Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong - Chapter 357 Preparation

When the 20,000 Goryeo troops arrived in Cairo, Egypt, they immediately began to familiarize themselves with the control of the ships under the leadership of Han Shizhong.

And various instructions for training warfare.

Although, among these 20,000 people, a considerable number of them have already served in the military, or were already soldiers before arriving.

however……

of course!

Han Shizhong would not deliberately disrupt other people's existing military organization.

They will just provide the other party with some of their own personal opinions, or provide the other party with more information about the enemy.

In addition, we can share various map information together.

Anyway...

These 20,000 people, in the final analysis, are regardless of whether they have served in the military or not.

One thing that is undeniable is that they have very little experience in the battlefield.

to be frank!In Han Shizhong's eyes, these people were no different from some greedy and cowardly men.

And just when Han Shizhong was transforming Goguryeo's soldiers.

News also came to Han Shizhong from Rome.

What Han Shizhong could never have expected was that Lucius II, who had refused to surrender even at the last moment, became the one who took the initiative to seek peace the next moment.

However, this request for peace made Han Shizhong somewhat doubtful.

Even though the other party had sent people to give him a large amount of wealth, jewelry, etc.

To know……

Once we take over Rome, these things will still be ours.

Han Shizhong could also see sweat on the other envoy's cheeks.

Unfortunately……

Their influence over there is too weak, and even finding someone to sneak in and steal intelligence is difficult to do.

Especially now, the city of Rome is still under martial law, making this information even more difficult to obtain.

In response to Han Shizhong's rejection, the other party said that everything could be negotiated.

Negotiation!First we have to talk, and then we can judge.

and……

Han Shizhong could also put forward his own conditions.

However, Han Shizhong is not Zhao Xin. When a general is away from home, there are actually many things that he cannot decide alone.

after all……

If you surrender, I will still have to feed you and waste some food.

But if I go in and kill you, your money and your woman will all be mine!

Han Shizhong was not as saintly as Yue Fei.

They all have a tendency to develop into bad people.

only……

There is an evil self living in everyone's heart.

Han Shizhong must have thought so in his heart, but whether he would do it or not is not certain.

When you live in a place where all you see are foreigners, you will be very worried about your own safety.

Especially when others have hundreds of thousands of people and you only have ten or twenty thousand or twenty thousand, this kind of worry will be even more intense.

Don't think that Han Shizhong is living a good life.

Han Shizhong spent every day in fear.

Han Shizhong admired the emperor very much.

Because it is said that the population of northern India is dozens or even hundreds of times larger than that here.

However, the government was able to gain a foothold in the local area with even fewer people than them.

The key point is that the government has been doing this for not just one or two years, but for several decades.

This is truly remarkable.

After sending away the envoy of Lucius II, Han Shizhong spent a large sum of money to send people to gather information about the city of Rome.

It was not until two months later that we learned that another coup had taken place in Rome.

It is said that Lucius II killed a man named Arnold of Brescia and all of Arnold's accomplices.

Because the intelligence was not very good, Han Shizhong still thought that the capable person was Lucius II.

After all, if the capable person was Arnold of Brescia, how could he be killed by Lucius II?This doesn't make sense, right?Han Shizhong just thought that there must be some problems within the other party.

Anyway...

Arnold of Brescia was also a member of the Roman Curia.

And at the same time...

After another incident was reported back, the matter of Arnold from Brescia seemed even smaller.

"It is said that... there is a split within the Roman Curia. A cardinal named Bernardo fled to the northern region and said that the former one, who is currently in Rome, is a false pope and has not been recognized by other archbishops."

“Now, the two factions are blaming each other.”

This is not immediately obvious.

The Roman one has too small a territory and too few soldiers, so he is definitely no match for the one in the north.

And as can be seen from the map, the potential of the north is really huge.

Although this Roman had convenient waterways in the Mediterranean, his military strength was not as strong as those of the kings and emperors in the north.

and……

There is a very fundamental and irreconcilable contradiction between the two.

If Lucius II wanted to fight against the Song Dynasty, he had to rely on the kings and emperors in the interior.

And if Bernardo, also known as Eugene III, just let the kings and emperors of the mainland support Lucius II, then his own good days would definitely be over.

The other party must have sold out his own ass and said that he would listen to you kings and emperors from now on.

Only then will it be possible to gain the support of those kings and emperors.

Lucius II could certainly do the same, but the problem was that Eugene III had taken the lead and had already negotiated terms with others.

If you go and talk about it now, it depends on what you can give.

As for the kings and emperors in the interior.

to be frank!Nor can it be said that the mainland fully supports Eugene III.

can only say……

I guess they each have their own support.

Then Lucius II would definitely be doomed.

After receiving this information, Han Shizhong actually wanted to send troops immediately.

however……

Firstly, the soldiers have not been fully trained.

The city of Rome will not run away.

Han Shizhong thought that he could first clip all the wings outside the city of Rome and then plan for other things.

Especially Sicily.

It is the heel and sole of the boots in southern Italy.

This is much safer than attacking directly from the sea.

and……

According to intelligence, Sicily is also a relatively important place responsible for grain production.

Normally, a considerable portion of the grain output would be sold to the city of Rome.

This will definitely be good for them.

In addition...

In that area, in addition to the grain produced on Xixi Island, there is another more important place.

That is Venice, located in the northeast corner of Italy.

Although he looks like just a businessman.

But in previous naval battles, these Venetian merchants had helped.

The city of Rome itself does not have many large ships.

So their navy was very dependent on Venice to lend them their merchant ships.

Of course, you can't say that the Holy See has no money.

only……

In an age when everyone is corrupt, much of the money contributed by believers has been divided up by the archbishops.

The remaining money is not enough to buy warships.

however……

Just as those revolutionaries who are the first to stand up for revolution often become only a ray of light or a spark, the ray of light and the spark of Arnold of Brescia were also extinguished by stubborn and obstinate forces.

to be frank!Han Shizhong was really anxious!but……

There's no point in being anxious now.

As for Yue Fei...

Zhao Xin also gave Yue Fei some orders.

after all……

You can't just rely on Han Shizhong's navy.

However, since Zhao Xin was not very familiar with the terrain on the front line, this matter was left to Yue Fei to handle on his own.

Anyway...

You have to push this front as far west as possible.

At this time in Europe, both Eastern and Western Europe were strengthening their military.

The castles in the past were already very strong.

Now, they feel that their castle is not strong enough and needs to be rebuilt.

In addition...

Some countries in Eastern Europe have gradually formed alliances.

The iron smelting furnace and the sound of iron forging could be heard clanging throughout the year.

This year.

Some Venetian merchants also came to Solange through various channels.

to be frank!The war really affects their business.

But with Venice's national strength being as small as a palm, you don't have the ability to negotiate terms with Zhao Xin at all.

to this end……

After meeting Zhao Xin, they only asked Zhao Xin to protect their caravan, and of course they could also pay a little reward to obtain Zhao Xin's protection.

Logically speaking, Zhao Xin definitely wants to kill these unscrupulous businessmen and redistribute the wealth.

Now is not the time.

In response to their request, Zhao Xin also said, "Then how much sincerity can you show?"

They looked at each other and then raised a finger.

Zhao Xin directly compared three.

Zhao Xin said, "If you think it's too much, you can go back."

Then, the other party said, "Two and a half."

Zhao Xin thought about it and felt that it was okay.

If we kill the other party and replace them with our own people, we may not be able to recover the business immediately.

Although, it cannot be ruled out that the other party might provide false information.

at this point……

It can only be judged by Han Shizhong and Yue Fei themselves.

Since Venice is so close to Rome, it certainly knows the situation inside Rome.

He knew more information than Han Shizhong.

Zhao Xin learned about Arnold of Brescia from the other party.

In addition...

The other party also has a detailed map of the European continent.

These businessmen really have no sense of propriety or shame.

But it is undeniable that the other party does have a good vision.

In fact...

The most profitable part of Venice was still providing various supplies to Constantinople. Now that Constantinople had fallen and become the territory of the Song Dynasty, Venice's business had naturally suffered a devastating blow.

This is even more painful than killing them.

As for whether they are worried about retaliation from the Christian world or something.

To be honest, the situation in Rome is like this now. Many people have even started to flee from Rome to other places, either to live with their aunts or to seek refuge in the countryside.

What future does Italy have?

Rather than dying with the city of Rome, it is better to find a backer as soon as possible.

of course!

They came here just to try their luck.

after all……

now……

Although they suffered a lot of losses, at least the business can be restored, and their lives will be protected in the future.

(End of this chapter)