The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Peter was shocked by Mason's extraordinary completion of the task, and it seemed that the company's proposal had to go ahead. It is too difficult to colonize by companies alone, and Egypt's canals must be speeded up, otherwise they will still be controlled by others.

There was already a lot of information given today, and Peter had to digest it well. There is still the task of meeting the special envoy tomorrow.

The next morning the Great Palace of Constantinople was packed with people. All the high officials and nobles came here, and Mircea was also dressed in fine clothes and sitting on a throne with a crown on his head.

Zheng He formally met with the Emperor of the Roman Empire here. He claimed that he came to make friends on the orders of the Emperor of the Ming Empire, and presented Mircea with gifts from the Ming Empire.

Including porcelain produced from official kilns such as Jingdezhen, silk produced in Jiangxi, Huguang, and Guangdong and Guangxi, and various decorations made of gemstones, the value is estimated to be worth half of the national treasury.

"This is really rich. Even if I add all my assets, I can't afford these things."

"Yeah, don't talk about me. Only His Majesty in Europe can take it out. The other kings are all poor and can't afford to sell their crowns."

This is true. The kings of Europe did not look at how vast the territory they ruled and how large the population was. But most of them were vassals under his command, and he could only live on the income from the land directly under his jurisdiction. This is why the French king was nicknamed the Count of Île-de-France.

Moreover, the previous French king divorced Eleanor, Duke of Aquitaine, and the other party married the British king. This resulted in the British territory accounting for half of France. It was only through the management of several Dharma kings that it was restored to what it is now.

Not to mention the likes of Shinra, it is extremely difficult for the emperor to get money from the whole country. Not to mention Poland, if the nobles don't do it, even war can't shake their willingness to save money.

Mircea was a little better than them. Although the royal finance and the national finance were separated, the emperor still had the right to mobilize the treasury for royal construction. The national treasury can make up for the shortage of royal expenses. This is already the best finance in Europe. But it was still vulnerable to the gift from the East.

"The Roman Empire thanks your country for the gift. The two countries have a long history of exchanges. I hope your visit can open a new chapter."

Mircea put Peter in charge of entertaining the envoys from afar, and also gave many gifts in return. The value is also unprecedented in Europe.

"Please envoy to follow me."

Peter spoke in Romanian, and only after Mason translated did the two parties understand each other. Peter can also understand it, but as the heir to the empire, he must have an interpreter, otherwise how can you explain it if you suddenly understand the other person's words. God appears?

"Special envoy, please see, this is the greatest building in our country, Hagia Sophia. This is also the holy place of faith for our people."

Maybe Mason felt that the word "holy place" was not understood by the other party directly, so he just said it as "center". Zheng He nodded and admired the building.

"This is really unparalleled. Not many countries can do this kind of building."

Being guided by the future ruler of an empire was a blessing that only he could have had. In Zheng He's view, the imperial prince not only had strategy and courage, but also had approachable qualities and high diplomatic abilities. It is not an exaggeration to call him the Tang Taizong of the West, and the other brother was harmonious and the eldest son, which Taizong did not have.

(Tang Taizong was also a bit miserable. Although he created the Zhenguan rule, it got off to a bad start by launching the Xuanwumen Rebellion, and none of his fourteen sons died well except Gaozong.)

Peter is more like a combination of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and Prince Yiwen of the Ming Dynasty. He is a victorious general on the battlefield and can handle politics with ease. Even though he had only met this person for a day.

Peter took Zheng He to visit Constantinople, which was the only city in Europe that could be compared. The cities in northern Italy were not safe at the moment, and he could not put the envoy's life in danger.

In addition to troops and sailors, there were also doctors, craftsmen and other people engaged in other industries in the Eastern fleet. They demonstrated their skills in Constantinople and won the favor of many people.

The biggest gift Mason brought to Peter from the East was a pile of books. Covering military, cultural, geographical and other aspects, such as the prestigious "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Sun Bin's Art of War", and the Song Dynasty's "Seven Books of Martial Arts", even those books hidden among the people were dug up by Mason. I heard that hundreds of years ago, a man named Shen Kuo wrote a book and spent 800 taels of silver to get it. There are also those books on medicine and mathematics that were obtained in places such as Nanjing and Ningbo. After all, the Jiangnan area has a strong cultural atmosphere. The difficulty of obtaining these is not bad.

Of course, the goods Zheng He brought had to be sold. Mircea directly set aside a temporary area in the market as a sales place. Those in the fleet remove the goods for sale from the warehouse and sell them directly.

Thousands of people came to the market, looking at porcelain, silk, tea and other items, and paying for them. The wealthy merchants and nobles even went crazy to buy porcelain and silk, which would give them face when inviting people over.

"Don't rob everyone. There are plenty of goods, so please don't rob them."

In addition to local Roman merchants, merchants from Naples, Hungary, Poland, Hanseatic, Moscow, France and other countries were also dispatched in the city. They sold the goods in their hands as quickly as possible and tried their best to buy the most Eastern goods and transfer them to If sold in other countries, the profits will be dozens of times higher.

The number of merchant ships departing from Constantinople every day is several times the usual number, and they are all eager to sell goods. They also know that if the news spreads throughout Europe, a large number of merchants will flock here and buy these things. sales so that prices will drop and they lose more than they gain.

So hurry up and sell now while the news has not spread as far as the farthest reaches. Buda, Vienna, Ancona, Naples, Prague and other places are all markets. Dijon and Flanders in Burgundy are also big donors, and I believe local businessmen are willing to pay for these things.

Such market sales also put pressure on Constantinople. The mayor urgently asked some garrisons to maintain market order, and at the same time revised the taxes. These buyers of Eastern goods also had to pay one-eighth of the tax, which increased the tax rate a bit. The result is still crazy.

However, the financial income has increased a lot, earning 50,000 lei in just one day. Moreover, the goods have not been sold out yet. As the news spreads, businessmen from all over Europe will come here, and the tax will have to be increased again.