Water Margin people

The west.

Rome.

Outside the city, there were still corpses everywhere, but because so much time had passed, the bodies had already rotted away and were now nothing but white bones.

“Why hasn’t it been dealt with yet?”

Bernard frowned as he looked at the mosquitoes and flies that avoided the sun all day long. If this continued, not only the Black Death, but other diseases would also spread.

"Open the door!"

Bernard yelled to the field.

"Who are you? Get out of here! Rome is under lockdown!"

The soldiers on the city wall covered their faces with cloths and shouted at Bernard. The Black Death and other diseases had broken out more and more frequently during this period, and the city gates had been completely closed for more than half a month.

At this time, Bernard was wearing tattered clothes and a tattered hood on his head. At first glance, he would be considered a refugee.

"I'm Bernard, open the door quickly!"

Bernard lowered his hood, revealing his face, and shouted while looking at the city.

“St. Bernard?”

The defenders on the city wall were a little skeptical. They looked at the guy with a dirty face below the city wall with suspicion.

"Open the door quickly!"

Bernard was a little annoyed. He had finally come back, but these guys didn't even open the door for him.

"Go and get the Archbishop."

An officer on the city wall said to the soldiers that he was not sure whether the man under the city wall was Bernard, so he could only ask people from the church to come over.

"Lord Saint Bernard, didn't you lead the guards to hunt down the heretics? Why are you back? Where are the guards?"

The defenders on the city wall asked curiously, it has been almost two months since Bernard left, why did he suddenly come back alone without even bringing the army.

Bernard did not answer. These things were not something ordinary people could know.

Soon an archbishop arrived on the city wall.

"Open the door, it's Bernard!"

The Archbishop recognized Bernard at a glance and immediately asked someone to open the door.

The city gate opened a crack, the drawbridge was lowered, and Bernard entered the city smoothly.

The city of Rome was relatively clean at this moment, but the streets were empty, with no one on the street. The ground was covered with dead branches and leaves, and it seemed that no one had walked there for a long time.

"Bernard, why did you come back alone?"

the Archbishop asked, looking at Bernard.

"I want to see His Holiness the Pope! I have something important to report!"

Bernard did not explain, but just headed towards the city. He was going to the Vatican.

The news that Bernard returned to the city alone spread quickly, and people in the city had different thoughts, because Bernard came back alone, which made many people realize that something was wrong and it seemed that something big had happened.

When Bernard returned to the Vatican, Eugene III was already waiting with a group of cardinals and high-ranking officials in the city.

"Your Majesty the Pope!"

Bernard saluted to Eugene III.

"Bernard, why did you come back alone? Where are the guards of the Holy See?"

Eugene III looked at Bernard and asked.

These guards are not ordinary soldiers. They are all of noble birth and have considerable power behind them.

"Your Holiness, the guards have been killed. They were pagans. The Republic of Venice has betrayed the Holy See. They colluded with Baldwin IV and plotted against me..."

Bernard tearfully spoke of the cunning of Baldwin IV and the betrayal of the Republic of Venice. "What? An entire kingdom has apostatized? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

A group of cardinals spoke up and said that they did not believe this would happen. How could a kingdom be apostate? The influence of God and the church had not weakened to this extent.

"Of course, it is impossible for all the people in a kingdom to apostatize. However, as long as the governor and the high-ranking officials apostatize, the common people below will have no right to choose."

A more sober cardinal spoke up and said that it was impossible for a kingdom to apostatize from top to bottom. Ordinary people still had firm faith in God and the Church, but it was different for the upper class.

"It's those businessmen causing trouble again. Damn it!"

Those people finally realized that Venice was like other kingdoms. The upper class in Venice was almost all merchants. These people only cared about interests and they could betray anyone if there was enough interests.

"Your Holiness, these people must be killed!"

Everyone looked at Pope Eugene III. Such a case of a kingdom's high-ranking officials betraying their religion together must not be tolerated lightly, otherwise the Holy See would no longer be able to control the major kingdoms.

"How many troops can the Holy See spare now?"

Pope Eugene III asked, looking at a general.

"The Holy See can currently provide 3,000 cavalry!"

The general spoke up and said that after half a year of the Black Death, all the major cities had long been deserted, the villages were deserted, and the army had been killed or scattered, and there were not many soldiers left.

"Three thousand cavalry!"

Eugene III's face was gloomy. Such a small number of people was not enough to conquer the Kingdom of Venice.

"Your Holiness, the Republic of Genoa is loyal to the church. They are sworn enemies of the Kingdom of Venice. Why not recruit them to join the war?"

Bernard spoke up.

"Genoa? I'm afraid it's no use. We just got news from Genoa that the Black Death has broken out there, and they're asking us for help!"

Eugene III shook his head helplessly. The first person he thought of was the Genoese. The Kingdom of Genoa was also dominated by merchants, and that was the Venetians' eternal enemy.

"The Black Death also broke out in Genoa?"

Bernard's face darkened. This was beyond his expectations. He had never heard of this before.

"The Genoa port broke out first, and then it got out of control!"

Eugene III spoke.

"It's like this...it's the same in Venice!"

Bernard was silent for a moment and then said that the Black Death also broke out in the port of the Kingdom of Venice.

"The port, Naples seems to be like this too! Could the Black Death have come from the sea?"

Everyone seemed to have grasped some clues and started thinking about it.

"It should be spreading through the port. Ships come and go at the port, and people and goods from all over the world are mixed together. The disease can spread and break out quickly!"

Bernard said that although he was willing to put the blame on Qi, that was propaganda to the common people, and he must tell the truth to the church leaders in order to curb the spread of the disease.

"Ports! Then quickly have all the kingdoms close their ports!"

Someone spoke.

"I'll send someone to deliver the message right away!"

An archbishop spoke up.

"Your Holiness, why not call on other kingdoms to kill the pagans? I think we can contact the Duchy of Bavaria, the Holy Roman Empire, the Duchy of Swabia, the Kingdom of Arles, and the Kingdom of France!"

A cardinal looked at the Pope and said that these kingdoms were all great powers surrounding the Kingdom of Venice, and each kingdom was more powerful than Venice. If several kingdoms sent troops at the same time, they would definitely be able to destroy the pagans in Venice.

"Okay, pass on my order and have the major kingdoms send troops to suppress the rebellion and kill the pagans!"

Eugene III looked at everyone and said that the matter of the Kingdom of Venice must be resolved immediately. With the ravages of the Black Death, the position of the Church is becoming increasingly unstable. Allowing the Kingdom of Venice to betray is likely to cause more countries to betray, and then the thousand-year rule of the Church will end. (End of this chapter)