strictlysupreme Chapter 849 3 parties
Chapter 849 3 parties
Chapter 849 Three Parties
After meeting with the Crusader lords, Lothar finally had a thorough understanding of the consequences of this infamous Crusade.
As for the debt relationship between the Crusaders and the Venetians, Losa was too lazy to get involved. Although the Venetians were the masterminds behind the Crusade, they appeared to have kept themselves clean.
Losa had no intention of falling out with the Venetians over the Greeks. Even though he had lost a squadron and a sea dragon, the Venetians were still the overlords of the Mediterranean. The business he had set up was already big enough, and it was not time for him to compete with the Venetians for the Mediterranean.
He glanced at the inaccurate hand-drawn map that was still left on the stage, and walked out of the council hall before the Crusader nobles noticed.
boom--
Ladon, who was bored, had already become impatient of waiting. When he saw Losa on his back, he could not wait to take off into the air.
Hearing the dragon's roar outside, everyone woke up as if from a dream and chased after it.
But they could only see the huge shadow of the dragon moving farther and farther away from their sight.
Someone sighed softly: "It seems that His Majesty is still dissatisfied with us, otherwise he would not have left without even saying hello."
"We are all sinners, may Heavenly Father forgive us."
At this time, the ordinary Crusaders who had been waiting for a long time came forward and asked, "What exactly does your Majesty decide to do with us?"
"What do we do next?"
A group of nobles and clergymen began to explain to the soldiers.
Someone suddenly asked: "By the way, Your Majesty Bella, now that we can no longer attack Constantinople, this cannot be considered as a breach of contract, right? We will no longer recognize the debts of the Venetians."
They were ready to surrender to the Queen and Lothar. The Venetians could no longer control the Crusaders by strangling their supply lines, so they naturally had no intention of fulfilling the agreement they had reached with the Venetians.
Bella III was startled by this sudden question and quickly said righteously: "Of course, the Venetians instigated us to do such a wrong thing behind our backs, how can they have the nerve to ask us for a debt?"
Bella III made a decisive decision to sell out his partner, since the Venetians had never had a good reputation anyway.
People immediately cheered.
"His Majesty Bella has supported us in erasing our debts. Now, with the support of the Queen of Greece and His Majesty Lothar, we can continue our great jihad."
"Your Majesty Lothar has shown us a fertile land full of spices, gold, gems, and ivory. This fertile land is waiting for us to conquer. Praise the Heavenly Father, praise the great Crusader King!"
In the Venetian mansion, Captain Dandolo, who had just woken up, heard the cheers like a tide and almost vomited blood.
Dandolo was just about to take a breath and pass the message back to Venice, but before he could even sit up straight, one of his captains rushed in.
"Mr. Dandolo, you finally woke up!"
"Many of those crusader thugs shouted that they wanted to punish the devil who deceived people, and launched an attack on our neighborhood!"
"Not only the Crusaders, but also the Genoese and Greeks living in Galata seem to want to take advantage of the situation. I even suspect that the incited Crusaders were led by them."
Dandolo felt dizzy, and he said with all his might, "Quick, distribute all the weapons on the ship to our citizens, and send a messenger to find that Lothar to negotiate with him!"
The captain on the side was furious: "These Frankish barbarians who are willing to destroy the bridge after crossing the river, just got the promise of that Lothar to provide them with supplies, and they are ready to attack us. I have said long ago that they are unreliable."
"This time, we requisitioned so many ships that were in use and gave up so many opportunities to make a fortune, but in the end, not only did we get nothing, we also lost a sea dragon, a squadron, and offended the Pope, the Greeks, the Egyptian tyrant, and even the Crusaders."
He didn't notice Dandolo's increasingly gloomy face and continued to complain.
Suddenly, with a thud, Dandolo, the successor who was highly expected by the current Doge and a leader among the Venetian city nobles, fell headfirst on the bed, blood spurting from his mouth, and his life or death was unknown.
Three giant dragons flew across the sky and landed directly on the Great Palace of Constantinople.
Not long after Lothar came down, Her Majesty the Queen sent someone to invite him.
As soon as they met, she couldn't wait to ask, "Your Majesty Barcellus, is everything going well?"
"smoothly."
The latter of the two solutions, namely recruiting Crusaders to retake Asia Minor, was a strategy discussed by Lothar and Lagaia. It was beneficial to both the Crusaders and Lagaia.
Although the Crusaders were a group of proud and brave soldiers, they were also a group of country bumpkins who had never seen the world.
For the Queen, the cost of bribing these Frankish nobles was much lower than that of the Greek military leaders, and she could also check and balance the Greek nobles.
"Then I am relieved, Your Majesty Barcellus, thank you again for your generous help."
Lothar looked at the Queen, whose eyes were red from not resting for a long time, and said with a smile: "We have already concluded a close comradeship. This insignificant matter is not worth mentioning. Your Majesty should rest early."
"So does Basilius."
"Ah."
Looking at Lothar's departing back, the Queen bit her lip and sighed.
The way they addressed each other sounded like a couple, but their relationship always maintained a boundary between being neither too close nor too distant. Before this, she had never had the trouble of feeling unattractive.
She couldn't help but touch her still smooth face, and began to doubt herself: Is it really because I'm getting older that I'm less attractive?
Outside the palace, the palace chief steward, Rufinus, suddenly stepped forward and said:
"Your Majesty, the Turks in Asia Minor have also been restless recently. Led by Arsalan, they have launched an attack on the coastal towns of southern Asia Minor. Here is a letter from the local governor asking for help."
Arslan had an alliance with Saladin. When Lothar was fighting Saladin in the Holy Land, he often saw the Turkish cavalry under Saladin. Among them, in addition to the Ghazi who volunteered to join the war, there were also reinforcements sent by Kilij Arslan, the king of Rom.
Lagaia was not surprised by this: "Arsalan has never been a quiet person. He has always been eyeing the eastern territories of the empire, so it is normal for him to take action."
"Why not ask the princess to withdraw her troops and return home as soon as possible."
The palace chief steward Rufinus felt that the reason for all this was that the Battle of Sicily could not be won quickly. The empire's most elite expeditionary force and Princess Anna were trapped in Sicily. As long as the princess returned, everything would be fine.
"The situation in Sicily is clear. We only need a few more months to achieve complete victory."
Lagaia shook her head and said that the most difficult time had passed. It would be stupid to withdraw troops at this time. It would be equivalent to giving all the interests to the Hohenstaufen Kaiser.
"As for the Turks, I already have a way to deal with them. Rufinus, don't mention asking Anna to withdraw her troops anymore."
There is one thing that cannot be said. Although the tragedy last night caused the deaths of two-thirds of the high nobles in Constantinople, the situation in the empire has become more stable. Those nobles who originally wanted to oppose her continued rule are now trapped in the succession crisis and are unable to take care of themselves.
"We still have a lot to do before Basilius leaves Constantinople."
Although it was just an exaggeration, the power that Lagaia now held was stronger than ever in the eyes of the Greek nobles.
At this time, the royal family should stand up as an arbitrator to arbitrate who is more qualified to inherit the title, to win over all parties, and also to fill the power vacuum with their own people.
Although she was reluctant to admit it, Pisistratus, a border villager from Asia Minor, did give her a great gift, allowing her to expand her own party at a time when Constantinople was in a power vacuum.