The jackdaws feasted contentedly on the sacrifices of war, their stone-like faces were pecked to pieces by their long sharp beaks, the five hundred Varangian guards lay quietly on the bloody plains, their master, Emperor Alexios, the god of men, abandoned the army and fled, the captured Roman nobles were tied like cattle and horses with ropes, the chief of the Varangian guards, Nabitus, was beheaded by order of the Khan, and the huge body of the Saxon was hoisted for public display.

Imperial Caesar and Latin commander Angus were still treated as noble captives, and the Cuman mercenaries were also treated favorably because of their unique appearance, to the surprise of the Romans, the chieftains in the tent were all Pechenegs with black hair and long pigtails, and there was no trace of the Cuman army in the camp, which meant that the Romans in the camp were all Pechenegs, although there were many of them, and the strong soldiers in armor were only afraid of more than 10,000.

This discovery gave Caesanikiphoros Melicenos great confidence, the loss of the Pecheneg army in this battle was not light, and the loot of an unimaginable amount of booty, Tatoosh must not be very strong, after joining forces with the Cuman army, outnumbered, the goods may not be saved, it is better to immediately reach an agreement with the Romans, and rest and recuperate in the north of the mountain.

"The emperor has been defeated many times since he ascended the throne, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to protect myself when I return to the division this time, if I can rescue the soldiers here, I think I can win the gratitude of their families, and if I do it properly, I may be ......."

Thinking of this, Caesar's eyes glanced at Angus beside him, revealing a meaningful smile.

Since the Battle of Manzkert, military defeat is the greatest nightmare of the emperors, not to mention that the resources of the empire have been extremely limited, the former Emperor Nikephoros Botaniates depreciated the value of Nomisma to one-third, it is still difficult to cope with the huge expenses, Emperor Alexios had prepared to issue full value of gold coins of Heperon before the war, after this war, the dream of currency reform can only be frustrated, the war is about to spread to Thrace, it is likely to reach beyond the walls of Theodosius, every gold coin has to be broken in half to use, At a time of internal and external troubles, any reform could bring the Roman Empire to an end.

The Pechenegs had just finished their own funerals, and many were still bleeding from their cheeks, and they were able to receive Roman prisoners of war at this time only because of the insistence of Tatush Khan.

The Pecheneg rebels were not united, and the Tatush Khan was joined by the Shaza Khan and the Seslav Khan, but the leaders of these rebels were Bulgarian lords who had been crowned by the emperor, and unlike the Tergu Khan from the north bank of the Danube, they were no strangers to the Roman Empire, so under the persuasion of Caesar, the Pecheneg Khans and Uzbeg agreed to the offer of ransom from the emperor.

Angus was captured along with Catacaron and other generals, and because of his excellent armor, he was mistaken by the nomads for the most exalted person below Caesar, so when the other prisoners of war were held in the camp with leaky wind, the Latin knight commander from the highlands became a guest of Pecheneg Khan.

Caesar intended to buy people's hearts, but it was inconvenient to break it, and the Pechenegs were originally close neighbors of the Oghuz Turks, and they were as heavy as the Seljuks who converted, and they were heroes of Noh drinkers.

"Khan, what is this wine bowl?" When Caesar saw that the Khan had come to persuade him again, he tried to delay it with words.

"This is a gift from the Roman Emperor - the skull of Tergu!" Tatoosh's eyes suddenly became fierce, and he forcibly poured wine at Caesar, "Treasures are rare, and you should also ask your nobles to taste the taste of them." ”

Caesar's hair was wet, his face was as white as earth, and his embarrassed state fell into everyone's eyes, and a burst of laughter erupted at the banquet.

While sipping quietly, Angus secretly observed the invincible posture of the conquerors and the unbearable trembling of the imperial Caesar, and sighed in his heart: "Such a noble species, I am afraid that the northern frontier of the empire will be troubled from now on." ”

He made up his mind that, once he had escaped, he would find Gillick and Maeve and leave Constantinople, and as for the castle of Meisembria, on the Black Sea, he had lost interest, and being a besieged lord was clearly not conducive to his ability to one day regain the territory of the Highlands from the Scots.

Before the news of the defeat of the Romans reached Western Europe, the Viceroy of Venice, Vitale, was the first to receive a secret letter from the Emperor, and after reading it, the Viceroy trembled all over his body and invited Patriarch Grado to spend the night. After the Battle of Corfu, the Republic temporarily lost interest in the affairs east of Dalmatia, and Viceroy Vitale overthrew the previous governor, but time has changed, and an unprecedented opportunity is being presented to the Venetians, who will become the richest city-state in Italy and even control the future of the entire Mediterranean!

In the Palace of Westminster, another pair of kings and courtiers are also conspiring, the King of England Edgar summoned the Earl of Rodrigo back to London, nominally to discuss peace talks with the emperor, but for several days in a row, the clerical clerks of the new Whitehall were frantically sorting out the financial accounts of the kingdom, these royal employees who had been investigated by the county assets did not know that they were counting the gambling books for the king, but their results were enough to shock the Council of the Magi, since ancient times, the affairs of the kingdom have never been handled so efficiently!

"Since we reached an agreement with Sultan Yusuf this year, 500 pounds of gold have been brought back to London from Guinea, and it is estimated that there will be an inflow of 800 pounds or even 1,000 pounds a year going forward." Edgar said, pointing to a stack of account books.

"I'm afraid I owe it to King Philip." Rodrigo couldn't help but joke - the French king probably couldn't imagine that he desperately encouraged the Burgundians and Aquitaeans to go to the peninsula to find trouble with the Murabidians, but let the English fleet find an opportunity to copy the back route of the Murabidi Sultan in one fell swoop, and the English, who landed in West Africa from the Canary Islands, continued to exchange gold sands and gold nuggets from Guinea (Ghana), and the Sultan of Youssef, who needed to draw troops from North Africa to fight the crusaders on the peninsula, finally had to accept the terms of these pirates and allow the English to use the trade routes of West Africa. After all, the Sultan was still dreaming of crossing the sea again and marching into Andalusia, the North African hegemon would never allow Toledo to regain it.

"I really have to thank my cousin Philip, if it weren't for his indemnity, I'm afraid that Duke Robert's ransom would have cost us a lot. However, this time our opponent is the Venetians, and it is useless to have money. ”

"The fleet of Herigoland can be withdrawn for the time being, and half of the galleys in the strait can be sent over, as long as we seize an island in the south, we will soon be able to buy the right to use any port from the Romans, and the Venetians will not be able to defeat the Norman fleet in Corfu, let alone our gunboats."

"Beware of the Saracens, the Berber pirates are dealt with by the Norwegians of the Balearics, and further east are not the waters we are familiar with."

Rodrigo nodded, this time it was to transport gold and silver to the East, but it was not to go to sea to plunder, and there must be no half-point difference.

"But why does Your Majesty think that a major change will take place in the East?" Rodrigo couldn't believe how the Romans, who had once been in Spain, had been reduced to the point where they needed help from the West.

Edgar flipped through the parchment, pretending not to hear, but with a smile on his lips.

What is the Roman emperor borrowing some money, if it continues like this, the day of borrowing troops is probably not far off.