"You can't kill me, I'm the son of Emperor Mikhail!" As the wielding sword fell on his head, the sad illegitimate child was still screaming loudly.

But no matter how crazy he went, his so-called respectful identity could not save his life. In the end, about seven or eight spears stabbed into the body of the illegitimate son from all directions at the same time. At the last moment of his life, Nicholas only saw internal organs and flesh flowing all over the ground. The way he died with a noble status was so ugly. With Nicholas' death, the outcome of the decisive battle in the river bay came to an end.

...

Outside the Pindus Pass, the bodies of the dead can be seen everywhere in the river berth stained with blood. Justinian soldiers depended on each other to clean the battlefield. They did defeat the powerful enemies, but they also made great sacrifices.

Thousands of outstanding soldiers in this battle were on the battlefield, including the new Molia army, Albanian mountaineering people, and defenders from pebble forts. They dedicated their lives, but they could only requiem themselves in a foreign land. However, their blood sprinkled battlefield will be remembered in history. They used their lives to write the rebirth of the empire.

The soldiers were ordered to camp and rest on site, and Justinian and others buried the victims of this battle.

"Buried the Epirus people who died in battle!" Justinian looked at the Epirus soldiers who had fallen on the river beach and felt pity. Although they were enemies on the battlefield just now, they were still people of the Roman Empire. It was just that the times forced them to kill each other. Justinian believed that from now on, the blood of the Romans would not flow in vain.

The silent soldiers did not object, although some were resentful of Justinian's act of burying the enemy, after all, their comrades died at the other side's knife just now. But most people still buried the Epirus who died in battle with the same compassion - after all, they were not invaders of alien races, but people who lived in the empire like them. The respect for Justinian also made the soldiers choose to obey their orders to restrain the corpses on the battlefield.

"Is this necessary? It's better to take advantage of the victory and kill all the guys in the valley." Bogdani, who was watching coldly, obviously could not understand Justinian's intention to do this. In his opinion, the means used by one tribe to conquer another tribe were nothing more than fire and sword. How could he need a mother-in-law like Justinian? Besides, although the Epirus army was defeated, more than half of the remaining defeated generals fled to the valley, which was a great danger. Why be so hypocritical?

But Justinian shook his head, "The leader of the thief is dead, they are no longer a threat, let them go." After Nicholas was killed, Epirus' army was already without a leader. Justinian believed that although the number of remaining soldiers was large, they had no fighting spirit. Seeing that the Albanian mountain people had a group of Epirus prisoners, Justinian expressed his hope that Bogdani could release them.

The Albanian man couldn't help but frown and refused Justinian's request unhappily, "This is the property that we fought on the battlefield that belonged to our tribes. Even if my Qingshigang tribe agreed, the other tribe warriors would not agree. Don't forget that we saved you just now, the son of the chief of the mountain."

"I will not let you do favors for nothing. When things are done, I will pay you another reward. Unlike the customs of your tribes on the mountain, we do not have the habit of treating people as objects." Justinian assured Bogdani.

"It sounds nice. When the people at the foot of the mountain chased us and ordered us to pay taxes to them, I didn't feel that I was being regarded as a human being." Bogdani sneered, but he finally agreed to Justinian's request. After discussing with several tribes of stalactites, rocks and muds, he agreed to release the Epirus captives who were captured by them and handed over to Justinian for handling. There were no slave traders here, and the soldiers detained could not squeeze out any money. The mountain people were too lazy to argue with Justinian. Anyway, the other party promised to receive remuneration.

When discussing the transaction, Justinian was still reliable in the eyes of the Albanians. After all, the other party really allocated a large number of food and weapons to their tribe in one breath. Even though they were still prejudiced to the Greeks at the foot of the mountain, the mountain people would never refuse real money.

...

After being treated as free, the Epirus soldiers who were still absent-minded and trembling still couldn't believe it was true. They sat around and looked at the tightly arranged new Molia troops around. No one dared to take a step around with the nervous Epirus people.

At this time, Justinian walked towards them.

"Don't be nervous, fellow Epirus!" Justinian paused, glanced at the uneasy crowd, and comforted them: "The war has ended, and I have no intention of persevering in fraternity. You and I are both people of the Roman Empire, and they have grown up and lived and worked in peace under the protection of a flag. I believe that none of you and I actually want to see the cruel killing of each other before. Today I am here just to tell you that the guardians of Justinian, Molia, Akarani and Thessalonika have never been rebellious of the empire. On the contrary, I am protecting this country, and you and I should not be enemies."

"But this was announced by Emperor Noah, why should we believe you?" There was a question coming from somewhere in the crowd. The guards around Justinian were about to act like a spoiled person, but he stopped him.

I had already guessed that Justinian would not show any displeasure. After all, after the fall of Constantinople, Thrace and Macedonian refugees fled to Epirus and received the protection of Mikhail Ducas. It was reasonable for the lower class to love him as he called him Noah.

Justinian replied patiently:

"I understand why you don't want to believe me. Indeed, His Majesty Muzfius, who is blind, is too far away for most people. Even if he has any compassion, no one can feel it in the isolation of the monastery where he is imprisoned. This is why you are deceived by Mikhail."

"You are slandering Your Majesty!"

"This is not slander at all!" Justinian's words made the Epirus prisoners present tremble in their hearts. "What will happen to the entire Epirus after the fall of Constantinople? When Macedonia and Thessaly fled to the side of the tyrant Mikhail, I only heard Rusnie's slogans praising the so-called co-governance emperor in the city, but I could not see the iron-bending advice to subdue the old capital. I only saw that in the western border, in the port, Venetian merchants could enter the market, and in the south, the Latins occupied our homeland."

"But Your Majesty gave us bread!"

The voice sounded again, but this time the other party was not ready to hide anymore. The person who had been opposing Justinian in the captive crowd finally stood up. He was a small team leader of Epirus. Obviously, compared to other ordinary soldiers who were somewhat scared, his loyalty to Mikhail Ducas gave him courage.

Seeing the other party stand up, Justinian still did not let his subordinates take any action. He was not worried that anyone would oppose him. On the contrary, Justinian wanted such an effect.

The naked truth is to make it convincing to tear all the disguises and put them in front of people in a refutation.

Justinian nodded, and did not deny the captain's words, but asked back, "But are these breads transformed by your Majesty?"

"His Majesty Mikhail is the emperor and not the heretic wizard."

"Yes, even wizard food needs to be exchanged for one copper plate and one copper plate. The flour needed to bake bread also needs to be obtained from the farmers' mills. Your so-called generous emperor never gave you bread, but took away your bread and distributed it to you. There are liquors everywhere on the roads. In addition to paying taxes, farmers on the land also need to obey military service. Of course, everything is just dessert before the meal. There are many kinds of taxes and later...

...Yes, these things may seem reasonable. I think your origin should not know much about the farmers in the countryside!" Looking at the clean armor on the other party, Justinian believed that the other party should be from the wealthy class of Rusnina. However, when Justinian went to Rusnina, he saw the people who fled in the countryside countless times being ruthlessly exploited. If this were not the case, Mikhail Ducasian could rely on the barren Epirus to support the military activities of these years.

"That's just some examples, you... don't even want to slander Your Majesty." The squad leader of Epirus was sweating on his forehead, but his voice had become a little weak. Although he was a citizen, he also knew that Justinian's words just now were indeed reasonable. And the eyes of other soldiers from the bottom class who looked at Justinian gradually changed.

Seeing the other party refuting himself like this, Justinian smiled and continued, "Yes, those who do evil are tax officials who deceive their superiors and subordinates. How could His Majesty Noah be willing to suffer? But many of you here should know that any small disaster in the countryside is enough to destroy a family of food and clothing. There are only two ways before them, either starve to death or sell their land to local nobles, or they would be forced to death by tying up to death. Once upon a time, these lands were personally granted to these farmers by the Purple Clothing Royal Family. The emperors of the Isurian Dynasty also repeatedly ordered the nobles not to seize the land of the people, but now there are only a few farmers who own a piece of their own land in the empire."

"You are making a point!" Officer Epirus was still refuting stubbornly, but his companions were obviously not standing on his side and walked away silently.

Justinian said calmly: "In fact, I don't. I'm just saying a fact. The destruction of the empire may be related to the Latin invaders, but my fellow citizens, have you not discovered that the plague of poverty actually spread to every corner a long time ago? I'm afraid that even if there were no Latin people, the last drop of oil and water in your bones would be squeezed dry, and you would die silently without even needing a knife or a gun to change the birds."

He no longer answered the Epirus officer who had nothing to say, but turned to other soldiers from the bottom of the class.

"I came to meet you not to make you surrender to me, nor to hold any expectations that you can understand, but to prove that in the territory of the empire, the axiom still exists, and as long as it exists for one day, there will be people fighting for it. Perhaps many of you will find it incredible and that many things are right, but I still want to emphasize that if you all think you are not worthy of what you have gained, then one day you will have nothing. I have proved in Molia that nobility is not powerful and invincible, and that owning a land of your own should not be a luxury. Today I will release all those whom I have placed, and you can also bring back the body of Nicholas whom I have killed to you. But I hope you can tell the truth about what you have seen and heard today, and tell the tyrant of Rusnez that he is the next person I will find."

Justinian completed his final speech and fulfilled his promise in front of everyone. Molia's soldiers lined up to make way. Every Epirus captive who was free and released could get the rations needed to get the trip home. At first, all the captured Epirus people could not believe everything in front of them, but after repeated guarantees, someone finally plucked up the courage to take things and leave Justinian's barracks and walk towards the mountain pass. Soon hundreds of Epirus soldiers scrambled to leave.

"Is this really effective? Maybe those people didn't listen to what you said at all." The monk Sergius behind him suddenly appeared behind him and asked. He looked at Justinian's every move, very curious. If what he said just now was in front of the Thessaly nobles, he would probably lose a sensation. I have to say that such a young man was undoubtedly an alien in the power tree of the empire.

"How can you know if you don't try?"

"Relying on populist forces to fight will sooner or later be counter-attacked. This is a lesson from the past. It is a dream to hope that the lower class deserves the lofty ideal." The monk obviously disdained that he had already tried it in the slums of Agrignon.
Chapter completed!