Chapter 74: The Royal Box and Cretan Representatives
Then Anna signed several edicts in one go:
On the pretext of imitating the system of 200 years ago, she divided Smyrna and Ephesus separately and combined them with the islands of Caios, Reispos, and Samos to form a special "county of Samos", and made herself the magistrate of the county, and firmly grasped this important place of trade and wealth, and all the tax revenues of the local commercial ports, cities and villages, as well as the monopoly revenues of alum, frankincense, and myrrh, went directly to the "palace treasury" of Anna and Gawain (independent from the treasury), and then formed Lydia, Thraceson, and South Opshkin into one" Great Frontier Zone", in order to show grace to let the newly surrendered Brenus take the position of chief. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
Although Anna did not completely annex and absorb the 7,000 troops in the "Lydian Frontier Zone" under the jurisdiction of Brenus, but preserved the original structure and gave it the name of the border army, Anna still divided it into two: 4,000 men continued to be stationed in the city of Philadofiam and served as the second-line servant army of the state of Tarsus; Anna, who had the other 3,000 men, was given the newly meritorious Plonian knights Becus and Arcro Borites, and settled in the "county of Samos", where the city of Smyrna was located, and relied on the sea route to "follow my instructions and carry out a military campaign against the party and strongholds of the puppet emperor (now Anna is called John) of Respas, Samos, and the islands of Caios."
In order to appease the people as much as possible and avoid fierce revolts (after all, there were 1.5 million people in the area, and Anna and Gawain lacked enough service bureaucrats and tax collectors to manage it), Anna was not in a hurry to introduce the "system of sacreds" and "synagogues of reform" in the Lydian region, and generally recognized the rights of the old Pronian landlords, as long as they contracted the annual tax of 100,000 Byzantit coins and paid them to Tarsus on time.
Anna's slogan was "You will continue to pay taxes, continue to serve in the military, and keep the system unchanged for fifty years".
At the port of Smyrna, Anna also declared that she would continue to "ban bandits on land and sea", which is why she ordered the death of all the Callegos because they were "lawless and had been plundering and destroying villages and market towns in the interior"; Now that Anna has set her sights on the seas, especially the routes from Crete and Rhodes to Cyprus, she will not tolerate the existence of obstruction of the shipping routes and the plundering of the people as slaves, and the target she refers to is the remnants of pirates entrenched in Rhodes, Zahas and Assasidus, so that "Amalfi and Relaya each sent three large galleys, and Pisa sent four, together with the commander of the Admiral Count Andreev in the border area of the sailors, to encircle and suppress the pirates of Rhodes." Thereafter, the seaport cities of the islands shall be governed by chambers of commerce and citizens, and all maritime disputes shall be submitted to the High Court of Tarsus for hearing, in accordance with the arbitration award of the Rhode Island Code", "one-tenth of the rent, taxes, and duties paid by the Italian city-states that come to trade, and the islands and coastal cities that are immediately under our control, must be allocated one-tenth of the rent, tax, and duty revenues to be used for the manufacture and maintenance of escort patrol vessels, and thereafter all maritime merchant ships will have escort forces to guard against pirate attacks." ”
In order to deal with affairs in the vicinity and to train the professional bureaucrats to digest the territory, Anna also prepared to establish a Greek-language law school in Smyrna, and a "high court" in Ephesus, and she also wrote a letter to the manor where the little sunfish was resting, "After the complete conquest of the island of Lespos by our army, three-fifths of the land on the island will be brought under the name of the Prani family, and you will be allowed to build an academy of sciences there, so as to fulfill the promise made to you by Gawain." ”
As soon as the documents were signed one by one, Anna declared, "This is the happiest and richest city, Smyrna!" Both Miletus and Ephesus once competed with it for the blue sea of arches in front of them, but neither of them was favored by the gods, and their shallowly harbors were silted up with sand over time, except for the bay of Smyrna, which was still so deep and full of ships. Therefore, it will now be the capital of the county of Samoch, and it will be all the more glorious with my presence and presence—and I will give the inhabitants of this city the same glory as the city of Tarsus, and hereby build not only the law school that has been prospered, but also the great baths and the bullfighting arena, and in ten years Smyrna shall have a population of fifty thousand or more! ”
The building materials of the three were wood from the Phrygian mountains, marble from the city of Afyon, lime from Marach, iron from Tranzak, brocade from Madame Calleadion's workshop, and tapestries from Mélitane. Paul of Sebastian sent tribute to the synagogue, and craftsmen were recruited from Lydia, Atalia, and Seleucia. Of course, before these procedures were actually put into operation, Anna, the little tyrant, took the lead in building the "royal box" exclusive to her and Gawain in front of the selected bullring construction site.
It is said that when the news reached Tarsus, thousands of the citizens were very upset, and they all rumored that Caesar was about to stay in Smyrna, and that he would even have to move the royal capital there, and that Tarsus was about to be forgotten by her.
The "royal box" was completed very quickly, it was originally remodeled from a convent, with the addition of beautiful cloisters and gardens, as well as the renovation of the waterway and the stove, with its own washroom, small bath, and sitting on a covered semi-terrace overlooking the bullfighting arena - a joyful Caesar.
"I'm going to be here, stay with Helena and Hristopher until winter and then go back."
When representatives of the native nobles of Crete crossed the sea to Smyrna and bowed before Anna, the beautiful and elegant little tyrant and queen was lazily reclining on the long couch on the third floor of the royal box, the feet of which were covered with brilliant gold, and the Persian fabric cushions of various colors and patterns were placed on it, and the narrow window was topped by silk curtains fluttering in the wind. Anna was dressed in a bright scarlet robe, with a slightly raised gold belt that suffled her delicate little breasts, like two small apples protruding prominently, her snow-white feet were exposed, her black hair was tied with purple tortoiseshells, and her eyebrows and eyes were full of intellectual domineering.
All the delegates were in awe, and they hurriedly saluted and handed in the papers.
"You are ready to join Gawain and me, and carry out an uprising in Crete to overthrow the rule of the puppet emperor." Anna read, and then her eyes flashed with light, "That's good, I've seen your loyalty and enthusiasm. But - this would have provoked interference from outside powers, and our fleet would be beyond the reach of the whip, and yes, I mean the Venetians. ”
"So I hope that His Royal Highness the Great Lord Patron can give us the help of a brigade, so that we can definitely withstand any external criticism." The representative who took the lead was confident.