The emperor handled government affairs at night, and although the empire was no longer so large, there were no many affairs that the emperor needed to handle personally.

But Alexios was still in charge of the development of Rome, with mountains of official documents crawling all over his desk, and the dim candle was his only light.

With a creak, the door was opened, and the emperor did not look up, but asked lightly: "Is it Basil?" ”

"Your Majesty, it's me."

Pushing open the door and entering, the new Patriarch of Constantinople, Basil, who had lost his ornate golden silk robes, and was dressed in the black garb of an ordinary clergyman, simple and simple.

"Sit down!" The Emperor pointed to a seat for him to sit down.

Basil was also unceremonious, and directly moved a stool and sat next to the emperor, and Alexios's quill for reviewing the documents continued to stroke without pause.

After waiting for half an hour, Alexios stopped his pen and stretched his body, sitting for a long time is not good for the cervical spine, and he felt that his physical strength had decreased a lot after returning to Constantinople.

Taking out a map from the drawer below, Alexios spread out the drawings, the old-fashioned art of painting was indeed unsatisfactory, and the signs on it were far from the world map he remembered.

Unfortunately, he wasn't much of a cartographer, and could at best draw a rough outline of the Earth from memory, so the Empire still uses old maps from the past.

However, after Alexios came to power, he actively prepared and sent members of the Sword of Damocles to serve as retinues of the caravan to depict the terrain of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea coast under the cover of the Black Sea Chamber of Commerce.

This operation has been going on for more than half a year, and the Emperor is confident that if he persists for a few more years, the Empire will know more about the terrain of the surrounding countries than they do.

This large map is the result of the Empire's initial explorations along the Black Sea coast and combines the results of the Eastern Roman Empire's centuries-old exploration of the Crimea region.

Basil clearly saw the dense red dots marked on it, and he was a little puzzled, and looked at the emperor, waiting for a puzzle.

"There are the tribes of the Black Sea coast, the most powerful of which is the Cuman-Kipchak Alliance, and now the King of Vthekor Khan has thrown himself into the empire.

The pastures of the Cumans would soon become a paradise for God's people, but from then on there were many pagan and godless kingdoms to the east. ”

Basil's eyes followed the direction of the Emperor's finger, and the map was marked with ?

Kingdom of Armenia!

The empire had ruled the land for some time, but the rise of the Saracens shattered the peace, and the heretics slaughtered and plundered here.

The original inhabitants of Armenia were forced to convert to pagan religions, and since then there have been many pagan emir states in the Caucasus.

And the empire lost Armenia forever and never came back, and now the emperor has bypassed the Sultanate of Rum and set his sights on here.

The Seljuk Malikshah's successors oppressed the people who refused to turn their backs on God with harsh taxes until they could no longer bear it and fled south.

Eventually, under the leadership of the Ruben family, these Christian Armenians established the Armenian principality of Cilicia in southern Anatolia.

Although the country was a Christian state, the founding of the state in Anatolia naturally touched the interests of the Eastern Roman Empire, and many members of the royal family of the country were captured and tortured by the Eastern Empire.

As a result, the Principality of Armenia in Cilicia struggled to survive under siege from the Roman Empire and the Duchy of Antioch, as well as the Sultanate of Rûm.

However, Alexios's goal was not to Cilicia, but to the emirs of the Caucasus, and his idea was simply to use the missionary zeal to influence the barbarians of the steppe.

Then use the power of the barbarians to exert military pressure on the Caucasus, which has become a paradise for infidels since it broke away from the rule of the Empire, and whenever the Empire goes to war with the Turks, the infidels in the Caucasus will come and join in.

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"From the Cumans, Kipchaks to the Armenians, I want the cross to be erected on the land of the whole East!"

If Alexios's plan really succeeded, then he Basil would inevitably become a famous pope in the history of Orthodoxy and be remembered by everyone in later generations.

"Praise be to God, you are the most devout believer in our Lord!"

The new Patriarch had an abnormal blush on his face, his eyes lit up, and the Emperor patted him lightly on the back, and then said in his ear.

"You still need to contribute to the reform of the church in the future, and you will be able to calm down the dissent within the church, and don't let the servants of God say too many different opinions."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Basil suppressed the joy in his heart, he still had the important task of the emperor, and he had to discuss it with the old guys who stayed behind when the time came.

"Stand down."

Seeing the Patriarch leave, the Emperor played with the quill, and he called softly again.

"Licinius, come in!"

The emperor's hand in the night, the palace eunuch walked in, dressed in linen short sleeves not like a servant of the royal family, but like a street entertainer.

Since escaping death, the court eunuch has become more and more devout in his belief in God, and has even adopted an almost ascetic lifestyle.

However, for the emperor, Licinius was still a usable talent, and the sword of Damocles he had established had penetrated deep into the Turks, which made the emperor more and more important to him.

"Have you arranged all the people I want?" The Emperor put down his quill and looked at his faithful servant.

"Your Majesty, each of the monks who will follow the missionary this time will be accompanied by ten retinues, six slaves, two priests, an interpreter and one of our men!"

Alexios was pleased with this, and the missionary mission was not only to spread the faith in God within the khanate.

At the same time, the spies of the Empire will be planted in it, and they will follow the monks through every inch of the land, and when they return, it will be time to add the Black Sea to the Empire.

"By the way, has the letter sent to Ruben III, Grand Duke of Armenia in Cilicia, arrived?"

"Your Majesty, it should have arrived, but we can't predict the reaction of the Grand Duke, the empire has been fighting for Anatolia with the Armenians for many years, and I fear that the Grand Duke will not reply at all!"

Licinius's words were reasonable, but for Alexios, the conditions he offered would definitely tickle the itch in the hearts of the Armenians, and they could not refuse.

The Emperor just needs to wait quietly and wait for the time to ally with the Grand Guild in Brusa City!