Under Khalil's means of beating a stick and giving a red date, even if they were reluctant, the four families could only compromise, sign the agreement given by Khalil, press their handprints, and swear to gain Khalil Pasha's trust for a short time.

"Guys, you don't have to show that expression, today's events are not necessarily bad."

On the way, the four did not immediately separate, but gathered together, and the Patriarch of Marcozi broke the silence.

"Not a bad thing? I have long seen that he Khalil harbors evil intentions, and I am afraid that he still wishes to be the Sultan himself! Phew, if I had known, I wouldn't have come. ”

Patriarch Michal scolded and scolded, and Patriarch Turahan was also full of sadness, and he didn't even have the heart to play with the jade ball in his hand.

"Hey, Mehmed II is not easy to mess with! Our family has already suffered a lot of losses, and now it is still being involved in the struggle to seize power, and if we are not careful, this is a disaster for the whole clan. ”

"Patriarch Everenos, why don't you speak?"

Several people sighed one after another, and at this time, the Patriarch of Marcozi saw that the Patriarch of Everenos did not speak, but was a little puzzled.

Patriarch Everynos shook his head and looked up to the sky and sighed,

"We have no way out, even if we report this to the Sultan, how can we guarantee that the Sultan will not suspect us?"

Under the voice of Patriarch Everenos, Patriarch Michal's eyes kept flickering, all of which was seen by Patriarch Everynos, and he resisted the urge to laugh in his heart,

"Alright, everyone, go back to each other, and wait for the next move of Lord Khalil Pasha, maybe we can go further!"

With that, Everynos boarded the carriage and slowly left to the sound of the whip.

……

Lake Van is the easternmost lake in Anatolia, and its surroundings have been fought by the Persians and Romans for many years, and there have been many battles around Lake Van that the famous Battle of Manzikert broke out here, and the towns of Van and Eltish also brought the breath of civilization to Van Lake, making this area a place that rulers wanted to have.

To the west of Lake Van and not far away, the Taurus Mountains block the Mediterranean currents, and the Arabian Peninsula has long been showing signs of desertification, and it is now even more severe, with little vegetation except near the water source, and this is no exception.

But no one thought that in such a desert, there were still people who had lived for a long time.

In front of an inconspicuous tent, an old man with a white beard put his hand on the head of a middle-aged man, and said something silently, then dipped some water from a bowl next to him and made a cross on his face.

"May God bless you for everything, child."

"Thank God and His Holiness the Blessed Edmund."

The man looked respectful, and Edmund then handed him a roll of parchment,

"Van is the heart of the Van Lake region, you are in a place like Van Lake, you must unite your brothers and sisters around you, and when the time is right, God will give our fellow citizens a force that the infidels cannot resist and completely liberate the whole world."

That's right, this person is Edmund, the patriarch of Antioch who has been missing for many years, and I'm afraid that Mehmed II didn't know that Edmund actually quietly arrived near Lake Van quietly, which is not far from Trabzon, but Muhammad II did not receive any news, which is easy to cause reverie,

And the current ritual is that Edmund is appointing the bishop of Van City, which is his task, including all these years of lurking in Anatolia, which was also ordered by Constantine.

Towards the end of the ceremony, a knight came up to Edmund, stroked his chest, and whispered,

"Your Excellency, Edmund, here."

Edmund's hands moved non-stop, and after the laying on of hands, the entire consecration was completed, marking the middle-aged man's official becoming a bishop.

"Okay, you go back, remember, to unite."

Seeing the man go away, Edmund turned his head to look at his deputy commander,

"He's coming?"

"Waiting in the tent."

The deputy head of the regiment spoke calmly, which did not seem to match his rugged face, he was the deputy head of the Knights of St. Peter established by Edmund in recent years, and the position of head was naturally held by Edmund himself,

In fact, there are many such things as knights in history, the three most important are the Knights of St. John in Rhodes, the Knights Templar in YLSL, and the Teutonic Knights, which were also founded in YLSL but carried forward in Germany, these three were founded by the Pope of Rome and pledged allegiance to the Pope.

But today, the Knights Templar has been canceled with the fall of YLSL and the covetousness of the French king, and the knights that still exist today are the other two, that is, the Knights of the Sword of Livonia, which is loyal to the Teutonic Knights, but relatively independent, and the Bishop of Riga is the leader of the Knights of the Sword, after all, it was established by the Bishop of Riga in the first place, which is the three major knightly orders of the present day,

The difference between the Knights of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights is probably like one is established centrally, the other is established locally, and the church has no clear regulations prohibiting local churches from establishing knights, as long as you have money, you can do whatever you want, the pope will not interfere more, of course, too rich will definitely be blushing,

And knights are not easy to raise, knights have entered the threshold of nobility, a knight with his attendants knights and servants need about 400 people to support, at that time the Roman Church even took out one-tenth of the annual income of the land to support these knights, the church is a large landowner, the story of Peping's dedication to the land must be familiar to everyone, the church's land is tax-free, there is a large amount of tithes every year, and the income from the sale of indulgences, it can be said that it is rich,

But Edmund doesn't have this condition, he has no permanent residence now, and in the Ottoman country, even if the existence of the church is allowed, but the privileges such as tax exemption must not be considered, just this point, Edmund can still pull up a knight order, it is not a clever means.

"Okay, then we'll go and meet him, if this thing is done, the Knights' income will be settled."

Edmund cheered up, lifted the curtain, and smiled on his face,

"Patriarch Michal is here, it's really a disappointment!"

"Edmund? You still dare to appear in front of me, is it true that you are not afraid of death? ”

Michal is not good-natured, he has always been this temper, straightforward, but he has a knack for self-reliance, and perhaps in his opinion, it is more practical to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield than to slap the horse, although the reality is often the opposite.

"Patriarch Michal doesn't have to threaten me, I have no ill will towards you, please come, I also have something to discuss with you."

Edmund smiled slightly, his face full of confidence, and the deputy head of the regiment stood aside, his hand tightly resting on the sword at his waist.

"If I'm not mistaken, Muhammad II didn't trust you, the politics in the Ottoman court were very serious, and even if I heard of the struggle between the Sultan and the Grand Vizier, didn't Patriarch Michal want to cling to one side in order to profit his family?"

Edmund tested Michal's attitude, and Michal just sneered,

"You are a person who has no fixed place of residence, and you dare to make nonsense in front of me by relying on a so-called identity, which side I stand on, what does it have to do with you? If you're just talking to me about this, there's no need to talk about it anymore. ”

Michal was impatient and stood up to leave, but Edmund spoke immediately,

"My identity doesn't impress you, so... And what about the emperors of the Romans? ”

Mihalton in place,

"What do you mean..."

Edmund motioned for Michal to sit down,

"That's right, I'm here to negotiate with you on behalf of His Majesty the Roman Emperor Constantine XI, who has also heard of His Excellency Michal's prestige and is very eager to win your support, so he sent me here."

"Your Majesty also said that if Your Excellency is willing to help, Your Majesty is willing to give Ankara to the Michal family, hereditary succession."

Patriarch Michal was directly shocked by Constantine XI's generosity, Ankara is the largest city on the Anatolian plateau, extremely rich, and he is even willing to give this condition, which shows Constantine's sincerity.

For Constantine XI, although Ankara is the territory of the empire in history, but now it is not yet, when Ankara is really taken, there will be more means at that time, Constantine XI wants to revitalize the empire, how to blindly engage in centralization, and make concessions when necessary, even if this concession is very difficult to accept, first take down the territory, and then the centralization of power can be done slowly, he can't have a son, a son can't have a grandson, France doesn't rely on this, generation after generation of French kings slowly weaken local powerAt the beginning, the local feudal forces in France were also very strong, but relying on the identity of the French king and the strong military power, it was not a problem to break each one.

This is also Constantine's current purpose, first to knock down the territory, even if there are more, as long as the strength of the central government is growing, then it is not a loss, even if the local forces are weak, if the central government is dragged down, unless it is a strategic location, nothing else, this strength can be financial or military, if the political means are a little more superb, even without the use of force can slowly weaken the local forces, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "Tui En Order" and Napoleon's "Civil Code" are all blows to local forces, as long as they conform to the will of the people, everything is easy to say.

"I... Why should I believe you? ”

Patriarch Michal swallowed, his voice hoarse with excitement.

"This is a letter from Your Majesty, addressed to Your Excellency."

As if anticipating his question, Edmund took a letter from his bosom and handed it to Michal.

"Lord Michal,

I am the Emperor of Rome and the Greeks, the suzerainty of Wallachia and Serbia... Constantine

…

It would be a blessing for the state if you could abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and the specific matters would be under the sole control of His Majesty Edmund, whose conditions would be my conditions, and I hope that Your Excellency would think carefully and I will await Your arrival in Constantinople. ”