Eagle Byzantium

Everyone fell silent and looked in awe at the helmets covering the entire racecourse. Some were pot-shaped, some were spire-shaped, some were bucket-shaped, some were petal-shaped, some were... thousands of helmets. Quietly there, partially dim in the corner , part of it shines in the incoming sunlight, and people can clearly see it if they get closer. Many helmets are cracked, and there are dark blood stains on them. The marks of knife and ax are clearly visible on them, and some are stained with bullet marks. They were previously What kind of tragic and tragic death did the owner experience?

The young guard stood in the sea of ​​empty helmets, like a shell collector, picking them up from time to time, examining them before putting them down.

At night, the emperor and the empress stood in the St. Catherine's Monastery with countless torches and candles burning. Both sides of the long corridor leading to the altar were filled with people from the inner palace, men on the left and women on the right. There were fisheye holes in the dome. The soft starlight shot in, mixed with the fierce firelight, reflected on everyone's robes.

Of course, among the female officials, Dido supported her mother, the Queen Mother Irene, at the head, followed by Hertomia, Inglina, Eudocia and others;

The male nobles on the left were headed by the Imperial Prime Minister Burrill. Brenus stood cautiously behind five or six people, even behind Adyoan. When he saw his vain wife fighting for the throne, After becoming the chief among the female officials, they very wisely adopted this method to avoid suspicion - otherwise Gawain and Anna would be hostile to his position and family status. The first priority now is to keep themselves safe and serve the empire.

The emperor and empress passing through the corridor greeted everyone one by one.

"Your Majesty, it's a pity that I can't go to the battlefield with you and see your great martial arts." Dido said to Gawain who was standing in front of her first.

"You have worked hard to assist with various affairs in the palace." Gawain replied politely and without missing a beat, because Anna followed behind him with almost gentle eyes.

Then the widow Inglina boldly prepared to step forward and hold Gawain's hand. As a result, Lady Qise and Lady Eudocia walked out instantly. Blocking in front of the widow was tantamount to "holding" her, which was normal. After the etiquette and greetings with the emperor were completed, Qi Se couldn't help but secretly wiped a cold sweat.

Mikhail also walked out, apologized to His Majesty, and was obviously forgiven - Gawain immediately ordered him to be appointed as the governor general of the Dirasium area, and he could take his wife to the post, "Planning to enter Italy and Sicily" All kinds of armaments, please discuss everything with Brenus."

Then the emperor called his brother-in-law's name very affectionately, and Brenus walked out of the crowd in a low-key manner. Gawain hugged him warmly, praised and admired his previous great achievements in transporting supplies, and said that he would be the emperor's Caesar soon. This generosity made Dido and Irene smile from ear to ear, and only Anna was in their hearts. Zhong understood: "The Great Barbarian and I will soon establish a crown prince mechanism and establish Christopher as the Crown Prince of Augustus. The title of Caesar is just the highest rank of the courtiers. From now on, this will form a system, that is, a dynasty The emperor can establish a crown prince while he is still alive, and the crown prince will succeed him in the future. The Senate, the people and the army must recognize it. "

Sure enough, as Gawain continued to walk forward and backward, his children all came out and saluted their father and mother.

"Calleadeos..." Ingrina whispered and gestured to her son, hoping that he, who was already very tall, would be the first to come forward. Among all the sons, he is most like his father. He is not only talented, but also strong, martial and energetic. Bo was also good at horseback riding, archery, swimming, wrestling and fencing. During his time in the court, he seemed to be only interested in these. In the end, Hertomia also felt that teaching him literature and rhetoric was not feasible, so she simply threw him into the palace of attendants. Go over there and let him hang out with those young warriors.

Kaleadios really came, but his father held him back with a gentle but unquestioning hand, "This is not in line with the etiquette of the palace, Christopher, come to my father's side." Come."

But Gawain did not embarrass Calleadeos, and still held his hand, holding Christopher with the other hand, and the other children followed. When they reached the altar at the end, Gawain calmly let him go. The children, including Caleadios, stood by the door, but Christopher was placed between himself and Anna.

The position between the emperor and the empress was of course extremely sacred. At the same time, the emperor immediately announced: I have been protected by the Lord and won a great victory in the city of Durazzo. Now that the western territory of the empire has temporarily stabilized, I will still serve as the military commander of the empire. , Conquer the East and the West. Therefore, in addition to Basilisa sharing the state affairs in the empire, I also hope to confer Christopher as ‘Augustus’ to take on some of the government affairs and conquests. "

"But His Royal Highness is still young." A servant said this at the beginning, not sure whether it was concern or doubt.

Gawain and Anna took the opportunity to seize it, and Basilisa said loudly, "Then the 'Guards of Augustus' will be established from now on. The knights of the guard will be experienced men on the battlefield, while the civil servants of the guard will be proficient in law and rhetoric. and talent, they were Augustus's friends and his mentors."

In the crowd, Inglina was stunned, and then she hid her face in shame and took a few steps back. She had to admit that her son had lost that opportunity forever, so that was fine - let him do it in the future. Chaleadios, like Maccaeneas, had better become a man useful to the court and the royal family.

Next, the Grand Steward Stauracios read out the "Roster of Augustus' Guards" that had been prepared long ago. Among them, there were twelve guard knights and six guard civil officials, all wearing blue robes and wearing swords and medals. After thanking the two majesties for their grace, they surrounded Christopher.

"My Theodore will also join in!" Dido said harshly at this moment, which embarrassed her husband Brennus next to her and made her speechless.

Because the new palace was not yet completed, Gawain returned to the Gallipoli Palace after the triumphal ceremony. During this period until the beginning of the next year, in addition to restoring production throughout the empire, Gawain's attention was mainly focused on three aspects:

First, the military campaign against Kherson, that is, diplomatic rapprochement with the Russian countries. Gawain decided to boldly hand over this task to Augustus Christopher, and by the way, it would also allow his heir to gain prestige and qualifications;

Second, the siege of Crete. Gawain planned to assemble all fleets and the three-wing brigade, the three brigades (Mosia, Serbia and Epirus) and all cavalry artillery teams after April of this year - first take Rhodes, then take Crete, completely annihilate John's remaining forces, and restore the empire's complete sea borders;

A correct version in 16-9-1 book-1 forum!

Finally, of course, it is still the intelligence collection and war preparation work on the mysterious forces in the East.

Just look at this: in the fifth year of Emperor Stephen Gowon's reign, both the Isfahan court and the Tauris court (Shirvan) sent envoys to anxiously report the latest situation in the East - a chief leader of "Tibetan, Khitan and Mongolian", "King Gong of the Imperial Song Dynasty", sent a letter of credence.