Eagle Flag of Epirus

The Lord of Hosts said: "Sword, rise up and attack my shepherd and my companions. Hit the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. I will put my backhand on the tiny ones." Zechariah

1202 AD is already the eighth year of Emperor Alexius III's accession to the throne. Before this emperor, the empire had experienced three emperors in three years. Civil wars and coups continued throughout, and finally ended the turbulent political situation. But for the new emperor who brought peace, the residents of Constantinople didn't really have any good feelings about it. In fact, this man relied on his wise and capable wife to overthrow his brother's rule and succeeded in adding a purple robe. During the years of his reign, the lives of the people have not changed for the better but have become increasingly difficult. Due to the improper position, the emperor indulged the nobles and exploited the people, which made the country's finances go from bad to worse. And he himself no longer dare to believe his own people and army, but instead favors foreigners and surrenders the country's interests at will. In just a few years, Italian merchants in the empire spread like weeds, making the treasury unable to make ends meet.

In the past, Constantinople, which was prosperous as a paradise, has now closed many shops in the streets and lanes. The sluggish business has made this city prosperous, but it has been much bleak. However, the aristocrats who indulged in pleasure did not know that they were still extravagant and desperate, wantonly searching for the people, so that the lower city of a great city like Constantinople was actually crowded with homeless beggars.

No one cares about the crisis hidden under the glitz of Constantinople, because in the eyes of most people, although the empire is no longer as strong as the Emperor Manuel, it is still the leading power, and Constantinople is even more powerful. It is still a distribution center where goods from the East and the West must pass. As long as this continues, wealth will continue to flow into their pockets.

But obviously, not everyone is so optimistic. In Brahna Palace, the residence of the emperor, Vazetas, the chancellor of the empire, is anxiously reporting the empire’s annual revenue and expenditure to the emperor Alexius.

"This can no longer go on, Your Majesty. Our annual income is declining, but our expenditures are increasing day by day. Sooner or later the treasury will be exhausted. What we should do now is to withdraw the privileges granted to Italian merchants in Constantinople. , And instructed the various military regions to compile and submit land inventories instead of continuing to implement currency reforms. This will only worsen our finances."

Vazetas roughly calculated that the income of the empire this year would be around 12 million Hellenpe, while the expenditure would be at least 13 million. This is already a big deficit. Even considering the currency reform of Alexius I, the current Helen Pei is only one-sixth of Nomisma in the past, so many deficits can be converted to almost 2,300 pounds of gold. Such a severe financial situation, but no one paid attention to it until Vazetas took office as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It feels incredible. Now that the treasury is empty, Emperor Alexius III actually wants to replace the original Helenpe with a gilded copper coin, which is already very depreciated. Such a method of drinking poison to quench thirst was immediately opposed by Vazetas. It should be noted that although the currency of the empire is not as good as it used to be, it still has a certain credibility that can be circulated overseas. If the empire implements a policy of currency devaluation, the new currency minted by the Italians will surely replace Helenpe’s position, making the empire overseas The last advantage of trade is also gone.

However, after he finished speaking, he discovered that the old emperor on the throne had been dozing off, and did not take his words to heart. The shocked Vazettas was completely speechless, and at this moment, Alexius III woke up leisurely and opened his eyes.

"Ah, thanks for your hard work, Vazetas. You are very dedicated, and you are indeed worthy of the Queen’s praise. The matter of coinage is indeed a national issue. I will consider your suggestion, so let’s stop here for the time being. ." Slowly standing up from the throne, the old man said expressionlessly. On the surface, he said he wanted to consider but he obviously didn't take the other party's words to heart. The topic of finance Alexius has been listening to the chancellor in front of him for two hours, and he is already bored. In fact, he had already stubbornly wanted to implement currency reforms, summoning Wazetas was just a formality, but he never thought that the other party would even resolutely oppose his edict after a long talk.

Said lightly! Is it because as an emperor I don’t know the stakes? Whether it's reclaiming privileges or inventorying the military area, the Italians and the military area nobles can't afford to offend one, let alone the mob of Constantinople who dared to tear the emperor alive, let me dance on three eggs at this time!

At this thought, Alexius was irritated, but he didn't show it on his face for the sake of the emperor's identity. And he has already decided in his heart that currency reform is imperative. Not long ago, there was a wind from the west. His nephew, Alexius, was plotting to unite with the Latins to overthrow him. In order to deal with the possible threats, Emperor Alexius must search for all the wealth as much as possible to replenish himself.的内帑。 Alexius is convinced that only by tightening his money bag can his position be secured, and he will never end up with the death of the previous emperors.

"But" Vazetas still wanted to continue, but Emperor Alexius was no longer interested in listening.

"You can thank you for resigning." The indifferent old emperor interrupted Vazetas's words, and unilaterally terminated the conversation.

Although Vazetas was still unwilling, but the emperor's words made him finally give up. He understood that he was a waste of time by talking about the pros and cons for so long just now, and the emperor hadn't adopted the opinion of his finance minister at all. The reason is that these policies are not easy to implement, and it is not easy to circulate money as quickly as adding gold to copper coins, but the most important reason is that he is a person recommended by Empress Euphrasegne. This is suspicious. The emperor did not trust himself at all.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

In desperation, the lost man accepted this fact, respectfully saluting the emperor in front of him, and then left the Brahna Palace under the guidance of the eunuchs on both sides.

Looking at the back of Vazetas's departure, the aging and old emperor's eyes showed sharp gazes that only young people have at this time, and they are not at all the old-fashioned look like just now. Alexius looked thoughtfully at the mottled mural on the dome of the palace. The treasury is empty, and there has been no money to repair the palace in the past few years, which shows how tight the empire’s finances are. The **** who was accompanying the emperor walked to the throne, bent over and whispered in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you want me to pass it over?" The old slave who has been following the emperor for many years has already figured out the man in front of him. His majesty’s temperament makes it very difficult even for the emperor to forcibly implement currency reform without the support of the Minister of Finance. In this difficult situation, it is much easier to solve the problem naturally than it is to solve the problem. Emperor Alexius has been doing this for so many years.

But at this time, Emperor Alexius hesitated and said in deep thought: "There is no need for this for the time being, after all, he is from the Queen's side after all..."

The old emperor slowly walked down the steps from the throne, and the **** behind him followed suit. He saw that Alexius III was hesitating, after all, without the support of the queen, there would be no His Majesty today.

This is a fact that everyone knows but dare not say directly, and it is also the most taboo thing in the heart of Emperor Alexius. He was grateful for his wife, but he was also afraid of his queen and the relatives behind her, the Dukas family, which was a two-sided family. For a hundred years, every conspiracy in the court has the shadow of Dukas, and even Alexius became emperor relying on them. The last thing he wants to remember in his life is the end of Andorex being torn to pieces, and asking himself, he can't guarantee that he won't follow in his footsteps.

The eunuch, who knew this well, looked at Emperor Alexius cautiously, "Because of this, your Majesty can never keep him by his side!"

"What do you mean by this?"

A meaningful smile appeared on the eunuch’s face, "Your Majesty, you should know better than I am. The Queen has dismissed several important ministers in the central government over the past few years, even the headmaster... and these vacated positions are on top. Whose people are they?"

He took out a secret letter from his sleeve and carefully handed it to the emperor. "These are all played jointly by people loyal to your Majesty. They have long been dissatisfied with the Queen and the various practices of the Queen’s relatives. This was collected in Epiru. Evidence of rampant lawlessness by the Dukas family in Sri Lanka."

This is the true intention of the eunuch. The people who handed him this secret letter had sent huge bribes, hoping to be reused by the emperor, and before that, they had to take down the queen's person to have a place.

"But Vazettas's remarks just now are not enough, but it can be seen that he is loyal to me..."

"Your Majesty, do you really believe that he is a loyal minister to your Majesty? His loyalty is only the queen. If he can become the Minister of Finance, he naturally dare not try his best! And your Majesty, many interesting rumors have begun to spread, this Lord Vazettas and the queen seem to be too close." The **** was still immersed in the talk, but did not notice that the face of the emperor in purple had changed.

"Bold eunuch! How dare you slander the queen of the empire and the one who ruled with me. Do you know that the reputation of a nobleman cannot be cleaned by the blood of a humble and lowly person like you!" The cold-faced old man suddenly held his hands. Raised his scepter above his head, coldly staring at the **** in front of him, "coming man"

The words fell, and outside the hall, the court guards who were standing by the side walked in holding the Romfaya sword, and only waited for the emperor's order to pull the man who had angered his majesty out of the hall and sentenced to death.

Seeing this scene, the frightened **** hurriedly crawled down. He never expected that Emperor Alexius would have such a big reaction. He was afraid of his wife as well as everyone knew. Is it something wrong?

After thinking for a few seconds, the terrified **** suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but regret it! He actually fumbled just now to tell the rumors of the queen's unfaithfulness. I'm afraid that Emperor Alexius would have heard about this kind of thing, but whoever doesn't speak it with eyes will naturally welcome the emperor's anger! It is fortunate that no one has sneaked into the ground now. Precisely because of this, the **** who gritted his teeth slammed his heart and lay like a dog at the feet of Alexius.

"Tianzong, wise majesty! I'm just your humble servant! How dare you slander the queen, let alone insult your honor. But in the same way, I must not tarnish my loyalty to you and swear to God. The old slave did not say a word just now. Truth. Your Majesty is your Majesty of the empire, and the empire is also your Majesty’s empire, but if the queen does this forever, and your majesty is left behind, is it true that you are not afraid of repeating the mistakes of the predecessors?"

Courageous, the **** said. He followed Alexius for a long time. Knowing that the emperor was moody, his words and deeds and what he thought in his heart were sometimes completely different. But one thing is certain, that this majesty has never trusted the queen. It is evident from the fact that the emperor Alexius greatly favored his eldest daughter Irina, and the queen favored her young daughter Odoxia. There are rumors in the market. Princess Irina is not the queen's birth.

This is a risk, and the **** burst into tears, "If this goes on, Vazettas will never allow His Majesty to implement the New Deal. Now it will be difficult for them to hold the empire's money bag and want to cut off the wings of Dukas! "

In the hall, there was silence except for the eunuch's sobbing and weeping voice, Emperor Alexius remained silent for a long time, because every word said by the minion in front of him fell on his heart. The silent old man slowly lowered the scepter in his hand, and screened the guards who entered the hall with his eyes.

Staring into the eyes of the eunuch, Emperor Alexius still said nothing, then stretched out his hand lazily, took the secret letter, glanced casually, folded it and put it in his pocket.

The **** who saw this scene was overjoyed, but he still dared not get up from the ground without the emperor's order, let alone say anything. At this moment, there was an inaudible whisper above his head.

"Go and let him enter the palace to see me immediately." The voice fell, and the emperor in purple clothes left the hall alone, leaving only the trembling eunuchs staying in place. Several other courtiers helped the eunuchs up and looked at each other. Although there was a lingering fear, these eunuchs all had joy on their faces at this moment. They were right this time!

...

When Vazzettas walked out of the palace gate, the sky was already pitch black. Now it is late autumn and winter is about to enter, so it gets dark early. Besides the palace, there were only the Guards who were in charge of guarding them, and there were no other people on the streets except the guards who were patrolling. With two entourages riding their horses to the north, Vazzettas, who passed the St. Irina Cathedral, suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky above his head. Seeing the melancholy in the paper candlelight of the church, he suddenly remembered a sentence from the New Testament.

At that time, **** said to them: "Tonight, you will all fall for my sake. Because it is written in the scriptures: ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.’"

Many years ago, when Wazetas was a child, his tutor once read this passage from the Bible. At that time, he was still an ignorant and ignorant child, but now he is gradually able to understand the saint in this sentence. Take pains to warn future generations. Without a shepherd, sheep will be scattered, sick, fall, disappear, and even become food for wild animals. And the hooligans of the empire are not a flock. Under the leadership of a clever and brave shepherd, the flock can grow and grow, but how can a flock of wolves be avoided in the hands of a foolish shepherd?

"Your Majesty today is like this... Maybe God will really punish us foolish people if this continues!" Wazetas said to himself with a wry smile. He wanted to change the current decline of the empire. When he was applauded by the queen and became Chancellor of the Exchequer Vazetas, he thought he could do great things, but all he saw was corruption and darkness, even what he should have been. The emperor who drove the ministers and guarded his people was also a member of the darkness. For the first time, Vazzettas tasted despair. His worries are not groundless. Today's empire is full of unscrupulous people. Chen Bing, an independent Bolgar from the north, is ready to move in the north. In addition to the Turkic feud in the east, the Queen of Georgia is actively contacting the Komunin family. The descendants attempted to trigger a rebellion in the Eastern Military Region, while in the West, the son of the predecessor Isaac, Alexius, seemed to be planning some conspiracy with the unpredictable Latins. The news that the spy kept coming back was very disturbing, but it was all. Unable to determine the true and false. On the surface, Constantinople is still the eternal city, but Wazetas knows that its foundation has long been shaky and fragile.

"My lord, it's getting late, we should go back too." At this moment, only the guards who were by the side said. Today's Constantinople is not as safe at night as it used to be. The deteriorating people's livelihood makes public security worse than before, and even the army's salary can't go down. The capital guards, who have already cut off their food, naturally don't bother to take care of things.

And Vazettas, who has always been light and simple, is really not suitable to continue to stay outside. The man nodded immediately, "Well, it's really late, let's go back."

Just as Vazzettas was about to leave, the door of the originally silent St. Irina's Cathedral suddenly opened, and the bright candlelight in the church was shining in front of the door. Two people, one old and one young, walked out of the church. One was obviously a monk in the church in black robes, and the other was a young man dressed in common clothes. He was very immature and obviously not a person in the church. Seeing this scene, Wazetas couldn't help wondering how someone would come to the church so late.

But this thought only flashed through his mind. As the chancellor of the exchequer, he naturally couldn't spy on others. His eyes stayed for only a moment, and Wazetas took his attendants and left the church to preach. Back home.

...

"Why did you come here?" The fat monk wearing a black robe looked up and down at the boy in front of him with a trace of sullenness.

The cramped young man did not dare to look directly into the eyes of the monk in front of him, looked at the gilded iron cross in the temple behind from a distance, and swallowed in a daze.

"If you go in here, you won't have to endure that **** on earth again!" The boy thought to himself that when he was very young, he had always dreamed of becoming a priest, so that he could completely get rid of poverty and humbleness. However, the young man's fantasy was soon pulled back into reality by the displeased scolding.

"I'm asking you something, Igor!" the fat monk exclaimed impatiently.

And the boy who just reacted yelled, "Yes, Mr. Sergius. I want you to take me in... I can't stay in the barracks anymore."

"Can't wait any longer?" The fat monk looked at the young man sideways.

"Yes, sir," and the young man named Igor replied feebly.

"Ah! That's great, then."

Brother Sergius looked at Igor, the eyes in those eyes seemed to take away the remaining life of the young man: "I put you in the army because of your father's face. Your father is undoubtedly the best warrior of the year, and is also my 20-year old friend. But you have lived up to my expectations of you. Since you are unwilling to stay, then I will prepare travel expenses for you to arrange your return to Kerry. Go to Island."

"Sir, you can't do this!" Igor said in a trembling voice.

"Then what do you want," the monk pushed him, and looked at him angrily. His crowded eyes suddenly doubled brighter, and the fat on the corners of his mouth moved involuntarily. And all this in the eyes of the young Igor was full of jokes about himself. On the surface, the man in front of him is an old friend of his father's, but in Igor's eyes, he looked down upon himself, a poor boy from the south. The so-called arranging him in the army is just perfunctory, and he can't even maintain the daily expenses in Constantinople for that meagre salary.

"I just hope you will stay with me. I have no shortage of memory, understanding, and thinking ability. I once studied a little theology on Crete, and I believe that I can help you if I pass the necessary examinations. I am not. It's suitable for the barracks, maybe... it's more suitable for here!" Even though I felt being underestimated, Igor still begged earnestly.

However, what responded to him was the priest’s sneer, “It’s more suitable here? Hehe, my dear boy, it seems that you still don’t understand anything. I know what your little head is thinking, but it’s just to be a priest himself. You can become a decent person in one step. But you have to understand that I am wearing this black robe because my virtue deserves this reward; but you, with the current equivalent reward that God can give you, it can only be This military uniform."

The fat priest looked at the sky and made a cross. However, seeing this gesture, Igor did not feel any sacredness, but felt the extreme anger and humiliation of the whole body.

The monk obviously also noticed this, "I have dozens of people here who expect to engage in the most sacred professions," Sergius finally said, his tone changed suddenly, severe but not fierce, "and really There are very few qualified people. I can agree to your request and put you in the scope of my consideration. This is the limit I can do with my old friends. But you have to understand my child, my protection It is neither favoritism nor appeasement, but redoubled attention and strictness to sins. Now I will put my ears up and listen. I will not repeat it a second time."

Seeing the fat monk's tone eased slightly, Igor's heart felt a glimmer of hope.

"Can you speak Latin?" the priest Sergius asked ~www.readwn.com~ Yes, I can say a little, Mr. Sergius. "Igor replied. Although Latin is no longer the official language of the empire, it is still indispensable for reading religious texts. Before coming to Constantinople, Igor had already done it. homework.

The conversation continued in Latin. The expression of the fat monk's eyes gradually softened, and his attitude towards the boy in front of him was much better.

Sergius was examining Igor's knowledge, not only the Bible, but also the theories of other sages, and he couldn't help being surprised by the breadth of knowledge the young man showed him. It seems to be related to the complex history of Crete. In addition to his knowledge of theological foundations, Igor also knows many other exotic terroirs, which is indeed very rare.

He paused for a moment and looked again. At this moment, priest Serkius had a new understanding of the boy named Igor.

"Well, you can come and ask me at any time from tomorrow, the door here is open to you at any time. But you still have to continue working in the barracks until I think you are qualified."