king of ros

Chapter 491 The returnee
When the three Ruriks looked at the super city, on a port very close to Constantinople, a man returned to the imperial capital that he had left for a long time.

Standing on the port, looking at the port where he left that year, Leo was filled with emotion.

He is now at a discharge port attached to Constantinople. There are many such ports in Constantinople, and this is the largest one. He used to work here for a while when he was young. During the time, he chose to join the orphan director.

The amount of goods handled by this city every day can be called astronomical, so these subsidiary ports outside the city have been established one after another. Some ports have a longer history than those barbarian capitals.

Speaking of which, when Leo was hunted down, he could only run out of the city to leave by boat, that is, to meet other people here, and then head to the north. At that time, he felt very humiliated.

During the ten years of chaos in the empire, this port has been greatly affected. Under the fear of war, many residents on the port left one after another, trying their best to seek refuge after drilling into the walls of Constantinople. The port was also deserted.

When the Norman Russell's army advanced into the city, it was used as the most complete port outside Constantinople, and many buildings and facilities were rebuilt.

These facilities also saved Russell's life in the end. Russell also escaped through here, but it was a pity that he escaped temporarily. Alexios later went to kill him.

After Russell was kicked out, the situation in Constantinople gradually stabilized. People thought that the chaos would come to an end, so the residents of the suburbs also returned one after another. After all, Constantinople was prosperous, but it was not a city without jobs and industries. where the poor should be.

Moreover, due to the cessation of the import of many raw materials caused by the war, many shops in this city closed down, and many handicraftsmen lost their jobs. Faced with such a bad situation, many people had no choice but to leave Constantinople and go outside the city walls. to earn a living.

During that time, there was prosperity outside the city of Constantinople, and various reconstructions were in full swing, as if the empire would stabilize next.

But the development of things was unsatisfactory, and soon, with Nikephoros usurping the throne, the flames of the civil war in the empire reached a peak.

In Anatolia, the power of the empire can be said to have collapsed, more and more refugees came to Constantinople, the Turks had bathed their horses in the Sea of ​​Marmara, and even Turkic pirates began to Activities in the Aegean Sea.

In such an unstable environment, the outskirts of the imperial capital, which had just begun to be rebuilt, were naturally abandoned immediately. Even if people were starving in the city, they were unwilling to go outside the unsafe city walls, so the port was like this. Wasted again.

Alexios' rebellion did not have much impact on the port, after all, the young emperor did not have much navy.

This form did not change until the arrival of the Ross people. After Rostislav reached a cooperation with Alexios, he quickly set his sights on this port, and then it became the anchorage of the Ross fleet. The port has been given a new lease of life.

In Leo's view, the existence of the Ross Fleet is really incompatible with this port. Those Ross people who look rough, unkempt, and even partially wrapped in fur are so contrary to those colonnades and buildings that contain historical details. with.

Moreover, many of those buildings with imperial aesthetics were graffitied by the Ross people, and the records on them were all boring things, such as "I fucked a woman today.", "Beagle ate, I didn't." , "When will I be able to fight the Greeks?" and other words.

This gave Leo a sense of déjà vu. He felt as if he was in the Roman city being destroyed by the Vandals, and he was a citizen who could only watch the barbarians go amok and sigh constantly.

As a Greek, as a man of the Eastern Empire, he was outraged by it all.

But even more refreshing, he swore when he was forced to go to the north, that he would return with the army of the north, let those guys see whose turn it was, and now he did it.

However, almost 30 years have passed since that time, and too many things have happened in these 30 years. It turns out that the bureaucratic group that rose in the Macedonian dynasty has been dealt a fatal blow by the military nobles. It still exists, but the power is actually not as good as before.

Those who persecuted him and expelled him basically fell in the ensuing wars and struggles. Leo knew this very well, but the pleasure of revenge was unreasonable. He just liked this feeling. "The barbarian army ravaging the homeland gave him the strongest feeling.

What's more, after so many years, he has recognized Rostislav even more, and his perspective has long been replaced by the place where he has devoted nearly 30 years of his life. His attitude towards the imperial capital has long been similar to Zoe, wishing that those people would be unlucky.

Leo knew very well why Rostislav had called him here. The Grand Duke of Ross needed someone who was familiar with the rules of the South to act for him.

The Grand Duke has always been wary of the Greeks. Among the letters he sent to Kyiv, he likes to mention the phrase, "Be careful of the Greeks, even if they are their gifts."

This kind of distrust Leo can clearly see in the next trip. Rostislav’s camp is specially separated from Greece, and the fortifications facing the Alexios camp are no weaker than those facing the city. It is everywhere, and faces the direction of Alexios the most, and is alert to all possible actions of the Greeks.

Leo was happy for Rostislav's choice. Although he was also a Greek, he knew the cunning of the Greeks better than anyone else. Even as an ally, he had to be vigilant when facing them.

Leo didn't want Rostislav, who had appreciated him and promoted him, to fall. He was still counting on the "Return of the King" by taking advantage of Ross's army to invade the imperial capital. That time would be his most glorious time. The most awaited moment now.

The guards at the camp were very strict. Even Leo, a well-known figure in Kyiv, was strictly interrogated after entering the camp, and he knew why when he saw the scene inside the camp.

There are built siege machines everywhere: the rammed wagon with the hull of a ship as a shield, loaded with an iron sheep's head; the siege tower built as high as the city wall and wrapped in leather and iron sheets; The ladder car deployed directly under the city wall.

As for things like the long ladder shields, they are everywhere, just like Kyiv's kvass, which are worthless.

The confidence of the Ross soldiers in attacking the imperial capital can be said to be determined. In their view, with the existence of Rostislav, it is absolutely impossible for them to fail, even in the face of such a huge city. Rostislav's victory gave them Strong confidence.

But looking at this scene, Leo couldn't help but worry. It's a good thing to have high morale, but once frustrated, then...

Leo thought about it for a while, but then put the thoughts behind him, really, what were they thinking?He can be said to have watched Rostislav from a down-and-out prince to the current Grand Duke of Kyiv. He has accomplished so many things, so what is he worried about? Rostislav must have his own ideas.

Thinking in this way, Leo unknowingly came to the Rostislav camp, where Grand Duke Ross was waiting for him.

Looking at the gorgeous tent, Leo couldn't help laughing a few times. As an old minister beside Rostislav, he knew very well that his grand duke would never spend the night in the most gorgeous and conspicuous tent of the Chinese army, and never stayed there. They are all inconspicuous places in the soldier camp.

I think these Greeks who came into contact with him for the first time this time must have understood themselves as the place of Rostislav. Leo wanted to laugh when he thought that those self-proclaimed smart people were so fooled by what they called a barbarian.

But he quickly put away such emotions and became serious. The next step is work.

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(End of this chapter)