Eagle Byzantium

However, after waiting for nearly ten days, when the farmers of Seleucia began to harvest grain and were still using the simple small stone mortars in their homes to grind flour, the tax collectors of the Brotherhood began to carry out land accounting and accounting, charging farmers for renting large-scale When they were about to pay taxes on livestock and prepare to hand over part of the profits to the palace treasury in the city, the Archbishop of Pisa, Sapphobel, finally landed at the berth of the military port with many monks and businessmen dressed in low-key luxury.

This was just his transit point. This archbishop came from the prosperous Constantinople, and his mission went very smoothly. As soon as he arrived in the imperial capital, he took over a big order, "Commanding the attack on the Turks in the city of Nicaea." His Majesty the Emperor of War specially authorized the empire’s chief minister Burrill and chief scholar Maupulus to open a commercial port area for the Pisa people in the capital, and also enjoyed the same tax-free rights for goods as the Venetians. "

In addition, Safbel also accepted many precious gifts in the name of the emperor, including ivory miniatures, enamel reliquaries, agate chalices, etc. Of course, these have been put into his own box by the archbishop in a very low-key manner. , humbly unwilling to reveal it to the world, but His Majesty gave him another precious gift: a very exquisitely embroidered cross, which was specially worn by Sapphobel. On the way, he knew that after crossing Rhodes Island, the people he saw along the way were no longer the noble and elegant Greek nobles and princes, but instead became vulgar pilgrim lords. The Grand Duke Gawain, nicknamed "Luxerre", was no exception. , his notoriety is known from the seaside of Curitai to the desert of Antioch. It is said that he has the ambition of a lion, the ferocity of a wolf, and the cunning and capriciousness of a fox or an eight-clawed spider.

Therefore, it was very important to dress more dignified as a special envoy of the Holy See. Safbel thought he could suppress this rude warrior-type powerful man.

The Moorish guards employed by the Pisa Chamber of Commerce, wearing coarse cloth turbans and leather-clad iron armor, held swords in front of the archbishop to clear the way. Cloths embroidered with the "Red Hand Crossed Sword" logo were everywhere, dangled over the heads of the group of people on the flagpole of the fort, the entrance to the acropolis and the battlements, "Perhaps that Lussell could not have imagined that he was killed by the Saint." The person who has been appointed Patriarch of Seleucia is actually you." The trumpet sounded to welcome guests, and among the crowd who were walking slowly and solemnly, Safbel felt refreshed and smiled at the senior clergyman beside him. Said.

"Of course, the recent commotion among these pilgrims has been really outrageous. If the Holy See continues to sit idly by, they will soon anoint themselves, declare themselves kings, and then casually throw away their rings and scepters. Give it to the little boy accompanying you to drink, so that this A group of despicable people occupy the bishops' positions all over the East. At least as far as I know, this bastard Gawain is definitely capable of such behavior." The senior priest who spoke to Safbel also showed a ruthless expression. With a smile, it seems that this person and Gawain are old acquaintances.

But after entering the reception hall of the Acropolis Palace, Safbel looked towards the center of the opposite wall. The sight in front of him made him horrified and speechless:

Under each pillar, there stood a warrior with a terrifying beard and scars on his face, wearing heavy armor, carrying an ax and a two-handed horse sword on his shoulders. Behind them, a narrow and tall sculpture stood guard. The foot chair has a curved handle on both sides of the top of the chair back, and is tied with a soft and bright purple curtain. Sitting on it is a beautiful, noble and majestic little girl with her hands spread apart. The lion's head arm rests on the chair, her shiny black hair is divided into two braids, hanging on the chest of the same purple summer dress, wearing a seven-toothed gold crown on her head, her eyes are arrogant and stern; on the left side of this girl, is a A thin Greek aristocratic woman with black hair, holding stationery in her hand, with a low stool and a high table at her feet. To her right is a fat man in rich clothes. The flesh on her face is coldly hanging, and she is looking at herself with squinting eyes and hands.

On both sides and behind the girl, there were warriors without beards wearing silk cloaks and armor. They all carried horned bows and quivers on their backs, and held long swords or sabers with cowhide sheaths in their hands. They were all With curly black or brown hair, he was undoubtedly a sergeant from Anatolia and Greece.

This kind of formation shocked Safbel, who was originally preparing to shock the "barbarians". He looked at the girl who looked like a painting and suspected that she was the conjure of some fairy or witch, but his reason was still there. Remind him repeatedly, "Saphobel, you go to Seleucus Before entering West Asia, they had already mastered detailed information. This should be Gawain's concubine, the eldest princess kidnapped from the Greek emperor. However, Emperor Komnenos had revoked the qualifications for purple clothes, and her current status is equivalent to Village girl is equivalent to village girl..."

The Archbishop of Pisa murmured, but soon the girl spoke in a solemn and standard Latin language, "Guests, where are you from?"

Even though many Moorish soldiers and Pisa merchants behind the archbishop didn't know what the girl was saying (very few understood Latin), they all felt that what she said was very reasonable, so they all fell to the ground and trembled. Don't dare to talk too much.

The fat man snorted coldly, and then used a language that everyone could understand, repeating Anna's words, "Archbishop, never bend your knees!" Sapphobel kneels and kowtows.

"Are you high-ranking clergy from Rome, or are you noble?" The princess continued, using plain language, but with disdain in her tone, "It's really surprising. When Rome moved its capital (referring to the relocation of the capital by Emperor Constantine), all the noble elders, clergy and generals went to the new capital. The only ones left in Rome, according to my investigation in the documents, were fishermen, coopers, bakers and rural bandits. Do you have documents and genealogies from the imperial palace to prove your noble status? You know, without the official recognition of the Romanian Empire, there are no nobles in this world."

"We just want to meet His Excellency the Grand Duke and get the pass to go to Antioch." Knowing that the person in front of her was a "paranoid and arrogant" Greek princess, Sapphobel gave up the idea of ​​​​theory in a hurry, and could only avoid the trivial and directly state his intention, indicating that Gawain should come out to receive him, instead of the former princess who had an affair with someone.

"The Grand Duke has gone to Tarsus to prepare for the expedition under my order. In this country, there is only one person who deserves to be crowned the king, and that is me, Anna Ducas." Anna, sitting on the high chair, had an angry expression on her face. Then, she pointed her small finger at Sapphobert very impolitely, "If you want to pass the customs, you must obtain my consent." (To be continued ~^~)