"Roman Caesar" Blimnius was a bookish, elderly old man, who dressed very casually at home, except for a purple Dalmatica tunic with two fuchsia stripes "Krabi" on his clothes. The silk used to make this Dalmatika tunic was produced in the Eastern Roman Empire, which began the history of silk production and processing in the Eastern Roman Empire when the Eastern Romans received silkworm chrysalis smuggled from the East around the 6th century AD. As a result, the silk industry became an important source of revenue for the empire and led to the development of the empire's textile industry. As a result, the Eastern Roman Empire, after losing control of the maritime trade routes, still had a little wealth to hire foreign troops.

He was now sitting on a throne in his study, looking with somewhat depressed eyes at his young, beautiful, and ambitious wife, Anna. Komenina.

Anna also wore a purple Dalmatika tunic but it looked very ornate, the surface of the dress was covered with embroidery of gold and silver threads, and it was almost dazzling under the sunlight shining in from the window. However, it was not the gold and silver threads on his wife's clothes that made Blimnius feel depressed, but a sketch of Gongbi in her hand, which was painted by a professor of Yuntai Xuegong who was good at painting with Li Gang, based on Zhao Ji's oil painting in military uniform. The general Joselin, who was handed over to Baldwin, the "royal brother" of Jerusalem, brought Constantinople and presented it to Anna. Komnina's father, Alexios I.

I don't know what's going on, but this sketch of Gongbi that has reached an astonishing level of realism to the eldest princess Anna. In the hands of Komenina.

Then the 24-year-old princess of the Komnenos dynasty deliberately acted like a nymphomaniac in front of her husband......

"Dear Caesar, Tengri is the real knight, I heard that he led 10,000 knights and 30,000 mercenaries to attack Bukhara, the capital of Lower Mahogany! He wiped out more Lower Peach Blossom Stone Heavenly Sect warriors than the entire Crusaders......"

Anna. Comonina looked at her old husband with a look of hatred for iron, and in temperament she looked more like a suave scholar than Caesar's Brynius.

In fact, Brynius was a scholar, proficient in literature, history, and military science, and he was not very interested in war and power, and in his free time he liked to read books or write something on parchments. His family's collection of books undoubtedly surpassed that of all the Eastern Roman aristocratic houses, and the richness of the book was probably comparable only to the Library of Alexandria.

And his wife is very beautiful, and her wisdom is far superior to that of the beautiful Anna. Komenina was actually an excellent scholar as well...... Perhaps the most brilliant scholar of the Eastern Roman Empire of his time, he was well versed in Greek philosophy, literature, and science, as well as in history, medicine, and mathematics.

Intellectually, Brynius and Anna. Comunina was a good match, and the couple could discuss the history of Rome, the philosophy of Aristotle and the mathematics of Pythagoras, and even the "Strategy" of Emperor Maurice and the "Tactics" of Emperor Leo VI.

Therefore, the relationship between the old husband and the young wife is still very close, which can be seen from the fact that the two gave birth to three children ten years after marriage.

But to Brynius' pain, his wife possessed an ambition that was equally matched by her intelligence—Anna. Comunina is hell-bent on making her husband Brinnius the next emperor! Although the job of emperor is not something that can be done just by thinking about it, Nikephoros. Brynius could still work on this.

He was the leading military aristocrat of the Eastern Roman Empire, already possessed the title of Caesar, and was also the chief deacon of the Imperial Council, and he was very powerful! And also has a large number of private soldiers!

In addition, his wife Anna. Komenina was also involved in the government of Constantinople for a long time, and she also had a very attractive political proposition - the introduction of feudalism in the Eastern Roman Empire! That is, to emulate the feudal states of Western Europe, and to transform the empire, which still nominally maintained centralized power, into a feudal state.

This proposition undoubtedly caters to the tastes of a group of great nobles and mercenary leaders!

However, Anna's husband Brenius had no ambitions, and he did not want to be an emperor at all, but only wanted to be his scholar in peace, and this incident became the biggest disagreement between the husband and wife.

Anna would irritate her husband with a "crush" on the knightly kings of the Crusader countries when she had nothing to do, hoping to arouse his ambitions, but to no avail.

And in the past few days, because Joselin brought the news of the Peach Blossom Stone Mission and a portrait of Zhao Ji, the object of Anna's "infatuation" has become Tengger, the knight king of Peach Blossom Stone, - she didn't know that the handsome man wearing armor and riding on a war horse on the portrait was named Zhao Ji, but took Tengger as a name.

"Anna, our empire is not the same as the country of Tengger Khan, it is not a country of vigorous youth, but a country of old age in the twilight. Your father and brother John are the most suitable leaders of the nation, not you. They were very nimble and never expected the revival of the empire, so they were able to win a little space for the country to develop in the gap between the Normans, Italians, and Turks. ”

"But his reforms weren't positive," said Anna. Komenina put down Zhao Ji's portrait and sighed leisurely, "You should understand this...... The foundations of the empire had long since decayed, and it had to be completely rebuilt. Neither the citizens of Constantinople nor the peasants of Greece and Anatolia were capable of defending the country. The only thing we can rely on is the knights! ”

Brynius looked at his wife with admiration, knowing that Anna's opinion was correct. The current Roman Empire could not be defended by the citizens of the "new Rome" - Rome was in fact an empire developed from a city-state, and the citizens of Rome were the basis of the great republic. But today's empire has long since been able to count on its citizens.

The empire had to pay off foreign mercenaries, and the empire's finances could not afford to have enough mercenaries to resist the invasion of the Turks, Normans, and possibly the Slavs. Because now Constantinople has long been not the center of trade between East and West, and the trade routes have long been controlled by the Celestials and the merchants of the Republic of Venice.

So feudalization is the only way out......

However, despite his political and military prowess, Alexios I was not determined to carry out a major reform of the empire.

And although Anna is determined enough, she is a woman after all, and it is impossible for her to ascend the throne with two younger brothers. If you do it with her, you risk starting a civil war.

Rome...... There can be no more civil wars!

Just as Brynius was trying to persuade his wife again, his mercenary Stephen Jr. had already arrived at the door of the study and reported loudly in Greek: "Caesar! A Venetian merchant ship with the flag of X has arrived, and it is still shooting fireballs into the air! ”

"Ah, it's the mission of the Peach Blossom Stone Country!" Brynius rose from his throne covered with soft silk cushions, "Anna, let's go to the Brahenai Palace together." ”

"Okay," Anna. Komenina smiled, "I also want the mission of the Peach Blossom Stone Kingdom to live at home, so that I can learn more about the situation of the Peach Blossom Stone Country." ”

"Okay," Brynius nodded, "I don't know how far the Peach Blossom Stone Kingdom is from us?" If not too far, we can return to the capital of the Peachbose Kingdom as an ambassador to Rome. ”

……

The Venetian galleys had sailed into the Golden Horn in the north of Constantinople, and Ji Yi and Li Gang, who were standing at the bow, had changed into the official uniforms of the Great Song Dynasty. Behind them, a hundred specially selected "Iron Man Samurai" had already put on shining Qingtang armor, carrying a shining Mo sword on their shoulders, and lined up in a neat formation on the deck.

The black samurai O'Hara was not with his comrades in the Shinsengumi, who remained in Basra because they were too short to undermine the prestige of the Great Song Dynasty, but instead wore a suit of chain mail and stood in front of the Iron Man samurai, carrying the flag.

Emperor Alexios I on the southern shore of the Golden Horn, Crown Prince John, Princess Anna. Komenina, Caesar Brinlius, Patriarch Nicholas III and others also appeared on the docks in gorgeous purple robes and under the protection of the heavily armored Wallachian Guards.

As the Venetian galleys approached the docks, the most powerful people in the Eastern Roman Empire took notice of Ji Yi's "Iron Man Guard".

There were so many ironclad hoplites in the mission guards alone...... The strength and wealth of the Peach Blossom Stone Country can probably be imagined!

At the same time, Ji Yi was also shocked by the grandeur and enormity of the city of Constantinople. The wall near the Sea of Marmara was about fifteen or sixteen miles long, and on the Golden Horn side, it was more than ten miles long. The height of the castle wall is about four zhang, and it is not a rammed earth wall, but a wall made of carefully cut limestone blocks, which looks very strong.

In addition, along the city walls there are dense towers, some square, some octagonal and hexagonal. And the height of these towers is about six to seven feet!

Obviously, the country that was able to build this city must have, or once had, a splendid civilization!

Ji Yi said to Li Gang beside him with some emotion: "Bo Ji, if we don't come to the West, we don't know that there are such strong cities in the world, and we don't know that the West actually has an ancient country like us!" ”

Li Gang nodded slightly, "Guancheng is still there, but the country has weakened...... It can be seen that the rise and fall of the country is in virtue and not in danger! ”

"What's not in danger in Germany?" Ji Yi smiled, "It's all about having no money...... But now we're here, and the kingdom of Rome will soon be rich! ”

"Rich? How much money do you bring? ”

"I didn't bring much money," Ji recalled, "but I'll make up the money!" ”