1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 9 The Paleologians of Monferrato

Isaac, who received the papal bull, shared the good news with Gutenberg.

At this moment, he put down the last stone in his heart and worked at full capacity to print books.

Isaac specially presented several hardcover Bibles to several high-ranking archbishops in Rome. At the same time, he expedited the printing of a batch of Renaissance works with gorgeous covers and clear handwriting, preparing to give them to high-ranking merchants in northern Italy.

They are all people with rigid needs, and if they think it is good, they will naturally contact Isaac.

Isaac could also take this opportunity to connect with secondary booksellers in northern Italy and open up the downstream market.

In addition, Isaac requested that all books printed by the printing house be printed with his coat of arms in the upper left corner of the cover.

It is one of the emblems of the Byzantine Empire, a purple double-headed eagle.

"This month, your task is to train a few more skilled workers and contact the machinery factory to expand production."

“Hurry up and print indulgences, let the church see our potential and make our name known.”

Isaac assigned tasks to Gutenberg, and he wrote them down in a small notebook.

"For sales issues, contact Butler Andre. For content issues, contact Bishop Fojar. You can handle the technical aspects yourself."

"Remember, quality comes first!"

There is only so much that can be done.

What Isaac wants now is the dividends of the first-mover advantage.

The technology of the printing press cannot be hidden, and you cannot enjoy this piece of cake alone.

First, use indulgences to make a fortune and obtain funds;

Second, build a reputation and establish a brand.

Occupy a large market share before other merchants react.

In the next few weeks, Isaac and his friends were busy.

Finalize the details with the church and negotiate the price with the Chamber of Commerce.

Ford is usually smiling, but he is very clear-headed at the negotiation table.

Not to mention the greedy businessmen
After a few weeks, Isaac was exhausted.

But seeing the steady flow of money into his wallet, Isaac felt a sense of accomplishment.

The scale of the factory continued to expand, and the number of workers increased.

After all, indulgences, the main product now, are something that makes a lot of money with no investment.

When I came here, I made three plans. This is the first one, and it looks like there won't be any major problems.

Just then, a message came from afar.

Murad II basically put down the civil strife and began to recall the army.

The Ottoman army dragged the captured Varna Crusaders flag and took the Crusaders prisoners, parading in front of Constantinople.

At the same time, large-scale religious conflicts broke out in Constantinople when the emperor heard that he had restarted negotiations.

Ioannis VIII was bedridden, and the ministers, led by George Sphrantzis, struggled to keep the situation going.

The Athens area, which had been generally calm, was once again in turmoil.

One piece of bad news after another completely destroyed Isaac's good mood.

After taking inventory of the current dividends from the printing factory and donations from the Chamber of Commerce, there are approximately 10,000 ducats.

Ibrahim, who was a robber in Epirus, also sent four thousand ducats.

Isaac summoned his subordinates again on February 1445, 2.

The arrangement this time is simple.

Andrea and Gutenberg remained in Rome to oversee the printing press.

Fidel and Novich led the warships to follow Isaac.

The early spring sunshine on the Apennine Peninsula is mild and warm, and the Italian people live a peaceful and comfortable life.

But his motherland was groaning under the iron hoof of the Ottoman Empire.

The plan must be accelerated.

Isaac arranged the affairs of Rome and wrote a letter to Constantine.

The letter contained only one sentence:

I will travel far away to find a way out for the empire.

On February 1445, 2, Isaac's fleet left Rome.

Isaac headed north along the western coast of the Apennines.

On February 2, the fleet arrived at the most dazzling pearl in the western Mediterranean - the city of Genoa.

At this time, Genoa no longer had the glory of monopolizing the Mediterranean trade. After being defeated by the newly rising Venice in the Battle of Chioggia, Genoa was once caught in internal and external troubles, and the city of Genoa was captured many times.

Unlike Venice, Genoa was fond of resolving conflicts through force and had many colonies along the Aegean and Black Sea coasts, which were governed by governors.

At this time, Genoa actually did not have enough capital to support a large colonial empire, but it was forced to support it due to domestic and international pressure.

This would waste national strength in vain.

A few decades later in the original time and space, Genoa would be occupied by the French. Although it would later gain freedom, its original trade empire would be completely wiped out.

Eventually it became a gathering place for loan sharks.

However, Isaac was still shocked by the prosperity of this place.

This is a typical port city located on the Ligurian coast and is a deep-water port.

Goods from all over the world gathered here and were sold to all directions thanks to the convenient shipping along the coast and the Po River.

Before the opening of new sea routes and the shift in trade focus, it was difficult to be poor here.

The market is filled with a wide variety of goods and luxury is everywhere.

The atmosphere of the Renaissance is very strong, which is in sharp contrast to the poverty and backwardness of Southeast Europe.

If Rome is a gentle and pious priest, Genoa is like a rich man wearing a gold chain.

With the credentials obtained from the Pope, Isaac was received by a Genoese nobleman.

Don't get me wrong, although Genoa and Venice were republics in name, their politics were controlled by city councils and big merchants, and several large business families held the highest power.

This was an early form of oligarchy.

Isaac spoke to the nobleman, Ramsay.

The other party knew Isaac's identity and was quite polite.

After some bargaining, Isaac successfully hired a team of 2000 Genoese crossbowmen for 100 ducats.

These famous mercenaries are well-equipped and experienced in combat, and can often be seen in major battles on the European continent.

Isaac then proposed to purchase new warships from Genoa.

Ramsay agreed readily and took Isaac to the wreck repair yard on the outskirts of the city.

You want to play dirty tricks on me?
This broken ship, which was eliminated ten years ago, is useless in naval battles.

Isaac declined his "good intentions" and went to receive the Genoese crossbowmen indignantly. As usual, he comforted them with gentle words, and Isaac became familiar with Commander Maruna.

This Latin from Tuscany was a skilled mercenary leader who fought only for money.

This kind of person is actually very easy to deal with.

I’m afraid of meeting a crazy guy who will label Isaac a heretic as soon as we meet.

There are many such people in the Catholic world, from kings to common people.

This is one reason why the Catholic world has been lukewarm about the Pope’s call to rescue Constantinople.

Isaac stayed in Genoa for only one day and did not seek an audience with the governor of Genoa.

The proud Genoese did not even give face to the Byzantine Emperor and the Pope of Rome, let alone their own prince whose country was about to be destroyed.

Isaac traveled along the well-developed roads of northern Italy for two days and arrived at his destination.

Monferrato, a city sandwiched between Milan, Genoa and Savoy.

The ruler of this marquisate was Gian Palaiologos, a collateral relative of Palaiologos and Isaac's distant uncle.

It’s a long story.

Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II married Irene, daughter of the famous "Great Marquis" William VII, and left offspring.

Later, when Monferrato's paternal line died out, Queen Irene insisted that her son Theodosius inherit the territory. With the support of Genoa and the recognition of the Holy Roman Emperor, Palaeologus took over Monferrato.

With the constant wars in Monferrato and civil wars in Byzantium, the two families had not been in contact for a long time.

The purpose of this visit was to cooperate with the Marquis of Monferrato by leveraging his influence in northern Italy.

In the era of Grand Marquis William VII, Monferrato was once the overlord of northern Italy and once occupied major cities such as Genoa, Turin and Milan.

But this also aroused hostility from neighboring countries.

In addition, several marquises died young, leaving behind orphans and widows.

The former younger brother took advantage of the situation and made things worse, which led to the loss of glory.

Now the Marquis only had the lands around Monferrato left, and had become a de facto vassal of the Duke of Savoy.

When they arrived at the family castle, the Marquis had sent people to wait at the drawbridge of the castle because he had received news from Isaac earlier.

"Welcome, dear brother!"

John, the heir to the Marquisate, and his brother William shouted at Isaac in broken Greek.

Isaac's expression changed.

I didn’t expect that after all these years, their Greek heritage has not been completely forgotten.

Isaac jumped off his horse from a distance and walked quickly towards the brothers.

"Thank you for the hospitality, dear cousins ​​John and William!"

John was silent and just nodded, while William hugged Isaac warmly.

According to etiquette, Isaac had Maruna stationed outside the castle with the Genoese crossbowmen.

Isaac attended the dinner with several followers.

Marquis Gian was ill at the time, but he still reluctantly greeted Isaac and ordered John and William to treat Isaac well.

According to the original history, Marquis of Gian would pass away in a few weeks and his son John IV would succeed him.

In his early years, John IV was held hostage by his uncle, the former Duke of Savoy, Amadeus VIII, which made him somewhat introverted.

But, in fact, he is still a good person, and treats his subjects and brothers very well.

He was also the second person Isaac had inquired about.

At the dinner, the three Palaiologos drank a lot of wine and gradually opened up.

Most of the time, it was fourteen-year-old William who did the talking, John supplemented, and Isaac listened quietly.

In fact, most of them are the little troubles of a fourteen-year-old noble boy, such as losing money in gambling at a martial arts tournament, the girl he likes getting married, and the longing for war.

A typical middle school student.

Anyway, even if the sky falls, I still have my father and brother to support me.

As for John, he was more worried about his father's health and the severe internal and external environment.

The war had just ended, and a large number of people had fled, leaving the land uncultivated. The knights could not afford to replace their equipment, and there was no money to repair canals and granaries...

John also mentioned that he had been donating money to the monastery to help orphans who had lost their parents.

Now that I have started to manage the territory, I can’t even come up with such a small amount of money.

Isaac immediately decided to lend John 10,000 ducats without interest, which could be repaid at any time.

William, who was sitting restlessly on the side, was stunned.

John was also surprised.

John originally thought that his relatives were here to ask for help, so he even took some money out of the castle expenses.

The purse was still in John's room.

Unexpectedly, Isaac's one move would be their net income for almost half a year.

"Have you robbed the Emperor's treasury?" William shouted.

"If I had known, I would have taken you to the martial arts competition this afternoon. We could have won a lot of money together!"

John rejected Isaac's suggestion.

"That won't work. Your situation is more difficult than ours. If you use these to hire more troops, you'll have a better chance of winning."

Isaac smiled bitterly.

The current Constantinople is a bottomless pit, and no matter how much money you invest, you will lose it all.

Isaac took out the Pope's bull, explained to them the origin of the money, and forced the purse into John's hands.

The Monferrato territory has fertile land, is strategically located, has prosperous trade routes and a rich population.

It is a crossroads connecting Milan, Genoa and Turin.

At this time John had no money, entirely due to his good uncle Amadeus VIII.

They forcibly occupied the tax checkpoints, forcibly relocated the people, robbed the caravans, and forced Monferrato to pay huge war reparations.

These temporary difficulties will be gradually resolved in the future.

Isaac was not worried at all that John would not be able to pay back the money.

John finally accepted Isaac's money and held his hand for a long time without saying anything.

William shouted and invited Isaac to participate in the tournament next week.

At night, Isaac stayed in the Palaeologus Castle.

Looking at the obvious Greek decoration style in the room, Isaac was a little dazed for a moment.

A dreamless night.

(End of this chapter)