"Dongdongdong."

There was a knock on the door again, and this time the person knocking was no longer David, but an officer responsible for guarding the harbor.

"Please come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the officer hurried in. Before he could take a breath, he anxiously reported to Alexius:

"Sir, the sea...the harbor...the ship! It's a ship coming from the direction of Constantinople!"

"Did the Latins come over?"

Alexius frowned. Could it be that history had a butterfly effect so quickly because of him? He had only repelled a Venetian warship, how could the Latins retaliate so quickly?

"Copycat guy, fight the Latins to the bitter end."

This was his first reaction. The worst he could do was fight to the death with the Latins, otherwise the title of "the least courageous Comnenus nobleman" would be firmly attached to his head.

When the officer saw Alexios preparing to put on the armor, he didn't react at first. Then he thought carefully about what he just said and actually missed a sentence.

While stopping him, he said in a dumbfounded voice: "It's not an enemy, it's a refugee, a refugee from the empire."

Fifteen minutes later...

"Brother, why are you here?" David was a little surprised when he saw Alexius coming not far away. He reacted so quickly. If you look closely, you can see that he has not yet dressed and is wearing clothes that have not been dried yet.

The coat just came over.

Alexius was equally surprised to see David. He asked the "lazy" brother in front of him a little angrily: "Why do you appear here and not in the barracks?"

"Brother, those city defense troops with terrible discipline all came here after hearing about what happened at the harbor. If you don't believe it, look at it." David casually grabbed a "melon-eating soldier" next to him.

A little confused.

Forget it, don't worry about these trivial things.

Alexius regained his serious expression, and under the leadership of David, passed the pass blocked by soldiers and walked inside.

The scene in front of him really made Alexios a little unable to react.

Refugees were piled up beside the houses. They were huddled against the wall, their eyes empty and confused, their clothes in tatters, silently telling the unsuspecting people the suffering they had suffered.

The deck was also crowded with refugees, and some refugees were even pushed into the sea; they were all refugees, and they all came from the "prosperous" city.

Some of them were once high-ranking officials, but the Crusaders burned their manors, robbed their wealth, and took away their wives, children, and children; some of them were once promising Roman warriors, but the Crusaders defeated them and

They were driven to death like animals, and at this time they could not see their original appearance at all; some of them were landowners, but the Crusaders occupied their fertile land, defiled their wives and daughters, and did things worse than animals.

No matter what their previous status was, at this moment, they all became refugees.

The kind-hearted citizens of Trebizond distributed food and clothing to these poor people. While they denounced the heretics for doing things that were against God's will, they also prayed for the peace of these unfortunate people.

"Your Majesty, what should we do next? There are hundreds of refugees in this group, which seriously interferes with the normal operation of the city. We are not yet sure whether there are spies among them..."

"If the current situation continues, before the Venetians block the sea, more and more people will flee here. You know, Constantinople is a metropolis with hundreds of thousands of people."

The refugee problem that Lexius is worried about is obvious. On the one hand, the increasing number of refugees will seriously interfere with the operation of the city. On the other hand, a large amount of manpower and materials must be sent to appease these refugees. The daily cost is

An astronomical figure! On the other hand, there is a mixed bag of refugees...

The arrival of the nobles forced Alexius to give them priority. After all, he would have to rely on these people if he wanted to make a name for himself in the future; but it was very difficult to get them to support him. If he didn't do it well, it would lead to civil war.

.

Although civilians are a little easier to deal with than nobles, they are not much better. The first is the espionage issue. There is nothing to say about this. If you catch it, shoot it to death. The most important thing is the expense issue just mentioned. Due to corruption and other problems, the city’s material storage

It is no longer what it used to be. If there are only a few hundred refugees, there is no need to panic, but the problem is that there will be tens of thousands of refugees next! How much food does this mouth need to eat every day, and how many soldiers need to be sent to guard it every day.

(The urban population gap in the Eastern Roman Empire is not very large. The population is mainly concentrated in the coastal areas of Thrace and Anatolia. The most populous city, Constantinople, maintains more than hundreds of thousands of people all year round, making it the largest in Europe.

The second place is Thessaloniki, the city's population is usually more than 300,000 people, and like Trebizond, it often remains around 100,000 people.)
Chapter completed!