Eagle Byzantium

This group of envoys came in fear and left in sorrow.

In the city of Durazzo at sunset, the sea is vast. The flags of the new owner have been hung on all the towers. All the Venetians and Sicilians still alive in the city have been detained and detained. Many bullock carts in the camp are filled with They picked up the corpses and divided them into their respective camps.

Gawain first placed the corpses of about 180 Venetian nobles, including Ferreille's eldest son Giosofat, on the deck of a captured Venetian longship, asked it to hang a black sail, and sailed in a few days later. In the lagoon of San Marco.

There was a sound of mourning in the city. With trembling hands, the old consul Freire stood alone on the terrace and pavilion of his house facing the sea, looking at the black-sailed ship coming in below. The deck was filled with densely packed corpses, all of which were corpses. The elite of the city also has his eldest son in it.

But Felleyer did not cry. This stormy ocean had already made him give up any illusions. People, cities, and countries were all ships floating on it, and they would be completely capsized at any time. The ship would be destroyed and everyone would be killed. fate. "Today's Venice is the Carthage of the past." The old consul said the same sigh as Piero.

As a result, the most serious conflict since the founding of Venice broke out in the Ducal Palace on the second day. It was not verbal, but physical. The riot immediately spread to the entire city-state. Consul Piero was violently punished for his wrong policies. Accused and attacked, his supporters and opponents fought brutally in front of the palace, even drawing swords and stabbing each other. Many people were injured and died.

The rioting nobles and citizens then posted murderous messages on Mercury's columns.

Because their eldest son died in the war, they still showed some mercy, but Felleyer knew that many of the contents were not only to impeach Piero, but also to attack himself:

In the battles, shipwrecks, and intrigues in Crete, Corfu, Durazzo, and other places, Venice had lost thirty-seven galleys, sixteen hundred citizens, plus seven thousand mercenaries of all kinds, and now There are still five thousand citizens who have become captive slaves who cannot be redeemed. It can be said that almost every family has lost their lives and their money has exceeded 900,000 Byzantine gold coins;

Not only that, in order to provide blood transfusions to John the Younger's court in Crete, in order to continue to occupy Rhodes Island, and in addition to Gawain's isolation of the sea routes to Cyprus and Tripoli, the Venetian city-state also lost 400,000 Byzantine gold coins every year.

If this continues, within three years, Venice itself will collapse completely without waiting for Gawain's army to arrive.

Therefore, a powerful "peace-making faction" appeared in the city. They were numerous and strongly demanded that another consul be elected to adjust policies, negotiate peace with the Roman emperor, and re-act as a vassal of Constantinople. They would not hesitate to bear compensation for this.

There was a fierce debate on this issue in the Duke's Palace. The old consul Felaye, who had white hair and aged ten years in an instant, still insisted on going on stage to lobby the members of the Senate. He stood in front of the circular podium and shouted hoarsely. Request the establishment of a city-state" The "Committee of Ten Generals" enjoys the "dictatorial power" granted by the Senate. It directs wartime policy, implements material control, builds barriers, continues to recruit soldiers in the interior, and conducts diplomatic activities with the emperor of Salian to win more Support etc.

For all these reasons, the core idea is to continue to confront Gawain and fight to the end.

Freire exclaimed, "Gawain is also in great difficulty now. Since he entered Constantinople, the war has lasted for nearly three years, and the taxes he collected from Anatolia have almost been exhausted. It seems that he has conquered quite a lot." There are many territories, but the training and dispatch of the official team and the establishment of the security army cost a lot of money. However, we can shrink back into the lagoon, gain a firm foothold and continue to unite with his enemies and fight with him. Fight to the end, this is a war between wolves and elephants. Although the elephants are huge, the victory may belong to the wolves in the end. If we destroy our weapons like the Punic people in history, we will hit the target. Wen Xiahuai, what he couldn't get on the battlefield, he can get it easily and without any effort at this time, and then tighten the noose around the Venetian's neck..."

However, Felleyer's remarks were opposed by the vast majority of people. No one could continue to endure this "bloody" war, even Venice, which is famous for its unity, cunning and perseverance.

In the end, the old consul looked ashen and sadly left the rosin wood pulpit with his back hunched over.

Behind him, a new agenda was being reached: Venice was going to elect a new consul, and was preparing to quickly form a full-fledged envoy to go to Ohrid to meet with Stephen Gawain.

"The wall made of sea will soon collapse, and the Eternal City built on the desolate lagoon will eventually fall into ruins." The old consul murmured to himself, walked out of the Duke's Palace, and looked up to see the dangerous wind on the sea. The clouds are gray, and the sea waves are crossing the long embankment of the port with splashing foam, like people crying, or like shouting, "Giosofat, my child, I Proud child, my father can only mourn you here. However, the saddest thing is that your sacrifice is meaningless. This country will eventually be destroyed." The old consul felt sad at this time and held on to himself. At the position of the heart, lower your head and bury it between the high collar of the cloak, gritting your teeth, tears and snot flowing down the uneven ravines...

Feleyer may not know that the court in Palermo was moving faster: after learning of the huge losses in Durazzo, the newly appointed second-generation King Simon burst into tears and cried for several days. Then he was unwilling to "rely on the other side of the ocean for the fate of the country". In addition, many Norman nobles began to rise up against the authority of his family. Simon decided to negotiate as soon as possible while Stephen Gawain was still willing.

But his younger brother Roger, who established the "Kingdom of Carinthia" in the interior of Dalmatia, was extremely angry about his brother's compromise. He said that he would fight Gawain to the death and would never recognize any terms of Sicily and Gawain.

The Duchess of Tuscany also laughed at the cowardice of all men. She ordered all her land to be divided equally among all loyal gentry and free cities, vowing to mobilize all forces to defend the faith and to fight Gawain at any time.

She finally accepted Roger's proposal and said that after her death, the entire Tuscany Kingdom would no longer be left to the "compromising" Roman Catholic Church, because the other party was no longer worthy of her trust and following after Eugene's death. "If after my death, Tuscany and Carinthia on the other side of the ocean form a united kingdom, Roger can become the real king. You must be loyal to him for one day when he fights with Gawain. When he makes peace with Gawain, you can unite and rebel against him!"

A correct version in 16-9-1 book-1 forum!

A month later, the envoys of the Kingdom of Sicily, the Roman Catholic Church and Venice arrived in Ohrid on time. By the picturesque lake, the emperor set up a negotiation tent and waited for their arrival.