Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, the Israeli boxing champion

"Then there was Alexander's time, the reconquest of Persia - don't get me wrong, I just thought this word, originally used in Iberia, was unexpectedly appropriate. He exacted his revenge on Persia, Persepolis was almost destroyed, and then it was ruled by the Greeks for nearly 200 years."

Leonidas' words made many people think.

"What we thought was a decline has actually reached its peak?" Giovanni said slowly, his face meaningful.

"But this time is really the final peak."

Romulus opened the tent and walked in. The emperor wanted to stand up and salute, but he was held down by Romulus with one hand.

"Then the Romans, who were mocked by the Athenians as 'Latin barbarians', took over Alexander's legacy. Macedonia, Thrace, Seleucus and Ptolemy all became the common property of the Senate and the Roman people."

"Then the Germans came and the cycle began anew."

Leonidas' sharp words directly counterattacked Romulus, leaving him speechless for a moment - at least that's what he thought.

"Is it really okay?" The emperor whispered to Alvin.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. They can still distinguish between the important and the unimportant. But I dare to ask, have the two sides ever cursed at each other since the separation in 395?"

"This question...I will ask it if I have the chance to meet Justinian the Great."

"The whole world is playing out the story of the rich being cowardly, then being invaded by barbarians, and then the invaders becoming cowardly rich people again."

As if he didn't want to continue procrastinating, Leonidas simply made the final decision.

"The Greeks saw the Macedonians as uneducated, the Romans saw the blond Germans as blue-eyed, and the tribal Levantines and the Bactrians 800 years ago were like this."

"I admit that."

Unexpectedly, this argument was unanimously agreed by everyone. Whether it was the high and mighty God Ancestor or an ordinary person like Alvin, the former now had mixed feelings about the Germans who occupied Rome, and as for the latter...wasn't the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China enough?

This is true from East Asia to Central Asia, Central Asia to the South Asian subcontinent, South Asia to West Asia, and West Asia to the Mediterranean and East Africa.

Sharp weapons are just tools and are used by people. As long as there is a change in the person's mind, he will naturally not be able to lift a knife or an axe.

"There is nothing new under the sun, and those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes." Giovanni chewed on the meaning of this sentence word by word.

"But as long as the culture is still there, the soul of this nation is still here."

He already felt that he had very little time left.

"What do you mean?"

"Persia it's still there."

"How could-"

The emperor wanted to refute subconsciously, but Leonidas slowly raised his hand and said, "Listen to me."

"When the Arabs, relying on their religious enthusiasm, established their own empire, they were surprised to find that they had no ability to manage such a large country. After all, it was too difficult to let these newly civilized tribesmen manage everything."

"At this time, the Persians entered the country with great force. They quickly took over the entire country's administrative system, successfully sidelined them, and subtly made them accept Persian culture."

"They succeeded. Both the Abbasids and the Umayyads were helpless against this cultural offensive, so they just lay back and accepted it."

"After all, there is only one prophet."

Alvin had a good impression of the Prophet and his Hashemite family. One reason was that when he was studying in the El-Melloi classroom, there happened to be a member of the Hashemite family there. At the invitation of the member of the Hashemite family, he once lived in Jordan for a short period of time. The tolerance there broke his previous strict impression.

"Strict religion? That's the Wahhabi sect's business next door. A rich man like that is occupying Hejaz. He has no shame at all."

"But Persia still perished, Mr. Leonidas." Constantine did not agree with this point of view, but Leonidas' last sentence left him stunned.

“What if I say that the Third Persian Empire returns in fifty years?”

......

"Mr. Leonidas, you haven't told me the story of Thermopylae for three minutes."

PS1: Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736), the third Persian Empire, was founded by Ismail I at the age of 15...

15 years old!

PS2: Brothers, I regret this joke, it's completely over.

Chapter 155 When Heresy Meets Paganism

Leonidas returned to the place from whence he had come.

Alvin and Giovanni left the Porta San Romanos, while Basilius remained there.

"It seems that the news that Persia is still alive has shocked our emperor quite a bit..."

"To be precise, I'm about to return. Where are you going next?"

"I'm going to the Church of the Holy Apostles to mobilize Nicophoros' reserve troops. After losing the support from the Black Sea, we must integrate all the forces we have."

"Nicoferus...is he from the Phocas family?"

As the first of the three outstanding emperors of the Age of Conquerors, Nikephoros II, the "Pale Death of the Saracens", was naturally famous. The capital accumulated in the second golden age turned into powerful strength. With the efforts of three generations, he finally created a beautiful territory (realistic).

"It would be great if it really was the Phocas family, but unfortunately you and I both know that this is impossible."

——As early as three hundred years ago, the Phocas family had become extinct.

"Now we can only pray that our complex team can hold on... If those Roman Catholics see this, they will probably launch a crusade. Heresy and paganism mixed together, this time it's justified."

"I hope so. Anyway, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Giovanni hastily mounted his horse and headed towards the ruins of the church, leaving Alvin alone in the dust.

"Fuck, I have to talk about this properly next time."

What about the Roman bathing tradition? Where did it go? Did all the baths that Trajan had worked so hard to open disappear?

After venting his inner complaints, Alvin was now in trouble again: where should he go now?

Go straight back to the cathedral to catch up on some sleep? Now I am as energetic as that ambitious young man who just came back from a night at the Internet cafe. I can't fall asleep at all, and even want to have another breakfast.

Besides, if I meet a teacher, it would be nice. I can smoke a little while exchanging information. Well, it’s really just a coincidence.

But Alvin always felt that he would definitely run into Da Vinci, and he felt inexplicably guilty whenever he thought about it.

Let's just stroll around, he thought, and started walking aimlessly.

The City of World Desire is a magical place. Here you can see Greeks and Russians who believe in Orthodox Christianity, Armenian Copts who believe in Monophysitism, Nestorians who fled from Persia, and even those Crescents who are not tolerated by the Western Church. Now there are some Venetians and Genoese from the Roman Catholic Church. The tolerance of faith is fully displayed in this city. For a moment, he even felt that he was in the birthplace of the Abrahamic religions - Jerusalem.

"Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, the holy place under Godfrey of Bouillon, that should be it."

With the idea that he might as well do nothing, Alvin walked into a nearby market, which was the bazaar (market) of the Crescent Moon believers.

"Hey, why don't you come and take a look at these Persian handmade carpets from Tabriz."

The voice had a thick mountain accent, and Alvin had to work hard to understand that the person calling was him.

"Let me take a look first. Are you from Tabriz? Are you Kurdish?" Alvin chatted with the stall owner while selecting carpets.

"It's really God's curtain! How did you see that?"

"Tabriz is the most famous and oldest carpet producing area in Persia. Besides that, there is your clothes, your accent, and the white crescent moon and knife logo that just appeared."

Alvin lowered his voice quietly: "It's really strange. I didn't expect that the Ismailis, a minority, would appear here to do business. Relax, man. Now everyone in Constantinople is considered a heretic and pagan by the Latins. It's no big deal. Put away your knife."

It seemed that Alvin's words had worked. The stall owner took his hands out from behind his back, took out a few pieces of dried tobacco leaves from the cloth bag beside him, put them in his mouth and started chewing.

Alvin continued to select these carpets. The wool felt very comfortable. It must be admitted that these Persian carpets in front of him were all original handmade, and they were definitely not imitations produced in Yiwu. The texture alone made a big difference.

"...The caliphate has been vacant for 300 years, and the 500th Imam has been in seclusion for nearly years. The Ismailis are now in disarray and no one knows what to do."

"The reason why the Caliphate is vacant is really thanks to you Kurds," Alvin said. "Who made you produce Saladin?"

"Don't mention it. It makes me angry when I mention it."

The stall owner didn't seem to like Saladin very much. It was hard to imagine that such a warrior praised by the Western world and Arabs was actually seen differently by his own people.

"Why didn't he think about establishing Kurdistan? (The Kurdish state) fled to Egypt after receiving the order from Noord al-Din and never came back. I guess they have become mental Copts."

He said this angrily, and even the Ayyubid family could not refute it if they heard it, because this was the fact - they never returned to the Kurdish mountains.

"But it's understandable. I would do the same if I were in your shoes. As the representative of the Order in Constantinople, I have lived here for about seven or eight years. Apart from handing over a portion of my income on time every year, we haven't had much contact since then."

"No matter what, there will be rules to constrain you."

"Yes, in two or three years I will return to Ardabil, marry the princess of Aries while receiving training from Kizilbash in Tabriz, and when my children grow up, I will probably become the leader of the sect."

"Then I wish you to become the Sheikh of the Order soon. By the way, I don't know your name yet?"

Alvin picked out a few carpets that he liked and was thinking about how to divide them when he got home, while the stall owner had already calculated the price.

"Just call me Haidar. Hmm?"

After receiving the money from Alvin, he was surprised to find that what he received was far more than the price of these carpets. Even if he took out the silk carpet from his hometown, it would still be far from enough.

"Hey, sir, you gave me too much!"

"Just think of it as a tip!" Alvin said without even looking back.

and the initiator of the Safi Order, Zijin, the sixth Sheikh of the Order, Mr. Hailar.

Chapter 156 Go North, Go South

In the end, Alvin still underestimated the weight of the carpet, and now he can hardly breathe - because he gave too much money that he couldn't even find a restaurant to eat.

But as the saying goes, there is always a way out. At this time, an extremely kind-hearted halal person came out to save the world. He not only paid for the barbecue meal, but also asked his servant to carry the carpet back.

"This world is still too small." Alvin sighed.

"Sir, Costantinye is only this old, it's normal; it's just that you and I have our own things to deal with on weekdays."

"Behind the port of Elefthere is the imperial palace. This is the last line of defense, Orhan."

Orhan Osman, the second leader of the Ottoman Empire, was the only sultan in history who did not adopt the Turkish succession law - his younger brother was the Grand Vizier (second in command) until his death, and he also married the daughter of John VI.

And Orhan in front of him, his maternal line was from John VI, so to some extent, he could be considered a royal relative.

"If you're talking about claims against the Ottoman Empire, there are many people who have claims, not just me."

Orhan was extremely skilled with the knife and managed to cut the barbecue into slices thinner than paper. He then threw the barbecue and the dipped ingredients into his mouth.

"Originally my position was not so high, but after Fatih killed his brother, it was my turn."

"To some extent, your inheritance law is not much different from the inheritance law here."

"How do you say this?"

"According to the law of succession of the Praetorian Guard, the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horse will be Augustus."

Orhan was speechless for a moment. After a long while, he smiled bitterly and said, "...So, you mean that the Ottoman Empire can also be considered Rome?"

Facing Orhan's words, Alvin nodded first, then shook his head, which made Orhan confused for a while.

"It depends on Fatih's choice. But before we get into that, we have to pay the bill."

Even if Alvin didn't say it, Orhan would have done it. He could already feel those uncomfortable gazes gradually gathering here.

"Look at the look in their eyes. I'm afraid they think we are members of the Abbasid family."

"In fact, the Umayyad family is more valuable." Orhan retorted.

"Being a prince of peace in the Iberian Peninsula is not bad."

Having said that, they quickly explained the whole story to the owner of the store, only to find out that they were just overthinking.

"'Let alone Abbasid Umayyad, even if someone from the Hashemite family showed up here, it wouldn't be a big deal.' This boss is quite knowledgeable. I think Baghdad, Cordoba, and Nicaea were also like this at the time."

Baghdad and Cordoba, although one is in the Middle East and the other in the Iberian Peninsula, are both centers of the little-known Arabic translation movement that lasted for centuries. It is hard to imagine that this was something that the Crescent Moon Sect, which was considered extremely conservative, could do.

"I can understand the first two, but Nicaea..."

"When the Sultanate of Rum was still in existence, Nicaea, which had been separated from the glory of Costantinia, was undoubtedly the light of civilization in Asia Minor at that time. You cannot be unaware of the friendship between Emperor Alexios, who saved the day, and Suleiman I."

"I know this. It is said that Bosimonde almost fainted when he saw the Turkish cavalry charging towards him with the Varangian Guards."

"To be honest, I'm also confused. A group of people who speak Persian, believe in Islam and Turkify Greeks... It's simply magical realism."

Sudan is Islam, Rom is Rome, and the MSL world calls Asia Minor ruled by Eastern Roman Empire Rom. It can be said to be a top-level patchwork.

"I'm afraid those who participated in the Crusades never thought that the Sultanate of Rum was never an enemy of the Empire, but the most important friend who was crucial to the survival of Byzantium itself."

"After the First Crusade, the Roman Sultans portrayed themselves as dual-religious rulers who believed in both the Crescent and the Orthodox Church. The Greeks in the Roman Sultanate continued to be protected, and the Roman court institutions were highly Hellenized and even bilingual. Sultan Kay Kuslaus II, who was established in Nicaea in 1204, was baptized as an Orthodox Christian. His actions were not much different from those of Yaroslav, the wise man who founded the empire in the north."

Speaking of this, Orhan looked extremely regretful and kept shaking his head.