Of course, Athanasius was not alone in being struck by John's righteous words. John, who had always relied on war to expand his empire, no one would doubt that he would become one of the greatest rulers in the history of the Palaiologos dynasty and even the Roman Empire. And now, under the premise that Agrippa and John themselves have gone to great lengths to build a siege network for the Ottomans, he actually ......

"Your Majesty......" This time, Giovanni was also a little difficult to calm down, and several other nobles who were also radical also stretched out their arms shrunk under the seemingly wide wind-sheltering robes, "Ottomans, must be driven out of our homeland!" No matter what it takes......"

"Ah, don't get excited, guys. You should know your majesty John. Sophia waved her hand to the crowd to reassure, "Time to develop the economy with most of the Balkans and the Ottomans occupying Anatolia?" Even the most stupid ruler would have given up on such an option. But now, the Phoenix Legion and the Holy See Guard, which are the highest combat effectiveness of the Empire, still need to be repaired. Even if we attack the coast of Asia Minor, we need to at least guarantee the absolute security of the Balkans. ”

"Yes, do you think I don't want to take Mehmed II out of Ankara, skinned and stripped of his bones, and then hang him outside the Golden Gate? But we must maintain at least the most basic sanity! It's not that we can completely drive the Ottomans out of our homeland for the sake of the Empire! John patted the map, the dust that had been in place for a long time was conspicuous in the sunlight shining through the mosaic glass, "Neither in terms of economic strength nor the number of troops, we are not even qualified to cross the Aegean Sea on our own initiative, while the Ottomans can wait for an opportunity to launch Athenian sneak attacks on the Balkans." Last time it was Athens, Thessaloniki and Thebes took turns to come again, how many other cities in the empire could provide taxes? Then the economy collapses, the military is demoralized, and Rome will be the same again! ”

Everyone fell into a deep groan, and after a moment, Publius asked again on behalf of the surrounding high-ranking commanders: "But Your Majesty, His Highness Sophia also said that we have no capital to consume with the Ottomans, and long-term development will only bring us a faster collapse. Western Europeans are not to be trusted. As long as the Empire, as their front line against the Crescent Cult, has not been destroyed to the point of incarnation, they will continue to immerse themselves in their own world and continue to suffer from internal friction. In this case, we can only unite with such a reliable ally as Hungary and fight to win a truly reliable land in Anatolia! ”

"Your Excellency Publius, you are only half right." This time it was Agrippa who spoke for John, as the head of diplomacy and the current minister of the court, he certainly knew the situation facing the empire better than Publius, "The lackeys of the Roman pseudo-papal see, except for infighting, really can't learn anything else, and to launch a crusade for the sake of face, the ending is getting uglier and uglier every time...... As for Hungary. How to say it, in fact, the relationship between the empire and Hungary can come to this point is more due to coincidence. Ladies and gentlemen, if we set foot in Anatolia again, will we cede our land to our allies and give them a piece of the pie? Or pay a lot of money to our allies as a so-called thank you? Or, in the event of a crisis for our allies in the future, to provide aid without compensation, at the risk of being ambushed, annihilated, or at great cost? ”

"Of course not!" This question has been answered in countless affirmatives.

"Well, it's very simple. We can indeed expect help from the Hungarians or the Albanians, but we must not expect too much, or we must not let them become the main force in our reconquista. No one is a philanthropist, and if we owe too much to the Hungarians, the Empire will not even be qualified to raise its head in the future in a diplomatic arena! Agrippa turned, his hoarse and thick voice large enough to reverberate throughout the church, "We need not only timing, but also waiting for strength to return. Development is a necessary process! It's not that the Ottomans have more resources than us, and the population is larger than ours, so we have to fight the Ottomans to the death immediately. Otherwise, the empire would have surrendered a long time ago! ”

Agrippa has made it clear. I won't repeat it. What the empire needs now is recuperation and timing, and this time may be months, it may be years. Since no one can help anyone now, there is no need for us to be in a hurry. In other words, it should be Muhammad who should be in a hurry now. The situation within the Ottoman Empire was not as easy as it seems now. ”

It sounds like a rather unclear answer, but the Mass, which everyone thought John would ascend to the heights and call for troops to cross the Bosphorus, ended uneventfully.

Watching the fun, or fringe aristocrats who had little to do with their vital interests, were preparing to leave, Athanasius was tapped on the shoulder by Constantine XI.

The new patriarch quickly stopped the people who were about to leave, and by the way, asked the Holy Child to pull John and Sophia back to the stage.

"Is there anything going on with the Patriarch?" Sophia, though still smiling, privately asked the Patriarch in a grinning voice.

"Don't worry, my dear Highness, this is the holy will of His Majesty Basilius and His Majesty Baselisa, just to convey their meaning with the help of my mouth."

The spectators watched curiously at John and Sophia, who also had no idea what was happening, while a few, such as Kinchi and Agrippa, who were close to Constantine XI, were already smiling maliciously.

"I didn't expect that...... On the day of Gregory III's Mass...... Agrippa's smile was particularly lewd.

"The end of Mass means that everyone is back to normal life, and there is nothing wrong with that. Just looking at the eyes of His Majesty and His Highness, I guess our Basilius is not very kind about this matter...... It should have been that our little majesty was not notified in advance at all. There was some helplessness in Jinqi's smile.

"Holy marriage is such a big thing......" Giovanni also turned his cane and leaned in.

And from the whispering chatter, John finally felt what was going to happen next.

Also, after calculation, he and Sophia have indeed reached marriageable age. It's just that Constantine XI has been able to hold back until now and not tell the two, and his heart is indeed dark enough.

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