Chapter 205 The Death of Basilius

Mircea was in a particularly good mood today, and he had a premonition that something good would happen.

"Grand Duke, this year Iasi, Varna, Thessaloniki and other provinces have a good harvest of grain, and the horses purchased from the northern region have also arrived."

"Um"

Mircea and the ministers discussed this year's harvest. Wallachia is getting better and better every year, which is what he wants to see.

"Grand Duke, the Governor of Anatolia has recently wiped out two tribes, and six tribes have surrendered."

"Okay, tell the governor that there is no need to hand over the things offered by the infidels, just keep them for him to use."

The Grand Duke's love for His Highness has no limit, this is what the ministers are thinking.

"Okay, then the next step is..."

"The Grand Duke..."

A man hurriedly ran in. It turned out to be Baldovin, who was in charge of diplomacy.

"Grand Duke, the envoy from Constantinople is here."

Mircea's eyes flashed when he heard that the envoy from the castle was coming. He had a premonition that the day when he would take over the castle was not far away.

After sorting things out for a while, he went to see the envoy. The envoy was a little reluctant, but he still respectfully saluted the Grand Duke of Wallachia.

"Dear Archduke, Basilius of the Roman Empire has appointed you consul of Rome."

After hearing the news, Mircea suppressed his excitement and expressed his gratitude to the messenger without changing his face. After letting the messenger go down, he went to the church to pray and express his gratitude to God.

Then he discussed with the ministers about going to Constantinople. Some people thought that this was a conspiracy, and that once the Grand Duke went, he might not be able to come back. But others felt that this opportunity must not be missed, and that the soldiers should bring more soldiers.

Mircea also thought so, and he decided to take 20,000 soldiers to the castle to receive the canonization. At this time, the total army of Junbao only had 6,000 people, and half of them were mercenaries, making it easy to instigate rebellion.

Mircea also said goodbye to his wife and children before leaving, and took them to Constantinople after they stabilized. When Lady Maria saw her husband doing this, she could only agree.

In distant Anatolia, Peter also got the news from his intelligence network.

"Is the news reliable?"

"Very reliable, inside information."

Petkov reported to Peter that he was truly happy for his father who was about to become consul of Rome. But he was also worried that the Western European faction within the Castle would attack. After all, Venice was quite powerful.

"Continue to monitor, especially those who object."

"yes"

Mircea first sent 5,000 vanguard troops to Selimbria near Constantinople. He waited for the large army to assemble before setting off. Due to Mircea's construction of the army, the previous lax habits have disappeared, replaced by a new army that obeys the orders of the Grand Duke. They neither steal nor rob, but will sacrifice their lives for the Grand Duke. In addition, they have won one victory after another in the past few years, and ordinary people are also cheering for them.

Theodore also sent a letter to congratulate Mircea. Although the consul had become a decoration at this time, it still had some meaning. Most importantly, it opens the way to the Castle.

Emperor Manuel waited in panic for Mircea's arrival. He hoped that the other party would only ask for the consulship and would not do anything to his throne. The envoy also brought back a personal letter from Mircea, which said that he came this time to obtain the canonization of the great Basilius. He had admired Constantinople for a long time and now wanted to come and see it in person. Look, make a pilgrimage to Hagia Sophia.

This letter relieved Manuel's anxiety a lot. He just said, they are all his brothers, how could they stab him with a knife. But he thinks so, others don't.

His wife Jelena is holding five-year-old John and one-year-old Theodore and talking to her father Constantine. From a distance, it looks like a happy scene, but if you get closer, you will hear to something incredible.

"Dad, you can't let me go, I can't do it."

"There is no time. We will be finished when the Archduke of Wallachia comes. Get the throne before he comes. Even if he wants to attack, he will not be able to defeat him in half a year. He will definitely admit it by then. John's, and you, my daughter, will become the empress dowager respected by the empire, and no one will be more powerful than you."

Constantine persuaded his daughter to learn from the previous emperors' practices in ascending to the throne, and sent Manuel to see God, and then supported John as emperor and regent himself.

As a member of the Western European faction, Jelena didn't have much favorable impressions of Wallachia, especially after Serbia was destroyed by them and became a mortal enemy. His father Constantine also lost his land and wealth in this battle. He and many Serbian nobles came here and tried to let Basilius persuade the Archduke of Wallachia to return their property, but to no avail.

The struggle between the two factions in the city made them understand that if they wanted to continue to maintain their influence, the Western European faction must win. However, Emperor Manuel was an offshore balancer, so he could only place his hope on the next generation.

But the emperor's sudden decision to grant the title of consul to the Archduke of Wallachia made them sense danger. If they dragged on any longer, they might lose, so they sent Constantine and asked him to discuss with his daughter, Baselisa, to control the situation in advance, hoping to last until the West sent people to rescue the castle.

"Believe my daughter, as long as John can become emperor, nothing will happen to Wallachia. He will still provide you with protection, and those heretics are not something you should worry about."

“This, is this okay?

"It's right to trust your father."

After thinking about it, Jelena finally agreed to her father's suggestion. She wanted to be the queen mother and take all the power.

One night later, Manuel and Jelena went to bed. Before going to bed, she made a bowl of soup for the emperor to drink. Manuel drank it without any doubt. He fell asleep soon.

In the middle of the night, Jelena woke up. She took John and Theodore out of the palace, and several men in black came to Manuel's bed stealthily. Seeing that the emperor was sleeping soundly, they raised their knives.

Without screaming or resistance, Manuel left the world in his sleep. He was stabbed 12 times, each of which was fatal. Even if he could still move, he would not live long. They then set up the scene and pretended to call a doctor. After waiting until dawn, they announced the emperor's death.

In this way, Manuel II ended his only seven-year reign at the age of 49.

After the emperor passed away, the five-year-old prince John was crowned emperor by the Western European faction, called John VIII, and Queen Mother Jelena was regent. After the Western European faction gained power, they began to hunt down the Orthodox in large numbers, killing some important ministers, and at the same time preparing for war to prevent Wallachia from leading an army to attack.