Eagle’s Glory

Around the Greek issue, the European powers were fiercely and silently confronting each other on the invisible battlefield. Each country chose its own position according to its own strength and interests, and then formed cliques respectively, and then discussed it in polite official documents. Fighting to maximize the interests of the country.

This unstable state of the international order has easily triggered wars since ancient times. Fortunately, after more than 20 years of bloody storms, major powers have lingering fears about wars. Into the war - and this mentality means that there must be room for compromise between all parties.

At this time, Aigron was idle.

He still can't get involved in the conflicts in the diplomatic arena of the European continent, and those fierce conflicts of interest have nothing to do with him at this time-for him, what he has now is enough to satisfy him, he has already There is no need to risk creating new instability.

He is not afraid of gambling, he will take risks when it is time to take risks, but he is not a lunatic, he also knows how to accept when it is good to accept it.

Because of this mentality, when drawing the border with his Greek allies, he was more magnanimous than the other side imagined, because for him, being friendly and stable freed him up to do more important things , is more important than taking a few more barren hills.

Since the signing of the "Spartan Agreement", Egron has remained in Methoni, waiting for the results of the negotiations between his allies and the Turks.

And the development of the situation did not disappoint him. Under the strong pressure of the Russians, Sudan had to make a trade-off between Greece and his capital, and made a wise choice-he ordered his troops in Greece to withdraw so that Go north to resist the attack of the Russian army.

Moreover, the ambassadors of the Western powers who stayed in Istanbul seemed to have secretly reached a tacit agreement, and they have been urging the Sudan to conduct peace talks with the independent Greek government and withdraw the army in exchange for the support of the powers for Sudan.

In order to keep the remaining family business, the Sudan also had to make a painful decision, at the cost of recognizing the independence of Greece, in exchange for the help of the Western powers, so that his dynasty could survive.

The Turkish and Egyptian armies stationed in Athens and other areas were already exhausted after years of fighting in poor foreign countries. After the Duke of Reichstedt led the army to land, they were also desperate to conquer Greece, so they received the Sudanese After the Sultan's order, they breathed a sigh of relief, so they were also happy to cooperate with the Sultan's order.

To them, defending their homelands of Istanbul and Anatolia made far more sense than remaining in Greece.

Precisely because both parties already have a strong will for peace, and powerful external intervention forces also support peace,

Therefore, the negotiations between the independent army and the Turkish army went quite smoothly, and it took almost no time to reach a basic agreement.

During the negotiation process, the Turkish army had begun to retreat because of their eagerness to return aid. By the time an initial agreement was reached, the Turks in the Athens area had been cleared, and the Greek Independence Army rushed out of the Peloponnese without hesitation. The Sabah Peninsula quickly took over Athens.

For them and for Greece, Athens means the whole country, and only it can become the capital of the new Greek kingdom in the future.

When the Independence Army entered Athens, the local residents greeted each other with flowers, and the entire peninsula rejoiced.

These major events are enough to be recorded in the annals of history, but for Aigron, these are all expected, so they are not worth paying more attention to.

And the issue he is most concerned about now is his wedding with Teresa.

Athens has been peacefully recovered by the rebels, which means that the ruins of the Parthenon have also fallen into their hands again, and Panos Kolokotronis has already promised him that he will do his best Work hard and help Eggron hold a grand wedding in order to repay his kindness and contributions to his side.

Eggron really hoped so.

Emotionally speaking, he owed Teresa too much, and he had to give the girl a grand wedding as an explanation; in terms of political considerations, he also hoped to use this wedding to declare Bonaparte's love. The family is officially back on track.

Although he is only 17 years old now, after he gets married and starts a family, he will be the head of the family and the leader of the whole family.

When this family was prominent in the past, almost everyone wore a crown, but now it has fallen into disrepair, and the members are scattered. Now, as the head of the new generation, he shoulders the responsibility of carrying forward the family and spreading its branches and leaves.

Teresa, as his legal wife, will work with him to restore their family to its former glory.

Because of this, after learning that Athens had been restored, he immediately took his fiancée to the local area, and then discussed the wedding with Panos and others who had just arrived in Athens.

Although Panos was busy at this time, he had to deal with endless problems, and he was almost too busy to touch the ground, but he did not forget his promise, and he just set aside some people from the stretched hands to assist Aegron and his men prepare for the wedding together.

And Teresa naturally paid more attention to this issue than Aigron. She paid attention to the negotiations between the two parties throughout the whole process, and asked almost every detail of the wedding, even the ceremony procedures at the wedding ceremony site, and the location of the guard of honor branch, She made arrangements for the course of action one by one according to her wish.

In order not to make the blind feel the elephant, of course she has to go to the Parthenon to do field surveys, and Aigron is naturally happy to accompany Teresa to visit the ruins, just like traveling.

Today is a good day. Although it is winter at this time, the clouds have cleared, the sky is clear, and the air has become particularly dry and refreshing. Boys and girls dressed in casual clothes, under the protection of the guards, walked up the steps of the Acropolis Go, step by step to the highest hill of the Acropolis.

The Parthenon, with its majestic and elegant figure, stands here quietly.

In the past, it used to be a symbol of Athens, enshrining the goddess Athena, and the embodiment of the devout beliefs of the Athenians. It witnessed the most glorious time of the city-state, and it was also the master of Athens' architectural and artistic achievements.

However, all glory will eventually come to an end. Athens finally failed in the decades-long war for hegemony with Sparta, and the glorious era of the city-state came to an end. After that, Athens and the whole of Greece inevitably declined. Then it was conquered by foreigners one by one, first the Macedonians, then the Romans, and finally the Turks, and the conquests again and again made the Athenians almost forget the glory they had two thousand years ago.

All the glory has become a passing cloud, and only this magnificent marble building stands alone. Even though it looks magnificent and beautiful, it is nothing but the last residue of the glorious era.

Moreover, because of the continuous years of war, the temple itself has also suffered great damage. The biggest damage came in 1687, when the Venetians and the Turks fought in Athens, and the Turkish defenders regarded the temple at the highest point of the Acropolis as a After that, the Venetian army bombarded the castle and detonated the explosives that the Turks had piled up in the temple, which eventually led to the martyrdom. Almost all the roof and walls of the temple were blown down, and the scarred temple officially became a temple. There were ruins.

The temple's devastation didn't stop there, and it became a favorite of adventurers and collectors of all kinds, and its remaining fine marble sculptures suffered another terrible catastrophe and were smuggled away Became a private collection.

Teresa walked up the steps with Aigron. Seeing the gravel and devastation on the hill, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

For her, Athens is not so much an ancient city-state as it is a symbol of civilization and the birthplace of European culture. Seeing that it has been reduced to this state, how can it be possible not to feel pity?

"It's not long before the wedding, we need to hurry up and arrange some people to clean it up." She whispered to herself.

Although she knew that no matter how much she cleaned it up, it was impossible to restore this piece of ruined wall, but at least she had to clean it up a little bit, so as not to hurt the lively and festive atmosphere.

"Well, Panos and the others happen to have a group of Turkish prisoners who haven't been sent back yet, so let's send them here to clean up the gravel." Egron nodded in agreement.

Then, the two of them walked to the top of the Acropolis together, and at this time, the remains of the Parthenon Temple were also revealed in front of them in great detail.

Rather than saying that it is a large building, it is better to say that it is the only broken wall left - the top has collapsed, and there is nothing inside, only rows of columns and some reliefs and sculptures remain. Standing there silently.

But even so, after standing under these pillars and truly feeling the size of the temple, not only Teresa, but even Egron felt the impact of classical civilization—this was 2,300 years ago. building...

Subconsciously, the girl and the girl couldn't help looking around, as if they were looking for the once glorious scene of Athens among the ruins, but it was naturally impossible for them to find it.

Except for these pillars, there is nothing left, everything is in the past, and it will not be repeated.

Time can wear away everything, even the greatest emperors cannot escape the wear and tear of time, and will eventually become the dust of history; those countries that once prospered cannot escape the ravages of time, and eventually disappear into oblivion.

A great sense of loss suddenly left the unmarried couple speechless.

After a while, Teresa regained her spirits. She walked under the stone pillar, admiring the marble sculptures and reliefs on the stone wall, and fell in love with these exquisite works of art.

Her parents collected a large number of sculptures and portraits, so she also received art education since she was a child, so she knew how to appreciate the outline and posture of stone carvings.

"Your Highness... It's admirable to think about it. They are the ancestors of us a hundred generations ago, but they can produce such wonderful stone carving art, even our current artists are amazed...God knows them What ingenious thought and handwriting have there been!"

While talking, she suddenly noticed that some sculptures and reliefs had very obvious signs of damage, and some stone sculptures were even cut off by the roots, leaving only the bases in place.

"They've been looted!" Teresa said in amazement.

"It's not surprising, Teresa." Aigron replied calmly, "People are always coveting these art treasures, and it is considered lucky that there are so many left after more than two thousand years. It's..."

Aigron's consolation did not make Teresa feel any better, and she looked at the destroyed marble sculptures with grief.

"My God, how could anyone destroy them! They are priceless works of art!"

"Many people are willing, such as Earl Elgin." Eggron shrugged. "More than twenty years ago, this old man, when he was the British ambassador to Istanbul, bribed the Turkish officials here, and then got permission to take away the stone carvings. He hired a group of craftsmen to make some of the most exquisite here. The sculptures and statues were taken back to England, many stone sculptures were destroyed, and some unfortunately sank to the bottom of the sea on the way... But he didn't care, he happily took them to decorate his manor in Scotland .”

"Count Elgin is such a brazen, lawless bastard!" After hearing these words, Teresa turned pale with anger, and then cursed with righteous indignation, "He knows neither culture nor art, and only His pathetic greed... He doesn't understand that the Parthenon is only valuable in Athens, and its sculptures are also priceless treasures that belong only to Athens, a glorious testimony to the history of Greek civilization! He snatched the sculptures and got What is it? It's just a sad detritus of history...and the damage he caused is irreparable! Sad... so sad that these only remaining art treasures were not destroyed by savages, but were destroyed by a civilized country The nobles are completely destroyed!"

Teresa is not so angry out of self-interest, she is sincerely angry that such a precious heritage of Greek civilization has been easily destroyed.

Because of her love of art and civilization, she knows how precious it is.

Seeing Teresa getting angry so rarely, Aigron was a little afraid to speak.

On this issue, the Bonaparte family is also relatively guilty, because while Napoleon was fighting everywhere, he also deliberately looted artworks everywhere, and plundered a lot of cultural relics from other countries—not to mention, the things he plundered from Egypt The obelisk still stands on the square in Paris...

But it's better not to say it at this time, so as not to pour cold water on Teresa.

Then, Aigron kept coaxing Teresa to be happy, and finally let Teresa recover from her anger.

"Your Highness, the damage suffered here is too serious, and it is impossible for us to restore it to its old appearance. All we can do is to repair and maintain it as much as possible, so that the few remaining remnants can stay here quietly, so that People remember the epic of Athens..." Teresa said solemnly to Aigron, "I hope it can be preserved forever! This is the responsibility of all of us."

"I agree with that too." Eggron nodded.

Then, Teresa went under the stone pillar again, and then raised her hand and gestured in front of her eyes, as if to estimate where to hang the tassels during the wedding.

And Aigron has always been by her side, discussing with her the arrangement of the wedding.

Maybe one day they too will have to turn into dust, but at least for now, they will have eternity.