The envoy was still self-assured, and chuckled shamelessly, "So how about maintaining the border between the two countries, and our side is willing to resume all the original commercial exchanges?" ”

Anna looked at Gawain, and then sneered at the messenger, "What a pity, don't your well-informed governors, the Grand Duke, know that an angry army of 10,000 men will soon float from the western sea, and it will be led by the Norman bandit chief Bohemond, who is thirsty for blood and killing, and my brother who has not yet made a peace treaty with him, so that Bohemond will be free to use Crete and Rhodes as anchorages, and soon they will land in Paphos and storm the city of Nicosia." Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

"Huh, hey?" The messenger was a little flustered and at a loss.

"When the time comes, plus my two elite brigades, even if Tancred helps you, I will annihilate Antioch along with me." Gawain took it and continued to threaten.

"So what to do?" The messenger wept and asked Gawain and Anna to help him with his ideas.

"Cut out the land and the castle." Gawain and his wife spoke in unison.

The specific plan was to divide the island into five regions, according to tradition, Kyrenia (northern), Paphos (southwestern), Amasas (southern), Salamis (eastern) and Nicosia (central), and then Aptsomates ceded Kyrenia to Gawain and Paphos to Bohemond, while the remaining three parts remained the same.

In addition, in the event of a war between Gawain and Bohemond and any of the kingdoms of the Levant, Cyprus had to provide port and fleet support to the east.

"This condition is too harsh, allow me to go back and apply for the opinion of the Grand Duke of the Governor."

"There is no time, Bohemond's fleet is heading towards your territory, and two of my brigades are ready to go. Go back and ask Aptsomatus, is he more powerful than the Emperor of Philomeron? In the end, Gawain only agreed to an ultimatum for a week's time.

The intimidation worked, and when Gawain offered Philomeron's victory, Apsomatus, who had been rewarded by the messenger in the castle of Nicosia, was violently shaken.

Fearful of fighting Gawain, Apsomatus quietly estimated the contrast between his and Tarsus' powers: Gawain now had a population of two million, surpassing Hungary (Hungary did not reach that number until 100 years later), while the island of Cyprus had only 200,000 to 300,000 people; The army, Gawain now has a force of 50,000 people, and he, including the most elite Cretan guards, can also cobble together about 4,000 people, and it would be good to be able to defend a castle in Nicosia once the battle starts.

What's more, add a fierce Bohemond.

"Let's join forces with Antioch's Tancred to resist Gawain and Bohemond!" Such a fanatical thought welled up in the heart of Apsomatus, like a flame.

But the period of Gawain's ultimatum to him was only a week, and with the time it took for the messenger to return, he could only hope to get a definite reply from Tancred within three or four days.

Eventually, the flame of agitation in Aptsomatus's heart was extinguished by his own hands with "ice water of reason", and he said to the messenger: "At the beginning, I, Gawain, and Bohemond were all signatories of the Meydens Secret Treaty, and there is no doubt about friendship, and I was also coerced by the emperor to attack Seleucia. Now I am willing to cede Paphos to Bohemond and Kyrenia to Gawain. No, not a cession, but a free lease for five years to apologize. ”

Although the Grand Duke of Cyprus made a decision to "lease" instead of "cede" with difficulty and pride. But Gawain couldn't care so much, and after getting the exact information, he stood in front of the mercury map table and said triumphantly to Anna, "I will immediately send out the Guardian Brigade of Branas, occupy the castle of Kyrenia on the coast, and expand it in a year's time, adding turrets and arrow towers." Thus we are separated from Nicosia by two mountains and a river, and the Trudos Mountains are rich in copper deposits, so we do not have to pretend to be the coins, the cannons, and the bronze bells of the churches. ”

"But when I read the naturalist chronicles, I realized that the main minerals of Cyprus, the 'Queen of Copper', are located in Paphos and Amasas." Anna stared at the southern part of Cyprus on the map table, her tone full of greed.

"My dear wife, will Apsomatus' reign in this island nation continue after we occupy Kyrenia? We were inspired to have this island of copper, wine, and stone all ours sooner or later. ”

As a result, as soon as Gawain's words were finished, Anna was overjoyed and placed the small flag in advance in the direction of Cyprus, "In the coming year, the island of Cyprus is like a central gate latch on the ocean, which will greatly touch the nerves of the kingdom of Egypt, the principality of Antioch, and the city-states of Tyre and Sidon." Because as long as we occupy this place, we will have the most valuable base for the advance of the fleet, and it will be convenient to cover all the ports of the Levant with our spears and arrows, and let them feel the oppression of our power! ”

"That's right, that's my plan of improvement—to crush these hostile forces on the island if they dare to come ashore against me when our sword is piercing Cyprus; If they don't dare, then we will launch a general attack after the coming year, destroy the forces that have expelled Apsomatus, and occupy and annex the whole island. The coming year will be a real 'year of Cyprus', and when the goal is completed, we will use it as a springboard to lay siege and capture the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Bora (i.e., Tripoli), so that we can unify the whole of Tripoli and turn Cyprus into horns, and then we will open up a lot of cultivation there—mulberry, sugar cane, saffron, henna, date palms, cedars, Indian cotton, what a huge agricultural production situation it will be, and in addition to the agricultural gardens, we will have to build glass and cane sugar, printing and dyeing, enamel a complete range of workshops and towns. That's right, in the future, we will not just be content to use Tripoli as a transit point for trade and sell myrrh and incense from Arabya and Yemen, but to build it into a 'base' and a 'fountain' that can generate unrivaled wealth! ”

"Then our military resources and riches will be endless, the copper of Cyprus, the ships of Atalya, the horses of Cappadocia, the soldiers of Tarsus, the wool and brocade of Ikonium, and the power generated by the trade and workshops of Tripoli will all be gathered in our hands, and in the future I will get Constantinople from my father's inheritance, and I will have an invincible fortress to project power to the whole west, and at last we will master the trade routes and armies of half of the known world, and no one in this world will be our enemy." Anna immediately transformed the grief of losing her father into an inexhaustible sense of enterprise, snuggled into Gawain's arms, and recounted in intoxication. (To be continued.) )