1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 325 Prometheus

Spring has finally arrived, with clear skies and gentle breezes. The northern coast of the Mediterranean has regained its vitality, crops in the fields are thriving, fish and shrimp in the lakes and rivers are becoming active, and merchant ships on the sea are becoming busy.

The port is very prosperous, with densely packed houses crowded on the coast. It is surrounded by mountains and the sea, and has a good deep-water port. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack on land, and suitable for trade on the ocean. It has the potential to become an important commercial port and commercial city-state.

On the hillside northeast of the port sits a magnificent castle. The castle is novel and unique, with a distinct antique Roman style. It uses semicircular arches and a dome as the center of the building. It is obviously a new building from the Renaissance.

Two flags are flying above the castle at the same time, one is the red and white striped flag and the other is the gold and red double-headed eagle flag, symbolizing the ownership of the city.

This is the Free City of Ragusa in the Eastern Roman Empire, a trading city located on the Adriatic Sea in the Balkan Peninsula. It was an important transit point for the Eastern Roman Empire to conduct Apennine trade and was wealthy and prosperous.

Ragusa has been a "Roman-Slavic" dual city since its founding. With the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, the proportion of Slavs has become increasingly higher. Today, the main ethnic group is Slavic, but culturally it tends to be Italian. It can basically be regarded as an Italian-style trading city-state.

Of course, Ragusa was not a Latin colonist in Italy, but a "fragment of the Eastern Roman Empire" that split off during the Fourth Crusade. During the reign of Michael VIII, it maintained relatively good relations with Constantinople until the complete decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, when it turned to Hungary in order to fight against Venice.

The citizens of Ragusa love freedom and gained considerable autonomy during the Komnenian dynasty. They have diverse cultures, relatively free religions, and many official languages, with Latin and Croatian dominating.

After re-declaring allegiance to the Eastern Roman Empire, the Free City of Ragusa achieved rapid development. Long-term peace and stability promoted the prosperity of commerce, and the sea and land trade that had once declined during the Ottoman Empire quickly recovered.

What made Ragusa most excited was that the Republic of Venice lost its hegemony over the Eastern Mediterranean and began to decline rapidly. They took this opportunity to get a lot of trade shares that originally belonged to Venice. The pro-Eastern Roman faction in the country completely gained the upper hand, while the pro-Hungarian and pro-Venetian factions gradually declined.

In the past, Ragusa mainly sold low-end products such as timber, livestock and minerals from the Balkans to Italy, and then sold high-end handicrafts from Italy to the Balkans. Since it was close to the Apennine Peninsula, it also made a lot of money.

However, in the past decade, the handicraft industry of the Eastern Roman Empire has continued to develop, while major trading powers such as Venice have continued to decline. Ragusa's import and export trade has begun to reverse, and handicrafts from the Eastern Roman Empire have begun to pour into Italy through this port, gradually squeezing out the local market.

Italy during the Renaissance had a special reverence for the ancients, believing that things from ancient Greece and Rome must be good. Many Eastern Roman workshops began to deliberately add a large number of ancient cultural features to clothing and furniture, even though most of these features came from the extinct polytheism.

In addition, there were a large number of merchants who deliberately forged ancient Greek books and artifacts to defraud money. The church was relatively open-minded about these things and never paid much attention to them. Even if it wanted to, there was nothing it could do.

Critically produce and critically use.

Of course, there was a price to pay. The massive influx of Eastern Roman handicrafts and Constantinople's special treatment of artisans almost turned the already mediocre autonomous production system of the Free City of Ragusa into a blank. It embarked on a similar path to the Free City of La Spezia and basically became a transit station for goods between the East and the West, which was very different from handicraft city-states such as Venice and Florence.

Of the two major free cities in the Eastern Roman Empire, the Free City of La Spezia was mainly responsible for the African-Apennine trade and was also an important hub for the import of ocean-going goods into the Apennines. Its development speed was far ahead. The Free City of Ragusa was responsible for the Balkan-Apennine trade and had great potential under the wave of revitalization of the Eastern Roman handicraft industry, but it was still overtaken by La Spezia and left far behind.

Ocean trade is so unreasonable. Things like pepper and spices do not require any craftsmanship, but they are expensive and there is no demand.

In recent years, the strength of the Eastern Roman Empire has continued to rise, and the management of the two free cities has become much more formal. The mayors of the free cities are elected by the city council, but must be recognized by the Eastern Roman emperor, serve as senators in the Senate, and report to Constantinople regularly.

At present, the Eastern Roman Empire has basically achieved the unification of commercial taxes within the country. Neither cities nor castles have the power to levy customs duties, which are all decided by the central government. In order to promote commercial trade, more and more local collection methods such as tolls and bridge tolls have been abolished by the central government. The tax departments of various cities directly collect taxes on stalls and goods, transfer them to the central government, and then distribute them to local areas.

In foreign trade, the Eastern Roman Empire has long adhered to free trade based on Roman priority, requiring other countries to abolish tariffs, break down trade barriers, and allow Eastern Roman goods to enter the country freely. At the same time, it increased taxes on foreign goods, set up trade barriers, and protected its own handicraft industry.

The biggest advantage of the two free cities of the Eastern Roman Empire is tariffs. They can enjoy the tax reduction and exemption policies of the Eastern Roman Empire, but the local merchants can better enter the Apennine market due to cultural and religious proximity, and realize tax reduction and avoidance through the relationship network within the Apennine, acting as middlemen.

Of course, as the Eastern Roman Empire grew stronger, the two free cities became more and more dependent on Eastern Roman goods. It was no longer possible for them to decide import and export tariffs on their own, so the two sides began to hold meetings to negotiate.

In addition to politics and economy, the Eastern Roman Empire also obtained the right to garrison the Free City of Ragusa. The Adriatic Squadron of the Eastern Mediterranean Fleet used it as its home port. More than 20 warships, including the Ravenna Governor's Caravel, were on standby at all times, with the aim of attacking Venetian merchant ships and locking them in the Adriatic Sea as much as possible.

The sun was high above the sky, the port had already awakened, dock workers were carrying cargo up and down the river, and sailors, after a bumpy sea voyage, were walking arm in arm into pubs to relax.

In an ordinary, remote tavern, a middle-aged man with a full beard slowly savored the onion soup in front of him, leisurely and comfortable, holding a wooden spoon in his left hand, with his right hand hanging naturally. His eyes seemed to be fixed on the soup bowl, but he was always observing the movements around him.

Opposite him, a young man with blond hair looked anxious and scratched his ears from time to time.

There were only a few people in the small tavern. Apart from the middle-aged man and the blond young man, there was only the old tavern owner standing in front of the bar.

The wooden door opened and a drunken sailor walked in, humming an unknown song.

"Boss! Give me two more glasses of beer! And your waitress, get it out quickly!"

The sailor spoke loudly, reeking of alcohol.

Seeing someone coming, the middle-aged man stopped eating as if inadvertently, and his right hand, which hung naturally, touched the crossbow under his coat.

"Sorry, the tavern is under renovation today and we are not accepting guests."

The innkeeper said slowly.

"Please go somewhere else."

"What? Asshole, why are they here?"

The sailor cursed and looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man glanced sideways at the sailor.

"What are you looking at?"

The sailor shouted at the middle-aged man.

"I don't know, maybe some kind of animal."

The middle-aged man said indifferently.

The middle-aged man's actions instantly angered the drunkard, and the sailor drew his knife on the spot.

"I'll make your silly smile disappear forever!"

The middle-aged man said nothing. He took out the crossbow that was ready to fire from under his coat and aimed it at the sailor.

The sailor immediately calmed down and hid his scimitar behind his back.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm leaving now!"

The sailor smiled, bent over, and left quickly.

The tavern became deserted again, and the tavern owner looked at the middle-aged man.

"You shouldn't be so abrupt. I have a protection agreement with the underground forces and I have a way to drive him away."

"Who cares? I've already completed my mission. After I finish this job, I'll quit my job and go back to get married and have kids."

The middle-aged man shrugged.

“The harvest this time is not bad.”

"Oh."

The tavern owner didn't ask any more questions and continued to wipe the dirty bar with a dirty rag.

"Where exactly are you trying to take me and why aren't we there yet!"

The blond young man plucked up his courage, stood up and yelled at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked at him strangely.

"I didn't do anything to you. You'll know when we get there."

"Didn't you agree to come along? Don't worry, it will definitely be a good thing for you."

The wooden door was pushed open again, and another person rushed in. Without saying a word, he looked around, nodded to the tavern owner, ordered some food and wine casually, and went straight to the middle-aged man. He observed him for a while, then slapped the blond young man on the neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Where did it come from?"

The visitor looked at the middle-aged man.

“Heaven on Earth.”

"Where do you live?"

“Sacred ground.”

"Why are you going?"

"Steal the sacred fire."

The other party nodded, quite satisfied with the middle-aged man's answer, and showed the ring on her hand.

“The eagle flag is still there.”

"Still."

The middle-aged man also showed the ring on his hand.

"Where?"

"In the chest."

The middle-aged man replied.

"He has already passed the test. He doesn't need to try. He is ours."

The tavern owner looked at the newcomer.

"Benzel, why are you here too?"

"Oh, forget it."

Benzer relaxed, took out a pipe, and filled it with tobacco deftly.

"I went all the way to Sofia, and then I found out that His Majesty was not in Constantinople, but had gone to Carthage."

"There was no choice but to run after him and run back again."

"Our Majesty is so energetic!"

Benzer burned the iron wire he carried with him over the candle, lit the tobacco skillfully, and took a long puff.

"Which department?"

Benzer looked at the middle-aged man again.

"Didn't I tell you?"

The middle-aged man raised his head and glanced at him.

"Prometheus."

"Oh, no wonder you brought a silly boy with you."

Benzer nodded thoughtfully.

"What about you? Which department are you from?"

"Hermes."

Benzel exhaled a puff of smoke.

"What's your name?"

"Lazar."

The middle-aged man said casually.

"Serbs? Huh?"

Benzel smiled.

"We also have two Serbs in that department, both of whom are good at assassination."

"Isn't Hermes in charge of business? Does he need to be assassinated as well?"

Lazar asked casually.

"Yes, there are assassinations as well. Two months ago, one of our colleagues killed a black man in Porto Chrysostom in Congo."

Benzel said.

"why?"

"Because he actually tried to persuade the King of Congo to ban the import of spiked liquor, and he openly dumped this commodity that could bring us unlimited profits in his own chiefdom." Benzer snorted coldly.

"Finally, he was thrown into the Congo River by our people."

"By the way, hasn't your business expanded overseas as well?"

Benzer looked at Lazar curiously.

"I heard that a Prometheus brought back a new blue dye from Maya, named Mayan blue, which is said to be better than Egyptian blue."

"There were also advanced spinning machines and new plows from the East, which the Prometheans brought from Malacca."

"I don't know. It has nothing to do with me."

Lazar shook his head and drank his onion soup.

"I was originally in charge of Iberia, but now I'm wanted by them, so I'm in charge of the German region."

Obviously, the three people here are all intelligence agents of the Eastern Roman Empire, and this tavern is their lounge and information exchange center. Ragusa is an important trade hub on the Adriatic Sea, connecting several densely populated areas with a large number of people coming and going. Naturally, the intelligence agents of the Eastern Roman Empire would not let go of this place.

The intelligence department of the Eastern Roman Empire had been established a long time ago, but the responsibilities were not clearly allocated. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of the Navy all had their own intelligence departments, which were very inefficient and seriously affected the speed of information gathering.

At the end of last year, the Eastern Roman Empire began to carry out civil service reforms. The intelligence departments were integrated, their responsibilities were clearly divided, and they were only responsible to the emperor himself.

The ancient Roman Empire actually had its own intelligence department responsible for simple espionage work, but the emperor put forward more requirements for intelligence personnel in the new era, and their work would become more extensive and complicated.

Thus, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau came into being. According to different responsibilities, it was divided into several subordinate departments, such as Ares in charge of army intelligence, Poseidon in charge of naval intelligence, Athena in charge of diplomatic intelligence, Hestia in charge of civil affairs intelligence, Hermes in charge of commercial intelligence...

Among these departments, the most special one is Prometheus where Lazar is located. This department, named after the fire thief in mythology, is in charge of science and technology. It needs to travel around the world and introduce some revolutionary advanced technologies to the Eastern Roman Empire.

Simply put, it is stealing technology from all over the world.

The Prometheus Department has the highest requirements for the comprehensive quality of intelligence personnel. They need to have strong professional and technical capabilities and unique vision and imagination. They must know what technologies are of great value and what technologies are just fantasies and completely worthless.

Lazar was one of the best among them. He had become an intelligence agent of the Eastern Roman Empire a long time ago. He stole early samples of the Moushcot musket from Spain and also stole Merino sheep that were banned from export by the Spanish. As a result, he was wanted by many cities.

Of course, although it is an intelligence department, the emperor's requirements for the Imperial Intelligence Agency are not just to collect intelligence. From assassination to poisoning, all kinds of conspiracies and intrigues must be carried out by someone.

If disease broke out in the farmlands of the Eastern Roman Empire, the usually friendly Hestia tribe would probably carry the diseased crops to hostile countries such as France and Venice, causing them to suffer from famine as well.

If some talents in the colonies discovered the commercial traps of the Eastern Roman Empire and wanted to reform and strengthen themselves, thus infringing on the commercial interests of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Hermes Tribe, which usually focused on collecting commercial information, would send assassins to warn them that if they did not change, they would be ready to die.

War is always the last option. In many cases, killing one or two people can avoid an unnecessary war.

As for the Prometheus tribe, they rarely come into contact with things like assassination and poisoning. At this time, most countries have no special protection for technology, so as long as you want to search, you can basically get it.

In most cases, you don't even need to steal, buying it with money is enough.

Only in rare cases does Prometheus resort to kidnapping and murder to obtain advanced technology.

"Is this the technical talent you captured?"

Benzel asked, pouting at the blond young man.

"Yes, but it's not kidnapping. He came here on his own accord."

Lazar shrugged.

"This kid is a Saxon weaver who has been studying his treadle loom, but to be honest, I don't think it's very good. It's a bit cumbersome."

"After searching around and finding nothing else, I offered to buy his design, but he refused, saying we couldn't make it even after looking at the drawing."

Lazar shook his head with a smile.

"As a result, when we were halfway there, he changed his mind and ran away a few times, but I caught him back."

"Before I left, I gave his gambling father a lot of money. His father said it was okay for us to capture him and make him a slave."

"That's what the Germanic barbarians are like."

Benzel smiled.

"Come to think of it, my last mission was also somewhat related to technology. The English seemed to have improved the printing press, and a businessman began to use it to print advertisements. I felt that this was very valuable for business and trade, and in the end I contacted your people."

"Were you in England?"

Lazar wiped his mouth, pulled out a cigarette and lit it over the candle.

“That’s really far away.”

"No, I'm in Burgundy. I went there with the musketeer instructor. We were mainly investigating the wool market in the Netherlands to see if we could make a profit from it."

Benzel shook his head.

"I also heard something on the way. It should be quite important, but it's not a secret. It's probably spread by now."

"Oh? What happened?"

Lazar asked.

"Nicholas, Duke of Lorraine, is dead."

Benzel said.

"This is nothing, it's worthless."

Lazar shook his head and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"No, do you know who Nicholas was talking about marriage with before?"

Benzel asked mysteriously.

"Who?"

Lazar asked casually.

"Mary of Burgundy!"

Benzel said slowly.

"She is the only daughter of Charles, Duke of Burgundy! Heiress to Burgundy and the Netherlands!"

"A noble girl destined to be rich, then what?"

Lazar looked at Benzel.

"And then? Duke Charles originally wanted to form an alliance with Lorraine to open up a road between the two territories and change the embarrassing situation. Now that Nicholas is dead, the plan has failed."

Benzel chuckled.

"Duke Charles seems to have always wanted to establish the Kingdom of Burgundy, appoint himself king, and exclude France, but legally, he cannot do so."

"I heard that Charles is planning to form an alliance with the Habsburg family of Austria and marry Mary to Maximilian, the eldest son of Archduke Frederick."

"The condition is that Archduke Frederick must crown him King of Burgundy."

"Really? That's amazing."

Lazar said expressionlessly.

"But what does this have to do with me?"

"Look, they are right. All the staff of your Prometheus Department are a bunch of cold people. Being too rational will make you lose the joy of life."

Benzer looked at Lazar with disgust.

"Look at our Hermes tribe. They can quickly integrate into the local community wherever they go, and many of them can even become guests of honor of wealthy nobles!"

"Okay, so what are you going to do next?"

After eating and drinking, Lazar put out his cigarette, stood up and prepared to leave.

"First go to Carthage to meet the emperor and hand over the mission, then rest for a while before rushing to the next mission."

Benzer's meal arrived, and as he had been hungry for a long time, he immediately started to wolf it down.

"My next mission seems to be to go to New Rome with a few officials from the Ministry of Agriculture to inspect cocoa beans and strive to achieve artificial cultivation."

"It's strange that the natives actually used cocoa beans as money."

Benzer said vaguely.

"If we can grow cocoa beans in large quantities, it would be like growing gold... hehe."

"What about you? Where are you going on your next mission?"

Benzer raised his head and looked at Lazar.

Lazar said nothing.

"Hey! We are not from the Ares or Poseidon tribe. Is there anything we can't say?"

Benzel complained.

"Business and technology are inseparable, and we usually collaborate the most."

"It's not that I won't tell you, but I'm not sure if I will continue to do it."

Lazar sighed.

"I'm not young anymore. I don't want to travel far. If it's nearby, it's fine. But if I have to take a ship to the colonies, I won't do it."

Lazar said.

"During the last handover, His Majesty said that the Eastern Empire's technology is already at the forefront of the Mediterranean world. If we want to continue to acquire mature and advanced technology, we have to go to the East."

"I heard that there was a Prometheus who even had to follow an Arab merchant ship to Japan to steal tea seeds and tea-growing techniques. If it were me, I would never do that."

“But it’s a lot of money.”

Benzel said.

"The more difficult the task, the greater the reward His Majesty will give."

"That requires a lifespan, and I don't want to go anyway."

Lazar said noncommittally, walked forward and patted the blond young man awake.

"Hey, get up! Get ready to go!"

The young man slowly woke up and looked at Lazar in surprise.

"where are we going?"

"Carthage."

Lazar said, pulling him up.

"Don't even think about running away. I'm watching you!"

"I swear I won't, sir!"

The blond young man nodded quickly.

The two pushed the door open and walked into the crowd.

After a while, Benzer finished his meal and said goodbye to the tavern owner and left. The tavern was empty and the tavern owner was still wiping the dirty bar.

(End of this chapter)