Water Margin people

Upon hearing this, Li Jun looked at Alexius III and others with a bad expression and raised the gun in his hand.

"General, it's not us! It's not us!"

Alexios III hurriedly explained, and the other nobles and ministers also denied it. How could they do such a thing when their lives were in the hands of Qi?

"We've almost finished eating, let's go out and take a look!"

Xu Guanzhong stood up and smiled, saying that he really had no interest in this meaningless banquet. The meat had no taste, the fruit was sour and astringent, and the wine was even harder to swallow.

Alexios III and others hurriedly followed Xu Guanzhong. They were also wondering why civilians were gathering outside the palace.

Tens of thousands of civilians, including men, women, young and old, had gathered on the streets outside the palace, waving their arms and shouting.

"Don't tamper with our religion!"

"Pagans don't belong here!"

"Expel them!"

"Kill them all!"

……

The civilians shouted angrily.

"Master Xu, they are Orthodox Christians. I mentioned...faith..."

Alexios III looked at Xu Guanzhong and said hesitantly that he had reminded Xu Guanzhong long ago that everything else was easy to handle, but it would be a bit troublesome to get everyone to convert to the Imperial Religion.

"Haha, is that so?"

Xu Guanzhong glanced at the civilians outside the palace and sneered. It is difficult to change one's beliefs, but it is a problem that civilians dare to be so bold.

Xu Guanzhong glanced at Alexios III and said nothing. We are all smart people and it’s enough for us to know many things clearly.

"Actually, my army should do something when they enter the city! Like burning, killing and looting, to show you how powerful we are!"

Xu Guanzhong said with a smile.

Alexios III, Theodore and others' faces changed when they heard this.

Without waiting for them to react, the guards on the palace walls pulled the triggers of their guns and threw out grenades one after another.

There were sudden explosions outside the palace, and the civilians who were still shouting were shot and fell down one after another.

The shouting stopped and was replaced by screams, and the civilians fled in chaos.

"So you guys like this treatment!"

Xu Guanzhong looked at those people and said with a smile that sometimes being too kind is not a good thing.

"Witchcraft, that's a magical tool for performing witchcraft!"

The ministers still didn't react. They still believed that guns and grenades were witchcraft.

"Now you should go do something, remember what I said!"

Xu Guanzhong looked at Alexios III and others and spoke.

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Alexios III hurriedly took his men away. Qi's attitude was very clear. There were only two options before them: surrender or death.

"Military Advisor Xu, do you want to kill them again?"

Li Jun looked at Xu Guanzhong and asked.

"No need. We have limited time. Arrange people to cross the strait immediately and investigate the situation inside."

Xu Guanzhong pointed to the sea in the north. There was another ocean to the north of the Strait of Constantinople, and they needed to make a rough record of the terrain.

"Yes!"

Li Jun bowed and went to make arrangements. He knew very well that after recording the situation here, they could set out on the journey westward.

After a brief period of chaos in Constantinople, civilians no longer dared to go out easily. The State of Qi really dared to kill people.

Alexios III brought his ministers and officials to a mansion in the city.

Alexius III sat on the main throne and guzzled wine, trying to suppress the fear in his heart. The other ministers and nobles did the same, drinking big gulps of wine. The oppression from Qi State was too strong, and the suffocating feeling could only be relieved by drinking big gulps of wine.

"Your Majesty, are we really surrendering just like that?"

A young noble asked, looking at Emperor Alexius III.

These words resonated with everyone. They were all people who were used to enjoying themselves and had never been treated like this before. Today's humiliation was unacceptable to them.

Many people have already thought about what will happen in the future, and the State of Qi is like a mountain pressing down on them.

"What are you going to do? You've seen that the Qi people know witchcraft!"

Alexios III looked at everyone and said that Qi's terrible weapons made him unable to resist, and that it was simply not something that humans could contend with.

"Your Majesty, although their witchcraft is powerful, they are few in number. There are only two thousand of them. What does it matter if their witchcraft is powerful?"

A general said that no matter how powerful the witchcraft is, it cannot defeat the power of numbers.

When these words were spoken, everyone was a little excited. They also found that the people of Qi were few in number, while their army had tens of thousands. As long as the plan was well made, the people of Qi would surely die.

"The Qi people are too arrogant. They dared to enter the city with only 2,000 people and even lived in the palace. They are courting death."

"We can also encourage the civilians. Those fanatical believers will be willing to charge first."

……

The crowd started shouting, murderous intent rising in their hearts, as if they wanted to vent all the humiliation they had just suffered.

Alexios III was also somewhat tempted. He was the Byzantine emperor and owned a rich and powerful empire. How could he be willing to surrender and give away everything he had?

"What do you think, Theodore?"

Alexius III did not rush to make a decision. He looked at his most trusted son-in-law.

"If you want to die, there's no need to take me with you!"

Theodore looked at the excited generals and spoke, saying that these people were arrogant on a daily basis and each of them thought they were invincible.

"Theodore, you filthy traitor!"

The generals pointed at Theodore's nose and cursed.

Theodore didn't say anything, he just looked at those arrogant generals.

He knew the background of these generals very well. These people had some combat experience, but they were fighting against small tribes in the north. Those tribes were just a group of barbarians who knew nothing. Compared with the Qi army, they were just beasts and elite troops armed to the teeth.

"Have you scolded enough?"

Theodore waited until those people stopped cursing with dry mouths before he spoke.

"Theodore, what do you mean?"

Those nobles looked at Theodore with livid faces. They were a group, but now Theodore was going to betray them.

"I'm just telling the truth, do you really think you can win?"

Theodore looked at everyone and said.

"Of course we can. We still have 30,000 troops and hundreds of thousands of civilians in the city."

A noble said that they could tear the Qi people to pieces with their hands and teeth even if they rushed forward.

"Haha, you have no idea how terrifying the Qi army is. You saw the battle just now, and that was not even the full strength of the Qi army. Why do you think you can win?"

Theodore looked at everyone and said.

"We have more people! Witchcraft will eventually run out!"

A noble spoke up.

"Yes, witchcraft will eventually run out, but can we hold out until then?"

"Let's take a step back and say that even if you win, and you killed Qi's officials and generals and destroyed Qi's army, will Qi let it go?"

"You all know in your hearts what happened to the Arabs now, and what happened to the Church and Empire in the West."

Theodore looked at everyone and said. (End of this chapter)