Chapter 157: The First Alliance Between the Song Dynasty and Byzantium
As an envoy of the Song Army, following Yue Zhuoqun to Byzantium was the chief of staff of the advance army, Yang Zongmin.
He brought dozens of followers, a dozen of them, like curious babies, who wanted to see everything, which annoyed the escorting Byzantine officers a little, but it was not easy to get angry.
Yue Zhuoqun, who knew the inside story, smiled bitterly in his heart.
These Song troops are the same wherever they go. No matter who's territory is enemy, friend, or neutral, they will cheer up and investigate attentively. These curious babies are in all likelihood officers from the Intelligence Department or the Surveying and Mapping Section. Their
The eyes are like a ruler. You can judge the approximate distance, height and other data at a glance, keep them in your mind, and then draw them secretly.
What have the people of the Song Dynasty experienced? Or what are they afraid of? They are preparing all the time, as if an unprecedented war will happen at the next moment. They call it the consciousness of worry - "Be born in worry, die in happiness."
Yue Zhuoqun was unwilling to tell what he knew because he knew that it would cause a gap between the two countries. Let the Song people see that as long as Byzantium is useful to the Song people, they will definitely regard Byzantium as an ally and try their best to help instead of murdering them.
Making friends from far away and attacking close by is what Yue Zhuoqun learned in the Song Dynasty.
Back in Byzantium, in the main hall of the palace, Yang Zongmin presented Zhao Si's personal letter to Alexei I.
This is a handwritten letter written in Chinese characters.
In the letter, Zhao Si wrote eloquently about the "since ancient times" friendship between the Song Dynasty and Byzantium, and then said that the two countries are models of Eastern civilization and Western civilization respectively, and should become the light of the human world in this dark era.
Twin lighthouses.
At the end of the letter, Zhao Si directly quoted two passages, one of which was a poem by Wang Bo, a poet of the pre-Tang Dynasty, "There are close friends in the sea, and we are like neighbors as far as the end of the world."
Another passage, written directly in Greek, quotes Plato: "Turn your face towards the sun, and there will be no shadows."
After listening to Yue Zhuoqun's translation and seeing the last two paragraphs of Pre-Tang Dynasty poems and Greek famous quotes, Alexios I immediately lost his mind.
The Song Dynasty and Byzantium should become the twin beacons that illuminate the human world in this dark era. This is an unprecedented, shocking, powerful and noble sentence.
Alexios I even felt a little ashamed. While he was still worried about the survival of Byzantium, the emperor of the Eastern Song Empire was already thinking about the fate of all mankind from the height of human civilization.
"I never expected that in a distant place, there was a great emperor comparable to Marcus Aurelius. I was deeply impressed by his ambition, courage and knowledge."
Alexius I expressed sincere admiration.
Yue Zhuoqun added at the side: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being presumptuous. I have seen it with my own eyes, so in my heart, the official family of the Song Dynasty is far better than Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Not only is he talented and capable, he can control hundreds of millions of people.
The Song Dynasty, which spanned thousands of miles, was well-organized and had extraordinary military capabilities..."
Yue Zhuoqun finally said: "I believe that it is Byzantium's greatest luck to be able to form an alliance with such a great country and a great king."
Some ministers and generals showed dissatisfaction. Boy, have you become a pro-Song element after traveling in the Song Dynasty for a few years?
Alexei I noticed this, he suppressed these objections calmly, and then asked Yang Zongmin.
"Your Excellency General, may I ask Your Majesty the Emperor, apart from this letter, is there anything else you need to tell me?"
Alexei I could see that this autographed letter was a formal document that could be clearly announced to the world and passed down through history, so it was eloquent and high-profile. But the actual alliance was not that simple.
"Our Majesty said that the Song Dynasty is willing to help Byzantium regain Asia Minor, and then we, the Song Dynasty, will go from the east and Byzantium from the west to suppress the restless Turks and engage in cannibalism."
Alexios I asked: "How can your country help us recover and suppress it?"
"Our army has recaptured the Anxi area, moved into the Hezhong area, and is continuing to use troops in Khorasan and central Persia to eradicate the influence of the Seljuqs... How to do this specifically is not known for the time being because I am going with the army on the expedition.
But I believe that your country will never face pressure from the East again in the future."
Yang Zongmin said proudly: "From now on, the Persians, Turks, and Oghuz people there have only two fates. Either they accept surrender, or they have to perish."
John Comnenus was a little restless and twisted his body slightly.
Alexei I glanced at his son and motioned him to calm down with his eyes. Then he responded to Yang Zongmin with great approval and admiration.
"I can feel the sincerity of the Song Dynasty. Please convey my highest respect to His Majesty."
Overbearing? If I had this strength and could drive the Turks and Persians like a bunch of rabbits, I would be even more overbearing.
If the Song Dynasty could really control the Persian region and suppress the Turks and cannibals in the Mesopotamia area, it would definitely be able to regain Asia Minor. Especially now, the three major forces in Asia Minor, the Sultanate of Roma and the Sultanate of Cappadocia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was crippled by the passing advance army of the Western Expedition of the Song Dynasty. I could take advantage of his illness and kill him.
Alexei I thought silently in his heart,
"Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor, for your respect. I will definitely convey it to you." Yang Zongmin nodded.
After being polite, Yang Zongmin continued: "Your Majesty, our official family also asked foreign ministers to bring some advice."
"Please tell me."
"The most ferocious and dangerous enemy comes not from the front, but from behind. Outsiders cannot get close to you, only your own people can get close, and only they have the opportunity to assassinate you quietly with a dagger. So Caesar did not die on the battlefield,
But he died at the gate of the Senate."
Alexei I glanced at Yue Zhuoqun. After he came back, he had been passing on similar topics.
It’s just that he didn’t care. He had always been wary of his Christian colleagues in the west, but he didn’t treat them as a personal problem. Because there were large buffer areas such as Greece to the west of Byzantium, but the Seljuks in the east were directly attacking the westernmost part of Asia Minor, and
Byzantium was separated only by a narrow strait.
It was precisely due to the huge pressure from the Seljuks that Alexios I had to bow to the heretical leader of Rome, which promoted the First Crusade, thus alleviating some of the pressure.
Now that he heard similar arguments again, Alexius I couldn't help but think about it carefully.
He thought of the Crusaders who came from the East. The so-called devout believers were actually a group of poor people who could not make it in the local area, gangsters and poor settlers. They responded to the Eastern Crusade in order to go to the East to make a fortune and achieve a class jump.
They became extremely ferocious because of their greed. These crusaders who marched eastward were completely different from the Red Banner Army of Song Dynasty who marched westward.
What was the wise and far-sighted Emperor of the Song Dynasty reminding himself?
Alexios I was startled when he thought of the greed in the eyes of those Crusaders when they landed in Byzantium. Now that Jerusalem has returned to the embrace of the Christians, the Seljuks have declined, and now they are being ruthlessly attacked by the Song people from the east.
A sharp stab would make it even harder to stir up trouble.
So, having lost their biggest threat, where will the Crusaders turn their attention? This chapter has been completed!
