Destroy Nicaea!? The crazy thought made everyone's hearts pound.

It was not without the intention of destroying the remnants of New Rome completely, but as early as four years ago, the Kingdom of New Brad had sent a large army to besiege the city of Nicaea, but it was defeated and annihilated. Since then, the kingdom has never set foot on the land of Asia Minor.

"Ahem, Grand Duke Tudor, I think your plan may be a bit risky." Beside Baldwin, the Privy Envoy, who was the Cabinet Chief, slowly stood up and implicitly objected, in his opinion, the military operation of Nicaea was whimsical.

"First of all, we don't have any strongholds in the east, and if we send military supplies by land and sea, we risk being cut off by the Seljuks and driven to a dead end."

"Secondly, the fiasco of four years ago said that our mobile forces have been weakened a lot, but the Seljuk Khanate has made a huge technological breakthrough in the past few years, and our military strength is difficult to threaten the other side, but will face a counterattack from the other side."

"Finally, Nicaea knew Constantinople better than we do, and they even had an intertwined presence beneath the city, as evidenced by the Findel riots. If we act rashly, then how should we face the emptiness of the royal capital? ”

The civil servants of the king's cabinet echoed each other, and there had always been a shadow in their minds about the expedition - the man named Osman was definitely on a par with Saladin, and it was he who had buried the elite of the empire in Caesarea four years earlier.

And to this day, people are afraid of this man's name.

However, Esser's words struck a chord with the martial arts elites, who had been coveting the lands and riches of the East since the Crusades. And this is not a good thing for Baldwin and the forces behind him, once military action is taken, it means that the new Bullard kingdom will join the crusade that has been out of the country for ten years. Both militarily and economically, the kingdom will have to compromise with the Holy See, which is definitely not something that the Privy Council and the Cabinet want to see.

Esher, on the other hand, let out a mocking sneer, and said nothing more, not the slightest surprise at the obstruction of these civil officials. And he really wanted to use the expedition to weaken his uncle's power. But he knew Baldwin too well, and even if it was a trap, Baldwin could hardly refuse.

Completely eliminate Nicaea, this is the choice he has to make.

Esher didn't say anything more, and the military attaché behind him chattered with the ministers of the Privy Council and the Cabinet. The two sides were evenly matched, and the serious round table was instead like a group of rude men scolding the street.

Baldwin also had to frown to watch the two sides quarrel fiercely, among the four founding dukes, Duke Andrews had completely fallen to Ethel, and Duke Klossoe was a wavering man, and today he seemed to be a little uneasy. As for the Grand Duke of Athens, who spent most of his time in his fiefdom, was the only duke who was not in the royal capital, and having his support was tantamount to conspiring with a tiger, and Baldwin naturally did not put his hopes on him.

Baldwin cast his gaze into the inconspicuous corner of the round table, where plainly dressed men in thick overcoats concealed their faces under wide felt hats, like a gypsy in the street rather than the Grand Duke of Athens of the kingdom.

But no one else drew their attention to the Grand Duke of Athens, who was more unpleasant to them than Ether. Despite being a vassal state of the New Blad Kingdom, it was actually divided into one side.

"Your Majesty Baldwin!" Suddenly, a man's voice came from the corner, not very special and not very loud, but it had a unique coercion that instantly suppressed the quarrel.

Everyone focused their attention and eyes on the man at the same time, and many people heard the voice of the Grand Duke of Athens for the first time, let alone his true face. And this man is indeed different, that kind of faint temperament can only be cultivated in the immersion of power.

Although everyone did not like him, they were afraid of him, and it was this man who wiped out the main army of the new Roman Empire in the south in the Peloponnese, and the ratio of forces between the two sides was a terrible 1:10, and because of this, this man had a transcendent position among the dukes.

"Do you have any comments, Alfonso?" There was a subtle look on Baldwin's grim face, and it seemed that he was also a little surprised.

It turned out that the name of the Grand Duke of Athens was Alfonso, and the ministers whispered among them, and the first time they saw this Grand Duke, everyone was more curious than respectful.

And it seems that the relationship between Emperor Baldwin and this man is not ordinary, and that tone seems to have known each other for a long time.

"If you only want to be the king of the new Bullard kingdom, then you choose to stick to Constantinople, if you want to be the emperor of Roman in the name of it, then you can only be worthy of that crown if you receive the honor of the East." Alfonso said indifferently. And this rhetoric is not at all like the words of a courtier to the monarch, but a dialogue that stands entirely on an equal level, and even Esher is not so blatant.

"A day is better than a sheep to live for a hundred years!" Alfonso uttered that long-standing Italian proverb, "It's all about your decisions, but for me a false peace is far worse than war." ”

The man actually took off his hat, but underneath that, there was an extremely terrifying face. It was a face that would have nightmares even if it was seen, there was no place to call it skin, the red bare muscles were disgusting, and the face was definitely well-groomed by the devil.

Just when everyone was startled by his face, Alfonso made an astonishing announcement, "Soon, I will declare war on Nicaea on my own behalf, and the entire Duchy of Athens will devote all its strength to the East." ”

"Duke Alfonso, what are you doing here? Don't forget, you're still a vassal of the New Brad Kingdom, and your words and deeds represent the kingdom. The privy envoy stood up abruptly and rebuked.

"I said that this is my personal behavior, are you saying that because of my behavior, Your Majesty will come to cooperate with me?" Alphonso's face once again sent shudders down the Privy Council, "If the Cabinet and the Privy Council can't allow it, then I'm going to break away from the New Bullard Kingdom." ”