1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 301 Nidhogg's Journey

Caribbean coast, Saint Constantine Colony, Cuba Island.

The sea breeze gently caresses the harbor, blows through the palm trees on the beach, blows through the farmlands and villages around the city, and blows into everyone's nose with a sweet fragrance.

This is the capital of the island of Cuba, the outpost of the Eastern Roman Empire in the New World, and the only developed city in the Saint Constantine Colony, the Port of Havana.

In the minds of the Taino people, the Port of Havana has a lofty status. It is not only an extension of imperial power in the frontier areas, but also a city of baptism, a city of victory, a city of glory, and a city of wealth.

The air was filled with moisture. On the dim dirt road, a middle-aged man in a church robe walked gently, with the most ordinary wooden cross hanging on his chest and a kind and gentle smile on his face.

"Bishop, may God bless you..."

On the streets, whether they were Tainos or Europeans, whether they were wealthy businessmen or ordinary farmers, when they saw the bishop, they all stopped and bowed to greet him. There was no fear in their eyes, but respect and love.

“God will bless you too.”

The bishop smiled and nodded at them, extending kindness to everyone.

His name was Valens, the Archbishop of the Saint Constantine Colony. He was one of the first to arrive here and participated in the entire process of occupation, rule, missionary work and assimilation by the Eastern Roman Empire. He was appointed Archbishop by the Patriarch of Constantinople to manage the religious affairs of the entire colony.

Valens was not a nobleman. More than 20 years ago, he was just a little slave in the city of Bilinchi. He lost his parents and relatives when he was ten years old. He was exploited by one slave owner after another and could not see any future.

Later, the emperor's army captured the city of Birinchi and issued a notice to all Muslims in the city, asking them to convert to Jesus Christ. If they converted, all slaves would be freed and would be able to get their own land.

It was at this time that Valens became one of the first native Christians in the city of Bilinchi. He used his expertise to become the first to learn Greek and Latin. He was accepted as an attendant by a priest and became a quasi-clergyman.

Valens was only fourteen years old at the time. Under the guidance of the priest, he learned more literary and theological knowledge, had a deeper understanding of religion, and could even write some short poems in his spare time.

Because Valens was born in North Africa and was of Arab descent, he had some advantages in the church system created by the emperor. He was once promoted as a representative figure of "returning to the right path after straying", and his position became higher and higher.

After the establishment of the Constanta Seminary, many old priests were resentful, but Valens immediately applied for further studies and was placed in the Colonial College, where he spent the most fulfilling years of his life. His knowledge reserves increased again, and he gradually understood the full picture of the world and the emperor's ambitions.

During this period, he first became aware of the world outside the Mediterranean, that vast, wild and faithless land.

A few years ago, when the Saint Constantine Colony was officially established, he once again took the initiative to set sail to lead the ignorant natives to the Garden of God.

He knew that his rapid promotion was largely due to the emperor's special treatment of Arab clergy, the so-called "political correctness" that was despised by many older clergy.

However, he never let the rumors of outsiders disturb his mind. He always kept his past in mind and never forgot the pain and torture he experienced in his early years.

The emperor's army killed his master, and God's holy light reshaped him from a walking corpse into a human being. As early as when he entered the church and ate his first full meal in his life under the Orthodox cross, he had secretly vowed and established his own life ideal.

Jesus’ kindness saved him from dire straits, and he will use his life to save more lost people and let them also bathe in the glory of the Lord.

After arriving at the port of Havana, Columbus immediately found him and told him his plan in a straightforward manner.

He preached the theory of annihilation, released smallpox on some isolated islands, and took the Taino chiefs to watch, causing them to panic, and demanded that they convert to the Orthodox religion in order to receive relief.

"We will release smallpox on the island of Cuba in half a year. During this period, you need to convert more people to Catholicism and vaccinate them."

Valens remembered that Columbus walked around carelessly while wiping the bloody knife.

“How many people you can save depends entirely on you.”

Valens left without saying a word. He knew that this was the emperor's wish. He also knew that the colonists, led by Columbus, were doing all kinds of evil. If it were not for the emperor's restraint, they would probably not be willing to wait for half a year.

During this period, Valens traveled to every corner of the island of Cuba, trying to influence the natives with the friendship of allies in fighting against the Caribbean cannibals, and to scare them with God's "miracles" and the tragic conditions on the isolated island of smallpox. He spent all his efforts and words just to save more people.

His efforts were rewarded. This group of Taino people was too backward and had no complete theological system. Mature religion had an overwhelming advantage over primitive religion. The number of tribes willing to convert to Orthodoxy far exceeded Columbus' expectations, forcing him to transfer more dairy cows, pigs and sheep from his native land and provide more vaccines.

Later, despite Columbus's planned vaccination, smallpox broke out. The natives who had converted became more and more convinced of God's power, while those who refused to convert died in large numbers. For a time, the entire island of Cuba became a solid fortress of Jesus Christ.

Although he never said it explicitly, Valens always had a grudge against Columbus's barbaric behavior. In his opinion, if he was given another ten years, these Taino people would collectively accept Jesus Christ and there would be no need to resort to such brutal methods.

What he didn't know was that with the arrival of colonists, diseases from the Old World would naturally spread to the New World, and if they were not vaccinated against cowpox, they would still die even if they converted to Jesus Christ.

In any case, Valens soon walked out of the shadow of the past and began to spread his faith in Havana, practicing his own righteous path, step by step, without any effort, just to fulfill his ideals.

There are three main forces on the island of Cuba today: colonial sailors, merchants and missionaries. The three groups have roughly the same goals, but their attitudes towards local indigenous people are very different.

The colonial sailors were the exploiters of the local indigenous people. They were often illiterate and rough men who only cared about money and profit. They treated the indigenous people as uncivilized beasts. Even if they converted to Christianity, massacres, robberies and rapes still occurred.

Merchants are also exploiters, but their ways of exploitation are different. In recent years, with the encouragement and guidance of the emperor, the traditional business model has undergone some changes, and merchants of all sizes like to call themselves "capitalists."

Capitalists also value profit, but their vision is much longer-term than that of colonial sailors.

When captured prisoners of war, colonial sailors would kill them at will, while capitalists would rather sell them as slaves to extract more profits.

Although they were all a group of indigenous people, the colonial sailors liked to kill and rob, but the capitalists did not like to kill. They tended to lure them into plantations and mines to make full use of every bit of labor.

I am here to make money. If you kill someone, how can I make money?

As for the missionaries, they often acted as protectors of the indigenous people, strictly prohibiting the colonists from carrying out massacres at will and restraining the capitalists from cheating and deceiving.

For missionaries, all Christians are brothers, and seeing more and more people convert to the right faith is a kind of happiness in itself. Moreover, the emperor allowed colonial priests to collect appropriate taxes. More believers are achievements and mean a more magnificent church.

Valens was a North African Christian. Like other new converts, the cultural barriers between him and the Greek-Romans had not yet been completely eliminated. The friendly relationship was maintained entirely by common beliefs. He had a very strong universal spirit and regarded all Orthodox Christians as his brothers, no matter whether he spoke Greek, Arabic or Turkic, no matter whether he was white, yellow or black.

During his five years on the island of Cuba, Valens has always adhered to his creed, bringing the gospel to every Christian, using his efforts to improve their lives, and practicing the most ancient way of God.

Valens wrote to Constantinople, asking the emperor to enact laws to protect Taino Christians and restrain the colonists' burning, killing and looting.

Soon after, he received a royal decree with the Cross Quadrupedal emblem, in which the emperor approved his proposal to grant citizenship to all Orthodox, Greek-speaking Taino natives, allowing them to travel to any city in the empire and join the fleet, army, Orthodox church and government agencies.

In the subsequent fleets, the proportion of barbaric sailors decreased significantly, and the number of capitalists increased significantly. The emperor still wanted to make money, but he did not want to adopt the inefficient method of exhausting the resources.

Valens was busy traveling between various Taino gathering places, persuading more rural people to move to the cities, leading them to open up farmland, establish mines, build houses, and pray together.

He used the agricultural knowledge he learned in the seminary to teach the ignorant Taino natives step by step, teaching them how to cook cassava to remove the poison, teaching them to plant bananas brought back from India, teaching them to grow tobacco, sugarcane and cotton in a better way, and teaching them to use the agricultural knowledge of the Old World to grow and harvest rice.

He used his connections to invite a group of monks who were proficient in medicine from Europe to deliver babies for the indigenous children and treat their colds, fevers and other diseases brought from the Old World.

He asked his subordinate priests to open Sunday schools to provide theological and literary education to more children and guide them towards civilization.

He donated a large amount of tax revenue from his parish to contribute to the construction of Havana, and one simple shed after another was built.

In the first few days, he encountered many distrustful looks, the sarcasm of the sailors, and the doubts and misunderstandings of other priests, but he never cared.

As a few years passed, the discordant voices became smaller and smaller, and respect and love increased. Even Columbus, who had always looked down on him, was no longer arrogant, and would bow slightly every time they met.

Thanks to his efforts, more and more people were identified, and more and more indigenous people were willing to accept his protection and settle in Havana.

Columbus's vision was initially realized. The concentration of the population made it much easier for him to manage the island, and the idea of ​​monopolizing grain production was no longer a distant dream.

The capitalists' wishes were basically met. The prosperity of cities and the concentration of population brought cheaper labor. The indigenous people's return and the new model of capitalism increased their enthusiasm exponentially. The improvement of agricultural technology also brought better returns to the plantations, which were more efficient than pure slave plantations.

Now, there are four groups of people on the entire island of Cuba: European immigrants, Taino people with citizenship, Taino Christians without citizenship, and the lowest class of slaves. Some Taino people can even serve as supervisors in slave mines.

Valens knew that there was still serious exploitation and discrimination throughout the island of Cuba, but he was not prepared to cut off the financial resources of so many people, and he was already satisfied with this.

He also knew that the harmony of the island of Cuba came largely from the gentle nature of the Taino people themselves, and the other indigenous people were not so obedient.

He was not a Bogomil who advocated the elimination of the aristocracy, nor was he prepared to challenge the privileged class of the entire Old World. The "equality" he pursued was only at the theological level.

You know, even in the Eastern Empire, exploitation and oppression still exist, and the era of freedom and equality has not yet arrived.

Of course, compared to before the arrival of the Eastern Roman Empire, the quality of life of these Taino people has greatly improved. Working on a plantation and receiving an extremely meager salary is better than the previous precarious and ignorant life.

At least, everyone can live well.

Whenever Valens walked on the streets of Havana and patrolled the rice fields around the city, he could always feel the love and gratitude of the believers, and his heart was filled with happiness yet peace.

Whenever this happened, he would always think of those years of swords and shadows, when the soldiers holding high the double-headed eagle flag killed his master, and the kind-hearted old priest led him into the church, broke the shackles on his soul, and reached out to him.

"God loves the world. From this moment on, we are brothers."

Valens always remembered this sentence.

He always believed that, beyond nationality and race, people speaking different languages ​​could still find common ground with each other, and under the holy light, they were all brothers.

Valens walked on the streets of Havana, and the people on the roadside pushed and shoved and followed him.

"Bishop, are you going to preach today?"

A half-grown child asked with big eyes in broken Greek.

"No, today it's Father Nicholas, he's also a learned man."

Valens smiled kindly.

"Oh... so you're going to inspect the banana fields?"

The child's eyes lit up.

"Come to my banana field, we have a great banana plantation!"

"Maybe some other time. I have other things to do today."

Valens touched the child's head.

He knew that these Taino people were really stupid and didn't know how to manage a farm. The yields of cassava, bananas and rice were very low. Some Taino people were even unwilling to open up farms at all. They just wanted to do mindless odd jobs in European plantations and get a very low salary.

Thinking of this, Valens sighed, took a few quick steps, waved to the people who gathered around him, and walked into the church by the harbor.

There was a sermon going on in the church. Valens listened for a while and then returned to his study.

Picking up the quill and spreading out the notes, Valens turned to the first few pages as usual and reviewed his daily routine in recent days.

"August 8, sunny. Brother Nicholas is in charge of running the church. I went to inspect the farm outside the city. It's still the same, very poor. I can't even grow cassava properly."

"According to the Royal Academy of Sciences, cassava is poisonous and must be cooked thoroughly, preferably soaked and washed in clean water. Eating it raw for a long time can cause a series of problems, including damage to brain development."

"I suspect that the reason why the Taino people are so dull and docile is inseparable from cassava. They use this thing as half of their staple food and eat it raw for a long time, which is a big problem."

"In the words of Columbus, they are adorably silly."

"It is said that the emperor is going to promote cassava in West Africa. They will definitely eat it raw... Oh, may God bless them."

Valens turned to the next page.

"On August 8, I went to teach Sunday school and taught the children Greek. They still couldn't understand it very well, but I was patient."

"After these days of hard work, the new batch of children finally learned words like 'Rome' and 'Emperor' and understood their meanings. It was really not easy."

"Next, I plan to teach them simple sentences. I'll start by teaching them the royal family's language, which means the four βs."

"King of kings, bless my king."

When Valens saw this, he felt a little happier and turned a few pages.

"On August 8, a delegation from the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute arrived at the port of Havana. They said that the small fruits of the royal palm trees on the shore can be used to feed pigs. I am very happy that my Taino brothers will have another way to make a living."

"On August 8, Columbus went to the Aztecs again. They divided into several groups and went inland from the coast, drawing maps, collecting intelligence, and bringing back a lot of looted gold."

"I have to say that the Aztec civilization and the Mayan city-states to the south are really rich. We have only touched a little corner, but we have already obtained a lot of gold."

"Contrary to what that scoundrel Columbus thought, there are gold mines on the island of Cuba, but the quantity is very small and the reserves are not high. They are contracted to be mined by a few capitalists."

“There is more gold on the island of Puerto Rico, and we are mining it, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to what is available on the mainland to the west.”

Valens thought about it, skipped a few paragraphs, and continued reading.

"Columbus was a reckless man who had no intention of understanding the civilization of the Aztecs. He couldn't even understand the Taino people on the island of Cuba. All the reports he had submitted to the emperor were wrong."

"He said that before we came, the Taino people were in a slave society and had entered the Bronze Age, and perhaps even papermaking. This is complete nonsense. They were still in the primitive clan period and had not even set foot in slavery. Bronze ware and papermaking are even more nonsense. The few pieces of paper and bronze ritual vessels are all products of the Aztecs."

"He said he had complete control over the food production of the island of Cuba, but that was bullshit. He didn't do a good job of counting the population of the entire island of Cuba. He just did a random count around Havana."

"And the royal historian Lake from last time, his report to Constantinople was full of praise for the emperor, saying that every household hung the emperor's portrait and everyone regarded the emperor as their father. I really don't know what to say."

"However, at the request of the emperor, Columbus would still print a copy of the information for me each time. During these years of interaction, I have gained some basic knowledge about the Aztec civilization."

There was a large blank space next. Valens thought for a moment, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink.

"The Aztecs were a very unique civilization. They were very advanced in some aspects. They independently developed papermaking, had a tradition of recording historical materials, and had a relatively mature administrative system. They were very different from the other indigenous peoples we had encountered before."

"There are many city-states in the Aztec region. The three-city alliance headed by Tenochtitlan has an absolute advantage in military strength. The other city-states are no match for them."

"However, like us, the Aztecs were foreign invaders. They were warlike and very cruel. They often sacrificed the conquered people of other city-states alive, with tens of thousands of lives lost each time."

"I have absolutely no good feelings towards this city-state. I don't know if I can convert them through gentle means. I don't have high hopes for this."

"In my opinion, Columbus's method was probably better in dealing with these brutal people. The Aztecs, like the Saracens and the Hebrews, were the greatest enemies of the Orthodox Christians."

"Alas, I like my Taino brothers more and more. There are too few people who are so gentle. When I visit their homes, everyone will take out the best things to entertain me. They would rather starve themselves, but how can I bear to let them starve?"

Valens pursed his lips and continued writing.

"Of course, these city-states also have some advantages, that is, they are strong in theology. When each city-state conquers other city-states, the conquered will add the conqueror's gods to their own worship system. This is one of the reasons why their gods are so complex and diverse."

"In the eyes of these people, since you defeated me, your god must be very powerful, and conversion is a natural thing."

"For this reason alone, they were more assimilated than the Saracens and Hebrews."

"I think it is not impossible that Columbus's annihilationist strategy, combined with the Aztec city-states' own special theological views, collectively converted them to Christianity."

"We can unite with other oppressed people and together destroy the Three Cities Alliance, which is mainly composed of Aztec mobs. In the process, we can establish common friendship and introduce them to the Christian world." Valens wrote here and thought for a moment.

"The emperor values ​​profit and will not kill innocent people indiscriminately. He mainly focuses on assimilation."

"However, I heard from Columbus that although the emperor would not kill them, he would definitely exterminate their culture, rewrite their history, eliminate their language and writing, and turn them into out-and-out Greek Christians."

"This is not a difficult task. Under the glory of Jesus Christ, Roman polytheism, Greek polytheism and Nordic polytheism could not hold out for long. Only a broken shell remained. The first Armenians who converted took the initiative to completely destroy their old culture, not to mention the Aztecs."

"They are not Saracens or Hebrews after all. They are too backward and have no resistance to mature civilization."

The sky was a little gray and the clouds were getting lower and lower, which was the prelude to the coming heavy rain.

Valens closed the window and lit a candle.

"However, the Aztecs are still an ancient civilization full of unique charm. Columbus first regarded them as Japanese or even Ming people, and he also saw their uniqueness."

"The emperor strictly prohibited the circulation of information about the Aztec civilization in the empire, and only gave it to a few royal scholars, asking them to compile a large number of false histories, doing their utmost to mock and smear the Aztec civilization in order to create momentum for our military operations."

"Of course, this is understandable, but in my opinion, fully understanding a civilization can help us better rule them, and understanding their old theological system can help us better understand their theological values, which will be of progressive significance to our future missionary work."

"I didn't have much time, so I took the royal historian's one-sided research on the Aztec civilization, added some of my own understanding, and simply sorted out the gods of the Aztec pantheon."

Valens frowned and deleted "Gods".

"Of course, the gods of the nations are all false, and the Lord alone created the world; they are not worthy to be called gods."

"Due to the reasons mentioned above, the Aztec civilization had many false gods, and each of them governed many areas. Here, we only list a few known ones based on the dramatic expressions of the royal historians."

Valens took out the royal historian's report from the side, glanced at it, and wrote in his notes.

"Lord of Darkness and Night, Guardian of the North, Smoky Mirror, Tezcatlipoca."

"The Lord of Sacrifice and Strength, Guardian of the East, the Skinner, Xipetotik."

"Lord of the Sky and Wind, Guardian of the West, Quetzalcoatl."

"Lord of the Sun and Fire, Guardian of the South, Sun Hummingbird, Huitzilopochtli."

"The King of Thunder and Death, the Quetzalcoatl Twins, Shurotel."

"King of the stars and the moon, sister of the hummingbird, Koyoshak."

"In addition, the Aztec civilization had many false gods, and the areas they governed had great overlap."

"Furthermore, the so-called divine powers of the above-mentioned false gods cannot be simply summarized by a few words of the royal historian. For example, Quetzalcoatl is also in charge of agriculture, light and wisdom. He is against human sacrifice and I personally think he is the only good god."

Valens was amused and shook his head.

"But it doesn't matter. They can't provide shelter for their believers. Only those who believe in God can receive eternal blessings."

"The emperor once said that a group's worship of gods often comes from their inner desires. This statement is of course outrageous, but it also makes sense."

"Through the study of the Aztec false gods, we can also better understand the desires of these indigenous people, thus paving the way for subsequent baptism."

"For example, in the minds of the indigenous people, corn is sacred, and agriculture is the top priority. Many false gods have the power of both agriculture and corn. I see some opportunities in this."

Valens dipped his hands in ink.

"Sacrificing more hearts to the false gods will not increase crop yields, but the advanced agricultural technology, large livestock and bone meal fertilizer brought by God can make corn thrive. These people are fickle and can change their beliefs in a moment."

"It seems to me—"

Boom boom boom!
There was a knock on the door and a voice came in.

"Your Excellency, the Emperor's fleet has arrived. Do you want to go and take a look?"

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Valens closed his notebook.

The church is right next to the port. Valens, dressed in his church robes, came to the dock of Havana under the escort of guards.

A lot of people had gathered at the dock, some were city guards responsible for maintaining public order, and some were Taino Christians who came to watch the fun.

These people knew that whenever the emperor's fleet arrived at the port of Havana, workers would unload large quantities of clothing, livestock, and other items that were not available on the island, bringing great improvements to the lives of the Taino Christians.

They often had to work on the plantations for half a year to buy the most worn-out piece of clothing, but for these Taino natives who had never been bathed in the glory of civilization and were too gentle and honest, this was already a favor from the emperor.

When they saw Valens, they made way for him and saluted him joyfully.

Valens nodded kindly and stepped to the front.

Among the fleet, three small ships had already docked. The sailors unloaded the cargo, led the black and white slaves off the deck, and bargained with the merchants in Havana.

On the sea, a large ship was slowly approaching. The ship was dark red in color, with a standard streamlined shape, a wide bottom cabin, and neatly equipped guns.

The bronze statue on the bow of the ship has a ferocious look, clearly a giant dragon with its head held high and eyes glaring.

On the hull, golden ancient traditional Latin characters caught Valens' eyes.

"Nidhoggr..."

Valens muttered to himself.

The big ship slowly approached the shore and hit the wooden embankment of the dock, making a dull sound.

However, what arrived this time were not commodities and slaves, not immigrants and capitalists, but large numbers of troops.

A thick wooden board was laid out, and rows of tall and strong men carrying muskets and plank axes got off the ship one after another and lined up at the dock.

"The shooting troops are still some of the most elite ones."

Valens recognized them.

Then, a group of heavily armored cavalrymen led their horses out of the stable, climbed onto their horses' backs on the wide deck, and marched towards the crowd with heavy steps.

There were only ten of them, but each cavalryman was fully equipped with horse and man equipment, and his face was completely covered by a heavy helmet, so his expression could not be seen. The cold and iron-blooded aura on his body pierced the sky.

"Iron-clad Paladin..."

Valens smiled bitterly.

The crowd suddenly fell silent. These natives had never seen such powerful heavy cavalry. Some of the timid ones even knelt down and made the sign of the cross in fear.

In this place where there are no horses, no iron tools, and even few bronze weapons, this cavalry is fully capable of defeating a hundred enemies with one.

If they wanted, none of these Taino people could escape.

Then, the sailors began to unload the cargo from the ship one by one, including iron shields, light field guns, steel crossbows...

The armored paladins lined up at the dock. Although they were very quiet, they were intimidating without even getting angry.

"Respected Bishop Valens, my name is George Selimbria, I am the captain of this task force, and I salute you."

The cavalry captain dismounted and strode towards Valens.

"We were originally planning to go to the Portuguese Florida to sell a batch of slaves, but the weather was bad and a storm was coming, so we had to give up and come here to take shelter!"

George's voice was like thunder.

"Welcome, warriors of the Emperor."

Valens nodded slightly to George.

"I didn't expect the emperor would send you here."

"One hundred shooting troops and a squad of armored holy cavalry, this is our confidence!"

George laughed.

"Lord Columbus must also gather 500 armed sailors and 1,000 Taino servants as supplements!"

"Our horses are in poor condition and our soldiers are tired from the journey. Please provide us with a place to rest."

"That's easy. Although the Havana Port is not big, it should be no problem to provide these."

"Master Columbus has not returned yet, but I think he will be soon."

Valens thought about it.

"Why are you sending troops?"

"For God, for the Emperor, for the Ragnarok!"

George exclaimed, pointing to the large ship behind him.

"What you are looking at now is the only large warship we have built in recent years. It also has a large cargo capacity. It was designed by Lord Mansreti of the Carthage Shipyard. It is our first mahogany warship."

Valens looked at the ship and was silent for a moment.

The launching of the Cairo Star brought a huge burden to the navy. The emperor began to change his mindset and no longer pursued overly large ships. He used the latest shipborne artillery and design concepts, mainly to improve maneuverability and firepower.

In recent days, old ships, mainly the Constantine the Great, have been retired one after another. The emperor sold them to pro-imperial forces and domestic armed colonial groups, and began to upgrade and optimize naval ships, using the latest technology to build the best ships.

This mahogany battleship came into being. Although mahogany is more expensive than oak, it has excellent performance, does not require too much drying time, and can remain free of rot for decades.

"The funding for this warship was approved several years ago, so it was not affected by the war. It was nearly completed last year and was officially launched not long ago."

George continued to explain.

"As an authority on Aztec history, the royal historian Lake was allowed to consult the emperor's plans and gave the warship an appropriate name."

"Nidhogg!"

Nidhogg is a giant dragon in mythology that gnawed at the world tree. When he had eaten all the roots, the world tree withered and Ragnarok came.

"authority……"

Valens curled his lips.

"What did you say, Your Excellency?"

George didn't understand.

"I think the emperor has a good opinion."

Valens smiled.

"Of course. The Emperor's plan is very comprehensive and has taken everything into consideration. He even asked us to bring the necessary shipwrights, resin, ropes and nails for building small boats, as well as a series of items needed to build chariots. They are all in Nidhogg's cabin!"

George waved proudly.

"Why build a ship? Can't we build it in Carthage?"

Valens was a little confused.

"Tenochtitlan is a city on the water, surrounded by lakes, like an enhanced version of Nicaea and Venice. Without ships, it will be difficult for us to defeat them!"

George said.

"Our holy light will shine upon them and wash away the ugliness. We will burn down all the false temples filled with bones and blood, and build the Church of God on their ruins!"

"We will stay here until Lord Columbus completes communication and negotiation with the Aztec enemies. Then we will launch a full-scale attack. The entire operation will be completed within half a year!"

"The plan still needs your full support, I hope you won't shirk your responsibility!"

Valens nodded, pursed his lips, and remained silent for a moment.

"I was planning to send a large number of priests to the Aztec and Mayan city-states to influence them with kindness and justice and make them repent."

"We are out of time, and your method takes a lot of time and has a very low success rate."

George said.

"The emperor said that most of the problems encountered during the great voyages cannot be easily solved through lobbying and appeasement, but through iron and blood."

"It is the emperor's job to forgive them, but what we need to do is to completely subdue them and make them kneel before the emperor voluntarily!"

"King of kings, bless my king, and bless us too!"

George crossed himself.

"May He bless my king."

Valens sighed.

boom--

The dull thunder rumbled between heaven and earth, and the lightning flashed like angry dragons, wandering around the clouds, appearing and disappearing.

The cumulonimbus clouds are getting heavier and heavier, finally reaching the critical point of their carrying capacity, and a storm is about to come.

(End of this chapter)