The scene was silent, the torches in the hands of the soldiers and the Brotherhood were lit everywhere, and behind Gawain stood Idorus, Anderodat, Francisco, and Merlot, all dressed in thin white sheepskin coats with red hands holding crosses, all dressed in the same attire in the hall square.

"General Tetisius, the previous Brotherhood of the Brocade did not involve you and Theognes, mainly because you both swore an oath of valid loyalty to His Majesty the Empire, and Gawain will not be embarrassed. However, now the city of Bari has become the private property of St. Peter, enjoying immunity, and the contemptible have been appointed by His Holy Majesty as the priesthood. Gawain remained silent and spoke eloquently.

"Your Excellency, do you mean that the Grand Duke of Brenus is not allowed to come and receive the city?" Tytisius thought of it, he knew that Gawain was going to Venice, but he was blinded, it turned out that Gawain was going to visit the caves, and he made a secret agreement with the city of Rome.

"I didn't say so, you can still bring your own subordinates to the Imperial Caesar, and the captors can continue to serve your majesty with their own Turkopo, and the contemptible people are willing to provide the passage and ships. I, Gawain, am the same as the Red Hand Brigade, and I am still the commander of Aconis registered in His Majesty's Golden Book of the Emperor. ”

"But your army will never be used by Your Majesty, Stephen. Gawain, you are scheming, that is, you are in the gap between the east and the west, and you have mastered the banner and power of this army, and you have also taken over the authority of the city through the Brotherhood. Tetisius closed his eyes, then reopened them, "But—it has nothing to do with me. Please give me back the personal men and horses of His Excellency Caesar. ”

"It's nature." Gawain laughed, and said that there would be no problem if the guards were as frank as you did.

"But that's what I care about. What are you going to do with the ownership of Barry City right now? It must be known that His Majesty will not abandon this city easily, and soon the Grand Duke of Brenus will come to receive it with a Scepter. And in order to fulfill your promise to the Holy See, you should have made an oath to go on an expedition. ”

Gawain didn't care, he pointed to the stone pillar in front of the hall, "I said when I was talking to Bohemond that the city of Bari has now become a zone that affects the whole body, and I believe that Your Majesty Supreme will not turn against the Holy See because of this small coastal city-state, not to mention that he still urgently needs Gawain's Red Hand Brigade and the armies of the lords of all walks of life who are pilgrimaged." Help him recover Xiaoya's territory by the way. Therefore, in order not to be criticized, Gawain will not cut off the city privately, nor will he hand it over to His Majesty or any of the Holy See, but will leave the fate of survival to the local inhabitants of Bari. ”

Tetisius turned his head to look at the two stone pillars with carvings on the tops, and he didn't know why, or he grew up in the land of Asia Minor and Byzantium, and he didn't quite know how the republican city-states of Italy would work, "Isn't it natural that the city is managed by officials sent by His Majesty?" ”

But the stone pillars were still bare in the firelight. Tetisius didn't understand.

So the audacious self-proclaimed Grand Duke began to explain in a rambling manner:

"I went to Venice before, and in addition to signing commercial agreements for chartering ships and opening trade, I also carefully studied and imitated their 'Vlabiniac' national policy. Now under the auspices of the Archduke, the city and country of Bari. It was divided into six districts, the same as in Venice, and each district was the first to elect two 'representatives', and finally the twelve representatives. Forty-eight more 'electoral colleges' were elected from six regions, after legitimate consultations. The Archduke of Barry, the Governor of Barry, and six senior 'Governor's Advisors' were elected. The Grand Duke and his advisers form a 'chief council' to preside over the executive affairs; The Electoral College then continued to nominate sixty members of the Brosho Brotherhood in each region to form a 360-member 'Nishiki Grand Senate' that decided the basic state policies once a year, and the day-to-day running and chores of the city were all in the hands of the Brethren. ”

Tetisius raised his hand, indicating that he did not understand and did not want Gawain to continue, "Soon you will engrave this national policy on two stone pillars, and from then on you will realize the autonomy of the city of Bari, just as Venice did when it broke away from the Roman Empire." ”

"Yes, but the city of Barry will still pay tribute to Your Majesty, and I am still in Your Majesty's canonization." Gawain was very courteous.

But General Nose obviously didn't like this, "If it's no accident, you're the first Archduke of Barry." ”

"Yes, I can't resist the enthusiasm of Barry's representatives, and now I'm a veritable dux." Gawain raised his head, with a very glorious and heavy sense of responsibility, and said to the moon in the night sky. Then, several craftsmen dressed in red-handed cross-sword robes came down, erected text templates, and began to carve on the stone pillars.

In the midst of the sound, Tetisius had a look of sudden realization on his face, and he stroked his chest and bowed, "No matter what, the years of fighting side by side with you are always touching and satisfying, Your Excellency Grand Duke Gawain, these words come from the heart of the contemptible Tetisius. ”

"Then why don't you continue to fight after me, still bound by the inherent ropes?" Gawain then walked down the steps and pleaded earnestly with the cavalry general.

"If the Red Hand Brigade in Japan is loyal to His Majesty and fights against the Konya and Norman bandits in Asia Minor or Italy, then Tetisius will definitely have the opportunity to fight side by side with the Grand Duke." With that, Tetisius took a few steps backwards, then turned and returned to his camp with his Cuman guard, stepping into the moonlight.

But when Tetisius came to the gate of the camp, he found that all the Cuman soldiers were boiling, and they came out in groups, and took from the monks standing by the door, the robes embroidered with the cross-swords of red hands, the military flags, and many of the private soldiers and servants sent by Caesar.

"What are you going to do?" Tetisius's words were a little stern.

"We're going to be baptized and join the Red Hand." The words of this group of Cuman barbarians of Turkic origin make people laugh and cry.

Although he couldn't understand it, Tetisius's arm hung down again in disbelief, and he lowered his head and let the soldiers pass by his sides one after another, with a certain helpless expression, and sighed, "The Turkic proverb says that only dogs will turn around and eat what they spit out, in this case, this group of Cumans will go with them anyway, Lord Caesar will continue to woo Gawain, but I am afraid that at that time, Caesar, no, is the hand of the entire empire that does not have such thick chains, and can tie this one" (to be continued......