The Sun and the Lion

Zonzio's humiliating defeat has become one of the biggest topics in Venice. The entire city is shrouded in the shadow of failure. Mobs continue to attack the real estate owned by the Grimani family and his mansion. They were besieged, their shops were daubed with graffiti, and other members of the Grimani family did not even attend the Senate meetings because of the intense public pressure.

At this time, the Senate was having a headache over the aftermath. The first topic they discussed was how to deal with Grimani, but at this time the fleet was still continuing to fight the Ottomans on the Greek coast, and what happened at Zonzio was still unclear. It was unclear. In the end, the consul came forward and said: "The truth about the battle of Zonzio is still unclear. We still don't know what happened at that time. This matter should wait until the investigation of the Council of Ten and the Supreme Court is completed and the Commander Come back and discuss responsibility and guilt.”

The eighty-year-old consul had no intention of playing the leading role in this meeting. The elders and members of various committees within the republican government were all "expressing their opinions."

Facing the defeat, they had no good solution. Venice did not have a strong army. Apart from looking for allies, there seemed to be no good solution.

But where to find a country with a strong army and a willingness to be hostile to the Ottomans?

The first thing the senators considered was France. In February of this year, the Republic signed the Treaty of Blois with Louis XII over the opposition of the consul. The two countries agreed to jointly attack Milan, and France would provide military support to Venice against the Ottomans.

However, at this time, the main force of the French army was still besieging Milan, and the navy had already provided reinforcements to Grimani. It was impossible for the Senate to ask Louis XII for more.

One of the senators stood up in the stalemate and shouted to the others in the meeting: "Since we are alone, let us surrender to the Turks! Even the Pope did not extend his hand to us in the face of the infidels." A helping hand, the Republic, which has struggled alone for decades, has proven that we are worthy of Christ.”

As soon as this statement came out, everyone present was shocked. It was a rare thing for the capitulation faction to put forward such a righteous and awe-inspiring proposition.

But the argument he put forward is deeply recognized within Venice, who continue to promote Venice’s half-truth and half-false contributions in front of the Pope: “Venice was the first to fight against Turkish pirates and win, but in exchange for false applause; Venice; He held Salonika alone for seven years without anyone's help; during the Varna Crusade, Venice armed a fleet of galleys, but the Holy See refused to pay for it... The Ottomans were oppressing the entire Christian world , in fact, no other country did more to fight the Ottomans than the Republic, which bore the brunt of the war.”

"Now that the initiative is in the hands of the Turkish Sultan, how much meat does the Republic intend to cut from itself to feed the greedy Turks?" the old consul asked him.

The capitulationist elders continued to persuade: "Dear Governor, now that the Turks have captured Lepanto, they can take Corfu Island to the north. After the Sudanese fleet captures Corfu Island, the Turks can deploy a huge fleet to blockade Otranto. Strait, the Republic is blocked in the Adriatic Sea, and the trade routes are so blocked, is it far away from the total collapse of the Republic? By then, the isolated Modon, Koroni, Crete and Cyprus will be able to has no meaning?"

"What nonsense! This time the Turks can take Lepanto as they like, but next time let them take the Rialto?" Without waiting for the consul to retort, a young noble stood up and reprimanded the capitulators.

After speaking, he bowed to the consul again: "I now have some insights to share with you. I hope that your Excellency the Governor and all the elders and committee members can forgive me for my rudeness just now."

Then he looked at the capitulationist veteran who had just been reprimanded by him: "You think you are smart, but you overlooked that these conjectures and analyzes are based on the fact that the Republic's navy is no longer capable of fighting. However, according to what was sent back from the front According to the report, the Republic Navy has suffered minor losses and is currently resting in Corfu. It only needs to appoint a new experienced commander to replace Antonio Grimani. If the enemy invades, it may not be able to defeat them."

The most pessimistic point of view and the most optimistic point of view appeared in the Senate at the same time. The consul slowly stood up and tried to quell the dispute: "If we can implement these plans at the same time, why not try them all?"

"Your Majesty the Governor..." The young noble wanted to say something more, but the old consul motioned for him to listen first before speaking.

"Currently, the Republic is indeed in crisis, but it is not as critical as the one in Chioggia more than a hundred years ago." The consul tried to calm down everyone present.

The War of Chioggia mentioned here refers to the war between Venice and Genoa in 1378. That year, the Genoese fleet defeated Venice and once landed on the Lido (a slender island that divides the boundary between the lagoon and the open sea, with many channels) and besieged Chioggia. Ogia Town, if the Genoese besiege this place, their fleet can sail into the lagoon to attack the city of Venice.

"The fleet of the Republic has not been completely defeated. It is difficult for us to prevent the Turks from attacking Modon and Koroni on Morea. Find Shuyuanｗｗｗ.zhaoshuｙuan.com, but we can save Corfu, Crete and Cyprus. This way In this way, it will be difficult for them to completely cut off the route.

"But the cost is huge, and the fleet is still at risk of being defeated by the Turks, but I don't expect to achieve a complete victory. As long as the Turkish Sultan realizes that he cannot achieve a complete victory over Venice, he can be rationally satisfied with the current situation. The victory will be enough. Until then, the Senate will send envoys to the Sultan's court."

But it was difficult to put enough pressure on Bayezid. Venice did not have a strong army and could only rely on its allies to put pressure on the Ottomans.

Sadly, Venice did not have many choices, and almost all the senators immediately thought of the Pope.

"Your Excellency the Governor, the Senate can now send an envoy to Rome to ask the Pope to call for another crusade, or to contact allies on our behalf who can contain the Ottomans."

"Your Excellency the Governor, fellow senators, our eyes are not limited to the Christian world, but also to the Saracens who have established friendly relations with us. The Egyptian Sultan has always had a long-standing grudge with the Turkish Sultan, and the Ottomans tried to cut off the trade between the Republic and Egypt. This adds fuel to the fire. In addition to Egypt, there is also a monarch who is feared by the Turkish Sultan. In addition to contacting Cairo, we can also try to send envoys to hold talks with the Persian Sultan."

The attempt to form an alliance with the two powerful powers in the Tianfang world was not only due to the helplessness of being forced to deal with the Ottoman attack, but also the Venetian spies returned from Egypt a piece of news that was enough to make all Venetians collapse-several people who were said to belong to the Portuguese court A caravel appeared at Calicut and Aden, probably led by Christopher Columbus.

If this intelligence is true, the trade pattern on which Venice depends will be irreversibly changed.