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Text Chapter 709 Irina I

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    After Sictor chose to join Theodosius, Theodosius transferred an army of tens of thousands from the Asia Minor Peninsula and completely replaced the original guards of Constantinople, making the entire Constantinople  The fort was completely in his hands, but when Li Ke and Irina's army blocked the entire strait, his tens of thousands of troops had completely lost their meaning.

    Constantinople is a port city. Although it has Europe behind it, its main connection with the outside world is through the Black Sea Strait. Therefore, after the strait was blocked, the entire city almost lost its external communication. Even as long as Irina and Li  If so, Constantinople would immediately be paralyzed.

    However, Irina did not completely blockade Constantinople. Some commercial or civilian ships could still enter the port, so that order in the entire city was still maintained.  After all, although Theodosius occupied Constantinople, most of the nobles in the city still did not express their clear support for him. Moreover, this was a royal civil strife, and Irina did not want to affect ordinary people.

    However, while Irina was kind, she did not forget the purpose of this time. Therefore, under Li Ke's suggestion, she immediately occupied the Golden Horn area north of Constantinople with the assistance of the navy, and then settled here  A district public speech announced Theodosius's plot to kill his brother and seize the throne, and called on the citizens of Constantinople to rise up against Theodosius.

    Irina's public speech immediately received a response from many nobles in the city. They secretly sent people to seek an audience, expressed their loyalty to Irina, and condemned Theodosius' previous atrocities. Some even expressed their unabashed expressions.  , hoping that Irina can inherit the imperial throne and become the new Roman Emperor.

    To these nobles who came to express their loyalty, Irina also made a welcoming attitude.  She also implicitly told these nobles that Theodosius's coup was only his own, and the others were coerced by him, so she would definitely not pursue it in the future, which also dispelled the worries of many nobles.

    When the first batch of nobles who came to test brought Irina's attitude back to Constantinople, most of the other nobles who were still waiting and watching were relieved. As a result, more nobles sent people to confront Irina.  After contact, even many of the Asia Minor officers who had just been transferred to the city by Theodosius began to waver.

    Among the officers of Asia Minor.  Most of them are nobles from various places. Of course, these nobles are mainly nobles from Asia Minor. Although Theodosius had the support of these nobles in the past, these nobles wanted to form a group and regarded Theodosius as a  their spokesperson.  In order to obtain greater benefits, except for a small number of die-hard supporters of Theodosius, most of them had no intention of rebellion. This is why Theodosius was so careful before. Except for his die-hard confidants, there was no one at all.  Others knew about his rebellion.

    Later, Theodosius's adventure was successful, and he not only occupied Constantinople.  Constans II also died inexplicably, and Sigurdus also became an ally of Theodosius, leaving most of the Black Sea Strait in the hands of Theodosius, although he has not yet fully obtained the actual rule of the empire.  .  But it was not far off, which gave the nobles of Asia Minor hope, so they began to actively support Theodosius, thus making Theodosius available.  Replace the original garrison of Constantinople.

    But now the situation has reversed, and Theodosius's ally Sictor is finished.  Moreover, Irina returned to Constantinople safely, accompanied by His Majesty Emperor Wu, especially the fifteen artillery warships brought by the other party, which their Roman navy could not resist at all, and these artillery  They can blast into Constantinople at any time.

    Faced with this situation, the original nobles of Constantinople all chose to contact Irina. The officers from Asia Minor were not stupid either. They knew that Irina¡¯s people were familiar with the defense of the city, and their military camp was in a  Under the guns of the Dawu battleship, there was no safety at all. The reason why the opponent had not attacked until now was simply because they did not want to destroy the capital of the Roman Empire with artillery fire.

    These Asia Minor officers were still wary when they came. After all, they were different from the nobles of Constantinople. In the eyes of others, they and Theodosius were both in the same group. However, the generosity shown by Irina later convinced them that  They couldn't help but have some different thoughts, especially under the threat of life, some officers began to secretly contact Irina, and the favorable situation in Constantinople was slowly turning towards Irina.

    Feeling this change around him, Theodosius was angry, but also felt helpless. No matter in terms of strength or reputation, he could not compare with Irina, especially Constans II died before him.  In his hands, this made him bear the reputation of a regicide. Many nobles who originally sympathized with him gave up on him because of this reason.

    Now there are only three roads left in front of Theodosius. The first one isImmediately mobilize the army he can still control to attack the Golden Horn area controlled by Irina. However, even if he can occupy the Golden Horn again, it is of no value. The opponent can attack again from the sea at any time.  What's more, the opponent also has artillery, so the most likely scenario is that he leads the army halfway and is defeated by the opponent's artillery, and others may also die under the artillery. The only advantage of this method is that he will die more easily.  Heroic, at least like old General Mertan, is a way to die as a soldier.

    The second way is to escape. To the north of Constantinople is Europe. After escaping from the area controlled by the Eastern Roman Empire, it will be the territory of the barbarians. The forces there are complex. He can seize a piece of his own territory there and then become king.  proclaim oneself emperor.  However, Irina will probably not let him go, so he may face the Eastern Roman Empire's expeditionary force at any time.

    The last way is the simplest, which is to surrender directly to Irina and explain that the reason why he launched the coup was completely forced by Constans II. He did all this just to protect himself in exchange for Irina.  With the sympathy of Na and other nobles, there might be a chance of survival.

    Theodosius did not want to die under fire, so he would not take the first road.  As for escaping to the barbarians, he must have an absolutely loyal army, but judging from the current situation, even if someone is willing to follow him in the end, I am afraid that the number will not be very large. With this small number of people, he wants to defeat the surrounding barbarians, and  It was simply impossible to withstand the purges of the Roman expeditionary force.

    In this way, Theodosius seemed to have only one option left: surrender.  Irina's unhurried expansion of her influence has caused him to gradually lose his advantage. If nothing goes wrong, the entire Constantinople may change hands again within a month.  I'm afraid he will fall into a more miserable situation.

    After thinking about this, Theodosius quickly made a decision. While he still had a considerable amount of strength in his hands, he immediately expressed his hope to be open to Irina in the name of not wanting a war in Constantinople.  Negotiate to resolve the previous coup and the issue of the Roman throne.

    Irina and Li Ke had expected Theodosius's move in advance. After all, they had known Theodosius's character very well before. In addition, during this period, they were pressing harder and harder, giving the other party a piece of the bargaining chip.  The block was lost, and surrender had become Theodosius' wisest choice.

    In the winter of the twenty-seventh year of Zhenguan, Irina and Theodosius were negotiating in a royal palace in the Golden Horn. In addition to the two of them, Li Ke and some important nobles in the city also participated in the negotiation.  this

    This negotiation, which was said to affect the entire history of Europe, did not last long. Theodosius did not have many chips for him to squander, and there was a shrewd Li Ke beside him, which made the entire negotiation completely negated.  Irina took control and finally reached an agreement on two points.

    The first is that Theodosius admitted that he was guilty of launching a coup, but Irina and other nobles also said that due to the special situation at the time, Theodosius was forced to launch a coup, so he would not be sentenced harshly in the end, at least  You can also save your own life.

    The second article is about the death of Generals Forris and Mertan. The two direct murderers are Cherno and Sictor. They will be sentenced to death. Although Theodosius is the principal culprit, he  The surrender of military power and control of Constantinople was understood by Irina and the nobles.

    The negotiation finally ended with Theodosius' confession. However, according to the agreement reached, Theodosius was not sentenced to death in the end. Instead, he was deprived of his noble status and exiled to Sicily in the Mediterranean. He was unable to return to Sicily for life.  return.  This kind of cruel exile in the Roman Empire was a punishment second only to the death penalty. In a sense, this kind of punishment from confinement to death was actually more torturous than the death penalty.

    After Theodosius was exiled, Irina successfully inherited the throne of Constans II, and was known as Irina I in history.

    It¡¯s just that Irina, the Roman empress, has been controversial in later history. Some people think that she was the last emperor of Rome. After her, Rome actually perished.  But some people think that she brought a wiser monarch to Rome, and also injected a new blood into Rome. At the same time, the Roman Empire, which had entered its twilight years, once again glowed with brand new youth, becoming the same as Daqi and Tang Dynasty.  A world power alongside Tianzhu.

    No matter how later generations evaluate Irina, this Roman empress who wanted to be a little woman didn't actually care about her throne, and she didn't even care much about domestic political affairs. She left everything to Li Ke to take care of it, because she  You should concentrate on raising your baby and welcome the birth of your first child.
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