1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 168 Commercial Trade Unions
"You mean, I finally swept across the Turks and became a co-emperor."

"Correct."

"We have to win over the wealthy and powerful and come up with clever excuses."

"Correct."

"It depends on their expressions."

"Correct."

"Then I'll be a beggar on my knees, right?"

"So what you're saying is—"

boom!
In the royal gardens near the city of Carthage, Isaac put down his musket and sniffed the smell of gunpowder in the air.

In a clearing in the woods in the distance, a stag fell down and groaned in pain. The life force gradually faded away, and blood oozed from its chest, staining the brown land red.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is a good shooter."

Beside Isaac, Sfrangis pulled the reins of his horse, still frightened by Isaac's sudden attack.

"Sfrangis, this deer is a reward for you!"

"By the way, what did you just say?"

Isaac handed the gun to his guard, raised his arms, and looked at the foreign minister his father trusted most with a smile.

Sfrangis sighed.

"Your Majesty, I mean that your Great Purge has violated the interests of too many people. They are now very dissatisfied. In Constantinople, there is an endless stream of lower-level nobles and priests who seek to see Your Majesty Constantine every day. Some even have their sights set on Lady Mara and Prince Manuel."

"Above the landlords are the nobles, and above the clergy are the bishops."

"If you want to rule a country, you must rely on their help."

Isaac took the musket with the ammunition replaced, raised his hand and fired a shot, and a frightened hare fell to the ground and twitched.

"You just said that above the landlords and priests are the nobles and bishops."

"Then who is above the nobles and the bishops?"

The breeze blew across the fields and through the woods, mixing with gunpowder smoke and blood, and blew past the noses of everyone in the hunting team.

“It is I and my father, by the grace of the Lord, emperors of Rome and of the Romans.”

"Those nobles and priests you mentioned have been oppressing the people in their hometowns, forming cliques for personal gain, and colluding with foreign enemies for the past two hundred years."

"When the Bulgarians rose, they paid tribute to the Asen family. When the Serbs rose, they served as cannon fodder for Stefan Dusan. When the Ottomans came, they would abandon their previous masters without hesitation and pay tribute to the Turks."

"All they care about is their own little piece of land. They have no loyalty to the empire and they hide in their castles in the mountains as local tyrants."

"But these people occupied more and more land and controlled more and more people with each successive dynasty change."

"I need to make money, support the army, and fight wars. The people have become poor. How can I fight against the foreign enemies who have joined forces?"

"Am I still going to rely on those landlords and tyrants who might betray me at any time to provide me with money, food and soldiers, just like the emperors of previous dynasties?"

Isaac snorted.

"Your Majesty, your general policy is correct, but your methods are a bit harsh and have caused a lot of resistance."

Sfrancis looked embarrassed.

"As far as I know, several nobles in the Ioannina military district joined forces with the remaining Turkic soldiers and rebelled on the spot. They surrounded the city of Ioannina and demanded that you withdraw the decree and return the fields and farmers."

"If it weren't for your relative Leonardo of the Tocco family who arrived in time and defeated the invading enemy, the city of Ioannina that we just recovered would probably have fallen again."

"And Avilon, the nephew of Grand Duke Lucas, you clearly know that the members of the Notaras family have extremely violent personalities and cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in their eyes, so why did you send him to the North Macedonia Military Region, the most powerful place, to serve as the commander of the military region?"

Speaking of the Notaras family, Sfrangis was very troubled.

"Oh? What did he do?"

Isaac became interested.

"You don't know yet?"

Sfrangis looked at Isaac in disbelief.

"He surrounded and suppressed the Turkic bandits in Suha Mountain, but found that they were protecting each other with the local nobles and hiding in Wubao and caves. He could not defeat them for a while, so he was furious and cursed at the foot of the mountain."

"Then he ordered people to pour kerosene at the foot of the mountain and set it on fire. The fire on Mount Suha burned for three days and three nights before it was extinguished by rain."

"When the fire was extinguished, half of the mountain was reduced to scorched earth. Many bandits were burned or choked to death. The rest could not find prey and ran out of food. In addition, they were afraid and went down the mountain to surrender."

"Hahaha, good job!"

Isaac laughed heartily.

"He is indeed a young general whom I promoted. A few years ago, when he followed me to burn Galata, I saw that he had great potential..."

"Let's go! We have to have a good drink at noon today!"

Isaac ordered his guards to pick up the prey and was about to return to the palace with the hunting team.

Turning around, Isaac saw that Sfrangis looked unhappy. He looked at him, restrained his smile, and spoke slowly.

"George, how do my father and I treat you?"

"The grace is as heavy as a mountain."

Isaac nodded.

"After the administrative structures of Europe and North Africa were merged, I gave the post of governor of the North Macedonia Military District to the Notaras family, relegated Archduke Lucas to the second line, and Isurt became the chancellor of the empire."

"I persuaded Anderson to keep you as Foreign Secretary, and he will be your deputy."

"In this way, the positions of Prime Minister and Foreign Minister will all be held by members of your Sfrangis family. I think this should be worthy of your efforts over the years."

"I have no way to repay your kindness, so I can only repay you with my life's learning."

Sfrancis bowed.

"Well, including you, I have my own nobles, my own clergy, my own soldiers and supporters."

"If I don't eliminate the original profiteers, how can I repay them for their fighting and struggle?"

"From the moment a man joins the Army, he is my man, and from cradle to grave, he remains my man."

"High salaries and generous benefits, low prices for land distribution, and compensation for injuries and retirement."

"His wife will receive presents from the Queen every Christmas, and his son will have an advantage in the entrance examination to the Military Academy."

"Even if they retire due to old age, I will deploy them to cities and towns across the country to serve as militia captains and city guard captains."

"Go ask my soldiers if I have ever treated them unfairly."

Isaac turned his head and asked loudly.

"Never!"

The soldiers in the hunting team cheered loudly.

"Passion will cool, and feelings will fade. Only the combination of interests and emotions can firmly grasp their hearts."

"The farmers will provide me with food, and the merchants will provide me with money. With food and money, I can continue to expand my army, build ships, expand my territory, and distribute land."

"They accused me of being ungrateful and tearfully recounted the promises that Emperor Michael had made to them. They even took out the imperial titles and deeds from the Komnenos and Doukas eras and asked me to acknowledge them."

"They accused me of breaking the rules of the game, taking revenge, and using hard tactics when soft tactics didn't work, trying to subvert my rule in various ways."

"Little did they know that from the moment I started my army, they were destined to have no place in the empire."

"The European territories are in ruins and the administrative agencies are kept simple. We don't need them to help collect taxes or send troops." "There will be no large-scale foreign wars for a long time to come. I have plenty of time to spend with them."

Isaac turned around and looked at the soldiers in the hunting team.

"Soldiers, what should we do if someone attempts to overthrow my rule and seize the land and wealth that belongs to you?"

"kill!!"

The sound of killing shook the sky.

"Eldosh!"

"exist!"

The Slaves Legion Commander Erdosh knelt on one knee and looked fanatically at the king to whom he swore allegiance.

"I'll give you a week. After a week, you will take two Slavic thousand-man teams north to the Balkans and station in the Ioannina Military District and the North Macedonia Military District respectively to assist in completing the Great Purge."

"I allow you to execute first and report later. All landlords, tyrants, nobles and priests who oppose the royal army, regardless of whether their surnames are Komnenos, Cantacuzenus or Palaiologos, will be severely punished. Their heads will be taken off, circulated in major cities, and then hung in front of the Romanos Gate in Constantinople!"

"The mission will be accomplished!"

Sfrangis stared at Isaac, who was no longer as weak as he used to be, and sighed.

The Slavice Legion was originally a private armed force directly under Isaac. It had its own pastures and oases, its own settlements and arsenals. It was not responsible to any administrative agency and had no connection with local tyrants on the Balkan Peninsula, either in terms of interests or emotions.

Their journey north marked another bloody storm.

"Your Majesty, I understand. I will report back to His Majesty Constantine."

"No need, I will explain it to my father."

Isaac patted his shoulder.

"Italy is in a state of turmoil. Envoys from various countries including Genoa, Naples, Monferrato, and Milan have gathered in Carthage for consultations and negotiations. We need a talented diplomat to mediate with them."

"Anderson is in Cyprus, negotiating with the Karaman envoy, and Albert has traveled to the Aries capital of Dulkadir, so he can't get away for the time being."

"You have to take over this stall."

"I will."

……

In early 1459, the European continent ushered in a rare period of peace. Envoys from various countries engaged in fierce arguments over the Po River Plain and the Crown of Naples, and the system of ambassadors abroad began to take shape.

However, everyone knows that the current peace is only the calm before the storm. Ambitious kings are seizing every opportunity to resolve domestic conflicts, quell unrest and disputes, and quietly accumulate strength to cope with the coming storm.

After ending the protracted war, Isaac finally had some free time. He took his wife and two children and began to tour his territory, spreading his influence on every inch of land, meeting with local chiefs, and rewarding the garrison soldiers.

"what is this?"

"Watermelon, your majesty."

Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, Tripoli.

Isaac looked at the fruit on the plate. The pale yellow melon slices were covered with large black seeds, and there was very little edible part. It was completely different from the green-skinned, red-soil watermelons of later generations.

Just as Isaac was hesitating whether to try it, little Alexios grabbed a piece of melon and stuffed it into his mouth, then spit it out with a "wow".

"Tasteless!"

That means you can eat it.

Isaac also grabbed a piece of melon and tasted it carefully.

It is indeed as plain as water, with only a slight sweetness and an indescribable astringency.

"Your Majesty, how is it?"

Alex, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Director of the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, looked at Isaac eagerly.

"This is the sandy watermelon we cultivated after three rounds of breeding. The main goal is to remove the bitterness and toxicity of Egyptian watermelons. The climate in Africa is very suitable for its cultivation."

"Yes, it is indeed not bitter."

With so many people watching, Isaac couldn't afford to offend him and forced a smile.

Watermelon, a fruit native to Nubia, was first widely cultivated in Egypt for replenishing water.

The earliest watermelons were poisonous. Not only were they not sweet, but they also had a unique bitter and astringent taste, making them unlikely to be served on the tables of princes and emperors.

"Your Majesty, this kind of watermelon we cultivated is mainly used as food for slaves. It can adapt well to sandy soil and higher temperatures."

"In some arid areas that are not suitable for growing wheat, watermelons and dates can be planted as the staple food for slaves, thus reusing idle land."

Isaac nodded and took another piece and put it in his mouth.

"Keep working hard. We can try to systematize and standardize the cultivation. We can select the best-looking plants in each melon field and carry out hybridization and breeding separately."

"These things don't require any advanced technology. As long as you are willing to work hard and spend time, you will always get results."

"You can also take some time to visit the West African colonies and collect and analyze the plants in the two places. Perhaps you will find something different."

In recent years, under Isaac's promotion, many unprecedented new institutions have been established and opened, and the Royal Agricultural Research Institute is one of them.

The name is very loud and the title is very impressive, but there are actually not many people. Including Director Alex, there are only ten members, and they are all subordinates of the Minister of Agriculture.

Their main job is to stay in the experimental fields every day, with wheat, oats, fruits and vegetables. To put it bluntly, they are farmers with some research characteristics.

This is also Isaac's style. No matter what he is like inside, his appearance must be bright and beautiful in order to satisfy people's vanity and attract more talents.

Even the uniforms, badges and titles of each legion were designed by Isaac himself. They were not designed for practicality, but for gorgeous appearance and resounding names.

Over the next few months, Isaac traveled like this, from city to city in North Africa and the Balkans, attending the inauguration ceremonies of two newly established legions.

The Balkan region cannot provide much help to Isaac's finances for the time being. The commercial and mineral taxes collected cannot support too many troops. Two standing legions are already the limit of what Isaac can afford.

The 4th Legion of the Purple Guards is composed of Turks who converted to Orthodoxy. It has 700 infantrymen and 300 light cavalrymen. It is stationed on the coastal corridor from Thrace to Macedonia. In addition to the Constantine Cross emblem that all Purple Guards have, they also have a special tuna emblem painted on their chests, codenamed "Coast Guards."

The 8th Guards Corps was composed of the strongest and bravest of the Balkan uprising militia, with 700 spearmen and 300 light cavalrymen. It was stationed in Skopje, North Macedonia Military District. Its emblem was the Macedonian sun and its code name was "Spear of Alexander".

In addition, Isaac also expanded the pastures for the Slaves Legion and established two new Slaves of 1,000 men, which were distributed in the dryland pastures south of the Tripoli Corridor, squeezing the living space of the southern tribes.

The anti-bandit campaign in the Balkan Peninsula is coming to an end. Under the protection of Isaac's land distribution policy and three-year tax exemption policy, the farmers who have obtained the land will be rich for a whole year with just one round of harvest.

The surplus food stimulated the commodity market and handicraft workshops. The Balkan Peninsula, which had been in decline for many years, finally ushered in a new round of prosperity and the population recovered rapidly.

In the spring of 1459 alone, the number of newborns in the Balkans exceeded , and the population of Constantinople approached .

The North African territory is a different story.

Large-scale slave-hunting and baptism campaigns were in full swing, and Muslims who were unwilling to accept new beliefs were transported to the Balkan Peninsula in large numbers to reclaim wasteland and cultivate land to fill the population gap caused by years of war.

After several rounds of negotiations with the merchants in the territory, Isaac decided to establish trade unions in major commercial cities along the Mediterranean coast, modeled after the trading cities along the Baltic Sea, in order to centralize commercial activities.

Carthage, Tripoli, Birinci and other large cities were the first to complete the reform of commercial trade unions, and the newly built buildings were magnificent.

Silk, slave trade, breeding, gold, grain, minerals, ironware, ship equipment... Each commercial guild will absorb all nearby businessmen and concentrate business activities in one building. The chamber of commerce will replace small merchants and negotiate product prices with the government, which will not only pool wisdom but also make the central government's management more convenient.

When fighting against individual merchants at home and abroad, this kind of business organization that sticks together for warmth has considerable advantages. It can win by quantity in a short period of time, invade the market, squeeze the space and achieve monopoly.

The colonial development of West Africa and South Africa continued. The first group of criminals exiled to the New Thrace colony had built a small fishing village on the west coast of South Africa, making a living by fishing and hunting.

Isaac had a very clear plan for this colony. He would throw the criminals there and leave them there alone, allowing them to develop wildly on their own. He would first clear the land for immigration and then have the central government take over.

In this way, the development of the three territories gradually got on the right track. West Africa and South Africa were mainly engaged in colonial trade and were the suppliers of raw materials. North Africa was mainly engaged in commodity trade and served as a transit station. The Balkan Peninsula was mainly engaged in agriculture and stabilized food prices.

However, Isaac's grand puzzle is incomplete. All trade and colonization cannot bypass a rich peninsula, and its peace and stability must be guaranteed.

Apennines.

(End of this chapter)