Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 71 - 71 57 Target Constantinople!

71: Chapter 57: Target, Constantinople!

71: Chapter 57: Target, Constantinople!

“Your Majesties,” in the Golden Governance Palace in Constantinople, the Venetian envoy, clad in the garb of a wealthy merchant, spoke eloquently.

“Regarding the shipping loan, there has been a slight issue: given the uncertainty of your nation’s war with the Seljuks, our bank’s auditing team thinks it unlikely that your nation will be able to repay the remaining three installments, thus requiring an audit of the Royal Family’s income stream.”

“Go ahead with the audit,” Theodora, tossing her fan on the table, wearily said, “but first send down those Frank Knights.

How much longer do you plan to drift at sea?”

“The loan procedures for your nation are not yet complete, so, strictly speaking, the full shipping payment has not been made,” the Venetian envoy replied politely.

“A deposit must be paid to set sail, and full payment must be made to dock.

Those are our rules.”

“Are you not believers in the Solomon Sect?” Theodora grew irritated, feeling that communicating with these merchants, whose eyes were fixed on money, was incredibly taxing.

“We are indeed devout believers in the Solomon Sect,” the Venetian envoy said with a smile, “but to speak offensively, even if His Holiness from the Holy Throne himself were to take our ship, not a single copper coin less can be paid—our auditing rules are precise to the six decimal places of a copper coin.”

Zoe sighed beside her.

Loaded with Frank Knights, the Venice Sea Ship had drifted on the Sea of Marmara for three days, but the Venetian loan procedures had still not been finalized, and the two sides continued to squabble and tug of war over various trivial details.

Such as the delivery time of gold, the location and shipping merchant, the specific time for reconciliation and settlement, and the exact stamps that must be on every piece of gold, to the point where they argued over what measures to take if there was an incorrect stamp for review.

However, since the Frank Knights had arrived in the open sea, the two majesties were barely able to suppress their anxious hearts and engaged in detailed negotiations with the Venetian envoy.

Another day passed, and the points of contention that the two sides had struggled with yesterday had finally come to over 60% consensus today, leaving only some insignificant, negotiable minor details.

After bidding farewell to the two majesties, the Venetian envoy left the Golden Governance Palace and went to the Venetian embassy in Constantinople, where he made a call to the ships on the high seas.

Governor Enrique, after receiving the envoy’s report in the secret chamber, bowed his head and left the cabin.

On the deck, Marquis Mongphilat and the Frank Knights were desperately waiting for a response from Constantinople.

“Constantinople refuses to pay,” Governor Enrique said, and upon hearing this, the Frank Knights let out a burst of disappointed exclamations.

They had been adrift at sea for three days.

Though the Venetians promised to communicate quickly with Constantinople, the result of each communication was that the two majesties refused to pay.

The knights’ already thin patience dwindled with each wave of disappointment.

Governor Enrique and Marquis Mongphilat exchanged looks, reading in each other’s gaze a message of initiation.

The latter then slammed his Long Spear on the deck vehemently and bellowed:

“Enough!

We’ve come to slay infidels and defend the glory of God’s walk upon the earth, not to haggle with the Sirius people of Constantinople!”

“The infidels are in Anatolia, in Syria, in the Holy City of Jerusalem!

Yet these myopic Sirius people are still stingy with their few copper coins, even at the cost of delaying the Crusaders’ expedition, causing us noble knights, willing to offer our lives for God, to drift on the ocean like lowly Sicilian seamen!”

His words perfectly vented the knights’ built-up anxious anger, and they began to shout loudly in response.

“If they are unwilling to sacrifice for a noble cause, then let us make the sacrifice!

If they are unwilling to fight to the death with the infidels, then let us fight!”

“But before that, we must settle our debt to the Venetians.

Constantinople once promised to pay the remaining 10,000 silver marks, but now they have shamefully reneged.”

“If they are unwilling to give this money, then let us take it ourselves, with our swords and Long Spears!”

Many knights echoed the sentiment, but many more Frank Knights fell into a sort of terror, some starting to clamor anxiously:

“Have you lost your mind, Marquis?

The people of East Solomon are also believers in God; how can we strike at them without permission?

Moreover, Constantinople has triple walls, and even extraordinary creatures of high rank would have great difficulty breaching them, let alone with our few hands!”

“Shut up!” Marquis Mongphilat lashed out, “If they truly believed in God, how could they care so much about such worldly wealth, casting their promises to the wind?”

“I had already called the Holy See last night, condemning Constantinople’s hypocritical behavior, and His Majesty, with his enlightened vision, has already issued a decree allowing me to act on my own discretion.

Once we capture Constantinople, it will be the best opportunity to reunify the eastern and western Churches!”

He pulled a printed document from his breast, which was indeed an authorization from Pope Innocent granting the Crusaders the “temporary” right to use force to “maintain” order and stability in Constantinople, complete with the Church Court’s unique encrypted watermark.