Lamouyati, filled with grief and indignation, returned the remains of Murad II to Edirne.

"In this way, the external problems are not much handled. Everyone loves peace, doesn't they? ”

Sophia stood on the walls of Theodosius, with tears in her eyes, and saw off the Ottoman envoys.

"Don't forget to toss others before leaving, thanks to your father's permission to do this."

"What's wrong with that?" Sophia jumped down the city wall, "They have been in Constantinople for so many days, eating ours and using ours, and they don't make us sick?" ”

After a few days of recuperation in Constantinople, Latius returned to Athens alone. Greater Greece is weakly defended, but its economic base is the best in the Balkans. Trade between Athens, Thessaloniki, and Thebes needed to be rebuilt immediately, and in short, there was still a lot of work to be done.

In fact, there are still a lot of messes left in Constantinople.

A unilateral ceasefire with the Ottomans will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction in the Western world, after all, you keep saying that you will join forces with the Crusaders to encircle and expel the Ottomans, and you will turn around and run away when you get the benefits. The Crusaders' losses were much greater than those of the Eastern Roman Empire, and if this relationship was not properly managed, the credibility of the Empire would be particularly low in future diplomacy and negotiations with the Catholic countries.

Normally, there is only one common means for empires to solve this problem - to sell miserably.

This was not the first time that the Empire had made peace with the Ottomans under intense pressure. In the past, the style was to cry that Constantinople was exhausted of manpower, the people were struggling to make a living, the economy was exhausted, and the country was about to go bankrupt. Westerners don't have a good idea of what to say.

Only this time the situation has changed.

This time, the attention of the main Ottoman forces was almost all attracted by the crusaders. As long as the empire is firmly defended, it is not impossible to profit from it. However, from the empire to the capture of Athens, the rebellion against Trabzon, and the launch of the Great Greek Offensive, this series of active attacks are contrary to what was originally discussed with the Western world.

Why did the Catholic countries go all the way to support the Empire? Is it really to save the brothers of the same clan? Everyone knows in their hearts the true attitude of the other party towards heresy. It's just that they also want to get more out of the Balkans.

Now that the empire has eaten until it has been full of burps, it has directly abandoned the crusaders, and at this time, it will probably have no effect if you cry poor and cry miserably.

This is the theme of today's Imperial Council.

"Your Majesty...... We need to find a way to reassure the West. Especially Hungary, the Papal State and the like......"

"It's not that they're not without gains. In fact, from the very first moment of Murad's death, the Crusaders had already launched more than one major offensive. The Ottoman frontier fortresses were almost completely lost, which is why they could tolerate us swallowing Thrace. Giovanni tapped the map on the table aimlessly, clutching his staff in his hand, "And this time is very sensitive, it is about to enter winter, whether to launch a counterattack to retake these fortresses, Muhammad should think carefully." At this time, however, Muhammad did not seem to be very concerned about the frontier, and a large number of troops were hoarded in the city of Edirne......"

"They were forced, my dear General Giovanni." Agrippa Flavius, the Empire's current head of foreign affairs, cleared his throat and said, "The position of Sultan Muhammad is not so secure. ”

"It seems that in the Balkans, the Ottomans will be very passive lately...... It's not over yet. Giovanni spun his cane around and pointed to the other corner of the map.

Several people glanced at each other, and then fell silent at the same time.

Kingdom of Serbia.

The brief vassalage of the Eastern Roman Empire to the Serbs did not in any way change the country's strong independence tendencies, and after the establishment of a feudal kingdom in the early thirteenth century, Serbia remained strong under the enormous pressure of Hungary, the Eastern Roman Empire, and later the Ottomans.

The Empire did not get along well with Serbia, and Macedonia, Thessaly, Iberus, and Albania were all invaded by the Serbs. It can be said that if the empire expelled the Ottomans, the next target must be Serbia.

The most acute place of conflict with the Kingdom of Serbia, for now, should be the Epirus region.

"Jurad of Serbia is a man of great measure...... "Agrippa said with a wry smile, "impulsive, irritable, arbitrary, but incompetent, according to his personality, Epirus and Great Greece, two pieces of fat, I am afraid he would love to taste." ”

"The Balkan Peninsula is more lively than I imagined." Giovanni put down his cane, "It's almost the end of November, and at this time, it's time to move, it's time to move." Oh yes...... Your Majesty, I remember the last time Hunyadi wrote that when was the last expected attack of the Crusaders this year? ”

Constantine XI squinted his eyes and remembered for a moment, then affirmed: "November 28th." ”

……、

It rained heavily in Edirne.

"Lord Muhammad...... Hope you think again. ”

At the Muradiya Mosque, the imam chanted hadith. Muhammad, on the other hand, sat in the center of the main hall of the mosque without saying a word.

As for the choice of his successor, Murad II has long been decided. Muhammad's two elder brothers were frail and ignorant from childhood, and Murad naturally gave more opportunities to the younger Muhammad.

Although the Ottoman Empire did not have the rule of primogeniture as in the West, successive sultans more or less received a stab in the back from their brothers.

Muhammad knew that the current situation in the Ottoman Empire was far less rosy than his father had imagined, and the failure of this offensive was irrefutable proof of this.

"Lord Sultan, you can be buried." The imam closed the beautifully bound Quran in his hand and exited the main hall step by step.

Muhammad closed his eyes.

"Lord Sultan......"

"Do as I say."

He would never allow his sultan's throne to be threatened by any of his relatives. Even if he is a flesh and blood relative, he will kill the killer.

Muhammad's plan was simple, anything that threatened ...... Even if there is a possible threat, kill them.

As long as the military power is in his hands, his position as sultan will never be ceded to his brother. Because of this, he did not hold a grand succession ceremony in the past few days, and he cultivated himself in the mosque for a long time.

He's waiting for an opportunity.

"That's right...... There is no news yet from Derj, who was sent to support the Crusader front a few days ago? ”

"Nope."

"Keep an eye on it. If he does anything against my brothers, he will be killed. ”