After resting at the estate for a night, Vitus returned to Constantinople and resumed dealing with the endless stream of official documents.
Before long, the central administration's civil officials noticed the decree to "requisition officials and establish a cabinet," which outlined the new cabinet's functions.
The new institution ranked fairly low in the administrative hierarchy. In name, it merely assisted with paperwork and had no decision-making authority. At first glance, it looked like a temporary body, and most people paid it little heed.
A few sharp-minded people perceived Vitus's intentions, but they could find no suitable grounds to dissuade him and could only let him proceed.
On August 5, Vitus finally weathered the initial busy period. The moment he finished processing all the documents, he felt as though he had brought some long, drawn-out campaign to an end.
He set down his pen and papers and stretched as he walked out of the courtyard. Suddenly, he spotted Thomas's daughter crouching in a corner by the wall, lost in thought as she watched a weed growing between the stones.
Vitus did not disturb his niece. He followed the corridor to the southwestern section, then took a carriage out of the palace through a side gate.
At the beginning of the year, a group of Italian merchants had moved away from Constantinople. Vitus surveyed both sides of the main thoroughfare. Some shops were closed, while others were undergoing renovations.
The report supplied by city hall showed that the city had 250,000 permanent residents. Its period of rapid growth had already ended, and from now on,
growth would be slow.
At this stage, the Eastern Roman Empire had reclaimed the Thracian Plain, the Moesian Plain, western Anatolia, and the northern coast of the Black Sea, leaving it with ample agricultural land.
Grain, fish,