Eagle Byzantium

"What a beautiful blue sky, what beautiful air, what beautiful water." Ingridna, under the umbrella, raised her beautiful green, fox-like eyes and looked at the narrow sky sandwiched between the buildings of Venice intoxicatedly. She sat side by side with Gao Wenzheng on an equally narrow boat, sailing in the equally narrow Cassiano Canal, which was shaped like a huge S and spanned the entire Venice.

Compared with Rome and Constantinople, Venice has no planning at all, and it cannot have a plan. All its boundaries are not determined by the wisdom of architects and designers, but can only be determined by the silt after the sea water recedes. The six areas and the entire core of St. Mark's Square are all irregular shapes. All Venetians consider themselves to be subjects of the sea and nature, but they are never willing to completely succumb. This asymmetrical and unbalanced character dominates this city and this ethnic group.

The sun was getting brighter and brighter, and the reflections of various buildings were projected in the clear canal. The oars were rowing rapidly, and all the patterns were as bright as broken gems. Gray, white, blue, emerald, and various colors were playing the game of light and shadow with people because of the refraction of fog and sunlight.

Just now, Gawain and Ingridna entered from the big dock at the mouth of the canal, where two huge monuments stood, one dedicated to St. Theodore and the other dedicated to the lion of St. Mark. "But Gawain, look, the statues on this temple are so strange?" Ingridna pointed to a white building on the shore on the bow and asked.

It was a three-story building connected in series. On the four huge pillars of the outer wall, each was carved into the image of a merchant wearing a round hat. Gawain, who was already fluent in writing, looked at the inscription and explained to the widow like a tour guide, "Levant, probably commemorating the wealth this city obtained from the Syrian coast."

"No Gawain. I'm asking about that one." As the building moved backwards, Ingrina pointed to the sculpture on the top of the building curiously and anxiously, "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it's the pagan god of commerce, Mercury, naked, but wearing boots..." Gawain also laughed after saying that. It seems that even in the religious concept of the Venetians, the absolute imbalance of "no absolute" is implemented - they worship both Christ and the ocean, and even more so the foundation of the country, which is commerce, and even worship pagan gods.

At a small pier, Gawain took out a few small Byzantine silver coins from the purse hanging on his belt. He gave it to the boatman, and then took Ingrina's wrist and walked up to the extremely narrow street divided by the colonnade and the market. "There are really all kinds of people here..." The widow continued to exclaim, it seemed that people of all skin colors gathered in this city, but Gawain noticed: Even so, Venice is different from Constantinople. It is prosperous but not noisy, busy but not messy, all men and women pass by you in a hurry, and even the bargaining in the market is very fragmented and quiet. Everyone is like an ant colony in another world, together forming this city built in seawater and mud.

In front of a stone tower standing in front of a small square, Gawain saw the bull pattern on it, and pointed to Ingrina, who understood-the agreed place mentioned by the Governor of Chania has arrived.

As a result, under the stone tower, there were about a dozen men in black robes and hats with white feathers who were waiting immediately surrounded them and saluted the two politely. He took the letter from Gawain and introduced himself after checking it. "We are the brotherhood of the Palpara district here. We are responsible for maintaining the traffic and security of this city. Of course, we also have the reception of foreign guests. You and your wife will stay in the tower mansion facing the sea." After that, the brotherhood gave Gawain a seal document that looked like a "foreign friend certificate". "The governor will take time out as soon as possible to meet with you in secret. The first sword-bearing noble of the empire and the head of the priesthood of Bari, wish you and your wife a happy time." Everyone took off their hats and said goodbye to Gawain in a humble and dignified manner.

Then, Gawain felt that the shadow quickly covered the square, swallowing up all the other colors, turning the buildings, squares and memorial stone pillars into a dull gray. He looked up and saw dark clouds coming from the end of the city close to the coast without any stagnation. It seemed that it was going to rain. This was a very common thing in such a harbor city. The weather was not perfect.

As a result, on the east side of the square, on an open ground, Ingridna saw a strange scene: a group of people set up various simple tents and sat there densely. When the surrounding vendors began to withdraw their peripheral stalls to the first floor of their own homes, the group of people seemed to be silent as usual.

And the place where they gathered was in front of the seaside house that the Brotherhood had just pointed out...

Seeing that Ingridna was a little worried, Gawain came over and stared at a big man who looked like a sailor sitting in the front with his knees hugged. The other person's face was a little flat, but this appearance was common in the Peloponnese and Asia Minor, "Hey, you."

"Hey!" Who would have thought that the big man was even more fierce, and he shook his thick linen jacket vest with small iron pieces on his body with his hand, "You aristocratic-looking man, don't talk to me, we are Schiavone people, don't taint your noble breath, sir."

"Yes, you are a Schiavoni, living on the shore of Dalmatia, and you are hired by Venice to be a rower, right?" It seems that Gawain is very familiar with the stories of this area.

Schiavoni actually means "Slavs" in Venetian. During the migration of barbarians hundreds of years ago, the Balkans, Greece, and the Adriatic Sea became a paradise for Slavs who went south. Many of them became bandits and attacked the Byzantine Roman Empire, and some of them became pirates and wreaked havoc in the Adriatic Sea. The city of Venice also built a dam with fortifications around the lagoon, called the "Schiavone Bank" to resist their invasion, and also paid them to join its fleet.

"Okay, let's go in." Gawain stood up, shrugged, and said to Ingrina.

The big Hannah looked at Gawain, then at the mansion they pointed to, with a surprised expression on his face, "Hey, nobleman, what's your name?"

But Gawain smiled, "We can't continue the conversation, so as not to pollute each other's air."

Suddenly, raindrops hit Ingrina's hair and gorgeous clothes, "Hurry, Gawain, it's raining!"

Then, the two of them ran into the mansion hand in hand. No matter how magnificent the houses in Venice are, they don't occupy a large area, let alone a huge front yard. The back door of this mansion is facing the street and the square. Then when they walked under the awning, half of their bodies were soaked. (To be continued ~^~)