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A month before Christmas, the light ship carrying the widow's letter arrived at the dredging port of Bari, and at the same time it arrived a Venetian galleys, on the deck of which was Molito, the governor of the city of Venice sent to the port of Gandila in the Cretan colony. Rosso, as well as the guild representatives of the city of Ragusa, the city magistrates, and Andéare, who was holding a letter from Berdin. Betos, and a mysterious guest: Idorus, the former imam of St. John's Cathedral, the imperial capital, who was originally banished by the emperor to an unnamed desert island in the Adriatic Sea.

The first two were richly dressed, the new governor of Chania, with a cleanly shaved beard, with a high chin characteristic of the Venetians, and gray and calculating eyes, and a soft black hat of the archon his head, and energetically descended from the staircase of the ships, followed by several retinues; Betos, on the other hand, wore the majestic beard of an Orthodox nobleman, wore an icon pendant, and wore silk robes from the royal storehouse of Constantinople, with his scepter and banner behind him.

As for Idorus, who was now like an old peasant, he was carried down by two men on a shaky shoulder, and his body had been devastated by his long exile, but Gawain and Diognis both knelt on the dock, saluted the venerable patriarch, and then took the pole himself, and carried Idorus into the Basilica of St. Nicholas under the strong cry of the onlookers.

"On the issue of the division of interests in shipping, it has been discussed." After some negotiations, Rosso the Venetian shook hands with Gawain politely and coldly, and finalized, "The contemptible man is at the behest of the Senate of the city-state. You have full discretion to charter a suitable number of merchant ships to you, and there are three ships cruising around your port. Guard against Norman bandits and protect the common rights and interests between you and me. Of course, the cost of these three warships is borne by you, Your Excellency. ”

This tone is normal for the Venetians, they are a group that will never be whims in business, and the tempering of the sea wind and waves for hundreds of years has made everyone old and serious; Of course, the Venetians will not let go of any opportunity to make money, not to mention that the city of Bari is only engaged in some secret parallel business, even if it is known to the emperor of Constantinople, it will not hurt. It would not have been surprising that the Venetians, who had begun selling wood, iron, and salt to the enemies of the Byzantine Empire three hundred years earlier, and were angrily rebuked by the emperor.

So after weighing it, the Senate of Venice quickly instructed a small colonial governor to come and discuss the matter with Gawain, to maximize the leverage of interests, and at the same time to minimize the risks.

Later, Betos, the envoy of the Marquis of Za'tar from the city of Ragusa, after carefully reading the terms, also promised to send timber and grain to the city of Bari, "a city by the sea." Almost largely unconquered by enemy land forces. This was Betos' statement, and he knew that Gawain and the city of Barry were bound to face a Norman invasion in the coming year.

"Yes, not just because of the port and the fleet. The main thing is to have the support of allies. Gawain shook the hands of the two envoys and said very enthusiastically that he was also comfortable with diplomatic agreements. He knew how to win the cooperation and favor of his friends, and then he tried his best to invite "new friends" to a grand banquet.

"Honorable Grand Duke. I'd prefer to see the city of Barry first, and the state of the defenses - don't get me wrong. The Venetians are always on the side of the empire and you, and they have no idea of spying on it, but they want to ensure that the investment of the state will not be lost, and I hope to see it. The calm Rosso then asked.

The fields near the cathedral had been carefully distributed by Gawain to the people of the city, cultivated for maximum self-sufficiency, and then he would entrust the church and pilgrim reception to Idorus, collect the fees for the feast, and sell the relics for a great profit.

The streets and trade markets of the city of Bari have begun to show their vigour, and many ships from cities on both sides of the Adriatic Sea have come to the city of Bari to dock in the good winter weather, and then transport all kinds of goods through this place to the interior of Italy.

When Gawain accompanied the two envoys to the city wall, it was seen that several simple bridges had been built over the swamps and rivers outside the city of Bari, and the nobles and people who had come to the land of St. Nicholas on pilgrimage, riding mules, horses, donkeys, and luggage, were constantly coming and going, and in the square at the entrance of the church, there were neatly dressed peddlers selling pilgrimage memorabilia, "majolica inlaid with small fragments of the bones of the saints", decorated sermons of St. Nicholas, and so on.

Rosso and Betos, along the city wall, looked at the fort field, Barry's people's army, which had grown to nearly two thousand people at the moment, was training hard. After the assault on Aversa, Gawain's Red Hand Brigade revived, not only the Greeks, but also the Saracens, Lombardy, and the anti-Normans throughout southern Italy flocked to the archduke and expelled the Casa in the city.

Seeing this scene, Rosso couldn't help nodding, "It's a pity that Venice is surrounded by forests and swamps, which can't support the production of farms and villages. ”

"Speaking of which, there is one more business for your state, in addition to leasing three warships." Gawain took the opportunity to get close to Rossota, "Amalfi City handed over the reward of 8,000 silver coins for the liberation of the siege to me, and I am ready to purchase weapons from your state. ”

This sentence made Rosso stunned for a moment, "What do you say, procure weapons?" Because he had the impression that ships, weapons, shields, and armor were basically produced by the craftsmen of the city-state, or obtained from the capture of the battlefield, but the Grand Duke, as an official and general of the Byzantine Roman Empire, had the audacity to "purchase weapons" from Venice.

And then Gawain was not in a hurry, and asked Rosso to indeed meet his needs - "I heard that your state is preparing to build a GI workshop. ”

Gandella's new governor was surprised, the barbarian Grand Duke was right, just this year, under the agreement of the entire Venice Senate, the entire city-state began to build a huge military workshop in the hidden place of the lagoon, Arsenal, according to the understanding of later generations, it can be called an "arsenal", using the division of labor and cooperation (such as warships, the main body is manufactured by the Great Arsenal, and the low-tech cables and other components are contracted by private docks) and the advanced mode of flow operation, but this military workshop is now only partially completed, However, it can also be seen that the news of the Grand Duke in front of him is still very sensitive.

"I need your catapult and porcupine crossbows." Gawain then spoke bluntly. (To be continued......)