Planet Rebirth

() It was already late autumn when Paynes received the letter from the Holy See. Seeing that the first century of the eleventh century was about to pass, he was still in such a bad mood.

Paynes was born in an aristocratic family in France. His father once inherited the status of the Duke of France. He was the second son of the family. Therefore, when his father passed away, the duke title left by him was inherited by his elder brother. Much higher than his elder brother's conviction, but according to the law at the time, as the second son, he had no right to inherit his father's title.

After his father died, he left him a considerable amount of property, but compared with his elder brother, he was still a poor poor man.Seeing how bad his situation was, he couldn't help feeling resentful, but there was nothing he could do.Although he is tall, powerful, and even extremely smart, he is also addicted to gambling and alcohol. In the next few days, his family property was quickly squandered to pay off his gambling debts. , he had to sell the manor where he lived, and he moved to Paris to live.

In order to save money, he dismissed most of his servants, leaving only a few around him still following him. He is a knight. Yes, let all Parisians know that Paines is still brilliant.

When he received the letter from the Holy See, after the initial joy, he frowned again. Paris was quite far from Rome, and he didn't have enough travel expenses at all.

But in the face of the pope's call, he didn't want to give up this opportunity, and secretly felt that it was not just the pope's call, but the Lord Jesus, and even God calling himself.

He went to find his elder brother, and opened his mouth with difficulty to borrow money from his elder brother.

For the sake of his fellow brothers, Paynes' elder brother generously sponsored his younger brother's trip to Rome. In addition to contributing money, he also bought property for Paynes and hired many servants, including nine horses, among them Four horses waiting for the horse, one priest, one steward, one secretary, one entourage, one guide, one cook, one servant carrying the master's shield and spear, one handyman (with 1 horses), 1 stable boys.

The reason why his elder brother did this was because he didn't want his younger brother, who ate, drank and gambled as a whole, to lose face in front of the Holy See for himself and his dead father, so he helped Paynes this time.

Therefore, Paynes set out on the road in this late autumn season with plenty of food and clothing. After a month's long journey, he followed the route that Hannibal used to attack Rome and arrived in Rome before winter.

A descendant of aristocrats from France will of course receive the best hospitality from the Holy See.After arriving in Rome, Paynes lived in the church where the pope lived, and received the best hospitality every day. What made him happy was that the sweetest Sicilian wine could be drunk open until he was drunk every day.

After Rome entered the deep winter, bishops from various regions, kings, nobles, and businessmen from all over the Italian peninsula were all present.

On a snowy night, Pope Urban II officially held a meeting.

That night Paynes, led by the church clergy, went to the hall where the pope presided over the meeting. At this time, the place was full of people of all kinds. The Italian businessmen sat on both sides of the door. As the noble class in the middle, Paynes also got a decent position, allowing him to condescend and despise those Italian businessmen who only care about money.

With the sound of a door opening, everyone stood up as Pope Urban II approached the hall, supported by his valet.

The bishops, kings, and nobles from all regions stood up and took off their hats to salute, while the Italian businessmen knelt on the ground to pay tribute to the Pope.

Urban II was very old, and his movement was very inconvenient. He barely sat on the Pope's throne with the support of his personal attendants.

He motioned for everyone to take their seats, with a begrudging smile on his face.

After everyone was seated, Urban II cleared his voice and started his speech. Unlike his predecessor, he was a straightforward person who never beat around the bush, so he immediately brought up today's topic.

"Constantinople is at stake. Alexius has sent an envoy to ask us for help. This is why I summoned you here. Let's discuss whether we want to help the poor Byzantines."

As soon as this remark came out, the meeting room immediately exploded, and the people in the main battle and the main peace were arguing like shrews in the market with red faces.

Someone shouted: "The failure of Byzantium is a manifestation of their incompetence. We cannot sacrifice the lives of our noble soldiers for their cowards."

There was booing from the main combat faction, and someone immediately retorted: "The Seljuks are all careerists. Their purpose of arriving in Byzantium is not simply to capture Constantinople, but their purpose is to occupy the whole of Europe. The rich land is our own. So we must send troops to destroy them."

Someone from the peace faction said: "The Seljuks cannot compete with the Catholic Church led by the Pope. They know this very well. These thieves and barbarians cannot threaten the safety of Rome. Don't waste our precious Money and soldiers. Our real opponents are the Saracens, these Turkic buffoons, to hell with them."

Before the words fell, someone from the main combat faction stood up and said: "The Seljuks have become a maritime power in the Orhai (Mediterranean) in the past 100 years. Their fleet seriously threatens European maritime trade. The route. If there is any change, we will completely lose contact with the Asiatic Peninsula and Egypt, and we will fall into a dangerous situation of shortage of supplies. Therefore, we must defeat the Seljuks and let them know that the Holy See is the real master of Orhai .”

"But what do we use to fight against the Seljuk navy?" Someone from the Peace Faction retorted: "Compared with their fleets, the navies of our countries are simply vulnerable. We can't even deal with pirates, let alone a powerful naval fleet. You can't send our soldiers to fight at sea on horseback."

Before the man finished speaking, some people from the peace camp said: "Also, Byzantium is not worthy of sympathy at all. They are all traitors to God. They refused to carry out the orders of the Holy See and openly broke with the Holy See. And in our They annexed Bulgaria under serious protests, and worked in tandem with Orthodox Russia. They also occupied the northern part of Italy, killed all the men there, and forcibly occupied the women there. They are barbaric, and they are not worthy of sympathy. Their appeal for help can be seen clearly by even the most lowly prostitutes. It was just a temporary surrender to Rome. Once we help them out, they will surely pounce on them again like wolves, ruthlessly Bite us hard, so we must not send troops to help them."

"Never!" The people of the peace faction burst into high-pitched shouts: "Let them fend for themselves, the Holy See will not work for these robbers."

Hearing the cries of one wave after another, Urban II glanced at Yang Rui, the Pope's attendant beside him.And he gave Yang Rui a sly smile, telling him it was time to speak in his eyes.

Yang Rui walked to the middle of the conference hall, this action made everyone quiet, and they all stared blankly at this young and handsome priest.

Yang Rui looked around and said loudly: "Because of the Pope's health, I will speak for the Pope today."

As soon as these words came out, everyone exclaimed, and looked at Urban II on the throne.The old pope nodded, indicating to everyone that everything this young man said and did tonight represented the supreme power of the Holy See.

The meeting hall fell into silence again, and everyone was waiting for Yang Rui's speech. After all, the Pope's attendant is a very important person, and everyone should give up their own ideas first and listen to his explanation first.

"Everyone, the Pope is overjoyed by your incomparable loyalty to the Holy See." Yang Rui began his speech: "It is undeniable that the Byzantines are a bunch of clowns who are not worthy of sympathy. However, please don't forget one thing. When doing anything, we must think about whether this matter will bring us huge benefits or immeasurable losses. After thinking clearly, we will take action." (To be continued.)