Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 367 Ioannis is right! He is our hero!

Ioannis was still alive, and indeed he had won for himself some fame by his bravery.

Therefore, when the nobles in Trebizond held a meeting, he was even arranged to sit at the right hand side of the governor, symbolizing his fearless spirit in fighting against the Turks.

Even though the Turks finally escaped easily, it was still a difficult task considering that Ioannis was the only one who dared to stand up and lead his men to block the Turks' way and face the charge of the Turkish cavalry.

Anyone who heard about his achievements could not help but give him a thumbs up and praise him as a real man.

Of course, Ioannis, who was sitting in his seat, couldn't help but shudder and feel a lingering fear when he recalled the scene at that time.

At that time, he almost died! He really had a close brush with death!

If the Turks had not wanted to tease him, they could have killed him directly after easily dispersing or beheading his followers instead of listening to his screams before death.

At that time, the hysterical Ioannis even shouted:

"Are you Turks or pigs? What you are doing now is ungrateful, treacherous, and ignorant of your own danger!"

"If you dare to touch my hair, I swear, all the nobles in Trebizond will join forces to hang your heads on the city wall! Do you know who I am? I am the governor of this city!"

Such hysteria actually aroused Baykar and his men's interest in watching the fun, thus giving them time to arrive for reinforcements.

Faced with the pursuit and blockade of a large number of troops, Baykar and his group of Turks did not waste too much time on Ioannis and retreated cleanly and neatly.

In this way, it actually enhanced his good reputation.

In addition to commending Ioannis, the purpose of today's meeting was to discuss how to deal with the Turks.

Nowadays, the Turks are not only harassing the manors outside the city, but have even climbed over the city walls. This is quite terrifying!

This means that the fortifications that the city nobles were once proud of no longer seem safe.

According to the original plan, Ioannis should have arranged for someone to impeach the governor, forcing him to abdicate and then take power.

But Ioannis, who had been through life and death situations, lost interest for a moment and let the meeting develop as it pleased. Anyway, there was no rush.

However, as they were chatting, a noble suddenly made a suggestion that made Ioannis uneasy.

"I heard that the Komnenos brothers are now leading an army of nearly 2,000 people and are about to arrive in Lemnia. Logically, we should organize an army to resist now."

"But do we really have the strength to resist?"

Ioannis had been recuperating at home these days and had not paid attention to any political affairs. This was the first time he heard the news.

"Who are the Komnenos brothers?!" he asked loudly.

"The Komnenos brothers, the Komnenos brothers, have you not heard of this?"

Then, Ioannis learned the general situation of the matter from the other party.

The identities of the Komnenos brothers are relatively simple. They are simply grandsons of the last emperor of the Komnenos dynasty. They went to Georgia when they were young, and now they are returning to the empire with their troops.

But this matter was obviously beyond Ioannis's expectations.

After all, he had painstakingly created the current situation in order to weaken the governor's authority and make it easier for himself to take the throne.

But if the Komnenos brothers led their army to the west, the many nobles who had been tortured by the Turks to the point of mental breakdown and loss of energy and spirit would probably surrender directly!

Wouldn't that mean he is making things easier for the Komnenos brothers?

Thinking of this, Ioannis, who hadn't slept well for several days, became so angry that he coughed up blood.

Then he shouted, "No! Absolutely not!"

"Is that Komnenos? That's a Georgian dog! A Georgian bastard who has come to bully us!"

Ioannis suddenly stood up from his seat, his hands on the conference table, his face pale, but his speech became more and more rapid:

"Do you know whose food they ate and whose silk they wore in Georgia all these years? They were Georgians! Our enemies! Now they are wearing Georgian armor, speaking in Georgian accents, and they dare to call themselves the saviors of the empire?!"

He looked around and said in a hoarse and sharp voice:
"Are you crazy or stupid? Just because of a few young men on horseback wearing robes embroidered with gold thread, you have to kneel down and kiss their boots?!"

He slammed the table hard and almost roared:

"I don't recognize them! They are not royal family, they are deserters, descendants of traitors! They are mountain barbarians in the guise of their ancestors!"

Then, as if he suddenly realized the looks of the people around him, Ioannis coughed up blood and tried his best to save face while gritting his teeth and saying:

"...We can't leave the fate of the entire city to two ambitious people for the sake of false hope! We are the masters of Trebizond! We... have defended it brick by brick over the years - are we going to hand it over to them now?"

“Are you going to let a clown raised by Georgians sit on the throne of this city?!!”

When these words came out of his heart, eagerly and out of fear of losing his power, Ioannis noticed that the way people around him looked at him had changed.

Even Governor Constantine, who was standing on his left, gradually began to admire him as he looked at him and saw him coughing up blood.

God!

When did this group of Trebizond insects actually produce a man who could stand tall and proud? !

This is not some noble young man who is aggressive and fierce because of jealousy. He is really gritting his teeth!

To, who was originally scheduled to attend the meeting, also stood up at this time, and heard the man say loudly: "Ioannis is right! He is our hero!"

Thunderous applause arose from this, like a tide.

……

When the news reached Gairis, even he had to sigh at the coincidence of many things. Even he did not expect that the city of Trebizond would directly let the Turks in.

This is a much better result than he had expected.

For Gellis, simply conquering a city was not a difficult task.

But how can a city conquered by force maintain its existence after Gellis leaves?

At present, the overall military strength of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is relatively limited and is not enough to support a huge empire spanning three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Gailis's goal is to support local forces and integrate them at a higher level imperceptibly.

Because the land gained through military conquest will inevitably be lost through military conquest.

But once a cultural imprint is left, even if it is lost temporarily, it will bring long-term benefits as long as the culture itself does not decline.

In the Bey State, Gelis chose Arsalan's tribe and helped them establish an independent country. By responding to the military pressure from the Rum Sultanate, he forced the Bey State to move closer to Jerusalem.

Although Gellis had an alternative candidate, the Komnenos brothers, he felt that it would be better to have an extra plan.

After all, this place is further north than the Bey Kingdom, and is already considered the limit of the Kingdom of Jerusalem's military deployment capabilities.

If everything is placed on the Komnenos brothers, once the Komnenos brothers choose to betray Jerusalem for their personal interests, then in a short period of time, Jerusalem will not be able to do anything to them.

The so-called military deployment capability refers to the scope of mobilizing troops.

No matter how powerful a country is at home, even if it has millions of soldiers, as long as it cannot dispatch troops to other countries' territories, it will not be much different from other countries in terms of military.

On the contrary, even if a country only has tens of thousands of soldiers, if it can deploy these tens of thousands of people to all corners of the country.

Then those countries that don’t even have a few thousand troops will have to acknowledge the country’s military power.

This is where the so-called importance of sea power comes from.

After all, the sea makes the deployment of troops a relatively simple matter.

However, the current Kingdom of Jerusalem is still far from being a maritime power.

At best, by forming an alliance with Venice, it ensured that it would not fall into a weak position in maritime power in the eastern Mediterranean.

But it is Venice after all…

Since it is impossible to establish hegemony directly through military means.

Then it was natural for Garys to choose "religious victory" or "cultural victory".

Therefore, Gellis needs to support a faction that is inclined towards Jerusalem and himself in terms of religion, culture, and even interests, so as to ensure that the overall situation in Trebizond is stable and improving.

Compared to the Alexios brothers, who had never met each other but wanted to claim the throne simply because of their last name Komnenos.

Gellis, on the contrary, trusts the Paulician forces that are united by religion.

After all, for Gellis, as long as he established his "prophethood", the religious faction as a powerful group would be unlikely to be abandoned while he was still alive.

Therefore, he also attended the meeting of the local Paulicians after the fall of Trebizond.

Christianity just loves to hold meetings, big and small.

From the ecumenical councils that influence the Christian world, to the group of cardinals who decide the successor to the Pope, to ordinary discussions on diocesan affairs.

The church system emphasizes collective wisdom in all aspects.

Even the less orthodox Paulicians would each choose an apostle to keep in touch with them regularly to ensure that they were not too loose.

It is worth mentioning that at a time when many churches denied women’s rights, women in the Pauline church were qualified to serve as apostles.

One of the subsequent tribes, the Tonderak people, not only supported private property ownership among farmers, but also recognized the concept of equality between men and women.

This is also the reason why Zoe was able to attend this meeting as a representative of a tribe.

Today, as a declining heretical sect, the Paulicians' meetings are naturally not as solemn as those of the Holy Synod of Cyprus.

In fact, it is already very difficult for the Pauline faction today to select 12 apostles.

If not for this, Zoe wouldn't have become an apostle at such a young age.

First, before the apostolic meeting began, they each read a passage of scripture.

[A man came to Jesus and asked, "Master, what good thing should I do to have eternal life?"]

Jesus said to him, "Why do you ask me about good? There is only one good thing. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."

[He said to Jesus, “What commandment?” Jesus answered, “This is: You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, Love your neighbor as yourself…]

Garys did not appear directly, but watched the actions of everyone in this small secret church from the side.

This passage actually comes from the 19th volume of the Gospel of Matthew (translated as the Gospel of Matthew in the Catholic Church), which tells the story of a young man seeking eternal life from Jesus.

Jesus laid out many of the external requirements of the law, and the young man claimed to have fulfilled them all.

Then Jesus made one more request.

[If you want to be perfect, go! Sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.]

[When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had many possessions.]

Thus, Jesus said the words that are familiar to many people: "Truly I tell you, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Through this story, Gailis introduced Brother Tian in this way when chatting with many old farmers.

"Once upon a time, Jesus was a poor man. He saw that many people had a hard time making a living, and many rich people were left empty-handed. So he told the rich people to give their money to the poor. Many rich people were not happy about it, so he was hung on the cross.

Of course, for Paulicians, what they regard as the core doctrines are actually the ones in the latter part of this section.

Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, you who have followed me, in the age of rebirth, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Many of the first will be last, and the last will be first."]

The twelve apostles judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who give up their wealth will receive eternal life in heaven...

And in this sloppy church, there happened to be twelve "apostles", and the Son of Man was listening nearby.

When the scriptures were read, the apostles in the church saw a stranger appear out of nowhere on the altar of the church.

As they stared in amazement, the man said, "I have come here today to tell you that the day of judgment is near..."

(End of this chapter)