The lie was caught by Aulus, but Giovanni didn't panic at all. Compared to pirates, he was much better at dealing with powerful officials like Aulus.
Just listen to Giovanni say: "The general misunderstood me. The Pirate Kingdom will lead tens of thousands of troops to approach the Qiqiu Empire. This is true without a doubt, probably in these ten days. If you prepare in advance, you will be better for Qiqiu." Isn’t it a great achievement for the empire to avenge its previous humiliation? By then, I’m afraid even the prestige of Basileus today will not be as good as yours, General.”
As he spoke the last words, Giovanni's voice deliberately increased.
After hearing this, Aulus licked his lips unconsciously like a jackal that found its prey. But what he said was full of righteousness: "The Pirate Kingdom killed its predecessor Baselisa and has a sworn hatred with the Seven Hills Empire. If the Pirate Kingdom really dares to get close, don't blame me for ignoring their treaty with you. , to avenge Barcelonalisa."
Giovanni bowed again: "I will report back to the Governor. I believe he can also understand the general's actions."
"However, there is still a problem." Aulus turned his greedy eyes to the envoy. "Sending out the navy will consume a huge amount of supplies, and what you bring is only unreliable information. Of course, in order to successfully ambush the enemy, I will claim to the outside world that I am training the navy. But if Basileus wants to pursue this matter seriously... I will be in a bit of a dilemma."
After hearing this, Giovanni immediately changed the subject: "General. I heard that the Qiqiu Empire recently discovered a large number of counterfeit coins. I wonder, General, if you have 'mistakenly received' a large number of them?"
Aulus's eyes immediately showed hostility: "What do you mean by this?"
"Everyone in the Seven Hills Empire is aware of the counterfeit currency, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to use it. However, our island republic's trade extends to Alemanny, Efilica, and even the Seven Hills Empire. This money is in our hands. If you have it in your hand, then..."
"You want to buy these counterfeit coins?"
"We remember that we are vassals of the Empire of the Seven Hills." Giovanni said, "In order to fight against the enemies of the Empire of the Seven Hills, we do not hesitate to use all means, including currency. The Governor is willing to purchase it at 20% of the real price of gold. These counterfeit coins, General, can you facilitate our charity?"
"Of course!" Aulus stood up immediately. After a while, he felt that he seemed to be too impulsive, so he slowly sat back on the chair, pretending to be calm and said, "This is also for the Seven Hills Empire, isn't it?"
"In that case," Giovanni stared into Aulus's eyes, "regarding the information I mentioned earlier..."
"Although the reliability is unknown, I think it's better for us to give it a try." Aulus said, "This is also for the Seven Hills Empire, right?"
"Yes." Giovanni gave a show-off salute, "All this is for the Seven Hills Empire."
Azov is not quiet late at night.
The aphros pipe players are rehearsing new pieces under the command of Ella. The aphros pipe is a traditional musical instrument of the Qi Qiu Empire. Suddenly, she got such a band. Ella couldn't put it down and let them play one song after another. The sound of music attracted many people to come and watch, and even the pirates listened with gusto due to the superb skills of the aphros pipe players.
During the intermission after the song, Amy came up to Ella and pulled her out of the crowd.
"Your Majesty," Amy said with a frown, "I have carefully calculated that we still don't have enough troops and supplies to attack the Seven Hills Empire. Although Your Majesty actually only needs to capture Constantiniya, but The city walls of the Seven Hills Empire are difficult for even magicians of Great Elf level to break through. And with Berengar's Imperial Guard still present, we may not be able to take advantage of the land battle... His Majesty has thought of some way to bypass it. Can the Seven Hills Empire reach directly to the Island Republic?"
"It's not that troublesome." Ella said, "Just take a boat and cross the Black Sea Strait."
"Your Majesty, are you serious?" Amy was anxious, "I thought you had some good ideas, Your Majesty! You are not Basel now... We are pirates now? More than 10,000 pirates came from near Constantiniya It’s impossible for the Qiqiu Empire to ignore it!”
"It's only 10,000 people, not much."
"How come there aren't many? According to the calculation of forty people being crammed into each ship of the Pirate Kingdom, it would be enough to fortify 250 ships!"
Ella gestured with her hands: "As long as Andrea's fleet is transformed, removes the weapons and turns it into a merchant ship, and each ship carries fifty people, then only two hundred ships will be enough, and the ship can even carry some cargo. . If Andrea's fleet is not large enough, we can also add the merchant ships stranded in Azov City. Then we will divide these two hundred ships into ten batches and pass them within ten days, so that only twenty ships will pass through the Black Sea Strait every day. Ships...disguised as merchant ships passing by one by one can't arouse the vigilance of the Qiqiu Empire, right?"
"Your Majesty, maybe you are used to commanding armies and have no idea about the size of this merchant ship..." Amy whispered, "I used to do odd jobs at the port when I was a child. When Constantiniya Port was the busiest, I could not do anything for a day. Only three or four merchant ships with a capacity of fifty people could be seen passing through. If twenty merchant ships of that size passed through every day, and it lasted for ten days, that would be really... too exaggerated."
"Gu...????"
Ella looked shocked. Seeing Ella's shocked expression, Amy was also shocked:
"Your Majesty...is this really your plan?"
"Amy, what should I do? I have already agreed to go within a month! And I used such a confident tone!" Ella held her head and shouted, "If I can't arrive by then, I will have a reason to default on the bill!"
…
…
Aulus divided the fleet into three parts. One part was stationed in the Golden Horn outside Constantiniya as it was, another part was pretending to be training in the Black Sea, and more troops were hidden in a remote port.
His plan was this: the squad in training would serve as a reconnaissance force. Once they discovered the fleet of ten thousand people mentioned in the intelligence, they would immediately pretend to retreat and lead the enemy to the location where the fleet was ambush.
And if the enemy is not tempted, Aulus will follow the fleet far behind. This is divided into two situations: If the pirates land and plunder outside the Black Sea Strait like the invasion three years ago, Aulus will wait for them to land and destroy their ships, cut off their retreat, and trap them to death in seven Qiu Empire. And if the pirates come straight to Constantiniya, the garrison in the Golden Horn can attack the Aulus fleet from front to back and annihilate the pirates in the Black Sea Strait.
The sea is calm. Since the attack on Azov, the Black Sea trading hub, ships plying the Black Sea straits have all but disappeared.
The last time a large ship crossed the Black Sea Strait was when Andrea was supporting the city of Azov.
