Eagle Byzantium

Third update, please vote

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"You are right. I will try to collect more food and seeds after the autumn, and send some detachments to recover Paphlagonia and Anatolia, which belong to the Romans." George once again forgave Diogenes' excitement and recklessness, and then he handed a sealed document to the herald beside him, "Of course, I will also ask for help from His Majesty in the imperial capital. On the first day of this year, I hope that His Majesty's salary assistance can be fully received. Our soldiers have reached the salary payment day once a year or three years, and we can't delay it any further."

The first day of the year is the new year's day of the Byzantine Roman calendar, that is, September 1st. The reason why this day was chosen as the beginning of the year is that the Emperor of Constantinople began the national property assessment and taxation on this day. Anyway, taxes are the most important thing for Byzantium.

Even so, the emperor was still tight on the food, cloth and money he collected to pay the expenses of mercenaries and ordinary soldiers, so the mercenaries in the emperor's army were usually paid once a year (the inner palace guards like the Red Hand Guards were paid once a month or three months), and the soldiers recruited from the lower levels might not receive their military pay until three years. If there was still a shortfall, they could only resist it by granting land and tax exemption.

The herald walked out of the tent with the sealed document in his hand, then quickly mounted his horse and galloped towards Abydos.

Gawain, who was beating the wooden fence, saw this scene and remained silent for a long time.

About a month and a half later, the letter arrived at the Brahena Palace in the imperial capital. The first to open it was the palace chief steward Nickdemia. This eunuch was illiterate, so he asked his attendants to read it for him. Then he hurriedly sent an urgent letter to the imperial prime minister and chief accountant, the mayor of Constantinople, Buril, inviting him to the palace to discuss things.

The messenger walked very fast on the arrow path of the palace. When Burrill was summoned from the official residence to the palace, only one hour had passed (the time statistics in Byzantium were similar to those in China, with each day and night divided into twelve hours, with the sun rising, that is, about six o'clock in the morning, as the first hour).

"Does His Majesty know about this letter from George the Stable Master?" This was the first question Burrill asked the eunuch after reading it.

Nicodemia shook his head, "I invited you here just to hope that you can first evaluate how much pressure the stable master's request will cause to the empire? If it is very small, then there is no need to hand it over to the emperor for decision, I can do it myself; if the pressure is huge, we must get the emperor's approval."

Berrill is a nobleman of about fifty years old, with a very dignified figure and appearance. He was originally a retainer of the previous emperor, and was later promoted to the most distinguished position of prime minister. He is the leader of the entire capital bureaucracy. After hearing the eunuch's words, he smiled bitterly and walked to the corner of the palace colonnade.

Nicodemia, who understood, hurried to follow. Berrill turned half a circle, and then said in an unquestionable tone, "The treasury is empty."

"What about the emperor's private treasury?"

"Hehe, you are the general manager of the Imperial Property Department, and you are asking me?" Berrill sneered.

"I am indeed honored to hold this position, but as everyone knows, His Majesty's private treasury is divided into three, Sakelion, Vestiarium, and Eidikon. The first two come from market taxes and customs duties in Constantinople, and the other comes from the income of the royal estates, both of which are in your hands. My Royal Estate Eidikon is just the income from the national currency tax."

"It has long been an empty shell!" Beryl put his hands behind his back and faced the royal gardens outside. "Market taxes and customs taxes can make up about 300,000 solid gold a year. Coins, but where are they now? The emperor granted tax exemptions and unlimited trade privileges to Italian cities such as Venice, Pisa, Amalfi, and **. Now they are like dirty frogs that keep jumping out of the swamp, covering the ports and shipping routes of the entire empire. Where can the empire have local merchants to do business, and where can it have taxable shops? Don't you know that the most beautiful women in the imperial capital are proud to marry wealthy merchants in Venice instead of glorious Roman nobles? "After saying that, Buril looked at Nickdemia and felt that the other party was completely unable to feel the question just now, so he couldn't help but put on a spicy expression.

But the little bird Nickdemia was not angry at all. He just kept agreeing, and then humbly continued to ask Vestiarium Curry if he could squeeze out some money, because the temporary rewards for the emperor's expeditionary troops were usually mostly drawn from Vestiarium.

"No more." Burrill was annoyed, "All of it was sent to build this magnificent palace in front of you and me."

At this time, Nicodemia was also full of disappointment. He sighed and stood side by side with Burrill, saying a little sadly, "Is there nothing we can do now?"

"How can the Royal Property Department you manage be without money? Everyone knows that you have helped His Majesty accumulate a considerable amount of money through this currency reform."

"It's useless." The little bird sighed for a long time. "Part of it funded His Majesty's construction of the Holy Apostle's Cathedral, and part of it paid for the military pay that was owed some time ago. The empire's gold reserves are getting smaller and smaller. Part of it went to other countries as mercenary expenses. The rest were donated to the church, leaving no trace behind like mercury pouring down the ground. The quality of the coins was getting lower and lower, and all the money I collected was at the expense of overdrafting the royal credit. To tell you the truth, I served the palace for dozens of years. It’s been 10 years, and now I really feel like I can’t move on.”

These words also aroused Zaifu's anxiety, and he sighed, "It's not that there is nothing we can do now."

"You mean to use the fields and wasteland in Asia Minor as a substitute to pay George's soldiers?"

Zaifu nodded, "It's not like I haven't done this before."

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"Today is different from the past. Even if we can get the golden edict signed by the emperor Yu Mo, it will be difficult to convince the public." After Nicodemya used the word "public", the prime minister burst out laughing after hearing this, "I Understand, His Majesty the Emperor himself is from Asia, of course I understand."

At this moment, there were beads of sweat oozing out from the little bird Nicodeemia's forehead. The skinny old man simply gritted his teeth, then he raised his head and said to the Prime Minister, "I am willing to risk my life to convince the emperor to accept His Excellency the Prime Minister." your suggestions.”

"No, don't say it's my suggestion!" Burrill stretched out his palm to express his rejection. Then he shook his head and said that he would not get involved in this matter, then turned around and walked out of the confusing palace. Disappeared at the end of the corridor and disappeared from Nicodeemia's eyes.

"Old fox." Nicodemya said harshly, "Then let those who are truly loyal to the royal family and the empire do this."