Chapter 123: Witness From Venice
Peter found a bank, which was opened by a well-known local nobleman.
As soon as he entered the door, the steward looked at Peter. At such a young age, he must be here to visit.
Peter walked up to the counter and said, "I want to deposit money."
Peter started saving money as soon as he opened his mouth, which made the other party a little surprised. Could it be that he is really a rich man?
"How much do you want to deposit?" the staff at the counter asked.
Peter asked someone to move the big box outside the door in, "Can you save one hundred thousand florins?"
As soon as he heard that there were one hundred thousand gold coins, the manager's eyes lit up. This was a lot of money. If he used this money to lend money, he would not be extremely rich. It seems that the other party's background is not simple.
Depositing 100,000 gold coins in one breath made the counter ask about the source of the money. Although both black and white were accepted, they still had to confirm.
"Why, my family's business is in more than a dozen countries. Let me tell you, this is just a little bit of my family's business. I just didn't know what to do, so I came to Venice."
Listening to Peter's tone, they had determined that the other party was a big fish and they must not let him get away.
They quickly completed the formalities and quickly presented themselves to their master, Tommaso Mosenigo, a member of the Venetian Parliament.
The Mosenigo family is a famous aristocrat in Venice. Its family members have served as Speaker of the Grand Council of Venice for more than 20 years. At the same time, the family is also engaged in textile, shipbuilding, banking and other businesses. Everyone wants to have a relationship with them. .
Tommaso was expressionless when he heard that a customer had deposited 100,000 gold coins. Although 100,000 was a lot, he didn't have such customers, but he heard that the other party's family had connections in more than a dozen countries, and maybe he could take advantage of it.
"Where does their family do the most business?"
"I heard from him that they are most common in Poland, Hungary, and Wallachia, and they are also related to the Hanseatic ones."
Upon hearing that the man had connections in Eastern Europe, Tommaso thought there was an opportunity. Maybe we can take the business to Ross.
Peter waited outside for a while, and when he saw the person in charge walking over with a smile on his face, he knew that something else would come to him.
The other party proposed to sign a business cooperation agreement with Peter. His family not only had textiles, but also spices, silverware, tableware, etc. All of them were good things. He hoped that Peter could sell these to the East, and the benefits would be great.
Peter did not agree immediately, but said that he would discuss it with his family and asked him to wait patiently.
"It seems like they want a piece of the pie."
Of course Peter knew the profit-seeking nature of the Merchant Republic, but there were benefits to cooperation. He had to bow his head now. Even if the profits were reduced, it would still be profitable to get involved with this person.
Peter also thought about taking a piece of meat from Venice, taking a small bite first, and then swallowing the whole thing. As a sign of sincerity, Peter purchased some goods, and Tommaso also felt that the other party was a compatible person, so he signed a long-term agreement with him. The two formally established a business relationship, and Peter would also deposit part of the money in Mosenigo. In the bank, it seemed to Tommaso how humbling it was.
Peter gave his address and asked them to come to Constanta to find him if the cooperation went well.
"Sir, would it be too much to save one hundred thousand at one time?"
"Is it a lot? It's not our hard-earned money anyway, so we can just save it. Is it possible that the bishop can still come to Venice to find me?"
Peter also went to the largest library in Venice to look for information about the catastrophe two hundred years ago. Everything that was detrimental to Venice has been wiped out. The only thing that can be found is that the Crusaders did not want to attack Constantinople, but the Roman Emperor Isaac II, who was already imprisoned at the time, asked the other party to come to rescue them. There will be a large amount of gold gifts, plus the Crusaders' military salaries and debts, and then Constantinople will be defeated.
This can be considered a reason, but the trigger was the feud between Dandolo, the then Governor of Venice, and Rome. Because in his memory, the rulers of the empire have always been capricious. At that time, Manuel I revoked the trade privileges granted to Venice and expelled 20,000 Venetians living in the capital. This incident also deeply planted the seeds of hatred for Byzantium in Dandolo's heart. Moreover, it is said that Dandolo did business in Constantinople in his early years, but was blinded when he suffered the Latin Massacre. Therefore, he had personal grudges against the Roman Empire.
And now, he is sleeping in the Sophia Cathedral in the Castle. This is a shame. If he didn't need to rely on the Venetians, he would have opened the coffin and killed his body long ago.
The West's coveting of King's Castle, coupled with the divine assists of the Angelos Dynasty, jointly created 1204. Since then, the prosperity of the East has gone forever, replaced by various things led by the West, and the East has survived until 1453.
"How is the progress of our glass factory?"
"The income and expenditure of the glass factory last year have been released. After excluding expenses, the profit was about 60,000 ducats."
The skilled glass craftsmen brought from Venice made the glass factory profitable that year. Coupled with Moldova's abundant raw materials, the profits are even greater.
"It's really good. It seems we have to recruit people from here."
Venice will not trap them forever, and as long as they keep an eye on it, they will gain something.
Peter also inspected the situation in Venice. The main city was located on an island, surrounded by swamps and lakes. Large-scale siege equipment could not approach it at all and could only be surrounded.
But even if it is a siege, you must have a navy, otherwise you will have to retreat when the Venetian army attacks.
Because of this, Venice has the best fleet in Europe and can recruit a large number of mercenaries to protect itself at critical moments. In this case, attacking Venice requires careful consideration.
Peter also collected some shipbuilding skills in Venice, because some of them are extremely confidential, and you have to use a lot of gold coins to hit them. In order to be foolproof, after getting the news, he asked people to copy them on paper and then mixed them with other books, so that even if they were checked, they would not be found out.
You can only learn skills secretly. Otherwise, you will never be able to become a master, because the master will not teach you the most core, you can only learn by yourself.
There are always a few people who will be blinded by money and tell you these secrets. Whether you can master them depends on how you understand them. Soon Peter's information caught up with the thickness of two books, which recorded dozens of manual production methods including shipbuilding, textiles, woodworking, carving, etc. In his opinion, this is enough to be compared with the Eastern Tiangong Kaiwu that has not yet appeared.
Save them well, put them in a hidden place, and wait for his master to leave. Peter still wants to stroll here, after all, whether he can come here in the future is uncertain.
The statues in front of St. Mark's Basilica seem to be telling of grievances. They want to go home, and Peter looks at them, and a feeling of sorrow and anger begins to surge in his heart. Yes, they should belong to Constantinople, why are they here? But history gives us the answer, they were forced to separate. At the same time, history also gives us a way out, we must be self-reliant.
In a world of great contention, we compete with strength. If we don't compete, the country will be in danger.