1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 250 Before the wedding
A drizzle washed away the summer heat, and the autumn of 1466 arrived as expected.

In the fields, the ripe wheat has been harvested, and the next planting season has not yet arrived. The farmers have gained a rare leisure time, and they gather in groups of three or four in the square in front of the village church to chat about family matters and listen to the priest's sermons.

After commercial trade unions were established in major cities, scattered merchants were integrated, and the bulk agricultural and pastoral products harvested by the people could be sold directly to major chambers of commerce without having to participate in subsequent sales, saving time and increasing efficiency.

Of course, foods with a short shelf life such as vegetables, fruits, milk and camel milk can only be delivered to nearby cities by village horse-drawn carriages. Commercial guilds will not engage in such business that is prone to losses.

As for the more remote villages, the inflow and outflow of goods was more difficult, and they still retained the traditional business model and relied on traveling merchants. This was determined by objective conditions, and the central government of the empire had no way to deal with it.

Every other week, postmen would ride to various villages on horseback and hand the "Daily Chronicle" from the center of the empire to the priest, who would then gather the villagers and explain it.

The Daily Record is an official gazette, an old tradition of the ancient Roman Empire, which publishes written edicts, tells stories about the empire, spreads news of wars, and guides public opinion.

Since Emperor Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople, the Roman Empire had not published the "Daily Record" for more than a thousand years. It was resumed not long ago, except that the handwritten bulletins were changed to movable type printing.

The bulletin was divided into two sides. The front side mainly published the imperial central decrees, war news, tax adjustments, mobilization documents, and sometimes some poems and literary stories, unifying the entire empire.

The other side is regional, and each region is different. In addition to the policies and laws of the regional government, major businessmen can also publish job recruitment and purchase advertisements. Various commercial trade unions will also clearly list the purchase price of bulk goods to prevent people from encountering unscrupulous merchants and being deceived.

Although it is the slack season for farming, the villagers still cannot completely relax. Men of appropriate age will go to a nearby assembly point to participate in a ten-day militia training, while women, the elderly and children will stay at home, turning the soil, making compost, and preparing for subsequent sowing.

In recent years, the empire has begun to mine coal in a planned manner, and villages near the coal fields have begun to use coal for cooking on a small scale. Although it smells bad, since coal has no other use for the time being, its price is much cheaper than charcoal.

In the "Daily Chronicle", the imperial central government also detailed the importance and specific methods of setting fire to the fields, encouraging villagers to burn all the straw, weeds and bushes in the fields after harvesting, in order to avoid insect diseases and use the ash from the burnt fields as fertilizer.

As early as when Isaac just occupied Sirte, he began to promote the "agriculture and animal husbandry" production method among the people, encouraging villagers to plant legume forage grasses such as alfalfa. All visible land was sown with alfalfa seeds for feeding livestock, and also for nitrogen fixation in the fields through rhizobia.

Over the past 20 years, this more scientific production method has achieved considerable results in North Africa and the Balkans. The total number of livestock raised in rural areas has increased year by year, fresh meat, eggs and milk can appear on farmers' tables from time to time, and their physical fitness has been gradually improved.

Nurtured by the prosperous ocean trade and colonial economy, the Eastern Roman Empire no longer needed to impose heavy taxes on the people or require them to bear excessive corvee labor. Under this economic model, the number of newborns began to soar, the consumer market became increasingly prosperous, and the entire empire was full of vitality.

The city of Carthage has been very busy recently. The new cultural and sports district, which is expected to accommodate more than 20,000 people, is being built at a rapid pace under the leadership of the minister who stayed behind, Basilius. The completed hippodrome and arena have hosted competitions one after another. The invited circus set up a venue in the square and held a month-long performance. The city of Carthage, which was filled with a solemn atmosphere, finally had a hint of humanity, and the people were very happy.

Of course, what the people of Carthage are most talking about is the upcoming wedding. Rumors have already leaked that during the wedding, there will be unlimited beer in the city, all workers will have three days off, the lighthouse will be lit day and night, and the curfew will be temporarily lifted.

As the wedding was approaching, more and more nobles, wealthy businessmen and tribal sheikhs were invited to come to Carthage with their families. The inns in the city were soon full, and more and more tents were set up outside the city, further stimulating the city's consumer market.

In the study of the palace, Isaac sat on a chair covered with soft velvet, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. His daughter Thessalonika lay in front of Isaac's desk, taking on the duties of a clerk, reading recent reports to Isaac.

Thessalonika is almost nine years old. As a girl, she has not been exposed to military and national affairs. She has loved reading and writing since she was a child. She has read many books including Anna Komnenos' "The Life of Alexios". Her favorite are still a few travel notes. She read "The Travels of Marco Polo" and "The Travels of Ibn Battuta" over and over again all day long. She can even patiently read such stiff and boring notes as "The Travels of Clavius".

"Father, didn't you ask Justinian to read the memorials for you? Why did you drag me here again? I haven't finished reading the Arabic books you found for me last time..."

Salonika complained as she flipped through the documents.

"Your brother is getting married. He has a lot of things to do recently. He has to entertain guests from all over the place. He doesn't have the time for this."

Isaac took a sip of coffee and said with a smile.

"Your mother just gave birth, and she needs to rest for two months. These two months are up to you."

Not long ago, Leonor gave birth to her fifth child, a boy, and Isaac named the infant Anastasius.

As she grew older, Leonor had more and more difficulty giving birth. After Astanasius was born, Isaac said he was not prepared to let his wife continue to endure this pain. Maintaining her health was more important than anything else.

Leonor's family was famous for being fertile. Her mother gave birth to nine children, but due to the poor medical standards in the Middle Ages, two of them died at birth and only five survived to adulthood.

As a time traveler, Isaac certainly knew the importance of medicine. Every time his wife gave birth, Isaac did his best to ensure the hygiene of medical supplies, boiling them again and again, and sterilizing them again and again.

Isaac's royal doctors were also carefully selected. They firmly refused to let the older generation of doctors in Constantinople deliver Leonor. They also spent a lot of time and finally trained a group of doctors who were barely usable.

"Father, are you listening?"

Salonika knocked on the table and glared at Isaac in dissatisfaction.

Isaac came back to his senses and gave her an apologetic smile.

"continue."

Salonika nodded and began to read.

"This one is from the Governor of La Palma, Lothar. He said in it that his father, Mayor Andre, passed away last month. He hopes to take a temporary leave and bury Mayor Andre outside the Palaiologos Mausoleum in Constantinople according to his father's will."

"Andre is gone after all..."

Isaac looked up at the ceiling and sighed slightly.

Butler Andrew was the steward left behind by Isaac's mother Catherine. He provided a lot of help to Isaac when he was still young and served as Minister of Commerce until he retired and returned home a few years ago.

"Alright. Let the city council of Constantinople prepare a grand reception. It must be a grand and glorious one. The Patriarch of Constantinople must also be present."

Isaac said.

Thessalonika picked up the pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote beautiful words.

Then she took out another one.

"This is a joint report from Minister of Transport Jerome and General Salmon of Constanta. It talks about the amber mine in Constanta and asks about your arrangements for this matter."

"Yes, I know about that. They have already sent the largest one over here, and named it the 'Heart of Bulgaria'."

Isaac smiled.

"Don't worry about the amber mine. I may set up a company in the future, and one-fifth of the annual income will be provided to the Constanta Military District as military expenses."

"Ok."

Salonika wrote a few words and put the letter aside.

After thinking for a while, she turned her head and looked at Isaac with her big watery eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering.

"Father, the biggest gem you are going to prepare is—"

"Don't come here, it's for your mother. She seems to be preparing to give it to your eldest sister-in-law Isabella as a gift."

Isaac narrowed his eyes and interrupted his daughter.

"Didn't I give you a lot of diamonds from New Thrace a few days ago? Forget about the Heart of Bulgaria."

"Humph, give her all the good things you have. She is not your daughter."

Salonika pouted and turned away angrily.

"Let her write your biography later!"

"Okay, okay, next time I have something good, I will definitely give it to you first. Your brother is getting married, we can't be too stingy, right?"

Isaac shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Salonika thought about it, snorted, and pulled out another document.

"This is a report from La Spezia. The Ecumenical Council has concluded, and it is similar to your initial expectations. The most critical points of consensus have been recognized by the majority of bishops."

"Most of them? Who don't recognize it? The Bishop of France?"

Isaac looked toward Salonika.

"No, the bishops of France did not say anything. They did not speak at all at the meeting. The report said that this might be King Louis's intention."

Salonika looked at the report.

“Several priests from Aragon who attended the meeting strongly opposed it, and the participants from the Moscow Orthodox Church left halfway through the meeting. Although they did not oppose it, they actually made their attitude clear.” Isaac nodded and thought about it.

"The Bishop of Aragon is probably afraid that we will extend our influence to Sicily and Majorca, but it doesn't matter. We don't need to care about their opinions."

"Grand Duke Ivan is an ambitious man. His attitude towards us is rather complicated. He has always wanted to establish an independent diocese and has always been opposed to the unification of the church. I am not surprised."

Isaac nodded slightly.

"However, our two countries still have common interests. When facing the Tatars, we are still ironclad allies. Let them think whatever they want."

"Have all the parishes signed the agreement, except for a few?"

"Yes, that's what it says on the document. There's also a copy of the meeting stub attached. Would you like to see it?"

Salonika asked.

"Leave it there for now. I'll take a look at it later."

Salonika placed the stub somewhere conspicuous and continued reading the next letter.

"This letter is from Basilius, the minister who stayed behind in Carthage. He wrote that the empire has been prosperous recently and he hopes to restore some of the functions of the Senate."

"Don't even think about it, ignore him!"

Isaac waved his hand, and Salonica obediently threw the document aside.

The Senate was a traditional institution of the Roman Empire, and even in the late Eastern Roman Empire it was not completely abolished.

In name, the Roman Empire was not an empire, and the emperor was not hereditary. It had a special institution, the Senate, which was fundamentally different from the feudal states in Western Europe.

According to legal theory, the original Senate did have a series of powers including advisory, executive, legislative, and appointment and removal powers. The Roman emperor also had to be recognized by the Senate and the entire Roman people. He was more like a "full-power spokesperson" rather than a "hereditary ruler."

Of course, since Emperor Constantine moved the capital, the Senate of the Eastern Empire has lost almost all real power and only has these powers in name.

To this day, although the Senate still exists in Constantinople, it is basically a mere decoration without any power. The senators are appointed by the emperor and everything is just a formality.

Isaac has never been interested in this kind of thing. He almost re-established a set of aristocratic system and parliamentary system. The members of the Imperial Parliament are no longer entirely composed of aristocrats like the Senate. Many civilians can also serve as members after making outstanding contributions.

Isaac thought about it and looked towards Salonika.

"Read his report again. I don't believe he would make such a stupid suggestion."

Salonika picked up the document and flipped through it again.

"He suggested that you merge the Senate and the Imperial Parliament so that the grassroots people can also participate in politics, so that you can better perceive public opinion."

"That's more like it. It's worth considering. When I set up the Imperial Parliament, I didn't have a good grasp of Constantinople, otherwise I would have done it earlier."

Isaac rubbed his brow.

"When my father arrives in Carthage, I will discuss this with him. If the Senate wants to maintain its vitality for a long time, it must not be complacent. The status of the senator must not be linked to blood ties, but must absorb the vigorous vitality provided by the grassroots people."

"As long as we can understand the opinions of various factions and meet their interests, the country will continue to prosper."

"Later, perhaps we can also grant the title of elder to scientists, agronomists, writers, and nobles of subordinate tribes and countries to enhance their centripetal force towards the empire."

Salonika wrote a few words on the document and put it on the other side.

"By the way, speaking of the Imperial Parliament, didn't they hold a meeting in Carthage recently? Find the minutes of the meeting."

Salonika searched the bookshelf for a long time before finding a pile of documents and moving them down.

"You want the latest one?"

"Yes, the meeting last month."

Salonika handed the top document to Isaac, and while Isaac was reading it, she snatched his coffee, drank it in one gulp, and smacked her lips in satisfaction.

Isaac shook his head helplessly and started reading the documents.

Skipping the long paragraph of official language, Isaac went straight to the point.

The meeting passed three relatively important proposals. The first one was from a member of parliament from the city of Bilinchi, who hoped to regulate the slave trade and at the same time strengthen supervision to prevent tax evasion.

At present, there are three main types of slaves in the Eastern Empire, with different prices and taxes.

The first type is serfs, who have special identity documents issued by the government and are considered Roman citizens, but their personal freedom is restricted. They can only stay in the manors of the serf owners and farm for them. According to the law, the serf owners will give them extremely low wages. After saving enough money, they can redeem their freedom and become tenants.

However, when Isaac negotiated with the serf owners, they had already made a plan. Under their plan, the serfs would have to work for fifteen years to save enough money to redeem themselves. The serfs' enthusiasm was increased, but the serf owners did not suffer much loss.

Under the high-intensity work, a serf could only be used for twenty years at most. Even if there was no right to redeem himself, the serf owners would gradually eliminate serfs who had worked for more than fifteen years.

The second type is debt slaves. Their masters have a slave contract and must free them after the expiration of the contract. Otherwise, once discovered, the church and the government will jointly take coercive measures.

After being freed, debt slaves will be baptized and examined by the church, learn Greek, convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, and become Roman citizens. No one will have the power to deprive them of their personal freedom.

Debt slaves were mostly Berbers in North Africa, Arabs and Turks in the Balkans. In Isaac's plan, they were a group of people who could be assimilated.

The third type is lifelong slaves. Their number is relatively small. Generally, only prisoners who have committed serious crimes will wear this kind of lifelong shackles, depriving them of all rights and they can only wait for death in government-run mines and plantations.

Of course, these are legal provisions and it is impossible to fully implement them, and there are many slave owners who take advantage of loopholes.

Isaac continued reading. The second proposal came from a citizen-born senator from Constantinople, who hoped that Isaac would move the workshop area far away to avoid polluting the land and emitting stench and noise.

This is of course impossible. Industrial progress will naturally bring about a series of problems. There is no good way to solve them, and they can only be left to future generations to solve.

The third proposal came from a Carthaginian innkeeper. His inn was packed with guests from all over. He tried to borrow money to expand, but failed to borrow much. He hoped that Isaac would establish a branch of the Bank of Constantinople in Carthage and allow citizens to borrow money.

This can be tried, but it must be strictly supervised and the property of every citizen who comes to borrow money must be assessed.

Thinking of this, Isaac took Thessaloniki away, sat at the table, picked up a pen, reviewed it, wrote down his opinions, and then sent them to the prime minister and ministers.

After finishing these chores, the sun had already gradually set, the city was still bustling, and the sea tide was still surging.

As Isaac was walking towards the restaurant with his daughter, he bumped into Albuquerque, who was running hurriedly, at the corner.

"Albuquerque? What's wrong?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow and looked at his godson.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Constantine's ship has arrived in Carthage, and with him are Prince Alexios and Prince Manuel."

Albuquerque said breathlessly.

"His Highness Justinian has already arrived. He asked me to come and inform you."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Isaac leaned over to look at Salonika.

"Go find your mother and ask her to inform all the nobles that they must come to see the emperor early tomorrow morning."

"Also, tell mother that the preparations for the wedding must be accelerated. Two things, remember?"

Salonika nodded and ran away.

Isaac took Albuquerque out of the palace and headed towards the dock.

(End of this chapter)