October On the 30th, early morning.
Thomas ordered the servants to pack up and go hunting in the mountains and forests of the countryside. Before leaving, he heard the whispers of the servants in the palace. It was said that Venice Governor had sent an envoy to try to repair the relationship between the two countries.
"It's a waste of time, how can we talk about this situation?"
Thomas didn't pay attention to such nonsense. Surrounded by the guards, he rode the Snow Treading on Dark Clouds through the city, enjoying the envious and surprised eyes of the residents along the way.
A week later in the afternoon, Thomas returned with the prey. He heard that the Venice messenger had left, and the two sides had not reached an agreement.
"Haha, I guessed it a long time ago."
After being reminded by the servant, Thomas learned that tonight was a royal dinner, so he hurriedly changed his clothes and took his wife and daughter to the dining place.
During the dinner, Thomas was not interested in those dishes, so he simply passed the time with the newspaper and read a recent review by Plethon, whose theme was the aristocratic group of Venice.
"... In normal times, Venice businessmen desperately pursue profits, taking advantage of the weakness of other countries to seize their excellent ports and suppress their local industries.
Once they encounter a truly powerful enemy, their instinctive reaction is to retreat, fearing war but unwilling to make real concessions. They just keep dragging it out, hoping that the enemy will collapse on its own. Unless the enemy actively declares war, the Venice nobles will continue to quarrel."
In the second half of the article, Plethon mentioned his experience at Venice.
The local San Bar-naba District is a slum area where some of the poorest aristocratic families live. They are called Barnabotti Families and can only hold the lowest public offices.
According to Plethon's visit, the main reason why these nobles fell into poverty was War of Chioggia (1378~1381
year).
In August 1379, the Genoa fleet captured the portal of Venice Lagoon-
The city of Chioggia.
On land, the Hungary army attacked from the northeast and cooperated with its allies to cut off Venice's land transportation, putting Venice into a desperate situation surrounded by sea and land.
Subsequently, under the command of Vittorio Pisani, Venice turned defeat into victory, forcing the Genoa fleet to surrender.
After this battle, Venice seized the hegemony of Eastern Mediterranean. Some families took advantage of the situation to rise up and seize the business shares left by Genoa, and their business grew bigger and bigger.
Some families were very unlucky. Taxes during the war depleted their money. They could only mortgage their properties to survive, and had no extra funds for investment. They missed this precious post-war prosperity period.
As the family's main residence was taken away by creditors, these nobles were forced to move to slums with low land prices to survive. At this point, they were unable to afford social expenses and were naturally excluded from the social circle by other nobles.
Without wealth or connections, they were left with only an empty title and lived in poverty until the end of their lives. With the death of the last male member, the family inheritance was cut off.
At the end of the comment, Plethon suggested that the empire focus on cracking down on the property of aristocratic groups and leave some ordinary merchants alone.
At the end of the reading, Thomas was slightly disdainful. "The main part of this article is well written, but there are some problems at the end.
I remember that the empire promulgated a bill, which clearly stipulated that the warships captured by the navy in the battle would be publicly auctioned by Navy Logistics Office after the war, and all the money obtained would be distributed to the combatants. In this case, how could they let go of the property of the Venice businessman?
Plethon is good at academics, but not suitable for commenting on war. After all, he has never been on the battlefield and does not even have the most basic command ability."
Vitus took the silver spoon and fork and ate the bowl of mutton fried rice silently, without refuting his brother's opinion.
Many years ago, Plethon wrote to Vitus, wanting to be the teacher of Romanus, but was rejected.
Plethon was the most influential philosopher during this period. He had many students in Greece and Italy. He enthusiastically advocated Plato's ideas and hoped that the monarch would have both wisdom and virtue and become the "philosopher king" respected by classical philosophers.
This idea sounds good, but the reality is cruel, and philosophy cannot change the plight of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Vitus believes that these tedious philosophy courses will occupy the prince's energy and leave him no time to study Finance and military courses, which are the foundation for maintaining the empire.
Not only philosophy, but courses such as theology, literature, and music have also been greatly reduced. Even though the Queen Mother, John, and Agnes persuaded her many times, Vitus still adheres to her educational philosophy.
Halfway through dinner, Thomas began to complain, "It's so boring. There's no one to talk to. When will you ask Romanus to come back? Also, he's almost old, when will you let him get married?"
Vitus put down his knife and fork calmly, "It depends. Romanus will come back in winter and then let him marry Anna."
This engagement was agreed in advance.
Maria Komnenos's only close relative is Anna, and the niece she misses the most is her niece. Over the years, Maria has pestered John VIII, the Queen Mother, and Vitus for many times, trying her best to promote the marriage between Romanus and Anna.
In fact, there are still some branches of the Komnenos family, but Maria dislikes them for running too fast. She was almost the first group of nobles to escape from Trebizond, and lacks the responsibility that a noble should have.
Over the years, Maria has never paid attention to them, as if these relatives had died in the war more than ten years ago.
On the other hand, John and Vitus discussed Romanus's marriage in detail and tried to find a foreign princess to connect with.
Marriage. The information they have is as follows:
Margaret of Anjou was born in 1429. During the peace negotiations between Britain and France, she was arranged to be engaged to King Henry VI of England.
The princess of Scotland is called Annabella, and she is not engaged for the time being. However, Scotland and Eastern Roman Empire are too far apart. Even if the two countries marry, they will not be able to help each other and cannot play the role of alliance.
The princess of Portugal is called Eleanor (can also be translated as Leonor). I heard that the royal family of Portugal is lobbying Charles VII, trying to get Eleanor to get engaged to Dauphin Louis of France.
Portugal is located in Western Europe, so the first choice for marriage is of course Western Europe's number one power, France. Vitus felt that there was no need to bring trouble to himself, so he gave up this option.
At that time, John and Vitus thought about it for a long time. Since they couldn't find a suitable candidate in the West, they might as well choose a marriage partner from China.
The Komnenos family has produced many emperors in its history. Anna's status is noble enough and will not disgrace the reputation of Palaiologos.
Now Eastern Roman Empire is Eastern Mediterranean's number one power and is no longer the weak force it was in the past. Vitus is not urgently seeking foreign marriages. What Eastern Roman Empire relies on for survival is not allies, but Field Legion and its naval fleet with outstanding military exploits.
In fact, the probability of inheriting a country through marriage is very small. The rise of House of Habsburg is an exception, not the norm in medieval politics.
Vitus believes that the territory inherited through marriage is not stable. The ruler obtains not only the territory itself, but also the original ruling system. The local local forces are completely preserved, and they may one day break away from control and establish their own business.
As a warrior emperor, Vitus still likes to conquer an area openly, then wipe out the remaining forces, and fully promote the laws of the empire. This method requires a huge initial investment, but in the long run, the obtained territory will be more stable.