Peloponnese - the Moria Military Region of the Byzantine Empire, this is the essence of the empire and the hinterland. The once ancient city-state civilization was born here. Although with the rise of Thessalonika and Constantinople in the north, it is no longer as prosperous as before, and it can be a unique piece of land. Therefore, although the territory of the Achaia vassal state established here is not large, its strength cannot be underestimated.

In name, he was a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessaloniki, but Bonifas probably would never have thought that the knights who had no intention of sending there to investigate the situation would defeat the Byzantine army ten times their own with the strength of hundreds of people, and annexed the entire Peloponnese in one fell swoop. The nameless William Chaplet and Gottfrey Vilehad established the vassal state of Achaia by establishing themselves as the monarchs here. This made Bonifas regret it and had no choice but to recognize his status.

Today, the vassal state of Achaia can vaguely compete with Epirus and Thessalonika, who is catching clothes and elbows in Bulgaria, and even went to Athens several times to contact him and demanded that he become his own vassal.

However, for now, William Chaprite is probably no longer interested in the intrigue between him and other lords, because Epirus's fierce attack on Athens half a month ago made him feel a little nervous. It seems that his territory was unique in geographical conditions, but in fact, he was surrounded by the remnants of the Byzantine Empire on all sides. If Athens fall one day, it means that his connection with the Kingdom of Thessalonika was completely cut off by the Greeks, and many nobles also asked for support to Athens, especially Prime Minister Gotforry, who was particularly firm. However, Marquis William was hesitant.

Because of this, William summoned all the nobles of his territory to join the council. He tried his best to persuade his vassals not to get involved in the battle between the Greeks and the Kingdom of Thessalonika. After all, the Principal of Athens was just a vassal of Bonifas, and he hoped to contact Epirus to reach a peace agreement.

But on the grand assembly of the Principality of Achaia, the other nobles did not respond so actively to the king. They did not think they had to compromise and bow their heads to the weak Greeks. In their opinion, Marquis William's approach was incredible.

"Is it really necessary to do this, Lord William?" Gotforry, the Prime Minister of the Principality, decisively did not agree. Instead, he insisted on mobilizing all the nobles to take the initiative to go to war with Epirus.

Other nobles who participated in the Grand Parliament also agreed. William's previous peace proposal really puzzled them. The European knights who were keen on war were more willing to expand their territory. Moreover, the Athenians also sent envoys to rescue them before. Now Bonifas was in a hurry for Bulgaria, and now it was their best opportunity to put the Principal of Athens under their control.

Seeing this scene, William frowned slightly. Of course he could understand such a reaction. After all, the Byzantines had retreated before, but William firmly believed that Epirus would never give up, especially the Theodor who was in charge of Agrignon, who would never be willing to give up here. Once there was a verdict, the situation of the Achaia vassal state would be very dangerous. Under the current situation, since Emperor Baldwin suffered a crushing defeat at Adrian Fort, the entire country established by the former Crusaders had been caught in the face of the counterattack of the remnants of the forces. Now, the Achaia vassal state and Athens are indeed cold, but he has a premonition that it is only a matter of time before the Greeks make a comeback. So because of this, William convened a grand meeting against the public, hoping to reach a consensus on the restoration of relations with Byzantium, but he did not expect that the grand meeting was fiercely opposed.

He asked the barons of various territories to withdraw from Corinth to give up their preparations for war, and at the same time strengthen the coastal defense of Andravida to prevent the Epirus from attacking from sea. But now it seems that everything is not as smooth as he thought, and these vassals are more willing to join forces with the Athenians to prepare for the attack on Epirus together.

"Duke Vileha, do you still think the Greeks are as vulnerable as before?" Looking at his friend, Marquis William asked with a heavy face. He really couldn't understand why the other party insisted on the main battle. They could win at the beginning because the Byzantines had not had any war military preparations for many years, so they took advantage of the situation. Now they still want to take risks, just hit the stone with eggs.

"Of course not, but our iron cavalry is enough to break through all enemies, Marquis." Gottfry certainly understood the meaning of the monarch in front of him. Although he is now a subordinate of the other party, he has been a comrade in the past ten years, but he obviously does not have the sense of crisis like William Chaplet.

"What if I must persist?" Seeing that my friends for many years were not on their side, William was helpless. The Grand Council composed of the nobles convened by the monarchs was the highest authority of the Principality of Achaia. This feudal system imitated William's mother country France was called the "Assizes of Romania". It grafted the customary French law into Byzantine law. Unlike other Thessalonika or Constantinople's unacceptable land, the decrees that William implemented in the past two years were very smooth and even affected other Greek crusaders. Some of the original Byzantine aristocratic titles and the Pronier system (see Byzantine Military Regional System) were also retained, but they were transformed to suit the Western European feudal system, and his resolutions were binding on the whole country and even the monarchs. Without their support, he could not mobilize all troops.

William, who convened the Grand Council, wanted to achieve his goal, but now the nobles used this to suppress his power. Suddenly, the man coughed violently, and an unhealthy rosy appeared on his pale face.

"Marquis, are you okay?" The other nobles were worried and concerned. After all, they were one of the hundreds of knights at the time, and they were like a comrade. They have been in trouble since the battle of Condoros Olive Forest William Chaplet was injured. In addition, the hot weather in the Peloponnese made him extremely uncomfortable, so his health became worse and worse.

Seeing that the old friend was obviously so weak, Gottfrey nodded helplessly, "Why do you have to do this? William, since this is the case, it is better to temporarily remove half of the troops. The remaining people continue to observe the movements of the Greeks. In this way, we can avoid unnecessary losses, and we can also use this as a condition to make the Duke of Otto pay some price." The Duke of Otto mentioned in Gottfrey was Otto de La Roche, the monarch of the Duchy of Athens. The other party was a knight from Burgundy, and the relationship between the two sides was not harmonious.

The other noble knights also nodded. Looking at the scene, Marquis William also understood that he had no way to argue anymore. He was in poor health and many of the matters were handed over to Gotfrey. In addition, he did not have a direct male heir, so this old friend was already regarded by everyone as the future monarch of the marquis.
Chapter completed!