Eustina trotted into the monastery of Casariani and delivered the letter to John with the tetraseal of the Imperial Council, the Senate, the Church and Basilius.

"What about the Messenger? How did you send it in person? John tore open the envelope, and as expected, it was indeed the highest edict of the empire, and the content was mostly related to this sudden plague.

"I'm going to Thebes and Thessaloniki to deliver letters, and I'll do it for him."

Eustina took a few deep breaths to calm her breath, then calmly accepted a few silver coins from John and bowed.

"Supreme Edict...... The last time I saw the Church and the Imperial Council react so quickly, it should have been when His Majesty had just ascended the throne. Sophia struggled to her feet and leaned over John, reading the contents of the Supreme Edict.

Given the density of Constantinople's population, it is not surprising that the thousand-year-old city was overwhelmed by the plague. However, John originally thought that this supreme edict was just a series of official responses to reassure the people, and a statement that the treasury would allocate funds to fight the epidemic. But after reading it word by word, the two realized that the matter was far more serious than they imagined.

The plague in Constantinople has become more severe than imagined. The palace of Constantine and the Golden Horn had to be closed, and by the time of this letter, more than 100 people had died in Constantinople due to the plague, and the number of people infected with the plague was completely incalculable. Constantine XI was under great pressure to declare martial law throughout the empire, prohibiting all people from traveling.

This means that before the epidemic completely disappears, the Roman Empire will become an island, and all production, education, religious, political, and trade activities will be canceled. The entire empire came to a complete standstill. The Imperial Decree shall come into force on the date of its promulgation. This is by no means a fuss, at least compared to a few days of tariff revenues, the population of the empire must be guaranteed. John even suspected that, if necessary, the Council would pass an indiscriminate quarantine bill to isolate the plague patients from the rest of the citizens.

"Sophia, you rest first, and I'll come back tomorrow morning." John half-helped Sophia to lie down, and took the edict into his arms.

Sophia looked at John blankly: "Brother, it's also lifeless outside, where are you going at this time?" ”

"Governor's Palace, I hate the feeling of sitting still...... If we just wait for the plague to dissipate naturally, we don't know how many days, how many months, and no one knows how deadly it will affect the empire. ”

"Is it possible to defeat the plague by the strength of man? The Empire has experienced numerous plagues, but we happened to encounter one......" Sophia still wants to stay. It may have been selfish, but she didn't want John to set foot in more dangerous territory.

For example, the front line in the fight against the plague.

"The plague is just a creation of nature, we are conquering nature step by step, and the challenge of the plague, we will cross it sooner or later......"

……

"Your Majesty? It's late now......"

"I didn't expect it to be so lively in the Governor's Mansion so late."

At this time, the Grand Doge's Palace of Soratea was still brightly lit. Fearing the plague, there were many merchants and nobles who fled here for refuge. There are also many Venetians who used to live in the port area of Piraeus for temporary purposes and have asked for asylum from the government because the port has been blocked.

Latius understood what John was saying. Hiding in the Doge's palace of Soratea, these so-called nobles were usually able to contribute almost nothing to the Empire, but they enjoyed the benefits and protection given by the Empire. His own siding with this group of nobles in the preparation for the establishment of the Academy of Athens undoubtedly still aroused John's strong dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, now is not the time to argue over such things.

"Look at this."

John took out the supreme edict from Constantinople from his bosom. A few stamps on the envelope already made Latius feel that things were not trivial. And when he finished reading it, he and John had almost the same reaction.

"Constantinople...... Completely fallen? ”

"It's not surprising. Constantinople had a large population, and the plague was not hindered by the walls of Theodosius. However, Constantinople also had a large number of experienced doctors and well-known scholars, who should have studied the plague as well...... Probably...... But things can't get worse than we think. ”

To prevent possible contagion, John still wears his homemade rum-soaked linen mask. It's just that this thing probably won't be much better than the mask of the Bird's Beak Doctor.

"This plague is really catching people off guard...... It is also fortunate that the empire is now enjoying peace, otherwise the situation could have been worse. Your Majesty, come to the Governor's Palace late at night, is there anything going on? ”

"The Ottomans, especially Muhammad, feared the plague more than we do. We don't have to rush too much...... However, I need to issue a few more edicts in your name. ”

This kind of thing John has done a lot in the past few days, and Latius is a little accustomed to it. Some of John's edicts even made Brother Arion scoff, but because of his status, he had no right to obstruct the execution of the edicts. It's just that from God's point of view, he will seriously condemn many violations of the doctrine.

"I have given your majesty full authority for the administration of the city of Athens in the near future, and your majesty will let the attendants inform me."

"The plague is not a trivial matter, I am not comfortable with anyone, and I have no actual right to interfere in the affairs of Greece." John took off his mask and placed it in front of Latius's desk, "This thing, stacked with multiple layers of linen and soaked in spirits, is easy to make. The doctor's beak is expensive to make and can be replaced with this stuff. It can more or less reduce the possibility of spreading the plague. ”

Latius picked up the pieces of linen and looked at them a few times, then nodded incredulously.

"Secondly, anyone, even a close relative, should wash all exposed skin after touching the patient, and no contact with the patient should exceed half an hour at a time. This must be promoted. ”

Latius was stunned for a moment, and then reacted: "Your Majesty, we have not centralized the management of patients, how can this kind of law be promoted?" We don't know exactly how it was implemented......"

"To put it another way, dear Latius, there is no need for every edict to be accompanied by harsh punishments. You can have the monks preach and explain the pros and cons...... Sometimes, ignorance is a trait that is well worth exploiting. That's one of the reasons why I love this era. ”

With that, John left the Doge's palace in a huff.