Throughout February, the administration Central Administration fell into a brief chaos caused by adjustments.
Taking advantage of this period of less business, the royal family officially held the wedding of Romanus and Anna. Agnes did not save money in this regard, resulting in the entire ceremony costing more than 80,000 Florin.
After this lively and extravagant wedding ended, Vitus turned his attention back to government affairs and issued multiple orders in succession.
The first is to promulgate the inheritance law and formally establish the primogeniture system.
Historically, Eastern Roman Empire emperors tended to let their eldest son inherit the throne, but there was never a formal written code, leaving huge room for various political operations.
Therefore, Emperor Eastern Roman Empire often crowned his son as the "co-ruling emperor", so that the eldest son's intention to succeed would be announced to the world before his death, ensuring a smooth transition of power.
This move has a certain effect, but the level of chaos inherited by the Eastern Roman Empire is still fatal. The two most useless dynasties-Doukas and Angelos, both usurped the throne through coups and destroyed the foundation of the empire in just twenty years.
Vitus comes from Palaiologos family. It is an inheritance in name, but in fact most of the land is the result of his recovery.
After more than twenty years of fighting, his prestige surpassed that of the founder of the dynasty, Michael VIII, and also surpassed Alexios I and Basil II. He was more like a founding emperor with the absolute allegiance of the army.
The church expressed its approval. Vitus recovered Anatolia and Patriarchate of Antioch. The church is counting on him to recover Jerusalem as soon as possible. There is no need to find fault in this regard.
Eastern Roman Empire Business is prosperous, and the businessmen only care about making money and have no interest in the royal family's inheritance system. No matter how they change the inheritance law, it will not be their turn to take power.
All conditions have matured. Vitus officially launched "Imperial Succession Law", which clarified the inheritance sequence of internal members. If Romanus has no heirs, his successor will be Leo, and then the children of other uncles... The second order involves the navy, requiring the shipyards of Trebizond and Nicomedia to expand their docks and further increase their shipbuilding capacity.
The third order related to coastal defense, Vitus asked Province along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to submit a report, focusing on the defense facilities of coastal towns, the training status of the defenders and Militia.
According to the process, Eunuch put the emperor's order in writing, then sent it to Cabinet, and then let the administrative system be responsible for its implementation.
After sending Eunuch away, Vitus sat behind the desk, took out the booklet he carried with him, and looked for any missing matters. I don't know how long it took, but a document was sent from outside. It was a work report submitted by the Eastern Roman Empire's messenger after returning from France.
There is only one core content of the report: Charles VII is dealing with an internal rebellion and rejected Palaiologos family's invitation to join forces.
The messenger added at the end of the report that he felt that Charles VII's attitude was perfunctory and he lacked goodwill towards Palaiologos family. Even if Charles VII quelled the rebellion, he would not become Palaiologos's ally.
"I feel like this guy's style is similar to Philip II in history, and it's really hard to deal with."
Vitus put down the file and recalled Charles VII's experiences and personal tendencies.
At first, Charles VII went to war with the Holy Roman Empire and other forces to compete for Northern Italy. Now Venice controls most of Northern Italian Plain, and it must be Charles VII's attack target.
The most likely scenario is that Charles VII wants to wait and see the situation, wait for the Eastern Roman Empire, Venice and other countries to be exhausted, and then get off the field to get the victory.
"What a shrewd calculation. It seems that Bourges's exile life has benefited him a lot." Vitus sighed, wrapped in a thick fur and left the residence, coming to the southeast office area of the Blachernae Palace. The expansion of Central Administration has not yet been completed, and some sub-departments continue to work here, including his newly established Privy Council.
The role of Privy Council is to analyze military intelligence and plan strategies. It is not responsible for leading troops in specific battles. Its members are a group of young officers with a high level of education.
Correspondingly, Army Department and Admiralty are responsible for managing military status, purchasing equipment, and supplying materials, and they belong to the civilian department.
Privy Council is very small, occupying only two courtyards. Most of the rooms are used to store information and various versions of maps, and the most spacious room is used as a war room.
There are five large map tables placed inside the war room, one of which covers Europe and West Asia, focusing on the overall situation. The other map focuses on the eastern part of Anatolia, and the remaining maps focus on Northern Black Sea Coast, Balkans, and Eastern Mediterranean.
There are the most officers surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean map. There are many ship models and soldier models placed on the map, representing the combat power that Eastern Roman Empire and Venice can invest.
Vitus signaled everyone to stop saluting and walked quickly to the map table, "I just received a reply from Charles VII. He is quelling the domestic rebellion and is unwilling to participate in this war."
After learning the news, the officers reacted calmly. They discussed privately and speculated that Charles VII would most likely not participate in the war.
Now, Venice can limit the empire's maritime expansion.
Assuming that France cooperates with the Eastern Roman Empire to destroy Venice, the constraints of Venice will no longer exist, and Eastern Roman Empire will obtain the sea control of the entire Eastern Mediterranean.
Although John VIII and Vitus have repeatedly promised not to seize Italy's land, the existence of the Eastern Roman Empire itself is a threat, and Charles VII must have some scruples.
The deeds of the Macedonian Dynasty and Komnenian Dynasty show that once the empire stabilizes the situation of Balkans and Anatolia, the next target is across the sea. Naples. If the sea conditions are good, you can take a boat from Epirus in the morning and arrive at the coast of Naples in the afternoon, threatening the safety of Kingdom of Naples.
Or conversely, Naples's army can also attack the Greece area by boat.
Beginning in the eleventh century, the Norman forces of Naples invaded Eastern Roman Empire many times, and the conflict lasted for more than a century.
In 1266, House of Anjou obtained Naples. Charles wanted to establish a Mediterranean Sea empire with Naples as the core. The primary goal was to conquer Constantinople and restore the rule of the Latin Empire.
However, Anjou's army was poorly disciplined and had a very poor relationship with the local people. Before the army went out, the famous Vespers incident broke out in Sicily. Aragon took the opportunity to occupy the island, and House of Anjou's ambitions were shattered.
As Eastern Roman Empire's strength recovered, the offensive and defensive momentum of both sides reversed. France was worried that Eastern Roman Empire would attack Naples, so it regarded Eastern Roman Empire as a potential threat.
"It doesn't matter. Even if Charles VII and Venice form an alliance, this battle must continue."
Vitus observed the map intently and began to think about the detailed plan for this naval battle.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Vitus left Privy Council and returned to the study along the corridor to process official documents.
Passing through an open courtyard, he suddenly heard the laughter of children, and through the trees, he vaguely saw Thomas playing with his daughter.
"Wait, I have something to ask you." Thomas handed his daughter to the servant, ran all the way to Vitus, and mentioned things about Jean Coeur.
As soon as he said this, Thomas noticed that his brother looked obviously impatient, and quickly explained, "I didn't mean to annoy you, Coeur is willing to fund the military in exchange for your protection. It's like the tradition of patronage in the classical period."
During the Ancient Rome period, nobles had a tradition of protecting common people and regarded them as protected persons.
If a protected person encounters legal trouble, the noble is obliged to defend them in court.
In return, the protected person needs to support the noble in the election and build momentum for him.
Every morning, the protected person is obliged to pay tribute to the nobleman's mansion, escort him to the square or other office, and swagger through the city to attract everyone's attention.
In the Rome people's understanding, the longer the queue behind a noble, the greater his power, thus attracting more civilians to become his protectors.
Hearing this, Vitus lost interest and reminded his younger brother, who was over thirty years old.
"Charles VII releases Jacques Coeur and orders him to continue raising military expenses. The Coeur family has temporarily overcome the crisis, allowing Coeur to return to France.
As long as he does not violate the laws of Roman Law, he can live in Constantinople or take his money to other areas. That's it, don't bother me with this matter in the future."