king of ros

Chapter 545 Leapfrog Trading
Antioch, the first big city captured by the Crusaders, has recently been caught in a turmoil in the conquered city.

The source of this turmoil lies in the ownership of the city, and a great conflict broke out between the two crusader lords on this matter.

On one side was Raymond, Count of Toulouse, who firmly believed that Antioch should belong to the Eastern Empire. According to their promise, the lost empire territory in Anatolia should be returned to the empire, and Antioch, as an empire Not long after it was lost, the number of Greeks outside the city was dominant—there were many Muslims in the past, but now they are gone—the city should belong to the empire anyway.

On the other side is Prince Bohemond of Taranto. Bohemond's attitude is that the city should belong to him. He made great efforts in the attack on Antioch, and he also played a great role in the battle against the Muslim army. The role of Optimus Prime, the most important thing is that now his Norman army also controls most of the city.

As for the Greeks, bah, no matter what those guys do, the Greek emperor provided them with so little food this year, causing the Crusaders to lose so many manpower, and he also promised to lead the army, and now he is victorious in the north Instead, he returned to his capital with an army. The Greeks had broken their promise, and they had the audacity to ask the Crusaders for Antioch.

Bohemond also cited the example of Edessa. Since Baldwin, a young man, has established himself as a lord there, why can't he.

What Bohemond mentioned here is something that cannot be brought up within the Crusaders. When the Crusaders took the oath, everyone promised that they would never carve up the land before taking Jerusalem, but Baldwin has actually violated this point. .

Although he can talk about the request of the Armenians, the city lord of Edessa who made the request at that time died in the hands of the mob. This is really not convincing, and violations are violations.

So Bohemond has to do the same. He came to the east for wealth and land. Now that wealth and land are in front of him, when will he not take it?
The current situation in the city is that Bohemond controls three-quarters of the city, while Raymond controls one-fourth. Since both parties actually control the city, either party can follow its own The will comes, and the ownership of the city must be completed when both parties reach a consensus.

So things have been going on and on, and the two sides are at a stalemate here, and no one agrees with the other.

At first, the other crusader lords didn't participate much in this matter, and the church leaders decided to take a look at it first. As for the lower levels, they thought it would be good to rest, so everyone let them quarrel.

But then, as the Crusaders were almost repaired and the supplies were in place one after another, when everyone planned to continue on the way to the Holy Land, they suddenly discovered that the two people hadn't finished arguing.

Every crusader lord is part of a crusader, so a crusader cannot move forward if there is a serious conflict among members, they have to wait for this to be resolved.

This is annoying to the crusaders at the bottom. They embarked on the journey for the Holy Land, not for the nobles to fight for the land, not to watch them quarrel.

The Crusaders became more and more restless, and even threatened to go to Jerusalem if their lord did not continue, but even under such pressure, the two men did not flinch in the slightest.

If this continues, the Crusaders may fall apart, but in such a scene, one person stood up and changed the situation.

It was Vasilyko Rostislavich who came forward, and he announced that the emperor had agreed to allow Bohemond to establish a state in Antioch.

Needless to say, the weight of Vasilico's speech, which is regarded by everyone as the representative of the Eastern Empire among the Crusaders, was not much to say. After his speech, the internal conflicts of the Crusaders were quickly resolved, and Raymond backed down. , then Bohemond acquired the land, and he is now Duke of Antioch.

Bohemond finally accomplished his goal of coming to this land, which made him extremely excited, and then Volorida signed a trade agreement with him on behalf of Ross. The Ross people did not ask for anything excessive, It is only required that Ross merchant ships will enjoy low tariffs.

And after the Crusaders resolved their internal conflicts, this army was also able to deploy, but there were only 6 people when it was deployed. Duke Bohemond left him and his army on the grounds of guarding the back of the Crusaders. They settled down, and with them some civilians, frightened by the hard fighting, decided to settle in the city of Antioch.

Antioch is now a waste of time, but it is also synonymous with opportunities. As long as they are willing to work hard in this city, they, the poor and settled in the West, may become rich in one fell swoop, or even nobles - in the Principality of Antioch and In Edessa County, there are many examples of promoting commoners to nobles. This undoubtedly makes the commoners excited. The east is indeed infinite possibilities, where commoners can become nobles.

Bohemond's departure did not cause much disturbance. The crusader lords who acquired the land did have the responsibility to defend the rear for the crusaders, just like Baldwin, Earl of Edessa, who did not come to join the main force of the crusaders. He was busy watching the Seljuk Turks in the east.

In this way, the Crusaders embarked on their dream journey, but just as the army was heading towards the Holy Land, the Varangian Guard Captain Vasiliko, who represented the emperor, admitted that Antioch belonged to Bohemond. left the crusaders.

"Varangi is all arranged?"

"It's been arranged. About 1000 or [-] people are still willing to be Varangians and take the emperor's commission. The rest will join our Ross Crusade and go home after this battle."

"Then I'll arrange for them to go back. Anyway, Alexios wants to continue this effect."

"Ah, I really didn't expect that I would leave the Crusaders like this. I might even miss the siege of the Holy City." Vasilico wore a cloak and rode on an Arabian horse. He had already removed all the symbols representing the empire, his tone It was full of sighs, "I cheated the emperor a little this time, and I really feel sorry for him. I hope he won't be angry when he reads my letter."

"If you ask me, that cold ice cellar won't be angry, but it's just another political exchange. At most, he's a little annoyed at his father's play-by-play." Volorida was still as indifferent as ever, and he still remembered that Alexios was a what kind of people.

"We completely eliminated our influence in the Varangian Guard, and the reward is to admit that Bohemond has landed in Antioch. This is also a fair deal. Anyway, Bohemond is bound to be in power in Antioch. , We may have saved Alexios face. Also, hurry up, you may be able to catch up with the siege of the holy city when you come back after meeting Monomakh."

"I hope, may God bless you." Vasiliko made a sign of the cross, "Also, I still have some regrets that I won't be able to go to the library in Constantinople for several years. I have to wait for the emperor to calm down."

"I don't think so. I can bet that political machine won't get angry."

"Well... Maybe," recalling the impression of the emperor, well, he is indeed such a person, this time the Ross people only slightly tricked him, and it would not make Alexios turn his face, "Then I went to see Monomakh, and I heard that he was facing off against the Seljuk Sultan's army in Tabriz."

"I remember seeing Monomacher and telling me who he is. I'm quite curious about our legendary relative. It's best to let him talk about his legendary experience. I want to know how he achieved all this."

As a person who loves adventure, legendary adventurers like Monomacher are naturally his idols.

The only response to Volorida was, "If you want to see it, go there by yourself. I'm too lazy. I'll come back after talking with him."

"Tsk, kid, forget it, I'll focus on my Crusader career."

Vasilico watched his brother disappear, and returned to the Crusader camp. After entering the camp, Ting Duo's expression immediately became serious. The next task is still very heavy, and the number of battles will not be small. He has to Prepare well.

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(End of this chapter)