The autumn wind blows through the streets of Constantinople, and the leaves in the public gardens begin to wither, and the fallen leaves make a whispering sound as the autumn wind sweeps across the ground. After finishing the patrol work, Su Lun and the team returned to the army duty station, and saw the next team of the Royal Forest Army going to patrol in a whisper. Many people frowned, looking worried.

Sitting down at the duty office, the brother of the same team, Hülegü, leaned over and whispered to Su Lun: "Su Lun, some people say that the food can't come, and the rations won't be distributed this month." ”

Ever since the Minister of the Interior, who was with Hülegü at the engagement banquet of Duke Kantakuzenus's son, he helped the imperial physician treat the poisoning, and the relationship between Suren and Hülegü was naturally much closer. Interestingly, Hülegü was the youngest son in his family. Suren's youngest brother's name was also Hülegü. However, when he heard the question about food, Su Lun reflexively sank his face and replied unhappily: "There was no arrears of food last month!" ”

"I'm talking about this month." Hülegu replied in surprise.

Su Lun's face was gloomy, he had heard this rumor in other places, and he was particularly concerned in his heart. Su Lun's family has no land, no shops, and all their livelihood depends on Su Lun's errand as a royal guard. The Guards alone were not enough to support a large family, including their parents, four younger siblings, and a pregnant wife. Su Lun's family relied on five catties of rations per day provided by the imperial court to military families. At least until last month, Su Lun's family had received 120 catties of wheat flour and 30 catties of rice on time and in full. The empty rice bowl noodle bucket was filled again, and five catties of corned beef were hung on the door beam of the kitchen. Su Lun's family carefully poured half a kilogram of sugar, spices, salt, and alkaline noodles for steamed steamed buns into a special jar. Not to mention that there is no food for a month, as long as it is sent two days late, Su Lun's family will be hungry.

Hülegü knew the situation of Su Lun's family, and looked at Su Lun's dark expression as if he could drip water, and he didn't dare to say any more. His family has a small population, and even if his father and mother move back to live with Hülegü, there will still be a little surplus of food. Although the day after the food was distributed, Hülegü's brothers and sisters would go home to clean up, and his father and mother would distribute the food that had not been eaten last month. Of course, Hülegü's wife was unhappy, and Hülegü also scolded his wife for this. Hülegü's older brothers and sisters have loved him since he was a child, and the reason why Hülegü became a soldier was also because the family decided to let the eldest brother stay to take care of his parents after discussion. In fact, the eldest brother wants to be a soldier the most.

Today, the families of the Roman legions are similar, and all their livelihoods depend on military treatment. If the imperial court is unable to supply food, tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of thousands of military family members will fall into starvation in the blink of an eye.

A few more days passed, and it was time for the distribution of rations. Seeing the grain trucks dragging grain straight to the army distribution point, Su Lun, who was patrolling, felt a lot more settled. When the patrol was over, Suren asked the captain for leave and wanted to go back and have a look. The recent news is flying all over the sky, and Su Lun is still not at ease.

"No way!" The captain sternly rejected Suren's request.

"Why?" Su Lun rarely took time off work and felt that his request could be granted.

"There are too many people taking time off today." The captain gave an answer unhappily.

Suren no longer insisted. He knew he wasn't the only one in the Legion who was worried. In the past few years, everyone has never been hungry, and before this few years, everyone was under the shroud of hunger every day. Suren didn't even have the courage to think back to those years.

In the next two days, the atmosphere in the Praetorian Guard was noticeably better, and everyone was smiling, as if they had inadvertently won the battle. In the residence of the Duke of Kantakuzenus, which the Janissaries had never thought of, His Excellency the Duke looked gloomy and listened to the news from his subordinates. A few days ago, the Eastern Roman Emperor put forward the Duke's request to hand over all the territories, and the Duke broke out with the backbone of two consecutive glasses of 'poisonous wine' and resolutely opposed the Emperor's proposal. The Duke objected and said that the letter must have been forged by someone from Europa to frame the Duke.

The Eastern Roman Emperor did not have a seizure, and it seemed that the wind was calm and asked the duke to go back and think about it. When the Duke returned home that day, he immediately hid in bed and burrowed into the bed, and he only felt exhausted, and his whole body was cold as if he was about to freeze to death. In the days that followed, the duke began various actions, sending him to the ministers of the court to inquire about the news and connect with the nobles. The results were far from what he expected. The men of the Marquis of Silkia, an ally of the Duke who had gone to the duke today, returned to the duke, and the duke waited for his subordinates to report with the greatest expectations.

The subordinate handed the letter of the Marquis of Hilchia, and the duke quickly opened it, and there was not a single word in it that instigated the old Duchy of Athens, but only talked about the opinions against the duke surrendering the territory. Read it from beginning to end, and the Duke read it again. The anger in my heart couldn't help but bubble up. Inciting the nobles of the old Duchy of Athens was a two-man affair, and the marquis was on his side as if he had never done it. In the letter, the duke was left in front. This was nothing like what the Duke had expected before.

Suppressing his anger, the Duke asked his subordinates what the Marquis had said. The content of the subordinates was no different from the letter, and the marquis only hoped that the duke would resist the pressure and reject the emperor's improper demands. The more the Duke listened, the more sad he became, and it seemed that the Marquis was ready to do so perfunctory. The subordinate finally said: "My lord, the marquis said that there will be a problem with the food supply in Constantinople, and the emperor is afraid that he will not have the current prestige at that time." ”

These words made the Duke feel like he was holding on to a life-saving straw. The emperor was now able to be majestic, relying on the Roman legions who ate the emperor's food. The rebuilt Roman army was loyal to the emperor because these poor ghosts had food with the emperor. Eastern Rome was not a food producer in the first place, and all food was obtained through the trade of the Quadripartite Alliance. If something goes wrong with the food supply......

"Really?" The Duke asked excitedly.

"That's what the Marquis said."

"You go out and find out!" The duke hurriedly ordered.

Looking at the backs of his cronies, the duke was both expectant and uneasy. The duke's father did not use all his strength to obtain the title of Eastern Roman Emperor, because the duke's father believed that the Eastern Roman Emperor had nothing but an empty title, and the Cantacuzenus family, who owned a large amount of land, could rest assured that they could have power and status. At one point, the duke's father proved to have made a wise judgment. I didn't expect that the pie suddenly fell from the sky and fell into the hands of the Eastern Roman Emperor impartially. The Quadripartite Alliance only recognized the Eastern Roman Emperor as representing the Eastern Roman Empire, and the right to trade fell into the hands of the Emperor. The Eastern Roman emperor, who had been so poor that he borrowed money to maintain his imperial power, suddenly trembled. The duke was very unconvinced every time he thought of this, if the duke had such power, he would definitely be stronger than the current emperor.

Of course, such power is like a castle built on the sand, which can be destroyed by a single wave. The inability of the empire to provide food to the Roman legions inevitably provoked the wrath of the Roman legions, and as long as the duke could provide food, these soldiers would defect to the duke's side. If the Duke can master the Forbidden Army, maybe he can...... All sorts of thoughts swirled, and the Duke fidgeted.

A few hours later, the cronies came back to report. There have been rumors in the market, but the Empire has sent out the food on time, and this rumor has been self-defeating. The news made the Duke depressed like a deflated ball, and suddenly a flash of inspiration occurred to the Duke to think of something. He asked his cronies to come close and whispered to him.

A few more days later, the cronies again returned from the Marquis of Silkia. The news brought back this time was not perfunctory, and the Marquis of Hilkia agreed with the duke's opinion that since the emperor's grain ships had not had problems for several years, it was better to create some misfortune artificially. The Marquis also knew the Duke's difficulties, and only hoped that the Duke would be able to respond to the Marquis's people.

The duke's mood has been up and down these days, because the emperor has sent someone to ask him what decision he has made. Of course, the duke did not dare to express his disagreement, so he could only do a perfunctory matter, and finally sent the emperor's envoy away. The duke himself had already begun to prepare plans to escape from Constantinople and return to his domain. It's too dangerous to stay here.

Knowing that the Marquis was willing to contribute, the Duke was naturally happy. The plan to escape from Constantinople still needs to be carried out, and if enough chaos can be created before leaving, it will be perfect.

The Bosphorus runs north-south, connecting the Black Sea to the north to the Sea of Marmara, part of the Eastern Mediterranean, to the south. Constantinople is located on the eastern shore of the Bosball Strait, with the calm Golden Horn to the north. Ships to and from Constantinople anchored in the Golden Horn.

At night, when the sky is bright and moonlit, you can see a large number of ships moored in the Golden Horn Bay, which reflects the sparkle of the waves. The cosy bay is lazy and beautiful, and the world looks like a master's painting. Although the representative of Ankara of the Assassin League has seen the night view of the Golden Horn many times, he is still quite emotional when he sees it at this time.

During the day, he recuperated in his lodgings, and took out the "Travels to the East" that he had brought from hiding a month ago. On the cover of the book is a dirty palm print, which represents the hand that was stained when he was hiding in the chimney. When it was quiet outside, and the owner was not at home, he sneaked down the chimney and accidentally pressed his palm on the book as he fled. The representative does not like to steal chickens and touch dogs, but the palm prints on the cover cannot be erased, and if they are found by the owner in the same place, it will inevitably arouse the vigilance of the owner. If you just lose a book, the owner of the house will feel that you have forgotten where to put it. It would not have occurred to him that his home had once hid an Assassin leader who needed a large army to besiege him.

This book, written by a priest named Polo, was so fascinating that the Ankara representative was completely addicted to it while hiding. The Polo priest claimed to have been to the Great Song Dynasty in the East, and recorded what he saw and heard in the Great Song Dynasty. The book describes an incomparably wealthy Great Song Dynasty, full of gold and silver treasures, and fertile land flowing with milk and honey. The men of that country are tall and handsome, and the women are slender and beautiful. They wore ornate silk costumes and lived in large houses with precious glass on both sides of wide, paved roads. At night, bright candles are lit in every room, and the whole city seems to be a sea of stars descending on the mortal world. Lin'an, the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, can only be described as the city of God.

Lanterns are also hung on the big ships in the Golden Horn under the moonlight, and the windows of the cabins cast lights, making it look warm and bright. If the number of ships can be increased by a hundredfold, is it possible to construct the beautiful scenery of 'the sea of stars descending into the mortal world' as described in the book?

Just as the representative fell into his imagination, the person next to him whispered, "It's late at night." Start! ”

Being dragged out of his imagination means packing up his mood and walking towards the beach with everyone. When they reached a place close to the sea, some of them continued to walk forward, gradually disappearing into the dark water. On behalf of Ankara, a place where there are pools, there is no sea. The swimming skills represented are limited to levels that do not sink in the water. He was stationed on the shore with the others, watching for the sudden appearance of the Roman army.

Turning his head to look at the sea, he could still see the faint figures of those people in the water, but he couldn't see them at all at this time. The representative also admired these people in his heart, and each of them only brought a tattered wooden plank, and dared to go under the huge ship to scuttle the boat. The admiration was soon diluted by other thoughts. This time, the employer paid a lot of money, and if he could complete the task and get all the money, the representative even felt that he could consider spending his life in Ankara so peacefully.

Now that the imperial court has recruited people to serve as soldiers in Ankara and opened factories and plantations, many people already want to join the army with their representatives. The deputies were also tempted by the treatment announced by the local government in Ankara. He even thought that if he hadn't become a member of the League of Assassins, joining the army might have been a good option. Now he has no choice to join the army, and it is said that some people in the League of Assassins have infiltrated the Roman legions, but those people are destined to be the target of attention, and they will definitely be assigned extremely dangerous tasks at some point. As a representative of the Ankara region, he knows very well how dark the hearts of those commissioners really are.

At this time, there was no one on the shore, so he sat quietly by the water, making himself look like an ordinary person who came out to relax at night, and what he was thinking about in his heart was also ordinary people's affairs. If you really get married and have children. What should I name my child? Over the past few decades, more and more Eastern Roman children have been given the name Hülegü by their parents. Hulegu was the name of the Ilkhanate of the Mongol Empire, a Khan who himself believed in Nestorianism and allied himself with the Eastern Roman Empire against the Cult of the True God. It dealt a heavy blow to the forces of the True God Cult. Impressed the Eastern Roman parents, who feared the power of the True God, to give their sons this name.

As a member of the League of Assassins, he certainly wouldn't have chosen to exterminate the name Hülegü of the Hhassinists. The representative wanted to name his imaginary son Garen, the name of the world's strongest emperor of the Great Song Empire recorded in the book. The emperor, Garen, defeated the mighty Mongol Empire and drove them from the capital to Baghdad thousands of miles away. A son with this name may become a man as powerful as the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty.

The night was getting darker and darker, and even though he had slept several times during the day, the representative couldn't help but yawn heavily. It's too late.

In the city, Suren hugged his wife in bed. His house had four rooms, one for his parents and one for his two younger brothers and two younger sisters. They have one room for husband and wife. The bed was firm. One of the perks of the army was the availability of an oak bed, and the husband and wife had been whispering for a while, when the wife pulled Suren by the arm, pillowed it on his shoulder, and said in a half-asleep voice, "Our son's name is Garen." ”

"Hmm." Su Lun also replied in a daze. He had been thinking of the name of the unborn child for a long time, and it was the captain who gave him this good advice. This time, he told his wife about the name and its meaning, and she was very satisfied.

Soon, the couple fell into a dream. I don't know how long later, the sound of an alarm bell suddenly sounded outside. The wife did not react, and Su Lunteng, who was a soldier, woke up. Gently moving his wife away from him, Suren rolled over and got out of bed to get dressed. Even on vacation, he couldn't ignore the sound of the alarm bell and continue to sleep.

After putting on the military uniform, Su Lun looked at his wife and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully. Su Lun reached out and touched his wife's cheek, opened the door and walked out. As soon as I walked a short way to the palace, there was an army running in front of me with lanterns. When the leader saw Su Lun on the street, he immediately shouted: "What person! Hold it! ”

Su Lun stopped and replied loudly, "I'm from the Royal Forest Army. When you hear the alarm bells, you go back to the palace. ”

The lantern was held high, and the light made Su Lun's eyes squint slightly. When the other party saw that Su Lun was really dressed in the clothes of the Royal Forest Army, he approached and asked suspiciously, "How can you be outside in the middle of the night?" ”

"I'm going home on leave today. When he heard the alarm bell, he rushed back to the team. Suren explained.

The general led by the other party was suspicious, and at this time he heard someone shouting: "Isn't this Su Lun?" ”

As soon as Su Lun heard the voice, he immediately remembered that it was his former comrade-in-arms in the legion who spoke. Sure enough, the old comrade-in-arms wearing the captain's uniform stepped forward and said to the leading officer: "This is Su Lun of the Fifth Legion, who later went to the Imperial Forest Army. ”

"Oh." Although the officer didn't know Su Lun, he seemed to have heard about Su Lun. After thinking about it, he said, "Since you are a royal forester, don't return to the team yet." Now the whole city has begun to be on alert, and if you go any further, you will encounter other troops, so you can follow us. When it is daybreak, you will report to the palace with our heralds. ”

Su Lun had no choice but to follow. Because the officer was right, there were sirens everywhere at this time. If he sleeps at home honestly, it's fine. Now that it has come out, it is inevitable to encounter people from all walks of life. There are acquaintances in this team, and if they encounter troops without acquaintances, they are afraid that they will be detained.

Walking forward side by side with his old comrades, Su Lun asked what was going on. The old comrade-in-arms said: "It should be something happened at the dock." ”

The troops ran all the way, and by the time they reached the Golden Horn, the sky was already a little gray. Looking at the shore, I saw a group of soldiers searching. Looking around, there are no suspicious elements except the soldiers. The troops were assigned to a piece of the coast and began to search. Not long after, a soldier ran back and handed over a book. Su Lun followed the officer, and when he came up, the title of the book was "Travels to the East", and there was a black handprint on it that attracted attention.

The officer didn't really want to call Su Lun, and the night had passed by this time. The officer gave the book to Suren and asked him to return to the city with the herald.