On May 10th, Army Church was declared completed, and Vitus and hundreds of middle and high-level people went to visit.
The church is located in the west of the city and is funded by individual donations. Since Army has more people than the Navy and the total amount of donations is higher, the appearance of Army Church is more impressive.
When the Emperor and Patriarch arrived, the doors of the new church slowly opened, revealing its interior splendor to the world for the first time.
The consecration ceremony is about to begin, and the spectators stand on both sides of the hall. Their positions depend on their rank.
The generals were in the front row on the left. They raised their heads to admire the large mural in the hall - "Battle of Sakarya".
Compared with "Battle of Antikythera", this mural has a bit more religious color, with angels and patron saints appearing above the clouds.
The core of the painting is in the lower left corner, which is the scene in the south of the battlefield: the emperor led the army to attack eastward and intercepted the retreating Janissaries.
In midsummer, in the fields that had just been harvested, Rome Musketeers wore gray burqas, and Janissaries uniformly wore red coats. They spread out horizontal formations to shoot at each other, perfectly replicating the "Gray Line" and "Thin Red Line" scenes at that time.
On the edge of the forest in the north, Owl Banner and many Auxiliary Brigade flags vaguely emerged, representing the Attica Legion and auxiliary troops that were about to arrive on the battlefield.
Mount Emali in the northeast is surrounded by white mist, which is slightly unrealistic. At this stage, the artillery battle between the two sides is over, Ottoman Artillery is busy escaping, and the white mist on the top of the mountain has almost dispersed.
However, the painter Balsamo insisted on doing this. He believed that this move could improve the texture of the entire oil painting. By the way, he used white fog to remind the audience that a Artillery position was arranged on the top of the mountain.
The consecration ceremony lasted for a long time, the choir's singing was ethereal and solemn, and the sunlight poured into the room from the high windows on the side and through the colorful stained glass, creating an otherworldly atmosphere.
Damien sighed, "Actually, I think I should describe the latter stage: tens of thousands of Ottoman cavalry came like a tsunami, while our infantry phalanx was like a rock, stubbornly resisting the cavalry attack."
Krezer coughed a few times but did not refute the opinions of his colleagues.
Among the generals under Vitus, Krezer is the oldest. He has requested retirement from the emperor last month. After the consecration ceremony, he will return to the Aegean Sea's fief and enjoy his retirement life from now on.
More than twenty years ago, when Krezer arrived at Peloponnese, he was just a captured Hussite officer, and his subsequent experience far exceeded his expectations. If I have to say regret, it is that Bohemia's hometown was destroyed and can only exist in Krezer's memories.
Krezer asked Damien, "In these years, I haven't heard that you went back to Attica's hometown to visit relatives. Are you unable to spare time?"
Damien: "Peloponnese and Attica were the first to recover. They provided the most soldiers and naturally suffered the most casualties. My peers and juniors in my hometown suffered heavy casualties. I don't want to go back and face those graves."
In the final stage of Battle of Sakarya, the enemy cavalry launched a general attack and broke through the two battalion-level phalanxes on the edge. Among the dead, 300 people came from the same town area, which is right next door to my hometown. Do you know what this means?"
Krezer nodded silently.
The total population of a town is usually between 10,000 and 30,000.
The year before Battle of Sakarya, the emperor organized ten Auxiliary Brigade, totaling more than 46,000 people, most of whom came from compulsory recruitment.
Assuming that a town has 30,000 residents, taking into account the number of local households and people already serving in the military, 400 to 500 people usually need to be recruited.
Three hundred people were killed, almost all the conscripts representing the town's jurisdiction were wiped out in one battle, and almost every resident had a relative or acquaintance killed.
This tragic memory cannot be easily dissipated. Even decades later, there will still be elderly people mentioning this tragedy to their grandchildren.
Damien said to himself, "Our batch of Miner's hometowns are relatively close to each other. It's not just me, Marcus, Cohen and others don't go home very often. Alas, this may be the price of war."
At ten o'clock in the morning, the crowd dispersed one after another, and Vitus visited the ancillary facilities of the church.
He walked to a side hall, where the casualties of previous battles were recorded. As he looked at the numbers one by one, his expression became more solemn, and he kept recalling scenes of related wars in his mind.
For more than two decades, the war-weariness in the country has never subsided, but Vitus's achievements have been too dazzling, suppressing civil dissatisfaction.
If it were a second-tier monarch, this battle would have been impossible to fight long ago. If the monarch's abilities were any worse, he would not even be able to keep the throne.
After reading the casualty figures of the Mamluk war not long ago, he was deeply moved.
"The side court bleeds into the sea, and the Emperor Wu has no intention of opening the side. In a few years, there may be similar poems to evaluate me. But there is no way. Sometimes, I have to be ruthless and start a war. The longer it takes, the more casualties will be."
He walked out of the side hall and came to the attached cemetery on the north side of the church.
This courtyard has a limited area and has not yet been put into use. Weeds are growing in the stone cracks in the courtyard, and some ivy is clinging to the surface of the courtyard wall. Two stonemasons are carving stones, and the sound of chiseling breaks the silence of the courtyard.
The standards here are the same as Naval Church, only generals who have made significant contributions will be buried.
In order to bury ordinary soldiers and most officers, Central Administration planned a public cemetery located on a gentle hillside in the northwest suburbs.
After the visit, Vitus took the carriage back to the palace.
The horse-drawn carriage drove smoothly along the main road and suddenly stopped at a certain moment.
Vitus poked his head out of the car window and saw that the intersection not far away was blocked, and more than twenty heavy-duty carriages were crowded at the intersection.
Among them, nearly half of the heavy-duty carriages were of the same style, with the logo of a transportation company painted on the side of the carriages. These carriages carried a lot of production equipment, and seemed to be hired by a certain factory to help the factory relocate.
"Long-Wire Paper Machine?"
Vitus records this new papermaking equipment, which was first proposed by Adrian University and assisted by University of Constantinople.
The main body of this equipment is a conveyor belt. During production, the conveyor belt rotates continuously to transport the pulp to the end, and then press out the moisture inside, and finally to the formed paper sheet.
Vitus asked the guards to call the merchant and ask, "The direction of the convoy is Golden Horn dock. Is the papermaking workshop going to be moved?"
The businessman nodded solemnly. "Yes. The workshop was originally located in a river in the suburbs, but the river is too small. In the dry weather this year, there is not much water at all. The local villagers often quarrel with us, saying that we used their water..."
The businessman complained for a long time, believing that the operating cost of the workshop near Constantinople was too high, so he moved to Bandırma on the opposite bank of Sea of Marmara. There are rivers in the area, and there are mountains and forests nearby that provide wood, and the price of hired labor is lower, making it suitable for building a papermaking workshop.
Industrial migration in the early Renaissance?
Vitus was a bit confused, "Are there many workshops that have been relocated to the countryside?"
The businessman recalled, "Textile mills are more dependent on water than paper mills, and they are also relocating.
My cousin's textile factory moved to Bursa. The rivers on the outskirts of the city have sufficient water resources and enough space to accommodate hydraulic equipment. Moreover, Bursa is rich in silk. The inland can provide wool and cotton, and the raw material supply is sufficient. More than half of the textile factories that were moved from Constantinople were moved to Bursa."
The conversation lasted for half an hour. The businessman led the convoy to leave, and Vitus quietly thought about the future of this city.
Compared with cities such as Paris, Prague, and London, Constantinople is characterized by the fact that it is not adjacent to a large river, and the rivers in the suburbs are very small. The disadvantages caused by this are: the development of water-consuming industries such as the textile industry and papermaking industry is restricted.
This is part of the reason why Thomas and Textile Mill cannot make money.
Not long ago, the municipal adjutant reported the news: the number of residents reached 300,000.
(The title of City Official belongs to the crown prince Romanus, and the municipal adjutant is essentially the mayor of Constantinople)
As some workshops moved out, the number of jobs at Constantinople decreased, and the population growth rate slowed down accordingly, entering a new bottleneck period.
"A population of three hundred thousand is enough. Just let nature take its course."
Before the industrial revolution, the bigger the city, the better. Over-densification of the population would cause health problems. Once the city scale exceeded a certain critical point, it would do more harm than good.
Vitus got out of the carriage to get some air and walked slowly along the shade of the trees on the edge of the main road. The guards nearby looked at the passers-by with their right hands on the hilts of their swords as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
The variety of street trees was personally selected by Vitus, which is the popular London Plane (France sycamore).
The characteristics of this tree are its broad crown and rapid growth.
More than ten years ago, City Hall planted street trees on both sides of most of the main roads. Now, they have grown into large and leafy trees, providing shade and coolness to pedestrians in summer. The only trouble is that the leaves fall in autumn and require dedicated personnel to organize cleaning.
However, middle- and upper-class residents like the scene of falling leaves in autumn.
Entering October, the streets are full of falling orange-red leaves. Some scholars like to take a walk in the early morning to admire the empty, gorgeous, quiet and deserted streets. Some people like to take a walk in the evening, when the setting sun shines slantingly, the sky is full of sunset, and the red sky is exactly the same color as the autumn leaves. The painter Balsamo was deeply inspired to create what he considered the most meaningful work - "Autumn in Constantinople".
This mural is located in the residence of Thomas. Vitus visited it specially. The painting is indeed good and the use of colors is just right. It surpasses the artists of the same period who were good at painting religious themes.
After walking for a while, Vitus entered a secondary street and admired the houses on both sides of the road.
"Unconsciously, thirty years have passed."
In 1422, there were only 60,000 people left in Constantinople, and most of the city was deserted.
After the battle of Thrace, Eastern Roman Empire recovered Greece, Macedonia, and Eastern Thrace. Constantinople turned the corner and began to enter the reconstruction stage.
At that time, Vitus was the co-ruling emperor and was only responsible for the military, but he still tried to persuade John VIII to let City Hall adopt unified planning during the reconstruction period:
Main roads should be 10 to 12 paces wide, and secondary streets should be six paces wide. Dead ends should be avoided as much as possible, residents are encouraged to build stone houses, and new private cemeteries are not allowed in urban areas...
It is now 1452, and the appearance of the entire city is very different from the past. There are street trees on both sides of the main road, and iron-clad wooden rails are laid in the middle of the road. The streets are clean and tidy. The only regret is that the gas Streetlights project has been shelved.
However, people's demand for public lighting has always existed.
Since the stingy emperor was unwilling to pay, some wealthy neighborhoods simply raised funds themselves, allowing City Hall to install Streetlights columns to burn relatively cheap olive oil.
Now, the area where Vitus is located is the rich area where Streetlights is placed.
The main material of the Streetlights column is bronze, and the lampshade is made of light-colored glass. Eight sides of glass are pieced together to form a lampshade. A polished copper plate is designed above the Streetlights, which can reflect light to the road surface, greatly improving lighting efficiency.
The height of Streetlights is about three meters. It has a specially designed pulley system. The lamplighter can pull the rope on the ground to lower the lamp, ignite it and then raise it again.
"City Hall statistics show that the nighttime crime rate in neighborhoods where Streetlights is installed is lower. No wonder more and more neighborhoods are applying for Streetlights."
Citizens are willing to pay by themselves, Vitus is happy to see the results, and it just saves a lot of money.
At this time, an old man with a bald forehead walked out of the courtyard on the right and asked the emperor through two guards, "Your Majesty, I am Eli, a printing merchant. Do you still remember me? However, I have sold my workshop to my apprentice and can no longer print books for you."
Vitus had the impression of this person, who was once a partner of Gutenberg.
Many years ago, Eli came to Constantinople with printing machine technology and opened the first printing workshop. The recent boom in the publishing industry is a good time for printing workshops to make money. Why give up?
Vitus ordered the guards to get out of the way. Seeing this, Eli came over with a cane to salute, but he almost fell down.
He stood up with difficulty, took out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat, and rambled about his experiences over the years.
"... I have become really old in the past two years. Sometimes I can't read the characters on the pages of books clearly, so I sold my workshop and retired in a country manor in the outer suburbs. But I was not used to living in the countryside, so I moved back to the city."
Considering that the other party spread the art of printing, Vitus patiently listened to this boring businessman life and asked nicely:
"You gave up your spacious and comfortable country manor and moved to this small courtyard. Is Constantinople's life so attractive?"
In this regard, Eli's answer was firm. This city has reached the limit he could imagine, and it is truly City Desired by the World.
Everyone has their own pursuits. Vitus said goodbye to the retired businessman without making too many comments and continued to visit the streets of the city.
"Fortunately, I proposed a unified plan. I didn't let the city go into chaos like Ottoman in the original timeline."
Historically, after Ottoman captured Constantinople, the capital was moved here from Adrian.
Soon, a large number of Ottomanss poured into the city and built their own residences. The poor could not afford masonry buildings, so they built cheaper and more crowded wooden houses.
As the population increases, the layout of cities becomes increasingly chaotic, increasing fire risks and public illness rates.
In 1835, Prussian Helmut von Mao (Old Mao) went to the Ottomans as a military adviser and drew a planning map for the city, and the city appearance of Constantinople began to gradually improve...
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Vitus returned to the carriage, ending this long visit.
"Actually, Eli is right. The current municipal construction has indeed reached its limit. We will have to wait until the industrial revolution for Constantinople to usher in more improvements, such as Gas Streetlight, trams, and tap water systems.
However, this should be a matter of several generations, so I don't need to worry about it."