Epirus gives people the biggest impression of Pyrrhus's illustrious reputation. Although this country today has nothing to do with the ancient kingdom of successors, this land still has a martial culture.

The Despot of Epirus is now the largest force in the central and western parts of the fragmented Eastern Roman Empire. It once supported the restoration of Alexius the Younger and broke away from the control of Constantinople, and now it has become one of the largest forces against the Latin Empire.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the Latins have never had a hand in this land.

The owner here, Mikhail Dukas, was a member of the royal family before the Komnenos dynasty, and also had the blood of the Komnenos royal family, so he was named an autocratic duke. The so-called autocratic state is like the grand duchy in Europe, which has great independence.

Sex. He was the cousin of the former Byzantine Emperor and Alexius III, but he had a disobedient heart early on. After the Crusaders captured Constantinople, he took the opportunity to become independent. He once and Boniface Thessalonians

The Kingdom of Ca united against the Latin Empire. After being defeated by the Venetians, it withdrew from the Peloponnese Peninsula and returned to the Epirus region. It declared that it was the legal heir of Eastern Rome and stopped its alliance with Boniface.

relation.

However, everyone knows that this is a ridiculous behavior, and Nicaea on the other side also sneered at it. But with the arrival of waves of people from Constantinople, Thessaly, and the Peloponnese Peninsula,

The situation is completely different for the refugees. These refugees called Mikhail Despot Noah, which means that he led them to escape the flood of the Latins, which earned him a reputation and also provided a large number of reserves for Epirus.

troops.

Today, Epirus has undoubtedly become a force that cannot be underestimated and has become the only savior in the eyes of the Roman people in the west.

At this time, the general of Epirus, Himion, was responsible for receiving the Greeks who had fled from the Thrace Military District in eastern Macedonia. They would not refuse anyone who came, and a large number of strong young men were enough to make Epirus rise.

Compared to Nicaea, which was severely damaged by Prince Henry of the Latin Empire, it was completely like a lost dog.

But at this time, Simien received a shocking news from the checkpoint sentry. A fully armed Bulgar army actually entered the territory of Epirus in a grand manner. Due to historical grudges, Epirus and Bulgaria could not negotiate.

On the friendly side, he didn't know what the other party's intentions were for a while. Not long ago, Adrianople's great victory made Epirus very afraid of the rising Bulgars. Simien sent people to

Ruthnina reported to the autocratic public while mobilizing the troops that could be assembled to prepare for the battle. From the current point of view, the number of this Bulgar army is not very large, but these fierce people are enough to make Shimien nervous. He has a lot of people here.

Hundreds of unarmed refugees would be in trouble if they got into chaos.

The Bulgars who came to escort were Justinian and the caravan. To everyone's surprise, Tsar Kaloyan actually believed Justinian's words and sent Ivan Asen to escort the troops all the way to Iraq.

Pirus. The condition is that Justinian must keep his promise to promote the alliance between Epirus and Bulgaria.

Everything happened too suddenly, and until now, most people in the caravan have woken up from a dream and have not reacted.

"Is what that boy said really true, Mr. Dekulin?" Everyone in the caravan couldn't help but look at Dekulin and asked. People invisibly stayed away from Justinian and his party, and they still remain

They found it unbelievable and couldn't help but complain. Justinian's words instantly made them become grasshoppers on a rope. If Justinian was playing the Bulgars, they would definitely suffer too. Invisibly, a group of people

He became dissatisfied with Justinian's actions.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. I was just entrusted by someone to take him with me on a loyal mission. But I think even if Justinian did this, he would just take everyone out of danger!" De Kulin was also in a dilemma.

After all, Justinian was entrusted by his friends, but everything Justinian had done before also puzzled him.

Deculin's slightly biased answer was completely unconvincing, but everyone could only sigh and resign themselves to their fate.

At the same time, in the special carriage prepared by the Bulgars, Muzfius was also confused by what Justinian had done, and his face was livid because the other party had not had any discussion with him before.

This is natural. Justinian has nominally chosen to be loyal to the emperor, but he has always been very independent in his actions. Since becoming blind, Muzphius has an instinctive distrust of others.

Even Justinian who saved him was the same.

Justinian also did not give any explanation. He seemed to be thinking about something at this time. At this time, the Byzantine Empire was already falling into pieces, and the deepening of Latin colonization meant that the original imperial social status was constantly disintegrating and reshaping.

In a sense, Justinian's biggest enemy was not the Latins, Turks or Bulgars, but the feudal system of Western Europe.

The establishment of the Latin Empire allowed the feudal system of Western Europe to completely replace Byzantium's original military district system, which also meant that the soil on which the traditional Byzantine power relied for its survival was also destroyed.

The seeds of trouble had been laid since Emperor Alexius I had to establish the Pulognian system in imitation of the West due to the defeat of Manchecott.

Although this alleviated the crisis of the empire, the complete and irreversible disintegration of the military zone was no different than drinking poison to quench thirst. It was the local centrifugal force that caused Constantinople to be besieged by the Crusaders and become isolated and helpless. However, the most fatal thing was the existence of the Latin Empire.

For ten years, the Laskaris dynasty of the Nicaean Empire worked hard to restore the military district system. However, when the Paleoleg dynasty regained Constantinople, they found that they could no longer regain local power. As a result, the royal power was weak throughout the dynasty and was eventually defeated by the Ottomans.

wipe out.

What he has to do is to reverse all this, but the difficulties involved can be imagined. He longs for power, but he is definitely not going to end up becoming a noble of a small country. If necessary, he does not mind getting it with blood on his hands.

But the most important thing now is to step onto the ladder of power. Epirus is his most important choice. Going to Nicaea, he does not think that he can do better than the Byzantine emperors, and if he can stop Epirus

With the decline of Russ, he may really be able to save this fragmented empire and restore its former glory...
Chapter completed!