Rebirth of the Viking King

Chapter 678 102

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Inside the mansion, Yusuf holds a candle. Google search reading

As a newly promoted secret agent, his psychological quality was certainly not as good as that of the elites of the Tang Dynasty who had experienced many battles. He saw a strange woman walking straight towards the safe house, tightly holding the dagger hidden in her back.

However, when the palace maid opened her hood, revealing a delicate pink face, Yusuf saw the gold flower emblem on her collar.

His heart stopped.

"Holy Lord! Are you the king's envoy Isamiel?"

Isamil didn't say much. Every military official working in this city recognized her face. As the first of the four maids beside the king. Every appearance of Isamil represents the king's wishes.

"I know they're here."

"lead the way."

Yusuf regained his composure as quickly as possible. If Isamier came to encircle and suppress the legalists' backstabbing, she would not be alone.

He walked to the window sill and opened a corner of the curtain, and what he saw was a dark street.

The city was once again under martial law and the streets were deserted.

**

Yusuf felt as if he was on board a huge ship that had just set sail and was about to sink.

Roman citizens born into the Byzantine Empire were inherently superior, and most grew up with a wide range of career options.

Among them, joining the military is never a good option.

Even as a low-ranking non-commissioned officer with 30 subordinates, Yusuf's monthly salary is only 1 gold and 4 silver.

If he wanted to live in Constantinople, the money would only cover his daily necessities of life.

As for buying real estate, buying horses, and going to Honeysuckle Street to maintain a neat French girl.

These are completely impossible things.

When he was a child, he dreamed of one day becoming a great marshal like Julius Caesar, leading an army to expand territory for the kingdom. However, after actually joining the army, he discovered that there was no war to fight in this kingdom.

Wielding swords to open up territories is something only barbarians can accomplish.

Roman senators had long since figured out a more effective way to rule.

On the spiritual level, they have a huge church called the "Holy Bishop". At least 8 out of 10 people in the entire Western Continent are followers of the Holy Bishop. The Pope controls the weddings, funerals, and life events of all believers.

On a material level, Roman merchants were spread throughout human civilization.

They used caravans and horses to transport goods to the east and west all the time. Other small caravans either came to Constantinople to cooperate with the Romans, enduring high taxes and commercial terms.

Or simply merge with Byzantium and continue to create wealth for the empire as a "Latin citizen".

To this day, no small country dares to attack Byzantium, except for the Arab Empire, which has huge differences over beliefs.

In order to maintain the stability of the trade routes, the Byzantine Kingdom had no reason to send troops abroad. Because all disputes in the kingdom can be completed through commercial means.

This is more intimidating and more efficient.

After joining the army, Yusuf finally understood why the Roman army was mostly composed of second-tier "Latin citizens" and third-tier "colonial citizens."

For lower-class citizens, only by completing service in the military can they obtain the right to vote, and only the right to vote can demonstrate the value of citizenship.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it makes no sense for a "Roman citizen" like Yusuf, who was born with the right to vote, to join the army. This is a huge waste of material and time.

"Dream" has never been a life goal worth showing off in this realistic country.

After joining the city defense force, I patrolled near the high wall every day. During the day, I watched the sun rise in the east and west of the river, and at night, I listened to the sound of torches burning and the flames exploding. Those heroic dreams I had in my childhood have long been forgotten in the depths of my memory.

The 32-year-old Yusuf envied nothing more than the foreign merchants who drove caravans into the city. They arrived after a long journey, and although they were physically and mentally exhausted before entering the city, everyone was full of excitement.

When they walk out of the same city gate three or five days later, the size of the convoy will almost double. The merchants who have emptied the goods are commanding their men to drive the horses away with red faces. They have bought a new batch of goods and can still make a profit on their return trip.

In two years, he will complete his service and be discharged from the army. What lies before Yusuf is another important life node.

When he was 20 years old, he had already made a wrong choice.

For this reason, she worked hard every day and earned a meager remuneration. During these many years, she could not even find a stable female companion. He spent 10 long years for a wrong choice.

His status in the family has been infinitely marginalized, and even his biological parents may not be able to interact with him a few times a year.

When faced with a choice again, he must choose the right next step.

After many observations, Yusuf finally chose to approach the newly promoted Eastern Tang Dynasty led by the Legalist mentor.

Ten years of guarding the city wall left a deep impression on Yousuf of Tang Shang. The foreigners who approached the city defense army were extremely wary, and their eyes were full of flattery.

Only this group of Tang merchants did not have to kowtow to the city defense army at all.

Most of the time, before they approached the city walls, prominent families in Constantinople went out to greet them. In the past, the nobles who were used to pointing their nostrils to the sky would nod and bow down to the distinguished Tang merchants.

The horse team with flags will respectfully invite them into the city, just to get more goods.

Respected and superior. As a human being, Yusuf wanted to be such a person.

For this reason, the recruitment of Yusuf was a rather surprising recruitment experience for Gu Huaian. If they want to develop secret staking in cities controlled by foreigners, Legalist mentors generally need to pay money and beauty, and sometimes even need some threats to force them to serve the Tang people.

He never expected that just two or three days after he entered Constantinople, a city defense sergeant would come to surrender on his own initiative.

What's even more exaggerated is that he doesn't need a woman with money who can bring him pleasure immediately. He wants to live in the Eastern Tang Dynasty in the future, ride a high horse like a noble Tang businessman, and impress his family relatives who look down upon others.

Of course Gu Huaian had no objection, and even spent a lot of money, directly paying him 2,000 gold dinar coins as activity expenses.

Instead of squandering the money, Yusuf recruited two companions who also complained about the boring patrol life.

Later, he bought a house with a two-story cellar near the "Mud Gate" in the area he patrolled, and used it as a safe house for the Legalist hidden stakes.

Ten years of experience as a city defense force living in a military camp made him familiar with every building near the mud gate.

The house Yusuf bought was very particular.

This dark building called "Falcao House" was built 300 years ago and covers an area of ​​about 220 square meters. The east side is close to the sewer main channel, and the west side is connected to the river.

This means that in addition to the main entrance, with only a few modifications, the basement of the house can have two more secret passages leading to the city.

Secondly, the owner "Sir Falcao" who built the house 300 years ago was a French businessman who specialized in selling wine. Making wine is nothing new in countries around the Mediterranean, but the French are good at incorporating baking spices into it, especially French vanilla, which is grown exclusively in the Provence region.

The red wine and cheese produced have unique flavors.

The three-story basement attached to the house was claimed to be the cellar where he stored red wine and cheese. However, based on Yusuf's years of military service, he felt that this was not the case.

In Constantinople, where land is at a premium, every time this house is sold, it will change hands quickly in no more than a year.

The businessman who lived in Falcao House as a residence complained that the walls of the house had been eaten by rats, and rustling sounds could often be heard from the walls of the house in the dead of night.

Seeing that the real estate developers could no longer use the building as a residence, they simply sold it as a warehouse at a reduced price.

However, this place has also been criticized by merchants as a warehouse. Although there are many rats in the abandoned old house, there are also many termites living in the three-story basement.

This is an even more terrifying creature.

Rats eat similar foods to humans, but termites will eat just about anything.

From wood furniture to cotton and linen fabrics, all products that are born out of plants and animals can become food for termites. The more serious problem is that these things kill them endlessly, emerging from deeper underground cracks in a steady stream.

Ultimately, plans to use the house as a warehouse were shelved.

It can't be used as a warehouse, nor can it be used as a warehouse. It turns into a bar shop and is too far away from the market. In Constantinople, where land is at a premium, real estate developers are unwilling to sell a relatively good-sized house at a low price, so the Falcao House has remained semi-abandoned for many years.

Until Yusuf, who had enough gold and silver in his hands, appeared.

A businessman who does business honestly doesn't know what this house is about, but that doesn't mean that Yusuf doesn't understand the mystery.

According to his inference, this "Sir Falcao" is most likely a fire priest.

His identity as a businessman was just a cover.

The so-called "wine cellar" does not contain a drop of red wine at all, but a deeply hidden "fire sacrificial site". The fundamental reason why tenants often hear rats walking through the walls is that the walls of the entire house are mostly hollow. This design is very convenient for members to walk through and enter secret passages.

As for the continuous emergence of termites underground, the most likely thing is that the Chuanhuo Gang secretly dug tunnels underground and reached the river on the east side.

The underground near water sources is best for termites.

This place is not suitable for any purpose, but it is a unique natural place for secret societies that want to conduct war activities secretly.

During his time in the army, Yusuf fully understood the hardships of the poor. After a lengthy conversation, and with the city defense commander sitting on the sidelines, he finally bought the house for 1,700 silver coins.

I just didn’t expect that this house would come in handy just 2 months later.

Gu Huaian had unconditional trust in him.

When Wang Ergulei died and all the legalist hidden stakes were exposed, the "Tingfeng Pavilion" where the Tang people gathered was no longer safe. The remaining legalist hidden stakes took advantage of the chaos in the streets to enter the Falcao residence through various secret passage entrances, using it as a temporary shelter.

When he heard that Loki's two brothers were hung on the cross and faced the whole city, Gu Huaian took to the streets. Gu Huaian saw this scene with his own eyes.

He immediately concluded that the lawless "God Killer" Loki would definitely make a comeback.