Evelei's calm attitude towards everything could not be changed for a while, and how to integrate her into the royal family after that became Sophia's biggest worry day by day.

However, John could also take advantage of Sophia's immersion in the warmth and coldness of human feelings to calm down, and plan every move Epirus will take after this winter.

"Your Majesty, over there in Constantinople...... A new proposal was adopted by the Royal Council. This resolution is Venetian-led, a win-win plan. ”

"The cooperation between the Venetians and the Empire is becoming more and more active."

Similar proposals have been issued three or four times in the past month, and the Empire and the Venetians have been getting closer and closer because of the continuous signing of arms and trade agreements, and because Constantinople still controls the Black Sea and Aegean trade, this close trade relationship has also made the Empire a lot of money.

"The merchants only became more and more active in cooperating with money, and as long as Crete remained in the hands of the Venetians, they would always have the lion's share of trade through these trading ports. The empire is just drinking soup. "They even dare to renounce their faith, to break their oath to God, and if there is any animal in the world that is inferior to pigs and dogs, it must be the Venetian merchants." ”

"Alright, alright...... Don't get excited, Jeffrey. My father was still planning an offensive against the Genoese in Galata, and no matter how you look at it, maintaining good relations with the Venetians was very important for the empire at the moment, and as for turning the other cheek, that would be a matter for the future. Ah, by the way, put the proposal from the Imperial Council on the table, I'll read it later. John rubbed his eyes. Even after being in this world for so long, he still hasn't fully adapted to the crooked Greek letters. In terms of narrative efficiency, it can be a bit laborious to understand word by word.

"Your Majesty, you'd better prioritize this proposal."

"What's wrong?" John raised his head blankly, "Isn't it that the Imperial Council has already deliberated and approved, do you still need my approval?" ”

"The Council has indeed agreed to the proposal, but ...... According to the Imperial Decree, the direct beneficiaries of this proposal are not the Holy See's master, but you, and your current fief, Epirus. ”

"Epirus?"

John tore open the letter stamp, and with some curiosity opened the letterhead, which had been folded countless times.

Sure enough, according to the Venetians' usual temperament, the port of Javel, with its unique geographical location and port conditions, will soon become their prey. In fact, it's the same old thing in Venice. The establishment of a trading port in the port of Yawir, with Venetian troops stationed to assist the empire in maintaining the security of the port and protecting the coastal trade, gave the empire a so-called trade priority, but in reality, the fattest part of the income was always in their mouths.

"Epirus is the direct beneficiary? That's really thanks to them for saying it...... If you really want to be more shameless than anyone, the empire is really a failure. John casually tossed the proposal aside.

"Your Majesty, don't get excited...... This is deliberated and approved by the Imperial Council, and the empire can also make a lot of income in it, His Majesty Constantine, they should have strictly weighed the risks and rewards, and we only need to symbolically approve it......"

"Jeffrey, where did you get the confidence to scold the Venetians just now? I confess that the Empire could not have intercepted the entire Adriatic trade with a single port of Yavir, and I don't have that much appetite. However, if the Venetians wanted to cut half of the cake from my hand, it would never be possible! ”

"Your Majesty......"

"Epirus now has gold mines, a trade network around the Aegean Sea, a lot of port taxes, a trade agreement with Albania and Hungary, and even the Ottomans are willing to exchange goods with the empire in peacetime, and we are not so short of money!" John's antipathy to what the Venetians had done was not entirely unreasonable, and the fact that trade was withheld by other countries was a very dangerous thing for an empire that was currently focusing on coastal trade.

At this time, the size of the empire is not large, but it is better to say that in the future, with the further expansion of the empire, not to mention Anatolia, once the empire recovers the Balkan Peninsula, a large number of inland cities, including Edirne, will need to rely on these ports if they want to convert their commodity output into tax revenue.

Rather than start a bloody war with the Venetians over control of the trading port, it is better to make it clear.

It's okay to cooperate, but if you want to strip off more than 20% of your profits, Epirus will never agree!

"Your Majesty...... Is this your reply? ”

"Let's tell my father about our attitude. Even if you lose some income temporarily, it is an investment in the normal development of the empire in the future. Otherwise, sooner or later, the trading ports of the Venetians would become the same as Galata, and become the henchmen of the empire. ”

Jeffrey copied John's reply, but he was still a little uneasy. It's not that he hasn't dealt with the Venetians, and their interests are more important than anything else in their eyes, but I'm afraid that when the time comes, the Venetians' attitude will be tougher than John's.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, if the Venetians do not achieve their goal, there may be a protracted trade 'negotiation' between us and the Venetians, and I do not know how much this negotiation will smell of gunpowder, but if you are mentally prepared for this, I suggest that you immediately look for some people who are well versed in economics, tariffs and trade. Venetians, very difficult to deal with. "They have a lot of capital, and they have a big fleet. In order to ensure that the Empire does not regain control of the Bosphorus, His Majesty Constantine will not allow us to completely turn the other cheek with the Venetians, and under this premise, we will probably be absolutely passive at the negotiating table. ”

"I wouldn't have dared to make such a decision if I hadn't been prepared." John smiled confidently.

The ambiguous relationship between the Empire and Venice is a place worth exploiting. The speed of Epirus' revival has caused many foreign merchants to rush their heads into it, but the ports of Epirus, including the port of Yaweil, are extremely scrutinized, and any merchant must pay expensive tariffs to get a trade license. This tax was also a significant part of Epirus' revenue.

But even if the Venetians had established a trading port, they had no right to interfere with the collection of customs duties by the Empire, so the merchants had to give a share of the income to the Venetians for no reason. When the time comes, it will only make Venice not human at both ends.

Although the merchants regarded reputation as dung, it affected the international prestige of the whole state of Venice, and I am sure that the stupid Doge of Venice would not fail to distinguish the pros and cons.