On the appointed day, the whole procession of pilgrims, numbering nearly 80,000 men, formed a long line, again singing the hymn to "Holy Apostle Roman Emperor Alexios", carrying candles, crosses and flags of all colors, carrying luggage and canvas tents, from Sarabria to St. Atkins' Gate, and finally to the Juquentina Palace, and the surrounding towers to camp there, all the tents along the sea, stretching for thirty centuries, with great momentum.

When the Red Hand Dalian Brigade was stationed in the new camp, Gawain lazily pillowed his head with his hands, lay on the simple couch, looked at the lamp hanging on the tent post attentively, and then tilted his head and looked at the golden edict on the table in front of him, which included the emperor's representations to him, the emperor's subsequent appointment of his official title, and the emperor's instructions for his actions thereafter, stacked several letters, Gawain blinked, thought for a while, then turned it over again, thoughtfully, and then pulled his hand from the back of his head, rested on his chest and gently tapped it, The mouth is still chattering.

The priesthood was so restless that he had not gone there himself since his return from the Brachna Palace, so much so that when he handed over Brenus, but had only left the matter to his deputy, Merlot.

In this way, the third glory of the empire, the husband of the future princess Anna, was released by the Red Hand company, and Brenus happily entered the original camp under the escort of the captor and Tetisius, and waited for the emperor's call before Christmas to finally complete the grand wedding with Anna.

For this reason, the whole of Constantinople was busy, and the emperor was no exception. He summoned the court officials and eunuchs in charge of ceremonies many times, and constantly issued new instructions. He hoped that his eldest daughter's wedding ceremony would be perfect and show the glory of the entire empire. "Send the letter quickly to His Excellency Raymond, Duke of Toulouse, three hundred miles away. He's a good friend of mine, and I'll definitely invite him to come over as soon as possible for Anna's wedding. ”

Of course, the Emperor also had the idea of bribing Raymond to contain Godfrey and Bohemond - after Gawain promised to marry his youngest daughter Dedot, he also released Bohemond, the Norman leader of Apulia.

The man rode into his camp on horseback with a gloomy face, and the first thing he said to Tancred was, "We have been tricked by the treacherous Greek Emperor again." ”

"Could it be related to Gawain?" Tancred instinctively felt this trend of reversal.

Bohemond didn't answer at first. Instead, he scooped up a sip of sweet wine from his golden cup studded with diamonds, drank it with a grunt, and then became angry, "Appointed me commander-in-chief of Asia, but appointed Gawain as the commander of the march in Asia; I was appointed Grand Duke of Anatolia, but Gawain was appointed Grand Duke of Armenia; also asked Gawain to introduce Godfrey, Baldwin and a group of others, who also accepted his canonization. In addition, the emperor also said that he would give his youngest daughter to Gawain. But if these honors and titles are not bestowed on you, that is to say, the great cause of the Norman nation will be restrained by Gawain - this is the trick of the Greek emperor, and it is very despicable and dirty. It is full of the style of this country, and has always used money, strange official titles, and women as weapons. ”

"Sooner or later we will kill him and get rid of the Emperor of Greece." Tanfred hears this. Anger was uncontrollable, and he swore to it. "Whoever comes to obstruct our kingdom will not hesitate to purge him!"

"That's right. The door of heaven is open, but who cares about the affairs of our Tver family? We are only responsible for sending our opponents to hell. Bohemond threw his neck up again and drank his glass of wine, murderous and bloody anger welling up from his face, making his beard even redder, "Crossing the sea now, the emperor will always provide us with ships to set up camp in Nicomedia, and in the coming spring the Normans will be the vanguard and the greatest profiteers in the conquest of Asia." ”

Just as the Norman army began to cross the sea, all the people in the great camp of the Frankish pilgrims clapped their hands and cheered, and ran out of the tents, chattering, and surrounding the envoys who came out of the Brachna Palace with the purple imperial flag of the emperor, and they consisted of four dignitaries, escorted by the forbidden guards of the court, with many vehicles in between, and then they placed the vehicles in the most conspicuous place in the center of the camp, and tore off the straps on them—countless gold and silver coins, All appeared in front of the eyes of all the pilgrim soldiers and civilians.

"This is an incomparably generous, and incomparably wealthy Roman Emperor His Majesty, a reward for all, come and take it, Your Majesty's money is inexhaustible!" The four dignitaries of the envoys, with their arms open, spoke these words with enthusiasm and reverence.

The pilgrims scrambled to get on their stomachs, some of them getting under them, and coaxed the coins that Alexios had delivered, and many of them pushed and fought with each other in order to grab a good gold coin. More people, grateful to Dade, sincerely bowed down at the feet of the emperor's officials, praised the emperor's majesty and virtues, and trembled and admired the wealth of this empire.

"Poor people, you can rely on your majesty at any time if you wish, and the money in his treasury is like the ocean on the edge of this city, and there is never a time when it will never be exhausted." At this time, the officials were very proud, and said this to the pilgrims.

On the side of the wooden fence of the Dalian camp, Bramson leaned against it with his sword on his back, and looked at it with disdain and lazy eyes, which puzzled Wright next to him, "It's really strange, it's so strange to hear the nightingale singing at sunrise - you actually have no envy for this money." ”

On the other hand, Giovanni, who heard this, laughed, "Although this German landscap is destined for money, he will not rush to impossible money, this guy is still a little bit of intelligence." ”

"Didn't the emperor give countless coins to the pilgrims?"

Bramson pointed his finger, and Wright saw that in the city of St. Atkins and the Varangian Camp, the Emperor had sent countless official merchants, where all kinds of goods were piled up: wine, grain, caviar, silk, linen, etc., and even women to relieve their fatigue.

And the pilgrims who went to patronize also lined up for a length of several kori.

Now, Wright immediately understood, "I see, I know where the emperor's inexhaustible secret of money is, he first gave the pilgrims a lot of money, and then let the pilgrims use the money to buy supplies, so that the coins will naturally return to the emperor's treasury in the evening." ”

"Not only that, but the emperor can also take the opportunity to dump the backlog of things in the capital, such as delicious caviar, the price of which has been raised to three times the previous price, and four to five times the price of wine." Bramson yawned, "Then the Emperor will take the transaction tax from the merchants, and I am afraid that three thousand to five thousand gold coins of Solid will be credited in a day, and when we cross the channel, the Greek merchants will probably follow us with the army." ”

Wright sighed in amazement, such a complex and delicate skill, sure enough, the emperor's ability and city government should not be underestimated: when Hungary and other kingdoms regarded the pilgrim army as a plague of locusts, Alexios not only calmed down the restless people through political and warfare, but also used this group of people to prosper and stimulate the commerce of Constantinople, so that the royal family received a lot of additional income, and also greatly increased the emperor's supreme power in the eyes of the pilgrims.

"The hermit has arrived, and the hermit has been released!" The three of them turned around at the same time, and saw the servant of the commander of the march in Asia, Muzafi Addin, who was jumping with great joy, waving his dark red Turkic turban, and passing through the whole camp, shouting in Turkic and unfamiliar Greek, and then many soldiers of the Dalian army came out, and sure enough, Peter, who was dressed in a black robe and on crutches, staggered behind Muzafi Adin, who was not only Gawain's, but also the baptist of the entire Dalian army: immediately hundreds of soldiers shouted their father's name, Rob was all around him.

But Gawain, who was in the tent, did not seem to hear the great movement outside, and tossed and turned there, until the tent door was opened, and Peter stepped in nervously, and pulled Gawain up from the couch.

"Brother-in-law?" Gawain's eyes were still a little confused.

"Don't think about anything else, your large army must quickly move to rescue the pilgrims on the left side of Nicaea, a total of 70,000 people, who have been sacrificed and bargaining chips by the two fools of Folchet and Rainold, who are now suffering from the merciless blows of the Sultan of Konya, I can all guess!"

"But"

Peter grabbed Gawain's shoulders anxiously, "I can't count on Emperor Komnenos, Bohemond of Norman, or Godfrey, although it will be easy for them. This group of dignitaries did not care for the lives of the pilgrims whom I had called, and seventy thousand people were despicable in their eyes, like ants and mustard. But in this great expedition, all pilgrims should be redeemed by one another, regardless of status. Gawain, you will get what you deserve in the righteous act of rescue. ”

But Gawain, in turn, also grabbed the hermit's shoulder, his tone confused, "Brother Yi, I am willing to raise the battle flag and do anything to keep my promise to you, but before I crossed the sea, there was a great depression in my heart that I did not untie. ”

"Why don't you confess to the Lord?"

"Lord? The Lord has so far not given a direction to my inner confusion, not even demons, and I need to make up my mind so that I can embark on the journey without hindrance. ”

"Is this an adventure? It's a bigger adventure than going to the Holy Sepulchre, isn't it. ”

Gawain nodded heavily.

"Then don't hesitate to do it, the emperor won't stop your steps, have you lost this self-confidence?" Peter was immediately and affirmatively agitated. (To be continued.) )