and knelt beside Shafasa's throne.

Chapter 127: Ardabil (39)

"The descendants of thieves would not think that we would use our forces against Thurso, nor would they stoop so low as to mix with a group of barbarians from the God-forsaken Land. That would only make them laugh and bring shame to their honor."

The emperor himself denied his view, the Kronos

Chapter 239

No matter what, it is now one of the three major empires on the continent, alongside the Zoroastrian Alan.

Even if its strategy has always been to contain the Usriv Tsardom in the north and support the Aegean states and the small countries of Antolia in the east to block the westward expansion of Alan, it would not take advantage of every small fish and shrimp.

What's more, the countries of Thurso are a land poor in demons, with mountains and storm seas to the west. Although you can sail directly to the prosperous realm, as the name suggests, the storm sea has been raging with strong winds and huge waves for years, which are the traces left by the battle between a witch king and the great wizards of the White Tower. It is okay to sail slowly along the coast as much as possible, but if you want to build a fleet to launch a surprise attack on the Aegean, it is simply seeking death.

To the north is the black grassland, to the north are nomads, and further west are the Ugol people and the Kushkan people who serve the Uslif Empire. There is no room for passage at all. Even if the Alan people seize this place, they will never pose a threat to the Kronos people and the prosperous territory west of Antolia.

In addition, because of the poverty of demons, the place of Serso has been unknown and silent for hundreds or thousands of years. If it is not right on the edge of the Alan Empire, I am afraid that such a place with almost no presence cannot be found on the map of Shafasha.

Sharing the same language and ethnicity as the Alan people and being descendants of ancient princes, the Kingdom of Xerxes, which ignited the fire of revenge, borders the northern province of the Alan Empire. For hundreds of years, there has been no talk of "help from the big brother" and it is accustomed to living its own life behind closed doors. At most, it does business with its fellow countrymen in the south, and from time to time some pilgrims come to admire the beauty of the "holy land".

Its connection with foreign countries is probably the occasional travelers and noble students, such as the female knight Ansuna who went to the prosperous realm to study with the support of the old patriarch, luckily landed on the floating city, and finally became a high-level knight and returned to Devangel to conduct folk exchanges.

After much thought, Artasis really could not have imagined that Prince Ahmed, with an army of 300,000, including tens of thousands of elite troops of the Parthian Legion, was blocked by a group of barbarians in a magic-poor land where there were destined to be few mages, so that the reasons for the battle report had to be described as "considerable damage" and "resolute resistance".

Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration.

Shafasha recalled the siege camp outside the Helvetic Fortress and sighed:

"Barbarians emerge from poor mountains and harsh waters—their barbarism makes them more courageous and they possess to some extent the ferocity of wild beasts and the tradition of group cooperation." Therefore, they are often able to suppress the ideas of civilized commanders for a certain period of time.

"Could it be that these barbarians are indeed unique?"

191: Empire

For an emperor with a little ambition and talent, the conquests of Emperor Ashtar are a must-study material.

When he was alive, all kings and nations feared his reputation and were afraid of his envoys arriving or his banner appearing in their sight, even on the border of a neighboring country.

But after the emperor's death, his empire fell apart.

The kings who rose on this rich legacy all wanted to become the second "Great Emperor", emulating the first conqueror in history who achieved great achievements comparable to the Witch-King as a mortal. However, they were all wary of their surroundings, guarding against their neighbors becoming him.

This is especially true for the Zoroastrians, who despise the emperor's origins, the empire he founded, the "cruelness" he displayed in some aspects, the incompetent successors of his great empire, and the Western nations that, in a sense, also inherited the bloodline of the Ashtar Empire...

On the other hand, it is difficult to describe the sacrifices held on various occasions to praise the conqueror who, as an outsider for the first time, destroyed and annexed the country established by the Zoroastrians.

There is still a room in the Iskhanfa Palace, the "Hall of Glory", which is said to be the palace where the emperor first came here and stayed to rest. The emperor's portrait, saddle and cloak are hung in the room. Many kings of all dynasties like to go there for "visiting". They will even change into the equipment passed down by ancient emperors and act like conquerors.

The conqueror in the portrait is wearing traditional Zoroastrian clothing, a tall hat, and a very beautiful beard on his chin. There is indeed such an image in history, but it was only when the emperor held an oiling ceremony for himself that he deliberately wore such an oriental dress to show that he was:

The king of two worlds.

In today's Zoroastrian Alan Empire, among the prominent and famous families, there are also some with glorious names in their genealogies. However, when traced back to a certain time, there are often some "Western names" with obvious linguistic characteristics between different civilizations and countries because there was no common language invented by wizards at that time.

For those who are determined to:

For Artasis IX, who restored the glory of the empire, the deeds of a great conqueror and the miraculous rise of his kingdom are examples that must be studied.

The conqueror's country also started from the wild mountains. His father laid the foundation for the rise of the empire by conquering and assimilating the barbarians and learning the advanced technology of the southern civilization. In the era of the conqueror, he first defeated the invading army from the east in the war, and then went south to form an alliance with the Aegean city-states, forcing them to form a coalition to launch a massive eastward expedition. Then, during the eastward expedition, he had enough energy to arrange local affairs, and used his brilliant victories in distant countries to continuously erode the independence of the southern city-states. In the end, it only took two small-scale wars, and the emperor himself did not even return with the legions to incorporate the Aegean into the territory of the empire.

The "Roman Republic" that suddenly emerged in the mountains of Thurso

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", in terms of origin, they are similar to the original Ashtar people - and the most important point is:

Although today, no one is fighting for or paying attention to the glory and inheritance of the ancient empire anymore, only the fire worshipper Alan pays extra attention to it because of his special thoughts about his "arch-enemy". Even the northern Aegean where the Asta people made their fortune has become a "neutral zone" where big and small countries fight each other and the behemoth Kronos in the north intervenes and checks and balances.