The Bulgars, comingling with the far more…

The Bulgars, comingling with the far more numerous Slavs, have begun to abandon their Turkic mother tongue in favor of the Slavic language, whence the Bulgarians.

By 796, the imperial government in Constantinople is recalcitrant and Kardam, Khan of Bulgaria, finds it necessary to demand the tribute while threatening to devastate Thrace if it were not paid.

According to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, Constantine VI mocks the demand by having dung sent instead of gold as "fitting tribute" and promising to lead a new army against the elderly Kardam at Marcellae.

Once again the emperor heads north, and once again he encounters Kardam in the vicinity of Adrianople.

The armies face each other for seventeen days without entering into battle, while the two monarchs probably engage in negotiations.

In the end, conflict is averted and the peace resumes on the same terms as in 792.