Eagle Byzantium

Gawain understood that the "holy war that will go down in history" that the hermit mentioned was the Crusades that lasted for more than three hundred years.

So, how did the "key to the endless wealth and power of the two oceans" mentioned by Arteh manifest itself in Peter, who seemed to be so fanatical that he was crazy? He wanted to ask, but then he thought of the other words of the woman, "Too many words will lead to loss, and the breath will not last long", so he endured it, but Peter was still chattering there, asking Gawain to bring his sword and armor to serve as his Armed attendants escorted him safely back to his hometown, but "on the way, I had to pay homage to the emperor in Constantinople."

"But... what you said is that the Sultan of Seljuk Turks has extended his power here? Wouldn't it mean that we may be chased by Turkic cavalry along the way? Gawain said hesitantly.

Peter nodded and said that since Constantinople suffered an unprecedented defeat in the wilderness of Asia Minor twenty years ago, the emperor was captured, and the praetorian army was completely annihilated, the entire Asia Minor has been swept by the furious horse hooves of the pagans. The current emperor in the new capital of Rome is struggling to support himself, and even hopes to seek assistance from the Church of St. Peter and the Frankish knights in Western countries to assist him in regaining the territory from Anatolia to Bithynia.

"But the territory we are in now belongs to the Emir of Nicaea under the Seljuk Sultan, named Zahas. He is the vanguard of the Anti-Christ and the creator of this massacre. We can head southeast Let’s go through the city of Prusa and then go to Ephesus, which is under the jurisdiction of the royal court of Sultan Rom. It is said that the new sultan is negotiating with Constantinople. The emperor conducts peace negotiations and concludes an alliance against the Normans, the Pechenegs and the Zahas." As he spoke, Peter leaned on a jujube crutch, hung a rosary, and carried a small one on his back. The old man packed his luggage and walked in the direction he just said. This old man looked very tough. He spoke and acted unambiguously, as if he didn't care about the corpses on the ground.

Gawain also carried the luggage and scimitar of the dead Gorum slave soldier on his back, along with the fire sickle and fire stick, and hung the "phosphorus fire sword" that could not be sheathed on his belt, following Artiehe's instructions. Enlightenment, following Peter, the two of them followed the cold and dark path. The red river, the blood-stained snowfield, burning branches and corpses everywhere, searching for food on each corpse to meet the needs of the next three to five days, "What is your name? No one has asked you yet. What’s the name? My country party, my brother.”

"Stephen Gawain." Gawain deliberately concealed his Chinese name. He had no other meaning. He just didn't want Peter to have any suspicion. However, this old man seemed to be the kind of enthusiastic person who would have no suspicion once he got along with you. Personality, similar to his religious beliefs.

"You may be wondering why the new Sultan of Rom wants to conclude an alliance against Zahas with his old enemy, the Roman Emperor. Maybe you have been captured by the Turks for a long time, and you don't know much about the situation outside - the Turks are the most warlike Cyprus. After the Erju Sultan Alp Arslan won a great victory over the Roman emperor between Manzikert and Lake Van, he immediately suffered an unexpected incident. After his death, his empire fell into disintegration. His distant cousin Suleiman, who was entrusted by Arslan to manage Anatolia, took the opportunity to annex the Seljuk inheritance in Asia Minor and commanded the troops who entered Asia Minor. Various Turkic tribes established themselves as the Sultan of Roma - 'Roma' is the Persian pronunciation of 'Rome', but the Sultanate of Roma on the surface He is still vassal to Alp Arslan's son Maliksha." Saying this, Peter took out a piece of dry bread that was hard from the cold, patted the cigarette ashes on it, broke it open, and stuffed half of it. The remaining half of his luggage was rolled into his backpack and sent to Gawain's hands behind him, "And that Maliksha, in the virtuous palace prime minister, they called the Grand Vizier Ni. With the assistance of Zam Mulek, he revived his father's empire, and also sent his brother Tutusi to defeat the Sultan of Rum established by Suleiman. That restless vassal killed poor Suleiman. The territory east of the Taurus Mountains was regained, and Suleiman's son Giliki Arslan was also sent to Malik Shah's court to serve as a hostage. "

"Giliki Arslan?" Gawain took a bite of the bread and almost broke his teeth. He covered his mouth with pain and continued to ask - it seems that this old man named Peter is not a simple man. He must have been immersed in many things in Asia Minor. Years ago, he knew the local political situation well.

"Well, it means 'Lion's Sword'. Let me continue. Just last year, the Seljuk Grand Vizier Nizam Mulek was assassinated by a Sufi in his tent."

"Did Maliksha instigate this?"

"Who knows, maybe it was this fanatical Sufi who offended me. I also heard that a terrifying assassination sect has recently emerged in Persia. Maybe it was this group of people who did it. Of course, maybe as Brother Gawain said, it was because of fear. The powerful and prestige of the Grand Vizier was Malik Shah. However, Malik Shah also fell ill and died of a sudden illness two months after the death of the Grand Vizier. At the same time, he lost the British Lord and the wise prime minister. Now he is different. The empire of the believers fell into pieces again, and Giliki Arslan also took the opportunity to escape from the hostage life, ran back to Anatolia, gathered tribal warriors loyal to him, and the Emir of Nicaea appointed by Maliksha , is what I mentioned earlier, Zahas’s campaign, attempting to recover the legacy left by his father Suleiman, and preparing to form an alliance with the Emperor of Constantinople, who had a common enemy.”

Peter's speaking skills were really good. He said so much in one breath and clearly explained the current situation in the East: the Seljuq Empire that originally dominated Yunei and spanned the Caspian Sea and the Red Sea split, and the Roman Sultanate in Asia Minor Caught in Giliki and Zahas Internal strife, the Roman Empire of Constantinople was also in a weak state after a great loss of blood. Now, as Peter himself said, it is uniting all the Christian kingdoms and knights, under the guidance of St. Peter the Catholic Church, to march towards the east and recover. The best time for the Holy Land.

Sure enough, what Ajiehe said was correct at all. Thinking of this, Gaowen's mind became more active. He felt that it would be a very interesting and meaningful feat to make contributions in such an era. He couldn't help but think of Ajiehe's "opening up the world". "The key to two oceans", and then continued to ask Peter, what is "the key to two oceans"?

Peter laughed and said that this was a proverb said by a monk who went to Constantinople to seek ancient manuscripts. It meant that Constantinople, a proud and wealthy metropolis like the "Queen of the Sea", was the perfect place to open the door to Uk. The corridors and keys to the two oceans, the Xinghai and the Aegean Sea, and the two continents of Asia Minor and Europa. As long as you master this city, you can get inexhaustible wealth.

"Could it be that Artehe's revelation told me to stay in the Roman Empire where Constantinople is located?" Gawain wondered. At this time, he and Peter had already walked out of the snowfield, following the high ridgeline. As he walked, to his right, the setting sun passed through the clouds, setting the The entire hillside on the right was dyed with a brilliant golden color, while on the left, the dark night without sunlight had rushed towards him, dyeing the entire hillside on the left with boundless ink. Walking there, it was like walking in two different worlds, the Kingdom of Heaven. The thin line between hell and hell.

This season, the only ones hovering above their heads were the fearless eagles. "Perhaps, during this journey, I will indeed be accompanying this old man named Peter like a shadow!"