Eagle’s Glory

Around the Greek issue, the European powers fought fiercely and silently on the invisible battlefield. Each country chose its own position according to its own strength and interests. Fight to maximize the interests of the country.

This unstable state of the international order has easily sparked war since ancient times. Fortunately, after more than 20 years of **** storms, the great powers have lingering fears about war, and even the most radical politicians easily do not want to bring their own countries again. Throwing into the war - and this mentality means that there is bound to be room for compromise on all sides.

At this time, Aigron was idle.

He couldn't get involved in the turmoil in the diplomatic field of the European continent at this time, and those fierce conflicts of interest had nothing to do with him at this time-for him, everything he got now was enough to satisfy him, he had already There is no need to venture out to create new instability.

He is not afraid of gambling, he will definitely take risks when it is time to take risks, but he is not a lunatic, and he knows how to take it as soon as it is right.

It is because of this mentality that he is more generous than the other side imagines when he draws the border with his Greek allies, because for him, being friendly and stable allows him to free up his energy for more important things , more important than taking a few more barren hills.

Since the signing of the Spartan Accords, Agron has remained in Methoni, awaiting the outcome of negotiations between his allies and the Turks.

And the development of the situation did not disappoint him. Under the strong pressure of the Russians, the sultan had to make a balance between Greece and his capital, and made a wise choice-he ordered his troops in Greece to withdraw in order to Head north to defend against the onslaught of the Russian army.

Moreover, the Western envoys who stayed in Istanbul seem to have reached a tacit understanding secretly, and have been urging Sudan to conduct peace talks with the Greek independent government and withdraw their troops in exchange for the support of the foreign powers for Sudan.

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

The Turkish and Egyptian troops stationed in Athens and other areas have long been exhausted because of their years of fighting in poor and foreign countries. After Duke Leichstedt led his army to land, they were desperate to conquer Greece, so they received the Sultan. After the sultan's order, they were relieved, so they were also happy to cooperate with the sultan's order.

For them, defending the homeland of Istanbul and Anatolia made more sense than staying in Greece.

Because both sides already have a strong will for peace, and strong external intervening forces also support peace, the negotiations between the independent army and the Turkish army were quite smooth, and it did not take long to reach a basic agreement.

During the negotiation process, because of the eagerness to return aid, the Turkish army had already begun to retreat. By the time the preliminary agreement was reached, the Turks in the Athens area had already been evacuated, and the Greek Independence Army also rushed out of Peloponne without hesitation. Sacramento Peninsula, quickly took over Athens.

To them, and to Greece, Athens meant the whole country, and it alone could be the capital of the new Greek kingdom in the future.

When the Independence Army entered Athens, the inhabitants of the peninsula rejoiced with flowers.

These major events are enough to go down in history, but for Aegron, these are all expected events, so they are not worth paying more attention to.

And the issue he is most concerned about now is his and Theresa's wedding.

Athens has been peacefully recovered by the rebel army, 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 to help Aegron hold a grand wedding as a reward for his favors and contributions to his side.

Aegron did hope so.

Emotionally, he owes Teresa too much, and he has to give the girl a grand wedding as an explanation; politically, he also hopes to use this wedding to announce Bonaparte The family is officially back on track.

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

When this family was prosperous in the past, almost everyone wore a crown, but now it has fallen into disrepair, and its members are scattered.

Teresa, his rightful wife, will work with him to bring their family back to its former glory.

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

Although Panos was in the midst of a busy schedule and had to deal with endless problems, he was almost too busy to touch the ground, but he did not forget his commitment. Aigron and his men prepare for the wedding together.

And Teresa naturally paid more attention to this issue than Aegron. 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, as well as the location of the honor guard branch, The course of action, she made arrangements one by one according to her own wishes.

In order to prevent the blind from touching the elephant, of course, she had to go to the Parthenon to make a field survey, and Aigron was naturally happy to accompany Teresa to visit the ruins, as if she were traveling.

Today is a good day. Although it is already winter, the clouds have dissipated, the sky is clear, and the air has become particularly dry and refreshing. The boys and girls dressed in casual clothes, under the protection of the guards, walked up the steps of the Acropolis Walking, step by step, I walked to the highest hill of the Acropolis.

And the Parthenon, with its majestic and elegant posture, stands here quietly.

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

However, all the glory will come to an end. Athens finally failed in the decades-long hegemony war 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 they were conquered by foreign races, first by Macedonians, then by the Romans, and finally by the Turks, and the conquests made the Athenians almost forget their glory two thousand years ago.

All the splendor has become a fleeting moment, only this magnificent marble building stands alone. Even if it looks magnificent and beautiful, it is only the last remnant of the glorious era.

Moreover, because of the continuous wars, the temple itself has suffered great damage. The biggest damage came from 1687, when the Venetians and the Turks were at war in Athens, and the Turkish defenders regarded the temple at the highest point of the Acropolis as the temple. After establishing an important stronghold, the Venetian army bombarded the castle, detonating the explosives that the Turks had stacked in the temple, which eventually led to the explosion, which almost completely collapsed the roof and walls of the temple, and the scarred temple officially became Ruined ruins.

The disaster that the temple suffered did not stop there. Then it became a favorite of all kinds of adventurers and collectors. The remaining exquisite marble sculptures also suffered terrible disasters and were smuggled away. became a private collection.

Teresa followed Aegron up the steps. She looked at the gravel and devastated on the hill, and couldn't help feeling a little sad.

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

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

Although she knew that no matter how she cleaned it up, it would be impossible to renovate this piece of debris, but at least she had to clean it up a little to avoid hurting the lively and festive atmosphere.

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

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

Rather than saying 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 a few 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 also Aegron felt the impact of classical civilization—this was 2,300 years ago Building ah...

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.

Apart from these pillars, there is nothing left, everything is in the past, and it will never recur.

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 were once prosperous will not escape the ravages of time, and eventually disappear into oblivion.

A huge 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 walls, and fell in love with these exquisite works of art.

Her parents have a large collection of sculptures and portraits, so she also received art education since childhood, so she knows how to appreciate the silhouette and posture of stone carvings.

"His Royal Highness... It's really admirable to think about, they are obviously ancestors of a hundred generations before us, but they can produce such wonderful stone carving art, even our current artists will be amazed... God knows them. What ingenious thoughts and writings have you had!"

As she spoke, she suddenly noticed that some sculptures and reliefs had very obvious signs of damage. Some stone sculptures were even cut off by Qigen, leaving only the pedestal in place.

"They were looted!" Teresa said in surprise.

"It's not surprising, Teresa." Aegron replied calmly, "People are always eager to covet these art treasures, and it is lucky to have so many things left after more than two thousand years. now..."

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

"My God, why would anyone want to destroy them! They are priceless works of art!"

"Many people are willing, such as Earl Elgin." Aegron shrugged. "More than 20 years ago, it was this dude who, while serving as the British ambassador to Istanbul, bribed the Turkish officials here, and then got permission to take away the stone carvings. Sculptures and sculptures were removed and brought back to England, many stone carvings were damaged, 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 shameless and lawless bastard!" After hearing these words, Teresa turned pale with anger, and then cursed out in indignation, "He doesn't understand culture or art, and only has His pathetic greed... He doesn't understand that the Parthenon is only valuable in Athens, and its sculptures are priceless treasures that only belong to Athens, and are glorious witnesses to the history of Greek civilization! He took the sculptures and got What is it? It's just a sad scrap of history...and the damage he caused is irreparable! Sad...too sad that these only art treasures were not destroyed by savages, but by a civilized nation The nobles of the monarchy have been completely destroyed - are they still worthy of calling themselves civilized people?!"

Teresa was not so angry out of self-interest, she was genuinely outraged that such a precious legacy of Greek civilization had been so easily destroyed.

It is because she loves art and civilization that she knows how precious it is.

Seeing Teresa's anger so rarely, Agron was a little afraid to speak.

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

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

Then, Aigron kept making Teresa happy, and finally made Teresa recover from her anger.

"His Royal Highness, the damage 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 only little remnant left can be left here quietly, so that People cherish the epic of Athens..." Theresa solemnly said to Aigron, "I hope it can be preserved forever! This is the responsibility of all of us."

"I agree with that too." Agron nodded.

Then, Teresa walked under the stone pillar again, then raised her hand and gestured in front of her eyes, as if she was estimating the position of the tassels during the wedding.

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

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