Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 312 Another Constantine

He was sure that he had not leaked the news, and he didn't know how the other party located him, which made him a little interested and curious about the reason.

As the other party wished, Orville went to the door to meet the man. He was a man who looked quite young. Judging from his clothes, his family background should be good, but not to the extent of being extremely wealthy. His appearance was also very Greek, with a beard, which was not a popular custom among the Romans at that time. His appearance was a little gloomy, but his eyes were firm and shining, and he seemed to be a very shrewd person.

"Hello, you should know who I am, so I won't introduce myself to you."

"Of course, Your Highness." He bowed to Orville to show his respect.

"Please introduce yourself. I'm curious about your identity."

"Constantine Dragaces Palaiologos, I was born in Byzantium and am a Roman citizen."

Hearing the name, Orville was stunned for a moment, then he stared at the other person left and right as if he saw some rare species, which made Constantine feel a little scared.

To be fair, the other person's appearance was indeed somewhat similar to the portraits that Orwell had seen in his previous life. The only difference was that the characters in the portraits were more majestic and older, while Constantine in front of him looked a little immature.

Orville had a deep impression of this man. He was the famous last emperor of the Roman Empire, the well-known Constantine XI, who died heroically in Constantinople for resisting the invasion of the Turks.

"Nice sword, can you show it to me?"

In order to make sure that he did not admit his mistake, Orville made up an excuse, and Constantine did not doubt it. He thought that he was asked to cooperate in handing over his weapons to ensure his safety. He cooperated by taking off the long sword from his waist and handing it to Orville, and the corresponding information was transmitted to his mind.

【Constantine Dragases Palaiologos Ambitious Warrior】

Diplomacy: 18
Military: 19
Management: 21
Strategy: 17
Knowledge: 19
This person is quite far away from Orville in terms of time, just like Joan of Arc, who is more than a thousand years away from this period. Normally, the characters that come in should be from the same era, and the pattern is really hard to grasp.

To be fair, unlike most kings who lost their country in history, Constantine XI did not look like a king who lost his country in many aspects. Instead, he was infinitely close to a king who restored the country.

He almost single-handedly recovered the Morea region (Peloponnese Peninsula), and then relied on an isolated city to deal with Turkey for a long time, which gave the country a very romantic ending.

All we can say is that what his ancestors left him was a mess, leaving him no chance to rebuild his country. The fault was basically not his, as the people before him were too abstract and the situation was too bad to be reversed.

As far as the situation in this world is concerned, Constantine was born in a relatively good era. The empire is now at its peak, and at least the situations in later generations will not happen so early.

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and Orville asked him: "You said you are a Roman citizen?"

"My grandfather started out as a citizen through military service, my father was a legionnaire, and although I didn't grow up in the country, I am a Roman citizen."

It seems that the situation in this world is somewhat different. Constantine is one of the earliest Greeks recognized by Rome. To be more practical, Orville thinks this has something to do with his birthplace - Byzantium is now the name of a Greek colony, located in Constantinople, on the edge of the Bosphorus.

Relatively speaking, there is a sense of difference between the main islands and colonies in Greece. They more or less despise the people in the colonies, and this situation occurs wherever there are people.

The most typical example should be Sicily, where there is a giant city-state called Syracuse. Due to its good natural endowments, it can produce a large amount of grain and has very convenient sea transportation and trade conditions, the population here is quite large.

There were many frictions between this city-state and mainland Greece. The Delian League (a city-state alliance centered on Athenians) even gathered a large number of troops to fight Syracuse, but in the end they were unable to do anything to the other side and the war ended hastily.

Of course, not all colonial city-states were as large as Syracuse, but Byzantium was one of the larger ones. Perhaps Byzantium did not get along well with the people of mainland Greece, which eventually made them closer to the Romans.

"I see," Orville said, accepting the fact. "Then let's ask what I'm most concerned about first. How did you find my house?"

"I knew you would attend Losis's banquet, because his servants had been buying up firewood and related food materials several days in advance. After I knew you would go there, I waited there. After you finished the banquet, I followed you to the mansion. After confirming the location, the rest of the things will be easy."

"I should have posted guards around here. How did you get past their blockade?"

"I'm a gifted person, and I'm quite skilled." The answer was so concise that Orville couldn't refute or question it.

This answer made Orville feel a little regretful - if he had known this, he should have brought Cu Chulainn with him. Compared with those gifted people who appeared and disappeared mysteriously, his own security was still not strong enough.

"I see. Thank you for reminding me. I will pay attention to strengthening the guards around me in the future. Now let's talk about business. What do you want from me?"

"I have formed a team of centurions at my own expense. I hope you will let me serve under you, even if I can only be a centurion."

Someone came to him with money and troops, and he had a hundred more soldiers for no reason. Most legion commanders would probably accept it happily, but Orville still doubted the other party's purpose: "It's hard for me to accept soldiers from unknown origins unless you can explain to me the reason clearly."

"You are the most open-minded among the more than 20 legion commanders of the empire. You never shy away from selecting talents based on their backgrounds, which enables me to achieve my goal. My goal is to fight for the political rights that belong to Byzantium. We are also part of the empire and should win a place in the imperial system.

We are different from those who only talk, we will earn honor with iron and blood, use honor to pry open the door of the Senate, and then win our own position. "

On the surface, Constantine's demands were reasonable. He simply wanted to enter the Senate and become the decision-maker of the empire, so that Byzantium could have a political status commensurate with its economic status.

The reason why he looked for Orville was very simple - Orville could make people become senators, and he was willing to admit even the Germanic barbarians into the Senate, not to mention the Greeks who had the same roots as the Romans.

(End of this chapter)