Invincible urban management

During the few days outside Adrianople, Emperor Constantine XI and his subordinates all lived very comfortably

Since the army came to Adrianople, when tens of thousands of "jihadists" who were called soldiers but were actually bandits were indulged to plunder the Turks and caused a lot of grief, Emperor Constantine XI also found a The palace built by the Turkish Sultan in the suburbs, where he lived leisurely

The Patriarch Gregory of the Orthodox Church led a group of priests to change jobs in the largest mosque in the area and set up a construction team, causing smoke and dust to fly everywhere, and trying to turn it into a church... The mosque seems to have been originally rebuilt by the Turks with the East Roman Church...

At this time, the emperor's imperial camp, or the former Sultan's palace, is full of bustling people, happy faces and happy scenes.

The beautiful garden that was originally full of flowers and gurgling with clear springs has now been ruined by the mercenaries of the Eastern Roman Empire. After returning home with big bags and small bags, they lazily untied their boots and washed their dark feet in the fountain pool. Ah, let the clear spring water turn into a black turbid stream, and some people even undressed without shame, and jumped into the pool to wash up in public

——Compared to those Western Europeans who are currently immersed in the fear of the Black Death (Bore Xing plague), and mistakenly regard bathing rather than rats as the cause of the disease, so insist on not bathing for a lifetime, and can barely cover up strong body odor with perfume He said that the ancient Roman custom of liking luxury baths was still maintained, and the subjects of the Eastern Roman Empire, who regarded bathing as a kind of enjoyment, were almost the Christians who liked bathing the most in the world at that time.

And not far from the fountain, in a flower garden that has just sprouted grass buds, several huge iron pots are churning with white steam. At this moment, what is being piled under the iron pots and burning is not ordinary firewood. , but well-crafted mahogany teak and oak furniture, as well as colorful door panels and screens, but at the moment they are all chopped into pieces by the vulgar mercenaries, and they are used as firewood without any care. Even the holy "Quran", In the angry and desperate eyes of the Muslim captives, the mercenaries roughly tore them into small pieces of paper, which were used to ignite the fire.

Large chunks of beef and mutton, bread as staple food, rice from Egypt, salted fish, onions, garlic, marinated olives, seasoned cheese, sesame and pepper were all thrown in by these mercenaries who didn’t pay attention to fine dining. In the pot, it is a good food to stew in one breath

The plump chickens and ducks, after plucking and digging out the internal organs, are also inserted into the iron stand one by one at this time and slowly rotated in circles on the fire. A layer of sauce mixed with pepper is a rare treat for the poor

Many soldiers in disheveled clothes are crowded around the fire at this time, staring at the grilled chicken on the shelf and the broth in the pot... As the flames move up and down, the tempting aroma comes from the fire. The steaming heat wave rushed towards the face, making everyone who smelled it uncontrollably drooling. On the wall a little far away, there were still many hangover soldiers lying here and there, smelling chicken at this moment. The aroma of duck and fish meat, everyone groaned and opened their eyes, flapping their noses and looking towards the stove, lest they lose their own portion when sharing the food

As for the outside of the palace farther away, it is even more crowded with people. Since ancient times, buying trophies with the army has been a lucrative business. Although the risk of following the army is not high, it is due to the greedy nature of the capitalists. , There are still many merchants from Genoa, Venice, Florence, and Pisa who are not afraid of death, and they followed the Eastern Roman Empire team to Adrianople. In addition, various groups of "special service personnel" who followed the army quickly made this area full of people. The land ravaged by war has regained a kind of deformed prosperity

——On the outskirts of Adrianople, where the "jihadists" gathered, many stalls built by Italians popped up at an alarming rate, forming a large-scale temporary trading market. The property was quickly exchanged for coins by Italian merchants at a low price, and then they squandered it all on drinking and eating and women's bellies. With the last coin in my pocket, I'm working hard... Let this place be noisy day and night, always full of women screaming and teasing, drunks yelling and laughing, and the sound of fists and kicks... …

Although these promiscuous mistresses are so enthusiastic, but after all, the number is slightly insufficient, and the charges are a bit too high. Therefore, even if the Muslim pagan women smear pot ashes on their faces, mess up their hair, and put on Men's clothes that don't fit are still dragged out of their respective hiding warehouses and cellars by these hormonal excess thugs, stripped naked and sent to the barracks to comfort those physically and mentally exhausted soldiers... In order to cater to some special According to the taste of the people, many slender and handsome Turkish teenagers were also murdered...

For example, the small mosque attached to the Sultan's palace was used to detain the Turkish women and beautiful boys captured nearby after it was looted, and it was used as a place where the emperor's troops gathered to proclaim their yin. At the gate, I heard bursts of sharp groans of "... oh-oh-oh-oh-" and low sobs coming from the temple

As for the honorable Emperor Constantine XI, naturally he would not join the soldiers in group piao, but enjoy a higher level of enjoyment

In the warm breeze, Emperor Constantine XI, who had just woken up from a nap, sat on the head of the bed, slowly put on his clothes, put on the purple royal robe, and then looked around the extremely luxurious Sultan's bedroom, feeling very satisfied. sighed

According to the standards of this era, the luxurious dormitory prepared by the Turkish Sultan for himself is absolutely resplendent

--The walls of the room were hung with rich curtains, all embroidered on silk with gold and silver thread; patterns, and densely clustered with fluffy fluff like a lawn, faintly exuding a pleasant and fresh fragrance; behind a translucent pale gold gauze, there is a golden gilt The censer was burning high-quality incense of unknown material; and in a huge wine cabinet inlaid with shells, pearls, gems, and gold and silver ornaments in the corner, there were rows of cork-sealed wine bottles filled with wine. Juices and drinks of various colors reflect countless colorful and brilliant beams of light under the slanting afternoon sun, which looks like a dream, mottled and blurred...

What made Emperor Constantine XI feel extremely envious and jealous was that the bedroom of the Turkish Sultan was completely built with a speckled purple-red volcanic rock - this rock was first produced in Egypt The scientific name is porphyry, which is regarded as a health product in China. There is another name called medical stone-because the standard color of the royal family of the Eastern Roman Empire is purple, this kind of stone is very suitable, so it is used in the Eastern Roman Empire. During the prosperous period, this kind of porphyry has always been used to build the imperial palace, especially the "purple bedroom" used by the emperor and empress. The whole room is made of this porphyry, showing a mysterious and noble purple style, which is considered to be the standard royal style

However, in Constantinople in 1453, the majestic old palace had already become a pile of rubble and ruins, and the small palace built by the last few emperors on the Golden Horn was also repeatedly destroyed in the civil war and turmoil. When it was destroyed to the point where Constantine XI, the last emperor, took over, let alone the purple bedroom, even the purple royal robes on his body had long since faded... but the Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Turkish Empire did not know if it was Because of admiring Greek and Roman culture, he actually used this building material that symbolizes imperial power in his newly built palace.

Alas, compared with Constantine XI's dilapidated "doghouse" by the Golden Horn, this place is so much better

Moreover, this is just a vacation palace located on the outskirts of the capital Adrianople. I don’t know how luxurious the real palace in the city is... Sultan Mehmet II, whose head is now stuck outside the city gate, was really enjoy it

Regarding this, the emperor couldn't help but have the urge to move his family here... Unfortunately, there is no way to stay in this place for a long time after all!

Smelling the tangy and expensive incense, Emperor Constantine XI stretched comfortably, thinking so with jealousy and regret

Of course, what makes the emperor feel infinitely happy physically and mentally is the two delicate and plump white bodies on this beautiful bed.

Ever since he traveled to this sad era and became the most unlucky last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, he has never touched a woman again, and he only broke his precept in the past few days—not the emperor who traveled How clean and self-sufficient, but his harem is too shabby: apart from a few stout cooking aunts, not to mention enchanting and charming mistresses and concubines, there is not even a delicate and handsome maid!

Moreover, the poor emperor did not have much wealth to spend on pleasure—the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire in the late period was extremely narrow, and the annual tax revenue was only about [-] florin gold coins, which was equivalent to the annual income of the government of the Republic of Venice in the same period. Just maintaining an army of less than a thousand people is already overwhelmed, and there are mutinies every three days because of arrears of military pay. There is really no money to support a luxurious and corrupt harem

As for saving some money from the gap between your teeth, and secretly paying it out... There are no antibiotics these days, and Constantine XI doesn't want to die in disgrace from willow disease-so, until this time he captured the outskirts of Adrianople After arresting two Anatolian female slaves who had just been sold into the Turkish court, His Majesty the Emperor was able to vent his long-suffering anger during the battle

——What pleased Constantine XI was that according to the practice test on the bed just now, although this body is a bit older, thanks to the strict and healthy military life, it should be regarded as a training and military achievement. Very good, so some key functions are still very complete. Under the flattery of the two female slaves, it is not a problem to play a one-on-two game...

After reluctantly kissing the naked mulatto sisters goodbye on the bed, and stuffing them with a few modern zircon trinkets in gorgeous shapes and sparkling shapes, which made them giggle in surprise, the satisfied emperor finally left the bed and was ready to start cao military affairs

Then, just as he was yawning and stretching, walking slowly to the window, and pulling out a chair in front of the desk to sit down, he suddenly heard a loud noise and a miserable shrill cry through the curtains and curtains. The emperor couldn't help frowning slightly when it came into his ears.

In fact, His Majesty the Emperor is very clear about the source of these noises—the tens of thousands of "jihadists" brought here by him are burning, killing and looting everywhere, completely releasing the tyrannical factors in their bones, and ravaging this fertile land. The atrocities of killing and looting are endless everywhere, and almost every tree is covered with corpses... However, His Majesty Emperor Constantine XI does not intend to restrain the actions of these "jihadists" ——If Constantinople is breached, the same will happen to the subjects of the empire

This is the law of war in this era, there is no compassionate humanitarianism and international public opinion, and no one can be an exception

In addition, Constantine XI actually couldn’t control these guys who voluntarily joined—in this extremely decadent end of the world, the standing army of the Eastern Roman Empire was only a few hundred people. The bare-handed commander is not much different. Today, there are tens of thousands of mobs gathered in Adrianople. Most of them are "volunteers" who joined temporarily on the way and wanted to make a fortune together. Therefore, the entire army has been in a state of command failure for a long time. There are people joining and disbanding at any time—in the outskirts of Adrianople, people often break away from the main force and go to a distant village to plunder, and then never return. want to build a career

However, Emperor Constantine XI, who is nominally the commander-in-chief of the entire army, still does not know how many soldiers he has under his command, nor where these soldiers are... Fortunately, although this messy army has Disorganized and undisciplined, but after all, there are a lot of people, and there are plenty of armaments and equipment - thanks to Mehmed II's "generous gift" - it seems enough to scare people, at least scare the Turks

However, this is also the limit of what this "jihad army" can do-although Emperor Constantine XI could not say how many "crusaders" gathered under the city of Adrianople at this time, he deeply Knowing that even if they are equipped with the captured Turkish weapons, they are still just a bunch of useless mobs: they don’t have the minimum military literacy, and they don’t have enough toughness and perseverance... Under the temptation of wealth and the drive of faith , the "Holy Warriors" who are equipped with fine weapons may be able to squeeze the soft persimmons and fight a smooth battle, but it is difficult for them to survive the cruel and long war of attrition. This gang of unorganized and undisciplined mobs will collapse in an instant...

And long-term siege is also unworkable-the attack and defense of cities in the classical era is fundamentally a long contest between wills, who has more sufficient material reserves, who can maintain vigilance for a longer period of time, and who can survive Whoever wins at the last moment

Obviously, compared with the Turks who stick to the fortified city and have no way to retreat, the Eastern Roman Empire, which has a loose organization and no logistics or foreign aid, does not have an advantage in any of the above.

Therefore, although the generals under his command called for battle again and again with enthusiasm, the calm and cautious Constantine XI was still not confused by the superficially good situation. Attack on Adrianople

However, he still understands the military siege that is the most taboo in besieging a city. Therefore, even if he knew it was just pretending, the emperor would still drive out some people from the camp every day, put on a stance with great fanfare, and charge towards the city wall with great fanfare. The last few times, but every time I turned back halfway without crossing the moat, and at the same time, I never stopped shelling Adrianople... Even if the city wall can't be bombarded, it's good to make a noise to embolden my own people

Of course, this stalemate cannot last forever, because the Albanian Legion and the Moria Legion of the Turks are both moving closer to Adrian, and any of them can easily defeat the mob of the Eastern Roman Empire... Fortunately, these two Turkish legions Due to the struggle for imperial power, they have become sworn enemies. Their desire to destroy each other is far stronger than the motley army that defeated Constantine XI.

But the trouble is, before completing a certain task, the emperor has to stay here for a while... So, Constantine XI yawned and started again. The letterhead I brought, I rubbed my chin and lowered my head to ponder...

- "... the Sultan of the Turks; the son of Muhammad; the brother of the sun; the son and mouthpiece of God; the ruler of the kingdoms of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Seres, and Armenia; kings King of Caesars; Caesar of Caesars; Believer chosen by Allah; Consolation and Consolation of Muslims; Great Guardian of Christians... I order you, Roman Emperor of Constantinople! Just leave immediately Here, stop molesting my capital, retreat to your city, and recognize me as the only legitimate Ottoman Sultan I can magnanimously absolve you of the crime of cruelty to my father's body, and reward you with something that will make you feel Satisfied with..."