1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 130 Breaking Free from Latin Shackles
On the shores of the Black Sea, the mother of cities, the queen of cities, Constantinople.

The war that shocked the world a year ago almost reduced Constantinople to ruins. The solid Theodosian Walls collapsed in many places, and the towers and churches near the walls also could not escape the disaster.

The streets were dotted with bullet holes, the soil on the outskirts of the city was dark red, and several royal cannons destroyed by the Ottomans were still placed on the road outside the St. Romanus Gate, telling of the intensity and cruelty of the war.

However, the Battle of Constantinople did change a lot of things.

The Palaiologos family, which led the Roman people to win the war, gained great reputation, and many people began to propose that Constantine and his son be canonized as saints.

Many pilgrims and bards from across the Christian world came to Constantinople to pay homage to the relics of the great war and write passionate epic poems.

As a result, the "vision from the sky" that originally made the citizens panic suddenly changed. The crescent moon was seen as the last swan song of the Ottomans, the blood mist was seen as the prelude to the war, and the strange fire above Hagia Sophia was proved to be a blessing from God.

They also cited a lot of evidence and swore that what they said was true.

The citizens began to enthusiastically explain the details of the Battle of Constantinople to the poets, travelers and historians who came to investigate, as if they had also climbed the city walls and fought the Ottomans to the end.

After this battle, although Constantinople did not see a qualitative improvement in its economy, the morale of the citizens of Constantinople was directly raised to a higher level.

Constantinople was blessed by the gods and was indestructible, or so every superstitious citizen of Constantinople thought.

Constantinople is cursed by God and is a punishment from Allah. This is what Muslims feel.

You know, in this era when the religious atmosphere is still strong, this subconscious faith or fear can often change many things.

Perhaps in the near future, Mehmed II will once again launch a jihad in the name of Allah and his ancestor Osman, calling on Muslims to take up swords and guns and attack Constantinople.

By then, will the Muslims still gather in droves to respond as they did in 1453, still be fearless and believe in the illusory Ottoman dream?
Who knows.

Da, da, da——

On the road leading to Constantinople, a column of cavalry was slowly approaching the city. Everyone was silent, looking up, shocked by the endless Theodosian Walls and the huge and magnificent city outline.

They walked through the outskirts of the city and the ruins of the battlefield, and from time to time they found torn cloth in the mud, and they didn't know whether it came from clothes, headscarves or military flags.

This place has been searched thoroughly by the citizens of the city, and the valuable pieces of swords, armor and armor have long been swept away.

As they approached the city, citizens and merchants passing by on the road made way, stood aside, and looked at this unique cavalry in surprise.

These people not only have strange appearances and odd accents, but their equipment is also indescribably weird.

They were dressed in blood-red military uniforms, and their armor and weapons were of various kinds and rusted, as if they were captured or looted.

Most of them rode on short barb horses, followed by a large group of camels and mules responsible for transporting supplies. They did not look like regular cavalry, but more like Turkic nomads on the Anatolian Peninsula.

On their military uniforms, an eagle with a blood-stained sword hanging from its body was flying with its wings spread.

"This is Constantinople, the capital of the empire."

Theophilus, who was serving as a guide at the front of the cavalry, said with a smile.

"It's big, isn't it? When I first came, I was like you."

He saw the surprise and awe in the young cavalry captain's eyes and seemed quite pleased.

“It is no exaggeration to say that during Constantinople’s heyday, no city in Europe could compare to it.”

“It’s lonely now, but it’s not comparable to just any city.”

The cavalry captain nodded and skillfully made the sign of the Orthodox cross on his chest.

This move greatly won the favor of Theophilus, who was a devout Orthodox Christian.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Afif, and I'm a captain of the Slaves Legion."

Afif smiled friendly and spoke in fluent Greek.

"Thanks to your majesty's favor, I have been given this thousand-man team to command and come to Constantinople to assist in the defense."

After the Battle of Constantinople, the Hafsid army retreated like a tide, and the defense pressure on the western border of the North African territory was greatly reduced.

At the same time, after the expansion of the Slaves Corps, the quality of the newly joined soldiers was uneven, and their loyalty and combat effectiveness were worrying.

In this situation, Isaac proposed a rotation policy, drawing three out of the six Slavic legions to garrison Constantinople, Birinci and Surt respectively for a period of one year, and rotating them out of season.

Among them, the thousand-man team garrisoning Constantinople has the heaviest task. They will go to the Mesembria area to fight with the Ottoman cavalry who come to harass them, and they will also go deep into enemy territory to plunder and conduct reconnaissance.

Theophilus was the highest administrative officer in the Mesembria region, responsible for coordinating food and fodder matters and supplying military supplies to the front lines.

Afif was a Berber, a refugee from the town of Lindon. He had joined the Slaves Legion as early as 1448. Over the past six years, he had made many achievements and was also a rare senior talent who was proficient in Greek.

After this expansion of the legion, Afif was promoted from centurion to thousand-man captain, officially in charge of a Slavice thousand-man team.

Due to the special nature of the Slaves Legion, the legion commander Erdosh only has wartime command authority. On weekdays, the thousand-man team is the highest military unit of the legion.

Six years later, through his own efforts, he grew from an unknown country boy to a highly regarded senior general, and was even received in person by the emperor.

"I heard that His Majesty Isaac gave you his horse and sword. Is that true?"

Afif patted the Andalusian horse under him and drew his sword.

He knew very well that the emperor valued him so much that he wanted to shape him into a role model for the lower-class Berbers and guide the rest of the Berbers and Bedouins to learn from him.

Over the past few months, his story had spread throughout the Sirte and Cyrenaica regions through the well-developed post system and road network, and the number of children named Afif on the tribune's roster began to increase dramatically.

Of course, he would not have any opinion on these things, as there were many people eyeing this position.

Afif looked at the Theodosian Walls and marveled, like a country boy seeing a magnificent city for the first time.

"Your Majesties are planning to renovate the Theodosian Wall and add a number of tall towers as salients, so that they can be equipped with large artillery and catapults, and put the enemies under the wall under crossfire."

"I have seen the blueprints for the new city wall. It is truly a genius idea."

Theophilus sighed.

As the cavalry approached the city, soldiers guarding the city immediately ran forward to check the documents and verify their identities.

"Constantinople is very big. If you are interested, you can find someone to take you around. Orhan from the Second Legion of the Purple Guard is a suitable person. He has hardly ever left here in his life. He is a real Constantinople resident..."

Theophilus kept muttering as he walked.

They entered the city from the third military gate, walked onto the central street, and were immediately struck by the bustling scene.

People seemed very happy and there was a great celebration going on.

Afif looked at Theophilus, who was obviously confused as well.

A soldier who knew Greek came forward to ask, and Afif got the answer from the mouth movements.

Another prince was born, and the Purple Noble Palace welcomed a new master.

……

In the palace of the purple nobles, Isaac held his newborn son with a grin on his face.

Leonor had passed her weakest period and was lying quietly in bed, letting the midday sun shine on her face.

This time, again at Leonor's strong request, Isaac sent the most stable ship to take her and Justinian to Constantinople to complete the birth in the Purple Palace. Constantine XI stood aside, holding little Justinian, with a smile on his face.

Constantine's new queen, Lady Mara from the Brankovich family, stood in the corner with an expressionless face and a slightly bulging belly.

Sometimes, the number of offspring can also reflect the rise and fall of a dynasty. This thing is mysterious, but it is always surprisingly accurate.

With his new son, Constantine XI was in high spirits. From this perspective, there was hope for the revival of Rome.

"You are pregnant, so go back first."

Constantine said calmly to Lady Mara.

The latter nodded and left the delivery room feeling relieved.

Constantine looked at Lady Mara's staggering back and felt a little complicated for a moment.

In order to avoid irritating Isaac, he simplified the wedding process as much as possible. After going through the process in Hagia Sophia, he simply held a banquet without alarming the domestic citizens and foreign princes at all.

You know, now more than 80 percent of the military power of the Eastern Roman Empire is controlled by Isaac. It would be too easy to do anything to Lady Mara and her unborn child.

This is also a disguised form of protection.

After Lady Mara married Constantine, she was always depressed and in low spirits, and her mood only improved slightly after she became pregnant.

As a father and emperor, Constantine knew his son's plan and knew that it was for the future of the empire, so he naturally gave his full support.

"Give him a name."

Constantine said.

Isaac thought for a moment and heard the bells of Hagia Sophia.

"Just call him Alexios."

Today is April 1st. On this day more than 300 years ago, Alexios Komnenos was crowned emperor in Hagia Sophia, and the Eastern Roman Empire, which had suffered a great defeat in the Battle of Manzikert, ushered in the first ray of hope for revival.

In Isaac's arms, little Alexius seemed to sense something and cried even harder.

After handing his second son to the wet nurse, Isaac whispered to Leonor, and went with Constantine to a side hall in the palace of the purple nobles.

"Father, my envoys have officially left for Italy to attend the peace conference hosted by the Duke of Milan."

"I know."

“I think this time, we can try to do something about the tax-free privileges for Latin businessmen.”

Constantine raised his eyebrows.

"How are you going to respond to their questions?"

“You know, Latin businessmen have always been united on this.”

Latin merchants have long enjoyed tax-free privileges in Constantinople. The once powerful Amalfi Republic was the first to establish an expatriate community in Constantinople to enjoy commercial privileges. At that time, Greek ship merchants had not yet declined, and the Latins' trade privileges were very limited, so the situation was largely under control.

After that, the Republic of Pisa, the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice rose one after another and each dominated the Mediterranean.

At the same time, the Eastern Roman Empire was on the decline and its dependence on Latin merchants became increasingly serious. Several forces used Constantinople as a battlefield for open and covert struggles and slammed a series of unequal treaties onto the emperor's desk.

The Eastern Roman Emperor at that time was particularly fond of "using barbarians to control barbarians" and introduced various Latin merchants into Constantinople, trying to stir up internal strife between the republics and reap the benefits himself.

As a result, there were frequent internal conflicts between them. Pisa was defeated by Genoa, and Genoa was suppressed by Venice. The Italian Commercial Republic concentrated its resources in the internal conflicts and created a Mediterranean monster like the Republic of Venice.

The aggressive Turks forced the emperor to continue relying on the money, mercenaries and fleets of Latin merchants and sign one traitorous treaty after another.

Until now, there is nothing left to sell, and only an empty Constantinople is still firmly in the emperor's hands.

“I think the time is right now.”

Isaac said.

"First, we have to admit that Constantinople's trade is no longer as good as it used to be. Except for Venice and Genoa, the interests of other Latin states in Constantinople are pitiful."

In fact, Constantinople's trade had already begun to decline long before the opening of the new sea route.

More than a hundred years ago, the Black Sea trade flourished, and the enlightened trade policy of the Golden Horde made the city of Batu Sarai a trade center. Furs and gems from the Baltic coast flowed south along the Volga River, and spices and silk from the East traveled west along the Steppe Silk Road. They were concentrated in Batu Sarai, then flowed into Constantinople through the Black Sea and were subsequently sold to the heart of Europe.

Timur's strong rise directly destroyed the once powerful Golden Horde. The rebellion and separatist situation of the Grand Duchy of Moscow completely cut off the trade routes of Batu Sarai, and the East-West trade route has since shifted from north to south.

During this period, the Silk Road declined, while the Maritime Silk Road continued to prosper.

It was during this period that the spice trade began to take the Red Sea route, with Egypt and the Levant replacing Batu Sarai as the distribution center for Eastern goods.

The Venetians successfully seized the opportunity and, after several wars, successfully established their absolute authority in the eastern Mediterranean and achieved a monopoly.

This is history, one move affects the whole body.

"Now that the Bosphorus has been cut off by the Ottomans, the number of Latin merchants continuing to trade in the Black Sea has dropped sharply. It is really hard to say how much weight Constantinople's trade interests still have in their hearts."

"Second, I have reached a compromise with the Republic of Genoa. They will not be an obstacle to us."

"Oh?"

"What did you promise?"

Constantine was curious.

"The right to operate the Gold Coast, the right to reduce taxes on the slave trade."

"South of what is now Queen's Harbor, Genoese merchants were enthusiastically building their colony, which they were going to name 'New Galata'."

Isaac looked a little strange.

It seems that these Genoese are still upset about the fire in Galata.

"Third, we just fought a war with the Venetians. Now they are surrounded by enemies and the emperor and his subjects are suspicious of each other. This is the weakest time in recent decades."

"The peace conference in Lodi City is our best chance."

Constantine looked at the persistent Isaac and suddenly felt relieved and proud.

"Father, leave this matter to me. I will definitely give you good news!"

Isaac said firmly.

In European history, few people know about the Conference of Lodi, but its impact was profound.

As a time traveler, Isaac's greatest advantage is not leading troops in battle or governing the country, but his full understanding of historical trends and historical figures.

With his interference, what will become of the original Lodi Peace Conference?

Emotionally.

Since then, the overdue chapters have been completed. Thank you all.

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(End of this chapter)