Feasts in Château de Combrigné became more and more frequent.

It was not that Epirus was rich enough to sustain John in a truly luxurious royal life, but that from time to time minor nobles who John, even unheard of, sprung up and wanted to get their estates.

The attitude of John and Constantine XI towards the newly conquered territories of the empire was still to ensure the best interests of the royal family. It was not only the Palaiologos who needed to grab the land, but also the remaining taxes, cultivated land, and population, and the various classes needed to have the most appropriate balance to the current situation of the empire.

As a result, in most villages, fortresses, and towns, the empire only appointed consuls to govern and collect taxes on their behalf. Some small-scale gathering points often have only enough soldiers to defend the city and clear out small-scale banditry. To some extent, this arrangement avoided the occurrence of rebellions in many places.

Steaming venison, lamb, rich cheeses and fresh game caught around the sea are dotted with desert fruits from the mountains of Epirus and even Borgie. Delicacies are served to the table by the attendants, but court music from the Apennines and beautiful Saracen dancers are also essential accompaniments.

John didn't spend a penny—in fact, it was a great honour for them to take time out of his life of hunting rabbits outside the city with gooseberries and cloves every day, and to see the so-called barons, and even the knights who were eager to harvest the estates, and the feast naturally had to be spent on it themselves.

"Who's ...... this?"

Looking at the aristocrats jumping up and down in front of him, boasting of familiarity, and chatting and laughing with the people around him, John couldn't cry or laugh. If he could, he would now be more than happy to discuss life philosophies with Sophia by the warm fireplace.

"Why the hell did the guards let them in...... I should be the co-emperor now, right? Whose court is this......" John whispered to Sophia, who was sipping hot milk beside him.

The little girl was enjoying one delicacy after another, her facial expression did not change in the slightest, and after she finished chewing the chicken thighs that had been fried in boiling oil, she finally opened her mouth secretly: "They—they are nobles." ”

"Where did so many nobles come from in the Empire? If everyone in these gangs is eligible for the back cover of the fief, where did the empire get the land to give them? The warriors of the co-authored legion are working desperately on the front line, and this group of guys is working? ”

Sophia smiled as she began to enjoy the next feast and shook her head.

The so-called nobles were all conspicuously dressed, with delicate jewels or beautiful silk shoulders, and even some coat of arms and coats of arms that John had never seen before, as if they were afraid that others would not know their noble status. The laughter is inevitably accompanied by a low cough or a pretentious lifting of the collar, some disgusting worldliness.

However, Giovanni, Vasika, and Jeffrey also mixed into the banquet at some point. Like Sophia, their first instinct was to eat the same nonsense.

"Brother, there may be a few people who are just charlatans who bought fancy clothes, but the vast majority of them do have some aristocratic blood, and their families may have been placed hundreds of years ago, and they may still be household names in the empire. But as you know, the Empire has been through a lot. Whether it was the Fourth Crusade or the Ottoman crossing of the Sea of Marmara. Without exception, these things will cast a shadow on the once well-known family. and even collapsed. ”

John picked up the red wine in front of him with some disdain: "The empire has indeed gained a small vitality from the cracks, but what does this have to do with them......"

"A large part of them may just need a relatively decent life. To the empire at that time, as royalty, we could only huddle in a corner of Constantinople and wait silently for the end to come, how could we take care of them...... I'm afraid they have already rolled up and run away. Sophia swallowed the last piece of feta cheese on her plate, and then gracefully took a silk scarf, "So to speak, now they are using a relatively decent method to make a living from you." ”

"Making a living?"

"How so...... The consuls we have temporarily promoted from among the common people in some areas still make some people a little dissatisfied. They may have been well-known businessmen or retired soldiers, but not everyone can handle the matter of government. The little girl dragged her chin and looked at the world in front of her, "You may be able to let some of them try to manage a small piece of land." Not as a nobleman, of course, but as a local ruler. Ownership of any land must remain in our hands or within our control. ”

"Of course I know that......"

Generally speaking, the decrees of the great nobles cannot be slackened, but there is much to mediate in the attitude of the lower echelons towards the consuls. Especially after the demise of the som system (the traditional military district system of the Eastern Roman Empire), regional governance has become almost a target for everyone.

"One of the great mistakes made by the emperors was to once again give away the lands that had been seized from the Latins and Crusader knights." John looked at the crowd with dissatisfaction, "The treasury is already poor, and if you let others get a piece of the pie, you can also lose it to the Ottomans who beat the empire to only a few isolated cities, otherwise, the reform will not be implemented at all, and without the Ottomans, there will be the next group of crescent fanatics who will watch the empire commit suicide on the east coast." Now, hand over the reins to this group of people...... I'm not at ease. ”

"I can understand you, brother. Actually, you're right, we won't give half of the land to this group of people. The arrogance of the nobles after acquiring the land is recorded in the book...... In fact, all that is needed is a few efficient consuls, and it is no problem to screen a few from them. It can even make their power iteration faster, putting an end to hereditary and military-political integration, and they have no possibility of doing it big. Sophia smiled confidently, "It's just that how to pick people, it's up to the smart brother to figure it out by himself." ”

"Screening a part? Hmmm......"

John's mind suddenly flashed through the assessment method of the previous life, which made countless students under him miserable......

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