In the early morning of March 28, 1452, on the luxurious velvet bed, a man slowly rubbed his head and sat up. The waiter on the side quickly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, do you need to call the imperial doctor?" "No," the man's tone said.

It was bland, as if he wasn't the one who had the headache.

The man was Constantine XI, the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in history, the eighth son of Manuel II, and the brother of John VIII. Originally, it was not his turn to inherit the throne, but the empire's throne was not

Not entirely under the control of the imperial emperor, Ottoman Sultan Murad II put him on the throne.

Ever since he came to the throne, he has had headaches from time to time. He didn't really care about it at first, thinking it was due to being too tired. But every time he would see some strange things in his dreams and learn about some strange theories, he would wake up.

Later, he couldn't remember it very clearly, which made him very distressed.

"How are the preparations for the Easter celebration?" Constantine said while sitting on a chair in the dining room. "Everything is ready, Your Majesty." Constantine nodded and said no more.

After the meal, he came to the meeting hall, where his confidants were already waiting.

"Calvo, how are the talks with the Venetians going?" The long-haired man named Calvo stood up, "The situation is not very optimistic, Your Majesty, the Venetians said that they have signed a neutrality treaty with Sultan Mohammed and sold us grain.

It is inconsistent with their neutral position."

"Raise the price by 20% and let them transport it into Constantinople in the name of Genoa." Constantine's expression remained unchanged and he continued to ask:

"Sito, what did the Pope say?"

"Still, we must agree to unify the Eastern and Western churches, respect the Pope as the religious leader, and depose the Patriarch of Constantinople." Sito spread his hands, saying that he was powerless.

"Okay, let's not talk about this for now." Emperor Constantine showed a rare hint of distress, "Easter will be in three days. Let's take a rest these days. If you have anything else to do, wait until after Easter."

"Yes, Your Majesty" After saying this, everyone stood up and left the hall.

Although Constantine XI claims to be the emperor of the Roman Empire, his influence now only extends to the Moria Peninsula and Constantinople. Since he ascended the throne in 1449, he has been under pressure every day.

Especially after the Ottoman Sultan succeeded to the throne in 1451, the Mohammed Sultan, like his ancestors, never wanted to expand his influence and regarded Constantinople as his lifelong goal in an attempt to complete his conquest of the world.

The great achievements of the Ottoman Sultanate. Especially after the Battle of Varna, European countries have given up hope of saving Constantinople. However, as the successor of the Roman Empire, the city built by Emperor Constantine

It is the center of the empire and cannot be given up no matter what.

Constantine waved, and a chamberlain came over, "Take this blueprint to General Hussepe and ask him to build at least 30 warships, the sooner the better." The chamberlain took the blueprint and said,

Went out.

Obviously, facing the huge Ottoman Navy, 30 warships can be said to be a drop in the bucket. If they want to seize control of the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Aegean Sea, the Imperial Navy seems somewhat powerless. At home, taxes have been collected several times for the war.

Abroad, only Genoa and a few small city-states in Italy provided assistance. The entire Christian world provided very little assistance, which was difficult to play a key role in the war situation. Even in Constantine's own opinion, it was impossible to save the

Constantinople's hopes were also very slim.

"Your Majesty, Sir Sesipe wants to see you." A waiter came in from outside and said.

"Quickly, invite him in." Constantine responded. Following the sound of footsteps, a strong man at least 1.8 meters tall walked in. He stroked his chest and saluted: "Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite, come and sit down." Constantine pulled him to sit down.

"What did the Poles say? Did they agree to send troops?" Constantine asked.

"No, Your Majesty, the Poles are not very interested in our proposal." Cesipe replied. "Although the Polish nobles are not interested, the King of Poland seems to have different ideas."

At this time, King Kamizil IV of Poland was a quite powerful monarch. His brother and previous king Wladyslaw III unfortunately died while fighting the Ottomans.

"The King of Poland seemed to want to avenge his brother, but could not find a reason to convince the Sejm."

Constantine nodded, thinking about something, and suddenly he said: "What if we cede the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia to them?"

These two principalities are located at the mouth of the Danube River and the Black Sea. The land is fertile and close to the Hungarian plains. Seizing these two principalities will also have favorable terrain when claiming the Hungarian throne in the future. Wladyslaw III is also the King of Hungary, so he has a claim to the Hungarian throne.

"I'm afraid it's difficult, Your Majesty, these two principalities are now controlled by the Ottomans." Sesipe replied with a wry smile. Constantine was silent, and then Sesipe said: "The most important thing now is food.

, if the food problem is not solved, even if the Poles agree to send troops, we will not be able to survive the day they arrive."

"Don't worry about food. The Genoese have promised to give us material assistance. At least we won't have to worry about food for half a year of siege." Constantine said. Sesipe hesitated, but Constantine looked at it.

Putting aside his worries, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, don't worry, if we don't have reinforcements by then, what's the use of having more food in our camp?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Sesipe stood up, turned and left the hall.

Watching Sesipe leave, Constantine's heart was not as calm as he showed. Although Constantinople is known as the strongest city in the world, it does not bring him a sense of security, because he

We know that talents are the most fundamental strength. Now there are only five thousand people in the city who can fight, but the Ottoman Sultan can summon tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops at any time. The only solution now is to try his best to mobilize the people in the city and obtain foreign support.

For support, the emperor not only asked for help from the Pope and the European world, but also received letters from Emperor Constantine asking for help from the Sultan of Cairo and the monarch of Tamerlane. After the war was mobilized, the entire country had to fight for this war.

And put in all your efforts.

Three days later, Easter arrived. This day of the resurrection of Jesus is considered the most important festival by Orthodox Christians. Constantine looked at the people parading in the streets holding high the statue of Our Lady of Guidance in the Brecina Palace, and he gradually felt hesitant and hesitant in his heart.
Chapter completed!