People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 297 Banquet
The long-lasting and time-consuming competitive competition has come to an end.

Soldiers of the Eagle Banner Brigade, wearing exquisite silk from the Peloponnese peninsula as rewards around their necks, proudly walked through the crowd and cheers of the people of Constantinople.

After this battle, every soldier of the Eagle Banner Brigade has become a small rich man in his pocket. If he uses this money to buy more land and hire a group of tenant farmers, except for not having the title of knight, they will be better than ordinary people. Knights are much richer.

This is the charm of Constantinople. Otherwise, there would not be so many Varangians. They would rather leave their homes and come to Constantinople to join the Varangian Guards.

As for the protagonist that people talk about, Lothar from the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

It seems that he has become a rising star in Constantinople. Everyone knows that this new general of the military region is highly regarded by Her Majesty the Queen and Princess Anna in purple, and he will soon rise to the top.

In Constantinople, the authority of the emperors, however waning, was far superior to that of their counterparts in the Western empires.

They could even appoint eunuchs as archbishops, even patriarchs.

In conversion, it is equivalent to Henry Caesar letting the eunuch raised in his court become the pope, which is even more outrageous than the French king who made the prisoner of Avignon in the parallel world.

When Lothar walked out of the arena, Anna was sitting on the back of a snow-white steed without a trace of variegation, looking at him with a smile.

"Constantinople, cheers for you today."

She pointed to the crowd around the arena, still watching Lothar, and beckoned to him: "You should stay inside for a while, and enjoy the applause and cheers that belong to you."

"I'm afraid I'm going to get lost in the sugar bowl."

Anna said helplessly: "You are also a powerful spellcaster, is it necessary to be so cautious? Who can force you to do something?"

"Shouldn't I tell you this?"

Lothar rolled his eyes: "If you want to be cautious, you are much more cautious than me."

"But you are different from me. If you are a hermit, I will not help His Majesty recruit you. Since you value secular power, what is more suitable for you than Constantinople?"

Lothar was silent for a while, feeling that what Anna said was not unreasonable.

At the very least, if I can earn the title of co-emperor, and directly promote the title of the system from marquis, across the two stages of duke and king, to emperor, it can be regarded as a step up to the sky.

Moreover, judging by Her Majesty's appearance, this soft meal seems to be quite delicious.

Oops, you woman, you actually broke my Dao heart!

Lothar raised his eyebrows, and was about to speak, when the corners of Anna's mouth, which was wearing a beaded veil, slightly raised: "Okay, I understand, we will still follow our original agreement - an exchange of equal value, it just so happens that His Majesty didn't give up in vain." The habit of beckoning."

"Let's go, let's go to the palace banquet. In His Majesty's palace, there is a hall that can accommodate [-] guests at the same time. Your Majesty's Luanjia has already set off first."

"Such a trivial matter, you can send someone to notify me?"

"Originally, His Majesty wanted Andronikos to call you, but I refused. After all, you are a member of our Levant Wizards Association. How can I do it if I don't want to be a landlord when you come to the headquarters of the association? "

"Who is Andronicus?"

"Your Majesty's Food Tasting Officer, an eunuch, has mastered such an insignificant amount of extraordinary power, he is considered a half-caster."

As soon as Anna finished speaking, she added: "Don't worry, His Majesty sent eunuchs to invite you, not only because they are not neglecting you, but because they value you."

Lothar nodded slightly: "I know that in the Eastern Empire, since there have been eunuchs serving as chief patriarchs before, there is nothing to look down on these people. Moreover, many small sects believe that self-castration is a model of chastity and purity , the second sons of some big Greek families would even choose to castrate themselves to enter the court.”

"I thought you couldn't understand this kind of thing."

Lothar shrugged: "What's so hard to understand? Eunuchs don't have heirs. They naturally pose no threat to the throne, and they won't cause some royal scandals. It's only normal for the emperor to value him."

There is nothing new under the sun. In that eastern country, eunuchs once controlled the government.

"That's right."

Anna frowned. Although the empire had a long tradition of using eunuchs, the empress needed the help of eunuchs to stabilize the government even more, but she still didn't think that reusing eunuchs was a good thing for the empire.

Perhaps, the few remaining martial virtues in the empire were defeated by these eunuchs who were neither male nor female.

Thinking this way in her heart, Anna didn't show it on her mouth, she just reminded with a smile: "You are not married yet, during this period of time, the noble ladies of the empire will definitely have thoughts about you, if you meet some bohemian nobles Women recommend pillow seats, you have to remind your girls to hold hands."

Lothar chuckled and said, "Aren't I just a Frankish barbarian? I can attract people's favor wherever I go?"

"After today, anyone will think that you will be on the rise in the empire."

Anna said meaningfully: "They don't know that you are a fanatical believer, and you want to run back to the desert of Jerusalem to serve your little king."

Lothar smiled and said nothing more.

Although the prospect of developing in Constantinople is attractive, he still has not forgotten his original intention.

"Have you come to any conclusion with the Marquis Leopold?"

"Not yet, but thanks to you, we now have the upper hand—after a while, after the counter-insurgency is successful, our cooperation should be settled. This time, maybe the empire can really take back Sicily. "

Sicily, Rhode Island, Cyprus, these are the keys to mastering the Mediterranean sea routes.

Their importance cannot be measured by the size of the territory.

Anna pointed to the carriage behind her: "Get in the carriage, there are too many people who want to take a close look at you now, and your presence on the street like this will only make it difficult for us to move forward."

"I'm going to pick up Flynn and Cellinina."

"Don't worry, Flynn and I are old friends. I have arrangements for your two little girls. Do you need me to help you arrange your soldiers?"

Lothar shook his head and said, "No need, I gave them a short vacation, and they will probably get the bounty they got, so they can take a good look around the city."

A group of people got into the carriage and drove to the palace.

The banquet was held in the "Golden Palace". Sixteen windows were opened on its circular dome. Compared with the dark and cramped architectural style of Western Europe, the lighting here was frighteningly good.

The niches on the wall are painted with portraits of the Virgin and Jesus.

After everyone was seated, the eunuchs pushed open the silver door of the alcove, and the empress, dressed in a purple dress and wearing a triple crown, walked out from here.

Under the sunlight, the empress looked dignified, and her beautiful face, embellished with the crown and various jewels, looked even more sacred, as if the Holy Spirit descended from the sky to the mortal.

After stepping into the main hall, the queen went straight to the shrine on the east side of the Golden Hall, and prayed respectfully to the statue inside, which probably showed her "divine authority of the king".

Because in the Eastern Empire, the emperor was the incarnation of the gods, not ordinary people. Even the shepherd capital could be served by the eunuchs trusted by the emperor, let alone "crowned by the pope".

Lothar was placed behind the Sasanian envoy.

Fringila muttered with some doubts: "Aren't the Persians the sworn enemies of the Eastern Empire? Why do you still put us behind them?"

Lothar explained: "Because they are mortal enemies who have fought for thousands of years, they should be honored. What's more, as the Eastern Empire lost a large amount of territory and did not border Sasan, it is naturally not considered undead. endless adversary."

As for the Turkic tribes entrenched on the Asia Minor peninsula, although they nominally surrendered to the Sasanian King of Kings, they were far from being loyal subjects.

Many Turkic tribes had conflicts with the Persians on the way to the west, and a lot of contradictions accumulated between the two.

The Sasanian dynasty supported these Turks before, just to add chaos to the old enemy of the Eastern Empire. Now, their energy is no longer in the West.

The same goes for Germania.

The border jurisdiction of Austria is the territory closest to the Eastern Empire in Germania, and the vast territory of the Kingdom of Hungary is still separated between the two countries. Their disputes on the Apennine Peninsula can only be described as small fights.

According to the information Lothar inquired from the past caravans, although the Tatars have risen on the eastern grasslands, they are far from being taken seriously by the self-proclaimed noble Persians.

On the contrary, the Xiliao Kingdom, founded by Yelu Dashi, was famous and once occupied the wealthy Hezhong area, threatening the Silk Road, and was regarded as a serious threat by the Sassanian Dynasty.

Soon, the banquet began.

The main course of the banquet was three roasted peacocks, which were very popular in Constantinople.

Many knights like to use peacock feathers as decorations, and even gave birth to special peacock farmers.

The servants use a trolley to push the golden plates full of various dishes, pass by the guests' tables, and place the dishes one by one in front of the guests.

Lobster, tuna, all kinds of shellfish, everything, and even crystal clear orange and black caviar.

Feta cheese from Crete, mixed with vegetable salad made with olive oil, is sweet and not too sticky.

"It's still the Greeks who are particular about food. I originally thought that in this era, being able to munch on barbecued meat with plenty of spices was already considered the enjoyment of top nobles."

Lothar couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

It is said that many nobles in the Middle Ages did not live as well as ordinary people in later generations. The nobles here certainly do not include the emperor of the Eastern Empire.

Jeanne drank a sip of wine, her face turned red immediately, and she couldn't stop coughing.

"My God, what the hell are these Greeks putting in their wine?"

Lothar picked up the wine bottle, put it up to his nose, and sniffed it. He immediately showed a look of disgust: "Who knows, rosemary, cardamom, pepper, celery juice, fennel, star anise...it's all possible."

"Even if you want to show off your wealth, you shouldn't waste things like this?"

Jeanna said with a look of pity.

Wine is good wine, and spices are also precious things like gold, but the two are mixed together.

Fringira speculated maliciously: "Perhaps the Greeks have such a unique taste."

Lothar disagreed with this: "They are all made of a mouth and a tongue. It doesn't make sense that something with a weird taste is regarded as a delicacy. It is probably the same as eating beef wrapped in gold leaf in our era. .”

After all, spices are expensive supplements in the eyes of many people in this era, just like ginseng in the eyes of Orientals.

The dessert after the meal is also rich, including sweet biscuits mixed with nuts, pudding with jam, and various candied fruit.

In addition, Lothar also drank the millet porridge that he had not seen for a long time, with a layer of thick rice oil floating on it, which finally relieved the greasy meat from the big fish and meat in the past two days.

It is worth mentioning that Lothar also saw the rest of the princesses of the Eastern Empire at the banquet.

It's just that the princesses of the Komnenos family are obviously not as popular as the princesses of the Dukas family.

Moreover, neither Comnene nor the princess of the Dukas family is qualified to wear purple clothes like Anna.

This is probably a unique honor.

Lothar also served as an envoy sent by the Kingdom of Jerusalem, accepting toasts from all envoys in the hall.

Perhaps the territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is small, but no one will despise the king of Jerusalem.

Leaving aside the sanctity of the title of Lord of the Holy Land, the Kingdom of Jerusalem controlled the most elite areas along the eastern Mediterranean coast.

Coupled with the continuous support of fanatical pilgrims and crusaders from the West.

The strength of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is not weak, at least not as weak as the seemingly narrow country.

(End of this chapter)