Today, Thessaloniki welcomed a grand procession, the Emperor's army from Constantinople, carrying the red eagle banner, entered the battle-torn city with a majestic and majestic momentum.

An Akhal-Teke horse's silky and bright hair shines brightly in the sun, really like a divine horse in the sky, and the black-robed knight controls this divine horse, and the silver-winged armor is full of glory.

The subjects on both sides of the street paid homage to the supreme Roman emperor, and Alexios was shocked to see that many of them were still wrapped in bandages, and that the citizens who were helping the old and the young rarely saw the young and strong.

The people of the empire suffered heavy losses in this civil strife, and the price paid by the people was too great, and a good governor had to replace Mikhail, the former governor of Thessaloniki, who had died.

Alexios' thoughts paused, there were few wise men under his command, more warriors in battle, but these people could not afford to take on the heavy responsibility of governing the local civil administration, and he looked back at the officials who accompanied him, and he had some thoughts in his heart.

"We don't have much time, so today we will finish the ceremony of paying tribute to the martyrs here before marching to Lalisha." The emperor's orders were quickly conveyed.

On this day, the citizens of Thessaloniki were gathered, and they set out like a torrent out of the city, no one knowing the Emperor's thoughts.

A large plain on the outskirts of the city is densely packed with pure white crosses, surrounded by ordinary citizens who have come to watch the ceremony, and many coffins covered with black cloth are displayed on the ground in the distance.

The eyes of the Salonicans were a little moist, and many of them wept bitterly, remembering the relatives lost in the great battle, and they probably understood the emperor's thoughts.

As the melodious laments resounded to the melody, the Romans knelt down and prayed to God, and the Archbishop Peter, who had accompanied the army, began to praise the Bible.

"You must sweat to eat until you return to the ground, because out of the earth you have come out. You are dust, and you will return to dust

In the sweat of thy face shelt thou eat bread，till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken:for dust thou art，and unto dust shalt thou return

(In layman's terms, "dust to dust, dust to earth, so that the deceased can rest in peace, and the living can be liberated again")

Ashes to ashes，and dut to dust，in sure and certain hopes unto internal life

(The Lord Almighty is with you). ”

Alexios marched upright with his sword, Shishman walking behind with the urn of the former governor, followed by a stream of people that spread into the sky, and the procession behind carried the coffins, each carried by four soldiers, and hunting flags flew on both sides.

Before reaching the pit that had been completed long ago, Alexios had Shishman and Lazar work together to push Mikhail into the earth along with some of his favorite objects.

"May God forgive you all your sins in the world, amen." The priest reads the Bible aloud, foreshadowing the forgiveness of sinners' souls on behalf of God.

Originally, Mikhail's body had already been cremated, and in Christian culture, cremating the body without a particularly important situation represented great disrespect, and the salvation of the soul was only possible at the end of the world.

When Alexios learned of this, he immediately came with Peter, the Archbishop of Constantinople, with the intention of redeeming the former governor Mikhail, who had died heroically in battle, in front of the people of Thessaloniki.

When the Church representing God forgave Mikhail's soul, it would undoubtedly make the people of Saloniki more grateful for the kindness of the royal family, and the Roman soldiers would see the efforts of the emperor.

Alexios wanted everyone to see that even if the souls returned to God, the emperor would not forget their past merits and would bestow glory on the heroic spirits.

"Your Majesty, we should fill in the earth!" The archbishop on one side reminded the emperor that Alexios woke up from his musings.

"Yes, Archbishop Peter, please continue to preside over the festival." The Emperor stepped back a few steps and stood side by side with Bertak.

"There are not many loyal and reliable imperial officials like Mikhail, his sacrifice is a great loss, and Salonika cannot live without a satrap......"

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Betak answered at the right time, and the emperor also turned his head to look at him, presumably waiting for him to speak.

"I need you, Bertak, as the new governor of Thessaloniki, and for the port trade of Thessaloniki to continue to develop, the people here have suffered too much.

When I return to Constantinople, I will send you a new executive decree in which I will exempt Thessaloniki and its environs from taxes for five years.

Your current job is to reorganize the city government, and you can build several new farms in the surrounding vacant areas for farmers to gather and work together.

If you need farming tools and cattle, I will send someone to buy them, and after the empire opened trade with the Cumans, you can now get a lot of furs and cattle and horses, which are just right here for you. ”

Alexios recalled that he had not devoted himself to domestic agricultural production for so long since he ascended the throne, but he really couldn't spare free time.

The Bulgarian Asen brothers, the two Anglos brothers, and the sons-in-law of Andronika and Alexei, the collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire was due to these people.

Now that there is only one last one left, and if we work hard to clean up the last one, even if the careerists are temporarily suppressed, the situation since the death of the former Emperor Manuel can be stabilized.

"Your Majesty, I understand your will, and I will start arranging the reconstruction after I take over, which of course requires strong financial support from Your Majesty."

Betak pondered for a while, and understood that this was a test of the Emperor's ability, and that Thessaloniki might serve as an experimental site for the Emperor's New Deal at the local level.

If he can bring the war-torn Salonika to life, then it is not impossible to enter Constantinople and become an archon.

At the end of the ceremony, the emperor ordered a huge stele to be erected, which is an epitaph:

Here lie countless heroes,

In desperation, he asked for help from all directions,

After thirty-six days and nights of siege, he was already exhausted,

The cry resounded through the sky,

Soldiers shed blood and died,

Can the ancient city escape the catastrophe of the fall,

Bear down

With one enemy and ten, the disparity in strength,

Time has passed, and the city has long been littered with corpses,

There is no way out, and there is no salvation,

Mountains of corpses piled up under the walls,

But the flame of vengeance does not cease,

The Bulgarians did not want to go over the walls,

We remember the war of May,

Thessaloniki freed,

The blood of the enemy is like a river,

Heroic souls sacrificed their lives,

May God save him,

Mikhail, the immortal defender of Thessaloniki, and his men rest here.