It seems that the person who presided over this numismatic revolution was the wardrobe, an old man who was not striking-looking, and the manager behind the power of the empire, a eunuch eunuch, so ordinary that even this group of craftsmen who had worked in the royal gardens for five years had never seen this Lord Niedemia, or had never seen or paid attention to it. But his name is known throughout the country, "Little Bird Nikdemia", his nickname, generally associated with cruelty, ruthlessness, scheming and loyalty, is unbelievable but unobtrusive, but how the nickname "Little Bird" came about, no one can say, and no one in the know dares to say.

Even so, the rights and interests of hard-earned money, this group of craftsmen are determined to fight for it, even in the face of this wicked "little bird".

"Isn't it fraud and plunder to pay wages with coins of insufficient quality, and to pay taxes with coins of sufficient quality?" The white-bearded craftsman was relieved, and actually said bluntly, "We have come here from the mountains of Thrace to work as stonemasons for five years, and we have built this small garden in front of us, and the remuneration of plants and stones cannot be deceived in this way. ”

"Grass and trees? Stone? Then let me tell you, how many generations of emperors I have served, and for fifty years, I have never asked the emperor for anything. This is the fundamental reason why I have been able to put on the purple robe given by the Emperor and be in charge of the entire palace and the keys to the vault, while you insatiable little people have so far been only a stonemason. Nicodemia's face changed, and he reprimanded, "If you want to make up for this, I can call the shots, but I will never use the money in the emperor's treasury, where every penny belongs to my lord, and I will use my savings and private wealth to do so—you supervise the work, and use the small scales and crosshairs, and calculate the difference in the wages of this batch of wages, and make up for them, so that someone will not have to gossip after leaving the Brachna Palace, and it will be Your Majesty who will be sad when the time comes." ”

The overseer raised his head, with a ridiculous and helpless expression on his face, but the words of the wardrobe manager were actually as effective as the emperor's, no, they had to be carried out to the end than the emperor's edict, so he could only kowtow and obey.

"Go away, go with the overseer, and remember not to say much when you go out, for you must know that even after death, the ashes of the old man will be mixed with lime, and built in this palace, and he will continue to serve my lord, and become a cornerstone of Brachna. If you want to be in front of your tongue, think about what I have to say today. When the little bird Nikdemia said this, there was no pretension, and the swollen eyelids, through the rotten eyelashes, suddenly burst out with a fierce light, like a quenched dagger, which made Gawain shiver on the sidelines.

Finally, the group of craftsmen departed, and then Eudosia quickly stepped forward, half-knelt down and took the hand of the "little bird", bowed her head, "Honorable wardrobe master, my uncle"

"Just say the former." Nikdemia quickly cut off Yudohya's words, "This is the person you introduced to the Emperor?" ”

I see, Gawain remembered that Eudosia had said that her husband was the emperor's bodyguard, and her husband's uncle was the most noble wardrobe manager. But now he knew that he was wrong, this is the Byzantine strange official hierarchy system, that is, honor and appearance are not necessarily linked to real power, which is similar to ancient China, to put it bluntly: who would have thought that the secretary and privy envoy would be the most powerful official positions? Wasn't the privy envoy a lowly secretary in the first place?

When he came back to his senses, he realized that Nikedemia's eyes were already fixed on him, "Is this just an acolyte?" Gawain could hear that the tone of the great eunuch still carried the native dialect of the Paphragonia region, and it seemed that the dialect had been with him all his life.

"Yes, I am the guardian of Peter the hermit, and of the secret letter of Pope St. Peter to His Majesty." Gawain didn't panic, and he grabbed ahead of Eudosia and replied.

"Very well, you have an aura that is difficult to control, and there is an aura that is enough to control the situation, which is completely different from the gangsters. How, castrate yourself, and then serve with me in the court, in the future I think that you can take over the wardrobe, I have been looking for a successor for a long time, but I am not satisfied. ”

"Thank you for your kindness." Gawain refused without hesitation!

Subsequently, the eunuch was very approachable and led them to the "Hall of the River" in front, in fact, the full name of this palace comes from the Danube, the emperor will be in this palace when receiving the envoys of the Frankish world, the style is also Frankish, the steps in the palace are rough and uneven, the seats and furnishings are also casual, and the pillars are hung with silk curtains of various colors, swinging in the wind.

At the entrance of the palace, two soldiers of the inner palace guard stopped Gawain and the arresting officer, "The attendants who have nothing to do with the meeting must be armed and wait outside the palace gate. ”

So Gawain shrugged his shoulders and stood bored and bored in front of the pillar, looking at the palaces, monasteries, and verdant mountains and woods, and he looked at the guard, who sat down on the steps with his shield in his arms, as if there was nothing in common, and he could only wait calmly for Peter to come out.

But in fact, Peter and Idorus, who walked into the palace, did not see His Majesty at the first time, but the great patriarch Mastas who wore a gorgeous crown and a black robe, came one step ahead and sat on the seat in the hall.

It is no wonder that Maastas has been the Patriarch for ten years, and his style of toughness is obvious to all, when Emperor Alexios tried to abolish his knotted wife Erin after ascending the throne, all the officials of the imperial court did not dare to speak on this matter, only a Patriarch Mastas stubbornly resisted the power of the emperor, and strictly forbade him to abandon Erin, who was not at fault, and dared to stand in front of the door of the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom on New Year's Day, and stopped the emperor and the queen mother's chariot and horse honor guard, He refused to allow the emperor to come to the ceremony, and in front of thousands of citizens of Constantinople, he angrily rebuked the supreme Alexios, telling him not to pay tribute, but to beg God and his wife for forgiveness for his crimes.

In the end, the emperor relented, and Empress Erin's position remained rock-solid, and to this day, several children were born to the emperor, but Alexios never dared to say a word about divorce again, as long as Maastas was alive.

"Idorus." The Patriarch saw the two of them and said so.

A long silence followed.

"Sit down and wait for Your Majesty's arrival, he is meeting with an important secret envoy." The second sentence of the Patriarch.

Peter and Idorus involuntarily sat down in two seats away from him.