The wind blows in the forest, arrows shoot out of the jungle, an elk falls in a wail, a group of knights come on horseback, the blond hair of the leader flutters in the wind, and the spirit of the samurai is fully displayed in the white robes.

The man who came was none other than the Roman Emperor Alexios, who was not in a hurry to move south to relieve the siege of Thessaloniki, Bulgaria had just been subjugated, and there was no guarantee that no one would attempt to rebel again.

Moreover, Duilius had received information from the sea that the Bulgarian rebels led by Theodor were now too exhausted to launch a large-scale offensive against Thessaloniki, and were now only besieging it from afar.

Alexios is only interested in staying in Bulgaria for a few more days, and when the news of his pacification of Bulgaria spreads, Theodor will naturally break the siege and withdraw his troops.

Alexios led the knights back from the jungle, where the forest was lush and green, with the fragrance of exotic flowers and plants on both sides, and butterflies fluttering among the flowers.

Passing by a small stream, Alexios saw a priest walking in the direction of his camp, and the emperor was a little curious, except for the Bulgarian archbishop, few priests in this land dared to come to him.

Alexios galloped his horse, and in a short time he rushed to the priest and stopped, the horse neighed loudly, and the horse's hooves were raised in the air and kicked several times in succession, and the emperor calmed down his mount, but did not frighten the priest.

"You're scared!" The Emperor apologized.

"Your Majesty's war horse is very handsome, and I'm even happier to meet you here!" The priest bowed slightly, the temperament of the king was refreshing, and he would not be mistaken no matter what.

"You know me, the priest told me why you are here?" Alexios asked the man with a smile.

"The great Caesar, Betak of Epirus, a humble servant who serves God, has come to your majesty, please allow me to serve you!"

The emperor looked at this priest deeply, although he had countless courtiers, but he was really the first one to come and pay allegiance to him like this, no matter what this person's talent was, he had also learned the allusion of the horse bones of the Qianjin City.

"Please come back to camp with me! Maybe we can talk. The Emperor had the guards share a horse with the priest and decided to take him back to the camp to try his hand.

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The candles in the emperor's tent were bright, and there was a faint smell of wine, Betak sat under the emperor's main seat, the emperor was not worried that he was an assassin, this person did not have any weapons on him, it could not be a killer like an ancient oriental ninja!

"Can you drink?" The Emperor raised his glass from afar.

"Absolutely." Priest Bertak toasted in reply.

After three rounds of drinking, the emperor had three points of drunkenness, this priest came to himself from afar, as the saying goes, there is nothing to do to be courteous or treacherous, of course, it is not excluded that there are really people who have taken a fancy to themselves The emperor intends to come to an eternal story of the encounter between the monarch and the minister.

"Looking at the present day, Rome has suffered repeated defeats since Emperor Basil, and the land has been lost, and the powerful enemies of all sides regard me as fish and meat, and the glory of the empire has long been gone.

Since I inherited the throne, first Andronika rebelled, then the Bulgarians rebelled, and the empire was struggling, why did you choose to defect to me? ”

Betak restrained his wine, put his glass down, and sat down.

"Your Majesty should know that all countries compete for hegemony, and there are British lords in all directions, but among the monarchs of Rome in my view, only Your Majesty is the one who hopes to restore the hegemony of Rome with the highest ambition!

The strongest person in today's countries is Saladin, the lord of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, who has the demeanor of a general and is the real master, but it is a pity that he is the hero of *** and not a believer in my lord, I will not defect to him.

Baldwin, the king of Jerusalem, was young and military, and soon after he ascended the throne, he defeated the tyrant Saladin, who was really a young man, but as we all know, His Majesty Baldwin was suffering from leprosy and may die soon, and how can the orphans and widows keep Jerusalem at that time.

The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa the Redbeard is indeed a rare male lord in Germany, but it has always been difficult for the Germanic princes to be divided for a long time, and the Holy See has repeatedly obstructed it.

The Sultan of Rûm, Arslan, was brave and accomplished, but occupying Anatolia on all sides, and having a small and ambitious territory, this pagan monarch would surely be cut off for his Majesty in the future.

King Henry, the lord of England, is a rare and strong man, but there are many contradictions in the royal family, and the siblings are divided, and I am afraid that the disaster of the wall will come from within in the future!

I have come to His Majesty only because His Majesty has the same ambition as Justinian the Great to recover, and if His Majesty can accomplish great things and even recover Italy, I will also be honored as a Roman. ”

Alexios stood up, walked over to Bertak's case, filled his glass, and drank it down, leaving nothing left of it.

"Rome is already in a state of flux, and it is a great skill for Emperor Basil to be able to rely on a lonely city in Constantinople to conquer the Balkans and Anatolia.

If I can't create a more brilliant career, and future generations will only be judged as a mediocre lord, then even if I return to heaven, I won't be able to serve God and his old man with peace of mind! ”

The emperor held the wine cup and laughed, and when he heard this today, his heart was also happy, and every time he saw a group of powerful people in the palace who only knew how to fight for power and profit, he had a headache.

This Bertak has a bit of foresight, at least he can carry it with him to counsel the military aircraft, if there is no problem with this person for a long time, then he can be appointed with confidence.

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In the Bulgarian military camp outside Thessaloniki, Theodor was so angry that he drew his sword and cut down countless things, and his case, chairs, and tables were all cut to pieces, and now he was angry and resentful, perhaps only God knew.

"Brother, you're looking for me!" Ivan felt very sudden, and his brother sent someone to hurry over to him, and he didn't say anything.

"You're here! The Roman emperor went to Bulgaria with his troops, and according to the information we received, Stara Zagora had fallen! Theodore said with a gloomy face.

"What, then our way back is gone? What's going on with Kaloyan and Ivanko? ”

Ivan jumped up in shock, this is a big deal, no wonder my brother didn't even notify the guards in advance, just asked someone to secretly call him over.

"Now the news is very vague, some say that Kaloyan and Ivanko were defeated and retreated to Sofia! Some say they were all defeated and martyred! In short, there was no definite news coming. ”

Ivan looked at his brother, his mind was excited, and now if no one else in the camp knows, he should quietly retreat.

"You know what I mean!" Theodore's eyes were bloodshot, and the pressure was about to drive him crazy, if one of them was not good, the 30,000 Bulgarians here would not be able to return to their hometown, and they might die in a foreign land.