The night is getting deeper and deeper.

A family dinner in the flower hall is still going on. Unlike the common literati and singing and dancing to entertain the banquet, today the banquet held in Yuxianzhuang did not have any singing and dancing, nor did it accompany the music of silk and bamboo. There were only two storytelling women, Oliga and Moli.

Two women who are like flowers tell a heartbreaking story.

They talk about the fall of two ancient and brilliant civilizations with a history as long as China! One is Rome and the other is Persia.

The story of Roman is naturally the "female crusador" Oliga. She used a bit stiff Chinese with a little Fujian accent to tell the rise, division and decline of a great country. From the establishment of the ancient Roman city, to the Roman Republic, to the Roman Empire, to the period of division and the invasion of barbarians, and of course the spread of Christianity in Rome, as well as the afterglow of the Eastern Roman Empire (also called Rome) that still exists. She also mentioned some of the history of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Carthage.

Of course, we must talk about the rise of the Tianfang Sect and the invasion of the Saracens on Eastern Rome... Oh, and the struggle between the Crusades and the Crusade Knights!

Among them, Oliga was not very clear about the history of the Roman Republic and Empire period. Half of the stories she told were recorded in the books given to him by Wu Haogu, such as Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Carthaginians and Hannibal... She just vaguely knew something, but she didn't expect to hear a more complete story in the East.

The later stories of the Saracen people invading Eastern Rome and the integration of ethnic groups were all about Oliga's father and Orthodox priests who heard Wu Haogu not know much about these things. In later generations, the Eastern Roman Empire was a loser who was not qualified to write history! Moreover, the power of the Tianfang Cult is very powerful, and it almost makes people unable to argue with existences! Who dares to promote the barbarity, cruelty and ambition of ruling the world?

As for the last story of the Crusades and the Knights of the Crusades, it was found by Wu Haogu based on the relevant history learned in later generations, plus his own imagination. It made Oliga very excited. When he talked about that part, he still didn't stay on his chest and said "Thank God" in Greek... It really means a Christian Saint!

If there is a little inspiring content in Oliga's story, Rome was not dead at all? The Crusades might have brought the dawn of revival to the Roman Empire. Then what the Manichaean saint, Mori, said afterwards, was a completely heartbreaking story...

She was not very clear about ancient Persia, so it mainly started after Sassanthemum replaced the Bible Empire... The ancient country was revived again and became a great country protected by Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism (in fact, Manichaeism was not popular in the Persian Empire). She fought with Rome in the West for four hundred years without any victory or defeat. Until the Tianfang Cult suddenly rose in the desert where the Saracen people lived. The nomadic tribe, which was originally scattered, was formed into a terrible force by Muhammad of the Tianfang Cult and several subsequent caliphs, spreading Muhammad's teachings with swords and fire, and at the same time beat the Romans and Persians.

With the strong and dangerous Constantinople and the navy with "Roman Fire", the Romans defeated the invading Arab army three times and preserved their civilization. Now, a large group of Christian barbarians have been rushing to support from the West, which seems likely to revive Rome.

The Persians were not so lucky, they were completely defeated and conquered! What they lost was not only civilization, but also land, freedom, but also soul!

The defeated Persians lost their souls and converted to the Saracenites under sword and fire. Even after the Saracenites expelled the Saracenites, they still regarded the Saracenites as their own country and the heroes who conquered Persia as their object of worship...

Persia, which had lost its soul, is no longer a great country! Therefore, the revival of the Saman Dynasty lasted only a hundred years and was conquered by the Turkic barbarians who converted to the Tianfang Sect.

Persia... no longer exists!

Born in China and growing up in China, Moli is a pure Persian and belongs to the selected family of Manichaeism's fundamentals, so she never regards herself as a Chinese, but regards herself as a Persian slave.

When she talked about the sadness, she started sobbing in a low voice.

I don’t know if this Manichaeism saint naturally has the ability to influence people’s hearts, and the people in the flower hall also felt a burst of distress. There was also a silence in the room!

A Western power like Persia, under the attack of the Tianfang Sect, was completely destroyed. Only a few Persian Manicheans who had been exiled to China still remember their homeland... However, the memory of their homeland cannot last forever.

One day, the once great Persian Empire will become a piece of text recorded on paper...

"I didn't expect the Tianfang Sect to be so powerful!"

"Is this true? There are such an ancient power in the extreme west?"

"That pyramid really has a history of 3,000 to 4,000 years? Is it still fifty feet high? Wouldn't that say that the Egyptian country three,000 years ago was much better than China?"

"Three thousand and hundreds of years ago, when China was the rule of the three generations?"

"It's really so ancient?"

I don’t know how long it took, Su Dongpo and his disciples finally started to discuss. Although the power of the Tianfang Sect shocked them, what surprised them even more was the ancient Western civilization.

In fact, China, which was considered an ancient civilization by some later generations, was not as ancient as the West... The "Three Dynasties Governance" that great scholars liked the most was just a legend in the Song Dynasty. Oracle bone inscriptions were discovered in the late Qing Dynasty, and there were no ancient relics that could prove the existence of the Shang Dynasty and Xia Dynasty, let alone the previous "Three Dynasties Governance".

But in the West, there are huge stone tombs worth fifty feet high left thousands of years ago!

If this is true, wouldn’t it mean that ancient Western countries are older than China?

Hearing the discussion between Su Dongpo and several fellow teachers, Wu Haogu smiled in his heart: It is to make you curious! Only when you are curious will you propose to send an envoy to the West to find out!

"Teacher," Wu Haogu said carefully, "Whether Oliga said is true or false, we can't tell it clearly on Yuntai Mountain... we still have to send someone to find it."

"Send someone to the West?" Su Dongpo looked at Wu Haogu, "How far is it? Can you go?"

"Why can't we go?" Wu Haogu smiled, "The maritime merchants in the Dashi Country traveled to the West and China every year, so why can't we go?"

"Just just to see those piles of stones?" Huang Tingjian was a little uninterested.

He was a civil servant who was born in the Jinshi. Although he was still in charge of the election, there would definitely be arrangements. He also had to be picky and choose. He didn't want to do the central government's officials! That place was too dangerous, and he was accidentally involved in the party struggle... If he wanted to be a state official, he would be a state official. If he could replace Zeng Zhao (Zeng Zhao's magistrate of Haizhou, he would be almost over) and come to magistrate Haizhou.

"Of course it's not to see those piles of stones." Wu Haogu said with a smile, "This is also to seek the truth and to spread Confucianism!"

"Seeking the Way?" Huang Tingjian asked, "Seeking the Way?"

"Yes," Wu Haogu nodded and said, "If there were indeed ancient countries in the West that have been through thousands of years, there would have been many paths passed down. It is said that these paths were collected by the rational sect of the Tianfang Sect and gathered in the Wisdom Palace in Baghdad, the city of the best in the Tianfang Sect.

After the teacher becomes the Yuntai Academy, he may submit a report to the emperor and ask for a mission to travel west, seek a small path and spread Confucianism, killing two birds with one stone. Wouldn't that be great?"

On the way back to Yuzhou Island with Su Dongpo, Wu Haogu had already discussed with Su Dongpo to ask him to serve as the position of the Yuntai Academy. Su Dongpo would certainly not refuse. In fact, he did not want to go back to the Kaifeng Prefecture place of right and wrong, so as not to avoid the emperor's desire to go to him, a "traitor" and arrest him to the Censorate Prison.

Just squint in Haizhou! Isn’t it that the demotion stopped in Haizhou now? You have already arrived in Haizhou, so don’t bother the Censorate…

"While traveling west, spreading Confucianism?" Su Dongpo held his beard, "Do you want to open academies all the way?"

"Yes." Wu Haogu smiled, "The envoy can make a request to the countries passing by to open academies, and perhaps give some bribes. As long as you obtain permission, you can take drastic measures."

"Who will teach?" Su Dongpo frowned and said, "Not to mention the barbarian country on his way west, there are not many Confucian scholars in Danzhou and Qiongzhou!"

"Yes!" Huang Tingjian also said, "Confucian scholars all need to take the exam. Who is willing to travel thousands of miles away? If you can't go back to your hometown for ten or eight years, wouldn't it delay three imperial examinations?"

This is indeed a problem! Isn’t studying just to take the imperial examination? It took ten years to delay the three imperial examinations, just to spread Confucianism... Isn’t this too noble?

"There are always methods." Wu Haogu smiled, "We will decide not to go to the West first, and then find a way to find someone... Anyway, we can't go to too many people at the beginning, so at worst we can spend more money and make arrangements first."

There is no hurry to spread Confucianism in the west. The main purpose of Wu Haogu's promotion of this mission was to make the Western academic classics in the Baghdad Wisdom Hall. With these things, coupled with the "small path" summarized from Chinese technical books such as "Dreams and Bitans", the university affiliated to the Yuntai Academy (actually an independent university) can be successfully opened.
Chapter completed!