Innocent III is now in his seventies, and in the Middle Ages, an era of very tragic medical treatment, if he was ill at this age, there was basically no possibility of getting up again, and Innocent III himself knew this very well.

In the unusually gorgeous and extravagant bedroom, the old pope, with an old face and a look of imminent departure, repelled left and right, and refused the doctor's advice to continue the treatment with unusually strong force, leaving only his henchman Brand alone, as if he was ready to give instructions for the future.

Innocent lay on the hospital bed, holding Brand's hand and sighed: "It's over, it's all over, I thought that God could give me a few more years, but now it seems that it can't be done, presumably the time for me to be called by the Lord is near, and the rest will depend on you." ”

"Holy See, please don't say such things, rest in peace, and everything will be fine."

"It's not good, whether it's my body, or this Papal State, it's not going to be better, and when I die, the Papal States will inevitably be in chaos, and then the Norman Empire will take the opportunity to march into Rome, or recuperate, it will be a very dangerous thing for the Papal States, I thought that my body could support it for a while longer, and make one last effort for the Holy See to build a fleet that can rival the Normans, but unfortunately I'm afraid I won't see that day."

Innocent III said this while breathing desperately, as if this old body could no longer feel the presence of oxygen.

"Holy See, rest and say no more." Seeing his appearance, Bishop Hilde's heart beat two or three times faster, for fear that the old pope would not catch his breath.

However, after struggling for a while, Innocent III shook his head insistently: "No, I want to continue, if I don't say it again, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to say it again." ”

"Now we can't fight anymore, and the Normans don't seem to want to fight, after all, they have just gained territory in Eastern Europe, and it will take years, even decades, to digest it, but at this time, both sides have already started, so we all need a step down, a decent, not shameful step."

"Holy See, have you already figured out a way out?"

"That's right, a month ago, Jerusalem fell!"

"The fall of Jerusalem?"

Hilde was a little surprised when he heard the news, but he was relieved when he thought about it, it was not his own family, the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Papal States had a lot of connections, the relationship between the two countries was originally acceptable, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded, it relied on the crusade of the Papal States, there is such a relationship, the royal family of Jerusalem is more respectful to the Holy See than ordinary Christian countries.

And the differences between the two sides, in the end, still can't get rid of the struggle between clerical power and royal power!

After Baldwin III died without an heir, he adopted his nephew Baldwin IV as king, and Baldwin IV was already contaminated with leprosy at that time, and the Holy See advertised that lepers were lowly people who were spurned by God, which would see that the Kingdom of Jerusalem actually wanted to let a lowly, God-spurned person be the king of the Holy Land, of course he did not agree, so it was useless to say anything, but in the end Baldwin IV still successfully ascended the throne, and the Papal States gave up their support for the Kingdom of Jerusalem in a fit of anger.

Originally, the Kingdom of Jerusalem was surrounded by a land of tigers and wolves!

Ottoman Turkey to the north, Egypt to the south, these two pagan countries are strong and strong, eyeing Jerusalem, a holy city that also belongs to the *** religion, the original Kingdom of Jerusalem was able to survive in such a bad situation because of the support of the Papal States, and the Papal States would launch a crusade to rescue in case of difficulties.

But this time, in order to prevent the Holy See from interfering in the affairs of the state, the vested interests in Jerusalem frantically elected this young military king, who was suffering from leprosy and was about to die, so that they could control the state government themselves.

And the Holy See thought that in such a situation, Jerusalem would definitely not last long, and when these fellows were beaten to the head by the infidels, they would come back to beg them again, and then they would be able to get more benefits by sitting on the ground and raising the price.

But this time, whether it was the magnates of Jerusalem, the Holy See, or even the pagans of the *** religion, they all misjudged the young king, who was only sixteen years old.

Baldwin IV was a man of military skill, and he was very skilled in both military, political and diplomatic affairs, and won several battles against this powerful enemy, forcing the Egyptian sultan to sign an armistice.

Internally, he reconciled the contradictions between the two knights of the Temple and the Hospital, as well as the many noble lords under his command, and consolidated and strengthened the imperial power, so that the kingdom of Jerutirem could continue to exist and live well after losing the support of the Holy See.

Slap in the face! It's a naked slap in the face!

The man who betrayed God propagated by the Holy See turned out to be such a powerful king, and there is nothing more embarrassing for the Holy See than such a thing, the rule established by the Catholic Church is on their tongues, and they have always told empty lies to deceive, and now the literacy rate in Europe is low, and people are stupid, so they are deceived by them, and what are the liars most afraid of? Of course, the lie has been exposed!

The church says that lepers are spurned by God, but there is such a leper, not only does not feel spurned by God, but becomes a king. Not only did he become a king, but he did it well. Not only did he do a good job, but strictly speaking, he can be regarded as a wise man through the ages, and the Holy See, from Pope Innocent III to the new clerics who had just been baptized, only felt that his face was hot, as if he had been slapped dozens or hundreds of times.

The Holy See had no choice but to adopt a very shameless and shameless method in such a situation.

Pretending not to see, selectively ignoring, and ceasing all contact with Jerusalem.

Because he hated Baldwin IV, he hated the Kingdom of Jerusalem and had no feeling that Jerusalem had fallen into the hands of the infidels.

"The Holy Land has fallen, and it is really ugly that we, a group of secular people, are still fighting for power and profit." Innocent III shook his head.

"What do you mean ......"

Hilde was not a fool, and when he heard the Pope say this, he immediately understood that the steps that Innocent III said were about this, using the fall of Jerusalem as an excuse to set off another wave of crusades, and use this as an excuse to adjust the policy towards the Norman Empire.

It is indeed a good excuse, if it is planned properly, it can also weaken the strength of the Norman Empire, which is really a double win!

Cardinal Heard threw himself at the old pope's admiration at the moment, but heard the old pope pause for a while, and then said: "No, these are not enough, you have to say...... He said that I was angry because Jerusalem fell. ”

Bishop Hilde was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect the old pope to say such a thing, and he couldn't help but admire it even more, plotting enemies, plotting allies, and even joining himself in the end, Pope Innocent III is worthy of being a rare politician in the world, if it were a different time and space, in a world without the rise of the Normans, maybe he would make bigger and more achievements than now.

"I see, Holy See!"

Hilde nodded, taking the Pope's instructions to heart, and planned to implement them in consultation with the other cardinals after that.

But the old Pope seemed to have guessed his mind thoroughly, and he didn't know where the strength came from, and it hurt Hilde's hand.

"Holy See! You ......"

"You don't have to discuss anything with other cardinals, some of them must have been bought by the Normans, and when I die, you, you don't have to worry about any joint council of cardinals, you have military power in your hands, and if you have military power, you can become pope, and no one else can stop you."

Listening to the old pope say this kind of thrilling thing, although Hilde has done a lot of great things over the years, but he still feels frightened, he has not been in the cardinal order for a long time, and he is only in his forties, his qualifications are too light, and Innocent III values him very much, because he has aroused the jealousy of other cardinals, he is very excluded in the order, if the pope election is carried out according to the normal process, it will definitely not be his turn.

Hilde had also thought about what he should do when he was an old pope?

But at most, he only wanted to use his military power as a bargaining chip to keep his position as cardinal, but he didn't expect the old pope to say such a thing.

——————————

Christmas is followed by New Year......

The year 1104 ended in peace and tranquility, and Randy was looking in the mirror as the bell rang in 1105 CE.

"A.D. 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, and it has been five full years since my resurrection, which can be regarded as a kind of growth!"

Randy opened the door of the prayer room, and Sonya, who had been waiting outside, was stunned for a moment, and immediately nodded: "Your Majesty, the New Year's party is about to begin." ”

"Yes, I know!"

A few minutes later, the State Banquet Hall ......

"Your Majesty the Tsar!"

"Count!"

"Your Majesty Randy!"

"Marquis!"

"Your Excellency!"

"Duke!"

As he walked, the nobles and officers on both sides, as well as the civil servants, greeted him.

The native nobles who were not part of the Norman bureaucracy addressed Randy as His Majesty,

The Rus' call Randy the Tsar!

The Normans call Randy the king!

"A vassal of a vassal, not my vassal?"

Randy had been talking about the benefits of not having a lot of royal power before, but he felt uncomfortable this time.

However, Randy was still smiling happily on the surface, and shouted loudly when he reached the center, "You may wonder why Her Royal Highness the Queen and my favorite Artoria did not come on such an important day. ”

Speaking of this, the corners of Randy's mouth turned up, and he was slightly silent, "I'm really sorry ladies and gentlemen, it's not because of the relationship between me and the queen. ”

Even though Randy's joke wasn't funny, the people laughed cooperatively, and some of the ladies complained very contrivedly, giving the young and handsome emperor a wink that almost made Randy vomit, and secretly swore that he would never be so in the future.

"That's the way it is!"

Randy finally regained his strength, snapped his fingers, and immediately two guard knights carried the wooden frame of the scroll, ran behind Randy and opened it with a bang, and a group of people who were closer to him couldn't help but be a little surprised when they saw the contents of the scroll.

"It's ...... This is the map of Eastern Europe! ”

"That's right!"

Randy was in high spirits at the moment, flicked the horsewhip in his hand, pointed to Moscow on the map and said:

"I have agreed to the request of the Grand Duchy of Moscow for help, and the Norman army will set off at once to fight the Cumans, and the Empress should have left the country by now."

As soon as Randy's voice fell, everyone was shocked!

The generals who were directly subordinate to the Norman Conquest looked like they had known for a long time, but the other nobles didn't know that Randy had such a plan......

"Do you want to take this opportunity to take the whole of the Grand Duchy of Moscow into your pocket? I remember you said earlier that the Norman Empire needed to recuperate, not continue to expand. Aurora whispered beside Randy.

"Indeed, I haven't changed my mind yet."

"Then why are you helping the Grand Duchy of Moscow through this?"

"Hehe, I just want a shield that can protect me from the wind and rain."

"Oh?" Aurora immediately remembered that a few days ago, Randy had made an appointment with those Central Plains people who were preparing to return to the Tang Kingdom.

"Although the details of Nemulis have not yet arrived, but I have already guessed that a terrifying storm is brewing in the Far East, and this is the place where the first round of attacks will be attacked, so how can I not take precautions? Genghis Khan...... What an unborn hero! ”

Although the New Year's party is still going on, the nobles have long been in no mood to eat, drink and have fun, and they are all discussing in small circles according to their relatives, most of the nobles are very excited, they don't know that there is a fierce Mongol Khanate in the world, they only know that the Norman Empire has a large number of soldiers, and His Majesty Randy is invincible, and he will definitely be able to defeat the Cumans in Siberia.

"That's fine, in case those steppe barbarians defeat the Grand Duchy of Moscow, then we Normans will be next, although with the talent of Emperor Randy we will definitely win, but that group of vagrants come and go like the wind, plundering everywhere, everyone will definitely suffer, and now Moscow is used as a battlefield to fight a war outside the country, and our own territory will not be affected at all."

"In addition, Your Majesty must also have some thoughts about the Grand Duchy of Moscow, after all, it is also a large territory, the Novgorod Business Union, and the territory of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, although it is a little barren compared to us here, but it is better developed, if you can get it......"

"Anyway, it's a great blessing to have a lord like Czar Randy."

"I propose a toast to the health of the Tsar!"

Randy was silent, listening to the conversation of a table of Ross nobles next to him, the corners of his mouth turned up into a smug smile.

Although the group of Tang people tried their best to cover it up, saying that they were the first in the world and the most powerful in the entire Eastern Tang Dynasty, Randy still got what they wanted from the few words in their mouths.

Now north of the Yangtze River, the entire East Siberia, Central Siberia, the Mongolian Plateau, Northeast China, North China, the Central Plains, the Western Regions, and these regions have all fallen under the iron heel of Mongolia.

Temujin was hindered by the Yangtze River moat, and the Mongols could not go south without water warfare, so they ordered the Han generals to train their naval forces while turning their eyes to the west.

The strongest Tang State south of the Yangtze River, the country of Tianfu in Shuzhong, at the same time controlled a large territory of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and expanded the army with foreign troops such as Tibetans, Qiang people, and Nepalese.

"The Tang State seems to be unreliable, it is very difficult to protect itself, and Jiangnan is so chaotic, I am afraid that I can't even protect myself, and when the Mongolian sailors achieve a crushing situation, but these are none of my business, I know that the other party wants to go west now, this is enough, the Timurid Khanate across Central Asia should be able to fight for me for a while, and in a few years, I will have to face this conqueror who rules nearly half the world."

(End of chapter)