God has made His providential judgment!
Good John, the Comnenus of Rome, had been abandoned. According to later records, he died in the Battle of Yulta Bay in 1139 of the Julian calendar, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8 in the Orthodox calendar).
The warship he was riding collided with a heavy Dromon fire-breathing galley that was hurriedly retreating. The collision angle of the emperor's ship penetrated the stern of the fire-breathing ship. Both warships lost the ability to move. Swirling on the water. Although ten or twenty cannon boats under Golden John (Wanyan Xiebao) approached and fired dozens of 8 taels of arson bombs, several of them hit the Greek fire oil tanks of the emperor's ship, igniting the contents inside. The Greek fire caused a fire in an instant, and the fire engulfed two warships twisted together at the same time. Good John was buried in the sea of fire, and his soul should have returned to the God he loved.
The scale of this battle was not large, with the total number of warships from both sides participating in the battle being only over a hundred. It did not last long. The fighting lasted less than two hours and ended with all 19 fire-breathing ships on the Roman side (including the Emperor's ship) being burned, and the remaining ships hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield.
If it had not been for the loss of a "good emperor", Rome's losses in this battle would actually have been minor. Even including the slave rowers, the total number of personnel on these 19 fire-breathing ships was only five to six thousand. For Rome, which had a population of 10 million, the loss of several thousand people was nothing to mention.
But this battle destroyed the myth of the invincibility of Greek fire!
This Greek fire is the magic weapon of the Eastern Roman Empire to protect the country! It protected the Eastern Roman Empire for more than 500 years. With the support of this thing, it is very difficult for foreign enemies to break through Constantinople - the city of Constantinople has been broken down twice by foreign enemies in history. Once was a trick by Venetian businessmen who sneaked into the Christian brothers without practicing martial ethics. , the beating made the Romans look confused and had no time to react.
And when Constantinople was defeated by foreign enemies for the second time, there were Urban cannons. Where was the chance for Greek fire to show off its majesty? If the Ottomans had not had gunpowder and artillery, they might have been able to dominate the Asia Minor peninsula relying solely on their bravery. But if you want to cross the sea and go to Europe to attack Constantinople, it is simply impossible. You can't pass the Greek fire!
But now, the arrogant Greek fire has been broken by some more powerful weapon of "Golden John". The fire-breathing ship has turned into a fire ship, and Good John has turned into Roasted John. Isn't the Eastern Roman Empire about to end?
Oh, if the Eastern Roman Empire and the Eighteen Rakshasa princes cannot be completed in one go, at most they will be broken up and turned into countless feudal territories. It’s not that easy to conquer them all!
However, the Eastern Roman Empire was a centralized country that relied on bureaucratic rule and mercenaries (mainly foreign mercenaries) to defend it. Once the central power collapses, a country with a population of 10 million will collapse. The local area will be leaderless, and it will be difficult to organize effective resistance.
Moreover, its capital, Constantinople, plays an extremely important role in the entire country's military, political, economic and other activities.
Once the center of the empire abandons the city and flees, its legitimacy will be questioned!
So when the fire-breathing ships that set Greece on fire all turned into fire ships, and the bad news came that Good John turned into Roast John, and was brought back to Constantinople by the Roman navy who escaped, the whole city immediately fell into panic. .
In the main hall of the Royal Palace of Constantinople, the young co-emperor Alexius, the son of "Roasted John", was wearing a purple robe, sitting high on the throne, surrounded by dozens of people. A loyal palace eunuch. His ministers, including Leon I, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and his two brothers, Isaac and Manuel, all stood on either side of the hall, each with a court official behind them to watch over them. eunuch.
I have to say that compared with the feudal countries in Europe at that time, the Eastern Roman Empire was really very different. This country not only had a huge bureaucracy, but also a not too small number of palace eunuchs.
Of course, the eunuchs in Eastern Rome were different from the eunuchs in the Eastern Song Empire. Eastern Roman emperors were monogamous and did not have large harems to manage by eunuchs. Therefore, intervening or engaging in external court work was the main occupation of the Eastern Roman eunuchs. They can be widely engaged in military and government affairs. There is no ancestral saying that "eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics."
In fact, it was the tradition of the Eastern Roman Empire for "eunuchs to intervene in politics" and even directly manage the army!
There were also a large number of eunuchs in the court of "Roasted John" - in fact, they were the most loyal servants of the Comnenos dynasty.
In the face of this current catastrophe that is likely to cause the destruction of the entire empire, the eunuchs surrounding Alexios are also the young co-ruler's last resort.
These eunuchs also controlled a considerable number of palace guards and were in charge of the defense of the Holy Palace. As long as Alexios gives the order, they can even arrest the Patriarch Leon!
However, facing the fleet of the "Golden Kingdom" that would appear at the entrance of the Black Sea Strait at any time, these palace eunuchs were powerless.
Not only were the palace eunuchs at their wits' end, but also the Patriarch Leon and the commander of the Varangian Guards, Reilager, were at their wits' end.
There was a dead silence in the main hall of the Holy Palace, and the atmosphere was so depressing that it was almost breathless.
I don't know how long it took, but the Holy Duke's steward (eunuch) hurriedly walked in from the door - this was an elderly eunuch. He was a member of the Palaiologos family, a famous family in Eastern Rome. His ancestors can be traced back. to the city of Rome. In order to better "serve" the emperor and the empire, the chief steward gave up part of his body when he was young and became a "third gender". He also became Alexius I's most trusted eunuch. .
"Mikhail, what happened?" When the young co-ruling emperor saw the old eunuch's frightened expression, he knew something was wrong.
"Your Majesty, they are here," said the Holy Palace Superintendent. "They are riding hundreds of warships and have arrived at the entrance of the strait!"
"Oh, God!"
"This is how to do?"
"Are the pagans going to capture Constantinople?"
“God is abandoning us?”
The people in the main hall started talking about it one after another. Everyone was crying and looking like they were helpless.
The Steward of the Holy Palace shook his head, "If Greek fire cannot help us, it will be difficult to defend Constantinople. But those people who came from the Black Sea are not pagans. Their flags and sails have the mark of the golden cross." !”
The Patriarch of Leon said "This is the banner of Prester John"
"Oh, God"
"Priest King, those are the descendants of the Three Sages!"
“His ancestors witnessed the birth of Jesus!”
"Oh, that's amazing!"
Everyone made the sign of the cross on their chests, except for the three brothers Alexios, Isaac and Manuel, whose faces were ashen as if it was the devil who burned their father to death!
Oh, even if it's not a demon, even if it's Jesus, his eldest brother, they can't hand over the throne!
At this time, the Grand Steward said again, "His Royal Highness the Priest King also sent an envoy to deliver a letter to His Majesty and the Patriarch."
As he spoke, he took out a parchment scroll.
Alexios glanced at the Patriarch, and immediately a young eunuch took the scroll from Archangel Mikhail and handed it to the Patriarch.
The Patriarch unfolded the scroll and took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, this is really a letter from His Highness the Priest King. He claimed to be John Vasilius 31st, the monarch of the Golden Kingdom of Eastern Peach Blossom Stone. Because he was affected by God’s revelation and the attack of the Peach Blossom Stone Empire led the believers to march westward to Rome.”
"The Peach Blossom Stone Empire?" Alexios asked, "How many peach blossom stones are there? Why do you always hear news about this in the past few years?"
The enemy of my enemy is my friend! Alexios thought that he might be able to ask for help from the Peach Blossom Stone Empire.
"Your Majesty," the Patriarch said, "as far as I know, the Peach Blossom Stone Empire is engaged in a full-scale war with the Saracens and Turks. The war has been fought from land to sea, and it is very fierce!"
In fact, these two wars have nothing to do with the orthodox emperor Zhao Kai of Peach Blossom Stone. It was the Southern Emperor Zhao Chen who fought against the maritime merchant forces of Tianfang Sect on the sea, while it was the Western Tang Dynasty who fought against the Turks on land.
The Patriarch said while reading the letter, and then he saw some surprising news, "His Majesty, Priest King John XXXI, wishes to join us and become the Caesar of the Empire."
"Join?" Alexios shook his head in realization.
That was the devil who turned his father into a barbecue. How could he become "Caesar"?
Once he becomes Caesar, he will be the second in command of the empire and may seize the throne of Rome. In fact, the Komnenos dynasty is not Roman, they are Armenians. The emperors of the Macedonian dynasty who ruled Rome before them were Macedonians. The Armenians and Macedonians could seize power by relying on military force. Why couldn't John the Priest, the descendant of the Three Wise Men?
"Your Majesty," the Patriarch already knew the emperor's thoughts by observing his words, "if you are unwilling to accept the descendants of Prester John, then please leave Constantinople temporarily. You can go to Rome and go to the universal church. Ask the Holy Roman Empire for help! Ask them to send Crusaders!”
He is "asking the king to leave the city"! Going to Rome to ask for help is all an excuse. The Holy See is still waiting to go fight the Saracens with the Eastern Priest King John!
It seemed that the sons of John the Good no longer had the strength to defend Constantinople, so they had to be abandoned. Constantinople, which had abandoned the Comnenus dynasty, also needed a stronger protector.
As for who this protector is? It doesn't matter, as long as he is willing to believe in God and protect the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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