Eagle Byzantium

So before Gawain's three-pronged army could take action, a huge rift developed between Isaac and John.

The nobles and private soldiers who supported both sides launched conflicts and melees under the city of Larissa ten days before Gawain took the oath to go on the expedition. Isaac then submitted a stern letter, claiming that he was now the elder pillar of the Comnenus family and asking John to respect him and his army.

John wrote back and retorted, saying that even his enemy Gawain did not regard "dear uncle you" as the elder of the Komnenos family. The other party appointed Adyoan - and "I have the approval of the Patriarch." "Emperor of the Empire", "Before you rebel, please first learn to obey the true authority of the commander."

So in the monastery of Lavra, many of John's staff took the opportunity to say, "Your Majesty should cross the sea as soon as possible with the help of the Venetians and go to occupy the seats of Mystra, Corinth, Lepanto, and Thebes in Moria. The fertile city fortress, and then the granary plain of Thessaly, where your majesty’s rule is well established, must be guarded against your uncle’s ambition.”

John is hesitant about this, because the island of Crete where he is currently living is safer than Moria, and the rebels against him are still scattered and hiding in the mountainous areas in the west, south and east of the island. He wants to use The tactics and troops defeated them one by one, and completely occupied this overseas country - after all, Crete has a population of nearly 800,000, and it will be enough to raise an elite team of 20,000 in the future, and the sea routes are connected in all directions, making it easier Win aid from various countries.

Moria has a population of 1.2 million and is richer in grain, wine, pottery, silk, and medicinal materials, but it is also more vulnerable to joint attacks from the mainland.

This is what troubles John. In addition, if he moved to Moriah and Thessaly, the fight with his uncle would be open to the public, which would also be extremely detrimental to the great cause of resisting Gawain.

Time and opportunity passed quickly in the struggle for power and profit.

Gawain didn't like to give the enemy time to breathe. Once he captured Tripoli, he freed up his hands to pull out ten brigades to wipe out all hostile forces.

After learning that Isaac and John were arguing and unwilling to join forces and launch an offensive against the city of Thessaloniki, Bourdin was extremely sad and angry. "When the greedy bear has come to the pasture, the dogs and sheep are still fighting for it." There is endless internal strife among petty profiteers. "He can only take it upon himself for the time being. To save him, he summoned the two people he relied on most in the court of Ohrid, his son Lalic and his brother Vladimir, and decided to choose one of them to go to the battlefield in Bulgaria to command all the Zupan lords. , heading towards the northern Thracian realm.

At that time, many nobles from old Rome, Macedonia, Dukeria, and Great Bulgaria also gathered together, waiting for the results of the judgment of the Great Tuwang.

The whole scene was noisy, because although Constantine Bertin nominally ruled a wide area, his power was maintained entirely by his personal prestige. Now, the reason why he can become a great king is not because of this group of nobles. How much did they obey him, but they were forced to join forces due to the situation where Gao Wen was approaching the city, and they had to elect a co-leader who could balance the interests of all parties.

"I and everyone present need to be qualified and experienced military commanders to command so many heroes to rush to the battlefield of Thrace to compete with the flanking troops of Varyag's barbarian tyrants. So I decided, Hand over command to..."

When Bodin said these words, most of the Zupans in the palace thought that he was referring to his brother Vladimir, and they shouted corresponding slogans in unison to express their agreement.

Wearing a gorgeous cloak and hanging gold jewelry, Vladimir, who was majestic and energetic, was also quite proud of himself. He smiled knowingly at his brother and stepped forward to bow to accept the appointment.

Both Vladimir and Bertin were descended from the nieces of the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine IX, and they had noble royal blood flowing through them. This was also the reason why their families ruled Dukeria, Bosnia, and South Dalma. The prestige of the Tia regions depends on it.

Bourdin also really wants to hand over command to Vladimir.

But in an instant, he saw his wife's figure outside the porch, and her cold eyes flashed past.

She was a Norman noblewoman from the Bari region, named Giaquinta.

Seeing this look, Bodin couldn't help but tremble a few times like electricity. His raised arm slowly returned to the armrest of the seat in embarrassment under the suspicious eyes of Vladimir and others.

"Thank you for your hard work, but the choice of the commander of the Thracian front is very important. Let me go back and think about it carefully." Finally, Bodin explained in embarrassment.

Vladimir's anger aroused. He blew his beard and looked at the porch where Giaquinta had just walked, and then looked at Lalic, who was standing beside the throne of the earth throne with his head bowed silently and his eyes flashing, and said "hum". He turned around and left with a crowd of supporters angrily.

The meeting broke up unhappily, and every Zupan almost felt the selfishness of the Great Earth King. They did not obey Gawain's suzerainty, so they gathered around Bodin. Previously, Bodine was defeated by Gawain's army in Zara City. He was trapped and later defeated at the hands of Emperor Alexios. Frankly speaking, his prestige came more from his family than from his own abilities and achievements.

Bodin, who was also aware of the dissatisfaction of the Zupan nobles, also walked back to the palace unhappy.

There, Giaquinta sat on a chair with a cold face. Several maids and a group of ministers stood next to the mistress. Giaquinta looked at the local food on the tray, not bothering to eat it at all, and there was frost in her nostrils. He kept complaining in Latin, "Remote place, shabby food."

"This is fresh fish caught from the lake of Shkodra." A businessman from Italy tried to please the queen with a smile on his face.

Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!

This merchant was also born in Bari and was Contarini who was expelled by Gawain. Giaquinta's family was also expelled by Gawain later and later married Burdine. Therefore, the two share the same fate. ——Making Contarini and his family quite powerful in Bertin's court.

Bodin was too lazy to pay attention to his wife's criticisms, so he ignored them and walked directly to the shrine on the wall of the palace. He raised the cross pendant hanging on his fingers in front of the icon and murmured a prayer.

Giaquinta was even more angry. She openly insulted her husband's Orthodox faith, "You should go to a Catholic monastery to confess, so that you can gain the mercy and blessing of the Lord, instead of going to the Greek church with these people." Barbarians mixed together!”

It turned out that Bertin, who had returned from defeat in the Battle of Zara, made a comeback with the help of a group of Normans and Italians. The political marriage he concluded with Giaquinta played a great role in order to gain power in the Holy See. Swing between and Constantinople to get the most In order to benefit, Bertin implemented the Catholic faith in the seaside cities on the west side of the territory, represented by the Norman Italian group headed by his wife Giaquinta; while the inland mountainous areas on the east side still maintained the Orthodox faith. , the representative figure is his younger brother Vladimir.