[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The adventure in the cedar forest does not end there.After the first encounter, the expedition encountered two more attacks, both of which were narrowly escaped, but their weapons were exhausted, and they had to retreat to their companions who had earlier recuperated from poisonous mushrooms.

At this time, most people are almost better.The king's guards have already contacted Amori and obtained some supplies and weapons from outside the mountain.

The large group of people entered the high mountain in the cedar forest again, but the mood of the people was very different.

The most frightening thing is always the "unknown". After the true face of the "monster" is revealed, it will no longer look so scary.

People wrapped thick woolen scarves around their necks so that they would not be "choked" by barbarians when they came up-they no longer had to worry about fighting, and all the barbarians who dared to attack them were killed.

The expedition made their way to the top of the mountain and found a tribal settlement there.

It was a typical camp where humans live by hunting.Yi Nan is very suspicious that the people living here have continued the way of life in 7000 BC and preserved it until now.

But there are no living people left in the station.Instead, there are the remains of women and children everywhere—this is a tribe that has suffered.

Yinan immediately made a judgment: "Twenty years ago, the hunters of Amori disappeared for the first time. It was probably at that time that the tribes here failed to resist hunger and chose to eat their own kind. A disease that arises among humans begins to spread..."

The disease is getting more and more serious, causing more and more people to lose their "consciousness" as a human being. They start to live and eat like wild beasts... They even turn their hunting targets to weak individuals within the tribe All fell victim, though not so long ago they too were part of the tribe.

By this time, people have completely ceased to be human, which also means that this tribe is only a few years away from complete extinction—when all the people of this generation pass away, this tribe, together with the diseases they contracted, will never die. The world was completely wiped out.

It's just that in the last few years, they may still kill the Amori hunters who went into the mountains to hunt and log, or let the disease spread out of the cedar forest, making Amori, Xipar, Uruk... let the Mesopotamians People are gradually turning into walking dead.

For this reason, Yinan was both a little scared and a little lucky.

The expedition team searched the entire tribe, and finally found only one living person—an old man who was extremely weak, but after seeing Gilgamesh, he jumped on the ground with his hands and feet, his upper and lower jaws were almost unable to open and close, and he was still unable to resist the freshness. The temptation of flesh and blood, panting at Gilgamesh, struggling to open a mouth missing most of its teeth.

Gilgamesh didn't want to kill a declining old man, but at the moment when the opponent rushed towards him, he decisively chose to give the opponent a good time.

Unexpectedly, when he sent the sharp knife into the opponent's chest, there was a trace of relief in the old man's eyes. It seemed that the remaining reason and human dignity tortured him from beginning to end. Until now, this fierce conflict and torture finally After a rest, he was finally relieved.

Gilgamesh witnessed this relief firsthand, with a serious expression throughout.Even on the way out of the cedar forest, he may not be able to speak for a long time. It seems that this adventure has brought him too much thought, and he cannot fully digest it for a while.

But back to the Amorites, the Amorites responded to the king with incomparable enthusiasm after hearing the news.

The accompanying Amorite hunters became famous in the city, and their daily routine was to tell the Amorite residents about the king's great deeds; soon this adventure was composed and sung, even before the soldiers of Uruk broke camp and returned. , the ballad has already been sent back to Uruk.

Families of those lost and killed in the cedar forests come to pay their respects outside the Uruk camps; Amorite timber traders are excited that they can go into the forest again to harvest those huge logs - it is Uruk after all And the hot commodity that the Eridians are waiting for every day.

The Amorite consul went to the Uruk camp every day to show his loyalty to the king. Sometimes he even really hoped that the moon god Sin the Amorites believed in was a goddess—so that he could at least rely on God and the king's "mother and child" Relationship" keeps in touch with Uruk with a shy face.

The king, however, had no time for the consuls. He had important problems to solve himself:

Gilgamesh came to Inan: "Duo, the king wants to know, is there something you have been hiding from the king?"

Yi Nan: "No?"

She answered with the utmost candor and conviction—which only proved that she hadn't realized what she was hiding.

Gilgamesh was furious.

"Oh, you mean I didn't get bitten by a savage?"

Inan looked at Gilgamesh's eyes, and stretched out his arm to show.

A piece of snow-white jade arm, without any blemishes, not even half of the tooth marks can be seen, it is hard to imagine that she once sent this arm to the mouth of a barbarian, thus protecting Gilgamesh.

"I grew up with a peculiar body, less prone to scrapes, bruises, bites... so even Hakesh can't do anything to me. Isn't it, Hakesh?"

Yi Nan turned back to look for the little lion who was finally reunited with them.This lion has been fostered in the camp of Uruk. It is said that this guy refused to eat in the days when he could not see Gilgamesh. Now he has been starved to the point where only a handful of bones are left, but he has recovered. Spirit and appetite.

Seeing Yi Nan reaching out his hand, Hakesh stuck out his tongue with many barbs, and "chucked" twice on the back of Yi Nan's palm.Inan continued to show Gilgamesh his hands. Bai Shengsheng's small hands were still scratched and not even a small tear.

But the problem is that Gilgamesh's mouth is dry looking at these hands.

He suddenly felt that all the blood in his body was rushing to his face.

In fact, to tell whether the little guy in front of you is male or female, you don't just have to ask or observe.

Gilgamesh just wanted to shake the hands in front of him, drag the whole body in front of him, and then asked fiercely and loudly: What are you hiding from the king?Are you...would you like to be with the king?Always...together?

But the king just can't save face——

After all, Sipar's Enki is the king's good friend, and he even saved the king desperately. The king is emotional and reasonable, and he can't force him.In case... In the future, I don't even have to be friends.

So Gilgamesh said aloud to himself, "Calm down!"

Yi Nan was curious: "Calm down...?"

Just when there is a knot of anger that does not know how to explain, and the other is curious but does not know the inside story, the two face each other. If Gilgamesh is not calm, he will explode first.

Just then, one of Gilgamesh's guards enters.When he saw Wang and Wang's friends together, he had long been familiar with the strangeness and reported it directly—the owner of a brewery in Amori begged to see the king.

Now, Gilgamesh and Inan calmed down at the same time.

The owner of Amori's brewery is a spy arranged by Uruk in this area.His entry into the camp of the Uruk people was tantamount to revealing his identity—although the king of Uruk deterred the Amorites with his strength, the cost of doing so was huge, which meant that the "nail" lurking in the future would no longer be useful. In the future, we can only sell "Uruk Beer" openly to do business.

The brewery owner, willing to pay such a high price to meet them in the camp, proved that the situation was extremely urgent.

Gilgamesh abruptly interrupted the thoughts in his mind, and solemnly called for someone to come in.

The owner of the brewery, no matter in his attire or appearance, looked completely Amori, and even spoke with a local Amori accent, but he showed the king a seal.Gilgamesh checked it and knew that it was indeed one of his own. He nodded and asked the other party to speak.

What the brewery owner said stunned Gilgamesh and Inan at the same time. They looked at each other and nodded slowly.

Gilgamesh praised: "You did a very good job." He casually took off a thick woolen cardigan robe on his body, and the robe was hung with gold tassels.

Gilgamesh rewarded this robe to the owner of the brewery, and the owner excitedly put the king's robe on his body, bowed down to express his thanks, and then stepped back.

In the camp, only Gilgamesh and Inan were left.The two looked at each other, with both happiness and anxiety in their eyes.

The owner of the brewery was one of the spy networks arranged by the Uruk people.The news obtained by Uruk spies in other places was not directly sent back to Uruk, but sent directly to Amori to see if they could find a way to pass it to the king here.

The news was sent to the owner of the brewery. The spy knew that the matter was of great importance, so he broke the boat and directly revealed his identity and entered the Uruk camp to convey the news to Gilgamesh.

——This news is absolutely worth it.

Because the Akkadians sent troops with a clear goal, Uruk, the most powerful city-state on the Euphrates River.

Fortunately for Gilgamesh and Inan, they had already prepared for it, and Uruk had already begun to build the city defense; the important material supply places in the upper reaches of Uruk were also subdued by Gilgamesh's kindness and power. Will still be attached to and loyal to Uruk for a short time;

More importantly, the spies who responded to the situation sent the news to the king early, so that the king had enough time to make arrangements——

But those are the Akkadians who have been particularly worrying since the time of the former king Lugabanda.

The nomads live in no fixed place and are always brave.Their way of fighting is to break into a city, loot it, take the goods and people looted from that city, and leave, leaving an empty city, a ruined city, and let this devastated city suffer endless sorrow with pain.

Gilgamesh and Inan had a tacit understanding and sat down to discuss at the same time.It's just that the content of the discussion can no longer accommodate the slightest personal feelings, only how to deal with powerful enemies.

Not long after, the king's messenger rushed out of the camp, took the king's seal and orders, jumped on the horse used for communication, and galloped towards Uruk.

Gilgamesh ordered the peasants who stayed in Uruk to work with the local residents day and night, in order to complete the construction of the city wall quickly; the merchants expropriated all the grain in the nearby areas as quickly as possible, and stored all the grain in Uruk. The warehouses in the city of Uruk; in the small villages around Uruk, the farmers and herdsmen who lived for generations quickly retreated into Uruk after harvesting the grain of this season...

Thirty boats on the Euphrates River are still traveling on the Euphrates River, but the direction of transportation has been completely changed: originally they were transporting supplies and supplies to the Uruk army upstream, but now they seem to be hoarding. Bring all usable supplies back to Uruk.

But Gilgamesh still followed the original plan, and after worshiping the temple of the moon god Sin again, he slowly returned to Uruk without showing any panic, as if he had never heard of the Akkadians planning to attack. Same message.

On his way, he once again passed through large and small city-states along the Euphrates River.These cities have already heard about the deeds of the king in Amori, and obediently expressed their position to Gilgamesh, expressing that no matter what happens, they will serve Gilgamesh and hope that Gilgamesh can provide them with asylum. .

Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk in name, but his actual sphere of influence goes far beyond Uruk and Eridu. The title of "King of Kings, King of Kings" is no longer just an ornament. Countless people in the Euphrates valley bowed their heads to him.

Under such admiring eyes, Gilgamesh and Inan returned to Uruk.

What unfolded in front of them was a huge, almost perfect city.

During Gilgamesh's expedition to Amorite, the construction of the city wall of Uruk did not stop for a moment.After getting the news that the Akkadians were about to move, the speed of building the city wall accelerated even more.The city's peasants and residents worked day and night, knowing that the city would provide them with shelter in the event of a formidable enemy.

Come back now, the last section of the city wall is close to closing, and about 200 more steps will be repaired, and Uruk will have a complete city wall.

The entire city wall starts from a tower on the banks of the Euphrates River, goes around Uruk for a week, and returns to another tower on the banks of the Euphrates River.Between the two towers is the shipping dock of Uruk.There are a total of seven gates on the city wall for residents inside and outside the city to enter and exit. A trench was dug outside each gate, and a suspension bridge was hung on the trench with a winch for people to enter and exit.

Gilgamesh returned to Uruk, and before returning to the palace in the city, he took Inan together to inspect the city wall inside and out, and agreed with the officials and civilians on the construction site.

"The king is back!"

"Wang, we will do what you say!"

When the people of Uruk saw that Gilgamesh had returned, they all felt that they had a backbone.

"After the last section of the city wall is built, the Akkadians can only come here empty-handed." Gilgamesh encouraged them loudly.

"Yes, we must show some color to those Akkadians who run around on the backs of cattle all day long!"

The people of Uruk were so refreshed that they all went back to catch up with work.

Gilgamesh turned around, with a worried look on his brows, and asked Inan, "Duo, do you think we can guard against it?"

Yi Nan thought for a while, and instead of saying any false comforting words, he replied, "It depends on the situation of the Akkadians."

How many soldiers the Akkadians sent, what kind of mental outlook they had, whether they were really determined to take Uruk... These all determine whether an offensive and defensive battle in Uruk will be successful.

"However, if you can't guard against it, you have to guard against it." Yi Nan added another sentence - protecting their homeland has no choice for the people of Uruk.

If it is not prevented, or cannot be prevented, it means that the civilization accumulated by the Uruk people for more than 2000 years will be trampled and destroyed by barbarism.

When Gilgamesh heard this, he immediately calmed down: "Yes, if there is no Uruk, there is no need for the king to exist in the world."

He said it lightly, but Yinan knew that this guy had already made up his mind to live and die together.

"Let's go, go to the Elder's House and ask about the current situation." Gilgamesh didn't have time to rest, and directly took Inan into the city to meet the "Elder's House" that presided over the daily affairs of Uruk during his absence.

"The king is back?"

When Gilgamesh returned to the elders' house near the temple, all seventeen elders happened to be there.

Inan shrank behind Gilgamesh, pretending to be busy restraining and disciplining the lion cub Hakesh, but actually secretly observing the expressions of the elders.

Before Gilgamesh was not there, one of the seventeen elders would naturally stand up to lead.Sure enough, the elder named "Heb" that Inan had met last time seemed to be the leader of the elders' house: he stood where Gilgamesh usually stood, and even held in his hand a bird full of elders. The box they use to "bet".

"My lord, you came just in time—the House of Elders has just passed a resolution about the upcoming war with the Akkadians."

Gilgamesh raised his eyebrows.He had expected that the House of Elders would discuss the upcoming war, but he did not expect that they would make a decision in his absence.

However, in the House of Elders, even though Gilgamesh is the king of Uruk, he can only cast two pottery chips. make a resolution.

"Very well, let the king hear what resolution you have made." Gilgamesh stared at Herb with a smile.

Yi Nan saw Herb's eyes wandering, and felt something bad in his heart.

Sure enough, Hebo said: "The city wall of Uruk was built, but the space in the city is limited. The elders decided that all those who have the status of 'free people' of Uruk are eligible to stay in the city and be protected by the city wall."

Gilgamesh opened his mouth and answered three words: "You fart!"

Herb blushed at Wang's rude response, but Wang's authority was there. When Wang said he farted, he farted.

The elder, who has always had the right to speak, was publicly humiliated by Gilgamesh, endured and endured, and finally calmly put out a handful of pottery chips in his hand and said: "Fifteen black chips and two white chips, let's assume If the king is willing to vote for white chips, the result will still be fifteen black chips and four white chips, and the resolution of the elders will be passed."

Gilgamesh immediately strode into the elders' courtyard, stood opposite Herb, his eyes swept over the faces of all the elders one by one.Many of them could not bear the pressure in Gilgamesh's eyes, and cringed and lowered their heads, making people guess that if Gilgamesh was present when the House of Elders voted, it might not necessarily be the result.

Gilgamesh grinned at the elders in front of him, but everyone was horrified.He squinted his eyes and gritted his teeth and said, "The king promised that those who have contributed to the construction of the city are eligible to be protected by the city wall."

Heb argued hard, saying, "Do you know the difference between the supply for 5 people in Uruk and the supply for 2 people?"

"Now the city is frantically collecting grain and cattle, sheep and livestock. It seems that at most 5 people can be fed for a month..."

Gilgamesh interrupted mercilessly: "You can support 2 people for two and a half months." This arithmetic problem is not difficult for Gilgamesh.

"But after two and a half months, if the Akkadians are still besieging the city, what's the difference between this and the one month before?"

Herb blushed when Gilgamesh said a word and didn't know how to refute.

"At the beginning, the city was built to protect the old, the weak, women and children in the city. It didn't mean that the king and the guards in the city could stay in the city and act like turtles."

Gilgamesh made it very clear: Even if Uruk has this city, it is only for the people of Uruk to defend the city, not to say that the people in the city can do nothing—the city Xiulai, in fact, is more to protect those weak people, those who stand behind the soldiers... old people, women, children.

The battle still needs to be fought. The soldiers in the city need to attack the opponent from time to time, the supplies must keep up, and the city of Uruk must maintain smooth communication with the outside world.

And this city wall will create a brand-new way of defending the city for them-it is definitely not a simple calculation by the elders in the city, how much food can be supplied, and how many people can be supplied.

Herb's face was very dark: "No one has ever fought such a battle. Let all the peasants stay. This decision is not something the king can do as he says."

Gilgamesh stood proudly, arms folded, chin raised high and silent.

The look on his face clearly said: But Wang has made his decision.

Herb had no choice but to resort to a drastic move: "Actually... before the king came back, the Council of Elders made another resolution. If Wang Zhiyi refuses to implement the resolution of the Council of Elders, then the Council of Elders decides to report to Aka Germans, surrender the city."

When Gilgamesh heard the words "dedicate the city and surrender", he was furious, stretched out his iron fist, and smashed it hard, smashing the marble tabletop in front of the elders to pieces in an instant.The wooden box containing the pottery chips fell to the ground, and the pottery chips inside were probably broken.

"You are sick!" Gilgamesh yelled angrily.The elders’ rude threats against the king’s will, in the final analysis, are for their own self-interest—most of these elders live in deep houses and courtyards, and they have built secret cellars to store food and wealth. Even if they donate the city, they must be Those most likely to save their lives and property.

But such a decision, where does it leave most of the ordinary residents of Uruk, and where does it leave the king of Uruk, how can Gilgamesh be blamed for not being angry at this time?

If he didn't get angry, he would be a real useless king, a waste king who was not qualified to rule Uruk and the Euphrates River Valley, and would only embarrass the gods.

But the restrictions on the royal power of the Council of Elders are still there.Facing the furious Gilgamesh, Herb still said, "Eleven black chips and six white chips."

So the Council of Elders also passed the resolution of "dedicating the city to begging for surrender".

Gilgamesh opened his mouth, but he couldn't say anything—even if he opposed it with all his strength, he couldn't.

But at this moment, Hakesh's roar suddenly sounded behind him.

All the elders present couldn't help shaking their bodies when they heard the lion's roar.Herb's face was as pale as an Egyptian papyrus core.

But a clear boy's voice sounded: "Hakesh, let's go!"

Gilgamesh:……?

Why is this greeting, as if greeting him specially?

Hearing this, Wang seemed to remember something, turned around and left.He walked halfway, just turned around, and threw a sentence to the shivering elders in the elders' courtyard: "I advise everyone, don't act rashly."

"The king respects your power, but please remember that your power cannot be abused!"

In the distance, two people and one lion left side by side.In the courtyard of the elders, there were only seventeen "elders" who were stupid, as well as the broken marble table and the smashed pottery chips.