But Gawain didn't stretch out his hand, and the fat eunuch didn't care at all, smiling, waiting for the bird to speak—and then Nick Demia put his hand in his sleeve, "It's okay, you will quickly get acquainted with Stauracos in the future, because according to the royal decree specially issued by His Majesty, this will be your prisoner at once, and you will consult him in everything." Gawain's actions in Calabria and Barry have indeed made His Majesty a little disappointed and angry. ”

Then, as the two ships parted, Stauracios jumped into the boat where Gawain and Peter were in full view with a few of his fellow clerks (all eunuchs).

Now that the sun had moved a little behind the Rila Mountains, and the gloomy light and shadow occupied the whole river, and the cool breeze came, Gawain spite of the secret ridicule of the others, jumped ashore from the boat, and said to Peter, "Brother Brother, when you go to the imperial capital, be very careful, and whatever anyone in the palace of Brachna comes to say to you, stay out of the matter, for the present situation is to live on the outside and perish on the inside." ”

He did not shy away from saying this in the presence of the eunuch, and Stauracios stood in the shade of the tree at the water's edge, as if deaf to Gawain's words, and still stood with his hands arched and smiling.

Peter nodded and slapped Gawain hard, "If it weren't for you and the Red Hand Dalian this time, my tens of thousands of pilgrims might have died in the Belgrade wilderness, and even Hungary would not be able to cross it." What follows may be my brother's struggle, and that is the safe passage of Constantinople and St. George's Strait. ”

"Please wait for me to act together, brother!" Gawain hurriedly half-knelt down and grabbed the corner of Peter's robe. "The elite soldiers of the Sultan of Konya are fierce and cunning, and they are very strong. The two vanity-hungry hillbilly knights around you alone can't fight against them. ”

"I still have Walter." Peter kept his voice low. Picking up Gawain and trying not to let the rest of the conversation be heard, "How about keeping the two of us close to each other?" ”

Damn, this is obviously a conspiracy of the Komnenos, and there are no good people in his family except for Anna. Gao Wen's heart can only be like this. Then Peter pulled him down in the middle of nowhere, and admonished him, "Hold back, don't be so rigid between friends and enemies, and follow the great goal of recovering the Holy Sepulchre in everything, Gawain you are pragmatic and flexible, don't be held up by our worldliness." Then Peter quietly used his head on his crutches. He pointed slightly at the fat eunuch, "Even if you look down on him like that, you still have to use him to serve the great cause of the Eastern Crusade." ”

"I see. Brother-in-law. ”

"Nisaea of Asia Minor, where we first met, we will always meet again." Peter said with a smile. But tears were already falling.

"I will never let anyone hurt you, not even Princess Anna."

A few days later. Standing on the Sophia Fortress on the edge of the mountains, purple flags fluttered. Behind the walled city, Isaac and Nick Demia looked at the city with a smug look at the surging pilgrim army shouting "Long live the Emperor", "This is really a surefire deal, how wise Your Majesty is, immediately raise ships in the imperial capital and Gallipoli, and send them to Asia Minor as soon as possible." ”

"If the two villagers, Reinolds and Forsey, can really defeat Surelman with the help of God's blessing. Gilligi's words, then, according to the agreement, we will reclaim Nicaea, and then stir them further afield, the cities of Konya, Caesarea, and Tarsus, until Antioch, and your majesty will be able to recover a large territory without any effort. ”

"In the event of a crushing defeat, it does not matter, Your Majesty can symbolically rescue the remnants of the pilgrim army, and turn them into inhabitants of the empire to pay taxes and serve; Moreover, even if this group of pilgrims were all wiped out, then the Godfrey under Salian Caesar, as well as Bohemond, would have no reason to patrol the imperial capital, they had to avenge the death of their compatriots, cross the sea and fight to the death with the Sultan of Konya, we are still the side that reaps the benefits, and we can still preserve the peace of the imperial capital. Isaacsensen laughed, and the more he spoke, the more he felt that his brother was wise and spicy, that the Normans were not at all comparable to the Gallic hillbillies, and that this was the typical Byzantine Roman style of intrigue and planning, and that no other race in the world could learn.

Of course, it also includes the use of lowly and reassuring eunuchs to restrain and supervise Gawain's team.

"Your Excellency, Honorable Great Eunuch, do you think Gawain will cause trouble for Your Majesty in the future?"

"All this is also in the calculations of the omnipotent Majesty, what is Gawain? To put it bluntly, it's just a brown bear and a lone wolf. As long as he could hold this Sofian Fort, he could only obediently follow His Majesty's drive to go to the barren Wallachia and the Danube, to fight the Cumans, to fight the Teflis, to fight against all kinds of wild beasts in the steppe, not to mention that after the autumn and winter were about to begin, the incomparably harsh climate in the wilderness, it was best for him to perish there. With that, the little bird also squeezed the rugged wrinkles on his face and smiled proudly.

To the northeast of Sophia, on a high hill covered with fresh grass, Gawain riding Sabina was looking out at the endless procession of people passing through the mountain passes, mule carts, poultry and livestock, crosses, pots and pans, and the yellow-skinned pilgrims under the dust, and of course his brother-in-law, walking in the direction of the unpredictable Constantinople, where there was a girl he cared about.

In the open field under the high hills, three hundred Lombard armored infantry were practicing in an orderly manner, and the stubby Billel was speaking loudly at the head of the formation, this brave boar was also a "gift" that Peter gave himself before leaving, "I think Billel will also be happy to fight under your command, and I am the one who is clumsy in command." ”

And he was not put into the borders of the empire, even if he wanted to, he couldn't, and the fortress of Sophia Pass was stationed where Isaac was stationed. Komnenos tens of thousands of elite troops.

Staring at the bird flying high, Gawain felt that his strength was still not enough, and he had to become stronger. "Muzafi Adin, in your opinion, what should you do if you want to get a huge treasure, should you use an axe to split the door, or climb in through another mechanism?"

"I only know that the treasure is there, and what people can see at a glance must not be able to open with an axe and mechanism, but its original owner is unwilling to enjoy it, so he will definitely set up a secret passage to enter it." Muzafi Addin replied, who was at the camp's baggage cart, preparing hay with a guillotine.

Gawain nodded, acknowledging the Turkic servant's unintentional words.

At the crimson tent, everyone was busy inside and outside, except for the annoying Starauracos, who was among the tables and cabinets, instructing a few of his well-written subordinates to rummage around, looking for money from the account books, despite Anderodart's protests, and preaching that many of the Dalian army's receipts were not in accordance with the imperial regulations, were illegal livelihoods and incomes, and had evaded His Majesty's taxation, "Now, we must control money in a reasonable way!" Stauracos shouted.

Angry and angry, Andodat pulled out an axe from the partition of the cabinet, which he had used in the defense of Bari City, because it was particularly memorable, so the clerical profession never discarded it, and as soon as the axe appeared, the Stellurachos screamed and fell, and cried out for help, "Your Excellency Gawain, your servant is attempting to murder the officials of the Empire!" The voice is long and tactful.

In the Byzantine bureaucratic system, eunuchs were also "officials", except for physical disabilities, they enjoyed the same ranks, honors and promotions as all sound bureaucrats, and even the Roman emperor specially set up twelve levels of eunuch titles to grant these eunuchs and let them participate in the confidential affairs of the state, so it was reasonable for Stauracus to think that this halfway monk was threatening himself with force.

The curtain of the tent door was lifted, and it was Gawain who had heard the sound and had come in, and he had rebuked Androdart, and the confidential secretary threw down his axe in frustration and sat down to sulk.

"Oh, your Excellency, you have finally arrived, after hearing the cry of my faithful servant." Stareuracos immediately flattered Gawain, but Gawain ignored him, and instead sat down at the table, slammed the Turkic scimitar from its sheath, and slammed it into the gap in the table.

In front of the shaking blade, Starurachos's squinting eyes also opened, cold sweat rolled down his cheeks, and several scribes behind him also immediately shrank their hands, feet and necks, not daring to move.

"Some small misunderstandings are mainly due to the fact that the accounts of the Dalian team are too independent, and I am afraid of the reproach of the eunuch and His Majesty, so you should be considerate, I need to transcribe some memos." Starauracos then cocked his orchid fingers and pleaded softly.

"Will you report those things to them?" Gawain asked with a sneer.

"This" The fat eunuch's eyes deftly rolled twice like marbles, with a very embarrassed face, "I am also in a position, to put it bluntly, even if I hand in the memo and offend you, I will not be able to reap the slightest benefit." ”

This is simply too familiar to Gawain, in the previous world, he dealt with officials from many countries, and the other party was full of this tone, it seems that it was still like this thousands of years ago, it can be described as a good tradition, but this is easy to do, "Then how about I pay for your memo?" Gawain wrenched his fingers and said, "Ten copies of Solid, and I will give them ten silver coins of Seriqua every month for these scribes of yours." But if anyone from Constantinople comes to trouble me on the march, I will slaughter you first, and then go to the Paulines or the Cuman Khan, and come back and kill your emperor and the eunuchs. Next, Gawain pressed his strong arms against the table, lifted half of his body, and his blue eyes under his beard were full of provocation and majesty, "Even if you belong to a relatively low rank among the eunuchs of the court, I Gawain speaks to anyone like this - say it, do it." (To be continued.) )