Chapter 48: Yan Han received the Turks, and Byzantium swallowed Latin

Just as Yan Han sent troops to collect the Turks, the Byzantines had taken the lead in launching a large-scale attack on the Latin kingdom established by the crusaders.

The Byzantine army was commanded by the imperial prince Andronikos. Emperor Mikheil climbed the wall of Constantinople with the help of his close ministers and looked at his son's back as he left on a horse, sighing inexplicably.

Mihar's physical condition is already precarious, and he can no longer fight in such an important battle in person. He remembered that when he was young, he led a few Byzantine guards to fight desperately with the army of the Latin Kingdom, and finally slowly restored the territory of the thousand-year-old empire. Now the war between Byzantium and Latin has been completely reversed. Byzantium is much stronger than Latin. This war will completely destroy the bandit country of Latin and uproot the evil grass planted by the crusaders in Byzantine territory!

Unfortunately, Mikhaile can no longer personally participate in the last battle against the Latin Kingdom. The majestic Byzantine army opened the gate with high morale, thousands of flags fluttering, and tens of thousands of armor and weapons reflected a large golden light in the sun.

"God bless Byzantium!" Mikhaile, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church, closed his eyes and prayed.

At this time, some names that believe in God came to my mind: the Republic of Venice, the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire... the Knights Templar, the Hospital Knights... Miher cursed these names. Only the Orthodox Church is orthodox, and those names believe in heresy. He would like to erase those names from the world if he could return to his youth again.

However, once youth is gone, it will not come back! Not only youth, but also this already weak body, it is also difficult to continue to keep it... Mikhere knows that he has not had much time. Although he obeyed God's arrangement, his heart is full of regret.

Young Androni Kos sat on the saddle of war, in high air. He thought, "My father went on an expedition, that's it! After this battle, I will also write my brilliant and magnificent life!"

The guards around the prince maintained a cold and arrogant look. In the millennium history of the empire, they always have this look. Whether the prince is strong enough to lead this glorious ancient country will be seen for the first time in this battle. They observed him with falcon-like eyes on their expressionless faces.

In the next battle, the Byzantine army defeated the Latin army with the strong combat effectiveness of tens of thousands of guards. The reinforcements of the Principality of Achaia and the Principality of Athens of the Kingdom of Latin suffered a devastating blow, and the remnants retreated in confusion. The Latin army gathered more than 20,000 horses and fought against the Byzantine army with the support of thousands of crusaders led by more than 80 knights of the Hospital Knights. The Byzantine army was large and well equipped, and finally won the victory. After the destruction of the main force of the Latin army, tens of thousands of Byzantine troops besieged the castles in separate ways, and the flag of the Latin Kingdom was torn off on the head of the city, and the largest country established by the crusaders invaded east was finally destroyed by Byzantium. The hospital knights also suffered a heavy blow. Most of the knights died on the battlefield, and a few survivors retreated to the Rhodes Island base camp in the southeast of the Aegean Sea.

In this vigorous battle, Prince Andronikos performed well. He is brave and decisive, can inspire morale, and can be calm when he is in trouble. The generals of the Guard observed coldly and confirmed that the prince was qualified to be a heroic monarch. However, Androni cos prefers pointing fingers and tends to make decisions about things he doesn't know much about. Finally, when discussing whether to attack Rhode Island, Androni cos insisted on fighting with enthusiasm; the generals of the Guard finally couldn't help raising objections, and the majority of objections were the majority.

Little Rhodes Island has been famous since ancient times. As early as the ancient Greek era, the Greeks and Persians competed repeatedly. Although they were close to the Asian continent, the Greeks still controlled it firmly with wisdom and courage. There is also a giant statue of Apollo, the sun god in what ancient Westerners call the "Seven Wonders of the World". Today, Rhode Island is the territory given by the Pope to the Hospital Knights, where the Knights have set up headquarters and are stationed by more than 200 knights, including the head and deputy head of the regiment. There is also the fleet of Venice, the first naval power of the Mediterranean, on the sea.

Under the conditions of the Byzantine army, the time to cross the sea to attack Rhode Island is not ripe. The soldiers of the praetorian guards did not want to sink their ships in the sea to feed fish, which was strongly opposed. The Byzantine emperor generally could not do anything that the Guards resolutely opposed, not to mention the prince? Androni had to give up and agree to end the battle and return to Constantinople.

The news of the Byzantine annexation of Latinism attracted the attention of the crusaders. Pope Nicholas III and the monarchs of all countries are naturally unhappy to hear the news. But at this time, the crusaders were as the saying goes, "People are dispersed and the team is not easy to lead", which is helpless. On the east coast of the Mediterranean, the Knights Templar launched a strong attack on the Mamruq army, but the slave army that could not defeat the "golden slave" Galavin was defeated and forced to take a defensive position. The Mamruq dynasty took advantage of the situation to counterattack and besieged the crusaders' castles in Palestine and Lebanon. The crusaders are now in a hurry. The continuous war has led to a lack of financial resources, and they have no time to fight against Byzantium.

Genoa is committed to competing with Venice for maritime hegemony and is happy to hear the news. A Genoan mission disguised as a caravan and quietly came to Constantinople, saying that it could help Byzantium fight against the Venetian navy. In exchange, it is hoped that Byzantium can give privileges to its merchants so that they can enjoy various rights and interests within the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Mikhaile readily agreed to sign a secret agreement with the envoy of Genoa. In this way, Byzantium further strengthened its relationship with Genoa and could basically be regarded as an ally. With the two major allies of Eli Khanate and Genoa, Mikhail is broad-hearted.

At this time, Yan Han's messenger came again. This messenger is Fang Jianzhi.

Mihar was overjoyed, holding the sick body and meeting him in person. The most favored Princess Su Feiya stood behind her father and looked at the Chinese businessman who made her very fond of love... Now she is the minister of Yan Han.

said that he was a minister, but in fact, he was just a Bi Mawen. However, of course, it is respected to the public, so that Byzantium would not think that Yan Han despised them. Therefore, when Mikheil asked Fang Jianzhi what position he was now, Fang Jianzhi said happily, "With your blessing, our king has given me a Bima Wen."

"Bima Wen?" The emperor and the princess don't understand.

"Ah! He is the minister who raises horses! There is an old saying in our country: 'The horse is the great use of the country and the foundation of the armored soldiers.' Our king attaches great importance to raising horses, so he sent me as the highest official of horse breeding, which belongs directly to the king. Usually, the court has to listen to my opinions at meetings.

"Oh! So that's it!" Su Feiya smiled happily and said, "Well, congratulations to Your Excellency Jane! You are developed!"

"Thank you, Your Highness, haha." Fang Jianzhi smiled and said, "Yes, I also want to tell you that my brothers have become court officials. My second brother is now in the history of food. He is by the king's side every day and is deeply trusted. The eldest brother is even more amazing. Every time he goes to court, all the ministers will be named by him.

The emperor and princess don't know what Shang Shanshi means, let alone what kind of official Fang Yuandu is. It sounds very majestic, so they all said, "Ah, isn't it? Congratulations to the threege xias.

Speaking of the topic, Su Feiya and Fang Jianzhi talked and laughed. Mihaier smiled and listened. The atmosphere was very harmonious, which was very different from ordinary foreign messengers.

Fang Jianzhi praised Mikher and said, "Your Majesty! When I came to Constantinople this time, I knew that your army had defeated the damn Latin kingdom and defeated the knights of crusaders! That's great!"

Miher felt that Fang Jianzhi's words were very pleasant to listen to. He hated the Latin Kingdom and the crusaders from the bottom of his heart, but because of his identity, he could not scold like Fang Jianzhi. Fang Jianzhi simply said his heart. Su Feiya lived deep in the palace and rarely heard curses. She was ignorant and thought that the market scolding of living people as beasts was very interesting and giggled.

"When our brother lived in Venice, he was very uncomfortable with the arrogance of the Venetians. I hope Your Majesty can teach them a good lesson. Fang Jianzhi gently cleared up his relationship with Venice. Besides, he hoped that Byzantium could promote the friendly relationship between Yan Han and Yili and jointly conclude an "iron triangle".

When it comes to politics, Mikhaile was very concerned, with a solemn face and a slight nod. Su Feiya knew her father's thoughts and immediately stopped laughing. Mikhail thought and felt that Yili should be urged to be friendly with Yanhan. Otherwise, if his country's ally Yili fights with his potential ally Yanhan, he is afraid that the Haidu Khanate will take advantage of the opportunity! At that time, if Yanhan is maimed by Haidu, the North Road and commercial road will be greatly affected and the interests of the country will be damaged; if Yili is maimed by Haidu, the threat to the country will increase greatly! Therefore, in any case, it is in the interests of our country to make Yan Han and Yili friendly and not bite each other.

So Mikhail said to Fang Jianzhi that he appreciated the concept of "iron triangle" proposed by Zhao Jin and was willing to help Zhao Jin have a good relationship with Aba. Mikhail promised to send an envoy to see Ababa immediately and urged him to work with Yan Han to fight against the great enemy. And the three countries work together to promote trade, increase each other's fiscal revenue, enrich national strength and common prosperity.

Finally, Fang Jianzhi learned that Su Feiya gave the precious "imperial special products" luxury mirror to Julia, and repeatedly praised Su Feiya for her education, temperament and love, saying that she would definitely mention this matter to the king after returning to China. The king has heard of the princess's reputation in the past and admires it very much. If he hears this again, he will definitely admire the princess's virtues more - a woman who likes filial piety outside our oriental personality!

(To be continued 49th: Qianjinnu forcibly push Mongolia, Baisheng will sweep away his neighbors)

Note:

Byzantine Praetorian Guard: Originated from the Roman Imperial Praetorian Guard, it is a direct force under the Byzantine emperor. It has strong combat effectiveness and plays an extremely important role in the history of Byzantine millennium warfare. However, the generals of the imperial guard are often cold and unruly, which is beyond the control of ordinary monarchs. Many Byzantine emperors died at the hands of their own guard generals. Mikheil VIII was also a general of the Guard, but he had undisputed Byzantine royal blood. If Venice had not led the crusaders to break Byzantium, he would have become the Byzantine emperor in the order of succession.