After Berdin's defeat at Zara, his sphere of influence was driven back to Serbia, and since then he has worked hard, except for the occasional game of "two-faced" with the previous Emperor Alexios, most of the rest of the time has been spent on domestic affairs and war preparations. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info especially when the city of Ragusa began to manufacture cannons and muskets, Berdin also had the foresight to form the Musket Army.

The reason why he opposed peace talks with Gawain was that he knew that Gawain's backing was not in Constantinople, but in Asia Minor across the Strait, which was the source of his great power. In other words, it would take time for Gawain to integrate Thrace, and with Macedonia and Bulgaria full of old aristocratic forces revolting against him, now was the best time to incite revolts, even if it was to turn Thrace into a scorched earth!

This would at least make Gawain unstable in the imperial capital and consume a considerable part of the resources generated by Anatolia, "Only by not giving Gawain time and maintaining the offensive against the Thracian lands can he gain a balance of power with him." And once he loosens his mouth, then Gawain turns around and takes in enough food, and he can open his bloody mouth that is even more powerful than us combined, and devour everyone in one fell swoop. Remember, he now has a population of five million to serve, and his equipment, weapons, and personnel will be as terrifying as a volcanic eruption when they are well fed. ”

But in the end, it was only the Venetians who should be with Berdin. The others either have their own affairs or are powerless.

In September, Gao Wentong led the Red Hand Brigade and returned from Kinmen in the capital.

Many officials below the Imperial Governor Beriel lined up at the city gate to welcome them, "Father of the capital, you must note that although His Majesty the Emperor has obtained Thessaloniki in this expedition, he has not brought back many prisoners, but has provoked many enemy counterattacks, which is not a triumph. With the exception of a group of unarmed monks, he captured no enemy. ”

"Now the Bulgarians are outside the walls of Adrianople, they have sacked the border strip."

Several nobles raised their sleeves and whispered beside Beriel, discussing the gains and losses of the new emperor.

Beriel was silent, he knew that many nobles and officials in the capital city were apprehensive and wait-and-see in their hearts, because this group of people was familiar with the lessons of past history, so it was not clear how many years this barbarian emperor could hold out in the imperial capital?

A few days later, however, Gawain openly took out a large amount of gold from the Gallipoli Palace, partly from the monastery during the assault on the Ato Peninsula, and partly from the treasury of Thessaloniki, paying the wages of the workers who renovated the Grand Palace, and rewarding all the soldiers.

After the news spread, the atmosphere in the entire imperial capital eased a little.

Soon, however, the Red Hand Brigade, the Nika Brigade, and the Ephkin Brigade were sent to the Prussia region on the other side of the Channel, where grain was more abundant. And in the imperial capital, only Gawain's Imperial Palace Forbidden Army was left - Mikhail's Imperial Tomb Forbidden Army was asked to go to Gallipoli and protect the safety of Baseleus and Baselisa together with Theognes' garrison Janissary cavalry.

On the outskirts, only the Defenders Brigade of Thessaloniki and the Hierapolis Brigade of Fort Phillip remained, and Adrianople was home to the new Overseer Billell, who had under his command 2,000 old Zezes, many of whom wanted to take refuge in the enemy. Vizeburg, on the other hand, consisted of about a thousand Old Thracian Plonian knights and their private soldiers who were ready to be reorganized, under the supervision of Algilli, the "Imperial Judge Advocate General's Envoy", and there were great problems in terms of morale and loyalty.

In the palace, Anna found her husband and said, "The situation is already tense, and the rebels have bypassed the line of the Evros River and are approaching Wize, behind which is the imperial capital." ”

Gawain stood at the map table with his hands behind his back, and went back and forth to look at it twice, "There is a shortage of food and ammunition, and the situation is very serious. ”

"We haven't lived in the new palace yet, so we have to abandon the imperial capital and retreat? Now there were 100,000 people in the capital, mostly craftsmen, servants, officials, and nobles, and there were also forbidden troops and two brigades around in need of food. Anna frowned, worried.

Gawain motioned to her not to panic, "It's a big deal to throw this group of people in the whole capital to the Bulgarians, they will all starve to death in the coming year, and it's not ...... for us to take an empty city for reconstruction."

"What nonsense!" Anna blames Gawain for joking at this juncture.

"Looks like someone has to be enabled." Gao Wen's expression became serious at this time.

"Who?"

"Daido's husband......" Gawain said the candidate.

"Him?" Anna still had some contempt and doubt in her heart.

But soon the attendants of the inner palace crossed the strait in a small boat and came to the city of Abydos, where the Brenus and his wife worked, Brenus was now the commander-in-chief of the Misya Fleet Governor, and his wife Dedot was the Lady in Purple, but Dedo was resentful because of her rank on the same level as Eudasia and Ingrina, "Why should I, as the dignified Princess of Komnenos in purple, enjoy the same rank as the two blonde Varyag women?" ”

But now the compliments and woos of his sister Anna came: Brenus was promoted to the rank of Caesar, and now in the whole country Mycholelinus was retired, and Caesar had only one position, and Brenus was appointed as the "Grand Duke of the War House", and was also in charge of the transportation of grain, equipment, and ships on the roads of Thessaloniki, Constantinople, Prusa, Iconium, Tarsus, and Tripoli; Of course, we must not forget that Deido, who was granted the right to enter and leave the palace "with complete freedom", created a title for her "Sebastoclata", that is, a mixture of the two titles "Grand Noble" and "Augusta" to show her uniqueness, and gave her a unique shawl and gold headdress to symbolize her status; Even Theodore, the son of the couple, is now surpassing Gawain's eldest son and is among the supreme ranks.

Dedot immediately felt comfortable and asked Brenus to accept this important appointment immediately.

So Brenus had no choice but to take office and carry a heavier burden.

He went to Prusa, formed a lean staff, resided in this important east-west transportation area, and then independently issued a series of orders outside the country's tax procedures, sending special personnel to form "offices" to stay in Iconium, Tarsus, and Tripoli, and the documents of the orders were sent to the Androdat camp on the front line in Tyre.

In accordance with the instructions of the "Imperial Caesar" Brainus, Anderodat divided the fleet in the sea area of Tyre into three teams, two of which remained besieged, and one of which purchased a large amount of grain at Antioch and Jerusalem according to a fixed route.

Brenus's assistants in Cyprus and Tarsus, on the condition of a reduction in excise duty, imposed that all merchant ships bound for Constantinople and abroad be transported to the Golden Horn in a quarter of their holds.