Four-Armed Divine Emperor

Empire and conqueror are just cold nouns in historical books. No one would associate them with their actual selves, thinking that a thousand years ago on the same land, the conqueror and his legion launched an expedition that was almost impossible from the perspective of mortals.

But the Alan people have not forgotten...

Thurso nations.

A descendant of Ashtar.

A group of remnants of the ancient empire who fled in time after the collapse of the empire and survived to this day in the demon-poor land of Thurso.

Although their bloodline has been mixed to some extent through intermarriage with local people, all the nations of Thurso in the world claim to be descendants of Ashtar, and no one can compete with them for this title.

Prince Ahmed's brief defeat gave the emperor a lot to think about, and he even had a bizarre idea:

If a thousand years ago, if Thurso was not a land of poor demons, then the "Rome" born here might have replicated, or shown in advance, the Asta Empire's road to conquest.

They were also a newly born and vigorous nation, and they also resisted the attack of a powerful empire with a small force...

Perhaps it was the euphoria brought by victory and the fatigue that made Shafasa's thoughts jump a little. He suddenly became interested and discussed historical issues with the competent intelligence chief, "Little Bird".

Artasis discussed his reflections on the numerous historical instances of "barbarism triumphing over civilization" and "backwardness suppressing advancement." The studious and erudite Shafasa even cited events that occurred on the Eastern Continent, which, separated from Tartarus by a vast ocean, had historically had little contact with the continent. Throughout its long history, there had been only two wars lasting less than a hundred years, with the rest of the time devoted to trade and commerce.

A group of barbarians who served the Eastern Empire turned against the host after the dynasty's decline, occupied the capital of the empire, and established a barbarian state based on it. They then conquered everywhere and almost destroyed the Eastern Empire...

He cited many examples of why barbarism could "defeat" civilization, such as corruption, degeneration, frequent internal strife, and unawareness of the threat posed by barbarians; on the other hand, the backward side was in the rising period of the dynasty at the beginning of its establishment and was able to unite as one. Tribal society was more equal than royal feudalism. Chiefs and generals were faithful commanders to the tribesmen and warriors, and they were also close ethnic groups. Facing common enemies and a bright future, they could be far more united than corrupt "civilized people".

The barbarians try to win big with small means, and if they fail to win, they will be defeated, and if they fail to succeed, they will perish;

However, "advanced civilizations" like the Zoroastrian Empire in history did not unite to deal with threats. The King of Kings launched two rash attacks, not waiting for reinforcements to arrive, and suffered disastrous defeats. This greatly damaged his prestige and also made the governors and generals in various places have other ideas. Some powerful localities even ran to the conqueror's expeditionary force to form marriages, were willing to give way, and sent troops to join the conqueror as "mercenaries", as long as the other party would let go of the attack on them...

Artasis talked a lot with the chief of intelligence. Although he was talking about "why the barbarians could rise", what he actually wanted to reflect on was "why the powerful civilization declined", summarizing the lessons of history and consciously having a clear understanding.

Take a look at the present Alan Empire.

Corruption, internal strife, division... Governors and generals in various regions controlled their own armies and carved out territories to establish their own kingdoms...

The emperor changed three times in ten years, the flags on the city walls changed, and the central authority gradually declined... The western wars suffered successive defeats, first the loss of Antolia, then the Aegean War, which cut off the western gateway; then there was the Battle of Huangsha, facing the coalition forces, the empire's expedition failed and was forced to withdraw from the prosperous fertile land...

The Bactrian princes to the east were also restless, with border incidents arising from time to time. In the northeastern Altai steppes, nomadic horse thieves frequently invaded. These fearless beastmen, desperate enough to go after floating cities, didn't care whether there were mages in charge. As a result, the empire had to deploy a large number of border troops to prevent the invasions, placing a heavy annual financial burden...

Although the empire is large, it is like a seriously ill person in the late stage, bloated, with wounds and hidden diseases everywhere, and festering and oozing pus everywhere.

Even though the prosperity of the Iskandhaan was still as raging as oil boiling in the fire, and the border wars were lost, it did not prevent the internal strife in the imperial capital from continuing one after another, and the people of the royal city continued to enjoy themselves; but before the collapse of the empire in history, wasn’t the Iskandhaan people at that time also like this?

192: Defeat

Artasis IX saw many problems that the empire was facing now. Although the White Tower order now overrides the secular world, a great empire will not collapse easily, and the unrest in the mortal world will also harm the interests of the mages to some extent, but the problem is always there, which will continue to harm the health of the empire and shorten its lifespan.

Chapter 127: Ardabil (40)

As an ambitious king, Artasis did not want to be irresponsible and leave the problem to future generations to solve.

At least he should have done something, so that he would not end up like his father and brothers a hundred years later, where his life's merits and demerits would probably be described in just a few lines in history.

Chapter 241

Just as Shafasha was looking back at history, connecting it with the present and imagining the future.

Three mysterious men, shrouded in gray robes, came into the palace under the guidance of their servants.

They knelt at a distance and presented a report to the throne.

Servant of Ashes.

"Ashes" is the name of the intelligence agency driven by the masters of the Iskhan Palace for generations. These people are here to deliver intelligence...

Present it directly to you?

Is there something important happening?

Shafasha became interested.

He immediately thought of several possibilities, but he never imagined that they might be related to the war in the north.

The Romans showed determination and were able to withstand the pressure of the 300,000-man Northern Expedition Army. This can be said to be the prince's incompetence, or it can be said that the enemy's strength is indeed not weak.

Despite the absolute advantage in magician power and the technological gap, they were able to resist the prince's army and even had to dispatch the Parthian Legion. This can no longer be simply blamed on the incompetence of the commander. It can only be said that the Romans did have a certain strength.

Even ordinary provincial troops, in fact, are at least at the level of regular armies in the countries surrounding Alan, and are definitely not weak.

The armies provided by wealthy provinces are more elite. For example, the "provincial army" established by Babylonia, the prosperous holy land of the Alan Empire and the origin of the earliest civilization, has a prominent name, "Parthian Legion", which is one of the three major armies of the Alan Empire.

While he was thinking, "Ashes" presented the information. The obese intelligence chief took it, opened it on the spot, and examined it in front of Shafasha.

Attached with the letter was a photo stone, but just by looking at the words on it, the intelligence chief nicknamed "Little Bird" suddenly narrowed his eyes and his fat body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

If the news on it is true...

So one can imagine that a storm was about to hit Iskhanfar and even the entire empire at the moment when Shafasha defeated a group of pretenders and before he even had time to celebrate.

When Artasis saw the change in the expression of the bird, who had always been shrewd and cunning, but seemed foolish but was actually calm and careful, he felt a slight bad premonition in his heart and immediately urged:

"Okay, present it."

A bitter feeling welled up in the bird's heart.

He also had many connections with the north. As a eunuch in the palace, money and power were basically the only two things he could pursue in his life. No Shafasha of all generations would allow him to sit in the position of "wardrobe manager". People who knew too many secrets of the emperor, the royal family, and the empire lived out of the control of the throne of light. They didn't even have the chance to escape abroad by accumulating huge wealth, or to find a wizard to perform magical magic to reconnect their broken limbs. They could only choose to be donkeys in the first half of their lives and pigs in the second half under the supervision of the emperor, and live a "peaceful" and "rich" life in the past, taking all the secrets that might threaten the empire and imperial power to the grave.

Thurso was unified by a power called Rome, and subsequently continued to trade with the Alan Empire in the south. Some of this trade was legitimate and could withstand scrutiny, but there was also a lot of lucrative smuggling and "exchange of what you have" in private.

Rome under the control of the El tribe can truly achieve "national unity". Whatever El wants to do in Rome is basically no different from the "God" and "national will" played in Paradox games. Every heir is a node dominated by him, and every believer is an extension of El's great will.

If he wanted to start a war, the national chariot would roar into action and the legions would be dispatched to the front. If he wanted to develop the economy, with the assistance of his descendants, Rome's "Three-Year Plan" and "Five-Year Plan" would not require much additional preparation and could be quickly implemented from birth to implementation, just like clicking on national policies in the game.

A grown-up Son of Aiur must simultaneously possess (relative to mortals) the qualities of an efficient bureaucrat, a qualified general, and an outstanding warrior.

Under the full leadership of such a "national system" and "national will", the trade volume between Rome and the Zoroastrians has been expanding rapidly. The profits are so "huge" that when the emperor arranged for the prince to lead the troops to fight, he chose the Romans in the north as the chicken to "kill the chicken to scare the monkeys" as a reasonable entrustment, but he had no idea that there were such complicated links in it, or even if he knew, Shafasha would not care.

After all, the northern region has never been given much attention by the empire. It has no external borders and no internal troubles. The level of development is low and the average level is relatively poor.

The north of the Alan Empire has the lowest presence among all three. Moreover, it is very common for local dignitaries and bureaucrats to do business and engage in smuggling with foreign forces in today's Alan. It is not surprising at all. When Prince Ahmed led an army of 300,000 to the north, it was expected that those dignitaries who did business with the barbarians would immediately "welcome the royal army" and even take the opportunity to make a killing on the other side, or use their influence to kill the other side so that they can divide and eat it. It is not uncommon.

It never occurred to me that anything could go wrong, and it was never even supposed to happen.

It's no surprise that the northern provinces are doing business with the barbarians.

The provincial dignitaries secretly controlled by the Four-Armed Man are ostensibly driven by "interests" to open the door to convenience, using their influence to cover up and speed up "gray trade", but in fact this is just a suitable "reason" for them to provide blood transfusions to the ethnic group and help the ethnic group grow stronger.

Money has always been a motivator.

Although Xiao Niao is a eunuch, he is also born into a family.

Chapter 242

He was from a clan that was even considered middle class among the nobles. He didn't know whether his "close friends" and "comrades" were involved in the upheaval in the north, or how much or how deeply they were involved. But he knew one thing for sure:

That means the King of Kings on the throne, Artasis IX, will definitely be furious about this!

The rage of those bathed in the holy fire after being humiliated like this will inevitably lead to a bloody conflict!

........

"How dare he!"

Shafasha's roar shook the palace.

The emperor threw the booklet in his hand and the photo stone together, and they fell to the ground with a crisp "crack".

It seemed as if the impact triggered its mechanism, and a projection light curtain automatically popped out and unfolded under the throne.

The clear impression is of a woman covered in black veil sitting in a secret room, with nothing else except a person and a chair.

She said she was a death warrior trained by Ashes, a member of the Northern Fire branch, and her number and the secret key she used were...

Then she took off all her clothes and stood naked in the image, showing several very small and hidden marks on her body one by one for the Ashes personnel who received the intelligence to examine. These marks and the movements themselves are a set of secret codes that can be used to verify the identity of the spy.

As the woman was demonstrating, she calmly told the person who didn't know if she could get the information, one or two pieces of news that had made the emperor so furious.

"The five northern provinces rebelled, the local provincial army mutinied, the prince was assassinated and seriously injured, the rebels controlled the land of the former Kingdom of Xerxes, and cut off the northern army's supply line."

"The five provinces of Silvania, Achaemenid, Tanaris, Scythia, and Southern Thurso have colluded, claiming that Shafasha murdered his brother and seized power illegitimately. 'Guided by the Holy Fire and the will of the people,' they have risen in arms and are marching south to attack the false emperor Iskhanfa."

.......

The emperor was so angry that his naked body was shaking.

The scene in the photo stone ends with a knock on the door and the woman suddenly rushing forward.

Artasis glared at the steward with red eyes and shouted angrily:

"How dare they?"

The palace steward was also frightened - in fact, his mental state was not that bad, but Shafasa was furious, so he had to act a little terrified even if he was pretending, so he fell to the ground.

"The message may not be true! Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. I will go and find out the details!"

Artasis was not deceived by his excuses. The emperor tore off a string of jewels from the nearby screen and threw it at the steward, shouting, "You dare to deceive me!"

"Who could possibly pass on such a profound secret using ashes? This hasn't happened in a thousand years. Do you think I'm a fool?"

"Convene a grand court meeting! Summon all viziers to the palace and see me at the throne!"

193: Northern Incident

The news from the northern border of the empire exploded in the sky of Iskhanfa like a bolt from the blue.

The Five Provinces Rebellion—of course, before the overall situation is understood and grasped by the Imperial Center, the wording must be carefully considered:

Trouble in the northern border.

Border riots.

Five provinces ran into problems at once. Although the five northern provinces mentioned in the intelligence sent by Ashes were not as powerful as Iskhanfa when put together, they were still the "homeland" of the great Alan Empire and the core area of ​​the same cultural circle. They were not recently conquered areas where rebellions were constantly occurring.

For the Zoroastrian civilization, this territory is equivalent to the nine states of Han and the eighteen stars of the inland in the alien version of the Eastern Dynasty. It is an absolute basic base that cannot be split off.

Even if there is a short period of independence and autonomy, there will only be chaos in the world, and then it will inevitably return to the revived old empire or new dynasty to restore the old unity.

Local rebellions were not uncommon in the modern-day Alan Empire, but they weren't enough to cause a "world-shaking" situation. The empire's vast territory contained hundreds of established provinces, free cities, and vassal states, with ninety-five provinces directly within its borders. These ranged from large ones like Iskhanfa and Babylonia to smaller ones like the northern provinces. Nearly half of these provinces "obeyed orders but not announcements." Some even privately crafted the throne and performed a "treading on ashes and anointing" ceremony, intent on coveting the throne of light...

In Ai'er's hometown, this is unimaginable. At this point, the country is no different from being destroyed. At most, no one has thought so much and does not want to be the first traitor to start a change of dynasty and chaos in the world. Just one turmoil, one attack on Luoyang, and the last dignity of the old dynasty will be completely torn apart, and what follows will be a situation of heroes vying for supremacy.

As long as the central dynasty still has a little strength left, it will spare no effort to centralize power, strengthen the central authority, and suppress local powerful groups and warlords. This is also true for those who seem to be "obedient and loyal" to the central government. Even if the consequence may force these people to the opposite side of itself, the central government of the dynasty will never allow this "Tai A upside down" situation to continue.

Chapter 127: Ardabil (41)

But it is different in the world of Il. This is due to many factors, such as the special national conditions of the Zoroastrians and the development process of the world...but in the final analysis, this is a world with extraordinary power.

The White Tower does not like to see the centralized mortal empire grow stronger. They openly carry out the "graduation diversion". Small countries are not a big deal, but the three major empires of Uslif, Kronos, and Alan are impossible for the royal family to benefit from.

Chapter 243

Use resources and authority to recruit all mages who are willing to "serve as officials" under your command, thus crushing the local forces, and then further promote national centralization, strengthen the central authority, and promote the development of the empire.

For the mages, even though the mortal emperors could give them endless wealth and glory, and make them superior to everyone else, that was still limited to the mortal level. It goes without saying which one was higher, the authority of the White Tower or the will of the mortal emperor.

So generally speaking, for example, if there are a thousand "fresh graduates" seeking jobs in the Alan Empire this year, then the royal family can only recruit and employ more than a hundred of them. After reaching a certain proportion, the mages employed by the royal family will take the initiative to point out that the royal positions are full and no one is needed (bushi). The remaining emerging mages will mostly accept employment as consultants by local powerful groups and non-court forces to ensure that the strength of the center will not far exceed that of the local areas.

The Mage is the Lord of War.

The technology to manufacture the "product" of "War Mage" is only in the hands of the White Tower. They can give the weapons to whoever they want. If the White Tower wants to overthrow an empire, it can directly convene a meeting and order all mages in the name of the Supreme Council not to provide services to this country, which can instantly destroy the military force that maintains the foundation of a huge empire.

It is equivalent to what the great powers did in their colonies. The local indigenous people had no industrial strength, so they introduced firearms into the country and supported them in attacking each other, while they themselves gained benefits. When the dogs they supported became disobedient and threatened their status, they turned and transferred resources to their opponents, and the cycle continued.

Of course, in reality this restriction is not particularly strict. After all, the White Tower has an overwhelming advantage over the mortal world, but it is also a complementary relationship. Although this restriction has both explicit policy guarantees, it is more of an implicit instruction adopted due to some "considerations" of those in power.

It's not like, for example, this year the Iskhan court is only allowed to recruit 120 mages, and any more will be fired. Instead, it's more fluid and the overall situation is dynamic.

As long as a large number of "weapons" are ensured to flow into the civilian population and a small portion is controlled by the rulers, a situation of balanced power can be formed, which will be extremely beneficial to the mage community as a whole.

An ordinary provincial governor might suddenly rise in status and become able to fight against the central government and establish his own territory simply because he happened to meet one or more powerful wizards and hired them as advisors, or because he gained the collective allegiance of a "class" of spellcasters for various reasons. The central government of the empire might not even dare to send troops to attack directly for various reasons and could only acquiesce in such a situation.

Because there are no specific rules and regulations to strictly restrict this, mortal rulers will bid against each other in order to strengthen their "firepower", even if it is only for self-protection, and will try their best to import "weapons" for themselves with generous conditions in the seller's market. Even if it is not for war purposes, the value of a spellcaster can be demonstrated in many aspects.

There are 300,000 soldiers in the Northern Expedition Army, including 200 mages. Ai'er thinks it is too few, but the emperor and the prince who leads the troops in the war may think it is "too many" and difficult to serve during the march.

If the number of mages that can be driven by the "imperial mages" and "court advisors" of the Alan Empire and the masters of the Iskhan Palace is 5,000, then the number of mages serving under the various powers, princes, and warlords in the local areas is at least 30,000 to 40,000. And the number of free spellcasters who have "academic freedom" and are too lazy to exchange their services for resource supply may be close to or even more.

If the Iskhan Fa Palace shows the intention to vigorously promote centralization, strengthen the trunk and weaken the branches, and suppress the princes, then it is very likely that it will immediately face the local powerful groups uniting to oppose the central government, and the situation of "XX mutual protection" and "this chaotic order will not be obeyed" will occur immediately.

The most likely thing is that the next time a dynasty changes, many heroes will compete for power, and finally a winner will be decided, and the situation of life where everyone is happy will be restored.

The central government does not have the power to do such a thing - if, if due to a series of coincidences, this situation happens, and the emperor is determined to conquer the world, reshape the world, and revive the empire... then the White Tower may make some subtle interference.