Since Constans II ordered the arrest of Pope Martin I, the entire Eastern Roman Empire was in turmoil, and the opposition, led by Theodosius, insisted that Constans II pardon Martin I, and even some radicals, and demanded that Constans II retract the previous decree prohibiting the discussion of the divinity and humanity of Christ, and apologize to Martin I.

As the Roman Emperor, Constans II had his own pride, and he believed that everything he was doing now was to restore the glory of the Roman Empire, so in his opinion, those who opposed him were all careerists with ulterior motives like Theodosius, so he must not give in.

It was precisely because of this that the opposition and supporters within the Roman Empire began a bitter and long quarrel, and the two sides seized any opportunity at their disposal and tried every means to attack each other.

At the beginning, the quarrel between the two sides was relatively restrained, and the focus of the dispute was mainly on the religious aspect, but as time went on, this quarrel slowly changed its flavor, and the opponents were more likely to point the finger at Constans II himself, and even many people attributed the loss of the southern provinces to Constans II, and some people scolded him for his incompetence in private.

Although Rome is also known as the empire, but in the previous long era, Rome was a republic with a very deep atmosphere of freedom, and the nobles jointly managed the country, although there is an emperor now, but the authority of the emperor is far from being compared with the monarchy of the Tang Dynasty, and many nobles do not have much awe of the emperor, and even publicly express some dissatisfaction with the emperor.

For example, a great nobleman named Chernov, who was at a gathering of nobles. A speech was made in public against the arrest of Martin I by Constans II. And the words are very intense, even at the end of the speech. Cherno also counted the lost overseas provinces of the Roman Empire after his accession to the throne, and publicly insulted Constants II's incompetence, which attracted the support of many nobles at the party.

When this matter reached the ears of Constans II, he was furious, but there was nothing he could do, after all, that Cherno was not an ordinary person, and their family had deep ties in the army, and it was said that they were also connected to Theodosius. And the most important point is: What Cherno said was also true, and he had no way to refute it.

However, Constans II was completely enraged by Chernau's words, and he no longer intended to play with Theodosius, so he thought of an excellent solution to the matter.

A few days later, Constans II, in the name of the Orthodox Church, announced that in three months' time he would convene a debate that would be open to all nobles, and that the debate would be on whether to pardon Martin I. At that time, both reactionaries and supporters will be able to speak freely at the congress. Nobles who did not come were considered to have abstained, and they had to obey absolutely whatever the decision of the council made. There must be no more meaning.

This method of Constantis II can be described as a brilliant trick, the key is that this assembly will be held in Constantinople, and as long as it is a nobleman who does not come. It would be seen as an abstention, and this article pointed directly at Theodosius, the leader of the opposition. The reason why Theodosius dared to argue with Constans II. It was because he had been staying in Asia Minor that Constans II had nothing to do with him. But if he dared to return to Constantinople, then it would not matter whether Martin I was pardoned or not, and the important thing was that Theodosius would probably never return to Asia Minor.

Of course, Theodosius could also choose not to return to Constantinople, but in doing so, it would certainly deal a fatal blow to the prestige he had built up so hard, after all, the opposition was headed by him, and if he was not present when it was debating whether to pardon Martin I, then the opposition would definitely lose, and Martin I could also be convicted for his absence.

In fact, this is where Constans II's advantage lies, he holds the supreme power of the Roman Empire in his hands, and a random plan he came up with put Theodosius in a dilemma, on the one hand, obediently returned to Constantinople, and then rescued Martin I, which made his reputation greater, but he will never be free again in the future. On the one hand, he stayed in Asia Minor like a turtle with a shrunken head, watching the prestige he had accumulated so hard to build up collapse, and he would not do anything big in the future, which was really a difficult problem to choose.

In the face of Constans II's initiative, Theodosius also felt a heavy pressure, and even many nobles wrote to him, both opposition and supporters, some persuaded him not to fall for His Majesty's strategy, and some mocked him for not having the courage to go to Constantinople at all. It can be said that for a while, the eyes of the nobles of the Roman Empire were almost all focused on Theodosius.

Faced with this difficult predicament, Theodosius finally had to make a choice, and as a glorious soldier, he finally chose to return to Constantinople to attend the convention.

It's just that what Constans II didn't expect was that Theodosius set off immediately after making his choice, and everywhere he went, he would give speeches in the most prosperous places in the region, declaring that he was for the truth, and at the same time to save Martin I from punishment, although he knew that after returning, he was likely to face prison, but he still chose to go back without hesitation.

It can be said that no matter what he said, Theodosius tried to portray himself as a great martyr, and his behavior did have a huge effect, along the way Theodosius's reputation was soaring, the whole empire was praising his sacrifice, and even some supporters of Constans II changed their opinion of Theodosius, claiming that although his position was different, Theodosius was indeed a hero.

It's just that the growth of Theodosius's prestige made Constans II restless, and even he hated himself a little, and he was worried that he Theodosius would think about it for a long time, and it would take nearly a month to rush back from Asia Minor, so he set the meeting for three months later. Fortunately, now Theodosius spent three months touring around the empire, making his popularity stronger day by day, and after three months, I don't know how many more supporters Theodosius will have?

Faced with this situation, Constans II could no longer sit still, and hurriedly ordered Theodosius to rush to Constantinople as soon as possible, in the name of discussing with him the opening of the debate assembly. Although this reason was very far-fetched, and everyone could see the intention of Constans II, after receiving this order, Theodosius chose to obey it, and did not give a speech anymore, but really returned to Constantinople as quickly as possible.

For Theodosius's abnormal behavior, Constans II felt very uneasy, although he did not know the old saying of the Central Plains 'abnormality is a demon', but he also smelled a conspiracy from Theodosius's abnormal behavior, so after Theodosius's arrival in Constantinople, he was immediately put under house arrest, and no one was allowed to visit without his permission.

Although Constans' move to put Theodosius under house arrest caused the dissatisfaction of many nobles, Constans II was already determined to solve this threat, so no matter what the people below said, he did not have the slightest intention of releasing Theodosius, and even the military in Asia Minor showed some signs of instability, but he still forced it down.

On the other hand, after being placed under house arrest, Theodosius seemed very calm, as if he didn't know that he was under house arrest, reading books and drinking tea every day, and occasionally asking the guards some interesting stories about Constantinople during this time, that kind of leisurely appearance, it was like a vacation.

In this way, Theodosius remained under house arrest until the day of the conference, which, although related to religion, was not held in Hagia Sophia, but in the Palazzo La Manior, where official ceremonies are usually held, as a sign of the importance attached to the convention.

The Holy Palace is not only the residence of the Roman Emperor, but also the seat of government, and the highest residence of the Orthodox Church, such an important place, of course, is heavily defended, especially the entire Holy Palace in the southeast corner of Constantinople, the southeast and southeast sides are built facing the sea, but both sides are full of cliffs, it is very difficult to climb, so the defense force is also very weak.

But what no one expected was that just when Constans II convened the nobles to discuss whether to pardon Martin I, in the southeast corner of the Holy Palace, a team that had been lurking here the previous night began to move.

The team sailed from the coast of Asia Minor on the other side of Constantinople, and then spent the middle of the night arriving here and lurking, and when it was just dawn, the assembly began to be held in the Holy Palace, and the defense forces were all concentrated around the La Manior Palace, at which time the Inner Ying in the Holy Palace had the opportunity to rush to the edge of the cliff, and then lower the rope, and let the army under the cliff climb up the rope.

The number of this army is not much, just a thousand people, but this thousand troops are the elite of the elite, they are all veterans who survived the battle with the Great Food, not only have strong personal qualities, but also are very good at small groups to cooperate in combat, even if the general army is several times as many as them, it is difficult to defeat this thousand people head-on.

After this elite team of 1,000 people climbed the cliff, they immediately rushed to the Ramaniol Palace as fast as they could, under the leadership of Nei Ying. With the area of the Holy Palace, their thousand people can't be completely controlled at all, so the best way is to capture Constans II directly, which is also their previous plan, as for what happens after Capturing Constans II, they don't need to worry about it. (To be continued......)