king of ros

Chapter 588 Extra Story: The Age of Blood

After the death of Andronica I in 1186, his son John ascended the throne as John III.

The empire that John III inherited was an empire full of problems. Andronica’s reconquest seemed brilliant, but it actually created too many hidden dangers for the empire. All John III could do was to alleviate these problems as much as possible. Hidden danger.

John III was a child who lived completely in the shadow of his father, which meant that his character could actually only be a paper painter, and the current empire really needed a paper painter urgently.

There are three main problems in the current empire. The first is the sharp class conflicts in the country. With the passing of Andronika, the nobles and bureaucrats who were once suppressed and attacked made a comeback. After all, although Andronika attacked them, the actual Shangnaduo came for floating money, and the people also established organizations through the Andronica movement to confront the aristocratic bureaucrats.

The society of the Eastern Empire is actually seriously torn apart. The Andronika movement can still barely focus on the nobles, bureaucrats, wealthy merchants, and the church in Constantinople, but in the local area, what is that? There are bad things, and those who are persecuted will not forget what happened.

The second is the huge army left by Andronica. In southern Italy, Spain and North Africa, the number of imperial standing troops maintained has reached 6. If you want to maintain such a huge army, you still have to fight overseas. Fiscal spending poses enormous challenges.

Not to mention that the empire's occupation of these lands essentially relied on the cooperation of local tyrants and nobles. Now that Andronica is dead, these people have begun to change their minds. For example, in Spain, the Iberian Legion almost every day Only by suppressing the Thai and French lords can the empire's rule in Spain not collapse.

This is also the case in southern Italy, North Africa, Serbia, and Croatia. It can be said that there are fires on all sides.

Finally, there is the sharp conflict with the Catholic world. The war between the empire and the Catholic world has caused heavy casualties on both sides, and the severance of trade has caused everyone’s income to drop sharply. In any case, this hostile state cannot continue.

In short, the age of blood has officially begun at this moment.

It is for this reason that people call this era the Age of Blood, and blood and contempt have become the theme song of this era.

The reunification of the empire is not so much achieved by the emperor's brilliance and might, it is better to say that the 34 years of killing and chaos have exhausted everyone. When they got up, the people hated killing even more.

In order to prove that he is the legitimacy of the empire, the fighting between the parties can be said to be extremely fierce. Due to the conflict of power, ideology and hatred, this makes the war particularly cruel, and massacres become commonplace. Killing is like eating Just like drinking water.

The last problem is the best one to solve. John III allowed the Crusaders to go to the Holy Land through the Eastern Empire. Of course, his decision attracted a lot of opposition, but that's the way the poster is.

Dandolo has an extremely strong hatred for the Eastern Empire. His brother and son died in the frenzy caused by Andronica. He wants revenge all the time. Now that the opportunity is in front of him, he will naturally not miss it. .

In the same way, the east, like the west, has countless small and medium powers, and some of them even call themselves emperors.

Just like in history, the Crusaders captured the city for the lords, but then they left the Crusaders outside and were busy searching for and killing the supporters of the Constantinople Commune in the city. Under the circumstances, under the leadership of an old Venetian named Dandoro, the Crusaders broke through the city.

The sudden collapse of the empire had a great impact on the people. A few years ago, people were still immersed in the prospect of the revival of the empire, but in the blink of an eye the empire collapsed. The Latins marched into the capital, and the emperor seemed to be The crucian carp that crosses the river usually appears, and all kinds of people appear on the stage under various names and slogans.

Even the Catholic world has been affected by this chaos, and the chaotic ideology has also caused war in the Catholic world. Although it is much smaller than the chaos in the Eastern Empire, it still scares people.

The increasing number of killings has also made people feel strongly tired and opposed. People need a scapegoat to explain this era of killings and chaos. bedding.

Some people would say that in the face of this huge change, people can only drift with the current and do a series of things that they can't even understand. But on the other hand, this also means that people are too sober, sober It is frightening, the fear brought about by the collapse of the country makes them only grasp the slogans around them, and massacre those who become "definitely hurt them" among all kinds of slogans.

As for Antioch, the local patriarch took power by accident, but the patriarch just wanted to wait for the results of the internal competition in the empire, and then it would be whoever obeyed in Constantinople.

The imperial rule first collapsed in Spain, followed by North Africa, and then southern Italy... In the 1187 years from 1200 to 13, the success of Andronica's reconquest continued to be lost, and teams of imperial troops fled back to the native.

Facing the serious social division in the country, John III could only hold a shield like Solon to protect both sides, so he was opposed by both sides. After all, rational and neutral people are the least popular, but he still has to be like this, if If the contradictions and struggles between the two were allowed to develop, the empire left by Andronica would undoubtedly be destroyed in his hands.

In Armenia, the local Armenian lords immediately rebelled, and the era of chaos there has been relieved until the return of the Armenian Homecoming Army composed of Armenian soldiers in the imperial army.

The Crusaders carried out a tragic massacre on this city. They didn't care about any contradictions here, they had to kill those who stood in the way, and the killing made a river of blood flow, so the Eastern Empire was shocked to find that this person in the Eastern Empire was His head was chopped off like this.

Although the head was lost, the body was still in good condition, so all parties began to sing "Your side and I will appear on the stage", and the curtain of the age of blood began.

The first to appear is the Republic of Thessaloniki. As the second largest city in the Eastern Empire, this republic is in the same line as the one in Constantinople. They rebuilt the system of the ancient republic and vowed to eradicate the nobles and the rich. It is the most popular faction, and it can be said that it has supporters all over the empire.

As for the problem of army supply, this problem is really too big. The long-term maintenance of a standing army of more than [-] overseas has brought enormous pressure to the entire empire. John III must reduce this pressure, which has led to the loss of territory and The discontent of the frontline troops.

Together with the Latin Empire of the Crusaders, the four of them formed the four main players in the western part of the empire, but this does not mean that the western part of the empire was divided by these four players. Power, aristocratic territory, theocracy, republic... it can be said that it has everything.

Then there was the Despot of Epirus, the fourth son of Andronicus, who fled to Durrachion after the events of Constantinople, where he won the support.

The key to the advent of the Age of Blood occurred in 1204. In this year, the Catholic world organized another crusade with the intention of retaking Jerusalem. This group of people was led by the Venetians to the city of Constantinople.

After John III came to power, he ordered the booklet to be banned, but it is a pity that it has spread. Even if John III burned the book day and night, it still could not stop its spread.

It can be said that Andronika was very lucky. He passed away at the peak of his career, and future generations must taste the bitter fruit.

Emperor Andronica left many descendants. Under such circumstances, everyone is naturally eager to move, and how could the various political forces who have long wanted to usher in a new era miss this opportunity? What about chance?
The four years from 1200 to 1204 can be regarded as the most chaotic four years in the empire. In Constantinople, citizens and nobles are about to turn into open street fighting, while in local areas, the activities of various forces and careerists are becoming more and more frequent , frantically building momentum for themselves, and even organizing a small-scale army in private.

They arrived very cleverly. At this time, the citizens of Constantinople launched an uprising. They expelled the nobles, officials and emperors, established the Constantinople Commune, and announced that the former Republic would be rebuilt. The people who were driven out of the city That side naturally took advantage of the arrival of the Crusaders and turned to besiege Constantinople.

In the past 34 years, this land has experienced too much chaos. Compared with the past, wars that were much more intense have made everyone frightened. Now peace has finally returned. While recalling this hard-won peace, in order to prevent Chaos returned again, and the systematic burning of "Discussion on Ancient Political Forms" kicked off, and the Catholic world responded accordingly.

Then there is the Spartan Legion. The so-called Spartan Legion is an organization composed of troops who have fled back to the empire over the years. They have been placed in the Moria region by the imperial regime, but gradually they also absorbed local power. They admire the Spartan system and despise cities and urban life. They even drive the citizens of the city to farm outside the city walls. In their view, the city is a burden and an existence that should be eliminated. At the same time, in order to ensure control , They also built a tight political organization and internal militarization.

By allowing the Crusaders to pass through the empire, John III eased the conflict with the Catholic world and normalized trade. The last problem was solved, but the other two problems were not easy to solve.

However, what Andronica left behind was not all pitfalls. The centralization combined with the theory of the Quiets gave John III strong legitimacy, allowing him to do many things without arousing opposition.

The empire that Andronica left behind was too big a problem. No matter what he did, he would offend many people, but he had no choice but to continue walking on this tightrope.

The direct grandson of Andronica, the orthodox heir to the imperial throne, fled to Nicaea, and the former places of Comnenos such as Pavlagonia supported his rule, but Trabzon supported his own an emperor.

In the Eastern Empire, the civilian bureaucrats of the empire centered on Smyrna built a civilian state. In their view, it is better to let the power be handed over to the noble emperors who continue by blood or the people who are only blind and fanatical. They ruled by educated men who had worked their way up the imperial bureaucracy, and of course, in order to gain legitimacy, they embraced a puppet emperor.

John III, the paper painter, was also overworked under great pressure and eventually died in an industrial post. With his death, an 8-year-old child sat on the imperial throne, which announced the end of the unrest. start.

Everyone has gradually reached a consensus that it is better to pick up the old things than these political practices, such as the rule of Andronica. But compared with the scene after his death, Andronica's rule looks so wise and powerful.

In addition to Andronica's various behaviors, there is another very important reason that led to such severe social division. This book was "Discussion on Ancient Political Forms". Opposition parties from all walks of life are looking for theories and theories that suit their interests from this book to support.

It was not until 1238 that the direct descendants of Andronica, the legal heirs to the imperial throne, regained Constantinople. This finally marked the end of the Age of Blood, and peace finally came.

But in the final analysis, this is also the result of the seeds planted by Andronika. His reconquest was too hasty, and the cost of the empire's rule in these recovered areas was too high.

Throughout Christendom, the possession of this book was once considered a crime, and it seemed to be a work from hell, and even the slightest contamination would bring destruction.

But also because of this, when time passed, the Age of Blood and "Discussion on Ancient Political Forms" became the research focus of a world scholar, because it can be regarded as an important milestone in the formation of the modern world, and the discussion on it among the people has never stagnated, Many people are thinking about what kind of changes will be brought to the world if a faction that is not the monarchy comes to power.

But these are all rumors. At that time, people would only cheer for the end of this bloody era, but what they didn't expect was that a wave of madness would come to the east soon...

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(End of this chapter)