Eagle Byzantium

Christopher, of course, knew that his father was inspecting him. After all, he had reached the age where he had to express plans and opinions for the empire's affairs, and even exercise his left-behind power.

However, what is a little different between him and his father Gawain is that Christopher will not express his opinions quickly. He must think carefully about how to make each chess move and make it clear and logical before he can "make a move".

So Augustus put his chin on his head and slowly thought about his father's question.

Half an hour, a quarter of an hour, half an hour... Even the slaves beside Zeno's chessboard began to look at each other, feeling a little embarrassed in the air.

Helpless Gawain could only divert his attention and look at the manuscripts displayed in his son's study. He discovered that Christopher's books included: "Gaul Wars", "Art of War", "Homer's Epic", "Cyrus". "Education", "The Long March", "Song of Roland", "Shauda", "Architecture", "Balaam and Josephine", "The True Patriot", "The Customs of the Christian World", "The World" "Realm Chronicles", "Natural History", "Natural History", "History of Herodotus", etc., and even the "Analects of Confucius" and "Sun Wuzi's Art of War" that were recently captured from the Song Army camp are placed on the bookshelf. , "Three Strategies of Huangshi Gong" and so on. Of course, due to time constraints, they have not yet been translated into Greek. The hanging label above has Christopher's handwriting: "Please ask the translator to translate it as soon as possible in three days."

This boy is an out-and-out bookworm just like his mother!

Gawain, who was standing in front of a cabinet densely covered with bookmarks, squinted his eyes and looked at the back of Christopher who was sitting there. He was not tall and looked a bit like his mother. Standing next to Calleadios or Helena, he could hardly see. No doubt he is their younger brother.

Finally, Christopher breathed a long sigh of relief, turned around and said to his father seriously, "After careful consideration, I think we should give priority to Egypt, father."

"Why? John of Crete has a small army and is trapped on an isolated island; or should he attack Sicily now, where there is nothing that can stop the power of the empire?"

"For the time being, the policy of peace is our priority on the western border, father. We need time to build new schools and churches in Mosia, Savoy, and Dalmatia, unify everyone's understanding, and then be independent from Constantinople. Religious institutions will not be allowed to exist. Once these areas are re-Romanized, the empire's national power will rise to a new level, but while my father is focusing on trade and colonization, he cannot relax his investment in basic agriculture."

Hearing his son's words, Gawain nodded. He knew that Christopher's words were correct. In this era, it is completely impossible to seek the far away in this era. Only improved agriculture can produce enough food to support a large enough population. to pursue other trades and serve in the army.

"The agricultural base on the Egyptian River is exactly what we need. In the future, with the four core rich agricultural areas of Egypt, Mysia, Cilicia, Thrace, and Thessaly, the empire's population can increase to 20 million. To 30 million." Christopher continued in an orderly manner, "In addition, I also learned in the natural history that a canal can be dug in Egypt. Both Lao Ma and Muhammad have done this. As long as the canal is opened, we can connect Alexandria in Egypt, Zela in Axum, Yelen in Persia, and the province of New Nicaea in India. That will not happen. In fifty years, the empire can fully control the east-west sea trade routes, and cooperate with the land trade routes of Trabzon and Georgia, which will be safe. "

"When the time comes, remember that we must continue to expand territory in India. In the future, we can only occupy the sea and land there. In this way, we can confront the resurgent Tang Empire in the East a hundred years later. Or to be more direct, there are three battlefields for us to compete in the future. One is the grasslands of Khazars and Rus, the other is the river lands of Central Asia, and the third is India. Among them, the third party should be the most fierce." Gawain was very satisfied with his son's answer and sat back on the couch with his hands crossed. Although he had signed an alliance monument with the Tang Empire, Gawain knew clearly. Even if there are twenty, fifty or even a hundred years of peaceful exchanges, the two empires will still collide at some point in the future.

Now he got information from Pharmacist Guo, saying that Yelu Dashi seemed to be sheltering in the Persian governor's palace in Gaotang and was actively preparing to pacify the Fergana Basin. Gao Wen couldn't kill him, so he took refuge in Gaotang, and in turn Dealing with Gawain - So Gawain was also unambiguous. He sent secret envoys and instigated the acquiescence of Khwarezm. Pasha Qutb Ibn killed Sikara Khan on suspicion of betraying the Seljuk Sultan (after all, Sikara had wavered and acted disloyally in the previous war against the Song Dynasty), and annexed The tribesmen occupy the city of Urgenqi (Yulongjiechi) and monitor Yelu Dashi's every move.

Although there was no hot war between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Gaotang Empire, a secret contest between the two sides had begun surrounding the area between the Oxus River and the Syr Darya River.

"I listen to your plan. The country of Axum, which is currently receiving our military assistance, has formed a 5,000-strong Guards with cavalry and firearms. They destroyed Queen Falasha in the south and the usurper of the throne in the north. The Agao people are now fiercely attacking Nubia, Fatima's ally, and want to regain the horse-producing and gold-producing areas. Five hundred retired veterans have been sent again to serve as advisors and backbones of Axum's army. I predict that it will not be a big problem to wipe out Nubia within three years, so it is time to take advantage of the civil strife in the Kingdom of Jerusalem to attack the chaotic Egypt. It's time." Gawain clapped his hands and calmly explained his plan in front of his son.

At this time, Christopher's eyes flashed with suspicion, and he asked his father cautiously, "Then, in the future, Egypt's territory will not be shared with Jerusalem?"

"Of course not." Gawain's tone was very straightforward, "I will give it all the land of Judah and the port of Ashkelon as Helena's dowry. In the future, the Kingdom of Jerusalem will naturally be downgraded to the Roman Empire. Vassal!”

"But sister..."

Gawain raised his hand to interrupt his son's question, then approached him and put his hand on Christopher's shoulder, "You are the one who will be in charge of the power of this empire in the future. You have to build your own team. Father will leave some space." To meet your martial arts needs, such as Venice and Rhodes, this is enough—— Augustus at that time did not have the same military exploits as Caesar. He only conquered some tribes in Dalmatia and became the emperor of the empire. Be good Christopher, I will challenge you in the future. It’s not as simple as the external war. You have to continue to reform Rome and work hard to control the direction of the ship. "

Then the emperor smiled and walked out, "I will preside over the believers' meeting in Adrianople soon. After that, I will rest for a year and then send troops to conquer Egypt."