The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"My lord, Constantinople is almost here!" the envoy pointed forward and said to George Osborne, a Florentine citizen who was already panting from exhaustion and now a newly promoted member of the Roman House of Commons.

In fact, he didn't need to remind him. Through Osborne's own observation, he already felt that Constantinople was not far ahead. Because of the sharp increase in ships, a magnificent city also appeared in front of him...

The passenger ship took the initiative to dock in front of the pier. The officials on the side asked the ship owner a few questions and checked the documents submitted by the ship owner. Then, with a look of surprise on his face, he immediately jumped on the passenger ship, strode to Osborne, and saluted respectfully. : "I salute you, my lord!"

Osborne nodded politely in return.

"The news we have received is that the passenger ship you are on may not arrive until tomorrow, so the House of Representatives may not be prepared today. I have to send a speedboat to catch up with the notification from the inner city pier, so I have to ask you...more here Wait a moment, I hope you can forgive me!" the official said apologetically.

"That's no problem. I just went to see the scenery of the city." Osborne agreed.

As one of the remaining families in Florence, Osborne just runs his own workshop because he is not strong enough. In the parliament, they just remain neutral, either abstaining from voting or not coming out.

But this time when Mason purged Florence, Osborne escaped because of his neutrality. For this reason, he was elected as a member of the Florence Council by the governor and asked him to go to Constantinople for a meeting.

Since the House had not yet followed, Osborne decided to wander around the city. The population of this most populous city in Europe was still increasing at this time, and houses began to be built in places originally used for farming. The Golden Horn is very busy with merchant ships coming and going. Ukrainian grain and minerals, Eastern silk and porcelain, and goods from all over the country are basically transited here.

Osborne first went to the hotel dedicated to the accommodation of members of the House of Commons, which was built with personal funds from His Majesty the Emperor. Originally, a building was built to accommodate more than 100 people. But then the number of people increased, and the council suggested that those who had relatives and friends in the city should try to stay at their homes.

In recent years, the government has successively built three or four similar buildings and several separate villas to the south of the adjacent building, which can basically meet the needs of officials and foreign guests.

This place is very different from ordinary hotels. The entire building is a zigzag structure, and there is a garden with statues and fountains in the middle, where officials can exchange ideas and discuss things.

"My lord, have you seen the big house next to it that is always steaming? That's a bathroom."

"It's the place you mentioned to me on the road where people can take a bath." Osborne was a little curious.

Unlike most places in Western Europe, people here still love to be clean.

"Yes sir, I'll treat you to dinner and then you can experience the bathroom."

After dinner, he entered the bathroom connected to the villa. Although the bathroom was not large, it had all the facilities that a general bathhouse should have. Pass through the dressing room and enter the first small room. The room is relatively cool. This is where people who come to take a bath are supposed to relax first and slowly transition into a bathing state.

But Osborne was obviously more eager. He didn't stay here longer, but pushed open the wooden door and entered the next small room.

The temperature in this room is a bit hot, and the temperature in the next room is even hotter... After passing three small rooms in a row, the temperature is higher than the last, and everyone starts to sweat.

Pushing open the next wooden door, he saw a circular pool inside. He walked up the stone steps to the edge of the pool, stretched out his feet and tried it. It was warm water, and he immediately jumped in.

"somebody is coming?"

The person next to him saw Osborne and asked, "I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?"

Osborne said, "I'm from Florence."

"Florence is a good place. Those who can enter here are either officials or members of the House of Commons. Based on time, you are the latter."

Osborne admired the other party's observation ability, and then the other party began to introduce himself: "I am Michel Camilleri, the Member of Parliament for Western Anatolia."

"Hello"

The two started chatting, "Constantinople is really a huge city, more prosperous than I imagined! Much better than Rome!" Osborne sighed and said, "I want to move to this city. , but I see there are so many residents in the city, it may not be easy to own a house.”

"That's true. The population of Constantinople has increased dramatically in recent years. I remember that the population of the entire city last year was 176,300. Although Constantinople is very large, residential land is somewhat tight.

The cultivated land in the city was now covered with houses, and the rents the citizens received from renting out the houses were many times what they earned from farming. The agricultural officer had reported this to his superiors several times, but His Majesty said, 'As long as the empire's strength becomes stronger and stronger, your Majesty will Constantinople will inevitably develop rapidly, which is in line with its status as the center of the empire. The citizens have paid a lot for the empire. Being able to make money by renting out their houses is also a benefit given by His Majesty to them. As long as they pay taxes normally, There is no need to forcefully stop it. As for the food issue, with the entire kingdom supporting the capital and the people not short of money, we don’t have to worry about them not being able to eat bread...'

The empire has a vast territory, and Wallachia, Moldova, Northern Ukraine, Anatolia, and the newly acquired Romagna region can all continuously produce food. "

Camilleri paused: "In addition, we can also get a lot of cheap food from Hungary and Naples, so we don't have to worry too much about food problems."

"Of course you don't need to worry about housing problems. Although there is no extra open space in the inner area, there is still a lot of public land in the outer area and the city hall. This is thanks to His Majesty's order after the city was built.' The ten kilometers of land around Constantinople were designated as public property and could not be sold. 'How wise it seems now!"

Later, the government issued similar orders to other towns based on this order. At that time, a residential land will definitely be allocated in the outer city area close to the inner city, and you will only need to pay some money. "

Osborne began to ask: "Camilleri, if I want to gain a foothold here as soon as possible, what should I do best?"

Camilleri thought for a while and then said: "It depends on what you want first. If you want to be comfortable and not accept any position, just attend meetings on time as a member of the parliament and express your opinions, you can get a monthly salary of Some members of Congress are living like this, and they are very comfortable with their salary.”