1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 353 Sicilian Vespers War

On the loess of the southern coast of the Mediterranean, a cavalry galloped past, passing through farmlands and villages. The farmers knelt on the ground, looking at the double-headed eagle flag in the dust with fear in their eyes.

"Abel, after nearly ten years, the Western Border Region has finally stabilized."

In the center of the cavalry, Isaac looked at these docile Muslim farmers and nodded slightly.

“You did a good job.”

"Alas, Your Majesty, there are still many problems, especially military ones. This battle in Granada has really exposed the true combat power of the Western Frontier Legion."

Sitting on a sturdy warhorse, an equally sturdy giant showed a simple smile.

"I thought that although the Western Frontier Army is not as good as the Central Army, it should still have no problem facing the Granada Army."

"Who would have thought that the Granada people's fighting ability is actually quite good. With the same number of people, we are no match for them at all."

"When General Gonzalo was besieging Granada, I led troops to attack other cities, but it was not going well. Although we finally captured them, the losses were too great, so we had no choice but to retreat."

"It's okay, take your time."

Isaac comforted.

Haha, the Central Army was raised by Isaac with real money. It has been established for decades and has fought in countless wars, big and small. It has made continuous progress in the wars, especially the Great Turkish War a few years ago. The combat effectiveness of the Central Army has been greatly improved through learning and progress.

"The Granada War is coming to an end. You don't need to worry about the Battle for the Throne and the Sicily War. Just take care of the military affairs and restore the people's livelihood."

"Yes, Your Majesty, since you are here to inspect this time, I just happen to have some reform policies that I want to talk to you about."

Abel thought about it.

“This was proposed by the Archbishop of Algiers a few years ago, and I think the time has come to give it a try.”

"Well, tell me."

The cavalry slowed down, and Isaac and Abel talked while riding.

"Your Majesty, in the past few years, we have launched nearly ten bandit suppression wars in the Western Border Region. The resistance of the people is getting weaker and weaker, and their obedience is getting higher and higher. The Archbishop believes that it is time to give these Muslim farmers who obey us a real status."

Abel said slowly.

"If we continue to let them stay in that state of being on the outside, it will only lead to their alienation."

“When your construction companies built concrete forts and asphalt roads, the Muslim farmers were even happy because they were relatively docile settlers who hated the marauding inland herders as much as we did.”

"Double taxation, encouraging conversion, granting autonomy, allowing normal religious activities, and respecting their cultural traditions are enough to make them truly obedient."

"You mean, like the Mudejars of Iberia?"

Isaac's eyes flickered.

"Yes, Your Majesty, as I remember, your policy is far less extreme than that of the Spaniards. There is no such thing as bloodline theory or cultural theory. As long as you are willing to convert to the Orthodox Church, you can obtain citizenship."

Abel nodded.

"That is to say, both Moriscos and Mozarabs are welcome here."

"Yes, I allow them to retain their culture and traditions. Conversion is just a token of loyalty."

Isaac said.

In fact, as a latecomer, Isaac was not a loyal dog of Jesus Christ, and he promoted the Greek language and Eastern Orthodoxy only for the sake of stability and assimilation.

The old Romans all believed in Orthodoxy, so the emperor had to believe in Orthodoxy. If the old Romans were willing to collectively convert to reciting the Koran, Isaac would not mind wearing a white turban immediately.

If a Muslim converts to Orthodox Christianity, even if he still maintains Arab culture, assimilation will be much easier. They hear Greek in church and read religious scriptures in Greek. The old Romans are more likely to accept them, cultural integration is faster, and intermarriage and mixed blood are more common.

In the Mediterranean world, a Muslim man can marry a Christian woman and not be questioned for doing so, but the reverse is not true, and almost no Christian man is willing to marry a Muslim woman.

Moreover, the Islamic world has a very troublesome tradition: they can allow Christians and Hebrews to live under their rule, but they are absolutely unwilling to live under the rule of Christians and Hebrews and will provoke resistance based on Sharia law.

Of course, this is just a scripture. In reality, there are still many Muslims willing to kneel down and submit to Christian monarchs.

As for bloodline... the Eastern Roman Empire didn't care much about such things. If we have to talk about bloodline, these descendants of the ancient Greeks have nothing to do with the ancient Romans.

"Yes, Your Majesty. In that case, I suggest that you accept the Mudejars and Moriscos from Spain and let them come to the Western Border. The Moriscos have converted to Christianity and will obey our rule. The Mudejars are also very different from mainstream Muslims and have a docile character. They will not have any rebellious emotions."

Abel said.

"If you don't find a place for them and let the Spanish expel them, they are likely to join the Watas dynasty in Morocco and become pirates, causing harm to us."

"Very good, that's what I thought too."

Isaac approved.

"Did you come up with this yourself?"

"No, this is the Archbishop's idea. He is a moderate and has a relatively good attitude towards Muslims. He hopes to convert them through peaceful means."

Abel said truthfully.

"The idea is that you don't have to grant citizenship to Muslims under the Western Marches, as the Spanish did to the Mudejars, but recognize them as human beings, not livestock, and guarantee them legitimate rights."

"In Spanish history, many Mudejar people integrated into mainstream society and even converted to Christianity after a long period of interaction with Christians. This approach is obviously feasible."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead and do it."

Isaac agreed.

"In the coming days, we will have many opportunities to interact with Muslims. Being tough, gentle, or a combination of both is just a means to an end. We can give it a try."

"My daughter Salonika is also leading a conciliatory policy at the Timgad Palace. You must submit a copy of your policy documents for the Institute of Humanities to study."

"I have trained the Muslim scholars of the Kairouan sect. I will have them stationed in the western border region to serve your conciliatory reforms."

Thinking of the Kairouan sect, Isaac couldn't help but shake his head.

Under Isaac's series of measures, the Kairouan faction's will to resist has basically disappeared, and they tend to compromise with the Eastern Roman Empire, but they have many ways of compromise within their group.

The most mainstream argument is that the reason why Muslims living in North Africa have suffered such severe hardships is entirely because they are not pious enough to God, which has angered God and caused him to send Isaac to judge them. Isaac himself has no fault, this is all God's will, and Muslims must honestly obey the rule, stay away from political demands, and atone for their sins.

This kind of thinking is not uncommon in superstitious Europe. In the original time and space, after the Ottoman Empire destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire, many Eastern Roman scholars comforted themselves in this way.

Some scholars' interpretations are even more absurd. They stubbornly claim that Isaac was secretly a devout Muslim and the shadow of Allah on earth, and that all Muslims must respect Isaac's rule.

This is also a common trend of thought in the Islamic world. When the enemy they face is too strong and difficult to resist, or when there are special needs, they often adopt this "spiritual victory method" and forcefully say that the other party is a Muslim and desperately persuade the other party to really become a Muslim.

During the Mongol invasion of the West, the Mongol Khans massacred millions of Muslims in a very short period of time. Seeing that there was no hope of "restoring the country", the jurists also adopted similar tactics, on the one hand showing docility to the enemy, and on the other hand trying every means to turn the enemy into friends.

In the original time and space, during the First World War, in order to make its alliance with the German Emperor seem more legitimate, the Ottoman Empire once announced that William II was about to convert to Islam in order to convince the fanatical Ulema class.

During these years, Isaac had also given some thought to the Muslim issue and was preparing to convene a meeting of experts to study it, in an effort to come up with a more perfect policy before marching into the East.

In Isaac's opinion, it is difficult for today's Muslims to surpass the Eastern Roman Empire in science and technology and military quality, but their numbers are too large, with 6 million in Anatolia and 4 million in the Maghreb. If the Levant and Egypt, which will definitely be recovered in the future, are added, the total number will be close to 20 million.

This is an extremely shocking number at any time. They are not Native Americans and will not die in large numbers due to diseases in the Old World. Violence alone cannot eliminate them, which will only lead to continuous conflict and chaos.

In fact, Isaac plans to divide the policy into two sets, one to be promoted in the core areas and the other to be promoted in the border areas.

All citizens in the core area must be Christian Romans, the main language is Greek, and Muslims are slaves. This is a world of capitalism and workshop production, a civilized world of rule of law and order, and the main source of economic income for the empire.

Muslims in the border areas could retain autonomy like the Mudejars and implement Sharia law, but on the condition of heavier taxes and corvee labor. Here, stability was the most important thing.

Of course, these border Muslim communities will not be so honest. Rebellion and uprising will certainly be commonplace. These people will be strictly eliminated and sent to core areas and colonies to serve as slaves.

Now, the core area of ​​the Eastern Roman Empire is the Balkan Peninsula, the western coast of Anatolia and central Africa from Carthage to Cyrenaica. This is where the future of the nation lies, and thorough religious purification and cultural assimilation must be implemented.

In the future, the strong driving force brought by capitalism will make the economy, population and national quality of the core area advance by leaps and bounds. The Muslims in the border areas will remain in the agricultural era, and the population will be strictly controlled by the imperial government. When the population in the core area is too large, the core area will expand outward, and capitalism will expand outward, encroaching on the land and wealth of the border areas and turning them into Roman homes again.

Legally speaking, since the Muslim communities in the border areas were willing to submit to the empire, the emperor would protect their legitimate rights, but this was obviously temporary. When they were no longer needed and their martial traditions and rebellious spirit were exhausted over the long years, the imperial government would gradually reduce their autonomy and, following the Spanish model, transform them from Muslims who retained religious autonomy into forced Christians. The docile would be accepted, while the tough would be forced into slavery.

In this process, the economy of the border areas continued to decline, the population continued to decrease, and rights continued to be lost. The situation in the core areas was just the opposite. Slaves from the border areas provided almost free labor for major cities in the Aegean Sea, and the mixed-race Romans who came across the sea could also find their own place. As a result of the decline and growth of one area, the swallowing of territory was not entirely impossible.

In order to implement this assimilation policy of both soft and hard methods to the end and prevent the domestic nobles and capitalists from abandoning national interests for the sake of immediate gold and silver, Isaac has been instigating the clergy class and the capital groups to stand on the opposite side and use the power of the church to carry out religious and cultural assimilation. Capital does not care whether its employees are Greek Orthodox Christians, but the church cares very much.

Of course, this is just Isaac's idea. To realize it will require a long time and many coincidences.

Isaac did not want to implement a completely relaxed policy like the Ottoman Empire. In his opinion, this was simply drinking poison to quench thirst. The upper limit might be higher, but the lower limit must be extremely low. As long as it failed miserably in the great changes in the world in the future, those territories that had not been assimilated would inevitably be lost, and even become enemies of the empire.

Multi-ethnic countries are not bad, but the prerequisite is that you have to have a dominant ethnic group that occupies the majority. With the development of the times, the international situation has become more complicated, and the war of hegemony has become more brutal. The stability of a single-ethnic country is definitely far greater than that of a multi-ethnic country. Even if it is completely defeated in a world war, the great powers will not be able to completely tear a united single-ethnic country into pieces.

If Isaac's policies could be implemented smoothly, even if subsequent emperors failed to complete the assimilation of Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt, the core areas on both sides of the Aegean Sea would still be impregnable. Relying on the natural convenience brought by the Black Sea Strait, at best it would be a large-sized version of the "Husky in the country."

Such means are basically the conventional methods of "de-Islamization" in Christian countries. In addition to Spain and Portugal, Sicily has also been successful in this way.

Of course, whether it was Iberia or Sicily, the problems they faced were not as big as those of the Eastern Roman Empire. Isaac could only provide a way of thinking for reference by future generations. He was no longer young and could not care so much.

Isaac said no more and stared at the farmlands on the roadside. Although the Muslim farmers looked frightened, their nutritional conditions had improved significantly compared to a few years ago.

The wheat seedlings are growing fairly well, with the spring breeze blowing and the wheat waves forming. Although Muslim farmers in the western border areas cannot afford the still relatively expensive superphosphate fertilizer, bone meal fertilizer has won the favor of many people, and its promotion is increasing year by year.

Nomadic areas also ushered in innovations in production models. The development of the textile industry caused the price of wool to continue to rise. Many herdsmen living under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire no longer raised horses and camels, but instead raised Merino sheep. The martial tradition thus became increasingly declining.

Although the Eastern Roman Empire levied twice as much tax as Christians, it was still much lower than the previous Muslim regime. They did lose a lot of political rights, but their living standards actually improved.

However, this is already the limit of being second-class citizens. With the expansion of capitalism, these Muslims far away from the core areas will become exploited in the future, and the agricultural economy will be slowly torn apart. If they want to completely improve their living conditions, they must join the big family of mainstream society and seek acceptance from the Orthodox Church and the general public.

On one side is the ever-closer clutches of capitalism, and on the other side is the broad road to the church. If you want shelter and recognition, then convert.

If he is unwilling to change his beliefs even after this, he is no longer an ordinary traitor and must be dealt with severely.

"Abel, what do you think they think when they see me?"

Isaac asked.

"Don't say they are grateful to me."

"Haha, Your Majesty, what they think in their hearts may have nothing to do with you."

Abel said bluntly.

"They probably just want to maintain their peaceful life."

“That’s up to them.”

Isaac nodded slightly.

The sound of horse hooves was heard from behind, and a messenger came to Isaac and handed him a letter.

"His Majesty?"

Abel asked tentatively.

"Nothing, continue your reforms and tell the Archbishop. He is a man of ideas and may be able to go further."

Isaac finished reading the letter and took hold of the reins.

"I have to go back to Carthage. I am very satisfied with your work."

Abel said no more, and called out several strong cavalrymen, ordering them to guard Isaac.

The whip was swung, the war horses neighed, and a group of cavalrymen galloped away.

……

Southern Italy, Sicily.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and it appears as a beautiful triangle on the map. More than 80% of the land on the island is covered by hills. Coastal lowlands are relatively scarce, and the main population is concentrated in the valleys, which are traditionally divided into three parts, namely Mazara Valley, Demone Valley and Noto Valley.

Among the three major valleys, the Mazara Valley in the west is the most populous and the most productive. The city of Palermo is located here. The terrain here is low and it was once the center of rule in the Muslim era.

The Noto Valley, located in the southernmost part, is across the sea from the island of Malta. It has the most scarce resources, the worst transportation conditions and the worst economic conditions.

The Demone Valley in the northeast is also a relatively developed area. The northernmost city of Messina is connected to the European continent and can exercise a certain control over the Strait of Messina. This was once the last controlled area of ​​the Eastern Roman Empire on the island of Sicily. During the Norman Conquest, there were still a large number of Greek Orthodox Christians left in the area. They provided a lot of help to the Normans in the war and helped them drive away the Muslim invaders.

However, this was nearly two hundred years ago. Today, the residents of Sicily are mainly Roman Catholics, with very few Greek Orthodox Christians and Muslims.

In the northwest of the peninsula, the city of Palermo.

Palermo is the largest city in Sicily, with the largest population and the most complete infrastructure. It is an important commercial hub and agricultural and animal husbandry distribution center, and an extension of the Aragonese monarchy in Sicily.

Looking at the map, Aragon has a vast territory, but in reality, Aragon is still a bulk regime, including the Kingdom of Aragon, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Majorca, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Sicily. It is a unique federal political entity. Each kingdom or principality has its own set of government agencies. They are not subordinate to each other, but they just happen to serve the same king.

The Kingdom of Aragon had a fairly good degree of centralization in its own territory, but the various political entities were not integrated. The overall centralization was quite low, with only a few central departments established in the kingdom. The traditional Spanish territories were in relatively good condition, while Sicily and Sardinia were basically isolated and independent.

Of course, in such a federal state, the people's loyalty is directed to the king. When a king lives in a certain monarchy for a long time, the local people will feel valued and become more loyal. The most vivid example is the previous King Afonso V of Aragon. His preference for Naples and Sicily was well known. He moved the entire court to the city of Naples, and the local people also loved him very much.

However, the current King Juan II is much worse. He has been busy with intrigue all his life. Not satisfied with killing his son, he also wants to kill his daughter. It is not enough to force Navarre to revolt, he also wants to force Catalonia to revolt. He has never lived in Sicily for a long time and adopts a laissez-faire approach to ruling here.

The conflict in Iberia spread to Sicily, but Juan II did not completely abandon the island. He asked the officials on the island to raise funds and recruit mercenaries to resist the Eastern Roman army that attempted to land.

The officials in Sicily were pretty good. They quickly began to raise taxes and collect food. They successfully recruited more than 5,000 mercenaries in Italy, Spain and other places. Together with the private soldiers of the nobles and conscripted militia, the total force could reach 20,000.

However, the Eastern Roman Empire did not land immediately, but adopted a tactic of attrition. A large number of warships were always roaming outside major ports, blocking trade routes, attacking merchant ships, and isolating Sicily from the outside world.

Over time, conflicts began to intensify.

In a dim basement, the men were restless and noisy, staring at the dice rolling on the table. The smell of alcohol, cigarettes and sweat mixed together, and curses, roars and table-pounding sounds came one after another.

Obviously, this is an underground casino.

The basement is very large and is divided into two floors. The lower floor is filled with gambling tables and is dirty and filthy, while the upper floor is luxurious and clean and is the private area of ​​the casino owner.

The owner of this casino is obviously well-connected and can provide countless services, including fine wine, women, cigarettes... Some East Roman strong liquors that were banned by the Sicilian Kingdom government can appear on the table openly, and some hallucinogenic plants that are collectively rejected by the entire Christian world can also be sold privately.

On the upper floor of the casino, Antonio sat upright in a reclining chair, overlooking his kingdom of sin, the wine in his hand as red as blood.

"Sir Antonio, the Spaniards have issued a prohibition on alcohol. I'm afraid you're the only one who can drink such good wine!"

A drunk won some money and came to the bar with a big laugh. He raised his head and bowed slightly to Antonio above him.

"From what I've heard, even the Spanish mercenaries can't drink something this good, and they're making a fuss about it!"

"No more talking, give me a glass of Imperial Camp Vodka! I won money today, I have to have something good!"

“With or without grass?”

The scantily clad waitress flirted with him. "More! Why not? I want the best! The kind that the Eastern Empire supplies to black chiefs!"

The drunk waved his hands with great enthusiasm.

"It's gone. The trade routes have been banned. I won't be able to drink it anymore."

Antonio spoke slowly, his voice was not loud, but it stunned the whole audience.

"But there are still some left. Drink as much as you want today. It's on me."

The gamblers and drunkards cheered, and several waiters brought in wooden barrels filled with fine wine. Everyone sniffed hard and exclaimed in praise.

Antonio looked at everything below indifferently, drank the red wine, and took out a cigar.

The money of alcoholics and gamblers is the easiest to earn. This kind of thing is difficult to quit once you've been addicted to it for a long time, and these addicts will only scramble to put money into his pocket.

Antonio's family is one of the local bosses in Sicily. Their ancestral home is in the small town of Corleone not far from Palermo. They started their business by running bootleg liquor. They had no surname before. According to custom, people used to call him Antonio of Corleone.

Relying on these underground businesses, Antonio accumulated a lot of wealth, began to purchase real estate, and built manors. From black to white, he became the richest man in Corleone. He also began to do some good deeds and help civilians to get justice. His family power was very large.

On the island of Sicily, many local families grew and prospered in this way.

As time passed, the drunken gamblers were immersed in the dice in front of them, while Antonio elegantly unbuttoned his coat, took out his pocket watch, and checked the time.

"That's enough, let's all go."

Antonio's voice was not loud, but no one dared to complain. The idlers went home through the secret passage under the guidance of the waiter, while the core members stayed and waited for Antonio's instructions.

They knew that every time this happened, something big was about to happen.

Antonio clapped his hands slowly, and a thin young man, held hostage by a burly man, walked out from the side door and stood in the sight of everyone.

The sturdy man removed the black cloth from the young man's face. The light stung his eyes and the pungent smell made him sneeze several times.

"Mr. Antonio! Respected Mr. Antonio!"

When the young man saw Antonio, he immediately knelt down and burst into tears.

"You have to do me justice!"

"Dear Loras, what happened?"

Antonio walked down the steps and handed the glass in his hand to Loras.

"From what I have heard, your father seems to be very unhappy with me and will not allow you to continue to hang out with us."

"Sir, my father...he's dead!"

Loras took the glass, trembling.

"The Spaniards killed him!"

"Oh? That's surprising."

Antonio said expressionlessly.

"Your father is a well-known obedient citizen and a good man. He never dared to default on paying taxes. How could the Spaniards kill him?"

"Sir... the resistance in the village is quite high. When the tax collector came, he also brought Spanish mercenaries..."

Loras cried.

"The mercenary leader saw that my sister was pretty and tried to touch her. My father stepped forward to stop him, but was pushed by the mercenary leader and fell on a rock, where he died..."

"The Spaniards took my mother and sister away. They entered the Spanish military camp and never came back. I was very worried. My little brother is still at home..."

"Oh, so that's what happened."

Antonio pretended to recall something, walked to the table and asked for a document.

"Unfortunately, your mother may have passed away, but your sister should still be alive. This is an internal letter from the Spaniards. You will receive... um, three silver coins as compensation."

Antonio handed the document to Loras.

"Received yet?"

"What! This..."

Loras looked at the letter, his heart broken, and he cried even louder.

"I don't know anything!"

"Then your compensation may have been embezzled."

Antonio shrugged.

"Son, I'm sorry to hear that, but you know, this is the Spaniards' kingdom, and there's not much I can do."

"Sir! My father has always paid you money! Neither your money nor the Spaniard's money has ever been in arrears!"

Loras's eyes were bloodshot.

"You should protect us!"

"Yes, earlier, I wanted to provide you with protection, but your father himself refused. He was unwilling to join our cause."

Antonio shook his head regretfully.

"Your father is an honest man, but nowadays, there is no way for honest people to survive."

"Oh, yes! My sister! She's still in the Spanish camp!"

Loras suddenly remembered and hugged Antonio's legs.

"Please save her! I will do anything for you!"

Loras tried to persuade him, but Antonio just looked embarrassed.

"Look, Loras, I can rescue your sister, but I can't do it alone."

Antonio comforted Loras with kind words and pulled him up.

"The Spanish have been very strict in controlling the military camp recently. I have some connections with the city guards, but the Spanish mercenaries are outsiders, and they do control the military power."

Antonio said.

"If someone can keep the Spanish mercenaries busy and force them to leave the barracks, I can be sure to smuggle your sister out."

"Busy? They also leave people on guard when they patrol..."

Loras was stunned.

"Loras, your father and mother were killed by the Spaniards. Don't you want revenge?"

Antonio looked calmly into Loras' eyes.

"Let's kill that tax collector."

"kill?"

Loras muttered to himself in a trance.

"Yes, kill him and avenge your parents."

Antonio encouraged.

"Kill him, cause chaos, and we can rescue your sister."

"But... my father said that the tax collector was a good person. He disagreed with the heavy taxation. On that day, he tried to stop the mercenary leader..."

Loras whispered.

"The tax collector is a relative of the governor. Kill him..."

"Since you don't want revenge, there's nothing I can do."

Antonio sighed.

"The tax collectors are all vampires. Their kindness is all fake. The people have long been suffering from the heavy taxes."

"If you kill him and denounce the Spanish for their tyranny, everyone will support you."

"You'll be our hero."

"Hero... Can I be a hero?"

Loras muttered.

"Can a farmer's son become a hero?"

"Yes, if you avenge yourself and help everyone else, everyone will support you. Your sister will definitely be grateful to you. She is so kind to you. Do you have the heart to let her suffer in the barracks?"

Antonio's voice was as kind as always.

"There will be a prayer meeting tomorrow night, and the tax collector will be there, and everyone will be there, so it's a good time to seek justice."

Antonio winked at the people beside him, and they also began to persuade him kindly, one after another, and Loras's face gradually turned red.

"Kid, I'm going to prepare for the rescue now. Tomorrow night, it's all up to you."

Antonio hugged Loras and put a dagger into his palm.

"Go ahead and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"I understand, thank you sir!"

Loras trembled all over and bowed deeply.

After seeing the young man off, everyone's faces were filled with excitement.

"It looks like he should be able to do it!"

"Hehe, this kind of young man..."

"If we succeed, what title will the emperor grant us? Baron? Earl?"

"enough."

Antonio grew serious.

"If everything goes well tomorrow, we all have to leave Palermo before the chaos spreads. You should prepare as soon as possible."

"Sir, will there really be chaos?"

A middle-aged man questioned.

"Haha, Sicily has become a powder keg now. The Spanish have collected taxes for ten years. Food cannot be shipped in, and olives and citrus fruits cannot be shipped out. Everything is in decline."

Antonio said firmly.

"Too many people have come to me for help recently. Rural society in Sicily is on the verge of collapse. Only the rich kids in the city have money to play dice."

"If you ask me, the king made the biggest mistake by bringing in mercenaries. They have no discipline and don't obey the law. The governor can't pay them, so they just rob on their own."

"The Eastern Empire has trapped Sicily to death. It's only a matter of time before something bad happens."

"The French made this mistake back then. Do you really think all Sicilians are cowards?"

"Will the situation be better after the Eastern Empire comes?"

Another voice asked.

"I have met the emperor. He doesn't seem to have much desire for Sicily. It is not valuable to him. He just doesn't want the Spanish to continue to occupy Sicily."

Antonio said.

"To be honest, I didn't really want to work for the emperor at first, but he offered too much."

“In the future, we will have a lot of autonomy.”

"So, what about Loras' unfortunate sister? Are we really going to save her?"

A voice asked.

"Palermo is the core base of the Spanish. We don't dare to start a rebellion here. Loras probably won't be able to come back."

"Save! Why not? We have to bring Loras' sister to Corleone, and we have to frame Loras as a hero. This is the best way to improve our reputation."

Antonio nodded heavily.

"And his younger brother will be my godson from now on."

"The family's rise and fall depends on this one move, so go back and prepare!"

……

In the spring of 1475, the long siege of Sicily by the Eastern Roman Empire finally paid off. The island with its declining people's livelihood could not afford to support too many troops, but the Aragonese were afraid of the invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire. For their own safety, they did their best to support a large army and exploited the islanders more and more. Conflicts gradually intensified and anger began to spread.

On the evening of April 1475, 4, a vespers ceremony was held in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Palermo. While the citizens were praying, a young man tearfully denounced the persecution and murder of the Spanish in public, and stabbed the tax collector who was attending the vespers.

However, the tax collector was a very important person and the young man was killed on the spot by the Spanish guards.

The Governor of Sicily was furious and accepted the advice of the mercenary captain to start a massive hunt in the city of Palermo. The mercenaries took this opportunity to rob at will and accused innocent citizens of being rebels without any explanation.

On April 4, the chaos intensified. Faced with the cruelty, the citizens began to rise up in resistance. The Aragonese expatriates were the target of anger, and the hatred between the two sides grew deeper and deeper.

On April 4, an uprising broke out in some small inland towns where Sicilians were the majority. The angry islanders hanged Aragonese officials, killed Aragonese expatriates, and decided to start communal self-government in the same way as they had done more than a hundred years ago.

On April 4, several local tyrants, led by Antonio from the small town of Corleone, jointly wrote a letter to the Eastern Roman Emperor, demanding to break away from the rule of the King of Aragon, establish an autonomous government, and seek protection from the empire.

That evening, the Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac returned to Carthage and wrote a letter to the King of Aragon and the Pope of Rome, asking them to respect the will of the people. He also signed an order to formally send troops to Sicily to help the Sicilian people win freedom and uphold justice.

The Second Sicilian Vespers War officially begins.

(End of this chapter)