August 10, west side of Venice Lagoon, Padua.
Since more and more nobles moved into this city, Padua has essentially become the new capital. The recent meetings have been held in this city instead of the main island in the center of Lagoon.
Padua is about twenty miles away from Lagoon. It was built in the classical period and has complete infrastructure. It is surrounded by a large area of flat farmland. Brenta River outside the city flows to Lagoon, which facilitates the transfer of materials between the city and Lagoon.
From the perspective of the aristocratic group, the living experience of Padua is very good. You can build a mansion in the city or escape the summer heat in a mountain manor in the western suburbs, which is far better than the humid and cramped main island of Venice.
The most important thing is that Padua has a sewer system left over from ancient times to facilitate the discharge of domestic sewage.
The main island of Venice does not have this condition. Residents dump dirt directly out of the window. In summer, the temperature is very high. Lagoon often emits a smell, which increases the probability of citizens getting sick.
In the morning, Young Loredan came from the front line to report on his work. He listened to the laughter and laughter coming from some mansions and looked solemn.
"This can't continue like this. If the nobles and people get used to the good life in the plains, some people will definitely be unwilling to move back to Lagoon."
In the subsequent meeting, Young Loredan was uncharacteristically in favor of surrendering to Palaiologos and ending this damn war.
Now, Padua has received news from the north that House of Habsburg is gathering troops, and Milan in the west is also purchasing supplies. Both sides have the idea of attacking Po Valley.
With this reason, Young Loredan persuaded the few nobles who insisted on fighting, "There is no hope for the overseas territories. But we still have rich Po Valley. To keep this land, Venice still has hope for revival."
The next day, Young Loredan took Longboat to Nesos and formally surrendered to the Eastern Roman Empire.
"Great Council admits to surrender, returns Four Gilded Bronze Horses and all treasures plundered in 1204, abandons Ionian Islands, Aegean Sea Islands, and hands over the remaining six main battleships..."
When it came to the amount of compensation, Young Loredan said frankly that he could not raise three million Ducat, and Treasury only had 230,000 in cash.
He proposed to sign an installment indemnity agreement, paying 150,000 per year for ten years.
"Your Highness, we have lost our overseas territories, our income has been greatly reduced, and we can only pay so much compensation. If the emperor insists on asking for more gold coins, it means dragging down Venice. When Austria and Milan divide Venice, they will not provide any compensation to Rome.
These two forces have no alliance with Rome and have not made any contributions in the previous war. Your Highness, are you sure you want them to get the richest fruits of victory for nothing?"
Romanus did not answer in a hurry. He and several senior executives returned to the captain's room to discuss for a long time and made three additional requests:
Hand over all large merchant ships and destroy Venice Arsenal.
Eastern Roman Empire officials went to Murano Island and took away twenty households of glass craftsmen.
Each noble family handed over a male hostage. After the compensation was paid, Eastern Roman Empire released them and returned to their hometown.
"Let me think."
Young Loredan walked to the bow deck and looked at this huge fleet of more than a hundred ships, feeling extremely depressed.
The most unacceptable thing is the first condition, which is equivalent to destroying the foundation that Venice relies on for its survival.
"After destroying the armory, how much manpower and material resources will it cost to rebuild the shipbuilding system? From now on, we will lose the navy, which means that our maritime trade revenue will shrink significantly, and we may never be able to rebuild the armory again."
Young Loredan stared blankly at the sea in the distance.
Is this the end of the navy that has lasted for hundreds of years?
That afternoon, he brought the news back to Padua.
Hearing that the armory was to be demolished, Great Council was in an uproar, and the resistance of a few nobles was rekindled. After arguing for more than half an hour, most of the nobles finally agreed to surrender.
Austria is gathering troops. Venice needs to transfer Army to the Alps entrance in the north to strengthen defense. If the current war is not ended, Venice will be completely finished.
August 26, Venice Lagoon West Bank.
More than a hundred aristocratic young men gathered at the pier. They said goodbye to each other and their families, and boarded the ship in an orderly manner, carrying their luggage.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, three Medium Galleys flying the white flag left the pier, headed to Lido Island on the east side of Lagoon, and anchored in the section controlled by Marine Battalion.
Young Loredan stood on the bow deck of the ship. Now he was elected as the new Governor. He changed into a more decent aristocratic outfit, wearing a shawl hood, a dark blue embroidered robe, and some distracting accessories.
"Remember, never forget that you are Venice people."
Before disembarking, he warned the teenagers who were about to become hostages, then jumped off the beach and walked first to the negotiation venue on the east side.
The venue used colorful silks to support a large sunshade ceiling. Many foreign envoys gathered under the ceiling, talking in low voices about various topics. There were some copper basins filled with ice cubes placed in the corners.
In the venue, the highest-status people were Pope Nicholas V and Crown Prince Romanus. The former was wearing a white robe, while the latter was wearing armor and a complicated and gorgeous purple cloak.
The heat wave hit, and beads of sweat oozed from their foreheads. Due to their dignity, they could only endure the scorching heat and discuss the Italy situation and Jerusalem.
Nowadays, Pope is really tired of the war between Palaiologos and Venice. The two sides are at loggerheads, disrupting the order of the entire Mediterranean Sea, and causing a serious impact on business.
To make matters worse, the declining Venice has attracted the covetousness of Milan and Austria, and the entire Italy region is facing a new round of large-scale war.
Maintaining the Italy balance of power and recovering Jerusalem are the two core goals of Nicholas V.
His main goal of coming here this time is to promote peace between Venice and Milan, and to prevent extraterritorial powers from interfering in the Italy region.
After confirming that Eastern Roman Empire would not occupy Po Valley, Nicholas V put aside his worries and mentioned another topic. "When will the emperor regain Jerusalem?"
Romanus sighed, "We have no money. Treasury owes three million Florin. The annual loans amount to hundreds of thousands. How can we still have the ability to launch a war?
It's all Venice's fault. If they hadn't provided assistance to Ottoman and Mamluk, we would have recovered Levant long ago. Holy See should have excommunicated these two thousand shameless scum."
Nicholas V did not answer the call and focused on Young Loredan and the hostages not far away.
Young Loredan Halfway through, he was roughly blocked by two guards. After a body search, he was allowed to continue moving forward.
Twenty steps away, a loud shout suddenly sounded in his ears, "Kneel down!"
Young Loredan knelt down helplessly, holding high the scepter in his right hand that symbolized Governor's majesty. His ears echoed with the sobs of the hostages and the subtle sounds of reporters and painters drawing.
Two Eunuch walked slowly to Young Loredan. One person put away his scepter, and the other took out the document drawn up by both parties in advance and recited aloud:
"In the witness of the Lord, Amen. This is to be known and announced to all who see this document:
In the name of Basileus, Rome people, Imperator--Vitus·Palaiologos, by his full powers and special ministers, Crown Prince Romanus·Palaiologos and Venice Governor Giacomo Loredan negotiated and reached the following terms of surrender..."
After the recitation was over, Eunuch showed the document to Pope and the envoys from various countries, and they circulated it to each other.
After finishing, Romanus and Young Loredan picked up their quill pens to sign their names and seals respectively, and then asked Eunuch to keep the documents properly. Venice and Holy See both received a copy.
Nicholas V sighed, "During the war, the entire Mediterranean Sea was filled with fighting between the two sides. I heard that two warships ran to the sea west of Sahara. Three years later, the war is finally over."
Romanus looked solemn and said solemnly, "More than three years ago, in the minds of Rome people, this is a victory that has been overdue for 244 years."
After the ceremony, Eastern Roman Empire dispatched 600 people to the main island of Venice. They dispersed into multiple groups and compared the lists to retrieve the lost cultural relics.
As the crown prince's attendant and friend, Maximus got the task of destroying the armory, which will be remembered in history.
The armory is located on the east side of the island, and some areas were damaged by Rocket, with a little black smoke remaining.
Maximus led a group of engineers to the entrance of the armory. There was a land passage on the left and a water passage on the right.
At the entrance to the land is a stone arch, Gothic style, solemn and elegant. Four huge stone lions squat in front of the door. They are trophies moved from the Greece area, symbolizing Venice's maritime hegemony.
"Carry the four lions onto the ship, and also carry all the reliefs back."
Entering the interior of the armory, this is a completely different world from the main city of Venice. There are no criss-crossing canals and exquisite and flamboyant bridges. Instead, there is a straight and wide main canal, and towering huge factory buildings on the shore.
The interior is divided into "Old Armory" and "New Army Armory", with clear division of labor and reasonable layout.
In front is the hull assembly area. The hull can be slowly towed along the canal, passing through various workshops in order to install masts, artillery and other facilities.
"Incredible, such a wonderful design concept."
Maximus led the engineers and reporters to visit the canvas factory, rope making factory, blacksmith shop, and cannon foundry.
Among them, the sight of the rope-making factory is the most shocking. It is a huge corridor that stretches for 200 steps, with dozens of masonry columns supporting the roof. Here, Flax fibers are kneaded into thick and strong hemp ropes, which are used as sailing rigging.
After walking around for a whole day, the engineers still could not draw the entire structure of the armory.
It was not until noon the next day that the engineers completed the surveying and mapping. Under the watch of the Venice defenders, they demolished the outermost buildings, cleared a fire break, and then poured kerosene on the core area.
At dusk, Maximus personally lit the flames and burned Mediterranean Sea's largest shipbuilding base and arsenal.
The first thing to burn was the row of oldest boat sheds on the north side of the old armory. The flames squeezed out from the gaps in the roof of the sheds. It was a faint fire at first, and in an instant it became an orange-red fire. Thick smoke and sparks carried debris and rose high into the sky.
The whole Venice was shocked by this scene.
Gondola stopped in the middle of the canal. The boatmen straightened up and stared blankly at the burning sky.
The streets were crowded with people, everyone raised their heads in the same direction, and the expressions on their faces changed from good to frightened.
A second wave of flames broke out at the rope factory.
This two-hundred-step-long stone arcade turned into a fire dragon. Flames spurted out from the windows on one side, and air was sucked in from the windows on the other side, emitting a low and continuous roar.
The stone arches were burned red, and the collapsed beams and stones fell into the canal, causing large splashes of water. In the afterglow of the setting sun, white water vapor mixed with black and gray smoke, reflecting a strange iridescence.
Blown by the sea breeze, dust drifted towards St. Mark's Square. A group of engineers gathered in front of St. Mark's Basilica, looking up at the four gold-plated bronze horses.
For two hundred years, they have been placed on the arches of the St. Mark’s Basilica facade. Engineers are discussing appropriate plans to safely lift the bronze horses to the ground.
Not far away, soldiers were carrying heavy boxes one after another towards the pier on the south side of the square. Several long tables were placed here, and a group of scribes were registering the names, categories and other information of the cultural relics.
After the registration was completed, the engineers placed the boxes on Galley near the dock, and the crew rowed them away from Lagoon.
Throughout the process, a large number of Venice people gathered around the square. They were numerous, but the Eastern Roman Empire soldiers were not afraid at all and stared back with provocative eyes.
"If you have the ability to fight again, I'm not afraid of you."
In addition to the ordinary Galley, there is also a large golden sailboat named Bucintoro (bucnt) moored next to the pier, covered with red velvet and flying Flag of St. Mark.
Every year during the "Marriage of the Sea" ceremony, Governor takes this sailboat to the outer sea and throws a ring consecrated by the bishop into the Adriatic Sea, symbolizing the marriage between Venice and the sea and declaring its maritime sovereignty.
Since the whereabouts of some of the cultural relics taken away by Venice were unknown, Young Loredan could only hand over this ship to recharge.
Now Venice has lost its navy and arsenal, and its sea power has been lost. It is lucky to be able to continue. He is not in the mood to hold the so-called "Marriage of the Sea" ceremony.
The moving work lasted for a week. During this period, Pope, Venice Governor held a meeting with envoys from many countries at the temporary capital of Venice - Padua.
Pope warns everyone:
"When Charles VII invaded Northern Italy, all countries resisted desperately, but French Army still annexed Genoa, and House of Anjou took control of Naples.
This time, Palaiologos won an open victory in the field of naval warfare that Venice is best at, regained the hegemony of Eastern Mediterranean, and became the strongest navy in the entire Mediterranean Sea.
Whether it is a land battle or a naval battle, Italy's local military strength lags far behind France and Palaiologos. If you continue to fight among yourself, you will be annexed sooner or later."
Italy is still the richest region in Europe, but it is always facing threats from foreign powers.
What scares the local authorities the most is France in the west and Palaiologos in the east.
In addition to the two top powers above, Jagiellon Dynasty, Austria, and Aragon also have the conditions for invasion.
The envoys in the audience remained silent. Although foreign powers are terrifying, what they hate most are their neighbors. Venice swallowed up a lot of territory when it was strong. Now that it has declined, the relevant forces must of course claim back the lost territory.
Under the mediation of Pope, Venice ceded a circle of territory around it and preserved the eastern part of Po Valley.
As the meeting came to an end, the envoys signed a fragile alliance agreement, which obligated other forces to provide assistance regardless of whether any party was attacked by an extraterritorial power.
Young Loredan feels that this agreement cannot scare France and Palaiologos, but it has a certain deterrent to second-rate forces like House of Habsburg, which is better than nothing.