Chapter 577 Old Friends
This night, the guests enjoyed themselves. Mason also felt the warmth of a large family, but his father was not around and his sister went to Smyrna with her husband's family. But he was also very satisfied.
This night, he slept well without any dreams.
When Mason got up in the morning, he saw a clear sky outside. There must be good news.
"Master, you are ready."
"Then let's go"
Mason got on the carriage heading to the palace. He looked out the window and saw smiles on the faces of the citizens. Various hawking sounds were heard, as well as businessmen and tourists from other countries. Constantinople was indeed changing rapidly.
At the entrance of the Royal Palace of Constantinople, the chief steward had been waiting for a long time. When he saw the carriage, he told the other eunuchs to get ready to receive it.
Although Mason had never met the steward, he had heard his name. After all, he is a person close to the emperor, and it will be very difficult to do things if he doesn't have a good relationship with him. He had seen in the East that a eunuch responsible for guarding the emperor's door dared to ask for money blatantly, and of course it was the same here.
As soon as Mason got out of the car, he hurried to the manager to say hello. "General Manager"
"You must be Master Mason. Your Majesty has been waiting for a long time."
"Thank you very much"
Mason took out a small bag from his pocket, which was filled with gold coins. The steward happily accepted it, and of course he also revealed some news.
"Your Majesty is in a good mood recently, but the situation in the west and east has disturbed your Majesty. Please pay attention, sir."
"Thank you, manager."
After getting some news from the steward, Mason walked into the palace. But why does he feel that the air pressure here is a little low?
Peter listened to Luca's report in the study with a heavy face, and Alexander didn't say anything beside him. Although the restart of the war was inevitable, Tunisia did not expect to fire the first shot.
Tunisian pirates repeatedly robbed Sicily and Roman merchant ships along the way, and Laszlo also sent troops several times, but with little success. The Sultan of Tunisia actually wrote directly to Laszlo and Peter, asking them to cede Sicily and Crete to him. In exchange, he would destroy the pirates and ensure the safety of their ships.
"This is blackmail, this is unprecedented blackmail!" Peter said in a low voice.
"How could a small country in Tunisia suddenly ask us to cede islands? I'm afraid there are other countries supporting it."
"Your Highness is right. According to the news we received, there is a sudden increase in the number of ships from Genoa and Egypt in the city of Carthage, and there are also ships from Burgundy."
Hearing this, Peter quickly asked: "Are you sure it's Friesland?"
"Very certain, it is indeed the flag of Burgundy."
Now that Burgundy has joined the battle in the Mediterranean, Peter has to pay attention in advance. Now it turns out the alliance has more members than he imagined, with Catholics and Sunnis united from Portugal to the Black Sheep.
"I thought it would subside for a while within ten years, but only a few years later it returned to the war. It seems that it will not subside unless they are completely killed this time."
The emperor looked a little angry, and Luca quickly said: "Your Majesty, the current situation is actually quite favorable to us. England and Brandenburg have restrained us a lot. Sigismund is now being controlled by Percy." The affairs of Mia are very confusing, and King Charles of France is seriously ill and there is not much time left. As for Poland, they are still in their own chaos. It should be said that the current situation is beneficial to us. "
Peter thought about it, since Tunisia was allowed to take the lead, they would not have time to deal with Rome yet. This means that their allies to the east cannot attack at the same time, so there is a time difference.
"It just so happens that the King of England and the Elector of Brandenburg are coming to Constantinople. I will discuss it with them personally.\
,"At this time the manager came in. "Your Majesty, Master Mason is here."
The steward's words interrupted the current discussion, Peter waved his hand, and Luca withdrew, along with the crown prince. At the door, Mason met the two men.
"Your Highness, Lord Luca."
"It turns out to be a senior official. His Majesty is summoning him. Come in quickly."
Alexander spoke to Mason and went away with the Foreign Secretary. Mason hurried into the study.
"His Majesty."
"Oh, dear Andrew, how have you been these past few years?"
"Thanks to God's great blessing, everything is fine. Your Majesty, I have filled in the lakes in Venice and built many houses on them."
Mason quickly told the emperor about his achievements, and Peter was very happy. "I already know about this. You have done a good job. Among the western provinces, Dalmatia is the province that pays the highest taxes. You must have put a lot of thought into it."
The tax revenue handed over from Dalmatia last year was 190,000 lei, and this was even after being raided twice by Rome.
"I am willing to sacrifice my life to serve His Majesty."
"Ha ha ha ha"
The steward brought tea, which was authentic tea from the Ming Dynasty. Although it is bitter, you need to taste it carefully to taste the sweetness inside.
"Your Majesty summoned your ministers to come here. What's the matter?"
In front of old friends, Peter didn't hide too much. "You should know that the relationship between the empire and other countries is not very good recently."
"I know that Burgundy and Bavaria have never gotten over the shadow of that defeat, and France is also frightened by the power of the empire. In general, there is no country in the entire continent that does not oppose it."
Mason directly stated the current situation. Whether it is a major country or a minor country, they are all afraid of the power of Rome. They can only unite and face Rome and its evil allies together.
"Now is the time for the empire to prepare for war against pagans. If there is a war in the West, it will disrupt the deployment. Now is the critical time. The prime minister has not been in good health recently."
The news that the prime minister is in poor health from the emperor's mouth, doesn't it mean that he will be replaced. Does His Majesty want him to be the prime minister? Then they will have power over the government and the country. It is really God's blessing.
But = thought about it again and felt that it was impossible. The empire selects officials according to the assessment and promotion. There are almost no airdrops. Although he has been a high-ranking official, it is obviously unrealistic to become the prime minister of the empire directly, so it is better to give up the fantasy.
Seeing the other party like this, Peter knew that he had thought wrongly, "The prime minister is unwell and has resigned to me a few days ago and proposed that Baptiste take his place. I have already approved it."
Hearing this news, Mason felt a little disappointed, but who made him not qualified enough.
"However, the Prime Minister told me that the Dalmatian official is very good and recommended him to me to serve as the Minister of Finance. I wonder if you are willing?"