Halfway through the morning exercise, Vitus sheathed his sword, took a compound bow from Eunuch, and started shooting at a target in the distance.
His archery talent is not excellent. Even after practicing, his arrows still miss the target.
Ten minutes later, Vitus finished shooting a tube of feather arrows and threw the compound bow to Eunuch. Then he took off his iron helmet and took a hot towel to wipe off his sweat.
During breakfast, Agnes noticed that her husband was in the same mood as usual, and curiously asked:
"The annual meeting is next, have you found a way to make money?"
"No." Vitus sandwiched a few pieces of fried bacon between the bread and ate it nonchalantly.
In recent months, although Eastern Roman Empire was in a wartime state, Vitus was far away from the front line and did not intervene in naval command, so his life was extremely relaxed.
After the reform of the administrative system, Central Administration's efficiency has been significantly improved, and Vitus's workload in government affairs has also been reduced a lot, as if he is on vacation.
For a long time, Vitus finished the bread and bacon on the plate. He lazily leaned on the back of the chair and took a nap, until Eunuch's reminder came to his ears:
"Your Majesty, all the ministers are here."
"Don't worry, let them have a meeting first. After these people have had enough noise, I will go over and clean up the situation." At ten o'clock in the morning, Vitus strode towards Cabinet. Before he entered the door, he heard roars inside.
"Epirus, Peloponnese Grain prices are soaring, no wonder I am not responsible for this. The grain depots and Central Administration Treasury are not under my control. Transporting baggage is Army Department's responsibility. I am only responsible for supervising Agriculture and Animal Husbandry!" This voice came from Ilya.
"I ask again, can the local food prices be reduced? Army, the navy and the refugees are waiting for food, you must give an answer!"
Ilya continued to argue, "That's a war zone. Venice mercenaries continue to harass the coast, and food prices will definitely rise. What can I do? Run over and say hello to them, beg these guys to give me some face, and come back to plunder again later?"
Not finished arguing yet?
Vitus simply stood outside the hall and listened, leaning against the wall and staring at the changing clouds in the sky in a daze.
After a while, Ilya's voice gradually subsided and was replaced by Minister of the Navy.
Admiralty is accelerating the construction of warships and casting more cannons. The problem is that the price of local copper ingots has soared, which has greatly increased the cost of casting cannons. He questioned Minister Foreign Affairs and Minister Trade:
"We agreed before that we purchased copper ingots from Hungary. Why did we only receive the first batch of copper ingots and not the subsequent batches?"
Minister Trade: "Traffic is inconvenient in winter, and this kind of delay is normal. If you are in a hurry to use copper, ask the fleet to go to the Cyprus port. There are many copper ingots piled up there waiting to be transported. As long as the navy has the ability, it can transport as many copper ingots as it wants."
Vitus stood outside and listened for a long time, and understood the dilemma faced by the Eastern Roman Empire. Some problems can be alleviated, and some problems can only be delayed. He walked to the seat in the middle of the hall and began to read the Finance report from last year (1445). Finance's income was only 1.9 million, which was 300,000 less than in 1444.
The main reason is that Aegean Sea shipping has been cut off, merchants and fishermen have lost their livelihoods, and handicraftsmen have also been affected. According to this trend, income will continue to decline in 1446.
In terms of expenditure, a total of 2.4 million was spent in 1445.
The main force of the fleet was huddled in the port to avoid fighting, most Army stayed at the station, and the combat troops only accounted for a minority. Therefore, the annual combat expenditure was only 300,000.
He turned to the next page. Here are the statistics of private donations, totaling 426,000 Florin. Thanks to this donation, last year's deficit was only 74,000 Florin.
"Yes, the situation is much better than I expected." Vitus put down the document and read Admiralty's report.
Since the war began, six warships have been sunk or stranded, eight warships are in a state of repair, and more than 40 merchant and civilian ships have been lost.
Shipyards everywhere are operating at full capacity. Admiralty pins its hopes for a decisive battle on Heavy Double-Deck Warship. At the same time, seven ships are under construction.
According to information collected from various sources, Venice is also building a new type of warship. It is not yet certain whether they are building the larger Double-Deck Warship or Triple-Deck Warship.
"Triple-Deck Warship has a complicated design, is expensive, and is not as practical as the current Heavy Double-Deck Warship."
Vitus turns its attention to border defense.
The situation in Cappadocia this year is stable. After the collapse of Ottoman, White Sheep and Black Sheep are busy accepting inheritances, and the conflicts between them are fierce. White Sheep did not harass Cappadocia, but instead sent envoys to sue for peace and want to conclude a peace treaty. Balkans The border is also stable, and Hungary has no movement to gather troops.
Finally, Northern Black Sea Coast, Don Frontier reported the news: Nogai Khanate is building the defense facilities of Sarai.
"The Nomadic Khanate attaches great importance to city defense construction, which is not in line with their style. Assuming that the Khanate is strong, the first priority is to take the initiative to attack, and it is impossible to waste resources on defense."
Vitus feels that this behavior is not aimed at the Eastern Roman Empire, but more like a defense against nomadic forces who lack firearms. Kazan and Astrakhan lack Siege Cannon. Building stone walls can effectively resist the invasion of these neighbors.
He didn't pay attention to the petty quarrels of the nomadic khanate. After the emergence of firearms and Trace Italienne, the medieval tactics of the nomads had fallen behind.
"If they make too much noise and affect Don Frontier, I will go to Sarai myself and hunt along Volga River to relax."
The civil servants heard the emperor talking to himself and thought it was not a joke.
If the time is right, he may really launch his Northern Expedition, rush to Sarai with his field troops and many conscripts, and snatch a large herd of cattle, sheep, and horses back.
Prime Minister remained silent and quickly recalled the affairs of Northern Black Sea Coast. Don Frontier was promoting red brick construction. The brick factory used local coal and clay to bake red bricks, and the cost of the bricks was extremely low.
Therefore, more than thirty vassal tribes replaced their village walls with red brick walls, and some Cossacks villages followed this practice.
Many Cossacks strongholds are located along the river, and the nearest red brick stronghold is only a hundred miles away from Sarai. If the emperor had to go to Nogai Khanate, the logistical pressure would be lower than it was ten years ago.
Prime Minister agreed with the emperor's military capabilities, but there was no money to be made from this war. Even if he robbed tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and horses, he would still lose money in the end. He looked at the two Deputy Prime Minister tentatively. They pretended not to hear anything and looked down at the floor in a daze. The crown prince and the remaining ministers also chose to stay out of the matter and did not ask for trouble.
"Forget it for now, the emperor will not go to the north until the Venice war is over. Once Venice surrenders, he will launch the next war sooner or later, and the target is most likely White Sheep in the east. The problem of Nogai Khanate will be postponed for a long time."