At three o'clock in the afternoon, the carriage stopped on the north side of Augustus Forum.
Although today is not a specific religious holiday, there are still a large number of pilgrims in the square. According to their conversations, the one who receives the most attention is Fragments of the True Cross.
"It is now early September. When the autumn crop harvest is over, there will be more people coming for pilgrims. Their gathering together will seriously increase the burden on the City Hall."
Vitus whispered softly and walked into Hagia Sophia surrounded by guards.
Unlike Manuel II and John VIII, he rarely travels across the entire city to come here specifically to pray.
Vitus usually spends his free time at Garden and his suburban villa. Every time he visits Hagia Sophia, he comes to discuss matters with Patriarch instead of praying or confessing.
Having reached this point, he felt sorry for the Eastern Roman Empire and had nothing to regret.
After finding Patriarch, Vitus asked the church to bear part of the military expenses. The reason was simple: Jerusalem would be recovered in this war.
Patriarch was confused. "I heard that the target of this war is White Sheep, and Mamluk should be the next target. Isn't this a bit..."
Vitus Looking at the Marseille gram mural on the dome, the tone is relaxed, as if talking about an insignificant parade:
"Why do we have to do it twice? I can defeat them in one go. I will fight White Sheep first and then Mamluk. With their little ability, how can they make a big difference?"
Speaking of this, Patriarch couldn't find any reason to refuse. He promised to write a letter to ask churches in various places to donate some gold and silver utensils, and at the same time launched a fundraiser, which could probably raise 400,000 Florin.
"That's all? It doesn't matter. Four hundred thousand is four hundred thousand. Make sure you get it together at the beginning of the year."
Vitus walked around the spacious and empty hall, turned around and walked out of the church.
Before leaving, Patriarch also mentioned Roman Curia. Vitus felt that there was very little assistance in this area and did not take it to heart.
Rome's public facilities are in disrepair for a long time. Nicholas V is undergoing large-scale reconstruction, and Holy See has invested all its funds in it.
Assuming that a letter asking for help is received, Pope's most likely response is to let Knights Hospitaller join the war and send some mercenaries from Holy See States. The number will not exceed ten thousand people.
Other countries are less likely to send troops.
It is now the mid-fifteenth century, and the era of Crusaders has long passed.
When Ottoman occupied Balkans and threatened the interests of Europe countries, they were willing to send troops.
Now that Golden Horde and Ottoman have been destroyed, and the threat of the pagan forces has been greatly reduced, who can go to Eastern Mediterranean and help Eastern Roman Empire recover Levant?
On September 1, Prime Minister Chrysaphi Noratas formally resigned, and Vitus accepted the resignation.
Chrysaphi is the minister left by John VIII. His performance in these years has been quite satisfactory and he has not caused any big trouble.
Vitus allocated a large manor from the royal family's assets to reward the elderly retired Prime Minister, and bestowed upon him some honorary titles as usual.
Prime Minister was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Savard, Balram continued to stay at Cabinet, Carlo·Santis handed over the position of Finance Minister and entered Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister.
The relationship between Balram and Chrysaphi is very bad. The latter thinks that Balram is a sycophant with no independent opinions. But Vitus feels that Balram has strong execution ability and can always find a solution once he receives an order, so he is allowed to continue to serve as Deputy Prime Minister.
In the eyes of Vitus, Cabinet and the subordinate ministries are all loyal ministers, but their personal philosophies are different. The real traitors have long been thrown to remote areas to idle, or they have gone home to retire.
The remaining positions have also been adjusted, but the administrative structure has not changed.
Vitus is satisfied with the current situation, efficient and balanced. This is the advantage of Administrative System and Civil Service Examination System, which greatly improves administrative efficiency and reduces the possibility of powerful officials usurping the throne.
The personnel transfer is over, Vitus issued a new edict:
"When the war starts next year, Trebizond will serve as a logistics supply center, notifying the local area to repair roads and expand granaries and barracks. After the autumn grain is stored in the warehouse, the navy will allocate grain to Trebizond, which can supply the consumption of 100,000 troops for a whole year."
There was a lack of trains in this era and the efficiency of land transportation was very low. Every time the baggage train traveled 100 kilometers, it consumed a quarter of the grain.
When planning logistics routes, try to choose more efficient sea transportation and river transportation. Sometimes taking a long detour can actually lead to higher transportation efficiency.
In addition, the army must try its best to obtain supplies from the front line. Collecting one truckload of food is equivalent to reducing the consumption of several truckloads of food.
After writing the edict, Vitus thought to himself:
"We are allocating food and gathering troops on a large scale. White Sheep will receive the news in advance. It doesn't matter. Give him half a year to repair the fortifications and see what tricks he can come up with."
On September 6, Anna gave birth to a baby boy to Romanus.
On the fortieth day after the baby's birth, the royal family gathered at Hagia Sophia to attend his christening ceremony.
Regarding the baby's name, Romanus wants to name him Manuel or John, while Anna prefers the former.
Vitus It doesn't matter, there were many emperors with these two names in history. Among them, John I, II and III were all difficult and virtuous emperors.
John I (925~976) was a military genius. He only reigned for six years. He defeated Kievan Rus, captured the Bulgaria tsar, and launched three wars to the east. He was only one step away from regaining Jerusalem.
Nikephoros II, John I, and Basil II were three consecutive emperors who were outstanding military commanders, ultimately creating the heyday of the Macedonian Dynasty.
John II (1087~1143) was the second emperor of the Komnenian Dynasty. He was excellent in domestic affairs and military affairs. Unfortunately, he failed to cultivate a qualified successor.
John III (1193~1254) was the second emperor of the Nicaean Dynasty. Through his efforts, he was only one step away from regaining Constantinople.
John IV was the last emperor of the Nicaean Dynasty. He ascended the throne at a young age and was unable to control the government. He was eventually usurped by Michael VIII·Palaiologos.
The subsequent emperors named "John" were in different situations.
The most destructive ones are John VI·Kantakouzenos, which did not hesitate to win the support of Ottomans in order to fight internally. The following John VII is not much better.
John VIII has a gentle personality, but unfortunately he promoted the merger of the Eastern and Western churches, and his reputation was greatly affected.
Until now, the people still regard John VIII as a traitor and think that he has lost the face of Rome people.
While Vitus was in a daze, the baptism ceremony continued, and Romanus finally named the baby Manuel.
"The next child will be called John, or Heraclius." Romanus thought to himself.
After the christening ceremony, the royal motorcade returned to the Blachernae Palace.
According to tradition, the motorcade has a carriage loaded with coins. The guards stand on top of the carriage and throw coins to the people along the way in exchange for their blessings for the newborn.
Vitus sat in the front carriage, looking at the sky outside the glass window in silence. For a long time, Agnes stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes a few times.
"Are you worried about the cost of the ceremony and the scattered coins?"
"How could that happen? Who do you think I am?"
Agnes stroked a strand of hair beside his ear, leaned against the carriage and whispered softly, "You'd better not think that way."
Returning to the palace, everyone got off the carriage one after another. Zoe (Thomas's daughter) ran over to take a good look at the infant Manuel.
Compared with the younger brother Andrei (the eldest son of Thomas) who was born last year, Zoe feels that both little guys like to cry, which is not fun at all.
"It's so boring. When will they grow up?"
October late, Rome.
After the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the city experienced a thousand years of decline, the population continued to decrease, and a large number of monuments were reduced to ruins and Ranch.
In the last century, France forcibly moved Holy See from Rome to Avignon, severely weakening the influence of Holy See. With the efforts of Sigismund and others, this chaos that lasted for nearly a century was bridged, but Holy See could never return to its heyday in the early 13th century.
Nicholas V believes that rebuilding Rome is not only a municipal project, but also a grand plan to revive the prestige of Holy See.
This renovation not only includes religious facilities, but also the magnificent Aqua Virgo Aqueduct. The goal is to allow citizens to obtain clean water in the suburbs, instead of the dirty water of the Tiber River and city well water.
As a book collector, Nicholas V also wants to build a library.
He sent people to collect books from various places and hired scholars to translate a large number of ancient Greece documents into Latin, which also cost a lot of money.
When Holy See received the news that Vitus was about to attack White Sheep and Mamluk, Treasury could no longer afford the combat funds.
Even so, Holy See must send a force to prove that it has made a contribution to the recovery of the Holy Land.
Nicholas V sighed, "Times have changed. Knights Templar was forcibly disbanded by the King of France. Teutonic Knights is still surviving in Eastern Europe. The only one we can rely on is Knights Hospitaller."
It happened that Portugal messengers and Austria messengers were both at Rome, and Pope expressed their inner worries to them, but failed to obtain their commitment to send troops.
The Portugal messenger came to Rome for only one reason: to file a complaint and let Holy See stop the bad behavior of Palaiologos and Castile from encroaching on the coast of Africa.
"Vitus said they want to fight Jerusalem, so why should we pay for it? Who knows how long they will spend at Persia, they may not be able to finish it in three to five years. Let's fight White Sheep first, we have to fight India."
At this moment, the envoy became more and more angry as he thought about it, wishing that Eastern Roman Empire would lose a few more times to prevent them from going to Atlantic Ocean to snatch their own colony.
According to the plan of Prince Henry, more than twenty strongholds need to be built from Portugal to the known coast of East Africa, like pearls, connecting a long route from Lisbon to the East.
It takes 4 to 5 months for a sailboat to sail from Lisbon to Cape of Good Hope. The crew members have been crowded in the humid, hot and smelly cabin for a long time. The disease rate remains high and they need to rest on the shore regularly.
The sailboat itself also needs regular maintenance. In tropical waters, the bottom of the boat will quickly become covered with barnacles and shipworms, which will greatly reduce the speed. In extreme cases, the shipworms can chew through the ship's planks, causing water leakage in the bottom tank.
When sailing from the mainland to Cape of Good Hope, it is necessary to clean the bottom of the ship and re-apply Tar.
After arriving at Cape of Good Hope, the bottom of the ship will undergo maintenance.
Expedition ships can sail to unknown waters to explore regardless of cost. But merchant ships are different. Only when the route is known and there are enough bases along the way can merchant ships obtain a relatively reliable profit expectation.
Building so many strongholds is a heavy burden for Portugal, which has a population of less than 1.2 million. Prince Henry tries its best to recruit immigrants and sends up to a thousand people to immigrate overseas every year.
The immigrants in the past two years have been assigned to South Africa, and next year the new batch of immigrants will be assigned to the coast of East Africa. Portugal has no extra energy to compete for Black Coral Islands.
"Castile went too far. The Greece people just built a weak base in Black Coral Islands. Castile actually occupied the coast and wanted to open a route to bypass Africa. They are a group of shameless thieves!"
Hearing the curse from the messenger, Nicholas V pretended that nothing happened. What could he do? Rebuke the emperor and king, or excommunicate them?
Having offended King Castile, the situation is not too bad.
If that "Restorer of the World" gets anxious and he leads an army of 100,000 people to rush into Italy, who will stop him if Justinian's Reconquest comes?
Even if this army is blocked, the entire Italy will still be destroyed after a big battle.
Sensing Holy See's retreat, the Portugal messenger was disheartened.
"Holy See is unreliable. If we want to preserve the kingdom's profits in the southern seas, we can only find another backer."
The Austria messenger's request is for Pope to mediate the Switzerland civil war.
This civil war lasted on and off for several years. Austria supported the Zurich side and wanted to restore House of Habsburg's influence in Switzerland.
House of Habsburg originated in the early 11th century, and its name comes from the House of Habsburg they built in the north of Switzerland.
Later, the family's center of governance shifted to Austria, and its influence in Switzerland's hometown became increasingly weaker.
Throughout the fourteenth century, Swiss Confederacy and House of Habsburg had three wars, which ended in House of Habsburg's total defeat, and even the Duke of Austria died in the battle.
This time, House of Habsburg relied on its advantages in numbers and equipment to barely stabilize the situation. Frederick III decided to stop as soon as possible and preserve the current interests.
Nicholas V asked, "After signing the peace treaty, are you willing to send troops to recover Jerusalem?"
The envoy avoided this question. Frederick III not only has to safeguard the interests of House of Habsburg, but also deal with the complex situation of the Holy Roman Empire. How can he have time to attack Mamluk?
"After the situation at Switzerland is stabilized, His Majesty plans to come to Rome for the coronation. You can talk to him face to face at that time."
"I'm looking forward to his arrival," Nicholas V heard what the messenger meant and knew that House of Habsburg would not help.
Even so, Nicholas V still agreed to mediate Switzerland's civil war.
House of Habsburg's strength is weak, and the threat to Italy is much lower than that of France and Eastern Roman Empire. If one of the two major powers invades Italy, Pope will still count on House of Habsburg to balance the situation.
France became Avignon Papacy in the last century, and the influence still exists today.
Eastern Roman Empire Not to mention, during the Justinian period, Italy launched a tug-of-war with the aliens, causing the peninsula's people's livelihood to decline. Macedonian Dynasty was so powerful that it also sent troops to attack Italy.
The last major attack was in the twelfth century.
Komnenian Dynasty has experienced two wise kings Alexios and John II, and its strength has recovered. The successor Manuel I has been fighting for several years in Southern Italy, seriously damaging local production.
"The West is France and the East is Palaiologos. Both sides are not easy to mess with. Alas, why do I feel that the situation is getting worse and worse."