The golden-red sun slowly set, shedding a warm afterglow, gilding the clouds with a golden glow; And at the end of the sky, covered by a pale red sunset, 10,000 starlight was already blinking happily. The cool sea breeze at dusk, blowing across the rough Bosphorus and sweeping the ancient streets of Constantinople, brings a touch of sea salt to the citizens after a long day's work.

According to the rhythm of life in the Middle Ages, it was already time for the citizens to go home and rest, but today is a different day.

For a grand celebration not seen in many years, the streets today are filled with bright bunting and streamers, as well as flower baskets decorated with wildflowers. Bursts of beautiful music and singing, accompanied by the smell of wine and food, slowly drifted from the square in front of the Hagia Sophia, plunging the whole of Constantinople into a sea of joy.

On this day, the twelfth monarch of the Palaiologos dynasty of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine. Emperor Palaiologos, or Constantine XI, was going to celebrate his wedding to a princess from the Kingdom of Georgia.

At the same time, it is also a celebration of the emperor's 50th birthday, as well as another revival of the Eastern Roman Empire, and by the way, the meaning of the harvest festival.

-- The empire had just been revived, and its financial resources were extremely limited, and all the ceremonies could only be held together as much as possible.

In fact, the Emperor's marriage had been in the works for a long time, long before Sultan Mehmed II set out a siege of Constantinople, and even before a certain hapless pedagogical student Bethsven crossed over to Emperor Constantine XI, a diplomatic corps carrying a dowry. He was sent to Georgia on the other side of the Black Sea to discuss the wedding with the Georgian king.

However, first of all, the trip was delayed because of diplomatic bargaining. The second was that the siege of the Turks cut off the passage of messengers, so the political wedding was almost aborted - many Georgians believed that according to the siege of Constantinople by the Turks, Constantinople would have fallen before the bride had even set off...... And that's exactly what happened in real history.

And when the Eastern Roman Empire, with the assistance of poison gas and nuclear waste, miraculously achieved a Jedi turnaround, at the time of the military horses. Constantine XI completely forgot about it...... Due to the lack of information, he had always thought that the mission was gone.

So, when these long-forgotten marriage proposals. When he finally brought a Georgian princess to Constantinople, Constantine XI was so surprised that he couldn't speak for a long time...... He barely remembered it.

But in any case, since the bride had been brought, Constantine XI also felt that it was time for him to get married.

-- Due to a series of previous events. He is the only one left in the royal family of Palaiologos, who now rules the Eastern Roman Empire. And he was fifty years old. If you can't hurry up and marry a woman and have children, then this dynasty may really be extinct.

At this time, it was the autumn harvest season, and this year was his fiftieth birthday, so the emperor decided to celebrate all kinds of things worth celebrating.

I have to say that letting a young girl marry a fifty-year-old man is a bit cruel no matter how you look at it. But in this era of popular political marriages, it is not uncommon – let alone old husbands and young wives. Even young husbands, old wives and close relatives marrying abound. There were often aristocratic teenagers who had to marry widows in their forties and fifties for the sake of political transactions...... The other person's biological children. Maybe they're all bigger than this little husband.

Relatively speaking, the pairing of old husbands and young wives like this is probably a relatively acceptable type.

“…… Boom-boom-boom-"

With the sound of cannon salutes coming from the city walls in the distance, a grand open-air party finally began in the square outside the Hagia Sophia. Although the sky was darkening as time passed, red bonfires were lit in the square, and lanterns and candles of all colors were lit to illuminate the night of Constantinople as bright as day.

In the magnificent Hagia Sophia, illuminated by countless candles and chandeliers, the officials and nobles of this miniature empire and the dignitaries gathered together - in order to make the wedding lively, not too deserted, Emperor Constantine XI completely broke the convention, not only officials, clergy and nobles, but also some citizens with a little status were invited to watch the emperor's wedding.

At the center of the crowd were Emperor Constantine XI, dressed in a purple robe, wearing a golden crown and dyed his hair, and Princess Helena of Georgia, dressed in a long skirt and a cloak of colored silk and covered in brightly colored jewelry.

In keeping with the customs of ancient Rome, this wedding was very different from what would later be called a Western wedding: there were no wedding dresses, no red carpets, no rings and no white doves...... Overall, the wedding itself was concise and there was little to no red tape.

-- In full view, first a nun presented a golden sash on a tray, and then the Orthodox Patriarch Gregory walked up to the two couples with a Bible in his hand, and asked the guests three times in succession whether they had any objections to the marriage, as is traditional.

After making sure that all the guests had no objections, Patriarch Gregory dipped the golden belt in a basin of holy water and gently sprinkled it on the newlyweds. Then the Grand Duke Lucas, the commander of the Imperial Navy, who had been invited to witness the marriage, took the golden belt from the hand of the Patriarch and slowly tied it around the wrists of the two men - and at this point, the marriage was declared and everyone cheered for the couple.

“…… In God's name, I declare that these two men will be husband and wife from now on! ”

“…… Long live the Emperor! Long live the Queen! ”

The earth-shattering and continuous shouts, like the tide of the sea, spread from inside the church to the square outside the church, causing a "buzzing" echo. Some of them may indeed have admired Constantine XI's great work in reviving the empire, and sincerely blessed the emperor's marriage. But many more are salivating over the upcoming free luxury meal – a meal they've been looking forward to for a long time.

Really. Amid their excited cheers, barrels of wine and beer, vegetables and chickens and ducks in baskets. There are also freshly caught marine fish, which are all carried up like flowing water. Citizens excitedly held clay cups and wooden cups and gathered around the barrels to drink freely. Chickens, ducks and marine fish are slaughtered on the spot and bled out, cleaned up, and grilled by the chefs directly on the fire until golden and crispy......

In short, in the face of a hearty meal of wine and wine. The townspeople drank dizzily and ate with their mouths full of oil, and at the same time inarticulate the praise of the emperor's generosity. Dancers, musicians and jugglers hired by the government on a temporary basis. They also started their own performances, filling the square with a cacophony. There are even quite a few prostitutes who come out at this time to be coquettish, as if they are ready to take advantage of the opportunity of the celebration to make a big profit.

In addition to this, there are many nuns and priests holding green onions. According to the scene of the previous "miracle". In front of the church, there is a green onion dance.

“…… Alla Rub Beep Beep Lap Lap Bang ......Bang

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All of this noise was just a common man's rest and pleasure, while in Hagia Sophia, the nobles enjoyed it even more.

-- In fact, a worldly wedding feast like this should logically be held in the palace, not in the church.

But the problem was the old royal palace in Constantinople, which was in ruins. It took months to clean it and the roof was torn down. At the moment, there is no way to entertain guests. And the miniature Xinxing Palace next to the Golden Horn is not only shabby in appearance, but also can't fit so many people...... As a result, the helpless emperor Bixia could only make do with the Hagia Sophia as a banquet hall.

Although this practice may seem disrespectful to God, at first glance, the wedding banquet was quite magnificent.

The makeshift table, covered with snow-white linen tablecloths, is piled high with a variety of foods: a wide variety of fruit or preserves, fragrant white bread and pancakes, as well as roast chicken seasoned with herbs, roast beef sprinkled with pepper, sea fish marinated and fried in honey, and whole roast suckling pig, each placed on a beautiful blue and white porcelain plate, which shimmers in the surrounding lights.

Under the flickering candlelight, the band played soothing and cheerful tunes. Young aristocrats dressed in fancy costumes hold wine glasses and whisper to each other, telling trivial and interesting stories while looking for their favorite female "prey"; The beautiful girls, who had spent most of the day dressing up carefully, looked at the handsome men they liked shyly, expecting that they would come and invite them to dance.

As for the elderly magnates, they are more accustomed to staying in remote corners and exchanging views on the current situation.

“…… It's hard to believe that this crop called 'potato' can be harvested in only three or four months, and the yield is also very high. I just don't know if we can spread it - if we can successfully promote it, we should not have to worry about food for a long time!

Alas, as the plague continued to spread, the commerce of the Mediterranean also shrank severely, and the merchant ships of Venice and Genoa had rarely come this year, and there was nowhere to import grain from Constantinople! ”

State Secretary Franz took a piece of roasted golden potato from his plate with a fork, took a small bite, and said with a relaxed expression. The roasted potatoes are sprinkled with crushed nuts, spices and honey, and at the price of medieval condiments, it should be considered a luxury.

“…… Even without these new crops, the empire would have been out of the food crisis long ago. cough cough cough cough ...... Oh, what the hell is this? ”

Grand Duke Lucas, the commander of the Imperial Navy, who had just finished serving as a witness, curiously poked a newly harvested chili pepper from the nursery with his fork, put it in his mouth and chewed it a few times, but was immediately choked with tears, "...... cough cough cough cough ...... Where did you just go? Although there is a plague everywhere in this shijie now, and it is rare for a merchant ship to send food to Constantinople, there are not so many mouths for food in the country. ”

He grabbed the porcelain cup filled with cider. He poured a few large sips into his mouth, and then he breathed a sigh of relief, "...... From the Bosphorus to the Danelles. Within the entire empire, there are now only a maximum of 300,000 people left. After the Turks retreated, the emperor ordered the slaughter of all citizens of the empire who converted to Islam, regardless of their status as paupers or nobles. For a while, corpses were killed everywhere, and I don't know how many long-established families were wiped out because of the severance of bloodline......

The light was executed by me. There are fourteen with the surname Komnenos, and even more are from the Lascaris family and the Ducasse family (the top powerful families of the Eastern Roman Empire in the past, similar to the gate lord clan of the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China). I really don't treat them as nobles at all......"

As a descendant of the traditional aristocracy of the Eastern Roman Empire, although Grand Duke Lucas knew very well that they were all to blame for the destruction of the above-mentioned century-old wealthy families, he never relented when he personally presided over the massacre. But after the fact. I still can't help but feel concerned.

“…… If they were still Christians, then it was really necessary for the empire to abide by the law among the nobles and not to slaughter them without permission. ”

Franz couldn't help but roll his eyes at Grand Duke Lucas's sigh, "...... But they are no longer God's people, nor nobles with glorious blood, but pagans who have turned their backs on empires and their faith! It even gave it a new name in the Arabic style! Do we want to give a group of Muslims the positions and titles of the Empire and share in the blessings of the Virgin Mary? Lucas. Where has your faith and piety gone? ”

Hearing this, Grand Duke Lucas couldn't help choking. Then he was speechless.

-- In this era, the borders of Western countries changed frequently, national concepts had not yet been truly formed, and while the nobles of various countries generally despised the commoners and regarded themselves as noble blood, they often cherished each other, and rarely became estranged simply because of their nationality.

For example, during the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, the French peasants were overwhelmed by the oppression and broke out in the "Zachary Uprising", and the British and French armies, who had just been at war, would unite to suppress the French peasant revolt -- just like during the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese and the party-state suppressed the Red Communist Party together......

Although this "transnational class concept" of the European aristocracy is not intemperate enough, if the Christian aristocracy wants to claim to be pious, they also regard the Muslim emir and the Pasha as their own...... It seems that there are still some difficulties.

Of course, in a few hundred years, the West's discipline will be further lost, to the point that they will pay for guns and send thousands of troops to assist Islamic extremist groups in Syria and bloodifully slaughter local Christians...... However, at that time, Westerners no longer talked about faith, but only about freedom -- although the same extremist organizations did not forget to carry out terrorist bombings in European and American countries while receiving sponsorship funds from "human rights organizations......

To put it bluntly, the European Christians of this era, although they had all kinds of ignorance, superstition and backwardness in their concepts, were still relatively disciplined at least in terms of their faith camp - unless they were under the rule of a Muslim monarch, if even the high-ranking nobles converted to Islam and still recognized the other party's aristocracy, then Christian churches and monasteries should be closed.

“…… Alas, in this plague era full of disasters, what can our country be counted by slaughtering a few heretics? In Italy and France to the west, entire cities and even entire states were killed! I've heard that even Rome and Venice have been abandoned! ”

Franz let out a long sigh and raised his glass, "...... May the Virgin Mary bless our city forever from the plague! ”

Archduke Lucas hesitated, then raised his glass and touched Franz's:

“…… May God bless us as soon as possible for our new queen to give birth to an heir to the throne so that there will be no turmoil in the country! ”

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At the same time, the traversers who came across the wormhole were also attending this wedding banquet - I don't know if it was Weishenme, the wedding of Constantine XI, and among the traversers, only Wang Qiu and Ma Tong were seated, and the others were nowhere to be seen.

In front of the two of them, a golden, crispy roast chicken was dripping with fat, and the thick beef broth was fragrant, and the coffee-colored broth was filled with carrots, broad beans, cabbage, and potatoes. A small plate with a few pieces of pastry and white bread was placed next to a jar of honey and two large glasses of red wine.

For medieval Europeans, this was already a very hearty meal.

But the two of them didn't know how to eat, Wang Qiu barely nibbled some chicken, but Senior Sister Ma Tong just grabbed a piece of pancake helplessly and looked at it, and finally didn't put any food into her mouth, "...... Such pastries are too coarse, right, Weishenme does not have mousse cake and Tisumira? ”

“…… Although the appearance of the pastry is ugly, it is also a pure natural green and pollution-free ingredient, and we can't eat it over there! ”

Wang Qiu put down the chicken leg in his hand and glanced at her, "...... The concept of healthy food has always been popular these days – didn't you know that the official name of mousse cake is actually artificial gelatin cream cake, and Tisumira should be called Italian moldy cheese? ”

“…… Disgust - don't say it, you guy just likes to destroy other people's beautiful fantasies, and it's not cute at all! ”

Ma Tong made a disgusted expression, and at the same time stretched out his hand to Emperor Constantine XI, who was sitting on the throne and receiving congratulations from his ministers, "...... By the way, I'm afraid it's our zuihou who came over once, and we got along anyway, so I'm really not going to say goodbye to him? ”

“…… Alas, there is no feast in the world that will not be dispersed, and it is better to leave quietly than to make him sad and sad, and I am also in a blockage......"

Wang Qiu glanced up at the smiling emperor Bixia, and shook his head with a complicated expression, "...... When I toasted him just now, I had slipped the note into his hand...... Anyway, the message letter and parting gift to him are all placed, so don't say goodbye! ”

“…… Afraid that he will be sad and sad? Hehe, I think you're afraid that he will get angry after knowing the truth and become a werewolf to bite you! ”

Regarding Wang Qiu's "thoughtfulness", Ma Tong snorted disapprovingly and sneered at this.

In short, in the midst of everyone's own thoughts, the wedding of Emperor Constantine XI finally came to an end. (To be continued.) )