"The frontline is still asking for troops and ships. How much will it cost?"
Governor put the report on hold and listed numerous calculations on draft paper. If we want to meet the needs of the front line, we must sell a second batch of public bonds.
At present, Finance of Venice can still persist. What he is worried about is manpower.
The Venice city has 100,000 residents. The residents of other Lagoon islands together can make up more than 10,000 people. The Venice residents of the overseas territories have roughly 50,000 residents, and the core population is about 170,000.
At the beginning of the war, the number of Venice people on the main battleships accounted for nearly half. As the war progressed, the number of Venice people suffered casualties, and foreign sailors needed to be recruited to fill the vacancies.
The nature of this war is that Venice and Palaiologos compete for maritime hegemony, not against pagan forces. Foreign sailors are just trying to make money, and their morale is definitely not as good as that of their own people.
As time goes on, the proportion of Venice sailors becomes smaller and smaller, and the fleet's combat effectiveness shows a downward trend.
The situation of Palaiologos is much better. The population of Greece under the dynasty exceeds three million. This group hates Venice from the bottom of their hearts. Their fleet can continue to replenish the loss of sailors.
"If this continues, it is possible that our manpower will collapse before Finance collapses."
Suddenly, Governor heard hurried footsteps downstairs, and it was Jacob's movement. He walked out of the study and ordered to the eldest son at the stairs:
"When you go out, remember to find out what people think about public bonds."
"Got it." Jacob agreed, and then strode out of the mansion and came to the pier on the south side of St. Mark's Square. There were many Gondola boats moored here, with slender hulls, dark bodies, and raised bows and sterns. Most of the boats were painted with different decorations, representing the families they belonged to.
Jacob stepped into his boat, and the boat swayed slightly. He grabbed the side of the boat and sat on the cushioned seat.
"Master, are you still at the same place?" After getting the accurate reply, the boatman skillfully shook the oar and oar, and Gondola slipped out silently.
Gondola The boat sails smoothly along the river in the center of the city. There are many noble mansions standing on both sides of the bank. Their exterior walls are all painted in bright colors to show off the family's wealth and fame to the public.
Although it was a wartime state, the main river was still busy, with numerous Gondola boats and flat boats plying back and forth. The flat boats were loaded with cabbages, radishes and other agricultural products transported from the land, and there were shouts and bargains everywhere.
Soon, the Gondola boat turned into a narrow waterway. The light suddenly dimmed, and the water surface turned turbid dark green, swaying gently with the movement of the paddle.
Jacob Try to sit in the middle of the cabin to avoid being contaminated by the unclean river water. For hundreds of years, urban residents have been accustomed to dumping dirt into the river, and only unsuspecting outsiders will touch the river surface with their hands while riding on the boat.
"Master, a boat is coming from the other side." As the boatman warned, a Gondola boat came towards the river. When the two boats crossed each other, they made a slight sound of wooden planks clattering.
After a while, the Gondola boat stopped in front of a stone step. The boatman used his oars to press against the wall on the other side to stabilize the boat.
Jacob stepped ashore on the slippery stone steps and almost slipped on the slippery algae. Fortunately, he stabilized himself in time.
Ahead is a dark and quiet alley. The houses on the left and right are close to each other above the second floor, and the sky is squeezed into a narrow gap. Walking out of the alley, Jacob came to a small square, where an announcement from some time ago was posted:
In order to resist the evil Palaiologos family and defend the sacred territory of Venice, Great Council decided to temporarily levy a war tax and issue the first batch of public bonds... The tax is levied on a family basis. Ordinary residents need to pay four Ducat, and merchants and nobles pay a higher amount.
Assume that in an ordinary family, the wife works as a maid and can earn a salary of eight Ducat per year, and the husband works as an ordinary laborer in the armory, and his annual salary is sixteen Ducat. This tax is equivalent to one-sixth of their annual income.
Jacob stood in the small square, listening to the discussions at bakeries, grocery stores, and fishmonger stalls. The people hated this war tax, but it did not reach the point of hatred. At least, their lives could go on.
Not only Venice's homeland, Po Valley is also collecting taxes. Considering the situation of Po Valley, Great Council maintains a low tax level to avoid instability in a certain city and collusion with Austria, Milan and other forces to invade.
Jacob walked towards the exit on the other side of the square and heard someone complaining about the inefficiency of the frontline navy.
"At the beginning of the war, the newspaper (a newspaper published by Governor) published a commentary, claiming that our fleet has one hundred and nine warships, and can also recruit a large number of merchant ships for combat. The enemy only has sixty warships, why have we still not been able to defeat the opponent?"
Jacob glanced at the speaker: a shabby gray woolen coat, typical clothing of the lower class poor.
He was too lazy to argue with these people and muttered to himself, "The other side is at a disadvantage and of course they want to take the main force of the fleet back to the port. Why should they take the initiative to fight?"
The construction cycle of the navy is much longer than that of the Army. It takes a whole country to work hard to build a fleet, but it may be lost in one day and cannot be rebuilt in the next few years or even more than ten years.
Therefore, the strategies of the commanders of both sides are relatively conservative, and when there is no chance of winning, they try to avoid decisive battles at sea.
"When the second tranche of war tax is levied in the fall, public anger will rise, and then we will be in trouble."
... Early January 1446, Blachernae Palace.
In the early morning, Vitus got up and did morning exercises as usual. At this time, Agnes was still asleep, muttering some vague words in his sleep, complaining that Romanus had not completed his math homework and should be punished.
"Does this remind you of what happened ten years ago?"
Vitus exhaled a breath of white mist, put on his armor under the service of the servant, then walked to the empty and silent courtyard, drew his sword and chopped down the target.
Unknowingly, Vitus also recalled the past scenes.
As a boy, he had no military education. It was when he was a guest at Di Maggio's house that he completed the basics of swordsmanship.
When arriving at Florence, I watched a sword duel. Later, Phil·Di Maggio demonstrated "Master Strike" with great interest, but failed several times.
Later, the two also learned other moves from the swordsman teacher, such as Fiore Half-Sword Technique, Lichtenauer Style...
However, in the following twenty years of battles, Vitus seemed to have never encountered a close-quarters fight. Especially when commanding the army alone, the enemy almost never got within a hundred steps.
"I really don't know how those rumors came about. They said that I led the cavalry to attack Golden Horde Khan or Ottoman Sultan's central army at a critical moment. Is this belittling my commanding ability, or is it praising my personal bravery?"