It took a long time for Mansur to speak, "Really? What does this have to do with me? My sons have grown up, and they are all able to endure it, and before I die, they are vying to call themselves caliphs, and I, the caliph, have become too angry to control them, nor have the mood and energy to care about their affairs! ”

Zhao Ziliang was silent for a moment, and said: "The peace talks have been going on for three days, and we have proposed some terms, and the two sides are now negotiating on these terms. ”

Mansour sneered, "yes, how could he want me to go back?" What will he do if I go back? He was worried that I would take away his power, and he wouldn't feel at ease if he stayed with me, but he didn't want to bear the notoriety of killing his father, so I was a hot taro for him, and my stay in Xiqin forever would be the best result for him and his other brothers! ”

Mansur is different from the kings of other emperors, even if he is captured by the Western Qin army, as long as he can go back, he has a strong influence on the ministers, generals, nobles and tribal chiefs of the Great Food Country, after all, his rule for so many years has already penetrated into the hearts of the people of the Great Food Country, and no one dares to ignore his authority. Therefore, not only did Mahdi not dare to let him go back, but the other princes who called themselves caliphs did not dare to let him go back.

Zhao Ziliang took a sip of tea and said: "There is still a month to go before our Tang Dynasty's Shangyuan Festival, if there is no delay on the way, this king can also rush back to Xinjing to enjoy the lanterns on the Shangyuan Festival and guess the word puzzle, if you are willing, this king wants to invite you to go to Xinjing to live for a few days, and appreciate the customs of my Western Qin Kingdom, I don't know what your Excellency thinks?" ”

Mansur slowly raised his head and looked at Zhao Ziliang, and only sighed after about two minutes: "You and I are the biggest enemy, if it were other kings, I am afraid that I would have been killed long ago after catching me, but you didn't, you said that kings don't kill kings, only the emperors of the ages who are majestic and broad-minded like the vast universe can say such things, I am not as good as you!" Well, since I can't go back, I might as well go to Xinjing to see the customs of the Western Qin Kingdom, and I have Your Majesty! ”

"Your Excellency does not have to be polite, before you set off, this king will send someone to inform you to prepare, you don't have to worry about everything, someone will take care of everything for you!" This king has taken his leave! After Zhao Ziliang finished speaking, he got up and nodded to Mansur and left.

On December 14, the ceasefire and peace talks between Western Qin and Da Shi continued, which could not be ended in a day or two, but Zhao Ziliang no longer waited, he led the Guards and the Dragon Guards to set off from Yazd and return to Xinjing, most of the officers and a small number of generals also returned, Mansur was also among them, he had a single carriage, and Zhao Ziliang did not have this kind of treatment.

Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, Grand Palace.

Almost all the ministers and generals who were ranked in the palace were gathered in the main hall of the palace, but Constantine V was not here, and they gathered here for only one reason, because Constantine V's empress Irina came to the end of her life.

In the past six months, the disease has completely broken Irina's body. Now, the princess of the former Khazar Khanate, a powerful queen who once had a peerless appearance and had great influence on the court power of the entire Eastern Roman Empire, is skeletal and dying.

Irina was lying in the thick silk quilt, already with more air out and less air in. A pile of wood burned in the fireplace in the dormitory, and a eunuch squatted next to it to add firewood to the fireplace from time to time, and the roaring fire warmed the spacious dormitory.

Constantine V sat on the edge of the bed holding Irina's withered hand, and their son, Leo, co-emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, squatted on the edge of the bed and held Irina's other hand.

"My queen, you'll be fine, I've asked the doctor to prepare the medicine, you'll get better soon after drinking it!" Constantine V comforted.

Irina shook her head weakly: "Don't be comforted, I'm going to die, God is calling me!" I have two things that I can't rest assured about: one is the Bolgars in the north, who have been our confidants for hundreds of years, and now they have the support of the Western Qin State, and they are even more threatening to us! The second thing is that our sons, Leo and Little Hazar, my child, you have grown up, you are your father's co-emperor, and you must take your share of responsibility to help your father govern the interior and defend against foreign enemies! ”

Constantine V hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Leo is a smart child, he has the potential to be an emperor, and after my death, the empire will be ruled by him!" ”

Leo also immediately said, "Mother, I will not disappoint your hopes!" ”

Irina looked at Rayla, who was standing behind Leo, and beckoned to her, who immediately lifted the hem of her skirt and leaned over and said, "Granny Queen, what do you want to say to me?" ”

A native of Athens and the daughter of the Greek governor, Rayla was exposed to classical Greek culture from an early age. She was beautiful and elegant, and at the age of 16 she was elected to the palace and was identified by Constantine V as the wife of Prince Leo, whom she married last year.

Irina smiled at Rayla, "Rayla, you're a good daughter-in-law, you have the look of my youth!" A man, especially an emperor, should have an empress who really thinks about him and this thousand-year-old empire behind his back, I hope you are such a person, help him well, support him when he is confused, and comfort him when he is tired! ”

Rayla hurriedly said, "Yes, Leo is my husband, and I will use my life to fulfill his deeds as emperor." If you agree, I'd like to change my name to Irina! ”

Irina's eyes lit up, and she spit out a word with difficulty: "Good!" ”

Irina the Great died in the grief of Constantine V and Leo, and the young Irina entered the stage of the history of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The news of the armistice negotiations between the Western Qin State and the Great Food Country soon reached Constantinople, and the news that the former caliph Mansur of the Great Food State was captured and the country was divided also came, and the second news made Constantine V breathe a sigh of relief, at least for a few years, the Arabs were no longer able to pose a threat to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the officials of Constantinople even held many great banquets to celebrate, but the first news gave Constantine V a sense of urgency, and the Western Qin after the armistice would inevitably recuperate, With the national strength of Western Qin, they will soon recover, although Western Qin and the Eastern Roman Empire have not yet directly bordered, but this invisible pressure has always existed, Western Qin's aggressiveness is too strong, strong national strength, huge population base, vast and boundless territory makes it rich in mineral resources, rich in products, plus with the support of the Tang Dynasty, this is almost an unbreakable giant.

After listening to the intelligence officer's report, Constantine V said to his son Leo and the ministers in the palace: "Zhao Ziliang is not only the king of Western Qin, but also the regent of the Tang Dynasty, two huge empires are ruled by him, he can command millions of troops, although it is impossible for him to mobilize so many troops to fight us, but we can't have a sense of urgency, we must find a way to improve the national strength and army combat effectiveness, otherwise once there is a real war with Western Qin, we will definitely not be opponents." But now we have to deal with the threat of the northern Bolgars! ”

Leo stood up and said to Constantine V and the other ministers: "Father, my lords, since the Bolgar Khan's King Terretz was attacked by us in the Black Sea two months ago, all the weapons and armor he purchased from Western Qin were intercepted by us, Terretz fled back with only a few people, and his own prestige in the Bolgar Khanate has been greatly reduced, and now his prestige has plummeted, and he has lost the support of many tribes!" The Bolgar Khan has already had civil strife, and I think we should wait and see what happens, let them kill each other, and now we have sent people into their interiors, and we can hear from them at any time, and when they are about to end the internal war, we will take action! I think the most important thing for us now is to reform the internal affairs and military system, so as to improve the national strength, and only when the national strength is strong can it compete with the Arabs and the Western Qin people! ”

Constantine V is more optimistic about Leo's son, this is not the first time Leo has appeared in the hall of the council, Leo does not stand up every time he speaks, but once he shouts out, he will definitely say constructive opinions. His words just now intrigued Constantine V and his ministers.

Constantine V asked: "You said that you want to reform the internal affairs and the military system, how to change it?" Where to start? ”

Leo said: "First of all, in terms of domestic affairs, I think we should start from three aspects: first, to encourage farming, and ask my father to order the pardon of some slaves to become freemen, for example, to order slaves over forty years old to become freemen, and allow them to cultivate the land, and the land obtained belongs to them. Of course, this would have caused a great deal of discontent among the slave owners, but we could have ordered a reduction in their agricultural taxes, and the slave owners, though they had lost some of their old slaves, would have gained some good and calmed their emotions; Second, to encourage commerce and handicrafts and to reform the tax system. We can simplify the application procedures required to conduct commercial trade and handicrafts, lower the threshold for declaring funds, and reduce taxes in certain business areas. In addition, there are big loopholes in the current commercial tax system, not only a large number of businessmen evade taxes, but even many officials and public officials have fished out of the loopholes in the system! Thirdly, to rectify religion, I think we should continue the idea of the Emperor, that is, to intensify the campaign of destroying idolatrous icons, to demolish icons in monasteries and churches throughout the country, to declare idolatry heresy, and even to pray for the saints of the Christian Church, to arrest and expel these heresies, and to recover the vast amount of land occupied by these people! ”