Constantinople, Grand Palace.

Leo IV was very ill, since last September the Bolgars attacked the Thrace region and defeated Leo IV's army, Leo IV suffered a great mental blow, and then the Bolgars attacked Constantinople, Leo IV forced the transfer of troops and mobilized food and grass from all over the country to defend the city, and held out for more than half a year, and finally forced the Bolgars to withdraw to the middle and lower reaches of the Danube.

When the Bolgars withdrew, Leo IV could no longer hold on, he fell ill, and he was so ill that he could not deal with state affairs at all, and military affairs had to be temporarily taken over by Empress Irina, in order to make her right, Leo IV ordered that all the official documents that had been handled should be signed by the Eastern Roman Emperors Leo IV and Irina, and put her name after him, according to the rules, Leo IV's name should be followed by their son Constantine VI, because as early as last year, Leo IV decreed that Constantine VI should be crowned co-emperor, but Constantine VI was too young, less than ten years old, and had no ability to handle state affairs, so he could only be replaced by his mother Irina.

In this way, Irina can rightfully sit on the throne of the emperor and convene the ministers to make decisions on military affairs. At first, the ministers did not think that Irina was capable of taking care of the military and political affairs of the empire, but within a few months, the people of Constantinople found out that the empress was really not a vase figure, and her ability to handle military and political affairs was better than that of Bellio IV.

It was her decision to order the abandonment of Syria and Canaan and transfer most of the troops back to Constantinople, so that although she lost Syria and Canaan, she kept 20,000 elite soldiers and scared off the Bolgars.

Irina's burden is not light, after the Bolgars retreated, the Thracian province of the Eastern Roman Empire was full of desolation, the people's livelihood withered, and Constantinople retained a large number of refugees, this is not the worst, the most worrying thing for Irina and the Eastern Roman Empire Manchu civil and military are the Western Qin in the northwest of the Khazar Protectorate and the Persian Protectorate, the huge military pressure once again made the Eastern Roman Empire breathless.

You must know that the Asia Minor Peninsula is now the most stable and most tax-generating region of the Eastern Roman Empire, even the Greek region is not comparable, once the Asia Minor Peninsula is plunged into war, the Eastern Roman Empire will be devastated, although the Eastern Roman Empire has deployed a lot of troops in the Asia Minor Peninsula, but no one can guarantee whether it can withstand the attack of Western Qin.

The situation is getting more and more severe, and Constantinople must take action, otherwise once Western Qin fights, it will be difficult to find a way.

Irina sat on the throne and looked at the ministers below with a pale face, and was immediately annoyed, and slapped the table with her jade hand and said angrily: "There are so many ministers, I can't even think of a way, what's the use of asking you people?" ”

Irina's prestige is growing, and the ministers were so angry with her that they were immediately frightened and shrunk their necks, thinking that the ministers no longer dared to have reservations, only to see the chief justice stand up and say: "Your Highness, I think we can unite with the Mahdi of the Great Food Country, first send someone across the Mediterranean Sea to contact Mahdi, listen to his thoughts, if he wants, let him send troops to contain the border of the Sinai Peninsula, so that Western Qin must have some scruples and dare not attack our country casually!" The main thing is that Mahdi and Western Qin are enemies, and he definitely doesn't mind joining forces with us to deal with Western Qin's attack! ”

"And Mahdi is not a fool, he knows that Western Qin will send an army to Egypt sooner or later, if he wants to protect himself, he must seek foreign aid to fight against Western Qin together, we are his only choice at the moment!"

Irina nodded and said: "This is a solution, but the big cannibals have always regarded us as enemies, will they agree to unite with us and still invite them to eat, but we can send people over to probe Mahdi's mouth, but it will take time, even if the big cannibals agree, there are still a lot of things involved, and it will take a lot of time to really reach a union!" Do you have any other options? ”

The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry stood up and said: "Your Highness, in recent years, the Frankish kingdom in the west has become stronger and stronger, their king Charman personally led the army to annex many lands, wiped out many barbarian tribes, and even the Lombard kingdom was destroyed by them, King Charman's army is unstoppable, I think we can borrow troops from King Charman!" ”

"In addition, Western Qin is menacing, whether it is for us or for other surrounding kingdoms, Western Qin is a terrible nightmare, I think as long as it is in a place where God's light shines, we can ask the Holy See to mediate and unite all other kingdoms that believe in God to fight against Western Qin!"

Irina raised her eyebrows: "Looking for the Frankish Kingdom to borrow troops?" Too far, right? Is the Frankish kingdom willing to wade into this troubled water? ”

"Your Highness, how do you know if you don't give it a try? Sending someone over to test King Charman's attitude and reaction will not cost much money, it is nothing more than a question of who to send! ”

Irina nodded: "It's okay!" Then send a man, and you will consult with a man to choose. However, I am afraid that it will be too late, now that Western Qin is increasing more and more troops on the border, our garrison generals on the border of the Asia Minor Peninsula have sent people back to say that the situation is very tense, and a big war may break out at any time, and we must think of other ways to alleviate the current tension before contacting the Great Cannibals and the Franks and other forces, otherwise before we are ready, the Western Qin people will come over! ”

The Minister of Commerce and Trade stood up and said, "Your Highness, I have a very bold way to ease the current tense situation, but I don't know if Your Highness dares to use it!" ”

Irina doesn't like the Minister of Commerce and Trade very much, this person has always looked down on her, opposes her everywhere, and often embarrasses her with nothing to do, she listens to this, she snorts coldly in her heart, but her face is silent, and she raises her hand and says: "Tell me about it!" ”

The Minister of Commerce and Trade immediately said: "Now that the King of Western Qin should be in Jerusalem, we can send someone to meet the King of Western Qin, persuade the King of Western Qin to withdraw his troops, and re-sign a peace agreement with Western Qin, which can not only ease the current tense border situation, but also re-establish relations with Western Qin, maintain peace, and eliminate war!" ”

Irina was furious: "What kind of good idea are you? I have already sent people over, but they have all been blocked back, the king of Western Qin has not seen our envoys at all, if the king of Western Qin is so easy to convince, how can it be your turn to point fingers here? ”

The Minister of Commerce and Trade smiled: "Your Highness, that's because you didn't find the right person!" ”

Irina sneered: "So you think you're the best candidate?" Why don't I send you! ”

The Minister of Commerce and Trade shook his head and said, "Your Highness, if I had this kind of eloquence, I would have stood up and asked His Highness for help!" Others may not be able to, but only two people may be able to do it, and the probability of success is more than eighty percent, that is, Your Majesty and Your Highness. Now Your Majesty is sick in bed, and only Your Highness will come out in person! ”

"You're bold!" Immediately, he jumped out and pointed at the Minister of Commerce and Trade, "What kind of heart do you have?" I even thought of asking the queen to meet the king of Western Qin! Do you know how dangerous this is? Your Highness, this person wants to harm you, please order him to be pulled out and killed! ”

Irina stared at the Minister of Commerce and Trade with a blushing face, and did not say anything for a long time, but the Minister of Commerce and Trade looked calm and composed, not afraid at all.

Irina finally spoke: "Why do you think that if I go to see the King of Western Qin, I will be able to make him withdraw his troops and sign a peace agreement with Western Qin?" ”

The Minister of Commerce and Trade then said: "Your Highness, when I was young, I often traveled back and forth between the East and the West, and I have been to the East no less than 20 times in the past 20 years, I know them, the principles of the Easterners are different from those of us Westerners, if we send a minister to see the King of Western Qin, he will definitely not pay attention to it, but if it is Your Majesty and His Royal Highness, it will be different, the identity of the two of you is different from others, your identity is equal to the King of Western Qin, to a certain extent, your identity is even higher than him, After all, nominally you are the emperor and empress, and he is only the king. But now His Majesty the Emperor is in poor health and cannot make the trip, so he can only grieve His Highness."

"And His Royal Highness is different when he goes to see the King of Western Qin, His Royal Highness is a woman, women are inherently in a weak position in front of men, any man with heroism has the nature to protect weak women, and Oriental people love face and pay attention to decency, if His Royal Highness goes to see the King of Western Qin, the King of Western Qin should not do anything detrimental to his dignity, if he bullies His Highness, he will be criticized by the world, so I dare to conclude that His Royal Highness is in danger here, if His Highness is not at ease, I can accompany him!"

The consul immediately stood up against it: "Your Highness, this is absolutely not going to work!" There has never been a precedent for the queen of one country to meet with the king of another country for the sake of state affairs, is it true that all the men of my Eastern Roman Empire are dead? To let a woman run for the safety of the empire? Besides, once this matter is rumored, it will not only be extremely detrimental to His Highness's reputation, but will also damage the reputation of His Majesty the Emperor and the imperial family! ”

Irina smiled bitterly: "The Western Qin State is not the Bolgar Khanate, it is not so easy to deal with, and it is about to be overwhelmed by a large army, is it useful to care about these now?" If the Western Qin can't withdraw its troops and can't stop the Western Qin's attack, the Eastern Roman Empire will fall in an instant, and what is the loss of some reputation compared to being a slave to the country? ”

"Your Highness!" The ministers were infected by her pessimistic attitude and burst into tears.

Irina cleaned up her mood and said solemnly to the ministers: "I have decided, immediately send someone to inform the king of Western Qin, I will go to Jerusalem to meet with him, my warship will anchor in the port of Beirut, and then go directly to Jerusalem!" His Majesty's condition has not improved in the slightest so far, and I am not going to tell him about it, lest it aggravate his condition. During this period, military and political affairs were presided over by the consuls! ”