bookrandom Chapter 1165 The Roman Empire
Chapter 1165 The Roman Empire
"You say you're from the Roman Empire?"
Lin Zhen looked at the middle-aged man in front of her who called himself Marco Polo.
A playful glint flashed in his eyes.
He knew that the Roman Empire in history had already split and perished hundreds of years ago.
The so-called "Roman merchant" in front of me.
He's either a fraudster.
Or it came from the Byzantine Empire, which inherited the mantle of the Eastern Roman Empire.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Marco Polo's Chinese wasn't very good.
But his ability to read people's expressions and moods is first-rate.
He could sense that the young prince in front of him seemed to have even more power than His Majesty the Emperor.
He doesn't seem to have much faith in himself.
He quickly pulled out a small gold box wrapped tightly in silk from his pocket.
Then raise both hands high.
"This is our great Roman Emperor Constantine XI."
"A letter of state entrusted to me to deliver to His Majesty the Great Emperor of the East!"
"I humbly request Your Highness and His Majesty the Emperor to review this!"
Constantine XI?
Lin Zhen raised an eyebrow.
He vaguely remembered the name.
He appears to be the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
He was also the last monarch known to posterity for his tragic and heroic deeds.
He took the gold box from Marco Polo.
Open it and take a look.
Inside lay a scroll of the national letter written on the finest parchment.
The letter was covered with densely packed characters written in Latin, a language Lin Zhen couldn't understand.
And at the end of the letter.
It was stamped with an extremely intricate and ornate double-headed eagle seal.
Lin Zhen recognized the double-headed eagle emblem.
It is the royal coat of arms of the Byzantine Empire.
It seems that the Marco Polo in front of us is not lying.
He did indeed come from that thousand-year-old empire that was already in decline.
"What is written on this, my husband?"
Murong Yan curiously leaned closer.
She stared at the Latin script, which looked like scribbles.
His face was filled with confusion.
"A letter requesting help."
A strange smile appeared on Lin Zhen's face.
Although he couldn't read Latin.
But thanks to his extraordinary learning ability.
And the scattered foreign language knowledge of later generations.
He could still barely understand the general meaning of the letter.
This letter of appeal for help came from thousands of miles away.
The content is actually very simple.
The Byzantine Empire is currently under fierce attack from a powerful enemy called the Ottoman Turks.
The empire's capital, Constantinople, was under heavy siege.
The city was on the verge of collapse and the country was about to perish.
Without any choice.
Their emperor, Constantine XI, could only try anything as a last resort.
They sent envoys like Marco Polo.
They sought help from this legendary, wealthy, and powerful ancient kingdom in the East.
We hope to receive help from the Great Emperor of the East.
Even just a little bit of financial assistance.
It's better than nothing.
"Ottoman Türkiye?"
Murong Yan heard this equally unfamiliar name.
Her delicate eyebrows furrowed even more.
She felt she had heard a lot of new terms throughout the day.
More than she has in the past twenty years combined.
"Another powerful enemy we don't know about?"
"Yes."
Lin Zhen nodded.
"And it is an enemy that is even more powerful than that 'Rakshasa Kingdom'."
"In the future, they will build a vast empire spanning three continents: Eurasia and Africa."
"Its national strength and territory were no less than those of our Great Qian Dynasty at its peak."
"what?!"
Murong Yan was once again deeply shocked by Lin Zhen's words.
She couldn't imagine it.
In this world, besides them, there is no other way to make a living.
It's astonishing that such a powerful country still exists.
At this moment, she was still wearing the Phoenix Descent Dress, which served as her only nightgown.
The deep black Suzhou brocade fabric appeared exceptionally profound and mysterious in the somewhat solemn atmosphere of the Imperial Garden.
It seemed as if they were silently processing this earth-shattering news from thousands of miles away.
The colossal phoenix embroidered with real gold thread seemed to have encountered a powerful opponent who could rival it for the first time.
An unprecedentedly intense light, filled with fighting spirit and scrutiny, burst forth from his phoenix eyes!
The five-zhang-long, dark gold Suzhou brocade train tumbled and rolled on the grass in the breeze.
The luxurious disarray conveyed an excitement and anticipation of meeting a worthy opponent and a talented individual.
"Then...should we help them?"
Murong Yan asked hesitantly.
She knew this was no longer a simple military issue.
This has risen to the level of international relations and geopolitics.
If handled well, they could achieve great success and perhaps gain a loyal ally in the distant West.
If not handled properly, they could easily backfire and create an unnecessary and powerful enemy.
Why not help?
Lin Zhen's lips curled into a sly, fox-like smile.
"And we don't just have to help."
"We need to help them in a big way!"
"They'll owe us a huge favor!"
"what?"
Murong Yan looked at him with some confusion.
"My husband, you..."
My silly Yan'er
Lin Zhen flicked the tip of her nose and said with a smile.
"Have you forgotten our newly established Shenji Battalion?"
Have you forgotten our ten thousand brand-new matchlock muskets?
"I was just worried about where to test their effectiveness in actual combat."
"Now this ready-made target has been delivered right to our doorstep, hasn't it?"
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
"We will take advantage of this opportunity of 'international humanitarian aid'."
"Let our Shenji Battalion soldiers..."
"To that distant Constantinople."
"Let's have a good meeting with those so-called 'Ottoman Turkish' elite troops!"
"Let the whole world see!"
"The formidable military might of our Great Qian Divine Machine Battalion!"
Murong Yan was stunned by Lin Zhen's wildly imaginative idea: "Send the Divine Machine Battalion to Constantinople?"
That's a foreign land thousands of miles away!
Send a 5,000-strong force deep into enemy territory.
To participate in a war that has absolutely nothing to do with you?
Isn't that too risky?
"Husband, aren't you taking too much of a risk?"
She said with some concern.
"Although the Shenji Battalion was equipped with muskets."
"But after all, it has only been established for three months."
"The soldiers were all new recruits who had never been on the battlefield."
"Let them carry out such a difficult expedition right from the start."
"What if something goes wrong..."
"Then all our hard work over the past three months will have been for nothing!"
Don't worry, Yan'er.
Lin Zhen, however, looked confident.
"A true elite force can never be formed without the baptism of blood and fire."
"Tall trees cannot grow in a greenhouse."
"This expedition to Constantinople was a severe test for them."
"It's also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
Think about it.
His eyes gleamed with wisdom.
"We'll send the Shenji Battalion over there."
"Firstly, it can test the combat performance of our muskets and the feasibility of new tactics."
"Secondly, it allows our soldiers to gain the most valuable combat experience on the most brutal battlefield."
"Thirdly, we did the Byzantine Empire a tremendous favor, making them extremely grateful and devoted to us."
"Fourthly, we can also take this opportunity to give the increasingly powerful Ottoman Turkish Empire a good beating. Let them know the strength of our Great Qian and dare not expand eastward so easily again."
"The most important point!"
His voice became somewhat mischievous.
"We've sent out the Shenji Battalion, the most expensive unit in the army."
"Then all their food, clothing, and military pay expenses abroad."
"Shouldn't the Byzantine Empire, which asked us for help, take full responsibility?"
"In this way, we not only trained a battle-hardened army for nothing."
"It also saved a lot of military spending."
"This is killing two birds with one stone, or rather, killing five birds with one stone."
Why wouldn't we do it?
Murong Yan listened to Lin Zhen's brilliant analysis.
I'm completely speechless.
She just stared blankly at her cunning and shrewd husband.
My heart is filled with nothing but endless admiration.
She realized that compared to this man...
My own so-called wisdom and strategy.
It's just a kid's toy.
He could always be out of her sight.
To see deeper and further interests and the bigger picture.
"My husband, you..."
She exclaimed in genuine admiration.
"You're a natural schemer."
What is a schemer?
Lin Zhen was unhappy.
"I call this strategic planning and foresight!"
"It's an open conspiracy! A perfectly legitimate open conspiracy!"