Eagle Byzantium

After receiving such news, Gawain felt much relieved, "Then we need Apsomates to sit on the island of Cyprus and protect the transportation of grain here."

Titicius agreed, saying that he would inform the Governor of the Cyprus Empire soon, "His Majesty also temporarily approved your division of the city, but he wants you to agree that you must give the city you divided to Venice. Unrestricted rights of residence and trade When you arrive in the Holy City, you must fulfill the treaty and return the city of Antioch to His Majesty's throne. In exchange, the Venetian fleet will send you a large amount of food so that you and I can stay in Antioch. The city held on until Kobuha's attack was repelled."

It turned out that it was going to be sold to the Venetians in exchange for the support of their fleet. My father-in-law Alexios was really used to doing shrewd business: he used me, Gawain, as his agent to gain the honor of repelling the pagans, and instigated The Venetians competed with other Italian city-states to squeeze out the power of the Catholic Church; in the end, they had to effortlessly obtain the entire territory of Antioch in accordance with the Oath of the Grand Palace. It's really comprehensive and watertight.

But if the situation is like this, we can only adapt to it, and Gawain agreed, "Then we will join forces and rely on the walls and towers of Antioch to defend Cobuha."

"Okay, tomorrow the Venetian consul will come to negotiate with you. You must be familiar with this person. Molito Rosso, the former governor of Chania."

Since Taticius had agreed to this, Gawain decided not to leave Antioch and held on to the city wall to the end. After saying this, he said goodbye and left.

Then, in the marching general's scarlet tent, only Titicius and Diogenes were left, and the hissing sound of burning candles, early summer mosquitoes circled, making a monotonous and low sound, and the guard's palm Sweat dripped from his heart, and his eyes began to stare at Taticius.

General Xiubi looked calm and quietly put the roll of letter paper into the leather tube.

"This letter is completely different from what you just said to Gawain." Finally, Diognis couldn't hold back and spoke out.

"Be silent and arbitrarily leak the emperor's letters and decrees, which is against the law." Tatisius blocked the officer's questioning with an iron-clad marching order.

There was another deathly silence, but in the end Diognis couldn't bear it any longer, and his tone and attitude became fierce. Although he had first taught Gawain "to learn to abide by the traditions and systems of this empire," Now he couldn't stand it anymore, but he didn't want to speak too loudly and spread bad words in the camp, so he lowered his voice and said,

"In his letter, His Majesty clearly told us to abandon the pilgrims in Antioch and return to Cyprus!"

"Yes, not bad." General Qianbi's attitude was still very indifferent.

"In this way, Your Majesty will lose your faith and honor."

"You don't have to worry about this. Your wise Majesty has already taken control of the entire situation. Kobuha's army is so powerful. I estimate that even if Gawain and Bohemond join forces, they will not be a match for the other party's troops. Pilgrimage to the West The enemy will definitely ask for help from His Majesty, and Your Majesty will send troops at the right time. Then we will also go from Cyprus to Anatolia at the right time to 'block' His Majesty's horse hooves and 'warn' him to go to rescue Antolia. Tiktok is a futile and unwise act. In this way, no matter what happens in the future, just leave the responsibility to us. Your Majesty can withdraw the army without any losses, and the pilgrims here will fight with Kebuha and Yaji after they are both injured. ——Your Majesty will accumulate strength and work hard to reap the benefits and take back Cilicia, Seleucia, and Antioch at the minimum cost. Such a sophisticated strategy is enough to ensure the revival of the Roman Empire. "

"But..." Diognis was extremely distressed.

"Are you surprised? Yes, in fact, when I was under the former Caesar, I had already sworn allegiance to His Majesty's throne. Therefore, Your Majesty always has the first move when suppressing rebellion and defending power." Next, Taticius told such a shocking secret without any concealment. He had actually been a "hidden stake" directly under His Majesty the Emperor for a long time!

Although it was a very hot weather, Diognis broke out in cold sweat when he looked at the marching general with two nostril holes exposed, and his hands and feet seemed to be standing in the cold lake of the Anatolia Plateau. Titicius There was no expression on his face. He probably had already regarded himself as a tool of the emperor or Caesar, a tool that could be used to win over, "Shou Captor, maybe you will question my personal morality, but that doesn't matter. Necessary, you are also a military noble and a border guard. Unlike me, my father is just a slave, and I am too. I cannot expect slaves to have any morality. There is only a distinction between useful and useless slaves. Since the emperor asked me to treat him before. If you swear allegiance, there will be no reason to refuse, even if you betray Caesar for it - and now, the emperor's secret message only asks us to withdraw, not Gawain."

"What's ridiculous is that Your Majesty actually asked me to supervise you." Diognis smiled very twistedly, and his heart was full of fear. "The person being monitored is actually the supervisor. Such methods can only be used by wise people." Only His Majesty can take control...So, it’s our turn to betray Gawain this time.”

Taticius took off his saber and placed it on his weapon, "It's not a betrayal to Gawain, at most it's an abandonment. Your Majesty hopes that he can fight the last drop of blood with the pagans in a desperate situation. It's that simple." . Only I, you, and Your Majesty know about this conspiracy, so Diognis relies on you to tell the throne. Gawain, Raymond, and Bohemond all consider themselves to be outstanding men and heroes in their lifetime, but on His Majesty's silver chessboard, They are just chess pieces, and so are you and me. However, we are chess pieces in His Majesty’s hands.”

After hearing these words, Diognis turned pale. He walked to the curtain screen, faced the portrait of His Majesty hanging on the other side and the surrounding icons, and slowly knelt down with a heavy heart, "So it turns out that all this... , it was really just His Majesty's conspiracy. Why did Your Majesty care so much about Bertin's rebellion before, so that he could easily get it. Seleucia gave up temporarily? Basically, His Majesty regarded Gawain as just a ferocious beast. He used his tactics to make chains and drove him to fight and bleed with other beasts that threatened the empire. After they are all dead, Your Majesty, standing in the stands of the arena, will happily enjoy the meat from their corpses!"

Thinking of this, Diognis looked at the holy apostles with gorgeous golden halos on their heads, and suddenly felt a sincere sense of disillusionment and powerlessness - he was living in a false world, but now he could only cover his chest in pain, Kneel down before the icon and the portrait of the emperor, which, according to Tatisius, means to unconditionally fulfill the will of His Majesty the Emperor. (To be continued ~^~)