At dusk, Vitus returned to the Blachernae Palace and found that Minister Foreign Affairs was waiting for an audience.
"Is something wrong?"
"You previously ordered us to send out envoys to try our best to ruin the reputation of Venice. Recently, the envoys have returned one after another. This is the mission briefing I summarized."
Since last autumn, Vitus has been spreading news in Italy, and also asked "Golden Horn News" to publish a Italy language version, trying every means to destroy the enemy's reputation.
The core argument is: Eastern Roman Empire planned to recapture Jerusalem in 1444, but Venice's navy wandered around Eastern Mediterranean, funded weapons to the pagan forces, and threatened Eastern Roman Empire's transport fleet, so the operation was forced to be suspended.
Vitus calls on Holy See to impose excommunication on these shameless scum, and requests Holy See to join the anti-Venice siege network.
After this was accomplished, he promised never to occupy Po Valley's land and would only recover the lost Aegean Sea Islands and Ionian Islands. From then on, Eastern Roman Empire's focus shifted to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He personally led his troops to attack Mamluk and regained Jerusalem in one fell swoop.
On the other hand, Venice also sent envoys to neighboring countries to tell Eastern Roman Empire's historical expansion tendency. Roman Curia's attitude was crucial. Therefore, Governor sent his eldest son Jacob·Foscari as envoy to Holy See to try his best to win the support of Pope.
June 20th, Rome suburb.
The plains were steaming with heat waves under the blazing sun. A group of riders marched slowly along Via Flaminia. The horses' hooves trampled the gravel road and raised fine dust.
At the front of the team, Jacob rode a white Andalusian horse, curiously looking at the dilapidated arches and ditches on both sides of the road. They stood silently among the weeds. Many bricks and stones were used by villagers to build houses, which looked particularly dilapidated. After a long time, a majestic and long giant city wall appeared in front.
It was built in the Aurelian period and has a history of 1,200 years. It has a total length of about twelve miles (19 kilometers) and encompasses the seven hills at the core of Rome.
Although the city wall is tall and strong, Rome's defense is extremely lax. A group of guards sat listlessly in the shadow of the city gate to rest, without checking the identities and goods of passers-by, allowing them to pass freely.
"This group of guards has never been on the battlefield. Pope should recruit more Switzerland mercenaries to expand their number to two thousand."
Jacob held the reins and walked into the city, walking through the maze-like winding streets. The situation in the civilian areas was similar to that of other cities, chaotic and busy. Occasionally, a group of ragged children would burst out from the side and run noisily into the distance.
In addition to local residents, the city is also filled with many pilgrims, who come from all over Europe, bringing a steady stream of consumption and donations to the city.
Half an hour later, Jacob arrived at the bank of the Tiber River in the northwest urban area. He leaned over and looked at the river, which was flowing slowly. The surface of the river was turbid and light green, with vegetable leaves and some debris floating on it.
The current Tiber River is silted up, making it difficult for large ships to pass.
Mediterranean Sea merchant ships usually dock at Port of Ostia downstream, and then transfer the goods to inland river flat-bottomed boats. These flat-bottomed boats rarely rely on wind power or paddles, but use human or animal power to drag them from Ostia to Rome.
Jacob walked along the river bank and found the settlement area where Venice merchants lived, and decided to stay here for a few days.
Suddenly, there was a sound of bells in the distance, and it was time for evening prayers.
Jacob looked up at the direction from which the sound came. The whole city was covered with a layer of golden glow by the setting sun, and the bells were ringing continuously. The most eye-catching thing was the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, which looked particularly solemn and solemn. "I heard that Holy See plans to rebuild Apostolic Palace. Is this news true?"
Early the next morning, Jacob was awakened by the sound of a bell.
He took out a set of the most decent clothes from his carry-on luggage, then walked to the Apostolic Palace with the paperwork, requesting an audience with Pope Eugene IV.
As the eldest son and envoy of Venice Governor, Jacob's identity surpassed the other visitors. Soon, a Holy See attendant wearing a purple-edged black robe came out to greet him. After checking the documents, he led him to a long corridor.
There were faded murals on both sides of the corridor. They were so old that it was difficult to identify the specific content of the murals. Jacob walked to the end of the corridor, where a heavy walnut door was open, and the attendant signaled him to wait here.
The hall is narrow in size and plainly decorated. The air is filled with a faint scent of incense. Dark red brocades are hung on the four walls. A long table and two high-backed chairs are placed in the center. Sunlight shines into the room from the high windows, and the dust slowly turns in the light beams.
I don't know how much time passed, but when Jacob stood with his legs and feet numb, a side door of the hall opened, and it was not Pope who walked in, but a cardinal wearing a red robe.
JULIAN Cesarini?
Jacob recognized the identity of the other party, quickly suppressed his inner disappointment, saluted the thin old man, and kissed his ring.
At the beginning of the conversation, Jacob mentioned the Apostolic Palace that had been in disrepair and claimed that the Foscari family was willing to donate money and contribute to this sacred and great project.
Faced with this generous gift, Cesarini reacted indifferently and patiently chatted with the visitor until the other party explained his true intention. Jacob tried to arouse the bishop's hostility towards Palaiologos, so he focused the conversation on the war launched by the Eastern Roman Empire against Italy, as well as the dispute between the Eastern and Western churches.
"... In the thirteenth century, Michael VIII usurped the throne of the Nicaean Dynasty, and was surrounded by internal and external crises. It also faced threats from two directions: Italy and Anatolia.
In 1274, Michael VIII promoted the merger of the Eastern and Western churches in the name of Grand Council in Lyon. In exchange, Pope at that time remained neutral and no longer supported House of Anjou's attack on Constantinople.
After the Sicily Vespers incident, House of Anjou's strength dropped sharply. Palaiologos family's threat to the west was basically lifted, and Michael VIII and his successor's attitude towards Holy See became cold.
In the fifteenth century, Palaiologos was promoting the merger of the Eastern and Western churches, in exchange for Pope calling on Crusaders to attack Ottoman.
More than 20 years later, they recovered Balkans and Anatolia, but never fulfilled their promise. John VIII only recognized the church merger in name, and Vitus's attitude was even more ambiguous.
When the next emperor succeeds to the throne, this vague and uncertain stance will inevitably continue. This family lacks credibility, will you still be deceived by them?"
The conversation continued until noon. Cesarini did not express his position. He left the small hall through the side door and relayed Venice's wishes to Pope.
In fact, looking back on the experience over the years, it is Venice who went even further.
After the battle of Thrace, Venice sent a large number of weapons and technical personnel to Ottoman and Mamluk.
After losing the territory of Europe, Ottoman is still the force with the largest territory and the largest population around the Mediterranean Sea, and Venice is the richest merchant country around the Mediterranean Sea. The two combined together perfectly make up for the loss. Their respective shortcomings. Under the circumstances at that time, Holy See warned Venice many times not to leak firearms technology to pagan forces. If you are not careful, Ottomans will return to the Balkans peninsula, thereby threatening Naples.
However, the result was beyond everyone's expectations. Even though Palaiologos was at a disadvantage in all aspects, he took the initiative and defeated Ottoman!
Battle of Sakarya wiped out 100,000 enemies, and Battle of Konya severely damaged the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces... Over the years, there have been countless battles, large and small. Vitus's land warfare prestige is significantly ahead of the Europe monarchs and commanders of the same era, including Jeanne Duck, who has been in the limelight recently.
Recently, according to the news brought by merchants from the east, Bayezid II was killed by bows and arrows, and the remaining territory was divided among the surrounding rulers. After Battle of Kosovo (1389), this force that had troubled the West for decades was declared extinct.
Pope thought about it for a long time and asked Cesarini to reply to Jacob·Foscari:
"Holy See advocates peace and neither joins the anti-Venice encirclement network nor the anti-Palaiologos encirclement network.
Venice should hand over the nobles and merchants who smuggled weapons, and then negotiate with Palaiologos to return certain territories occupied after 1204, so as to avoid war as much as possible.
The Fourth Crusade in 1204 was a complete tragedy. I hope they put aside their disputes and recover Jerusalem as soon as possible. If they insist on starting a war, I will not help either party."