Chapter 560: Back To Constantinople
"That is all of what I want to report today, my lord."
"Alright, go and have some rest, for I need you to pay full ears to their next meeting."
"Aye, my lord..."
"Anything else?"
"My lord... I know that we are supporting neither Thomas nor Demetrios, but you know, the threat of Antonius is still approaching, fast, and if we let them continue misbehaving like this, it would only lure the attention of Thessaloniki’s blade towards us... I mean..."
"You mean that we need to do something at least to save the city, am I right?"
"Aye, my lord."
"There is no need for that, my child... Remember, sometimes it is more efficient to completely demolish the old system and rebuild a better new system onto of it, rather than having to deal with the tangled web and get yourself caught in between."
"...Yes, my lord."
The man in shadows left the room bringing the door behind him, leaving only the de facto head of state George Sphrantzes behind in the room. Both sides, whether be it Thomas or Demetrios, have underestimated the sheer amount of political influence this man have, for he has already been in office as a civil official for a few decades with Constantine XI. Of course he do have a few senators on both sides affiliated with him reporting in fresh feed from both sides, and the more reports he receive, the less enthusiasm he has in following Constantine’s remaining orders to support the successor of the house of Palaiologos and rebuild the state – not because he too has decided to rebel against the state of course, it is simply because these remains of the Palaiologos are just a bunch of scumbags, twats, hooligans who knows nothing but infighting for a bit of interest when the state is already at a critical state, hence the old George decided to turn his eyes towards the outside.
He is still unhappy about the fact that his city of Patras is taken, nonetheless.
...
Giovanni Giustiniani feels like he has received a lot of strange attention recently.
There came a sudden wave of various senators, riches, influencers who tried to interact with him and appease him, offering him various benefits and interests. The state of the Roman army in Constantinople has descended into a pitiful state after the demise of Constantine XI, the dreams of Constantinople recovering her former glory is now a no more, and the wish to recover the lost territories in Thrace has been aborted. All the politicians seem to be absorbed in their political bargains, and most of the budgets have been shifted from the army to other shadowy matters...
Such as bribes and corruption.
Yes, ever since Demetrios came into Constantinople and taking his power, he has been shifting funds away from various sectors inside his own pocket, and then forking out a bit of this money to be given as bribes to gain support from the citizens and the senate. Demetrios’ pathetic stewardship skills only made him have a poor knowledge on how to make revenues, and besides that he does not really have any sources of income other than washing the state funds away. Slowly bit by bit most of the funds here in Constantinople have been embezzled by him, which is being used not to develop the state, but used to construct a brand-new palace, which they call the Palace of Cappadocia.
Giovanni did hope that things will get better when Thomas arrived, as no matter what he still got the state of Morea as his stable backbone, hoping that maybe he can bring some changes here, give the army more funding, and expose his brother Demetrios’ corrupt regime. But soon Thomas became a disappointment for him too, as he jumped into the game throwing even more money to the various senators aiming to win over even more support in the government, and this situation has been going on for years. Both sides know the importance of getting the army on their side too of course and both sides are keen in improving their influence in the army. However, Giovanni knows very well about the importance of an independent army with none of its important affairs impacted by the political struggles, hence he maintained the balance of the see saw and kept the army clean, but of course that attracted many unattracted attention towards him too.
What do these senators do when they are unable to bribe their way into the army? They start attacking Giovanni Giustiniani.
"He is a barbarian from Genoa! How can a foreigner lead our troops?"
"Our Empire... Our city! Our Constantinople, is becoming a vessel state of the Genoese, because we have a Genoese controlling our army!"
"Why are we allowing a foreigner to lead our troops! Does the empire belong to the Romans, or the Genoese!"
"We must not allow an alien to control our swords and shields! We must save these vital offices for Roman blood! We Romans Can make Rome great again!"
However, after one after another discussions, Giovanni is still kept as the commander of the Roman forces by the senate. Why? Because he is the only person who is proven to have the capabilities to defend the city against the invaders, and secondly speaking many senators fear the possibility of Giovanni having some connections with that man ruling Thessaloniki, thinking that he might be ’Thessaloniki’s man in Constantinople’. Many of these politicians have been secretly transferring their wealth to the lands being governed by Thessaloniki, for it is much safer and more stable over there.
Though Giovanni have not realised yet that the battle between Thomas and Demetrios have entered a new phase, the hatred between both sides and the intensified power struggles have started to make them relentless on seeing whatever tactics they have to consolidate their power and strangle the opponent no matter what it might result in, and eventually they started having their attention on this army.
Giovanni’s wife Therma has been growing increasingly concern regarding the recent developments, she is no naïve woman, she is the daughter of George Sphrantzes, and with this background naturally she is exposed to all those stuff in the government. Frankly speaking Therma does not care a thing about all those things these men are fighting for in the senate, she only cares about two things, her man and her child.
"I’ve had news." Therma said hugging the four years old boy in her arms. "Thomas and Demetrios are up to no good recently."
"Since when are they up to anything good? The benefits left to us by our old emperor has all been thrown into waste by the two of them because of their child play in the government." Giovanni replied, untying his belt and taking off his boats after returning home from another day at work.
"I have heard that they are planning to eradicate all the people who is not on their side." Therma emphasised.
Giovanni halted his movement for a second and replied. "They have always been trying to do that ever since the day they landed on the shores of Constantinople, does not sound like some news to me."
"It is different this time, my love... Don’t you remember that you are neither on Thomas’ side nor on Demetrios side? When the time comes..."
"I am on the people’s side, darling." Giovanni answered without hesitation. "Let me tell you honestly, for both of them are nothing but degenerates who are willing to sell their very own souls to the devils for that throne, they are entirely incapable of being the ruler of a country, and if you look at their doings in Morea, you will find out that they do not even have the abilities to rule a county, almost creating another civil war over there in Morea, in a united Despotate that was previously stable and peaceful under Constantine’s rule!"
The boy in Therma’s hugs started crying from his father’s sudden raise of voice in rage, Therma too tightened the hug of her boy and started walking around wishing to calm him down, giving her husband a worrisome look. Giovanni too realised that he has again lost his temper just now, collapsed onto the seat burying his face in his hands.
"... I will never join their side; the army must remain neutral... If the army picked a side, then Thomas or Demetrios will immediately create a genocide eliminating all of their political opponents, and in the process there too will be a mass purge against the citizens accompanied with robbery, rape and murder... I cannot, and I will not let that happen, have faith on me."
Therma kept her mouth shut, she sensed the worriedness and agitation stuck in her husband’s head from the current situation.
She is, of course, not ignorant about the ongoing things in the city, but she too, like many others inclusive of her husband, has no idea on what to do to make the situation better.
All they can do is to wait.
