The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"Those greedy businessmen, worms!"

Mircea cursed the Venetians in the palace, he had had enough with them. Mircea wanted to get rid of these parasites who only knew how to feed themselves, but Venice's powerful navy made him hesitate.

"Father, Venice's navy is more than ten times larger than ours. Now we will only lose in a head-on confrontation."

"Then we can't let them be so arrogant. I am the master here, and they are just bedbugs."

Mircea's patience with the Venetians was reaching its limit. They had harassed him constantly when he was still a grand duke. Their greed and oppression were vivid in his mind, and he wanted to return this place to the emperor's command.

"Although Venice can't do anything at the moment, it can make the other person feel the majesty of the empire."

"oh?"

Mircea understood what Peter was talking about. Genoa declined after the Chiggao War, and their trade focus had to shift to the west. It was okay to take action at this time, just in time to remove the obstacle of Galata.

"Then do it."

Mircea ordered Peter to handle the matter. He himself had to think of other ways to force Venice to make concessions. Suddenly he thought about whether there were some people buried in Hagia Sophia...

Carlo didn't know why Junbao sent people to him, but he had a hunch that this was definitely not a good thing. At the same time, he was lucky, because the agreement with the empire was about to expire, and he must have come to discuss the treaty.

"I didn't know that your country's special envoy was coming, so I didn't make any preparations. Please forgive me."

"It's okay, I'm here to announce the new orders of the Imperial Emperor and Imperial Caesar."

The Roman envoy immediately read out the contents of the empire's latest treaty, including but not limited to: the amount handed over by Galata to the empire increased to 50%; the tax-free privileges of Genoese merchants in Galata were cancelled, and Genoese merchants were required to pay taxes in order to do business; the supreme administration The chief needs the approval of the empire before he can take office...

These measures will directly cost Genoa's life, and it is impossible for the Parliament to agree to them. He couldn't possibly agree.

"Sorry, these are unacceptable to the Republic. Please go back. If you want to negotiate, I can go to Constantinople in person."

Unexpectedly, the other party not only didn't leave after hearing this, but said something. "This is not a negotiation, this is an order from the empire. In that case, don't blame the empire for being cruel."

The envoy left Galata, but the Empire's soldiers and navy took over. They blocked every exit of Galata and prohibited all personnel from entering or exiting. They also cut off food and water sources to force them out.

Damn it, although I, Genoa, are not as good as before, I am still a powerful naval power. When I send a message to my country, I will definitely give you some color.

The letter is written, but how to send it out? Using carrier pigeons cannot fly that far; if you let people swim out, the navy is waiting. The Genoese fleet was crowded in the port and unable to move, unable to break through the siege. They could only wait here for a turnaround. He did not believe that merchants would not spread such a big thing.

Constantinople was shocked by Rome's move, but it was quickly overshadowed by another incident. I don’t know who dug the graves in Hagia Sophia, and by coincidence, they all belong to Venetians, including the leader of the Fourth Crusade, the former Doge of Venice, Dandolo.

Their tombs were damaged, the words on the tombstones were destroyed, and the remains were unknown. This situation directly aroused the indignation of Venetian merchants, and they left the place in protest.

In an instant, Rome and the two merchant countries fell into a cold war, and economic and trade exchanges fell into a cold winter. Only the smuggling trade was not affected. The Venetian fleet on Crete was assembled and prepared to advance towards Athens.

The exchanges between the three countries have stalled, but they have not yet reached the point of war. The parliaments of Venice and Genoa are still discussing how to respond, and Constantinople is boiling because of these two incidents.

Citizens who had had enough of Western merchants, excited about the imperial intervention at Galata and the destruction of the Venetian tombs, gathered in front of Hagia Sophia and knelt as Mircea emerged from it. Expressing their wishes to the emperor in Romanian, they hoped that Mircea could lead the empire and wash away the shame of more than a hundred years.

Looking at the endless flow of people, Mircea strengthened his originally wavering heart. He wanted to take the people of the empire to take revenge and show those countries that claim to be civilized. They are just beasts dressed in civilization and are not worthy of being here at all. . This place belongs only to the Roman Empire, which brought civilization and hope.

Mircea intensified the blockade of Galata. You must know that there are at least 30,000 people here, and a lot of food is consumed every day. The food was all used up in less than a week. They could only collect the wasted food in the corners. If they couldn't, they drank water and filled themselves up. These businessmen had never experienced such a situation. Seeing this, Carlo had no choice but to open the door and surrender.

The flag of the Republic of Genoa was taken down, and the businessmen were packed up and sent back to their hometowns. Rome has regained control here. Although the cost is unknown, the current empire is no longer the city-state that was allowed to be bullied.

In addition to Galata, the island of Chios occupied by Genoa was also challenged by the Roman navy. The Roman navy used Clark sailing ships as warships and was equipped with artillery and Greek fire. 10 Genoese warships launched an attack on 5 Roman warships, but Two ships were destroyed and one was seriously damaged by the opponent's artillery and Greek fire.

The move against Genoa left the Venetian feeling cold and dejected. If nothing was done, it would be his turn next. The Grand Council of Venice quickly made a decision to support Genoa and provided financial support to the King of Croatia, allowing him to send troops to harass the Roman border. The Venetian navy also assembled on Crete, preparing to block the Roman trade routes.

In order to develop its navy in recent years, Rome has encouraged the import of raw materials and the shipbuilding industry. It has encouraged oak planting in Suceava and Ukraine, imported oak from Moscow and the Hanseatic League, exempted and exempted taxes on the shipbuilding industry, and also ordered large quantities of warships and merchant ship. After these measures, the Navy finally recovered. But it was far from enough compared to the fleet in Venice.

The two countries that were still engaged in a Cold War suddenly fell to the brink of war, which directly affected southern trade. Merchants could only reach Alexandria via the Levant. Fortunately, the East India Company had left Constantinople with its fleet a few days earlier. Dinburg, otherwise the company's first business would be in trouble.

The Black Sea Fleet set out from the Port of Aaron to the Bosporus, and the Mediterranean Fleet was also preparing for Thessaloniki and Smyrna. A war seemed inevitable.