Water Margin people

Venice.

Inside a castle in the city.

"Haha, Lord God's Envoy, please drink some wine. These are fine wines from the East!"

A man in his early thirties dressed in fine clothes looked at Baldwin Four Worlds with a smile. He was dressed in oriental silk clothes but had a western face.

"You are too polite, Governor!"

Baldwin IV smiled and took a sip of wine. The man in front of him was Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of the Republic of Venice.

"Hey, it's an honor for Venice that the Lord of God can come. We have admired Qi for a long time and have been devoted to the Imperial Religion. We have only been looking forward to the Lord of God's coming today."

A noble with a curly beard said with a smile, and the others also spoke in flattery.

These people called Baldwin IV "Lord God's Messenger", as if they really believed that he was a messenger of the Imperial Church, and they all ignored his former identity as the King of Jerusalem.

"Governor, I'm sure you know the purpose of my visit this time!"

Baldwin IV asked, looking at Doge Enrico Dandolo.

"My Lord, this is a difficult matter! As you know, there are churches and priests everywhere! Common people only believe in God!"

Enrico Dandolo spoke in embarrassment.

"Yes, Lord God's Envoy, there are more than 100,000 people in Venice. If we preach on a large scale, I'm afraid we will be surrounded and killed by the Vatican."

"Lord God's Messenger, let's preach in secret!"

"Lord God's Envoy, we can provide financial support!"

"I am out..."

Everyone tried to dissuade Baldwin IV from preaching in a high-profile manner, fearing that it would arouse the wrath of the Vatican.

"Everyone has a point. After all, this is still an area controlled by the church. The Imperial Church should be more secretive when preaching here! Besides, we just fought a war with the Republic of Genoa. If we preach now, I'm afraid it will be used as an excuse to start a war."

Enrico Dandolo said that although they received Baldwin IV warmly, it was mainly for the sake of Qi's face. They were a commercial port and wanted Qi's goods.

Baldwin IV looked at those people with a smile. He knew what they were thinking. They just wanted to establish a relationship with Qi, but were unwilling to be an enemy of the Holy See.

"Venetian, haha!"

Baldwin IV sneered in his heart. His eyes were full of mercenary intent. He was always thinking about taking advantage of others. Everything he did was prioritized by maximizing profits. He had no sense of propriety or shame. This was the Merchant of Venice.

"Governor, I came here with the imperial decree of His Majesty the State of Qi. It is His Majesty the State of Qi's intention to preach the gospel! Do you understand?"

Baldwin IV said, looking at Enrico Dandolo and the nobles.

"This……"

Those people looked at each other, obviously not knowing how to answer. They did not want to lose Qi, the cash cow, nor did they want to be enemies with the Holy See.

William listened on the side, trying hard to suppress the depression in his heart. The former King of Jerusalem was a good emperor who was extremely intelligent, wise and admired by thousands of people.

But now he has turned into a charlatan who is full of lies. They are preaching in private, and the State of Qi has no idea about it, let alone an imperial edict.

"Lord God's Messenger, there has not been a large-scale outbreak of the Black Death here, and the civilians are relatively stable. I'm afraid the preaching effect will not be good at this time. How about waiting a little longer?"

Enrico Dandolo spoke up.

Everyone gasped when they heard this. What were they waiting for? Waiting for the Black Death to break out? Is this crazy? Now they are trying to avoid it as much as possible, so how can they still let it spread?
Of course, these words of Enrico Dandolo were all excuses. He would never allow the Black Death to spread.

"Then let's wait and see!"

Baldwin IV said with a smile.

The banquet lasted for a long time before it ended. Baldwin IV and his companions were arranged in a luxurious round castle, with a view of the harbor from the top. "Your Majesty, what should we do? They don't seem to be able to accept it?"

William looked at Baldwin IV and asked, "Venetians are known for their cunning.
"Wait, wait until the Black Death breaks out!"

Baldwin IV spoke as he looked at the ships coming and going in the harbor in the distance.

There is also an outbreak of the Black Death in Venice, but it is not too serious at the moment and there has not yet been a large-scale outbreak.

"The Venetians really value money over life. The Black Death is spreading everywhere, and Qi has closed the ports. How dare these people run around!"

Baldwin IV said.

"That's what the Venetians did, but it's surprising they didn't have a massive outbreak of the Black Death."

William said that they had seen too many cities destroyed by the Black Death along the way.

"If what the Emperor of Qi said is true, the Black Death has a lot to do with sanitation! That's not surprising. Other cities are filthy, with all the garbage and filth dumped on the streets."

"But Venice is different. They are close to the sea, and the houses are built on the water. The sea water will take away the dirt, making the city much cleaner, but this is not a long-term solution."

Baldwin IV analyzed that he now really believed in Sun Lei, because Sun Lei's words were being verified little by little, and he had used them to save many people along the way.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Your Majesty, shouldn't we save them?"

William looked at Baldwin IV and asked, knowing that Venice might break out in a black war, he couldn't just watch the civilians die.

"How? They don't want to be preached to! Maybe you can ask them to close the port and stop doing business?"

Baldwin IV looked at William and asked. He also wanted to stop it, but he couldn't. He couldn't change the greed of the Venetians.

William was silent. He realized that there was no solution to all this. Even if he rushed out and shouted, telling people what would happen in the future, people in the city would not believe him.

"There are more than 100,000 people in this city. I don't know how many will be left after this!"

William said helplessly that based on the situation along the way, the death toll was as high as 40% to 50%.

Governor's Palace.

"Governor, what should we do? The Leper King has gone mad. He has openly apostatized and wants to spread the evil cult."

A count asked, looking at Doge Enrico Dandolo.

"I think we should keep the Leper King. If the Vatican finds out, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Another noble spoke up.

"I don't think it's a big deal! And this is an opportunity to build good relations with Qi. We haven't been able to buy goods from Qi for a while."

A merchant spoke up.

"Yes, we must express our willingness to accept the Imperial Religion, so that we can get a steady supply of goods from Qi!"

The other merchants also echoed the words. They didn't care who Baldwin IV was, what he had done, or what he was going to do; they only cared about how much benefit Baldwin IV could bring to them.

"Let's find some people to give it a try later. It shouldn't be a big problem on a small scale."

Enrico Dandolo finally made the decision.

"Also, the news that the Leper King has come to Venice must be kept secret and the Vatican must not be informed!"

Enrico Dandolo looked at everyone and said.

"Yes!"

No matter nobles or merchants, they all said in unison that they were on the same boat. (End of this chapter)