Although it had the largest market in the West, there was no free trade within the empire, commerce was strictly regulated by the central government, weapons from Thessaloniki and raw silk from Syria were all closely monitored by the bureaucracy, the town fairs were open at fixed times, and the prices of important goods such as grain were "guided" by the authorities. Even so, at the military office, the large number of military supplies purchased caused a shortage of local supplies.

John Ducasse received the news that General Theodore and General Nicholas, who had been entrusted with important tasks by the emperor, had originally entered the western frontier together, but after arriving at Acadia Fort, they split their troops in two routes, one trailing Pecheneg's front army and the other to Adrianople.

Trauros's main Manichaean heresy was still defending the Viliatova Pass, but the invading nomadic pre-armies were large enough that Theodore and Nicholas, with less than 3,000 men combined, could not actually provoke the mobile city that spread for miles.

Considering that the Norman Wars had destroyed Dalmatia and Greece in the west, and that the territories of Asia had been completely reduced to hunting grounds after the death of Suleiman in Nicaea, the Pecheneg invasion was a death for the empire - the peasants would flee the land because of war and famine, the capital was already crowded with clergy and nobles from the border areas, and the military district fortresses were seen by the refugees as the last hope for survival, which meant that the frontier was deserted, and now that the territory was declining, There are fewer and fewer intact territories that can be called the foundation of revival.

Once the emperor's main force enters here, even if it does not fight, it will have to eat up the entire region, and the ruined Roman Empire will probably be dragged down by itself.

The dilapidated state of the Western Military District can also be seen in the current situation of Adrianople, where most of the Avar trebuchants and ballistae on the battlements were nothing more than scrap metal and firewood, and most of the military horses in the stables were underfed and had lost weight. John Ducasse could have guessed without inspecting the fortifications, and that even the experienced Governor Leo would not have been able to solve these problems without the lack of supplies. However, the fortification was at least outwardly intact, and a Roman fortress forever marked the dominance of the Empire, and the barbarians were seldom determined to attack an intact Roman fortress head-on, especially the northern herdsmen, who were accustomed to depleting the Romans with raiding and harassment, and then taking advantage of the weakness of the defenses to suddenly seize the fortresses that had become the tombs of the Roman soldiers and civilians.

Fortunately, the current invading enemy chieftain Tergu is also from the territory of the Empire, and is not on the same path as those free herdsmen on the north bank of the Danube, as for Solomon, the son of Arpad, he is actually not as powerful as the empire thinks, and the pursuit of Angus has caused him to lose many elite followers out of thin air. In addition, the barbarians had always been superstitious, the celestial phenomena would make them suspicious, and the plagues of spring and summer could destroy an entire tribe at any time, and in general, the empire from Emperor Alexios down still had a lot of hope for war.

Even John Ducasse did not fail to think that they were Romans, that the world was theirs, that the barbarians were merely vassals of the empire, that their technology, art, law, and army were the envy of the world, that they were the judges of the times, that they were the yardsticks of all things in the world. Even after years of war, the emperor was captured by the barbarians, and the ancient province was reduced to ruins, and every new disaster was more heartbreaking and unexpected than the old one, even so, people always believed in the soul that the empire was different from others, and that the end would not come, and that a turning point would soon occur. It wasn't until the catastrophe had accumulated too much that the sense of foreboding began to loom over them, and they began to understand and begin to calculate the possibility of the end of the world......

Angus, with a tired face, leaned against the ruins of an elaborate ancient fountain, his eyes slightly closed, as if listening to Gilik boasting of his bravery to the Cumans, Maeve had changed into a woman's attire like a silver statue, except for a Greenwich Saxon knife at his waist, and the marks of war on his arms.

The Lombard cavalry, which lined up the roads from east to west, were tired from the march of these days, and they did not want to regain their combat effectiveness without resting for a week.

"Three months." Angus suddenly whispered in the high dialect, "In three months I will have no soldiers." ”

Dagobert had already told him about this, the Pope's finances were not rich, and it was impossible to support this army forever, and he had not yet had the opportunity to meet the emperor, and it was impossible for his subordinates to become Praetorian Guards, so once the contract with the empire expired, he had to support more than eighty warriors on his own.

He has to get ahead in the short term, there is no time.

"Bastard, what do you want?" Only one person would still call him that.

"You should probably stay here." Angus seemed to see his own head stuck in an iron spear through the eyes of his soul, surrounded by the corpses of his comrades, "This is not your war. ”

"It's not yours either."

"Chance, this is my only chance. You have other paths, you can even live another life, remember what? Calm has returned to the north, your families are no longer in danger, and you are no longer hostages and exiles. ”

Maeve was silent, drooping her laurel-colored cheeks.

Suddenly, the girl raised her head: "Do you think we may not survive this time?" ”

"Who knows, maybe none of us will die, but is it worth it? I want to go home, but also to avenge my father, I need money, I need an army, I need allies, and you just need to turn around and cross the sea, you can live a peaceful life, Gillick is a child, I haven't thought of it yet, but one day he will regret it, he is the son of a lord, why should he be an acolyte for an illegitimate son......"

"And I'm the lord's miss, why should I be a maid to an illegitimate son?" Maeve replied sarcastically.

"That's right......"

"Bastard, you're a child." Maeve laughed, "You said we could live in peace if we turned around and went home, but is there any difference between us?" When did the Highland Lords not indulge in a fight? Blood relatives and flesh and blood can intersect with swords for a few weak sick cows and a weathered stone house, and bend the knee for a while, but they can't stop future generations from shedding their last drop of blood for the right on a piece of parchment. Do you think that Gillick's brothers, my brothers, will embrace us with tears in their eyes, put flower crowns and laurel branches on us, welcome us home, welcome a new competitor? ”

She showed a rare look of determination: "No, we will not stay, we will fight with you, protect your left and right wings, and if you die on the battlefield, we will die together, because you are not just an illegitimate child, you are our lord, our commander, our king!" ”

You are mine.

Angus looked at her stunned, Gillick looked excited, and the others didn't understand a word, just lazily looked at the three free highlanders.

"Although the old lord arrested me, at least he didn't let me die, he resisted the killing of the High King, and his reputation has been cleared, and I will not hold grudges anymore. I am a highlander, and my lord has the blood of the ancient highland kings in his veins, and if one day you are to declare war on our enemies, my sword will always be yours. ”

Gillick stretched out his hand and waited quietly.

Angus looked hesitantly at Maeve, who smiled smugly.

He finally reached out and grabbed the hand that held the sword, and then, with the other hand, he held him, and although it was as white as snow, it made him feel a warm current that he had not felt in a long time.

Warmth is a luxury for the exile who eats and drinks, and as for love, Angus never dared to think of it, and when he slept with the Tuscan lady, he knew that the most between them was admiration and pity.

The young Duke of Aquitaine once wrote such verses:

"My love, will I not speak sweetly,

Because I have nothing, no one can be pitied.

I will go into exile alone,

Worried, precarious. ”

Angus always thought he was lucky, and there were rumors in the court that some of the generals who had fallen out of favor were sent to remote islands to "garrison", where the water in the wells was stagnant and rotten, and the defenders died of scurvy one by one behind the city walls, or were amputated or crippled, before they could return to the capital to retire.

At least he has been following behind a main army, and as long as his life remains, he will always find an opportunity to make a contribution.

Some Vault Dwellers would not be so adept at self-comforting, and when the younger Guspatrick left the White Shores of Dover with his army, he was melancholy, and he would accompany the Greek envoy Roger Fitzda Gobert to Constantinople to discuss the supply of mercenaries to the Emperor Alexios, and perhaps visit the princes of the Church in Italy, who gave him the highest honor guards and gifts, but this mission meant being far from the center of power.

First of all, although this man is handsome, he always has a kind of Frankish knight's arrogance, and more importantly, when he sees this guy, he will remember that if it weren't for the Norman killing his father, his family would not be less powerful than the Northumbrian family now.

Walter de Vernon was not thinking about his father, who had died in battle, and the Norman had made a pilgrimage to Rome, first to find his old friend, and then to the Holy Sepulchre. His decision caused quite a stir in the duchy, and even the Duke of Normandy himself wrote to him at the front, asking him to visit the old duke's mausoleum for himself as he passed through Asia Minor. Duke Robert's grandfather went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and died in Nicaea, so he had to be buried on the spot, and Robert's father, Duke William, had told his eldest son about it, and he had the opportunity to move his grandfather to Jerusalem for burial.

Robert himself had considered a pilgrimage, but that was before he rebelled against his father, and it was the mistresses of the Rouen court who could harden him at any moment.

Of course, things have not been so simple in these years, and twenty years ago, the famous pilgrimage of Bishop Bamberg, though thrilling, is nothing to this day, when Bishop Gonse was detained in Constantinople because he was so richly dressed, so good-looking, and so large in his retinue that the Greeks suspected him of being Henry IV in disguise; Then there was the encounter with the Bedouin bandits in Syria, but at least the Saracen lords would come to their aid, and the emir of the region, far from being disgusted by the generous Christians, was desperate to deal with the troubles so as not to scare away the pilgrims. Now, it is said that the Greek Empire is dying, the Seljuks are like a rampant wolf pack, the traveler can reach the Cappadocia border from Anatolia alive is God's care, and Mount Taurus is now a natural fortress for horse bandits, whether the Greeks or the Seljuks pass through, they will be sacked, let alone the Latins.

But anything is fine, as long as you can stay away from the damned Saxons and their kings. If it weren't for Westminster's explicit order, he wouldn't even bother to set foot on this coast again.