Eagle Byzantium

In the camp of Lepanto, Gawain was stabbing a barbecue with a dagger, listening to the clerk next to him reading the "Lipual Code" of the Frank Empire hundreds of years ago, as well as the recently written Norman military service laws. Comparing the two, what Gao Wen noticed was that although the difference was relatively old, the price fluctuations were not large.

“Helm, six sous of silver;

Breastplate or knee-length mail, twelve sous;

greaves, six sous;

scabbard, seven sous;

A long sword without a scabbard, three sous;

Spear, two sous;

shield, two sous;

A small buckler of basswood, half a sous;

War horses, twelve sous;

Pack horse, three sous. "

"Okay, look for the corresponding intuitive prices, so that I can have the same intuitive impression." Gawain stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth and asked.

The scribe stuck it in the scroll and turned it over several times with rough, calloused fingers. "Can I compare it with a cow?"

"Can."

"A bull with strong horns is two sous, a cow with strong horns is one sous, and a mare strong enough to plow is four sous," the clerk said.

Then Gawain quickly reported the answer, "That is to say, the outfit of each of the Norman knights we captured is equivalent to the price of twenty-five bullocks." While speaking, the clerk was busy for a long time. , just caught up with Gawain's calculation results, and couldn't help but be stunned, asking the earl commander why his calculation ability was so good even though he was clearly illiterate.

"I know the multiplication formula." Gawain replied without thinking. Everyone in the camp was shocked, not knowing what the "multiplication formula" was.

But then the count commander sighed and said, "Perhaps the ransom price I offered, one hundred and fifty sous per person, is a little too low..."

The lighthouse on the rock of Lepanto lit a flame. "Is this fleet sailing from the city of Corinth?" Gawain, who came over, asked Diogenes who was looking at the tower. The other party nodded. "Yes, that rich widow really sent you a reward in order to please you."

"Then take over the money without any hesitation, and set sail from Lepanto tomorrow to conquer Italy." Gawain looked determined and didn't care about Inglina's mood.

"Alas, aren't you going to return to Corinth and participate in the triumphal feast?" Although Diognis knew it in his heart, he still asked.

Gawain patted the battlements and said lightly, "There is not enough time. The Chamber of Commerce is urging us very hard. Bohemond is stepping up the siege of Amalfi. As for the news that our army defeated his Rangers, I have already written The letter will be delivered immediately Leave it to Bohemond. I am very curious about this red-bearded bandit leader. After learning that his partial army was defeated, I think he demanded a ransom of thousands of silver coins, and that Gawain visited his lair, It’s funny to think about what kind of expression it would be like.”

"But if Bohemond imitates the Turks and desperately captures Amalfi, what should we do?" The capture officer's misstep against George the Stablemaster is still vivid in his mind.

After hearing this question, Gawain pulled out the fire sickle and gently rubbed it against the stone crevices of the battlement. The flames jumped out and illuminated the side of his face. "He will not be able to bear it. We can also learn from the Turks." Human tactics to deal with the Norman strongholds and villages in Calabria."

"Squeak!" The lever of an ancient Roman-style trebuchet suddenly hit the leather pad at the front, pushing the pile of soil in front of it forward by half a minute. The stones roared and made a parabola in the air. With his movement, he hit the edge of a stone fortress on the ridgeline of the mountain, and some debris fell down one after another. The craftsmen under the trebuchet, and now the siege engineers, all let out regretful sighs.

Bohemond, who was sitting next to him, was holding his sword listlessly, looking at the surrounding villages and wheat fields that had been completely burned by his army, followed by the sharply rising green and stretching mountain peaks, the sentry towers and bunkers of Amalfi, They all sit on it sporadically, Cleverly blended with forests and rocks, behind the barrier of this mountain is a narrow promontory like a long tentacle. Beyond the promontory is the siege fleet of Pisa, while the city of Amalfi is located between the mountains and the sea. With its back to Bohemond's siege army.

But it was this mountain barrier that Bohemond, Duke of Apulia, gnawed at for two months, but still didn't make much progress. Finally, he reached an agreement with the Pisa people to "trap Amalfi to death."

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Then, Pope St. Peter sent batch after batch of messengers, and his words became more and more fierce, asking the red-bearded prince to withdraw from the siege of the city as soon as possible and go to Placentia in the north to attend religious meetings. The General Assembly came to judge the scandal caused by Henry IV, the arrogant emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who had been excommunicated. It also prepared to reorganize the troops, take over the long-cherished wish of the previous pope who passed away, and cooperate with the hermit Peter to restore the Holy Land. . Bohemond also continued to have legal battles with the Holy See Messenger. In short, his main purpose in getting Joe was to hope that the Pope would entrust him with the appointment of the patriarchs of Calabria and Lucania.

The main reason is that Bohemond is short of money now. Since he went out to the army, his funds have been almost exhausted. Once he can obtain the right to appoint the imam, the rings and scepters of all the imams and priests in these two provinces will be will be given by him, then in the "clerical business", he can obtain far more than the normal Often with much higher taxes, he can truly rely on his reputation and huge wealth to organize a strong military force comparable to that of his deceased father, then march towards the Holy Land, and wait for the opportunity to establish Norman in Anatolia or Syria. The empire is far stronger than in this helpless region.

In this regard, the Holy See's Urban, who was a Cluniac monk, commented, "Dear Prince of Apulia, you are now engaging in the same dangerous behavior as the traitor Henry. This Holy See has said in the recent past that Within this year, we mainly do three things that will glorify our Lord forever. The first is to eliminate the traitor Henry and the people he built. The false pope; the second one was to oust Philip, the king of the Isle of France, who committed extremely shameful crimes, including adultery, incest and murder; the last one was to call on all believers, regardless of origin, to go to the East , to restore the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord. I don’t want you to be the fourth person this Holy See cares about.”

Bohemond tore the letter into pieces and threw it on the cliff between the mountains and the sea. "In another month, the city of Amalfi will fall, and the Norman knights and I will be able to loot as much as we want. I should accept the mediation of the Holy See." , or should I be determined to seek greater rights? Dead mother Geta, I don’t know how to grasp the instructions you gave me before you died. You must be very busy in hell and have no time to do it. Remind your son in the dream that he deserves it.”

At this moment, a messenger who was responsible for delivering orders passed through the siege camp and handed the letter into his hands. Then Bohemond noticed that many lords and knights who came to join the army with solemn faces were also facing him. They gathered around.