1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 51 Meeting
On March 1448, 3, news came from Barqa that Emir Yusuf escaped from the south through a trail under the escort of Mamluk cavalry and returned to Birinchi.

Isaac was not overly surprised.

They could block the main roads and prevent large-scale troops from passing through the northern coast, but there was no way to cast a large net into the southern desert and completely prevent small-scale troops from infiltrating.

Breaking up the large army into small teams was one of Isaac's original goals.

On April 1448, 4, there was unrest in the Barqa region. Yusuf asked the subordinate tribes to contribute their people to join his legion, but was jointly rejected by several large tribes.

After this great defeat, Yusuf had basically lost his capital to intimidate the local tribes. He had no confidence to suppress the tribes at all. He could only swallow his anger and bear it silently.

After hearing about Yusuf's experience, the arrogant Hafsid cavalry suddenly stopped fighting, retreated to the border, and sent envoys to ask for peace from Isaac.

On April 1448, 4, news came from Albania that Venice could not capture the city of Dania, and Skanderbeg could not drive the Venetians away from the coastal fortresses. The two sides stopped fighting and signed an agreement.

Skanderbeg recaptured the city of Dania, gained great reputation and stabilized the domestic situation.

The Venetians were granted some trading privileges and were able to retain trading cities including Durres.

According to Skanderbeg's plan, the war should continue and slowly wear down the Venetians in the castle.

However, the direction of things is never determined by personal will.

The Ottomans took action.

After being silent for nearly a year, Murad II finally took action, deploying troops on the Albanian border in an attempt to wipe the rebel Skanderbeg off the map.

Therefore, Skanderbeg hastily negotiated peace with Venice and accepted Venice's hegemonic commercial treaty.

He then led his army eastward to fight against the Ottoman invasion.

Baron Maruna's Black Legion followed eastward.

For the people of Albania, the end of one war is just the beginning of another.

At the same time, news came from Budapest that the White Knight János had basically stabilized the domestic situation and was gathering Eastern European countries to prepare for a new round of Crusades.

On April 1448, 4, Isaac traveled west from the port of Brega and returned to his loyal city of Surt.

Amid the cheers of the whole city, Isaac raised his own flag and returned to the city lord's palace with a powerful army and a group of captives.

The heroes who defended the city stood aside, waiting for their monarch.

Isaac's eyes flickered across their faces, taking in their excited expressions.

Isurt, Guhs, Conte, Mikhail...

Isaac walked up to the seat and sat down.

"In the battle to defend the city, Lord Isurt was the most meritorious and was granted the title of Baron of Ogaile, with the town of Ogaile as his fief."

"May you defend the borders and treat the people well in my name."

Isurt was surprised and delighted, and stepped forward to receive the title.

In Isaac's early regulations, it was more difficult for civil officials to obtain fiefdoms than for military generals fighting in battle.

"Baron Conti, you led the army to resist the enemy, and you deserve the second highest merit."

"The area around Dakhla will be your new fiefdom."

Conte hurried forward to thank him.

"Captain Guhes, lead the Dobruja army to assist in the resistance and join the defense of the city. I confer upon you the title of Baron of Borlie, with your fief at Borlie Spring."

Guhs stepped forward to thank him.

"Your Highness, this is the report on the status of the Grand Duchy of Soult during the year you were away. Please take a look."

Iseult handed Isaac a thick report.

Isaac felt a headache when he looked at the complicated text above.

"Well, you guys get ready. This year's joint military-political meeting will be held soon. If you have any questions, please raise them at the meeting."

On April 1448, 4, all the military and political leaders of the principality arrived at the port of Soult and the meeting began.

Isaac sat in the main seat and looked at the ministers below the stage.

On the left is the administrative group headed by Isult, and on the right is the military group headed by Mikhail.

In addition, Isaac's advisors and envoys from three business organizations sat on the sidelines and listened.

“We’ve had several wars in the last year.”

"We outwitted Sforza in Milan and fought with Skanderbeg in Albania,"

"We are fighting back and forth with Misrata on the western border and fighting with Emir Yusuf in Sirte."

"We won, I'm proud of you."

Isaac nodded, signaling the meeting to begin.

Isurt stood up and began to preside over the meeting.

He first introduced the current population situation of the Principality.

"As of now, the principality has a total population of about 5, and about of them are under our control."

“The rest of the population is controlled by the various subordinate tribal shaikhs.”

"This number is very inaccurate because the tribal sheikhs will certainly conceal the number, so we have no way of knowing the exact number."

"Among the people directly under our jurisdiction, there are more than 2 Greeks, more than Goths, more than Yugoslavs, more than Dobruja Seljuks, more than Italians, and the rest are Bedouins and Berbers. A small number of Purple Guards and Oak Corps families are Turks and southern French."

Here, Isaac played a trick.

Many freed slaves had no idea what their nationality was or what they believed in.

With a stroke of his pen, Isaac registered them all as Greek Orthodox Christians.

This caused the Greek population to explode.

"The baptism operation in the principality was successful and now everyone believes in the Orthodox Church."

Isaac implemented forced conversions in the principality, and all Muslims were not recognized as legal citizens and could be captured, killed and sold at will.

Next, Isurte looked at Finance Minister Riedel.

"Lord Riddle, please come and report on last year's financial work."

Riddle stood up slowly.

"Last year, the entire principality's fiscal revenue was 8300 ducats, mainly from taxes from the Monferrato Trading Company and the Soult United Chamber of Commerce. Due to the impact of the war, the subordinate tribes used military service instead of taxes."

"In addition to local taxes, we received a total of 50,000 ducats from overseas colonies, of which 40,000 ducats came from gold trading and taxes on adventurers, and 10,000 ducats came from slave and ivory trade."

"The Mediterranean Fleet, led by Captain Fidel, earned a total of 6,000 ducats by attacking the infidel fleet."

"Duke John IV of Parma pays us twenty thousand ducats for military expenses."

“These are the main sources of income.”

Of course, the entire principality's income is more than this. The dividends from the Monferrato Trading Company and the Greek Guinea Company go directly to Isaac himself and are not included in the principality's finances.

In addition, the Slaves Legion was directly under Isaac personally, and the proceeds from their looting were not turned over to the principality's treasury.

“In terms of spending, we spent a lot of money because of the war and basically lived within our means.”

"The total war expenditure is over 40,000 ducats, which will be used to recruit soldiers and purchase equipment."

"Of these, the navy will spend 15,000 ducats, and the army 25,000 ducats."

"30,000 ducats spent on immigration and livelihood projects."

"Government salary: eight thousand ducats."

The military expenditure was more than 40,000 ducats, and John IV was responsible for all the military rations.

This number is simply too terrifying.

The bulk of the military expenditure is equipment costs and the maintenance of the naval fleet. Due to the lack of domestic production capacity in Surt, many equipment have to be imported from Italy. If warships want to be overhauled or equipped with new artillery, they have to go to large ports.

This is very costly.

If these industries can be established in the country, a lot of money can be saved and the private market can be stimulated at the same time.

"Mansreti Ship Advisor."

"Your Highness, I am listening."

Mansreti, the Hussite ship designer recruited by Isaac, stood up.

"Through negotiation with Skanderbeg, we have obtained the sovereignty of the city of Auron, and now a flag team of the Black Legion is stationed there."

"There are dense forests near Auron City, and the population is large enough to support a large naval workshop."

"After the meeting, you will go there immediately with my approval document and first build a repair factory, and then a warship manufacturing factory."

Mansreti nodded excitedly.

"Martinez."

The firearms engineer from Italy stood up and bowed.

"Where in the entire principality do you think is suitable for building a firearms factory?"

"Your Highness, before this, I have looked through the information from all over the Principality and I think Alagai City is a good choice."

"There are a lot of saline-alkali lands to the west of Alagai City, where we can build saltpeter fields."

The so-called saltpeter fields are made by digging pits on saline-alkali land, pouring human and animal excrement into them, and waiting for crystallization on the surface.

Saltpeter fields are very scarce in Europe. Now the main source of saltpeter in European countries is still the "nitrate soil" containing a small amount of saltpeter near rural toilets.

In England and the Low Countries, monarchs even considered saltpeter a strategic material and demanded that the people hand it over.

Later, someone joked that two out of every three shells fired by the British fleet came from the toilet.

"There is a small copper mine on the hill south of the city, and lead and iron mines east of the city, which can be used as raw materials for the production of firearms."

Due to the low melting point of copper, bronze is now commonly used to cast cannons in Europe, making the cannons very heavy and extremely inconvenient to use.

If I have the chance in the future, I can try to find artillery makers from the East and learn the manufacturing technology of cast iron artillery.

"I will go to my chief steward to get 10,000 ducats as preliminary preparations."

"I have brought back a lot of talented people from Italy, you can choose from them."

Next, Agriculture Secretary Mix began his report.

"Your Highness, my Lords, the current state of agricultural and animal husbandry production in the Principality is average,"

"Last year, our main task was to resettle the displaced persons and allocate land to them."

"Refugees and slaves from Italy and other regions were settled near the port of Sirte and the Jufra oasis group, mainly engaged in plantation."

"Because the land is in very poor condition, the crops that can be grown are limited and the yield is low, so we allocate a lot of land to each farmer to meet their basic living needs."

"At present, due to the large number of local indigenous people being sold off, the Principality of Surt is basically able to achieve self-sufficiency in food."

"However, the land's carrying capacity has basically reached its limit and it can no longer accept large-scale refugees."

“How is the agricultural reform program going?”

Isaac asked with concern.

"Your Highness, we have already carried out pilot promotions in Surt and around Saint Josephran. As for the results, we will have to wait until next year."

Isaac nodded.

Next, everyone will report on their work one after another.

Due to Isaac's personal preference, no one deliberately boasted or exaggerated the facts, and basically some discussions were made on the issues based on facts.

The principality has only been established for three years, and has made a lot of progress, but also has quite a few problems.

Overall, after the War of the Milanese Succession, the overall situation of the principality improved a lot.

The large amount of spoils looted by the soldiers in Milan flowed into the market, greatly promoting Soult's weak commodity economy.

In addition, the influx of Italian talent led to the prosperity of small handicraft industries. They took advantage of the abundant iron ore and fur resources in Surte, opened blacksmith shops and textile factories, and sold weapons, armor and clothing to wealthy soldiers to make a profit.

Although the land in Surt is barren, some special resources are extremely valuable.

For example, although saline-alkali land cannot be inhabited, it can be used to open saltpeter fields, extract soda ash, and collect salt.

This is something that is not available in continental Europe.

Through these primary products, secondary industries such as gunpowder workshops and soap workshops can be opened.

When he has free time in the future, Isaac plans to develop the potential of this land.

"Next, Colonial Secretary Earl William will report on his work."

William Palaiolo stood up,
Isaac looked at the wanderer who had finally returned home.

After a few years, William had grown from an idle young knight into a qualified naval commander.

Years of wind and sun have painted his pale skin a healthy wheat color, his stiff hair stands upright, and his eyes are proud and determined.

"Dear brother, what good news have you brought me this time?"

William walked forward, smiled mysteriously, took out a roll of parchment from his pocket and handed it over respectfully.

Isaac opened the chart.

"Your Highness, we followed the old captain's route map and headed south along the Greater Bay Area, and finally found the place he mentioned that towered into the clouds."

"This is an archipelago very close to the African continent. There are no people on the island and the climate is humid. Congratulations, you have obtained another overseas territory."

Isaac struggled to decipher the hastily drawn nautical chart, but couldn't make any sense of it.

Judging from William's description, this archipelago should be the São Tomé and Principe Islands located in the Gulf of Guinea.

This is a volcanic archipelago with a tropical rainforest climate, suitable for growing tropical crops.

Later, after the Portuguese discovered this archipelago, they used it as a base for growing cocoa and sugarcane, introduced a large number of black slaves, and established bloody plantations, which led to this place being called the "Island of Death."

Going further back, Isaac can also try.

At this time, coffee had not yet become popular, and Isaac could try to lead the trend.

But sugarcane farming is big business.

Sugarcane can be used to make sugar, and the residue left over from sugar making can be used to make sugarcane wine, both of which are highly profitable businesses.

Sugar was a luxury at that time. Both the honey sugar common in Europe and the cane sugar that later flowed in from Arabia were very valuable.

At this time, many European royal families were proud of having a mouthful of rotten teeth, believing that it symbolized extraordinary wealth.

"Well done, William."

Isaac stood up happily.

"Since you discovered the archipelago, the largest island will be named St. William, and the one with a good harbor will be named Puerto Valleolio."

"These two islands will be used to establish the Governorate of St. William. You can choose any of the remaining islands as your new fiefdom."

As William finished his report, the ministers looked at Isaac.

As per custom, Isaac will next formulate the future direction of the principality.

Facing the provocations of Yusuf and the Hafsid dynasty, should we fight or make peace?

If there is a war, which side should we attack first?

(End of this chapter)