ALL NOVEL
Chapter 46: Threat After Threat
“You bug in the toilet!
“You poor excuse of a human being!
“You trash in a cesspool!
“You abominable thief!
“Little Constantinope mayor rolling in your own waste, I command you to stop stealing the land promised to us by the Lord, or else our crusaders will bring divine retribution upon you!”
Constantin XI was light-headed after reading a ruffian-like declaration of war. Rather than being angered by the insults, he was more surprised by the country who waged war against them.
“Our territories aren’t even connected. Why is he waging war on us?”
“Popo?” Shu Yichao checked the map and saw the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had turned hostile red. “I’m not surprised.”
Many countries on Shu Yichao’s map had turned red.
After the initial shock, many countries rushed to wage war on the Balkan States like eagles that had smelled decaying flesh. They planned to rip fresh meat from the Ottomain Empire’s corpse.
The Ottomains’ imperial family had died out, causing its warlords to descend into internal strife. What better opportunity was there for them to expand their territories?
And the Romains looked to be easy picks while they were going after the Ottomains.
How dare you weak Romains occupy so many strategic locations? Spit them all out!
Thus, armies were dispatched into the Balkans, and they plundered and massacred everyone en route. The Romains were also targeted alongside the Ottomains.
This was understandable, but Constantin XI couldn’t comprehend why the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would wage war on them despite being so far away. It’s not as if you can send your troops here any time soon!
“Who knows?” Shu Yichao didn’t think much about it. “Maybe it’s just a whim.”
The Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth had done plenty of eccentric things in history anyway. This long-distance insult was just the tip of the iceberg.
“We’ll just beat them up when they appear before us.” Shu Yichao rubbed his hands together as he decided to lead his troops to the border to clear a bunch of red dots.
Just then, a Venetian envoy with a bright smile entered the room.
Shortly later...
“This is a scam! A despicable scam!”
Constantin XI nearly had a stroke when the Venetian envoy brought out two huge debt notes.
The Venetian envoy had first hypocritically congratulated Constantin XI for revitalizing the Eastern Romain Empire before handing him the bill for the Venetians’ support in guarding the city.
The bill included a comprehensive breakdown of the costs, such as the soldiers’ rations and salaries, death gratuity for military families, the ships’ maintenance fees, the expended arrows and weapons…
It was a long list, and it totalled up to 100,000 ducat coins!
How much was that worth?
Even the Kingdom of France, a formidable power in the western area, only had an annual tax revenue of 50,000 ducat coins.
Constantin XI wouldn’t be able to pay 100,000 ducat coins even if he pawned his underwear!
However, that was not all.
The Venetians were cold-blooded loan sharks who would do anything for money. They liked to press their blades against their clients’ necks and coerce them into signing unfair terms.
“I can still accept the military bill,” Constantin XI howled in indignation, “but you expect me to repay the debts of previous emperors too? That’s too much!”
The second bill brought out by the Venetian envoy was the high-interest loan made by one of the Romain emperors more than a century ago. Over the years, the loan had compounded into a frightening sum—around 10,000,000 ducat coins!
Who could possibly afford that?!
“Esteemed Augustus,” the Venetian envoy smiled, “we understand that it may be tough for you to repay this debt, so why don’t you put Thessaloniki, Edirne, and the other cities on collateral for now and slowly repay the debt later?”
“Dream on!” Constantin XI roared.
If he did as the Venetian envoy suggested, his dream of revitalizing the Eastern Romain Empire would go up in smokes!
“We knew Your Majesty would say that,” the Venetian envoy said as he bowed, “Thus, to ensure that our assets aren’t compromised, we had no choice but to take extreme measures.”
“What do you mean by that?” Constantin XI was getting an ominous feeling.
“Your Majesty!”
A Romain messenger entered the room and relayed a piece of bad news to Constantin XI.
The mercenaries in Constantinope, under the Venetians’ fanning, demanded a portion of the spoils of war acquired from their victory against the Ottomains’ encirclement. They had already broken into the treasury and taken everything inside.
Constantinope was currently under the control of the mercenaries fanned by the Venetians.
They had boarded boats in the Golden Horn, carrying huge bunches of spices, herbs, and valuable commodities with them as they demanded compensation from the Romain emperor.
“Y-you…”
Constantin XI was so angry that he was at a loss for words.
Venice had once colluded with the Fourth Crusade to sack Constantinope centuries ago. Was history going to repeat itself right now?
The famous City of the World’s Desires had stood strong against the invasion of the heretics, only to be backstabbed by its so-called brothers!
But this wasn’t the end of the nightmare yet.
When Constantin XI saw his sister-in-law arriving at Thessaloniki with his five-year-old niece and a coffin, telling him amidst sobs how the Venetians had occupied Morea and forced Thomas to his death, he finally couldn’t take it anymore.
He angrily drew his prized sword and swung it toward the Venetian envoy’s neck.
“Venice, you have gone too far!”
The Venetian envoy watched impassively as Constantin XI swung his sword toward him, making no attempt to dodge.
The sword never landed.
Constantin XI glanced at Thomas’ consort, who was carrying her daughter with reddened eyes, and that made him clench his fists in blazing rage. Yet, he was unable to follow through with it.
The Venetian envoy wanted to burst into laughter.
Diplomacy didn’t exist for weak countries. Everything faltered in the face of absolute power, whether it was kinship or principles. Often, it was the ones with the hardest fist who got their way.
The eastern area of the Adriatic Sea was completely under Venetian control, so Venice could have cut off the Eastern Romain Empire’s food imports if it willed so. That was how great the imbalance between both sides was.
The Venetian envoy thought that the Romain emperor might bargain or raise an opposition, but once he had his teeth punched out, he would still have to obediently accept their demands.
Though I wonder what the Senate’s next step will be…
“Hm?” Just then, Shu Yichao stepped forward. “You just declared war on me, right?”
“…” The Venetian envoy didn’t understand his words. “Romie’s Caesar and Augustus, I advise you to properly think things through—”
“You look angry, and you’re red on the minimap.” Shu Yichao checked his map and nodded. “You did declare war on me. Men—”
He raised his hand. “Drag him out and execute him.”
“Ah? AH?!” When the brawny Elite Horse Archers marched over with ropes and swords on hand, the Venetian envoy, who didn’t even blink earlier at Constantin XI’s threat, panicked. “Caesar, I am only an envoy!”
No one paid him any heed.
Shu Yichao and his Elite Horse Archers dragged the extravagantly-dressed Venetian envoy to the flagpole and hung him up. It didn’t take long for the Venetian envoy’s legs to fall limp, and his eyes rolled upward.
“Tsk tsk.” Shu Yichao shook his head. “Too bad there are no street lights, or else it would have made a better spectacle.”