When Paynes received the letter from the Holy See, it was late autumn, and he was still in such a bad mood that the first hundred years of the eleventh century were about to pass.

Paynes was born into a French aristocratic family, his father had inherited the status of Duke of France, he was the second son in the family, so when his father died, the duke title left behind was hereditary by his elder brother, although he was convinced that his ability was much higher than that of his brother, but according to the law of the time, as the second son, he was not entitled to the hereditary title of his father.

His father left him a considerable fortune after his death, but he was a poor man compared to his brother. Seeing his situation so bad, he couldn't help but feel resentful, but he was helpless. Although he was tall, powerful and even extremely intelligent, he was also addicted to gambling and alcohol, and in the following days, his family property was quickly squandered, and in order to pay off his gambling debts, he had to sell the estate where he lived and moved to Paris.

In order to save money, he dismissed most of his servants, leaving only a few around him who were still following him, he was a knight, although he was almost penniless, but for the dignity of a knight, he still hugged every time he went out, so that all Parisians knew that he was still beautiful.

When he received the letter from the Holy See, after the initial joy, his brow furrowed again, and Paris was so far away from Rome that he simply did not have enough money to travel.

But in the face of the Pope's call, he did not want to give up this opportunity, and felt that it was not just the Pope's call, but the Lord Jesus and even God calling himself.

He went to his brother and struggled to open his mouth to borrow money from his brother.

For the sake of his brother, Paynes's brother generously sponsored his brother's trip to Rome, and in addition to the funds, he also bought property and hired many servants for Paynes, including nine horses, including four of the finest war horses, a priest, a steward, a secretary, an attendant, a guide, a cook, a servant with the master's shield and spear, a handyman (with three horses), and two horse boys.

The reason why his brother did this was because he didn't want the whole brother to lose face in front of the Holy See for himself and his dead father, so he helped Paynes this time.

So Paynes went on his way in the late autumn season, and after a month's long journey, he followed the route of Hannibal's surprise attack on Rome, and arrived in Rome before winter came.

A descendant of a nobleman from France will certainly receive the best hospitality from the Holy See. After arriving in Rome, Paynes took up residence in the church where the Pope lived, and every day he received the finest hospitality, and he was delighted that the sweetest Sicilian wines could be drunk until every day he was drunk.

It wasn't until the depths of winter in Rome that the bishops, kings, nobles, and merchants from all over the Italian peninsula arrived.

On a snowy night, Pope Urban II officially convened the meeting.

That night, Pearns was led by the clergy of the church into the hall where the Pope usually presided over, and at this time it was already full of all kinds of people, the distinguished bishops and kings were in the most prominent and distinguished positions, and the noisy Italian merchants sat on either side of the door, and as the aristocratic class in the middle, Paynes was also given a decent position, so that he could condescendingly condescend to the Italian merchants who only knew money in their eyes.

With the sound of the door opening, everyone stood up, as Pope Urban II, supported by his personal attendants, approached the hall.

The bishops and kings of the regions, as well as the nobles, all stood and took off their hats, while the Italian merchants knelt directly on the ground to salute the pope.

Urban II was very old, and his movement was very inconvenient, and he barely sat on the papal throne with the support of his personal attendants.

He motioned for everyone to be seated, and a miserly smile appeared on his face.

After everyone was seated, Urban II cleared his throat and began his speech, unlike his predecessor, he was a straightforward man who never beat around the bush, so he immediately threw out the topic of the day.

"Constantinople is in danger, Alexios has sent a messenger to ask us for help, which is why I have summoned you here to discuss whether we want to help the poor Byzantines."

As soon as these words came out, the pot immediately opened in the council room, and the people of the main battle and the main peace were red-faced like shrews in the market and quarreled like shrews scolding the streets.

"The defeat of the Byzantines is a sign of their incompetence to sacrifice the lives of our noble soldiers for the sake of these cowards." ”

There was a boo from the main war faction, and someone immediately retorted: "The Seljuks are careerists, and their purpose in reaching Byzantium is not simply to capture Constantinople, their purpose is to occupy all of Europe." Take this rich land for yourself. So we must send troops to destroy them. ”

The Lords and Peacekeepers said: "The Seljuks are no match for the Catholic See, and they know this very well." It is impossible for these thieves, barbarians, to threaten the safety of Rome. Don't waste our precious money and soldiers on these things. Our real opponents are the Saracens, these Turkic clowns, to hell with them. ”

Before the words fell, someone from the main battle faction stood up again and said: "In the last hundred years, the Seljuks have become a maritime power in the Orr Sea (Mediterranean). Their fleet seriously threatened Europe's maritime trade routes. If that happens, we will lose all contact with the Asia Minor Peninsula and Egypt, and we will be in danger of being in short supply. So we must defeat the Seljuks and let them know that the Holy See is the true master of Orsea. ”

"But what are we going to do with the Seljuk navy?" Someone from the Lord and faction retorted: "The navies of our countries are simply vulnerable compared to their fleets. We can't handle pirates, let alone a powerful naval fleet, so you can't let our soldiers fight at sea on horseback. ”

Before he could finish speaking, another of the Lord and the Sect said, "Also, Byzantium is not worthy of sympathy at all, they are all traitors to God." They refused to carry out the orders of the Holy See and openly broke with the Holy See. And it annexed Bulgaria with our solemn protests, and was in cahoots with Orthodox Russia. They also once forcibly occupied the northern part of Italy, killing all the men there, and forcibly taking the women there for themselves, this kind of bandit barbarism is not worthy of sympathy. Their plea for help could be seen clearly even by the lowest of the scribes, and it was only a temporary submission to Rome, and once we had helped them to break the siege, they would surely pounce on us again like wolves and bite us hard, so they must not send troops to help them. ”

"Never!" The crowd erupted in a high-pitched shout: "Let them fend for themselves, the Holy See will not die for these robbers." ”

Listening to the waves of shouts, Urban II glanced at Yang Rui, the papal attendant beside him. and smiled at Yang Rui slyly, telling him that it was time to speak.

Yang Rui walked to the middle of the chamber, and this action made everyone quiet, and everyone looked at the young and handsome priest in a daze.

Yang Rui looked around and said loudly: "Due to the Pope's physical condition, I will speak on behalf of the Pope today. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone exclaimed in amazement and looked at Urban II on the throne. The old pope nodded, signaling to everyone that every word and deed of this young man tonight represented the supreme power of the Holy See.

There was silence in the chamber again, and everyone was waiting for Yang Rui to speak, after all, the papal attendant was a crucial figure, and anyone should give up their thoughts first and listen to his exposition first.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Pope is delighted by your unparalleled loyalty to the Holy See." Yang Rui began his speech: "It is undeniable that the Byzantines are a bunch of clowns who do not deserve sympathy. However, please do not forget that when we do anything, we should think about whether it will bring us great benefits or immeasurable losses. Think it through before you put it into action. (To be continued.) )