Nadir Shah suddenly froze.
And Lin Ke's words continued.
"Are you trying to spread the Persian flag across more lands, or to bring a more stable and prosperous life to the Persian people?"
When Nadir Shah heard this, his head dropped slightly.
That's him thinking.
Because, in his memory, no one had ever asked him so directly about the purpose of building an empire.
As an emperor, the answer to this question should be clear and without a doubt.
That is to expand territory, continue glory, and ensure inheritance. Of course, these are also the common pursuits of Persian emperors of all generations.
However, when he tries to transform these grand narratives into more concrete visions, those clear lines seem to become blurred.
Of course, initially, his goal was indeed simple.
Defeat your enemies, expand your borders, and make Persia the undisputed regional leader.
But after just a few minutes of conversation with the Holy Pharaoh in front of him, he seemed to realize that something was wrong.
Because, now in his view, this conquest is no longer just a means, but has gradually evolved into an end in itself.
The cheers brought by every victory, the tribute from every newly conquered city, and every inch of newly gained territory seemed to become the motivation for him to move forward.
He seemed simply to be pushed forward, as successive Persian emperors had been.
Conquer! Conquer!
Expand! Expand!
force! force!
"What I want is for the fame of Persia to spread throughout the world, so that all nations will know the greatness of the Persian Empire."
"I want them to bow down at my feet and look up to me as if I were a god."
Lin Ke tilted his head slightly and raised his doubts.
"But why do you want them to know? Why do you want them to submit?"
"If the Persian Empire was already great, it wouldn't have needed conquest to achieve this, right?"
"So, everything you do is just to satisfy your vanity?"
Nadir Shah frowned when he heard Lin Ke's words.
"No, it's not that simple, it's not that simple."
"My father said this to me before he died."
"'To build an empire, to stretch across rivers and mountains, where all races may live in harmony under one banner.'"
“So, for me, this is my mission.”
"It is a mission from the King of the Persian Empire."
Lin Ke narrowed his eyes slightly.
He could see that Nadir Shah was wavering, but as long as he could make his point and successfully convince the other party, then Holy Egypt would be able to gain a lot of support from the Persian Empire at the World Conference.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the other party also agrees with the "proposal" he put forward.
"King of kings, but you should also know."
"Whenever the Persian kings conquered a new kingdom or civilization, they would make the people there miserable and their cities deteriorate."
"Of course, because this is a result of war, and the problems caused by war are complicated."
"And as far as I know, you used heavy taxes and forced labor for this war. Doesn't this deprive the people of the Persian Empire of the happiness they deserve?"
"Or is it that the prosperity of the empire should be built on the suffering of certain people?"
"Isn't this a far cry from your father's vision?"
Nadir Shah actually took two steps back at this time, as if he had been hit by two heavy punches.
Because he knew very well that what the Holy Pharaoh said was correct.
Although the Persian Empire consisted of many ethnic groups, as the holy pharaoh said, he had killed many regional leaders and officials for this war.
Originally, they were not within the Persian sphere of influence, and were incorporated into the territory only after being conquered by Persia.
“Although you are the emperor of Persia, have you ever thought about this?”
"What you are pursuing is nothing more than an illusion of seeming eternity?"
"Is it an unattainable, perfect empire?"
“Even if it is whole today, I’m afraid that one day it will become broken.”
Lin Ke's words made Nadir Shah feel dizzy.
"You, stop talking nonsense!"
"Stop talking nonsense, Holy Pharaoh!"
Nadir Shah retreated a few steps.
He thought of the vast empires that had been built in the past, the magnificent palaces, the long roads, the magnificent statues, which had at some point become fragmented.
As the Holy Pharaoh said, in the past, it took Nadir Shah a lot of effort just to suppress the rebellion.
Although Nadir Shah didn't know how the Holy Pharaoh knew this information, he just continued to maintain the aura of an emperor.
"If it doesn't continue to expand, how can the Persian Empire be maintained?"
"Strength comes from continuous victory. Once conquests cease, the army will lose its fighting spirit, the nobles will lose their ambition, and the entire Persian Empire may crumble like sand!"
"Everything I do is for the Persian Empire!"
Although Nadir Shah said this, Lin Ke could see from his eyes that he was confused.
Lin Ke knew that Nadir Shah's purpose had become unclear.
Because what he wanted was too crude and too simple.
"I......"
"you!"
Nadir Shah held on, his brain working as fast as if he was commanding millions of troops at the same time.
However, he found that he seemed unable to organize his language properly, and all that came out of his mouth were some messy and fragmented words.
Lin Ke looked at Nadir Shah and continued to ask his questions.
"King of kings, if a kingdom could obtain everything it needed through trade, without the cost and risk of war, wouldn't such a kingdom be more in its own best interest?"
"You don't have to go through war, just being in the capital will earn you the love of all the people in Persia."
"Because they have a better life, they chant your name and spontaneously build statues for you."
"Your name remains in Persian history. All subsequent Persian emperors, even the most ordinary Persian civilians, believe that your era was the heyday of the Persian Empire."
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
"Besides, you won't need to raise taxes or shed the blood of the Persian people."
"As the King of Kings of the Persian Empire, you naturally understand this better than I do."
Lin Ke smiled and looked at Nadir Shah.
Of course, Lin Ke’s last “flattery” made Nadir Shah instantly feel as if a ray of warm sunshine was shining on his body.
Nadir Shah then spoke.
"That's right, Saint Pharaoh, there is some truth in what you said."
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