Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1121 Byzantine Abacus

Chapter 1121 Byzantine Abacus

At this time, Constantinople was already in the midst of a joyful celebration.

The Byzantine Empire had been under the threat of the Ottoman Empire for many years. In such a huge empire, only Constantinople was left standing. This time, the Crusaders won an unexpected victory and the Ottoman Empire disintegrated. For the Byzantine emperor, it was as if God had appeared. The sword that had been hanging over his head for a long time collapsed overnight.

Therefore, the Byzantine emperor was extremely grateful to the Crusaders who led them, and he gave a lot of money to reward these warriors of God. After all, Byzantium had the heritage of Rome and was rich. These countless treasures, gold, silver, silk and wine soon made John and others happy.

The crisis was resolved, and people from all walks of life in Constantinople sang and danced to celebrate the defeat of the enemy. In the Byzantine court, there was a small banquet every three days and a big banquet every five days to entertain the nobles of the Crusaders.

"Count John." The Byzantine emperor raised a golden goblet inlaid with gemstones and saluted John, the nominal leader of the Crusaders. "Thanks to your generous assistance, we were able to break free from the threat of the barbaric Ottomans."

"Rome will remember your heroic deeds. We will engrave your heroic names on the monuments in the temples, so that your deeds and the glory of God will be passed down through the ages." The Byzantine emperor said happily.

"Your Majesty, you are so polite." Young John Nevers stood up and responded gracefully and humbly. As the eldest son of the French noble Philip, John, who holds the title of Earl, has a head of shiny and beautiful curly hair and a very neatly trimmed mustache, which shows his gentlemanly demeanor. At the same time, his resolute eyes and the cross emblem hanging on his chest show his pious and faithful identity as a Christian.

"Constantinople is a land illuminated by the Holy Light. It is a city that will never be defiled by despicable pagans. The despicable Osman actually wanted to capture Constantinople... Then he is the enemy of the Lord."

"We will show no mercy to the infidels... We will crush the remnants of the Ottomans and spread the glory of God across every land."

The young earl looked very enthusiastic.

"You are such a pious warrior," the Byzantine emperor complimented. He knew that the French commander in front of him was an extremely radical believer. During the Battle of Nicopolis, the young commander led the French knights to charge forward recklessly, causing the knights to be disconnected from the infantry in the rear, and almost causing the French knights to be surrounded and killed by the ambush troops of the Ottoman Sultan "Lightning" Bayezid.

But perhaps it was the will of God. The Venetian coach discovered Bayezid's conspiracy. The infantrymen in the rear attacked in advance and quickened their pace, successfully rescuing Count John who was about to be surrounded.

After the victory of the battle, the count's actions changed from reckless to fearless. This radical young man became more obsessed with his own bravery and became more and more pretentious under the flattery of the Byzantine emperor.

"Although the Ottoman Empire is heading for destruction, there are still countless pagans in the three major sultanates in the east... Now, the crusaders from England, Poland and Aragon have gone to the East to begin to eliminate paganism. This time, we will definitely be able to completely destroy paganism." Earl John was full of confidence.

The Byzantine emperor smiled and nodded. He also had his own selfish motives. The Ottoman Empire, which threatened him, had been destroyed, and he also wanted to take the opportunity to expand his territory eastward and restore the glory of Rome. It was undoubtedly the best way to let the Crusaders help him disintegrate the power of the sultanate in the east. However, the three sultanates in the east were backed by the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful dynasty in the East. Facing the behemoth hidden in the fog, the Byzantine emperor had to be wary.

"I heard that the countries established by those pagans in the east are vassal states of the Ming Emperor...Will the Crusaders' expulsion of those pagans lead to revenge from the Ming Empire..." the Byzantine emperor asked tentatively.

Countries such as England and France are all located in the heart of Europe further west. If the Ming Dynasty came to retaliate, the Byzantine Empire would be the first to bear the brunt... The Byzantine emperor hoped very much that the Crusaders could help him withstand the threat from the Ming Dynasty in the east.

Young John smiled contemptuously, as if he had no fear of the Ming Dynasty in the far east. Beside John, Duke Enguerrand VII of Coucy, who had been enjoying the food quietly, stood up and said to the Byzantine emperor: "Your Majesty, you don't need to worry."

"We have sent a missionary to the Ming Dynasty and applied to the Ming Dynasty to spread the glory of God in Central Asia."

"The Ming Emperor is not aware of our situation. As long as they agree to preach, we can openly intervene in Central Asia in the name of preaching."

"The countries in the East only care about face and name, so I think the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty will definitely agree... After all, we just want to spread the glory of the Lord, don't we? At worst, we will send envoys to the Ming Dynasty to apologize and express our willingness to take over the three major sultanates and regard the Ming Dynasty as the overlord..." Enguerrand VII shrugged.

"Well, well, Your Excellency the Duke is really smart." The Byzantine Emperor was stunned for a moment, and then laughed happily. This Duke of Enguerrand VII was the staff officer of Count John and a very experienced veteran. What he said was also very strategic.

The Ming Dynasty in the East did not understand the affairs of the West at all, and it was very likely that they would agree to their missionary request. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty was too far away, and even if they really destroyed the three sultanates, the Ming Dynasty might not be able to send soldiers in time.

At that time, as long as they nominally submit to the Ming Dynasty, they will definitely be able to obtain many tangible benefits.

The young and inexperienced Earl John, however, was dismissive of their plan. John said, "The Ming Dynasty may not be that powerful. Sooner or later, I will bring the glory of the Lord and spread it across the rich eastern land of the Ming Dynasty."

"I heard that Samarkand, the capital of Timur the Lame, has now fallen into the hands of the Ming Dynasty... I will lead my powerful knights to conquer that city to prove the glory of our French knights."

Enguerrand VII smiled and did not refute. Timur's capital, Samarkand, had accumulated countless wealth. Those wealth were later taken by the Ming Dynasty. The reason why they stayed in Constantinople for repairs was to completely flatten this former capital of the Timurid Empire and obtain the wealth there.

After all, it is now just an isolated city of the Ming Dynasty, which is out of reach of the Ming mainland and has no ability to protect the wealth there.

For the Byzantine emperor, this was something he would welcome... France was far away in the west, and even if the French knights conquered Samarkand, at most they would just rob the wealth, and the city would definitely be left behind... He might have a chance to take this big city for free.

Byzantium was not short of wealth, but what it lacked was vast territory to restore the glory of the Roman Empire.

(End of this chapter)