Along the way, the horse's hooves were light, and I only led a few attendants and cavalry into the tiger's den.

After a scenic road trip through northern Italy, led by a Venetian aristocratic captive, you will reach the pearl of the Armenian Sea, the city of Venice, a civilization built on a lagoon!

In all fairness, the magnificence here is really not comparable to the barbarian states built on the ruins of Rome, although the feudal monarchs have always emphasized that they are the successors of Rome, but the gap between the two, like the slums of the Upper East Side of New York and Rio de Janeiro, is at the two poles of the world.

After receiving the Grand Duke's permission to enter, the two guards in fine armor guarding the gate of the city opened the heavy gate as if showing off, and looked down on us hillbillies with pride, waiting for the eyes and chins to fall to the ground later.

In front of me is a city that cannot be praised for its prosperity, so that I, who have slowly become accustomed to being a bed on the ground in the sky, suddenly have a feeling of coming to heaven, even in the face of the threat of war, the streets of all kinds of shops and bustling people to trade are still not in sight.

People of different colors and religious beliefs, haggling with trade goods from all over the world, highlighted the inclusive broad-mindedness of the largest market in Europe, and the astronomical amount of daily transactions was no longer within the knowledge and comprehension of the group of country knights who followed me, but the scorching light that radiated from their eyes, like seeing the gypsies in the camp, told me that the city's vast power in controlling the world's wealth brought them more than the awe of the heart.

The majestic Palazzo de la Palazzo de Venice at the end of the long street really shocked me to be invaded by the aesthetics of the German wilderness, the low straw houses and the rough stone castles, especially the ghostly human reliefs on the front of the building, as well as the majestic Romanesque columns, all of which show the advanced civilization that Venice inherited from Rome, and even the way they speak is extremely morbid and rhetorically rigorous, no way, who told them to be another Rome's Italian agent until now, The rivets wedged by the Byzantine Empire on the edge of the boot barrel were used to tighten the wealth of the entire Eastern Mediterranean.

The purpose of my trip was simple: to meet the Grand Duke of Venice, or rather the Doge of Venice, on the recommendation of a captured high-ranking Venetian nobleman, with the letters and deeds of Prince Othello.

Pedro II, the Venetian hero who defeated the Narendine and Croatian pirates near Dalmatia with only six large ships, demanded that he fulfill his favorite youngest son's promise to the German emperor, otherwise their father and son would probably have to send the white-haired man to the black-haired man.

His Majesty Otto had taught me to threaten the old duke so viciously, but how stupid I had to be to be so arrogant in the enemy's lair, unless I felt like I wanted to go home, and of course, the departure fare was to move first.

Before I set out, I pestered the court privy councillor and gave me a detailed account of the history of the Republic of Venice, including their current monarch.

But what I didn't expect was that he threw me a parchment chronicle as thick as a computer case, clearly bullying me for not being literate, wasn't it?

Fortunately, my reputation as a despicable man was on the outside, and after explaining his close comradeship with His Holiness the Pope, and showing off his eight-pack abs as neat as bull mahjong tiles, the old guy obediently complied.

"Stranger, give your name!"

Just as I was looking up and down in my mind, the two Venetian guards who were following me to the left and right, and the spears in their hands could not pierce me, a nobleman sitting behind the round conference table in the Great Council Hall startled me sharply.

"Envoy plenipotentiary of His Majesty Otto of the Third German Reich, Viscount Randy Adrian Hoffmann."

I am neither humble nor arrogant in diplomacy with my chest puffed, and now I am still clutching their pigtails, and I am not afraid at all.

"You defeated Othello in Vipitano?"

The big boss behind the scenes finally spoke, and looked over following the voice, it was a white-haired old man, wearing a red robe trimmed with mink, and the whole person was hidden in the shadow of the tall back of the chair, which invisibly gave people a heavy sense of oppression.

"Our merchants in Lorraine have long brought your name here, despicable! Everyone says that you are a despicable villain who does not pay attention to aristocratic morality at all, and a conspirator who sees the wind and rudder on the battlefield. ”

Want to give me a kick first? The elective course of business negotiation skills in Columbia University is not learned in vain, and you can clean it up with a little knowledge.

I decided to bypass his questioning and get straight to the point: "Your Majesty Otto has asked me to bring a deed signed by Prince Othello, God witnesses, and I hope that you will be able to fulfill the promise made above." ”

I took the lacquered parchment roll from my sleeve and handed it to one of the Venetian nobles closest to me.

The other nobles gathered together to study the contract and kept speaking out loud, but the elder Pedro stared at me with great interest, and I found that the medieval rulers all had a pair of bright eyes, and sometimes they didn't need to speak at all, just take these laser eyes and sweep you, and they can immediately melt any known and unknown substance, including corroding your spirit.

"I heard that you killed Count Cresentie in Bresano, and savagely kissed his head to show off your exploits, God forbid, now you have a big disaster, the old duke has sworn to break you to pieces, maybe the Assasin he hired a lot of money is on the way, but don't worry, as long as you are in the territory of Venice, I will ensure that your head is still on your body and move freely."

"My lord, I think you should read the contents of the contract, and not mock a German country knight here, if God is going to punish me, there is no need to defile his holiness with the hands of an assassin."

Threats are heard too much, and fools know how to answer, and if God is added at the beginning and end of every sentence, no matter how vulgar, it sounds very philosophical.

"It takes a lot of time for Emperor Otto to lose his troops in Bresano, to reorganize his soldiers and to mobilize reinforcements, but I have heard that the Norman banner has been raised in the Low Countries recently, and I am afraid that His Majesty the Emperor is more anxious than me, a father who worries about his son, right?"

Pedro II leaned forward, revealing a handsome face like a marble statue, which made me understand that this kind of thing is a terrible copy, Othello's handsomeness was completely inherited from his father, and the years did not leave many traces on the old hero's face, and from the wrinkled eyebrows, one can recall what a handsome man he must have been when he was young, so that I didn't dare to look in the mirror again, for fear that I would not be able to help but vomit when I saw my face.

He shifted into a comfortable position and propped his arms on the table, and continued: "Did the Emperor ask me to send the Venetian navy to help him transport the army around the rear of the Duke of Crescenti and attack the rebels' important logistics base of Lavana? ”

Sure enough, it's a cunning old fox!

I secretly wiped my sweat in my heart, it seems that the other party is difficult to deal with, and Jiang is still old and spicy.

"Since you've already guessed, I don't know what your reply to His Majesty the Emperor is? Your Majesty is not a patient man. I deliberately didn't finish my sentence, but the threat in my words was unabashedly revealed.

Pedro II laughed as if he had heard the bard's jokes about the nobles of ancient Rome, and the penetrating laughter sounded to me like a hell's talisman, constantly hitting my fragile bottom line.

Led by his laughter, the other nobles in the council chamber also laughed one after another, turning the serious negotiation scene into a live broadcast hall of the cross talk sketch competition, and I was the lame actor who tried to gain attention by teasing himself and sarcastically others, and the other party obviously didn't take me, or the German Emperor, seriously, so I decided to add some fierce material, which is a bargaining chip that the proud Venetians will never despise.

"It makes me regret that those who dared to say to the mighty Byzantine emperor back then: no emperor and prince can change us, it is we ourselves who make this city, rise in the lagoon, Venice is subordinate only to God! The people who guarded the bones of St. Mark were all clowns under the throne of the Roman emperor. ”