Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 137 Send Yu Yuqi Pavilion (4)

As the sun sets in the west, the afterglow of the setting sun sweeps down the long and narrow harbor like a horn, and the sea is full of sparkling light, shining like gold.When the ship's side approached the wharf of Golden Horn Bay, Sima Junfang sighed: "Such a mighty city has to be defended by soldiers. I really ashamed my ancestors." It is unavoidable to borrow troops from the Uighurs."

Nidu, Minister of Lumei Kingdom, had been waiting for Chengyingying at the port.He pulled an officer and asked, "Which one is General Duan?" He had a Macedonian accent, and because he was waiting impatiently, he spoke quickly and vaguely.Zhao Xingde was lowering his head and re-tying the bag behind the saddle, pointing to Duan Huaixian, Nidu thanked him, and walked over with two followers.

Behind Nidu was a middle-aged man in Chinese clothes, with a slight 'surprise' expression on his face, he stepped forward and cupped his hands and said, "My official, Chen Xizhai, may I ask your honor?" The envoys and officers of the country are all aware of it.Zhao Xingde hurriedly returned the courtesy and said: "The last general, Zhao De, is a centurion of the shadow army." Chen Xizhai's face changed slightly when he heard his name, and he said with a smile: "So it's Zhao Dutou, who has heard about him for a long time. Ah, the future is long, let's meet again some other day." Although the official position in the Prime Minister's Mansion does not have a strict correspondence with the military position, but Chen Xizhai is so unassuming, it can be regarded as a deliberate compromise.Zhao Xingde didn't understand, so he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I don't dare to do it, I would like to ask the envoy of Chen Guo for advice." Chen Xizhai smiled slightly, cupped his hands again, and then walked towards Duan Huaixian.

According to the letter of credence issued by Xia Kingdom to Lumei Kingdom in advance, Chengying Camp is the royal guard of Xia Kingdom, and it is only responsible for the defense of Lumei City itself. Unless the emperor of Lumei Kingdom personally conquers, it should not be sent alone.Therefore, the seventh battalion of Chengying was arranged in the Imperial Guard barracks next to the Holy Palace.Chengying Camp itself has a military salary in the General's Mansion, and Lumei Kingdom will also pay the military salary according to the standard of the Ross Guards.

Nidu also explained to Duan Huaixian that if it wasn't for worrying about the dissatisfaction of the Ross people, Emperor Alexei originally planned to give more generous military pay.The empire's mercenaries include Ross, Macedonian, Thracians, Mani, Turks, Franks, Thessaly, and Varyag. This summer army is so small that it only It just represents the alliance relationship between Xia Guo and Lu Mei.Lumei has always wanted to push Xia Guo to join him in attacking the Roma Turkic Kingdom occupying Asia Minor.

"When you get the double salary, it's all yours." Zhao Xingde said with a smile. Du Chuijiao has asked about this matter countless times, and every time he gets an affirmative answer, he will 'show' a smile.All the sergeants busily moved the baggage off the ship and onto the carriage hired by the envoy Chen Xizhai. Originally, Chen Xizhai planned to hire some porters on the pier, but Duan Huaixian gave up because he was worried that the baggage would be messed up.

Nidu frowned and watched Chengying Ying carry it by himself, and said carefully, "General Duan, since your army is the emperor's guard, you don't have to do this kind of heavy work yourself." Duan Huaixian was taken aback, Chen Xizhai Explaining with a smile beside him: "There are many idlers in Lumei City, and the imperial guards are paid well, and they often hire followers to help with chores."

"Oh, that's how it is." Duan Huaixian said in a deep voice, "Our sergeants also have many followers of Yinhu in Xia Kingdom, but Lumei Kingdom is far away, so they never followed them here." In fact, Xia Guo's Yinhu and Lumei's followers It's completely different. What he considers is whether he is humble or arrogant, and he can't weaken the momentum of his warriors and make people look down upon him.

After moving into the barracks, when Duan Huaixian announced that the sergeants should hire entourages as soon as possible, everyone was surprised but did not have much objection.In Ming Hongdu, only Du Chuijiao approached Zhao Xingde in private once, wanting to save the money of hiring someone, Zhao Xingde advised him not to violate the military order, lest Captain Duan look bad.Du Chuijiao felt distressed for a long time, and on the third day, he found a skinny little boy named Laerxiu from the street, and acted as a follower.

Zhao Xingde wandered around, and was entangled by a young man named Theodore on the side of the Bull Square. He enthusiastically pulled Zhao Xingde to introduce himself and said: "Foreigners from afar, hire me, none of the dignitaries in the Holy Palace I don’t know any of the streets and alleys of Xinlumei that I’m not familiar with.”

Zhao Xingde asked: "But I heard your accent, you are not from this place, are you? Are you a new resident?" He pointed to Bull Square, under the beautiful marble and bronze sculptures, Lumei Citizen They either sit or lie down.The Bull Square is located on the magnificent avenue passing through the Arc de Triomphe. On both sides of the avenue, there are exquisite statues in the garden corridors. The houses of the nobles are beautiful and the flowers and plants are lush.Lumei City has all the physical and spiritual pleasures that people in this world can imagine.Well-dressed men and women go in and out of the beautiful houses, playing the game of love conspiracy and power amidst the melodious music and beautiful clothes.And this group of idle citizens gathered in Bull Square, like the walking corpses living in the shadow of the glorious Lumei City.It's just that the old Lumei man has a combination of pride, narrowness and rascal laziness in his bones, while this Theodore has more of a rustic flavor.

Theodore blushed a little and said, "I did move in from outside the city." At this moment, another carriage came along the avenue, he didn't care about talking to Zhao Xingde, and ran towards the carriage desperately, while the others were sitting scattered. The citizens of the Lumei Kingdom around the Bull Square also stood up, scrambling towards the carriage, and some raised their hands high, as if begging for something.

Zhao Xingde was wondering, the Lumei official next to the carriage lifted the coarse cloth covering the back of the carriage, picked up pieces of black things, threw them out without looking at them. "Give it to me!" "Give it to me!" These Lumei citizens who stretched out their hands began to fight regardless of dignity, but they followed the rules and only grabbed what was thrown out by the two or three officials, and no one went to snatch it from the carriage. bread.After a while, the bread in this cart also ran out, and Theodore came back empty-handed.

"Bread is distributed every day, it depends on whether you can grab it or not." Theodore said awkwardly, he couldn't help being a little ashamed in front of foreigners, so he changed the subject and said: "Master is from the Eastern Great Xia, I admire you the most Well, although those Venetian merchants are rich, in Lumei City, there are still Venetian beggars wandering around, even if they starve to death, only the merchants of Xia Kingdom have collected money to support those compatriots in distress to return to their homeland. "

Zhao Xingde was taken aback, and smiled lightly: "This is the old system in the Spring and Autumn Period of our country. Some Lu people sold themselves as slaves in foreign countries, and their compatriots helped him redeem him back to the country. The imperial court will pay the money for the ransom." This was still in Bianjing. When Kang Na told him, recalling the past, he couldn't help feeling very sad, and secretly felt a sense of pride and belonging to Xia Guo in his heart.

"The era of spring and autumn?" Theodore was confused by Zhao Xingde's blunt translation. Zhao Xingde laughed dumbfounded, and explained: "Probably earlier than the era of the Lumei Republic." The country of Mei is called Rome by later generations, and Lumei City is the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as Constantinople, which was later occupied by the Turks and renamed Istanbul.The Spring and Autumn Period of our country happened to be a little earlier than the end of the Roman Empire and the establishment of the Republic.

"So that's how it is," Theodore suddenly realized, "The ancient Greek era is almost the same, no wonder, no wonder." The Lumei people are also very conservative, and have always regarded the Franks in the West and the Turks in the East as barbarians. The older the country, the more civilized it is.After Theodore finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Xingde eagerly, as if he would lose the face of the ancient eastern country if he didn't hire him as a follower.

Zhao Xingde asked: "Since you didn't live here before, why did you move into the city?" He saw Theodore was diligent and talkative, not like a lazy person who came to the city to wander.At this time, he also moved to take him in, so he questioned the root cause.

Theodore's eyes darkened slightly, and he explained that because Lumei Kingdom imposed more and more exorbitant taxes, most of the farmers who cultivated land outside the city were unable to make ends meet. They either attached themselves to the nobles and military officers as tenants, or ran into the city like him Come, let's have a full meal.When he was in his hometown, he was originally a jeweler, but the guild rules in Lumei City were strict, he was not a craftsman in the guild, so he couldn't get a job, so he had to live on the street. Seeing that Zhao Xingde was unfamiliar with the place and had a kind face, this Only then did he want to follow him so shamelessly.