Eagle Byzantium

They walked along the seaside avenue. Day after day, as the journey went by, Gawain noticed that there were more and more luxurious buildings. He vaguely felt that the capital of the empire was in front of him, until Diognis At sunset, tell them to go somewhere When they stayed in the free dormitory provided by the monastery, the guard told them, "Tomorrow, if we walk another twenty miles, we will reach the 'Town of Seven Miles'. We can't go any further there and need to stop for inspection. Take a detour to the bridge gate and enter again.”

Gawain was puzzled by the officer's words. According to the geographical features he observed along the way, he generally felt that what the officer was talking about was the prosperous commercial area called Bak?rk?y on the outskirts of Istanbul, but he did not I didn't question anything. After all, there was a difference of nearly a thousand years of history, and there was nothing to compare it to. The world has changed a lot.

After the soft gauze of night gradually faded from the earth and the ocean, Gawain stood in the corridor of the monastery's common apartment covered with blue-gray smoke, praying to the western sky and stars with Peter - not because of Gawain's prayers. Wen was a devout believer before traveling through time, but he had deceived a monk before. He was also a baptized northern barbarian and had participated in a pilgrimage, so he had to show off to prevent Peter from being overly suspicious.

Then, the deacon of the monastery came to "drive" them away. The deacon was very unhappy last night. The appearance of the foreign Peter and Gawain did not make the deacon too uneasy, but Diogenes, the captor, because His identity is a warrior, and according to the former Byzantine Roman emperor The ancient injunction states, "A person who engages in a military career and whose hands are stained with blood must remain isolated from believers and the monastery for three years." Although this injunction has long been abolished on paper, the monastery still does not welcome rude and murderous warriors. Come in, this is what Gawain learns.

When Gawain took out the sundial plate given by Ajieh, he could clearly deduce that it was spring now.

They hurried on the road, and gradually Gawain could see that in the hills and woods beside the road, and even on the islands in the sea, there were exquisite rich villas made of marble. Their luxury was far better than the huge villas they had seen before. The "body" is cleverly hidden in the shade of trees and mountains Shi Jian said, "Although there are no roadblocks, don't disturb the boundaries of those manors. Let's just walk along the main road honestly, because most of these manors are royal estates, and some of them belong to important ministers." Seeing that. Gawain, who was looking around, was reminded sternly by the guard.

At this time, more and more people were coming from all the forks of the road. Gawain saw that civilians dressed in short clothes were consciously walking on both sides of the road, leading dirty livestock, or holding pottery jars and Baskets contain various items, such as fruits, cheese, eggs, wheat flour, etc.; while officials wearing silk embroidered clothes ride on high Da Ma, supported by his attendants, walked arrogantly in the center with his chin held high; there were also people wearing Crescent robes and Frankish attire, probably envoys from various countries, all in grand ostentation, wearing various banners. Scepters and flags, along with the bustling crowd, walked towards the target in the same direction as them in a very familiar way.

"Hoo ho ho!" Gawain heard the sound of wind and fire. He raised his head and looked towards the dazzling spring sunshine. In an open space with a sea of ​​people, three tall poles of different heights were erected. Several tall poles were erected on them. The half-naked, dark-skinned acrobatic boy who looked like a native of Tianzhu, was as agile as an ape, climbing up and down, and constantly spitting fire from his mouth, attracting continuous applause from the audience below.

"Watch your luggage and money, the most notorious 'Varangian Camp' has arrived!" the guard turned around to remind him. No matter how loud his voice was, it seemed extremely weak in such a noisy and chaotic place. As a result, a woman with a veil and ocher-red tight dancer's leather pants came face to face, and she winked at Gawain. Gawain just returned her gentleman's smile, and a moment later, Diogenes on horseback came. He held up Gawain's stolen money bag and threw it back to him, "I told you to pay attention!"

In front of a low brick and stone barracks on the left side of the street, a ditch was dug to isolate the citizens and a fence was erected. There, many big men with similar build and hair to Gawain were clamoring and shouting, They threw down coins from the vendors on the other side of the fence and received large amounts of meat, wine and gin. Some even bargained fiercely with the women in colorful makeup.

"This is the camp of the Emperor's Varangian Guards. This group of people can do nothing except asking for rewards, drinking cattle and drinking water, and sleeping in prostitutes after leaving the battlefield." The guard introduced enthusiastically, and then said to Gawain smiled meaningfully, probably treating him as a Varangian, implying that he asked him to stop under the emperor's heels in the capital.

Obviously, according to Diognis' introduction, this Varangian camp has turned into a merchant gathering square in the town of Seven Miles. Everything is sold here, including Egyptian linens, Oriental silks, Livonian silks, etc. Amber from China, honey from Kiev, cattle and horses from Asia Minor, utensils from Antioch, glass from Kairouan, the merchants in various costumes are like a hodgepodge of races.

"How come the emperor's palace is located in the middle of a busy city?" Gawain asked strangely. His eyes fell on the end of his eyes. Behind the bustling crowds and honeycomb-like shops, there stood a huge palace. A blue palace-like building with birds circling above.

"That's not a palace, or rather, it's just a palace in the past." The guard replied, "It was built by Emperor Justinian and is called the Juquintina Palace, but now it is a fortress guarding the capital. It is full of garrisons and postmen appointed by the emperor. We will hand in the pass there soon, and then wait for the emperor to arrange a date for the reception of the hermits."

When they walked in, they found that what the guard said was true - there was no imperial garden or hunting ground in the Juquintina Palace, and there were no palace maids and concubines. Instead, there were two-person-high walls, towering towers on the four corners, and soldiers carrying bows and arrows lined up solemnly at the entrance of the palace. Civilians and merchants avoided it, and no one dared to step forward. Only foreign envoys were allowed in after being inspected, arranged to stay in the palace, and waited for the emperor's reception.

"A mere hermit monk is worthy of the emperor's time to meet him? Officer, are you sure you didn't make any mistakes?" A military judge wearing a white shawl standing in front of the palace gate answered with surprise and contempt after checking Diogenes' pass and asking about his purpose.

"But he is carrying a very confidential letter that concerns the fate of the empire."

The military judge snorted and then gave a ceremonial answer, "I will arrange it, but this monk is not qualified to stay in the Juquintina Palace. This will cause dissatisfaction among other envoys."