This time, Innocent III was really in a hurry, and strictly ordered the messenger to be sure to let Randy send troops to help.

"He can set any conditions, as long as he can rescue Rome and make him emperor, it doesn't matter!"

At that time, Innocent III was dragging the deceased's arm like this, staring at him and lowering his voice, and when the messenger looked again, his arm had been pinched purple.

"Emperor title? It's really a lot of money, but the Holy See is also in a hurry, if you really promise yourself an emperor, then the electors of the Holy Roman Empire, don't they immediately lead troops to the Vatican to eat the Holy See? ”

The messenger felt very funny, thinking that Innocent III was really old and confused, but it was not until he met Randy that he realized that this man was really difficult to deal with.

"Your Excellency, I have a bottle of wine that is quite old and tastes very good, would you like to find a quiet place with me and sit down and taste it?"

Randy looked at the guy across from him who was about to cry, and he wasn't bluffing, but it was still important to get down to business.

The papal envoy breathed a sigh of relief: "I can't ask for it!" ”

"Wait a minute!"

Randy gave Joan of Arc a remonstrance, and Joan of Arc nodded in understanding, and Randy took the messenger a few steps towards the side door of the banquet hall, then turned his head to look at Nemulis, who was sipping wine alone in a dark corner.

The Spy Leader nodded to Randy, indicating that everything was normal and that no hostile spies had been found.

Randy breathed a sigh of relief, beckoning the papal envoy to open the side door and turn around a few times, then open a small door.

"Your Excellency shouldn't have any worries now!"

Randy pulled over his chair and sat down, reached out to take the cold wine from the black maid girl, and sank himself into the fluffy polar bear skin cushions, reflecting the crackling red fire.

"Very nice outfit!"

"If you like, I can give you one."

"Forget it, I'm old, unlike Your Majesty, I can't play anymore."

"Oh! That's a shame. Randy nodded, with a look of deep regret, snapped his fingers, and the maid saluted and walked out.

Although the envoy did not report himself, on the surface, the age should be between 40 and 50 years old, not the kind of age that can't play, and even if he really can't play, he won't say it clearly, as for why he didn't accept it, he must think of the other party as a spy assassin arranged by himself.

Randy smiled, disapproving, indeed, as the messenger feared, this maid was a spy!

——————————

War is still war......

While Randy was enjoying this rare peace, and the nobles in the entire Normandy castle were drunk and the lights were shining, the sky over the European continent was still full of war clouds.

The entire Eastern Roman Empire was immersed in a rush and joy, and under the leadership of a powerful iron-fisted emperor, the Eastern Roman Empire was rejuvenated and revitalized, and the time for the revival of the Roman Empire's former glory seemed to have arrived.

End of November!

Once again, the kingdom mobilized two legions to Iberia in an attempt to turn the tide of the war and conquer it completely!

However, the front that Basil II most hoped to win as soon as possible was still the Italian Apennine Peninsula.

More accurately, Rome!

The restoration of Rome and the return of the old capital to such feats were comparable to those of Justinian the Great, and they were more capable of striking at the barbarian states formed by the Germanic heretics, and had an inverse psychological effect on both sides.

Basil II always felt that moving the capital to Constantinople was indeed a very good idea, and it also ensured the survival of the Roman Empire, but it also inevitably shifted the center of gravity of the empire from the European and Mediterranean regions to the Balkans and Anatolia in the Middle East, and indirectly became the first station to resist that group of Muslims.

The Eastern Roman Empire lost thousands of soldiers every year, playing with the infidels, while the Germanic barbarians retreated peacefully in the heart of Europe, where they were rotten, degenerate, and disgusting to death.

That's a waste! It originally belonged to the Roman Empire!

The most infuriating thing is that this group of bastards who have been favored by them, who have been cheapened and sold well, actually use the name of the Holy Roman Empire.

Basil felt very angry at the thought of these things, and to be honest, although Basil II was in his 50s, he still had a terrifying temper, and he was a typical, feared monarch, to put it simply, in two words, that is: tyrant!

But Basil II was not a mediocre tyrant, but a very shrewd tyrant.

Also tyrants, the difference between shrewdness and mediocrity is that a shrewd tyrant is able to apply his atrocities to foreigners. The mediocre tyrant can only inflict his atrocities on his own people, and the end result is that the shrewd tyrant is loved and accomplishes great things. And the mediocre tyrant is overthrown by the rebellious people, and that's the difference!

A total of two legions, more than 20,000 men, were sent to Iberia, which was in an unfavorable situation.

And the army sent to the Apennine Peninsula, which was gaining the upper hand, numbered 30,000 men.

The entire Eastern Roman Empire has entered a state of initial mobilization, and the number of troops dispatched is ......

On the Iberian side, there was one garrison corps and two regular legions, with a total of 24,000 troops.

On the Apennine Peninsula, there were two garrison corps and three regular corps, with a total of 37,000 troops.

In the Balkans, the king personally marched ten legions with a total of 100,000 troops.

On the Anatolian side, there were four garrison legions, five regular legions, and a total of 60,000 troops.

In this way, the Eastern Roman Empire sent a total of more than 200,000 troops, and Randy, who got the information a few days ago, immediately gasped when he got this string of numbers.

Because this is not the full strength of the Eastern Roman Empire!

In addition to these legions that were out on the battlefield, Randy's information proved that there were at least five regular legions in the Eastern Roman Empire that had not yet been dispatched.

Legion of the Guards, including Legion of the Guards Cavalry, Legion of Aguntople, Legion of the Latin Pact, Wolf of the Night, Scythe of the Thracian War, Second Companion Cavalry.

There are also quite a few professional mercenary troops!

Three Germanic legions, one Latin legion, one Norse legion, and 50,000 mercenaries alone.

In the event of an emergency, the Eastern Romans could also recruit more mercenaries from Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, and at the same time, depending on the situation, they could recruit up to a million additional peasant soldiers.

Here is the strength of the Eastern Roman Empire's army, with a regular army of 400,000 to 500,000 and millions of conscripts.

However, what Randy didn't know was that the garrison corps of Eastern Rome was actually semi-professional peasant soldiers, that is, they had to farm and fight, so they could only be regarded as half of the regular army, and when Randy was calculating, he double-counted the nearly 100,000 troops, both as regular troops and as levies.

Of course, even if this small mistake is removed, the number of armies in the Eastern Romans is terrifying.

This terrifying figure is not much different from the original statistics of Enides, but this is only the number of the army, and the number of the navy is not very good because the fleet is not easy to mix.

But according to intelligence, the navy of the Eastern Roman Empire had at least five numbers.

Including the Royal Fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet, the Adriatic Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet, the Aegean Fleet,

In addition, there are a small number of detachments that use other flags, but there are not many warships, and the Norman kingdom has not yet been able to obtain accurate information about them.

The Eastern Roman Empire has accumulated a lot of wealth through years of agriculture, trade, handicrafts, and navigation, and has a large vast land, an elite and warlike army, a huge fleet, and a brutal and iron-fisted emperor.

All the advantages in this world seem to be concentrated in the Eastern Roman Empire, so that this terrifying empire has the strength to single-handedly compete with the rest of Europe.

Thinking of these, Randy felt a lot of pressure, the Eastern Roman Empire was obviously so powerful, why couldn't it unify the continent before? Is it because of the infidels?

All right! Thank you Islam, although you are our enemies, but you are also the enemies of our enemies, and you have selflessly restrained the iron cavalry of the Eastern Romans, so that we humble Germans can survive, and I am really thankful.

Thinking of this, Randy already felt the urge to smash the table.

"That...... Your Majesty? ”

Seeing Randy, who was sitting opposite, thinking and gritting his teeth, the papal envoy felt strange and a little scared at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I was a little distracted just now, by the way, how much do you know about the Eastern Roman Empire?"

The papal envoy was silent for a few minutes and said, "An adversary that is powerful in all respects, a terrifying empire that once ruled the entire continent of Europa. ”

"That's true, yes, but how much do you know about the country's armaments?"

"This ...... Sorry, I don't know ......" the envoy shook his head.

Randy then revealed all the information he had, using that heavy, deep tone to increase the pressure on the envoy a little.

During the whole process, the envoy wanted to retort, but because this guy was a complete layman to the military, there was no way to talk about it, and what Randy said was reasonable and true.

Halfway through speaking, the envoy began to sweat uncontrollably, and when Randy finished talking about all the military strength of the Eastern Roman Empire, the envoy was already a little prostration, as if he had just been rescued from the river, sweating profusely, his face was pale, and he was panting heavily.

"Your Majesty, you ...... Is what you're saying true? Does the other side really have an army of 1.5 million? The envoy asked, trembling.

"What do you think?" Randy snorted, as if he was angry at being herself.

"No, I'm not suspicious of Your Majesty, it's just this ......"

Randy sighed softly: "I know this number is indeed too surprising, in the face of this empire with a population of tens of millions and a vast territory, it is very normal to express such feelings, no, it should be said that it takes a lot of courage to dare to face it head-on." ”

Randy shook his head as he spoke, the envoy's heart was already in turmoil, all the coercion and temptation he had thought of before were all gone, and only the number of 1.5 million was left buzzing.

"I really don't want to fight such a terrible enemy, even when the Roman Empire was at its strongest, they never conquered Scandinavia, and the Norman kingdom has a natural geographical advantage."

"Your Majesty, you can't do this!"

The messenger who was fooled into the pit by Randy was really anxious, and stood up violently and flipped the chair behind him with a thud.

Randy frowned, looking a little unhappy, and the envoy gritted his teeth and ruthlessly told the Pope the negotiation cards she had given her.

"Your Majesty, if you promise to send troops to aid Rome, the Pope promises to be crowned by the Holy See and become the emperor of the northerners."

Randy was stunned for a few seconds when he heard the envoy say this, and then laughed, leaving the envoy a little baffled.

"Your Majesty, don't you believe in the sincerity of our country?" The envoy was slightly dissatisfied.

"No, no, no, that's not what it meant at all."

"And what does Your Majesty mean?" The Envoy is stunned, unsure what Randy is trying to do.

"In my opinion, there are three shortcomings in being the emperor!" Randy held up three fingers.

"This ...... Augustus, infinite glory, king of kings, how is it bad? ”

"First, after becoming emperor, the use increases, if it does not increase, it will make people laugh, if it increases, although Norman has a small savings, but once the tax increases, the people will suffer."

"Second, now all the countries of Europa are called princes, but only two are called emperors, and Norman suddenly becomes emperor, and he will be hostile to the nations."

"Thirdly, if an empire is like Holy Rome, it doesn't matter if it's like Eastern Rome...... Hehe......"

Randy's first two sentences are very clear, but the third sentence is a little vague, and the envoy knows that Randy is saving face for the Pope.

If, like the Eastern Roman Empire, even if you don't need a pope to be crowned, you can be called emperor, if you need to kneel in front of the pope like the city Roman Empire, and let the pope meddle in many domestic affairs, then this emperor is not right.

Randy's words degraded the title of Emperor to worthless, but deep down he wanted it, and from Aurora, Randy had learned that the benefits that could be obtained after officially claiming the title of Emperor were amazing.

First of all, because he is the first monarch, Randy will gain the attributes of the Founding Monarch.

All special characters gain the attributes of Founding Heroes, +2 loyalty, +2 morale, +15% popularity, +3 prestige,

Secondly, the legitimacy of the individual will be stable at 100, and there will be a diplomatic advantage over other countries that have not claimed the title of emperor.

In this way, Randy can instantly remove the negative attributes of being defeated twice, and he doesn't have to worry about the loyalty of the generals who have been cut down by cutting Lufus before.

Even for the sake of these two bonuses, Randy has to fight hard.

But just asking for a capital and a fair exchange, such a person is a fool.

Only by desperately squeezing the remaining value to death and maximizing the benefits is what a smart person should do.

So to continue to scare the Holy See, this gang of goods twisted piles of monasteries across the European continent, eating the offerings of the entire European continent, plus indulgences and other things that pit money, the entire Holy See is very rich, and if you don't cut a piece of meat down at this time, you really can't help yourself.

"The three armies have not moved the grain and grass first, the troops need to be paid, the soldiers who died in battle need to be paid blood, and after the victory, the three armies need to be rewarded, this ......"

Randy looked at the envoy with a confused look, and reminded slightly, such a simple matter, the envoy instantly understood, this is to reach out and ask for money!

(End of chapter)