On the throne of Constantinople, Alexios looked down on the courtiers who were on their knees, this is the bureaucracy and warlord generals of the Roman Empire that he was going to rule, rotten and decaying, these are no longer the pillars of the empire but moths.

The emperor stood up suddenly, pointed in the direction where the great nobles were dragged away, and roared loudly: "I have never seen such brazen people, these people occupy high positions in the empire, do not think of the rise and fall of Rome, but try their best to seize the emperor's throne, today I want to tell the people of the empire, what will be the fate of the traitorous conspirators!" ‘’

Alexios's words shook the courtiers below, they were already frightened by the little emperor's murderous words, no one dared to come out to stop them, once they angered this angry lion, I don't know if it will end up with those guys who were dragged out, the struggle in Rome is so cruel and ruthless, the winner gets everything!

...............

...............

...............

It's been a long time since the Senate has been so lively, and the senators who have been notified have come in a hurry, everything here has been dusty for a long time, and after many years, few people remember that once it was the center of Rome, and now the people only pay homage to the royal palace on the highest point of Constantinople, where God's chosen people are.

"Gary Moore, what do you know?" Speaking was Antony, the president of the Silk Guild of Constantinople, a merchant who had donated a large amount of money to support the Komnenos family's business, almost equivalent to the imperial merchant, so he was rewarded as a Roman senator.

"I don't know, but the emperor's army came back this morning, and then a group of nobles entered the palace but didn't come out......" As the great shipowner of Constantinople, Gary Moore had close ties with the navy, and was far better informed than anyone else.

"His Majesty the Emperor won't ask us to donate salaries!" One of the interjections was Ko Nalong, a big merchant of the Chamber of Commerce in the city, he arrived in a hurry, naturally it was impossible to get too much information, and the lack of intelligence information was the most terrible for the businessman.

"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" Licinius shouted as he stood at the door of the Senate.

The senators who had already taken the throne collectively stood up to salute the emperor as a sign of respect, and Alexios walked into the senate without restraint, waving to the senators of hundreds of people to sit down.

Alexios stood in the center and made his own declaration first: "I have come to bring an expectation, a hope and a prophecy, Rome has been silent for so long that the world has almost forgotten our existence, the Roman Empire once had a splendid civilization unparalleled in the world, and then the years were merciless, the capital was taken away from us by the barbarians in the west, and the grace of God allowed Constantinople to continue the glory of the empire, but can the current Rome still be called Rome?" ”

"The Venetians came to rob us of our trade privileges, they demanded tax relief, they demanded concessions, we fought hard with them and expelled them, the Turks came from the east to rob us of Little Anatolia and we fought hard, but most of Asia Minor has fallen to the enemy for decades and has not been recovered, the Normans have crossed the sea from the west to occupy our land, who remembers the wails of Italy and Sicily!" Alexios made an impassioned statement about the interests of the Roman invasion, and his fiery speech hit the senators like a hammer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, once upon a time Rome was so good, we were glorious Romans, but now what do the barbarians call us - Greeks, when have we ever been so ashamed!"

The Emperor's words were undoubtedly rubbing salt in the scars of this group of senators, and no Romans liked to be called Greeks, that was the name of primitive people, and it was a great shame for the Roman Empire to be called Greeks.

"I hope you will lend me your strength to help me in the restoration of Rome!"

"Your Majesty, we're all a bunch of old men in our seventies and eighties, hahaha, but if Your Majesty is useful to us, you can just say it." It was Anthony who spoke, and the shrewd businessman would not believe that the emperor was only going to make a speech, and he had the audacity to test the emperor's true intentions.

"The finances of the empire have always been a bottomless pit, and we need more troops, more powerful weapons! For this, the empire needs more wealth! The Emperor deliberately paused at this point.

"You mean you're going to increase taxes? But now that there are a lot of commercial taxes, why not increase the taxes on the Genoese! Gary Moore picked up the conversation and pointed the finger at the Genoese.

Alexios narrowed his eyes and looked at Gary Moore: "No, I don't plan to increase taxes, the Black Sea has endless wealth, but the merchants of the empire have not taken the initiative to dig it out, I propose to establish trading stations along the Black Sea countries, which will be protected by the imperial army, what do you think?" ”

This suggestion surprised the senators, knowing that since the Pechenegs defeated the combined forces of the Roman and Rus' princes, all the lands in the north fell into the hands of these herdsmen, although there would be merchants to do business, but the scale of trade was gradually declining, although the merchants coveted the bright gold coins, but they had deep-seated concerns about trade with the barbarians.

"What are you hesitating about, the wealth is there, the brave are qualified to acquire it, the empire needs the warriors and horses of the Pechenegs, the people need their skins and cattle, and these northern barbarians can leave our silk and iron tools?"

Alexios lured the senators with their clear interests, and as long as a third of them participated, the Empire's dream of including the Pechenegs of the Black Sea into the economic circle could be realized, and the Pechenegs would become the sword of the Empire.

The great men of later generations once said: "Once there is a proper profit, capital will be emboldened, if there is a 10 percent profit, it will be guaranteed to be used everywhere, if there is 20 percent of the profit, it will be active, if there is 50 percent of the profit, it will take risks, for the sake of 100 percent profit, it will dare to trample on all human laws, and if there is 300 percent profit, it will dare to commit any crime." ”

Monopolizing trade throughout the Black Sea, establishing a unified chamber of commerce, trading posts throughout the seas, wealth seemed to be beckoning to them, no emperor had ever dared to make such a bold proposal to try to control the entire business community in Constantinople, and today Emperor Alexios broke the deadlock of this era, determined to bring the Pechenegs into the arms of the empire by economic means, and at the same time control this group of people who had the most powerful economic power in Rome.

"Your Majesty's proposal is very good, but can the military strength of the empire support it, although the Pechenegs need us, but some of them already believe in paganism, we are not sure if we can defeat them!" The old Anthony will not be easily defeated by the emperor's big pancakes, but he also hopes that the emperor's vision can be realized, this is a chicken that can lay golden eggs, not a cornucopia that can spray gold.

The Emperor smiled at the dissenters, "Will the beliefs of the Pechenegs be as heavy as fine silk and fine ironwork?" ”

The senators laughed, too, and the barbarians could not resist the temptation of a life of luxury, and Rome knew it.