Eagle Byzantium

After entering the city, Zhao Zhao saw a large monolithic church standing in the central palace area. On both sides of the cistern at the front door of the church were traditional Aksumite black stone monuments. In the middle and behind was a statue: a man with a very bearded figure. The image of a majestic old man with curly hair and an Abyssinian face, sitting on the throne holding a long scepter. Behind the church are dense palace buildings and military camps, emitting all kinds of smoke.

"This is..." Zhao Zhao asked the official cautiously.

"The great prophet Moses." The official replied piously and proudly.

Whichever mountain you go to, you have to worship the god. Zhao Zhao knew this. He hurriedly requested to visit the statue of Moses and explained that this was his own special belief and did not conflict with Christian doctrine. This won great favor from officials and others. The official immediately said that he would inform "Emperor Negus" as soon as possible and ask him to receive Zhao Zhao and his party after their triumphant return.

After inquiring, I found out that the emperor of Adifa City had led his army south to fight the enemy.

"May I ask, how many miles south did His Majesty Negus go and where did he set up camp?" Zhao Zhao held up his hands and tried again. His previous business was mainly in Punt Point and Egypt, and his influence on Axum, which at that time had retreated to the inland mountains, was I really don’t know about the empire, I’ve only heard of the existence of such a kingdom.

"Oh, His Majesty the Emperor has set up camp on the Tekaze River." The official replied readily through the interpreter.

After staying in the palace's reception room for envoys, Zhao Zhao felt a little uneasy. He quietly said to his companions, "I always feel that something is fishy."

"Mr. Zhao..." The guards and monks who were traveling with him all gathered around, very curious.

"Listen...according to the information and documents that Baselisa collected for us in advance, the Kingdom of Axum claims to be the descendant of the ancient Hebrews and should speak Semitic. However, what the guide just said to them is completely different. "Language." Zhao Zhao patted the armrest of the seat and analyzed it. , and then he asked for the guide, but Zhao Zhao could not trust him, so he just gave him some coins and made insinuations, "I want to see Emperor Negus here as soon as possible, so I want to rush to his camp to meet him. Dare I "How far is the Tekaze River mentioned above from the capital?"

After the guide got the money, he didn't expect that Zhao Zhao was trying to trick him, so he answered directly, "I have been to that river with the caravan from Port Zela before. It is about 120 miles away from here."

"Poof!" Zhao Zhao, who was sipping, spurted out all the water he drank.

Then he waved his hand, indicating that the guide could leave.

Afterwards, Zhao Zhao held his forehead and said to the entourage in pain, "It seems that our mission this time was wrong. The emperor who is currently in Adifah City went on an expedition and only traveled more than a hundred miles away. His country is among these mountains. I estimate it is about three to five hundred miles in radius. How can he get a 60,000-strong army?"

"Mr. Zhao, I just found out that in fact, the 60,000-strong army is just an organizational unit like His Majesty's brigade and detachment. Every 10,000 is roughly equal to one of our detachments." A monk also hurriedly added.

Zhao Zhao smiled bitterly, "What a good emperor! What do you think we should do now?"

Several monks discussed in low voices for a while, and then boldly made a suggestion, "Mr. Zhao, let's just wait and see what happens until we are received by Emperor Naniges. In fact, your two majesties told us before traveling that even if it was a fake this time, It must also be made real, mainly to provide a source for the true scriptures of the Bible and the Ark of the Covenant.”

Zhao Zhao nodded, "Then everyone, please stay calm. We will wait here, but we must be careful in our words and deeds, because His Majesty and the Holy Queen are still waiting for us to return?"

A few days later, Emperor Negus returned from his "expedition", and Zhao Zhao and others received permission to climb onto the city battlements to watch the grand and majestic triumph of the emperor. But it doesn't matter if you don't look. As expected, I found that the entire so-called army under the emperor's banner, which was entering the city, only had about two to three thousand people. Most of them were walking barefoot, and they did not have sophisticated armor. There were very few cavalry, carrying axes, Weapons such as spears and bows.

"What's going on? When His Majesty fought with the Egyptian army, the other side hired thousands of Abyssinians."

Facing a question from a guard who had participated in the battle, another monk who also participated in the battle replied, "Fatima called all mercenaries from the south Abyssinians. His Majesty asked me to interrogate him after the war. The captives turned out to be tribesmen or herdsmen south of Egypt, and they didn’t even know the existence of the Aksum Empire.”

"It seems that no matter what the truth is, the Aksum Empire must have continued to decline and moved south here." Zhao Zhao sighed with his hands folded, and then walked down the battlement.

Later in the palace, Zhao Zhao sincerely handed over the Roman credentials to Emperor Negus who was sitting on the throne, and expressed greetings to Emperor Negus and his family on behalf of his two majesties.

This Negus is a dark-skinned and muscular man, wearing a white linen bandage with gold trim around his lower body. His belt is gold, the cross chest strap is also gold-plated, his crown and cape are also gold, and he is holding a The gold lion head scepter, black with gold, couldn't be more wealthy.

And next to his throne, there actually stood an archbishop, but he came from the Coptic Church in Alexandria. His name was Daniel. This man originally accompanied the emperor on the expedition, but when he returned, he had disgusted and terrifying eyes. Keep an eye on Zhao Zhao and his party.

Zhao Zhao knew that the Coptic Church and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople had always been incompatible. The doctrine of the former was closer to the Syrian Nestorian Church. The schism between them had a history of hundreds of years. Now when Archbishop Daniel learned that they were Roman envoys, he was merciful for not asking Emperor Negus to kill him on the spot.

I checked the correct version in the 16-9 book forum!

However, the gold-clad Emperor Negus was more polite. He called himself in a loud voice, "I am the master of the sea and the plateau, the protector of all the stone tablets and churches in Aksum, and the lion Malala on the earth. Once again, I extend my sincere greetings to Basilius and Basilisa of Rome." Then he read the letter of credence and found that he could not understand the Greek on it, so he handed it to Daniel.

Daniel has been here as bishop for 20 to 30 years. To be honest, due to the long distance and obstacles, he doesn’t know what is happening in Egypt and the Levant, nor does he know about Gawain’s rise, but he can roughly understand the words on the letter, and then he flatly refuses, "The Ark of the Covenant is the empire’s most precious treasure. It contains the original covenant between your Majesty’s ancestor Moses and the Lord. It must not be taken out for you to see!"

"Basileus of my country just wants to take out the contract and copy it. Basileus has long admired your country’s customs and is eager to adopt your country’s doctrines."

"That won’t work either. If you want to get the doctrine, you can go to Alexandria. The Ark of the Covenant must not be taken out!" Daniel’s attitude is still very tough.