Water Margin people

Chapter 1758 The Third Crusade
"All black? Tell me more about it!"

Baldwin IV looked at the men and asked.

"The man claimed to be a pilgrim. He felt unwell two days ago, with nausea, vomiting and fever. Yesterday, many parts of his body were swollen and sores appeared on his skin. The skin around the sores gradually turned black. He died today. A large area of ​​his body was black! It's scary!"

"Dear sir, that must be a follower of the devil!"

"It must be possessed by a demon!"

……

Everyone talked about what they knew.

"Your Majesty, it looks like some kind of illness!"

William whispered that judging from what those people said, the deceased should have suffered from some kind of disease, but he had never heard of any disease that could make a person's body turn black and die in just three days.

"Violent disease!"

Baldwin IV said with certainty that it would be easy to analyze based on his many years of experience with illness.

"Let's go over and have a look!"

Baldwin IV and his men went into the woods.

But as soon as the group entered the woods, they saw flames rising. In the open space in the middle of the woods, a fire was burning fiercely.

"Is it already burned?"

Baldwin IV frowned and said that he wanted to see what disease was so severe, but the body had been burned and he had no way to analyze it.

Baldwin IV led his men out of the woods, took a short walk outside the city, and then returned to Rome.

As the pilgrimage day approached, more and more people came and went in and out of Rome, and the problem of dirt and disorder was not only not solved, but became more serious.

The emperors and kings of the empire and kingdom finally arrived, and they brought their armies with them. The war horses were penned outside the city and their excrement was piled up.

For several consecutive days, people died of illness inside and outside the city, and the number was increasing.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, the church had to secretly have people use carts to transport the sick and dead outside the city and burn them at night.

"How many today?"

Bernard asked, looking at a priest.

"More than 400 people in the city, more than 500 outside the city!"

The priest replied.

"So many? What about the symptoms?"

Bernard asked, frowning.

"There are many symptoms, including deaths from dysentery and other diseases, but in the past two days, there have been an increase in deaths with black bodies. These people fell ill and died very quickly."

The priest replied.

"The High Mass will be held the day after tomorrow. This matter must be suppressed. After the High Mass is over, these people must be dismissed as soon as possible."

Bernard said that although the current situation was very serious, nothing could affect the High Mass.

"Yes, Sir Bernard!"

The priest nodded.

Inside the city of Rome.

Conrad III invited all the kings of the kingdoms to a gathering.

As soon as the palace was set, a sumptuous banquet was served and Conrad III sat on the main throne.

"Everyone, cheers to our gathering!" Conrad III raised his glass and said.

"cheers!"

All the kings raised their glasses and laughed.

Baldwin IV was also among them, but he had lost the Kingdom of Jerusalem, so his seat was at the back.

Baldwin IV had no objection to this. He didn't want to attend any banquet in the first place. He had been restless these days and was always awakened by nightmares at night. But when he woke up, he couldn't remember what he dreamed about. It made him feel very tired.

The banquet lasted until the second half, when Conrad III finally started talking about business.

"Everyone, I think you all know about Qi's affairs, right?"

Conrad III spoke.

Everyone nodded but said nothing. How could they not know about Qi's affairs? The Second Holy War ended in a disastrous defeat due to Qi's interference.

Of course they did not admit it this time, because the Arabs suffered greater losses than them, including several crushing defeats and the loss of large tracts of territory.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

It’s not that people cannot accept failure, they just cannot accept that they are the only one to fail. If someone else fails more miserably, then that small failure is not worth mentioning.

"Does everyone know that Qi is digging a canal in the Red Sea?"

Conrad III spoke.

“Dig a canal?”

Many people frowned and asked. They were all from inland and didn't understand these things. But the kings of the kingdoms near the Mediterranean all nodded. They had heard about it more or less.

Conrad III gave the details of the situation and the faces of those kings who knew nothing about it changed drastically. They didn't even know anything about such a big thing.

"The Arabs' messengers seeking help were sent away by the church, and the church also concealed the news. Fortunately, those merchants spread the news, otherwise we would have been kept in the dark."

"You all know how dangerous this canal is. Qi is 100,000 miles away. If they were cavalry, it would take them a year to reach us."

"But if there is a canal, their fleet can easily reach the Mediterranean and invade at will!"

Conrad III looked at everyone and said.

"Your Majesty, we cannot allow this canal to be built. We must stop Qi!"

Everyone said in unison that they did not want to face the Qi army, and they did not want the war to reach their doorstep.

"Then we must organize the Crusades again and launch the Third Holy War!"

Conrad III looked at everyone and said that this was also his purpose today. The Second Crusade ended in a disastrous defeat, and most of the army was killed or wounded. If he wanted to organize the army again, he would need the support of all the kingdoms.

"Crusade! The Third Holy War!"

All the kings and nobles lowered their heads. They had already contributed a large number of troops for the Second Crusade, and they could not bear to launch a Third Crusade so soon.

Although Conrad III was the Holy Roman Emperor, the special feudal system meant that the emperor's power was very limited. He could only manage the kings he had enfeoffed. The nobles and lords enfeoffed by the kings were not under his management and did not obey his orders.

"Everyone, you should understand the purpose of Qi's coming here. If you don't stop Qi, when Qi's army sets foot on your territory, how will you resist it then?"

Conrad III looked at everyone and asked.

"We, the Byzantine Empire, are willing to send troops, but we still have to deal with the barbarians in Asia Minor. We can't send too many soldiers and horses, but we can send more money and food, and we can also send some warships."

Manuel I took a sip of wine and said that at first he was glad that Qi did not take the land route. If Qi had taken the land route to the west, the first target it would have attacked would be their Byzantine Empire.

But after thinking about it carefully, he found that the situation had not changed much. They, Byzantium, relied on the ocean, and Constantinople was the channel between the two oceans. If the Qi navy entered the Mediterranean, Constantinople would definitely be the first to be attacked.

When Conrad III saw Manuel I speak, he was still a little dissatisfied. The Byzantine Empire was very rich and had a large population. It was not at all what Manuel I said.

Seeing that the Byzantine Empire had sent troops, the other kingdoms and lords also expressed their willingness to send troops.