Where the expeditionary force was stationed, and there were even some traders around the open camp, there were even some traders moving around, and unlike the previous resistance to the crusaders, the march of the Anjou army through the empire was not greatly hindered.

Of course, this was also due to the excellent communication skills of the imperial envoy Licinius, who contacted the local governor as soon as the expeditionary force landed, and also secured the privilege of supplying Richard's army in Thessaloniki with the help of Emperor Alexios' charter.

What is remarkable is the wisdom of the prince of England, and under the persuasion of William Marshall, Richard tried to restrain his men from doing anything misleading to the Greeks, and finally repeated the mistakes of the first two crusades.

Most of the men brought by the prince of England on this march had long-term contracts with him, and the mercenaries among them were also reputable warriors, so the garrison of the Anjou army in Thessaloniki was unharmed and caused no commotion.

During the First Crusade, the Walther (poor men) crusaders, who were in the vanguard, were desperately resisted by the inhabitants of their frenzied raids.

Finally sent to Anatolia under the watchful eye of the Byzantine army, the Seljuk sultan unceremoniously laughed at the fat and annihilated the unorganized and undisciplined poor crusaders.

The Crusaders after this were regarded as bandits by the inhabitants of the Eastern Empire, and their actions did nothing but deepen the Romans' misunderstanding of them.

The end result was that the contradictions between the two sides deepened, and even by the time of the Seventh Crusade, the imperial capital had the following statement: "We would rather submit to the Turks than pray for peace to the Europeans." ”

God's people, who are also God's people, are killing each other in a foreign land, and only the fall of one can settle the dispute.

"Restrain our people, don't let them wander around, the unfriendly eyes of the Greeks tell me that if our warriors are out for a long time, something will happen!"

Prince Richard attaches great importance to the management of the army, even if it incurs the dissatisfaction of the soldiers, he must suppress these hormonal men, otherwise they will not be greeted by the welcome envoys of the Roman Empire, but the Byzantine ironclad cavalry as in the past.

"Your Royal Highness, Your Highness the Great Emperor Alexios has decided to personally come to greet you and Her Highness Princess Agnes!"

The eunuch was now in a happy mood, and he felt more comfortable returning to his homeland, where the civilization was far superior to that of the barbarians in the West, and the citizens of the empire were more energetic and creative than the serfs under the feudal lords.

The dead serfs, the stinking country aristocrats, except for a few well-governed lords, the Franks in other places were in line with the barbaric impression in the minds of the eunuchs, and some of the nobles he talked to had a fine tradition of not bathing, and in the days when there were no top-quality perfumes, their great smell almost did not faint Licinius.

However, the good qualities cultivated in the imperial court made him comfortable in front of those barbarian nobles, and after communicating with Frederick the Redbeard, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and Philip, the future foxy fox, the great eunuch can be said to have returned with a full load, bringing back not gold and silver, but far better than gold and silver.

The actions of the Western emperors have already caused shocks in Europe, and most of the Italian powers, including the Papal States and the Republic of San Marco, have no time to pay attention to it.

Therefore, as soon as Licinius returned to China, Alexios sent an envoy to praise him and asked the eunuch to make persistent efforts to continue to marry Prince Richard.

The Prince of England opened his mouth to the great eunuch who was contemplating himself: "Lord Licinius, when will we see His Majesty Alexios?" ”

The Grand Eunuch smiled: "Your Highness, the Great Imperial Supreme will arrive in Thessaloniki under the escort of the Imperial Navy fleet, we just have to wait quietly." ”

Richard frowned: "Then when will the great Roman Emperor fulfill the covenant that promised us?" ”

"How much support do we get?"

"Army or materiel?"

Licinius pondered for a moment, and with his present situation and authority, he could only obtain the terms of the agreement with Emperor Alexios, and the rest of the situation was unknown, and after considering whether the eunuch decided to reveal some insignificant information in order to try to stabilize this distinguished guest from afar.

Richard is the most prized hero of the Empire, and he may also become a brother-in-law with the Emperor, and the status of the prince of England is not to be disrespected by Licinius, and his wishes must be considered a little, so tell him.

"Your Highness, the Empire will not send an army composed of its own citizens, in order to avoid falling into the pretext of participating in the internal affairs of Jerusalem." Licinius immediately added when he saw that Richard had changed color when he heard half of it.

"Then His Majesty the Emperor Alexios just doesn't plan to support me with a single soldier?"

The Prince of England's tone was displeased, and his expression was gloomy, and it was obvious that if he only entered Jerusalem with a few thousand strong troops of the Principality, although it was a force that had to be taken seriously, it was definitely not to the point of importance.

Power is everything, it's not just words!

Richard's emphasis on army building was also unprecedented, and he knew too well that the size of the military would determine his position in the Heavenly Dynasty in the future.

"No, no, no, Your Highness, you misunderstood!" The eunuch hastened to explain that he wanted to dispel Prince Richard's concerns.

"His Majesty the Emperor will never mean so, and the Empire will not ignore His Highness's cause in the East, you are our most honored guest, how could His Majesty Alexios abandon you."

"Then what does His Majesty the Emperor intend to use to support me in waging war against the infidels?"

"There are no samurai who can fight with swords, and no amount of ordnance is just rotten wood waiting to rot in the warehouse." Richard pressed step by step, and he refused to give up without asking the conditions offered by the emperor today.

"Your Highness, you should know that the great imperial capital of Constantinople has the best mercenaries in the world, and brave warriors from all over the world are waiting here for the call of the Imperial Supreme."

"What does this have to do with me, I don't have so much gold and silver to recruit these soldiers." The Prince of England did not buy it at all, and he stepped up his questioning, which was related to the future of the entire expeditionary force, and Richard had to be cautious.

"The Empire has formed five great legions in the last two years!" The eunuch was ashamed to speak, did he just tell the prince that we didn't want those mercenaries?

"What does this have to do with me?" The Prince of England was not a good man, and his cautious attitude made Licinius very uncomfortable.

"The empire is willing to hand over all the contracts of these mercenary groups to His Royal Highness the Prince, and advance half of His Royal Highness's salary, of course, His Highness needs to pay the rest himself." The eunuch replied to the prince with a shy smile, revealing the true intentions of the empire.

Richard frowned, he somewhat understood, the Roman Empire reorganized the standing army and abandoned these mercenaries who had followed for a long time, and now he was a pick-up man found by the emperor to take away these fierce foreign warriors for Alexios.

This is no joke, the Imperial mercenary corps of the Franks, Cumans, Turks, and some Rus' has reached the point where it is impossible to lose its foot, and Alexios has taken a cold approach to these tribes from the beginning of his reign to downplay their presence and reduce the number of appearances of these troops in the Empire.

But the mercenaries who have lost their commissions will not rest on their laurels, and the number of these people stranded in the imperial capital is as high as tens of thousands, in addition to buying drunk every day, it is to create all kinds of security accidents for the empire.

The Imperial Supreme was tired of these mercenaries, and now the Emperor had finally decided to expel these creatures after several legions of his own soldiers had gradually taken shape.

With the exception of the Roslavarangian Corps, the Second Army of the Turkic Cavalry, and the Imperial Navy Fleet in service with the Genoese, other mercenaries of average combat strength were disbanded.

However, the hasty release of news will definitely cause turmoil in the imperial capital, and the mercenaries with weapons are not said to be driven away, without a careful plan, once the news leaks Constantinople is afraid that it will immediately turn into ruins.

At this time, when the news came that the prince of England was willing to go east, Alexios immediately had a draft, adjusted the plan, and ruled out the possibility of military suppression, and the Imperial Supreme politely sent envoys with three months' salary to comfort the stations of several mercenary groups on the outskirts of the imperial capital.

After several intense rounds of negotiations, the mercenaries finally agreed that they would leave as long as Emperor Alexios was willing to advance their salaries and find them a reliable employer.

How about Prince Richard of House Anjou?

It is said that he was also the duke of Aquitaine, and the prince himself would marry the French princess and marry the emperor.

All sorts of news were spread by spies bribed by the Emperor in the mercenary camp, and soon the warriors unanimously agreed that we would follow Prince Richard on his crusade!

Very good!

Alexios did two things without using his own soldiers, not only fulfilling his promise to support Richard, but also sending away these mercenaries who had worked hard for the empire for many years, but it was valuable that there was no bloodshed!

I'm a genius!

But the emperor will never show half a point in front of outsiders, he quietly enjoys his own pleasure, and all the vacated military funds are allocated to the Fifth Legion, except for the commander of the legion, there is no one yet, and a new imperial powerhouse has been built.

"Then I agree, but I must see the warriors for myself, and if they were just a bunch of shit, then I would never take them to battle!"

The eunuch flattered the prince's wise choice, and also breathed a sigh of relief, and the important task entrusted by His Majesty the Emperor was finally completed.

"I wish the friendship between the Empire and His Highness a long one!"