Although the wording was harsh, the emperor's actual intention was to sign a temporary "truce" with the Paulineites on the northern border, as long as he paid fifty pounds of gold a year, and promised not to cross and infiltrate the Thracian provinces at will, and Alexios' army did not seem to have any need to provoke.

Next to the river, the braided consul Kabeamia walked to the stone pillar on the outskirts of Fikaia at the mouth of the Danube, tore off the emperor's edict, and stepped under her boots, she led three thousand believers to occupy the city outside the limits set by the emperor, and had a port dock where cargo ships could sail, and a luxuriant bazaar, where she had bought a potion of unknown formula from an Indian merchant, and almost had the shame of fornicating with Gawain, which was considered a loss of face.

"Arrest all the Indian and Ceylonese merchants in the bazaars and docks, and expel them!" This is the first order given by the female consul after entrenching herself in this small border city, which is to grit her teeth and never forgive.

Then, Cabeamia choked her breath and sat down on the chairs in the meeting place, and several of the elders who had been released by Gawain remembered the emperor's edict and inquired about the meaning and thoughts of the consuls.

"Refuge, why not take refuge? Send hundreds, if not thousands, of men to convert to their Orthodox Church, to bring light to the face of the heretical emperor, and to satisfy his pitiful vanity. And we will work together with other believers, secretly develop ourselves in Fikaia, accumulate strength, and reorganize the army of co-workers, which will still be enough to compete with the evil forces in the future. Kabeamia replied, "Restrain the use of force by the believers, do not harm the locals, continue to give their guilds and councils autonomy, and take direct control of Fikaia's greatest specialty, alum." The whole of Bohemia, Italy, Flanders. Including the cloth and silk printing and dyeing of the capital of the heretical emperor, they were inseparable from this kind of thing, and the texture of the alum of the Danube was much better than that of the Varyag. As long as it can be produced and transported as soon as possible, not to mention the annual tribute of fifty pounds of gold a year, it is five hundred. I can afford it too. At that time, the Archon Ben was going to really give the heretical emperor a color! ”

At this time, outside the assembly place, several believers in black robes and holding iron rods were escorting the dark-skinned Indian merchant and pushing and shoving them in front of the female consul.

"Kneel, kneel!" Then several iron rods hit the guy on the back and legs. The other man pleaded in Greek with a curly tongue, and then obediently collapsed at Kabeamia's feet.

A silkworm chrysalis shell, tossed to the ground, rolled in front of the merchant's eyes.

"Say, what the hell are you selling me?" Kabeamia was furious.

The Indian merchant picked it up, looked at it, sniffed it, and then showed its white, brilliant teeth. "That's right, it's the elixir of great love. Just one or two drops can make the girl smell intoxicating, like an elephant, I don't know if you're satisfied," and the merchant raised his hairy nostrils and half-closed his eyes when he said "elephant-like taste." He had an intoxicated expression and his hands were gesturing on his chest.

Kabeamia got up and pointed to the other side of the courtyard wall, "Pour this potion on this bastard and drag it to the bullpen over there." Let the whole circle of animals experience the smell of elephants that enchant him! ”

In the wailing, the Indian merchant was poured with potions, and then scratched the ground with his hands, and pleaded continuously, but he was still dragged out, leaving long scratches all over the ground.

"Damn!" Kabeamia closed her eyes in exasperation and brushed the broken hair from her forehead with her hand.

"But soon Asia Minor will become the focus of the whirlpool of war, will Your Excellency the Archon return to the Paphragonia region to take precautions?" An elder reminded.

The Holy Descendant Archon bowed his head and said that he would immediately arrange the property and land of Ficaia City, and immediately cross the sea to Sinop, but he still had such doubts in his heart, "Will Gawain come?" It stands to reason that even if he comes, he will mainly attack the Sultan of Konya, and then he will follow the Chiqiriya Gate and accompany the armies of other heretical pilgrims to the land of the Levant, and will not advance towards Paphragonia. ”

With this mixed feeling, Kabeamia walked out of the place, and she could still hear the roar of the cattle on the side of the courtyard wall, and the howl of the merchant, so she came to the horse stake in front of the door, untied the rope, turned over and rode on the horse, and galloped along the surging river bank for a while, and then stared at the flowers flying everywhere, holding the whip, and looked intently at the wooden boat that put away its sails and went down the river.

On the eastern frontier wasteland of Thessaloniki, the double flags of Tancred and Bohemond are particularly eye-catching, which is the jihad banner that they specially made for themselves after entering the Crusade Princely Sequence: among them, the flag of Tancred, in the center is a portrait of St. George on horseback; Bohemond's is even more extravagant, with a pure white square flag embroidered with striking gold threads on all sides, and the flagpole is gilded and guarded by powerful honorary knights in turn.

"Is that Greek lady of Brenus still behind our army?" Amid the neighing of the horses, Bohemond dismounted for the time being to rest and asked his nephew.

"Yes, if he were a woman, he would be good enough to be your Norman princess, and the whole world knows that he admires you to death." Tancred on horseback and joked, "The same commander, he is better than Stephen. Gawain is far worse. ”

"So, the sorrow of life is here, the strong will always be your enemy, and the weak and mentally handicapped will always be your comrades. Of course, I didn't say what you meant, Tancred. Bohemond sighed and said, "Immediately march to the capital of the Greeks, for fear there will be an offensive to deal with." ”

"Komnenos?"

"That's right, the air that the Greek emperor breathed was full of cunning poison that could kill people, and I had to be more careful." When Bohemond had finished speaking, he stood up again in armor and wanted to get back on his horse, but then he paused and said to his nephew, "It is better than this"

When the Duke of Apulia had finished saying everything, Tancred nodded and accepted his uncle's suggestion and plan.

At this moment, a lightly armed cavalry from Calabria rushed to the front, "Honorable duke, there are countless men and horses ahead, and they are following the corridor here, as if they are going to pass through the Thracian crossing, and the leader of them still wants to negotiate with you!" ”

"What's the way?" Bohemond was puzzled.

"It was a procession of poor pilgrims organized by Peter the hermit, but it seemed unwilling to continue any further journey to the East."

"Is it infighting and division! Peter, you deserve it! With such excitement and doubt, Bohemond drove his horse to the front of the battle, and Gottschalk, with his axe in hand, and the more than 30,000 pilgrims who had broken away from the whole procession, were noisily building a pontoon bridge on the banks of the Thracian River, and Gotschalk himself stood half an arrow away from the horse of the Duke of Apulia.

"Venerable Norman Lord, I am taking this group of people to defect to Grand Duke Gawain."

"Well," said Bohemond, his heart moved, and then he cried out, "then, O venerable pilgrims, is there anything I can do to help Apulia?" ”

Gottschalke shook his arm, very moved, "Because we rejected the edict of the Greek emperor and went to the Grand Duke of Gawain privately, we did not get the other party's supply supplement, and now we are a little struggling. ”

At once, Bohemond understood: before you set out, Gawain sent a little money, and let the whole forty thousand pilgrims follow Taranto, and although the fleet of the Lord Ben threw them behind in time and set sail, according to the letters of my court counsellors, these tens of thousands of people left behind have choked the whole of Apulia and robbed everywhere, and now the Lord will take revenge on you.

Thus Bohemond magnanimously declared, "To this unhelpful group of pilgrims, two small silver coins for each man, and one for women and children, were distributed with our Normans' own coins, for Gawain and I were brothers' allies under the banner of the Holy War." ”

Looking at the other party's sincere eyes, Gottschalk felt that Bohemond felt that what he said was true, and he also shed tears, and the entire pilgrim camp of 30,000 people also broke out into earth-shaking cheers. Soon, the procurement team sent by Gotteschalk arrived in the city of Didimotiosk and used the money given by Bohemond to buy grain and forage.

At the same time, Caesar and Altabasdos, who were left with only a few loyal guards, mixed in with the group of pilgrims like lost dogs, and saw the Norman banner, so Altabasdos asked: Do you want to rely on the powerful and wealthy Bohemond?

"No, it's still a little unbelievable, why don't we go to Brenus first, he is a loyal man, and Tetisius in his army is still my slave, enough to rely on." Caesar replied.

Altabasdos pointed melancholy, "However, the camp of Brenus seems to be behind the Normans"

Caesar, who had no choice, had no choice but to enter the Norman camp first.

And the reason is also justified, "I fled here because of the failure of my attempt to overthrow the throne of Komnenos." As long as the Norman princes promise to help me return to the imperial capital, I will cede the whole region of Epirus to you in the future, and open the door to your merchants, so that your merchants can enjoy the same preferential treatment as Venice and Amalfi. ”

This guarantee intrigued Bohemond of the consultation, who cut the roast meat on his plate, and promised Caesar very faithfully, "I have a thousand chainmail knights, and five thousand powerful infantry, enough to rival the Emperor Komnenos." But since Brenus still has five thousand men and horses following me, so your Excellency Caesar, do not make any noise about your whereabouts, and go with me to Constantinople before proceeding. (To be continued.) )