Hearing this categorical answer, Anselm's smile froze, but he didn't dare to say anything, "If you send physical goods, the ship will lose a lot of time if it is too long." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"I'm sorry, but the ban in Seleucia and West Cilicia is clear, and it is strictly forbidden for gold and silver coins to flow to any country."

"But it's the sacred eleventh tax."

"Honorable Patriarch, the contemptible people did not resist the tithe, but gold and silver currency are as important in the whole body of national politics as blood is in the body of men, and if they are lost, the state will be weakened and collapsed. Not to mention gold and silver coins, even the copper crocus coins minted by ourselves will be strictly prohibited from circulation for a period of time, because the war will start soon, and the soldiers' reward salary will cost a lot of copper coins. Gawain's face was grim and unambiguous.

At this time, it was Wright who shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his hands with a smile and came to the round, "It's better to pay the eleventh tax, and the Seleucian coins can't be lost, and the ships with physical goods will soon be in winter, and it will be difficult to cross the sea to Rome." Wouldn't it be better to give the eleventh tax to Lord Anselm for overall use, and use it on the spot to build the congregational churches from the whole of Seleucia to Cilicia? ”

"Wright's plan is good, I approve of it, what about you?" As soon as Wright's words fell, Gawain directly pressed his patriarch and said, "When the time comes, all the eleven taxes will be given to you, and I will not do financial supervision." ”

"Yes, yes." Anselm could only bow the ostrich's head in approval.

"In return, Your Excellency Patriarch, you must perform the consecration of weapons for my army in the battle on horseback, and please write a letter to the Apostolic Church in Vanka now, expressing the good-neighborliness of both sides."

"But Your Highness, I don't use Armenian script." Anselm didn't know what medicine was in Gawain's gourd, so he hurriedly refused. But Gawain didn't care if he could write Armenian or not, "It's okay, the Orson family knows a lot of this script, you just need to hand over the seal and sign it when the time comes." ”

Anselm was dumbfounded, and then Gawain ignored him, but talked and discussed with several officers around him, as if he was not the patriarch of Seleucia at all, but just a little servant carrying stationery or a saddle for the Grand Duke, the patriarch swallowed a few mouthfuls of spit, looked at the magnificent autumn scenery of the Lamprun mountains, and couldn't help but hurriedly tighten the small shawl on his body, because the wind was a little cold, and no one paid attention to him, only the eagle chewed and ate, and his eyes were still a little curious, Looking at his baldness is like looking at a bird's egg......

On the second Sunday of October, the gates of the great mountain fortress of Vanka were opened, and in the midst of earth-shattering trumpets and cheers, Prince Ruben wore a new golden crown on his head, rode a striking white horse, and waved his hand to the people who bowed and bowed to the walls and roadsides, and behind him were the royal janissaries wearing numerous overalls and chain mail, each with an unstoppable look of arrogance under the iron helmet, and when he reached the foot of the castle, a group of soldiers of the Armenian People's Army, who had been mobilized, also under the guidance of their respective leaders, they also joined Prince Reuben's brigade.

They were about to cross the rich plains of Eastern Cilicia, sandwiched between the Thanus and Phelamis rivers, and then pass through the Armenian Pass to receive the fortresses of Edessa and Samosata, which were "thrown into themselves".

During this time, Prince Ruben was simply very smooth, under his imitation of Constantinople's exquisite diplomatic operation, the original defection to the Normans Fell, Cousins and other lords were willing to come to his side anyway, Taprenz also succeeded in convincing the Edessa consul "Barak the Greek" to be willing to change banners in the castle and join the family of the Ruben kingdom, it is said that even the Samosata, the nest of Tancred, was recognized by many Armenians and Greeks and wanted to serve him.

Taprenz had previously "sent" a cipher to the city of Vanka, saying that as long as the prince mobilized a large army to meet him, he would be able to exclude the Normans without any hindrance, and hand over to the prince the many castles from Marash to Edessa.

While the iron was hot, Reuben immediately mobilized an army of 10,000 people, including 3,000 cavalrymen, and began to gallop to the Amonos Pass, to deal with the whole "tide anyway", he was still worthy of facing the Norman Bohemond alone, and knew that if it were not for the support of the Armenian lords, with the little strength of the Normans, he would not even be able to go to the city of Antioch.

What's more, the Holy See in the city of Rome over there has personally canonized me as a "brotherly state", and I have taken some land according to the will of the people, which is particularly moral in public and private.

Not only the city of Rome, but also Prince Ruben sent an envoy to Constantinople to inquire about the situation: as a result, the emperor in the camp of the city of Nicaea personally supported his actions, and even sent two hundred pounds of gold as a token of his feat.

The only thing to worry about is Gawain, he has a brigade in Seleucia, two brigades in Syria, both close to Ruben's territory, but when the time comes, Ruben has nothing to worry about - Emperor Komnenos has ordered Gawain's army to go north and assemble towards Cappadocia to prepare for battle against the Danishmunds Turks. Gawain himself, on the other hand, had previously sent diplomatic letters in the name of his patriarch and Patriarch John of Antiochus, saying that he was willing to settle the dispute with the kingdom of Ruben and "jointly develop Cilicia", and that "I killed the Callogos brothers to avenge the Armenians", apparently fearing that if he went to the north, he would be attacked by Ruben's army.

But Prince Ruben was not at ease, and he "knocked" Gawain before sending his troops: at his secret behest, the cavalry of the Armenian nobles had attacked the cavalry belonging to Polybi. Several villages of Bletchamios (a Genat nobleman loyal to Gawain) killed many innocent villagers and forcibly seized the borders. But then Gawain's envoys only came to spend money, ask for the body to be buried, and asked the two sides to demarcate the border and establish a treaty of guarantee of non-interference.

"Gawain can't do anything, he's going to stop for the time being." Reuben was secretly overjoyed, so he sent back the "Treaty of Guarantee", and then he could not wait to lead the army towards his supply center, Kastabara.

The huge city of Castabara, in the triangle where two rivers meet, surrounded by fertile plains and hills, is also the granary of the entire Ruben kingdom, and after receiving supplies from here, Prince Ruben only needs to continue to travel for another three or four days to reach his destination and intimidate the entire Edessa region.

At the end of the second Sunday, the prince handed over the castle, which was crisscrossed by plains and rivers, to the Armenian nobleman Mamikonian, while he himself took another brave nobleman, Salikhi, as the lead of the cavalry, and set up camp outside the city, and slowly but calmly continued to advance towards the mountains of Amonos. (To be continued.) )