July 20th, Aegean Sea, Mykonos.
Not long ago, this island became the fiefdom of Renaf. Thanks to this, their family has an official surname - Mykonos.
After a short celebration, Renaf rushed to the eastern border. The second son returned to the Military Academy to attend school. His wife often gathered with a group of nuns and village women to chat. The eldest son Simon Mykonos had nothing to do, waiting for Nicomedia University to start school.
In the afternoon, Simon stayed in his room on the second floor reading. After a while, he looked at the sea outside the window and fell into a daze.
On the west side of the sea, a two-masted Galley sailed smoothly towards Mykonos. Approaching the port, it furled its main sail and auxiliary sail, and the oars on both sides paddled rhythmically, like a slender centipede crawling slowly on the blue sea.
Simon sighed softly, "In half a month, this is the second large and medium-sized merchant ship willing to dock in Mykonos. This place is too desolate."
When the merchant ship docked, he picked up his telescope and looked at the pier, and saw a group of scholars in white robes walking down the pier.
Simon guessed that they were members of Plethon School. These people like to imitate the clothes of ancient Athens scholars, as if this can allow them to gain the wisdom of the sages.
Simon was not interested in Plethon's ideas. He put down his telescope, picked up a set of fishing equipment and headed to a remote coast.
The hot wind was blowing on my face, and the beach was whitening from the sun. Simon opened the parasol, set up a low stool, then grabbed a handful of bait and threw it into the sea to attract nearby swimming fish to come to feed.
After completing this step, he threw the fishhook into the sea and waited quietly for the prey to take the bait.
However, Simon's luck was particularly bad today. After waiting for half an hour, he didn't catch a single fish.
Simon While cursing his bad luck, he took a shovel and a bucket and dug for clams and razor clams on the deserted beach, or looked for crabs under the rocks.
In fact, what he likes most is hunting. However, Mykonos lacks vast forests and large prey such as wild deer and Wild Boar.
A few days ago, Simon was wandering around the northern hills with a shotgun and only found some seabirds and hares. They were small in size and agile in movement, and were not suitable as hunting targets at all.
"On other noble islands, there are large forests in some areas, such as Marcus's Andros Island. I heard that his son tried to introduce some wild deer from the land and then stocked them in the island's forests for hunting purposes.
My family is so unlucky, why did we choose a Mykonos with a small area and no specialties? Is it because my father angered a certain Chancellor of Cabinet, or a big Eunuch of Inner Palace Directorate?"
Simon The more I think about it, the more possible it becomes.
There are several free islands larger than Mykonos, such as Tinos Island in the northwest and Ikaria Island in the east. If you can switch to I Caria, you can herd a group of wild deer in the island's forest and hunt for fun every once in a while.
At dusk, Simon returned to the mansion with tools and fish catch, and saw eight scholars in white robes visiting the house.
The guests' conversation was mixed with many allusions and ancient Greek. Simon listened for a long time and discovered that the goal of their trip was the island of Delos, to explore the ancient ruins on the island.
"Really? Good luck to you."
Simon brought the fish to the kitchen and ordered the chef to cook them for dinner. During the rest of the meal, he focused on eating and barely participated in the conversations of the guests.
Exploring ancient ruins is more boring than fishing. He is not in the mood to go to a deserted island and waste time on some broken rocks.
However, Mrs. Mykonos did not think so, "Simon will turn sixteen next month and will soon go to Nicomedia University to study. Can you sages take him to stay at Delos for a few days so that he can get more exposure to knowledge?"
No, don't agree!
Simon tried his best to wink at the scholars, but unfortunately, the leading scholar agreed to the hostess's request.
"This operation was initiated by the emperor. In the next month, we will visit every inch of Delos and map the distribution of the island's ruins. In order to thank you for providing supplies to the team, we will add Master Simon's name to the papers and reports."
Early the next morning, Simon was woken up by his servant. He packed his bags reluctantly and immediately went to the dock to board the two-masted ship Galley.
Delos is very close to Mykonos. Driven by the sea breeze, Galley sailed for about an hour and successfully sailed into the port on the west side of the island.
Looking at it, the entire island is deserted and dilapidated. There are no trees or rivers in the wild, and there are large areas of withered and yellow weeds. Most of the breakwaters in the port have collapsed, leaving only the remaining stone piers to be beaten by the waves.
After Galley docked, hired workers were busy setting up camp, and scholars visited this city that had been abandoned for thousands of years with awe of history.
Simon followed the crowd boredly, listening to them mention the so-called "Temple of Apollo".
However, there were only some scattered stone pillars left in front of me, no statues of gods, and no ancient treasures nearby.
In the next few days, the archaeological team conducted a detailed exploration of this small island with an area of three square kilometers. Simon was extremely irritable at first and had no idea what the meaning of this was.
"Temple of Apollo has no Apollo stone statue, Sacred Lake has no water, Delian League Treasury has no gold coins... Even if you wander around the island for a year, what will you find?"
Considering that there are four scholars teaching at Nicomedia University, Simon did not want to make the relationship too tense and never expressed his inner complaints.
As time passed, Simon gradually became accustomed to the life of the archaeological team, sometimes helping to imprint the inscriptions on the surface of the stone stele, or draw sketches, and write detailed observation reports.
The leading scholar is called Antimos. This is not his real name, but the name he gave himself, imitating the famous scholar "Antimos" in history.
Just like the name "Plethon" is taken from "Plato", it is intended to inherit the ideas of this ancient sage.
Occasionally, Antimos chatted with Simon and wanted to invite the noble young master to join the "History and Classical Philosophy" academy. At this time, Simon no longer disliked history, but he still hesitated.
"My father's idea was for me to study law and serve as a civil servant after graduation, and my younger brother to study military affairs and inherit Garrison District's hereditary military position. History is indeed interesting, but it is not as useful as law after all."
Antimos was not angry when the invitation was rejected. He continued to devote himself to archaeological exploration with the greatest enthusiasm, hoping to deliver a perfect answer.
The relationship between Plethon School and the church has always been very poor. When the teacher (Plethon) passes away, the influence of the school will definitely decline.
The way out that Antimos came up with was to focus on history and archeology, to prove his worth to the emperor, and at the same time arouse the public's interest in the classical era.
Even if the reputation of the school is damaged, it can still survive in this field and will not completely disappear.
Late July, Venice.
After two and a half years of wandering, Lorenzo returned to his long-lost hometown. After the ship sailed into Lagoon, he couldn't help but cursed:
"What the hell, how did Venice become like this?"
Nowadays, the number of Lagoon merchant ships has dropped sharply, and there are many idle people wandering around St. Mark's Square. Some drunkards openly spread some inappropriate remarks, but the guards in front of the Governor’s Palace pretended not to hear.
There is a notice posted on the wall outside the Governor’s Palace, the general meaning is as follows:
Governor wants to revive the shipbuilding industry and calls on all Venice people to donate. The thirty wealthy business families with the largest donations can enter "Golden Book".
In 1315, Venice established the official "Golden Book" as the official directory of noble status. After the end of War of Chioggia, Venice Finance was nervous and absorbed thirty families into "Golden Book" at one time in exchange for their financial support.
It is obvious that Governor's move is following the precedent set half a century ago.
Lorenzo is pessimistic about this.
Last time, Venice won and won the hegemony of Eastern Mediterranean. Rich businessmen spent a lot of money to buy noble places, which can be earned back from the subsequent Trade.
This time Venice lost the battle and lost control of the sea and arsenal. Venice's noble status has depreciated, and the income from selling the noble status is definitely not as good as it was decades ago.
He estimated that the largest donation amount would not exceed 5,000 Ducat, and most families' amounts would be between 3,000 and 4,000.
During this period, it was not uncommon for merchants to become minor aristocrats. Sometimes, they could use their connections to send their heirs to Court to serve as attendants to the big nobles, and be granted titles for meritorious service at an appropriate time. The cost of this part was only a few thousand Ducat.
If the price of Venice's aristocratic status is too high and exceeds the affordability limit of wealthy businessmen, it is likely that there will not be enough 30 places, and it will be really embarrassing.
He walked along the familiar streets to his house. On the way, he saw more than thirty craftsmen staying in a tavern, drinking and making noise, complaining about the reduced salary.
Lorenzo asked nearby acquaintances, "What happened?"
The other party replied, "They are cannon-casting craftsmen. After the armory was burned down, Governor dispersed various craftsmen in different places to continue production. Production efficiency decreased, and wages also dropped. Of course these workers have grievances. They come to the tavern every now and then to complain. Just get used to it."
By the way, you have been missing for two and a half years and were captured by the Greece people? I didn't hear that your family paid a ransom. Did you run out on your own?"
Lorenzo let out a long sigh, "Walking on the deserted island of Atlantic Ocean has been a long story..."
Lorenzo was chatting with acquaintances outside the tavern, listening to the complaints of the cannon-casting workers.
Among them, there was a senior craftsman whose accent sounded strange. He didn't sound like someone from Italy, but seemed to have an accent from the Balkans region.
An acquaintance told the origin of this man, "Urban, Hungary is a senior craftsman in the cannon foundry. His annual salary is as much as one hundred and fifty Ducat, but now it is less than one-third. He has been complaining recently."
After the chat ended, Lorenzo returned to his mansion and found that there was only one servant left in the family and the other members had moved away.
The servant explained, "The master has been awarded the position of chief executive of Vicenza, and he took his family there to take up the post."
Lorenzo is in disbelief. "Bringing all your family members to the appointment? Council of Forty allows this behavior?"
Servant: "Many noble families are moving to mainland territories. I heard that the last time Great Council was held, only 700 members were present. Master, you have been missing for two years. Where did you go?"
"The sea area south of Atlantic Ocean, Sahara."
Lorenzo sighed and observed the furnishings in the living room on the second floor. It seemed that the glass in the arched windows had been replaced with new ones, and some expensive furnishings had also disappeared.
According to the servant, the Greece fleet was blocked outside Lagoon and used long-range Rocket to attack the main island inside Lagoon. One of the Rockets landed not far away and exploded, shattering the window glass.
As for those valuable furnishings, after the war, they were sold to the Milan nobles in exchange for two thousand Ducat to subsidize the family.
"Only two thousand? That set of porcelain alone is worth eight hundred Ducat. It's really a huge loss."
Lorenzo walked up the stairs to the bedroom on the third floor. He slept on the bed that he had used since childhood, but he felt a little strange. The pillow was soft and the fabric of the bedding was soft and silky, but he couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
"When I was living on a desert island, I slept on a simple wooden bed, but I fell asleep quickly. Phew, it feels really strange to be home."
After resting at home for two days, Lorenzo put on a decent set of aristocratic clothes and went to Admiralty's door to report on his experience in the past two and a half years.
On the way, he passed a crossroads and saw a group of guards interrogating several craftsmen, asking politely, "What happened?"
The guard recognized Lorenzo's noble identity and softened his tone slightly, "A Hungary senior craftsman from the cannon foundry escaped and took away some key technical information!"
Instantly, Lorenzo recalled the name "Urban".
It is normal for craftsmen to go to other places to make a living when their wages are reduced.
"Although Governor restricts the movement of a small number of senior craftsmen, it cannot control the majority of ordinary craftsmen. The migration of such groups to other towns will increase the strength of competitors."
Lorenzo felt that Venice was trapped in an endless loop with no solution:
Trade shrank, resulting in a shortage of funds in the factory and a decrease in the wages of craftsmen.
As time passed, the craftsmen migrated to other towns to work in rival workshops.
The improvement of competitors' production technology has further squeezed Venice's Trade...
With this idea in mind, Lorenzo walked into the Admiralty door depressedly, and happened to see three crew members who had returned from Black Coral Island. They were pestering a Official, demanding the salary of the past two and a half years.
"Don't forget, there is also my salary!"
Lorenzo said hello to Official, then walked into the office on the third floor and described his experience during the disappearance to the naval admiral.
"... During the return trip, Scala first sailed eastward toward the Africa offshore. There was a stronghold of Portugal people in the River Mouth delta on the coast, and some cultivated land was reclaimed outside the wall.
Scala did not stop at the Portugal stronghold. She headed north along the coast. The coastline of Sahara Desert is long. After more than ten days of sailing, she finally arrived at the coast of Morocco and returned to the "known world"."
The admiral looked solemn and stared at the blank area in the lower left corner of the map, feeling extremely depressed.
Venice Arsenal was damaged and its shipbuilding capabilities were reduced. It was destined to be unable to participate in this overseas exploration.
After a long time, the admiral thought of a piece of good news and reluctantly smiled.
Last month, Pope officially issued an order allowing Portugal to claim sovereignty over the territory discovered during exploration.
However, the wording of this order is vague, and Pope does not give a specific territorial scope. At first glance, it seems that the entire land south of Sahara belongs to the kingdom of Portugal.
The admiral noticed that both Palaiologos and Castile were exploring the southern route. Even if Portugal's envoys went to Rome and complained to Holy See about this behavior in person, they would not be able to stop these two big countries.
If things go on like this, sooner or later the two sides will have some disputes, which may lead to war.
"France and Portugal are married and have a close relationship. Palaiologos is stronger than Portugal, but its overall strength is far behind France, so it can only be regarded as the second strongest power.
A few years later, Vitus expanded in Levant, but could only gain some less loyal residents. These people would not fight for him or pay taxes honestly. The strength of Palaiologos still could not keep up with France.
I admit that Vitus is quite capable, and may be the most capable commander in this era, but Jeanne·Dake is not much worse than him.
Charles VII has ten million Franks people, and Greece people under Palaiologos's rule are less than four million. Palaiologos can crush Venice with its size, and France can also crush Palaiologos with its size.
I really hope they fight, so that Venice may have a chance to regain strength and grow stronger."