1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 344: Jin-Yuan Diplomacy
On the wide road, people and carriages were crowded, and there were deafening noises, donkeys braying and horses neighing. This phenomenon seemed very common on such a prosperous road from Florence to Pisa.

However, unlike before, those traveling on the road were no longer caravans and travelers, but refugees and deserters.

The conspiracy of the Pazzi family tore apart the dream of the Medici Golden Age. This ancient crazy family trampled on written and unwritten laws and pushed Florence into the abyss of chaos.

The Pazzi, who had lost the support of the people, brought interference from foreign powers to the people of Florence. Mercenaries from the Church and the Emperor entered the city in droves. On the surface, they supported the rule of the Pazzi family, but in fact they had their own ulterior motives. They suppressed the citizens, robbed their wealth, burned down workshops, and caused destruction.

Two weeks had passed since the tragic death of the Medici brothers. The streets of Florence were covered in blood, crows were circling and screaming in the sky, and rats were enjoying their meals in the corners.

At first, in the continuous violent conflicts, due to the lack of organization and poor weapons and equipment, the Florentine citizen armed forces were defeated again and again and were beaten back by the mercenaries of the Holy See and the emperor.

However, the remnants of the Medici family launched a counterattack, claiming that the Pazzi family were the culprits and murderers, and that the Roman Church and the Eastern Roman Emperor were the masterminds and accomplices behind the scenes. They believed that the rule of the Pazzi family would only bring endless disasters and suffering to Florence.

The Medici family and their close families began to distribute weapons, appoint officers, arm citizens, and organize the "Florentine National Army", occupying the southern part of Florence and many surrounding villages and towns, facing the Pazzi army occupying the northern part of the city across the Arno River.

Now, several forces, big and small, in Florence have chosen sides, and only one key force is still hesitating.

White Mercenaries.

The White Legion was a mercenary group founded in the 14th century by the famous mercenary organizer, Sir John Hawkwood from England. It had a long-standing reputation on the Italian battlefield and was hired for life by the Florentine Republic in 1395, effectively becoming the Republic's standing mercenaries.

However, as the Florentine government still did not change its mindset and still treated the White Legion in a mercenary mode, wages in peacetime were much lower than those in wartime. Many young mercenaries who were ambitious or greedy for wealth chose to leave, which led to a rapid decline in the combat capability of the White Legion. In just one generation, the White Legion began to become weak, cunning and slippery, not much different from the Italian citizen militia.

Perhaps because they were too comfortable, or perhaps because they relied too heavily on foreign mercenaries, the Italians' martial tradition has always been very low. The extremely low martial ethics made the Italian citizen army a synonym for low quality, and it could not be compared with the citizen army of the Netherlands and France at all.

After the end of the Battle of Pisa, the external expansion of the Florentine Republic came to an end. The newly-crowned Medici family also tried their best to maintain external peace and advocated "Italian balance of power". After a long period of peace, the combat effectiveness of the White Legion became even worse.

Of course, no matter what, the White Legion is an important force in Florence. Although they are treacherous and rogue, lazy and have lost their former sharpness, as long as they can win their support, any side in the civil war will have a better chance of winning than the other.

The Pazzi family had already gambled everything on this military coup. If they failed, they would be doomed. Of course, they would not allow the opposition to revive. They began to sell off their property, continued to apply for loan assistance from the Vatican and the Emperor, and tried to bribe several important officers of the White Legion.

During this period, most Italian mercenaries adopted the military subcontracting system. There were many mercenary centurions in a mercenary group. They could recruit their own members independently. After the war, money was distributed according to military merit.

This system created by John Hawkwood greatly enhanced the wartime combat capability of the mercenary group, but it also brought hidden dangers. These centurions had strong control over their team members. Each team with a centurion as the core was a semi-independent military unit. As long as the centurions were willing, they could even draw their swords against other teams.

After the White Legion evolved into the regular army of Florence, this system was retained and continued. Theoretically, they had to stand on the side of the Medici family representing the people of Florence in the Pazzi conspiracy. The legion commander was also a member of the pro-Medici faction, but the subordinate centurions did not think so. They were unwilling to sacrifice their lives for the Medici family and tried to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers, waiting for the right price.

As a result, the Pazzi and the Medici began to compete to win over the centurions of the White Legion, which further deepened the internal divisions of the White Legion. They were brothers in arms one day, and were about to fight each other the next.

The Pazzi family, which had gone crazy, mortgaged a large amount of assets, obtained huge funds from the Eastern Roman royal family, and successfully gained the support of a large number of White Legion centurions through buying and bribing, thus gaining the upper hand in this struggle.

On June 1474, 6, the pro-Medici commander of the White Legion was expelled from the country by a group of centurions. The new commander announced his obedience to the Florentine Republican government organized by the Pazzi family, defined the Medici family as great dictators, and began to join the Pazzi coup.

The defection of the White Legion made the situation of the Medici Party even worse. The citizen army was defeated in several conflicts. More and more ordinary citizens were forced to accept the rule of the Pazzi government out of fear, and even more people left their homes out of worry and fear to avoid the war.

On the road, a convoy was heading southeast. In a carriage, a young noble was looking at the oncoming refugees. Seeing the anxiety and fear on their faces, he felt a little depressed.

The young man's name was Amerigo. His ancestral home was Florence, and he came from the Vespucci family, one of the business families in Florence. Although this family was far from being comparable to the Medici and Pazzi families, it was still a member of the upper class, a frequent visitor to the singing and dancing circles, and a well-known figure.

Amerigo was the third son in the family and had no advantage in the distribution of inheritance. He started working in accounting, law and other matters at an early age, and was later employed as a clerk in a Chamber of Commerce in the Free City of La Spezia.

A few years ago, explorer Columbus received strong funding from the Eastern Roman royal family and began to cross the Atlantic Ocean westward to explore the New World. Major chambers of commerce also got involved, sending out investigators to seek investment opportunities. The young Amerigo took on this position and traveled on the ship.

Although Columbus's voyage deviated from the original goal, he still successfully reached the New World. He stubbornly regarded the Antilles as the Japanese Islands and Cuba as the Japanese Island. Amerigo raised doubts based on his own inferences, but was severely scolded.

Later, the unyielding Amerigo followed the diplomatic team sent by Columbus to meet the "King of Japan" on the island of Cuba, but fell into the lair of cannibals. He was the only one who escaped among the group and returned to the coast, where he witnessed the alliance between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Taino people and the complete extermination of the Caribbean cannibals.

After this incident, Columbus no longer believed that the land he discovered was Eastern Asia and encouraged Amerigo to continue exploring. Amerigo also developed a strong interest in the mysterious New World. He quit his job at the Chamber of Commerce and joined the Geographical Survey and Cartography Bureau of the Colonial Ministry of the Eastern Roman Empire, responsible for leading the surveying and mapping of the east coast of the New World.

Over the years, Amerigo sailed on ships to explore the coasts of the New World, drawing maps, recording local customs, sampling plants and animals, and he visited the icy sea in the north and the prairies in the south, gradually falling in love with the feeling of exploration and discovery.

Unlike Columbus and others, Amerigo was not a colonist but an explorer. In order to better record geography, he established contacts with many indigenous tribes, learned several indigenous languages, protected many Aztec documents that were almost burned, compiled them, and conducted targeted analysis.

After the fall of the Aztec Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire took over almost all Aztec documents, and Amerigo's work was completed quickly. According to his inference, the land explored by Columbus was by no means eastern Asia, but a new continent. The land area of ​​this continent is extremely vast, with a huge north-south span and a relatively narrow middle. The Aztec civilization is located on the Mexican Plateau in the center. To the north of the Mexican Plateau is a desert, and to the south is a rainforest. Whether it is the indigenous people in the north or the south, their level of civilization is not as high as that of the Aztecs.

Amerigo compared the Aztec records with his own navigation notes and drew a map of the east coast of the New World, marking everything from French Colombia in the north to La Plata in the south. Although this map still has many problems and is not particularly detailed, it is still a great achievement that pointed out the general direction for later navigators and merchants.

Amerigo successfully buried the "East Coast of Asia" theory of the New World, but the official name of the continent remained unresolved.

Before this, the Eastern Roman Empire had always simply called it the "New World" and had not officially named it. After Amerigo's map was presented to the emperor's desk, the emperor waved his hand and directly named it after Amerigo, naming it America, or America.

The emperor also divided the American continent into two parts, with the great desert north of the Aztecs as the dividing line. The areas south of the desert were all Eastern Roman colonies, and the areas north of the desert were colonies of Portugal and France.

In the future, the area south of the dividing line was called Greek America because of the Greek language, and the area north of the dividing line belonged to the broad Latin language family and was called Latin America.

Of course, in the process of colonization during the great voyages of discovery, the original official names were often gradually replaced by folk names. The most famous example was Brazil in the original time and space, which changed from the complicated and difficult to pronounce "Land of the Cross" to the easy-to-understand "Redwood".

The name "Greek America" ​​did not penetrate the hearts of the Eastern Roman immigrants, and they gave all the New World colonies, including New Rome, St. Constantine and Brazil, a better-sounding name - Elysium.

Elysium, the pure land of bliss, the ideal hometown.

Amerigo was not interested in these trivial matters, but was grateful for the emperor's favor. He never dreamed that his name would become the official name of a continent.

Now, Amerigo has officially registered as a citizen of Constantinople, has been awarded the honor of a third-class senator in the Senate, has become the deputy director of the Geographical Survey Bureau of the Colonial Ministry, and also has a seat in the court of the Grand Palace.

After the civil unrest in Florence, the Eastern Roman Empire actively intervened in the situation in Florence and sent a financial inspection team. Amerigo also took this opportunity to return to his homeland and preside over the relocation of his family. He could not change the emperor's decision, so he could only try his best to protect his family from disaster and hope to move the Vespucci family to Constantinople, to a peaceful and prosperous country.

In the carriage, Amerigo turned his gaze away and no longer cared about these displaced refugees. He was not a die-hard fan of the Medici family and had left Florence very early. He only had local feelings for this country, not patriotism.

In the original time and space, the same was true for Amerigo. He worked for both Spain and Portugal, but did not make much contribution to the Republic of Florence.

Next to Amerigo, Fraser, the Eastern Roman Empire's ambassador to Florence, was flipping through a document, nodding his approval from time to time, looking very satisfied.

"Your Excellency, what are you looking at?"

Amerigo couldn't help but ask.

"Some preliminary plans regarding the Royal Bank of Paleologio."

Fraser said simply.

"Royal Bank?"

Amerigo thought about it.

"In the Eastern Empire, apart from those private banks, there seem to be only two banks: the Bank of Constantinople and the Bank of Carthage."

"Yes, this is a newly established bank. The funds mainly come from the royal family, and it also accepts investment from private capital."

Fraser nodded.

"This bank will be primarily overseas-oriented, and the Royal Bank in Florence will be the first branch."

"We have received many privileges from the Patsy government, covering trade, labor, finance and banking."

"The most important thing is that the Pazzi family mortgaged several branches of the Pazzi Bank to us. They probably can't repay the debt. Sooner or later, these branches will be ours."

"What...what is this for?"

Amerigo asked.

“Simply put, it’s for economic control.”

Fraser didn't hide it either.

"Your Majesty has arrived in Carthage and promulgated the Gold Act in the Carthaginian palace. Led by the royal family, it encourages private capital to expand overseas and establish banks and various enterprises."

"The Royal Bank of Paleologio has obtained the Pazzi government's right to issue currency and reserve state funds. From now on, the Pazzi government's funds will be stored in our bank. If they want to spend money to do things, they must get our consent."

"In the future, we will infiltrate more countries in this way, such as the Italian states, the Egyptian and Syrian sultanates, the African states, and the East Indian states."

"In this kind of gold and dollar infiltration, banks are the most important. We can not only use banks to regulate the market, but also obtain seigniorage and loan interest, further converging the world's wealth to Constantinople."

"Outside the Empire, it is customary to refer to our solidus, denarius, and drachma as the Roman pound. The Italian branch of the Royal Bank of Palaeologus will issue the Italian Roman pound, and later the African Roman pound and the Indian Roman pound."

"Of course, in sub-Saharan Africa today, people rarely use precious metals as currency, and still use shells and fabrics. But as the colonial process deepens, those backward tribes will inevitably be incorporated into our system, and quickly grow from tribal slavery to a semi-colonial system. We will force them to be pulled onto our chariot."

"But... this will certainly harm the interests of the colonies or semi-colonies. Will they resist?"

Amerigo asked.

"There will certainly be some resistance, but our fleet and army are no pushovers."

Fraser snorted.

"Use gold to replace bullets, and use sticks to protect gold. This is your Majesty's latest foreign economic policy, known as 'gold diplomacy'."

"In order to implement this plan smoothly, His Majesty also asked several economists to reform the existing monetary system of the Eastern Roman Empire. As sufficient precious metals have been obtained, His Majesty hopes to gradually reduce the amount of standard currency and transform from the gold, silver and copper monetary system to the gold and silver bimetallic standard system, and then gradually transition to a world gold standard system centered on the Roman pound."

"This is a long project. I took a quick look at the plan. There are many prerequisites. It requires a laissez-faire commodity market, unrestricted free circulation of gold, the opening of the main coin minting rights and the recovery of the subsidiary coin minting rights. Judging from the current speed of precious metals inflow and outflow, it may take hundreds of years."

"However, we need to leave more legacy for our descendants, so this project must start as soon as possible."

"In addition, economists have also proposed some more convenient and faster settlement methods to replace heavy precious metal currencies, such as checks and paper currencies, which also requires a long time of experimentation."

Fraser paused.

"But one thing is certain."

"One day, the Roman pound will become a world currency, all major cross-border transactions in the world must be settled in our currency, and Constantinople will become the world's financial center."

Seeing that Amerigo didn't quite understand, Fraser smiled.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. These things have nothing to do with you. I am only responsible for diplomatic communication. The Royal Bank of Palaeologus is just a trigger. The real play is the Eastern Roman private capital. They will become the most powerful wave and lead us to the whole world."

"The Royal Bank will make some improvements based on the old model of the Pazzi Bank and the Medici Bank. There is a big talent gap. Your family is considered a wealthy family in Florence. If you know any talents, please introduce them to me."

Frasier looked at Amerigo.

"Aren't you going to meet your cousin? I looked at his information and he's a good talent. I'll go with you and try to convince him."

"It will probably succeed. Although he doesn't say it verbally, my cousin definitely hates the Medici family deep down in his heart."

Amerigo nodded in agreement.

"However, he seems to have been frightened by the chaos in Florence and has sold the Chamber of Commerce. He no longer wants to stay here and wants to retire in Carthage or Constantinople."

"No problem, he can become a citizen of the Eastern Empire, and the emperor's fleet and army will protect him."

Minister Fraser waved his hand.

"After the Medici family, which is still lingering on for a while, is completely defeated, the Pazzi family will allow the Eastern Empire to establish concessions in Florence and Pisa and grant the Eastern Empire most-favored-nation treatment. Your cousin can continue to stay in the Roman Concession in Florence and serve the Empire as a Roman."

"Okay, I'll persuade him."

Amerigo promised.

The concessions and most-favored-nation treatment were both created by the Italians. Starting from the 11th century, Italy's commercial city-states acquired numerous concessions along the Mediterranean coast and the Black Sea coast, and received most-favored-nation treatment from many local monarchs. The Eastern Roman Empire suffered the most.

There was a time when Constantinople had four Italian city-states’ concessions, including Pisa, Amalfi, Genoa and Venice. With the decline of Amalfi and Pisa, only Genoa and Venice remained. Venice unified all the concessions in the city, while Genoa firmly controlled Galata. Now, everything is reversed.

The convoy bypassed the tide of refugees and took a fork in the road. Instead of entering Florence, they rushed towards a manor in the countryside.

The manor was not far away. After more than ten minutes, the farmlands and orchards surrounding the manor were in sight. This place belonged to the Vespucci family. This business family did not engage in planting and animal husbandry, and the output of the farmlands and orchards was just a negligible addition.

The Vespucci estate was obviously affected by the chaos in Florence. Amerigo's cousin organized a guard in the estate to patrol the roads day and night.

Outside the manor, several carriages were ready and the laborers were loading large and small bags of luggage into the carriages. It was obvious that the owner of the manor was ready to run away.

The laborers and guards were wary of the convoy's arrival, and Amerigo showed them his family ring and asked them to inform them.

After a while, Amerigo and Fraser were invited into the inner room of the manor. A fat middle-aged man came over, opened his arms enthusiastically, and gave Amerigo a bear hug.

"You are finally here! My dear brother."

There was anxiety mixed with enthusiasm in the middle-aged man's eyes.

"When do we leave? First to Pisa, then across the sea to Carthage, and finally to Constantinople?"

"The other brothers have all left. We can't stay in Florence anymore. Mercenaries and citizen militias are robbing everywhere. There are already many wealthy nobles who have been hanged. Money is secondary. Life is the most important!"

"Marco, wait a minute, let me introduce you."

Amerigo laughed and pushed Marco away.

"This is His Excellency Fraser, the Eastern Empire's ambassador to Florence. He is also the liaison between the Eastern Empire and the Pazzi government. You may not have met him before because you were doing business abroad."

Marco was startled and quickly saluted Fraser, praising his outfit and appearance.

As a senior businessman, Marco certainly did not think that Fraser's arrival was just a casual one. He rolled his eyes, bent down, invited him to sit down, and asked the maid to bring dessert and wine.

"Go call the hostess! There are guests at home! You are hiding in the house crying all the time, what a mess!"

Marco scolded the maid and sent her upstairs.

"How is she...now?"

After they sat down, Amerigo looked at his cousin cautiously.

"No matter what, I don't want to care."

Marco snorted, handed a cigar to Fraser in a flattering manner, and poured amber wine for the two guests.

"You two can enjoy as you please. The doctor said there's something wrong with my body and I can't drink for the time being."

Marco sighed.

The sound of female footsteps was heard on the wooden stairs, and soon a young and beautiful lady appeared in the sight of the three men. At first glance, Fraser was deeply shocked by her angelic face, picturesque facial features, fair skin, melancholy on her face and tear marks at the corners of her eyes. Not only did her appearance not lose its luster, but it added a different kind of charm.

"Marco, as you wish, here I come."

The woman said lightly and sat down leisurely.

"Your distinguished guest is——"

The woman raised her head and looked at Fraser, her beautiful eyebrows raised on the spot.

"It's you?"

"The executioner's accomplice, the murderer's supporter, the source of Florence's troubles!"

The woman said angrily, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Shut up! This is the distinguished guest brought by Amerigo, Minister Fraser from Constantinople!"

Marco shouted, looking at Fraser apologetically.

"Your Excellency, I am truly sorry. Recently, she has probably been possessed by a demon and is not in a good mental state..."

"She is my wife, Simonetta Vespucci."

"It's okay, I don't care."

Fraser smiled and shook his head.

"In fact, as the ambassador of Florence, I have certainly heard of the good name of Mrs. Simonetta, but I have never seen her due to coincidence. Now that I have seen her, I can see that she is indeed worthy of her reputation."

Simonetta was Marco's wife and a famous socialite in Florence. She was the second most stunning beauty of the era after Leonor, the Portuguese princess and the Eastern Roman Queen. Many painters and sculptors of the Renaissance chose her as a model. She also appeared frequently in countless games, film and television dramas and novels in later generations.

Compared to Princess Leonor of Portugal, Simonetta did not have such a distinguished background, and was less likely to make the French prince and the German emperor jealous, but she still had many suitors, and nearly half of the young men in Florence regarded her as their dream lover.

Among these suitors, Simonetta's two favorites were equally noble and famous. One was named Giuliano de' Medici and the other was named Lorenzo de' Medici.

Simonetta came to Florence at the age of 15 and married the wealthy merchant Marco Vespucci in 1468. She quickly rose into the upper class and became recognized as the most beautiful woman in Florence, the incarnation of Venus, and the symbol of love and beauty.

In the original time and space, Lorenzo and Giuliano competed for Simonetta's favor. In the end, the romantic and handsome Giuliano won, defeating his brother who was plain-looking and focused on government affairs.

However, due to Isaac's intervention, the Pazzi family had much more bargaining chips than in the original time and space. The Pazzi conspiracy broke out four years earlier, and Giuliano and Lorenzo died tragically.

After the civil strife in Florence, Simonetta burst into tears, on the one hand for the tragic deaths of her two lovers, on the other hand for the sudden end of Florence's heyday.

As for Marco Vespucci, he was well aware of his wife's infidelity, but he didn't care much about it, as such things were all too common in wealthy and romantic Italy.

Besides, even if Marco had an objection, he would be helpless in the face of the all-powerful Medici.

After the death of the Medici brothers, although Marco did not say it, he felt secretly happy in his heart. After all, he was a hot-blooded man and still felt resentful about this scandal that was known to everyone in the city.

"Huh, I saw you before. At last year's cocktail party, you were with that group of Patsy. It looked like you had planned this long ago, right?"

Simonetta's voice was trembling.

"Lorenzo, Giuliano... You are murderers. You have destroyed Florence. You have destroyed all love and beauty. God will punish you!"

"Tell me, executioner, why did you come here this time?"

Marco was a little annoyed by his wife's nagging and was about to lose his temper, but Fraser reached out to stop him.

"To tell you the truth, I came to ask your husband to stay in Florence."

Fraser said slowly, picking up a piece of pastry from the luxurious wooden table and putting it in his mouth.

"Under the guidance of Constantinople and the Vatican, the Pazzi government will fully respect the Florentine Code of Justice, a great democratic and free government that excludes dictators, will open markets, remove trade barriers, allow our capitalists to build workshops and banks here, and lease us a small area for diplomatic communication and commercial exchanges."

"Now, the Royal Bank of Palaeologus is about to move into the Roman Concession in Florence. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Eastern Empire, I would like to ask Mr. Marco to help."

Fraser looked at Marco.

"I know you have experience in banking and are a good businessman. If you wish, we can grant you Roman citizenship and allow you to live in the Roman Concession. While helping to manage the Royal Bank, you can also run your own business."

As Fraser spoke, Marco's eyes became brighter and brighter.

"By the way, the Pazzi government will grant trade privileges to merchants from the Eastern Empire. That is to say, if you become a Roman citizen, most of the taxes will be paid to the greatest emperor. The emperor encourages industry and commerce, and the taxes will definitely be much less than those of the Medici family."

"This is a lot less...approximately how much is it?"

Marco suppressed his excitement and asked in a low voice.

"You originally had to pay ten florins, but now you only have to pay five. If you ship Eastern Empire goods to Italy, the tax will be even lower."

Fraser smiled.

Marco immediately stood up, his eyes full of joy, raised his glass and pointed at Fraser.

"Mr. Minister, thank you for your favor. I wish you good health forever!"

"Marco, you can't drink..."

Amerigo looked at his excited cousin in confusion.

"In this situation, it's hard to find a true friend."

Marco drank it all in one gulp, with a loud and clear voice and nodding his head.

The two men toasted each other and had a pleasant conversation. The content of their conversation became more and more bold and explicit, fully exposing the Eastern Roman Empire's desire to drain the wealth of Italy.

Simonetta, who was sitting nearby, watched her husband happily dividing Florence's wealth with outsiders. The bitterness and grief in her heart surged out and turned into tears that flowed across her face.

"If you do this, the prosperous Florence will be wiped out..."

Simonetta muttered.

"You take away wealth, but you bring pain."

"Nonsense, we helped the Pazzi family defeat the great dictator Medici."

Fraser was also a little drunk. He looked very proud of his success in the Patsy conspiracy and waved his fingers slowly.

“The people here lost everything. Although they have nothing, they have gained freedom!”

"Well said! Haha!"

Marco raised his glass.

"Hail the Empire, Hail the Emperor, Hail Freedom!"

"Here's to freedom!"

……

On June 1474, 6, after gaining the support of the White Legion, the Pazzi government crossed the Arno River and defeated the Florentine National Army in street fighting. The remnants of the Medici fled to France, and the era of the Medici came to an end.

On July 7, Jacopo Pazzi formed the "Free Government" of Florence. A large number of oligarchic families were drawn into the government. They colluded with foreign forces to exploit and squeeze the money and wealth of the citizens.

During this civil strife, the Pazzi family became the rulers of Florence, the Vatican obtained the religious investiture rights of the Diocese of Pisa and Florence, and the Eastern Roman Empire gained a lot of commercial benefits. Not only did it allow the Palaeologus Royal Bank to settle in Florence, but it also obtained a Roman concession in Pisa and Florence respectively, opening up Florence's commercial market and allowing Eastern Roman goods to enter the prosperous central and northern Italy unimpeded.

At the same time, the idea of ​​gold and silver diplomacy gradually became a reality. Eastern Roman capitalists began to enter the rich Italy in large numbers, established workshops and banks, and quickly achieved primitive accumulation by exploiting and oppressing the local people.

In order to relieve the pressure on the people, share the wealth among the people, and allow more Eastern Roman people to become beneficiaries rather than victims of this capitalist feast, the emperor continued to issue tax reduction bills, encourage investment, sponsor dreams, and bring a better and more prosperous life to his people.

From then on, Jinyuan diplomacy became the guiding principle for the Eastern Roman Empire to interfere in the Italian countries. It interfered in the internal affairs of other countries through Jinyuan rather than guns and bullets, and achieved actual control.

At this point, the Eastern Roman Empire drove Venice and Florence out of the war. The stable situation in the eastern Mediterranean allowed the Eastern Roman Empire to gain a solid rear base, and the Eastern Roman fleet in the port of Carthage set sail again.

(End of this chapter)