Chapter 6 Is White Clothes Crossing the River? (3)
The Empire of the Seven Hills. Constantiniya.
A few years ago, Baselisa of the Seven Hills Empire, Ella Cornelius Scipio, was unfortunately captured by the island of the pirate kingdom while inspecting Brusis. In order to rescue Baselisa, her uncle
Sue Cornelius Scipio sent a fleet of one hundred ships to clear out the pirate camp, but ultimately failed.
Aulus Junius Brutus, the admiral who commanded the fleet at that time, reported that they had successfully rescued Baselisa, but due to the immature magic of the Tianfang Empire, Baselisa was lost again.
Gregory, the envoy of the Heavenly Empire, was expelled on the spot. Su Cornelius Scipio continued to send more people to search for Baselisa's whereabouts near the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
About half a month later, a small team of soldiers discovered the body of what was suspected to be Baselisa. Although the body was too blurry to be identified, the body was wrapped in a purple robe that could only be worn by the royal family of the Seven Hills Empire. The soldiers took
After the body was brought back to the Qiqiu Empire, the Qiqiu Empire held the country for three days.
Although many people still have doubts about the death of Ella Cornelius Scipio, Ella's uncle Sue Cornelius Scipio naturally became the new leader of the Seven Hills Empire.
of Basileus.
What is somewhat puzzling is that the naval admiral Aulus Junius Brutus, who failed to rescue Baselisa, not only was not alienated by Su, but actually gained greater trust after that.
There was originally only one military camp in the capital of the Empire of the Seven Hills. It belonged to the Praetorian Guard under Berengar. It was the privilege and honor of the Praetorian Guard to garrison troops in the capital. But Sue Cornelius Scipius
Acho approved Aulus to build a second military camp in the southeast corner of Constantiniya to station his navy.
Aulus, who was able to legally garrison Constantiniya, was now a pivotal figure in the politics of the Seven Hills Empire.
Giovanni left the city of Azov and sailed on the sea for several days before arriving at Constantiniya. The ship stopped at the port of Constantiniya to replenish fresh water and supplies. Giovanni himself took
Carrying a gift, he secretly visited the military camp in Aulus that night.
"Messenger of the Island Republic? Why do you come to see me so late?"
In front of Giovanni, Aulus took out a few gold coins from the gift and soaked them in a glass of colorless liquid. After a while, he used a clip to pick out the gold coins one by one and washed them with water.
wash away.
Half a year ago, people in the Qiqiu Empire discovered a counterfeit gold coin. They looked the same as ordinary gold coins, but after testing with saltpeter, they found that they were actually just silver coins inside. The circulation of this counterfeit coin is
It was so big that the nobles and businessmen of the Seven Hills Empire were accustomed to always keeping a bottle of detection reagents.
After seeing that the gold coins were still golden, Aulus's attitude suddenly became friendly: "Oh, my dear friend from the island republic, is there anything you need my help with this time?"
"Of course," Giovanni said, "it's about the pirate kingdom."
"Pirate Kingdom? Isn't that your ally in this war? Basileus has decided not to intervene in the war between you and the Republic of Liguria. Is there any problem?"
Aulus answered nonchalantly while lovingly rubbing the gold coins that Giovanni had just sent.
"By the way, there is one more thing I want to remind you. Since the city of Azov has been captured by your allies, you should just accept it. After all, the Republic of Liguria is also a vassal state of the Seven Hills Empire. If you
The fuss has gone too far, and Basileus may have to intervene. By then, the ownership of Azov City will be unknown again."
The information contained in Aulus's words is very important to the island republic. The reason why the Seven Hills Empire was able to ignore the war between the two vassal states was because of its limited control over the vassal states, and because of its own strength.
The third reason is that they judged that this war would not have much impact on the situation in the Mediterranean. It was completely unexpected that the rock-solid Azov city would be captured so quickly. Aulus issued this
Reminder, that means the Qiqiu Empire has already felt the potential threat of this war.
But Giovanni replied without changing his expression, "What if the Governor does not agree to mediate? Does the Seven Hills Empire want to launch a war against the Island Republic?"
"Don't talk like that in front of me. Basileus owes you a debt, but I don't. Rather, I have always been a militant on this issue. The ministers all think that the Qiqiu Empire will be in a naval battle with you.
It’s ridiculous to be at a disadvantage - not to mention your island republic, even if Andrea Doria from the Republic of Liguria is included, I, Aulus, don’t take it seriously.”
As he said that, Aulus sneered.
"Moreover, if the Seven Hills Empire joins in now, you will have to face the Republic of Liguria and our navy at the same time. Calculate, what is your winning rate?"
Hearing this, Giovanni bowed and replied respectfully: "Thank you, Lord Aulus, for reminding me. This is just a trade conflict. The governor will not push the Republic of Liguria into a desperate situation. It's just Liguria."
The Republic has just lost the city of Azov, and it is inevitable that it will be dissatisfied. I am afraid that the war will continue for several months before it can enter the process of peace negotiations."
"Barcyrus will keep a close eye on the dynamics of this war."
Aulus threw down the gold coins in his hand, closed the gift box, and then carefully put the gift box away. Only then did he start to look at Giovanni's face.
"So, you just mentioned the Pirate Kingdom, what's the matter?"
"I just returned from the city of Azov. There, I accidentally learned a terrible piece of information." Giovanni deliberately lowered his voice, "This group of pirates seems to be preparing to send out 10,000 troops to rob the country like they did three years ago.
Plunder the Seven Hills Empire."
"Oh? Is there such a thing? Isn't the Pirate Kingdom the ally you found?"
Giovanni stamped his feet in a pretentious manner: "Hey, we underestimated the greed of the Pirate Kingdom and let the wolf enter the house."
A smile appeared on the corner of Aulus's mouth, as if he had seen through everything: "It has only been ten days since you last passed through Constantiniya. Counting the round trip time, you only stayed in Azov City for half a day. That's all.
It only took half a day for you to collect this level of intelligence. I'm afraid even specially trained spies are not as useful as you as an envoy - I think it was you who provoked the Pirate Kingdom, and your own military strength has deteriorated.
It’s not enough, so you want to take advantage of us, right?”