Chapter 226 Descendants of Saints

"Hello, Alya, we meet again."

"This shows that you have confirmed what I said."

During this meeting, Alia's complexion looked much better than last time, and she no longer wore military uniform. The castle at Billou Castle was able to provide her with daily wear.

In addition to being monitored by female bodyguards, her living conditions are also good. She can wash and take a bath, and she can also read some books to pass the time.

"You will be free soon, after we capture all the members of Raphael. Of course, if you want to be free as soon as possible, then you must help us achieve this goal."

The reason why she wanted to control the other party was because she appeared at the scene where the special operations team captured the most critical member of Rafael, Rafael Digiev.

However, after ruling out her relationship with the Raphael organization, her only threat to Barron is the possibility of leaking his arrest of Raphael to the other party.

Therefore, after the Raphael organization is eliminated, Alya is no longer a threat to Barron and can be released.

Although Barron doesn't take organizations like Raphael very seriously, without his own armed forces, he doesn't pose much of a threat anyway.

But strategically, we despise the enemy, and tactically, we value the enemy.

How can we say that their previous "London Star" fraud case had a total value of 500 million pounds. Excluding miscellaneous losses, if it was successfully laundered overseas, no matter how small it was, it would still be 100 million pounds.

If the real news leaks out and the remaining Raphael members jump to the wall, with these funds, even if they go to the black market to hire a killer, they can cause him some trouble.

So before he eliminated Raphael, Alya still couldn't leave, and he couldn't even give her a chance to convey information to the outside world.

Of course, the simplest, physical elimination is the best way to keep secrets, but if the other party can provide more information to help him complete the task of eliminating the Raphael organization as soon as possible, it can still be considered valuable.

And his intuition told Barron that the woman in front of him should have more use value.

"If that's the case, I'm afraid when you let me go, that's when I need to escape."

Aliya said with a helpless expression on her face.

Her delicate face looked quite pitiful at the moment.

"Why?"

Alia sighed and said:

"I've been missing for so long. Even if I don't tell you anything, I'm afraid I've already been suspected of leaking our plan. With my adoptive father's cautious character, I'm afraid that when I show up again, I'll face another round of interrogation. .”

When she said this, the fear in her eyes flashed away, and she didn't seem to be faking it at all.

"This is Louis Lafayette you are talking about? Isn't he your adoptive father?"

When Nigel went to the Middle East, he naturally also investigated Alia's French adoptive father, but there is not much information available so far. The other party's public identity is that he is a businessman, and he is philanthropic and has donated many charity projects. .

In response to Barron's question, Alya smiled with an unknown meaning:

"I'm not the only child he adopted. If it weren't for my special status, I would have become a tool for him to achieve certain goals..."

As if thinking of what happened to those people, Aliya moved her eyes away from Barron and looked at the wall aside:

"But even I will probably not be able to escape that fate sooner or later. It's just that people who are worthy of what he does need more power than these people now."

"What special identity do you have?"

"Now, I have no need to hide it from you. I am a descendant of a saint, and my ancestors are the royal family of the Hanzhi Kingdom..."

The so-called Holy Descendants refer to the Hashemite family. Their family is considered to be the orthodox descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, so they are called "Holy Descendants". At this time in the Middle East, the only royal family that can be called Holy Descendants, It is the Jordanian royal family, they belong to the Hashemite family.

The Hashemite family, dating back to the 5th century AD…

Of course, it’s too long to talk about, so I’ll briefly introduce it.

Amr, the ancestor of the Hashemite family, was the ruler of the holy land of Mecca at the end of the fifth century AD. At that time, a rare drought occurred in Mecca. Amr purchased grain from surrounding areas and distributed it to his tribe.

Amr was therefore called "Hashim" by his tribe, which means the one who breaks the bread.

Amr was the founder of the Hashemite family, but it was the Prophet Muhammad who truly gave this family the cloak of holiness.

Muhammad was born in AD 570. He lost his parents at an early age and was raised by his uncle. He followed his uncle to do business in Palestine, Syria and other places.

Muhammad married Khadijah, the widow of a wealthy merchant in Mecca, but they had no sons after their marriage, only four daughters (the eldest daughter was Khadijah's child from her previous husband).

Later, Muhammad married his daughter Fatima to his uncle's son, his cousin Ali - today's Hashemite family are all descendants of Ali and Fatima.

Although the Hashemite family failed to hereditarily hold the supreme power of the Arab Empire, because of Muhammad's religious influence, the Hashemite family has a very high religious status in the Islamic world and is known as the "Holy Descendants".

In the 10th century AD, the Abbasid dynasty competed with the Fatimid dynasty that ruled Egypt. Both sides attracted the Hashemite family of Mecca in order to enhance their status in the Islamic world.

Members of the Hashemite family began to formally hold the position of Emir of Mecca and became the religious leaders and secular rulers of Mecca. Later, they expanded their power to the entire Hijaz region (western Arabian Peninsula).

During the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire recognized the status of the Hashemite family's "Mecca Sharif" (religious leader of Mecca) and allowed them greater autonomy.

The Hashemite family owed allegiance to the imperial sultan, who recognized the Hashemite family's control of places such as Mecca and its high religious status.

After the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire's national power began to decline, and it gradually became the target of bullying by European powers.

There were some forces in the Arabian Peninsula that opposed the Ottoman Empire (such as the Saud family) who took the opportunity to cause chaos. The Ottoman Empire united with the pro-Turkish Arabs twice in succession to eliminate the regime established by the Saud family.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire had further declined, almost all its territory in North Africa and the Balkans had been lost, and the Arab settlements under its rule had become unstable under the influence of nationalist trends.

Under the invasion of foreign powers, the Ottoman Empire's territories in the Arab region were peeled off bit by bit. Places such as Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar were controlled by the British. The local Sabah family, Al Khalifa family, and Al Thani family were successively supported. In power, the House of Saud also rose again in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Ottoman Empire was preparing to strengthen its actual control over the Arabian Peninsula due to the loss of large tracts of territory, which harmed the interests of Arab elites, including the Hashemite family.

At this time, the leader of the Hashemite family was Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca.

Let’s talk about the names of Arabs. Their most common names are often composed of three or four parts. Men’s names often have “Ben” in the middle, which means someone’s son; women’s names often have “Benti” in the middle, which means someone’s son. It means someone's daughter.

It's like Alia's name is Alia Bendi Hussain, which means her name is Alia and she is Hussain's daughter.

Hussein bin Ali means that Hussein's father's name is Ali. Arabs also use several names back and forth, such as Hussein, Ali, and Muhammad. Names such as Hussein, Ali, and Muhammad should not be called too many.

If the name is four parts, then the family name will be added at the end. For example, the name of King Saudi Arabia must be "Saudi" in the end...

…

After the outbreak of World War I, an opportunity came for the Hashemite family, and Hussein Ben Ali received support from the British.

Because at that time the Ottoman Empire joined the Allied Powers led by Germany and Austria to fight against Britain, France, Russia and other countries.

In order to weaken the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France and other countries supported the Arabs in resisting Ottoman rule.

Under the influence of nationalism, Britain verbally promised to support the Hashemite family and allow it to establish a "unified Arab state" in the Arab-populated areas of the Ottoman Empire in the future.

In June 1916, the Hashemite family launched an uprising in Hijaz, setting off a wave of Arab uprisings. Although the Turkish garrison was well-equipped, it was unable to launch an effective attack on the rebels due to logistical constraints.

Hussein bin Ali established the Kingdom of Hejaz and called himself the "Sultan of the Arabs".

Several of his sons also actively cooperated with Britain, France and other countries. The second son Abdullah was supported by Muslims in Iraq and other places, and the third son Faisal led the army to occupy Syria and other places.

After the end of World War I in 1918, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and disintegrated, leaving only the Anatolian Plateau where Turks lived.

Britain and France quickly entered the territory of the former Ottoman Empire. France expelled the Hashemite family forces from Syria and Lebanon and took control of the areas, while Britain obtained Mesopotamia, Palestine, Transjordan (today's Jordan) and other places.

The Hashemite family was unable to fight against Britain and France, and could only get a few scraps of the pie due to the geographical arrangements of the great powers.

France did not allow the Hashemite family to enter its sphere of influence, and only Britain agreed to the Hashemite family establishing a subsidiary regime in its colonies.

Hussein bin Ali's second son Abdullah became the Emir of Transjordan and founded the Hashemite family of Jordan today, and his third son Faisal became the King of Iraq.

The Hashemite family was by no means alone in trying to dominate the Arab world. The Saudi family also received arms and funds from the British during the Great Revolt, and established the Kingdom of Najd in the central and eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula after World War I.

In 1923, Türkiye established a secular republic and the caliphate was abolished.

In 1924, Hussein bin Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and King of Hijaz, took the opportunity to declare himself caliph.

The expansion of the power of the Hashemite family is obviously not in the interest of other Arab dignitaries. The Saudi and other families do not recognize the caliphate of the old Hussein.

During World War I, in order to gain support from Jewish bankers, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, promising to help the Jews return to their homeland in West Asia to rebuild their country after the war.

This promise violated the interests of the local Arabs and the Hashemite family refused to recognize it, causing the British to stop supporting it.

In 1924, due to the constant harassment of the Saud family, the Hijaz announced a ban on Najd residents from going to Mecca for Hajj, which caused great dissatisfaction with the Saud family.

In August of that year, the Saudi army raided and occupied the holy city of Mecca, officially starting the war to unify the Arabian Peninsula.

The Saud family held an Islamic conference and gained the allegiance of surrounding tribes.

The Saud family's control over Mecca was recognized and their influence greatly increased.

The Hashemite family lost the land of Longxing that they had controlled for thousands of years, and the morale of the army was depressed.

Because they lost the support of the British, the Hijaz army was unable to resist. The Saud family continued to win over surrounding tribes, and under a carrot and stick policy, they occupied the entire Hijaz territory by the end of 1925.

This is Saudi Arabia today.

The Saud family did not exterminate the Hashemite royal family of Hijaz. Hussein bin Ali fled to Jordan via British-ruled Cyprus and was buried in Jerusalem after his death in 1931.

His eldest son, Ali bin Hussein, fled to Iraq after the fall of Hijaz to join his third brother, King Faisal of Iraq.

Ali died in Iraq in 1935. Later, a revolution broke out in Iraq, and the entire Faisal family was killed. Ali's son, who was studying abroad at the time, survived and stayed in the United States until his descendants, Grandfather Alia. That generation just returned to the Middle East again.

Alia's parents died of illness when she was very young, and she was adopted by her adoptive father, where she remains today.

Of course, these are just what she said verbally. Whether they are facts or not requires another investigation to confirm.

"Since you are both descendants of the Hashemite family, why didn't you seek asylum from the Jordanian royal family at that time?"

"In my grandfather's generation, the Jordanian royal family gave us help, but in my parents' generation, this kind of help was very little. After all, you know, the royal family itself has many princes and princesses, let alone us outsiders... "

This is true. For example, in the Arabian royal family, just one king can often marry up to four wives. There are many princes and princesses in each generation. Accumulated from generation to generation, many former princes and princesses are actually just like ordinary people. That's almost it, let alone an "outsider" like Alya.

However, even if Alia is a descendant of the so-called "Saint", it does not mean much to Barron. Not to mention that it is difficult for the Arab royal families in the Middle East to be overthrown. Even if they are overturned, it cannot be done by another person. A royal family will replace it, and more will change from a monarchy to an electoral system.

What's more, Aaliyah is still a woman, which makes it even more impossible.

The only thing is to make her status more noble.

"You know, I'm not interested in the plan you mentioned against Sahara Company."

Not to mention that although Sahara Company started as a "Ponzi scheme", its boss Subrata is not stupid. On the contrary, the other party's investments are relatively wise. If you want to go all out to defraud him of his money, I am afraid it will be difficult. Not that easy.

Moreover, it is not that difficult for Barron to make money from the financial market. With the same time and effort, he can earn hundreds of millions of dollars, so why bother to engage in fraud.

"The key is that we...my adoptive father has already made arrangements around Subrata. Even if you let me go now and don't get involved in this matter, he will still suspect that I have revealed this to you, especially related to His arrangement..."