"So, it's always a little embarrassing for them to say something in front of people."

"There are still some days before the end of the year, but we should get ready as soon as possible."

"This Athanasius doesn't look like a good patriarch......"

"But why didn't my father tell me in advance......"

Sophia had a steaming cup of tea in her hand, and she was holding her cheeks with her hands on her cheeks, with a somewhat sweet smile, as she watched as she paced with pretended composure in the middle of the Slou Garden, effectively writing all the nervousness on her face.

Just talking about the wedding, the little girl's psychological preparation is obviously much more adequate than John's, or the little girl has no need to make any psychological preparations. She has seen and heard too many scenes like this. Since all aristocratic families, especially royal girls, cannot control their marriage and happiness, a girl like her who can receive God's blessings with the person she likes is already worthy of the envy of others. Look at Constantine XI, the noble Basilius, the emperor of the Romans, and Gyerdi gave him a sister, and he became Barcelissa.

Thinking of this, the smile on Sophia's face became kinder again.

It's just that John doesn't feel this way at all now - if he is unhappy, it must be fake, but for him, the wedding is also the first time in two lives, and after experiencing the afterlife, his attitude towards his lifelong partner in the secular world is even more profound. The Holy Marriage had a more elaborate and lengthy set of ceremonies, so at the behest of Constantine XI, the date of the marriage was set at the end of the year. Of course, this time needed to be set aside to give Athanasius II more room to control the entire Church and then prepare for the Crusade.

"Brother, are you going to hang out in the garden until dark?"

"Ah, no, I'm just thinking about a few questions."

"Huh? What's the problem? Sophia turned her head to the side and glanced at John, who was a little embarrassed.

"Of course it's the war in Anatolia...... Wedding? It's good for them to do it, we can't help much anyway. ”

"Hey, that's how the future Basilius is......"

……

Once the Anatolian Conquest began, it was a protracted war on the scale of a Great Holy War. Regardless of victory or defeat, it is a loss of the degree of destruction of a country's national strength. In other words, once the army of the empire crossed the Aegean Sea, it was a desperate gamble, it was a ruin. If there is any mistake in the first line, it can directly make the empire dream back to the territory of the thirties.

Moreover, the empire fought on its own side in the Balkans and finally broke through Fort Hadrian, not by well-trained legions, but by a hidden nail that had long been buried by Mehmed II's side, Lykaon. In other words, without Lycaon's imminent defection, the Ottomans would likely have been the final victors of the battle.

From this one can imagine the difficulty of a series of wars in Asia Minor. The empire's only advantage over the Ottomans at this time was probably national cohesion. The effect of the simple concept of the Romans at a critical moment is unimaginable. Therefore, the empire needed to give Athanasius enough time to completely control the Orthodox Church. Subsequently, by religious means, the entire country was mobilized to a "wartime state". Faith, as a tool of rulers, has always been fairly simple and effective.

Due to the sudden compression of the former vast geographical environment after the Balkan War, the Ottomans are not having a good time at the moment. The upheaval of the ritual social system. The Pasha and other nobles who had been divided in the Balkans lost their fiefdoms and even their sources of income, and the resulting bureaucratic chaos and turmoil led to a decline in administrative efficiency within the Ottoman Empire, forcing Mehmed II to abolish the secular power of these people. But the resentment that incurred made the risk of an Ottoman rebellion soar.

Second, the constant influx of Kurdish, Greek, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, and Arab refugees has made the Ottoman national structure increasingly unstable. Among them, the issue of religion is particularly prominent. Originally, the Ottoman royal family was ostensibly free of religion, but secretly supported the Crescents, which made the people quite dissatisfied.

"An empire that regards the expansion of force as its life, when the pace of its expansion stagnates, its life comes to an end."

Some things can be said in front of people, but some things must be said quietly behind closed doors. The next day, a royal council was convened as scheduled, and the issue of the offensive against Anatolia was discussed.

"Because of this, we don't have to think too highly of the Ottomans. We can ignore the authenticity of the previous Ottomans who had released a possible war of conquest against the Empire of the Two Rams, but this must have been a means for Mehmed II to deflect the contradictions within the empire. "John leaned back in his chair and calmly tore off the fig leaf of the Ottomans," while Mehmed II returned from a great defeat in the Balkans, the Ottoman Pasha in eastern Anatolia repeatedly routed the Mamluk offensive with superior forces. After coming and going, the Ottoman royal family may have long lost the prestige it once responded. For a young ruler like Mehmed II, the problems within the Ottoman Empire were as serious as those of the empire at the time. ”

"Your Majesty, you may be a little blindly optimistic about this. In fact, the biggest problem Muhammad faced before was the intricacy of factions in the court. According to General Lycaon, not only the long-term discord between the military and the government, but also between several Ottoman viziers with heads and faces, or between the Pashas, there are quite sharp contradictions, but if the problem is raised to the level of war. Once the Empire and the Ottomans went to war, their first reaction should be to unite against the Empire. Agrippa arched his body and said forward, "The large army of the Ottomans around Fort Cut Throat and Trabzon clearly shows that they have never lowered their defenses against the Empire, even if the Empire wants to take advantage of the Ottomans' conquest of the Two Sheep Dynasty, it should not be so easy. ”

This remark was echoed by the majority of the people. No matter how weak the Ottoman Empire is, the Empire does not have the ability to go directly to someone to wrestle with someone.

John's silent back was cast into the silk curtains on the wall by candle flames. After a while, he spoke slowly: "If it is a conventional means of attack, the empire may be on the coast of Asia Minor, and it will be compressed and pinned down by a narrow front to the point that it cannot sustain the war. But we can take advantage of the contradictions between the Pasha and the Sultan...... Since he Muhammad was assured that he would hand over the eastern front to the loyal governors, he had to be prepared to face a two-front attack in the end. ”