In winter, the iron stove and iron pipes in the Great Song Dynasty office building exuded warmth, and the Eastern Roman chancellor who entered it couldn't help but yawn several times. Seeing that the minister was trying to stay awake, Xie Song invited the minister to a room without a stove, and it didn't take long for the chancellor to recover after opening the window.

There was hot milk tea in front of the two, and the minister took the cigarette and took two puffs, his attention was already highly concentrated. He said, "Your Excellency, I would like to make sure that there will be no problem with the supply of salt and spices. ”

"It won't go wrong." Xie Song replied with great confidence that the potatoes and pumpkins replanted in Greece could still be sent to Eastern Rome, and the products controlled by the Great Song Dynasty would not be cut off.

"Thank you so much."

The chancellor of the exchequer thought that Xie Song would say something, but after waiting for a while, seeing that Xie Song didn't say anything, he couldn't help but ask: "I don't know if the province wants to propose anything to us." ”

"Do you think we're going to take advantage of the fire to rob us? Hehe. Xie Song smiled.

The chancellor of the Eastern Roman Empire did not laugh, it was strange not to rob while the fire was on fire, and the Eastern Roman Empire even sacrificed his daughter in order to avoid the Ilkhanate in the east from taking advantage of the fire to rob. The Great Song Europa Province obviously had the strength to do a lot of things, but it only helped the Eastern Roman Empire to tide over the difficulties. In terms of time, it is more advantageous to ask clearly at this time.

Looking at the expression of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Xie Song also put away his smile. He said: "If we had anything to want, it would be to open a money bank in every city of Eastern Rome." Now that we make this request, can the Eastern Roman court agree? ”

"What's in it for us to agree to this condition?" The Chancellor of the Exchequer asked solemnly.

"There are many benefits, the first of which is that financial transactions no longer have to travel thousands of miles. The provincial banks will deliver their messages through their own telegraph networks, and you will surely know by now how convenient the telegraph network is. ”

The Chancellor's brow furrowed, he certainly knew the role of the telegraph network. Hearing Xie Song say this, the minister couldn't help but think of the thick telegrams on his desk, each of which could have a great impact on the Chancellor's mood, making him realize that he didn't know the country at all. The minister adjusted his mentality for a while before replying: "I'm just afraid that I won't be able to help much, the most important thing for the imperial court at the moment is to solve the food shortage." Excellency Chesson, do you know that the Slave Dynasty has begun to attack Basra. ”

Of course, Xie Song knew that knowing this news, the speed of the Great Song Intelligence Network was more efficient than that of Eastern Rome. I heard the minister say uneasily: "The Ilkhanate has been defeated, what if the Mongol Golden Horde in Baghdad is also defeated?" Didn't those True God people rush to the Eastern Roman border again? ”

"Well, I'll talk about it later." Xie Song replied lightly: "After all, we have a four-party alliance, and it is clearly written in the constitution of the alliance that if there is a war that is not caused by Mongolia and the Great Song Dynasty, the countries of the alliance are obliged to send troops to help." ”

"The province is willing to send troops?" The Chancellor of the Exchequer hurriedly knocked this to death.

The 100,000 troops of the Slave Dynasty and Mongolia were really not taken into account by Xie Song, and the barbarians killed by the Great Song Dynasty were dozens of times that of this number. From the Three Buddhas to the Sinhalese Lion Kingdom to the south-central states of Tianzhu, the barbarians conquered by the Great Song Dynasty were also dozens of times this number. Xie Song replied confidently: "Not only the provincial capitals will send troops, but the Western Roman Empire will also send troops. ”

The Chancellor was in a better mood when he left, feeling that he had figured out the asking price for a large part of Europa. Walking forward, you will see a Europa Provincial Bank, although the Eastern Roman Empire did not allow Europa Province to open branches in various cities, at least it had to be allowed to operate in Constantinople. Without the money bank in Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire would not have been able to engage in the business of paying money with the Quadripartite Alliance.

Some distance from the gate of the magnificent money house is the market for investment in the province of Europa. Constantinople's penchant for stone architecture resulted in a relatively small building. The people of the Great Song Dynasty were particularly fond of buildings with huge spaces, and the building materials were no longer stone, but bricks and concrete. The road inside the market is wide, and there are special environmental sanitation personnel who are constantly cleaning, so it looks exceptionally clean and tidy. Even the Chancellor's family likes to come to this market to shop, and everyone thinks that the things they buy here are just a little more reassuring.

The biggest special thing here is not that it is clean, but that it accepts money from all sides. Grain, vegetables, fruits, pearls, cloth, precious stones, art, as long as you hand in the money from all over the world, you can buy all the goods sold here. The minister had already seen the orange pumpkin pile in the market through the iron fence gate, and the pumpkin pile was crowded, thinking that it was all people buying pumpkins.

The promotion of pumpkins and potatoes ended a few days ago, and the mood of the citizens of Constantinople began to rise a little in the midst of the bitter rain. After half a month of activities, there were finally a lot of ordinary citizens in the market. After all, the price of pumpkin and potatoes was even a little lower than flour, and not only the citizens rushed to buy them in large quantities, but also the Roman legions. But the price of grain in Constantinople was as strong as a rock, and showed no signs of being shaken by the onslaught of pumpkins and potatoes.

Back in the palace office, the Minister of Justice rushed over, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer entertained the Minister of Justice with pumpkin pie and hot tea. Pumpkin pie is a fermented or unleavened food that uses pumpkin and flour and corn flour to support it, and pumpkin pie is very different. The promotion will show you how to refine pumpkin into a sweet filling, which can be baked into a very delicious pie by wrapping it in flour. The Chancellor's pie was made by his cook.

The Minister of Justice took a bite of the pie, and the gloom on his brow seemed to dissipate a little. He took a sip of tea and smoothed it out, and then asked, "Your Excellency, there have been incidents of grain snatching in some places, and too many people have come to complain. ”

Of course, the Chancellor of the Exchequer knew that the people of many cities could no longer stand it, and that the snatching of grain from the homes of nobles and landlords had already occurred. Various messages were quickly transmitted to Constantinople by telegram, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who learned of them, was very dismayed. The Minister of Finance's words made the Chancellor of Finance even more frustrated, and he asked, "Who are the people who have come to sue them?" ”

"The manor of the great nobles has prepared many guards, and they have been complaining, but they have not really made any serious trouble." The Minister of Justice recounted the situation he was facing.

"It's for the best." The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied coldly. There are no real fools among the great nobles, who certainly understand what fluctuations in food prices can bring. As the Minister of Justice had said, the nobles had already prepared their guards to guard their granaries. At this time, it was the weak agricultural operators who were robbed, because the price of grain had tripled to the beginning of the year, and many peasants began to find ways to transport their grain to the cities for sale, and many agricultural operators were still holding the grain and watching. The incidents of grain grabbing in areas with limited food stocks are all directed at these guys who are unable to defend themselves.

"This kind of thing is very troublesome, and I'm thinking about whether to leave it alone." The Minister of Justice sighed.

"Of course! These people are different from those of the great nobles, they ...... It's also pitiful. The Chancellor of the Exchequer sighed. In the eyes of those who have been accustomed to eating low-priced grain in the eyes of those who sell grain are hateful profiteers, the main culprits who have caused the price of grain to soar, and the culprits who sell grain at three times the price of grain at the beginning of the year. From the point of view of grain growers, the price at which they sell their grain now is only 60 percent of what it was a few years ago. Food prices in previous years were also not particularly high compared to past decades.

Seeing the hesitation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister of Justice said tentatively: "I met His Excellency Tiberius a few days ago, and His Excellency Tiberius said that Baselus' wise decision a few years ago had indeed rebuilt the Roman legions, but the price of grain made the peasants who grew grain very painful. This is the same problem as in the era of the Republic more than a thousand years ago. Rome's local grain production is low and the price is high, and there is no way to compete with the price of food in North Africa. At that time, the Republic imported large quantities of cheap grain from North Africa and Egypt, and in Rome it was growing high-value crops such as olives......"

At this point, the Minister of Justice went on to say: "At that time, shipping in the Mediterranean was completely controlled by the Roman navy, and Egypt and North Africa were Roman territories, so there would be no sudden interruption of the food supply. Even so, if there is a food problem in North Africa, it directly leads to the fluctuation of food prices in Rome. With such fluctuations, a large part of the urban population had to become vassals of the nobility. ”

"You have also met Tiberius?" The Minister of Justice asked in surprise.

"His Excellency Tiberius visited all the ministers, and even went to his majesty." The Chancellor of the Exchequer sighed. As a well-known scholar of the Eastern Roman Empire and a well-known historian in the Eastern Roman Empire, His Excellency Tiberius and other scholars carefully studied the history of Rome during this period, and told the rulers of the Eastern Roman Empire about the similar period of the year and the present.

"Do you think Tiberius is right?" The Minister of Justice asked.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer had just heard these statements and thought they made sense, but he couldn't fully integrate them with his own ideas. The Chancellor of the Exchequer knew that the most powerful era of Rome was, of course, the age of the Republic, and that His Excellency Tiberius was not only talking about the economy, but also about the politics of the time. Because of the poverty of the people, the combat effectiveness of the Roman standing army, which was equipped with its own weapons, was greatly reduced, and when the Teutonic kings invaded Rome, the standing army was defeated, and the sixteen legions were not replaced, and the entire army was basically wiped out. The Roman Republic, which had no soldiers, had to pass the Marian reforms. Marius's reform was to allow the poor Romans to serve in the army and live on the army's salary. Professional soldiers were born.

This professional army burst into prowess combat, and Marius commanded a new legion to eliminate the Teutonic Three Kings and remove the Roman threat from the north. From then on, the authority of the Roman Republic fell into the hands of those who were in charge of the army.

There was a fierce struggle between the two great army leaders, Marius and Sulla, who had no intention of overthrowing the Roman Republic. It's just that the guys who are in a hostile position are purged as enemies of the people. After Marius's death, Sulla suppressed Marius's henchmen, and he violently completed the constitutional reform of the aristocratic republic, becoming consul for life and dictator authorized by the Senate. When everyone thought he was going to be emperor, I didn't expect Sulla to suddenly say that I was going to retire. He then relinquished all power and returned to his estate, where he died peacefully a year later as an unemployed citizen.

Tiberius said that many people in the Roman Senate thought that Caesar might have chosen to give up power after gaining supreme power, as Sulla did, and determined that Caesar's refusal to do so led to a public assassination.

These histories are very similar to the situation in the Eastern Roman Empire today, and the sudden revival of the Eastern Roman Empire was not without cost. Not only the big aristocrats could not survive by selling grain, but also the vast number of yeoman farmers were also affected by the import of grain. Baseleus's decision created a gulf between the countryside and the cities, where millions of people were almost completely cut off from the countryside by importing food. Baseleus relied on hundreds of thousands of rebuilt troops and millions of military families to gain an overwhelming advantage. But this advantage was too fragile, and the Yuan State simply interrupted the food supply to make it unbearable for the city residents.

His Excellency Tiberius warned that if this continued, an unprecedented civil war would break out in Eastern Rome. Entire urban areas and rural areas will be bloodied.

"If there is a civil war...... "The Minister of Justice's voice was a little dry. The order established by law is only powerful in times of peace, and in the event of a civil war, all atrocities are not prohibited by law. Remembering the atrocities committed during the Crusader invasion, the Minister of Justice was filled with fear.

"Well...... I hope ......" the Chancellor of the Exchequer could not continue.

The Minister of Justice said eagerly: "If the peasants lose money by selling grain, they will not sell grain." ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer nodded. This is the focus of all the contradictions of the moment, and cheap imported grain only temporarily solves the big problems of the time, but creates more problems. The minister lamented: "But Baseleus will not let the situation go back to the way it was, and I don't want to!" ”

After talking with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister of Justice returned to his office and changed into civilian clothes and left. He left in a carriage, then got off at a corner, and walked through a few alleys into a house. There were already a few people waiting inside, all dressed in civilian clothes, including generals, eunuchs, and ministers. Seeing the Minister of Justice coming in, the eunuch hurriedly asked, "What is the attitude of the Minister of Finance?" ”

"I haven't told him yet." The Minister of Justice stood by the fire and roasted his hands, "But I see that the Chancellor of the Exchequer understands the difficulty of the present situation, and as His Excellency Tiberius said, it is no longer a question of which side will give in. All must compromise. ”

"Barcellus's side ......, still not willing." The eunuch sighed.

"Then we can only try Tiberius's strategy." The Minister of Justice's tone was a mixture of helplessness and determination.

"What if it fails?" The general asked.

"What if Yuan still doesn't export grain next year?" The Home Secretary asked rhetorically.

The crowd fell silent. At that time, the Roman Republic was so powerful that it encompassed all the territories around the Mediterranean, making the Mediterranean Sea the inner lake of the Roman Republic. But such a strong still can't solve the problem, and the republic still falls. Tiberius has made that history very clear, and all of you here lived through the time of the Crusaders, when the Eastern Roman Empire actually fell twenty years after its demise.

The general broke the silence and stood up and said to the crowd: "Everyone, I have decided to do it. The rest is left to everyone, for the sake of Rome, you can only fight! ”

Without waiting for an answer, the general pulled his hood up, pushed the door and walked out. Everyone, you look at me, I look at you, but they don't speak. They've exhausted all the options they can think of, and now they're running out of options. Although the scriptures say that the Son of God once fed five thousand men and an unknown number of women with five fish and two loaves of bread, it is clear that Eastern Rome did not possess such divine power, not even the spokesman of the Kingdom of Heaven, Barcellus of Eastern Rome.

Now only scholars like Tiberius can explain the situation and propose theories and solutions, and the important ministers at this time can only treat dead horses as live horse doctors.

Hunger had spread to every city in the Eastern Roman Empire, not so much hunger as fullness. If in the eyes of the vegetarian cult in the 21st century, less oil, less salt, vegetarian, multigrain, and seven points of satiety are simply the perfect health regimen model. But in Eastern Rome in 1296, the feeling reminded the city's inhabitants of the long days of starvation. Fear and despair grew day by day, and the Eastern Roman legions in Gaia finally couldn't bear it anymore. The soldiers had long known that there was a large nobleman's estate nearby, which was stockpiled with grain. A strong parapet surrounded the granaries of the manor, but for the Roman legions it was nothing more than a thin wall.

I don't know who shouted "Go, go and rob him". This sentence has long echoed in the hearts of the legionnaires, and someone shouted out everyone's heart, and the entire barracks was boiling. The soldiers picked up their guys one after another, and some people directly dragged out of the crash, and a large number of people poured out of the barracks and started to act with the crash as the core.

The officers were largely uninvolved, but they did not stop it. They also come from the grassroots, and it is not only them who are full, but also their families. Since it was no longer possible to count on the food of the Yuan Kingdom, there was no reason for everyone to stop the movement of the army. The officers consciously did not participate in person, even if they strictly obeyed the law.

The group went out for a while, but saw a small group of cavalry coming from behind, bypassing the brigade and blocking the road. The leading soldier watched intently, but it was the officer Cicelius. Cicelius fought bravely, fairly, and strictly disciplined, and had always had a high reputation. It's just that he appeared in front of everyone at this time, and everyone remembered the disciplined side of Cicelius.

The soldier admired Cicelius on weekdays, and he didn't want to tear his face at this time, so he shouted: "Cicelius, what are you going to do when you stop us?" ”

Cicelius turned and dismounted, walked up to the soldiers, and shouted: "Plundering is not only a sin, but it has tarnished the honor of our Roman legions, are you going to trample our honor with your own feet?" ”

"Can honor be eaten?" Immediately there were soldiers who objected. The other soldiers also shouted: "Those big nobles hoard grain just to sell it for a high price, don't they have a sense of shame!" ”

When the soldiers finished shouting, Cicelius shouted: "Honor is not to be eaten, but if the meal is snatched, it is to abandon our honor." Look what I have in my hands! ”

With that, Cicelius lifted a heavy leather bag into the air. Everyone didn't know what was in it just by looking at the skin, and someone joked, "Is it money in it?" ”

"That's right! Inside is the money. Brothers, you didn't guess wrong! Cicelius shouted as he walked into the crowd, and finally he jumped into the crash in the center of the procession, and shouted condescendingly: "Brothers, I will not prevent you from going to the manor of the nobles, but I do not want you to trample on the ease of our legions, and go straight from glorious Roman soldiers to thieves." This purse contains all my money, as well as all the money of the other officers. But this is not enough, and I ask you to give money for your own honor and sell grain from the noble manor at the price of the beginning of the year. I know you're angry, but the anger will pass. Later, when you think back to today's events, you can puff up your chest and say, we are only going to defend the fair and honorable Roman soldiers, not the thieves who take other people's food by plundering! Brothers, I beg you, beg you to give money for your own sake, for the glory of the legion. ”

The soldiers didn't expect this trick to come together, and everyone was a serious person before joining the army. After leaving the barracks, I was really a little uneasy in my heart, and at this time, when I saw that an officer finally came out to take the lead, what he said made sense, and many people felt in their pockets.

Some soldiers stepped forward and questioned Cicelius, "Cicelius, but we don't have enough money, what should we do?" ”

Cicelius replied loudly: "If you don't have enough money, write them an IOU, and if you can't pay it off this month, you will pay it back next month." Brothers, I believe that the imperial court will definitely be able to solve this problem, and when the matter is resolved, will we have to bear the stigma of thieves and bandits? For their own sake, I ask the brothers to think clearly. ”

Looking at the heavy money bag in Sicelius' hand, one of the soldiers took out all the money in his pocket and handed it to Cicelius. There were more and more such soldiers, and the money bag soon became bulging. Cicelius shouted again: "Whoever goes back first and brings our bucket will know how much grain we have taken." ”

The soldiers obeyed, and not long after, the procession again marched towards the noble estate.

Two days later, the news of the purchase of grain in the city of Gaia was transmitted by telegram to Eastern Rome, to other cities, to many legions. Incidents of buying grain immediately appeared in various localities.

A few days later, Sheila suddenly received an invitation to post about her future sister-in-law. Sheila felt that the eldest sister-in-law's family might have decided to get married quickly, and in such a chaotic period, it was some kind of reassuring choice for the great nobles to have a relative of a regimental officer. Sheila didn't hate her future sister-in-law, she was a beautiful and cultured woman, and her brother Ciceruth liked her very much. The materials of his own family are large enough, even if he adds the sister-in-law and the sister-in-law's maids, it is not a problem. In case the room is not ...... enough, hum...... Sheila was happy to think about her brother's possible expression when he was forced to give up the game.

When she got out of the carriage and walked into the luxurious mansion, she saw that there were many people gathered in the hall. Looking at the faces of the gang, Sheila knew she was wrong. These people can't have come for marriage.