1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 2 Buying a Boat
The first ray of sunshine in the morning awakens the whole city. The bells of several churches mark the awakening of the city. The streets are gradually filled with citizens who come to the early market and farmers from the affiliated villages. The first wisp of black smoke emerges from the chimney of the blacksmith shop. The clanging sound of iron hammering can be heard from far away. Vendors and customers bargain and argue endlessly, and loud curses can be heard from time to time.

The fishermen, who had worked hard all night, had no time to rest and hurriedly dragged the fresh fish they had just caught to the market to sell them in order to get the best price - merchants in Venice and Pisa would often pay more money in exchange for a more delicious enjoyment.

The citizens of Constantinople had mixed feelings towards the Latin merchants. On the one hand, the Latins were the initiators of their increasingly worse lives. On the other hand, everyone knew that the safety of the city, to a certain extent, depended entirely on the support of the Western Latin world for Constantinople. The night before, the citizens and the Latins toasted together for the victory of the Crusaders.

In the square outside the church, you can see pairs of citizens arguing fiercely. They debate theological issues that have nothing to do with daily life, commonly known as "debate". This is a characteristic of the people of Old Cannes. Regardless of gender, age or status, everyone is interested in religion and always looks forward to having a wonderful debate with strangers. Objectively speaking, this is conducive to the development of logical reasoning and the internal stability and unity of religion. In the heyday of the empire, this phenomenon was once a beautiful landscape, but now that the empire is in turmoil, this behavior can only attract ridicule from the Latins.

"Foolish Greeks, they care more about victory in the tongue than in gold," said the Latin merchant.

For example, now, many citizens are very dissatisfied with the "church unity" initiative reached between the emperor and the Roman Church at the Council of Florence in 1439. The religious atmosphere in the whole city is very terrible, like a powder keg with the lid opened, which will explode with the slightest spark.

This has nothing to do with Isaac, who had just finished breakfast. He is now undergoing the necessary military training for a royal child under the instruction of Mikhail, the captain of the guard.

Isaac's small guard had only 20 people, and its captain Mikhail also served as a military teacher. The empire's treasury was in deficit, and the only reason it could have a guard of 20 cavalrymen was because of the preference of his uncle Ioannis.

Captain Mikhail was a kind middle-aged man, born into a minor noble family, and was said to be a distant relative of the Palaiologos family. He was an experienced cavalry officer who had participated in the defense of Constantinople in 1422 and had also participated in the siege of the Latin remnants in Achaia under the command of Isaac's father, and was deeply trusted.

"Isaac, why are you so hardworking today?" Mikhail was obviously very happy about his student's progress. "Normally, you would rather stay with the old man who taught you Latin and French and chant scriptures than practice with us for one more second."

Isaac had just finished his archery training. He rubbed his sore shoulder blades and picked up the lance beside him.

"Uncle Mikhail, I am beginning to feel that learning grammar cannot save the empire. The future of the empire lies in the guns of the soldiers."

Isaac wiped away the burning sweat that had gotten into his eyes, climbed onto the saddle of his warhorse, gritted his teeth, and waved the lance in his hand.

Nonsense! If you don’t learn some martial arts, you won’t even be able to escape!
Mikhail stared at the weak but proud knight in the sunlight and was stunned for a second.

Isaac obviously did not practice martial arts seriously and his physical fitness was very average. His arm holding the lance was sore at this time, and the three-meter-long lance was shaking in the boy's hand.

"Uncle Mikhail..."

"Kid, that's not how you use a lance..." Mikhail held his forehead with his hand.

"Then you didn't tell me earlier!"

Isaac spent the entire morning in the agony of training, undergoing the same training as the soldiers of the Guard without slacking off for a moment.

At lunch time, Isaac rejected the invitations of several noble friends and prayed with the soldiers, ate the food given by God, and chatted with them about the nonsense that only soldiers can talk about.

At first, the soldiers were a little reserved. They might never have the chance to dine with a purple noble in their entire lives, and their previous relationship with Isaac was limited to saluting.

After finding out that His Royal Highness the Prince was not difficult to get along with today, everyone slowly opened up their hearts. Isaac patiently listened to the soldiers sharing their joys, confiding their troubles, and also kindly offered his own opinions on the issues.

There is something different about His Highness today, the soldiers and captains of the guard thought.

Isaac knew that it was wishful thinking to expect to win the hearts of the soldiers with such tricks, but through this method, Isaac could gradually understand the lives of the grassroots soldiers, what they lacked, what they wanted, and what their ideals were.

Everyone has interests, and if I can represent the interests of a person, he will fully support me.

Relying on his understanding of the historical trends, Isaac could only figure out the general direction. Historians disdained to record these details, but their importance is self-evident.

Going deep into the grassroots and understanding people's hearts is the way of emperors.

In the afternoon, the guards were assigned to participate in patrolling the city - there was no other way, the finances were tight and every penny had to be spent carefully.

Isaac took this opportunity to take inventory of his possessions.

As a prince, Isaac certainly had an annual pension - the bulk of it was used to pay the guards' salaries, leaving not much.

Sometimes when his father was happy, he would give Isaac some change, which he saved and put in a small box.

There are also some miscellaneous jewelry and artworks of average value.

The most precious things were the dowry left to Isaac by his late mother, 2000 ducats in cash and many quaint books.

As expected of a business aristocrat, he is so rich.

The total amount was about 5000 ducats.

For ordinary people, this is already a huge sum of money. In this day and age, the purchasing power of Ducat is quite high, and a soldier's annual income is about 100 groschen, or 5 Ducats.

Of course, this does not mean that Isaac can now easily gather an army of 1000 people. Food, equipment, training, etc. are all money-consuming beasts.

Isaac packed up his belongings, took his servants, and headed for the Venetian colony.

Here, Isaac sold all the trinkets given by his uncle and father and the books treasured by his mother to the greedy Venetian merchants.

It turns out that books were a rare commodity in that era, and the price was even higher than Isaac had expected.

After some fierce bargaining, Isaac resisted the urge to give the Venetian bookseller a beating, picked up the 2640 ducats and walked away.

The Venetian merchant behind him smiled continuously.

Dozens of hardcover books shipped back to northern Italy would be enough to make a fortune.

Isaac counted his purse and found 5633 ducats in all.

One ducat was worth 3.5 grams of gold, and more than ten kilograms of gold filled the seats of the carriage.

Next, Isaac found the alcalde of the colony, His Excellency Miloto, the plenipotentiary representative of the Venetian Republic in Constantinople.

After the announcement, Isaac appeared in the alderman's reception room a few moments later.

When Miloto learned that a prince from Paleologus was visiting, he was a little confused.

"How can I help you, Your Highness?" His tone was polite but stiff, filled with a sense of domineering pride.

The alderman's room was noble and elegant. The porcelain on the table was obviously from the far east, and the murals on the side walls were obviously from the hands of masters. On the wall opposite the door, there was a map of the Aegean Sea, with Venice's colonies marked in gold. Crete, Negroponte, Corfu, and important ports in Achaia and Corinth.

It stretches endlessly, like an ugly scar carved on the face of the empire.

Miloto himself is a burly middle-aged man who looks well-maintained. His gorgeous clothes and valuable accessories all show that his owner is from a wealthy family.

In his hand the alderman held a gold-mounted cane with a dazzling ruby ​​on top and the emblem of St. Mark engraved on it.

Did the gold come from the statue of Justinian?
Was this gem once a treasure of the Byzantine emperor?

Damn it!
Isaac stepped forward quickly, looking humble.

"Your Excellency, may God bless you. I am sorry for the hassle I caused you by coming here."

"As your most loyal friend and junior, I have brought you a gift."

Isaac took off the sword from his waist and presented it.

"This sword is from my mother's collection. It originally came from a Crusader knight who fought in Jerusalem and drank the blood of pagans."

“My mother’s ancestors bought it and it came down to me.”

Isaac drew out his sword, the blade rang, and the strong cold light seemed to lower the temperature of the whole room by a few degrees.

The sword was covered with dense scars, and under the afternoon sun, it looked dark red.

Miloto took the sword and examined it carefully.

"This... How can I accept such a precious treasure?"

Even so, his furry hands kept stroking the sword.

"There is a Turkish proverb that says 'The bravest warrior has the sharpest scimitar'. Only when such a sharp weapon is in your hands can it play its due role."

Miloto looked at Isaac deeply, as if trying to find evidence of lying.

Isaac met his scrutinizing gaze calmly.

Pick it up! Pick it up!
Miloto smiled and put down his sword.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Your Majesty sent me to deliver food. We don't have warships to protect merchant ships. I would like to buy a large galley and matching slaves and sailors from you."

Miloto smiled again.
"Is this the Emperor's intention, or yours?"

"Your Majesty is very busy..."

Isaac steeled himself.

"You know that the Republic's regulations do not allow warships to be sold to other countries privately."

Isaac nodded.

"So you want to bypass Venice and Constantinople and order a fully equipped warship with sailors and slaves from me in your personal name?"

Isaac nodded again.

The atmosphere suddenly stagnated. Miloto stroked the sword and remained silent for a long time.

"Okay." Miloto said slowly.

Isaac breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't be too happy. I can sell you a warship like this, but it's not an official product of Venice. It's made in Crete, in my family's private shipyard."

"Of course. I trust the character of the alderman."

Isaac said quickly.

"5000 ducats."

"you……"

A little later, Isaac refused Miloto's invitation to dinner and took to the streets of Constantinople.

Isaac, his clothes half soaked with sweat, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, purchasing warships from private shipyards in Venice was the main purpose, and selling private ships was one of the ways for many commercial nobles to make money.

For enough money, they could even sell their newest warships to the Ottomans.

However, this kind of thing cannot be said directly, so there is a sword used to "make friends".

As for the miraculous sword, it was indeed a collection of Isaac's mother, but the story was all fictitious. Isaac made it up to amuse the alderman based on his understanding of him.

Moreover, 5000 ducats is just the approximate price of a private ship, so Miloto still made a lot of money.

Regardless, the first step was successful.

Isaac sat in the carriage, feeling the sea breeze on his face. In the distant sea, fishermen took advantage of the tide to go out to fish. The sun slowly set where they left.

Tomorrow morning, they will return with a full load.

The currency system at that time was very complicated. The Venetian Ducat and Groshen currency system was used, which had the widest circulation and best value preservation.
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(End of this chapter)