“…… About two months ago, I witnessed the miracle of the angel outside Adrianople, and followed the Greeks to end the holy war, turned around and withdrew to Constantinople, ready to participate in the next crusade to Asia, according to God's will.

- I know very well, my Governor, that no matter how detailed I describe the spectacle I saw that night, you will still suspect that I am a liar, but in my father's honor, I did see an angel in the sky above that city!

Then, as the 'Angel of Spring' warned, the Almighty God showed his majesty to the pagans, just as He destroyed Gomorrah and Sodom in the Old Testament, inflicting an irresistible Doomsday judgment on Adrianople...... Again, this is not a rumor or an exaggeration, but is well documented by facts - some Christians living near Adrianople were cursed along with the Turkish infidels when they were reluctant to leave their homes despite the angel's warnings.

After a few days, their skin began to fester, bleed, swelled and painful, and their bones ached like a rat grinding its teeth on them! Some of them, feeling remorseful, rushed to Constantinople after noticing the abnormality, but it was too late, and most of them collapsed on the way to death with horrific pustules, and the death looked so ugly and horrible that no doctor could restore them to health......

While these fools, who had failed God's reminders, were dying in weeping of regret, the mercenary chieftains, citizen representatives, high-ranking nobles, and religious leaders of Constantinople held a private meeting on the preparations for the next round of jihad, the Crusade to Asia Minor, before the emperor returned to the capital. I and the representatives of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce in the Galata Concession were also fortunate to attend the meeting.

Obviously, the fear of the Supreme God among these Greeks was much more shallow than that of the Roman citizens, who were accustomed to the ugliness of the Church. Despite the miracle they had just witnessed, they were still bitter at the preparatory meeting—after a month's worth of battle. The enthusiasm of the citizens has greatly diminished, and they have begun to cherish their homeland and are reluctant to go to war again. The mercenaries were content with the lucrative loot they had already had, and they didn't want to venture into the strange land of Asia again. Only the clergy were still agitating hoarsely for a holy war, but unfortunately few responded.

Ultimately. By ballot. The meeting decided to postpone the crusade until next spring. and wrote a proposal to be submitted to the emperor for approval.

Next, a terrible plague broke out in the city of Constantinople......"

Write here. Girolamo. Ambassador Minotto could not help but turn around and cough a few times, and when he removed the handkerchief from his mouth and nose, he was surprised to find that it was stained with blood...... He sighed helplessly, then struggled to start writing.

“…… According to the clergy, this is God's punishment for Christians' slackness and laziness. And according to the Turks, it is their Allah Allah who is avenging the believers...... Anyway, the day after the meeting, people began to fall to the ground and die in the streets, vomiting a lot of disgusting foam and covered in bloodshot pus. And his face was swollen and deformed, as if it was about to burst at any moment.

Next, the spread of the plague intensified, and many strange and terrifying scenes appeared: some people were talking to each other. He began to shake involuntarily, and then fell to the ground vomiting blood and died; Some people go out to buy something, stand there talking or count change, and death can come unexpectedly. And the most infected are the poor people who sleep on the streets. Among the people I know, there are many beautiful girls and lively young men. In the morning, I was very happy to have snacks with my relatives and friends, and in the evening, I had already gone to another shijie to have dinner with their ancestors.

And. The symptoms of these deceased were very strange, and some had diarrhea incessantly. Pulled alive until he died of dehydration. Some people have pustules on their faces and bodies, and when they die, they smell bad. Some people developed a high fever that burned like a soldering iron and nosebleeds gushed out like a fountain...... But none of this is as terrible as a plague in Zuihou, in which the patient initially swells up as a lump between the groins or under the armpits, and then swells to the size of an egg. After a while, this dying-like tumor will continue to spread to all parts of the body, leaving the patient with dark or purple spots all over the body...... Your Excellency the Governor, you should be able to understand it by reading this! This is clearly the Black Death!

Now, ten days have passed since the outbreak of the plague, and the death toll has not yet been counted, but the number of infected patients is probably in the tens of thousands, and the extreme fear has firmly grasped everyone's heart. In order to escape the plague, the rich people in the city nailed down the doors of their houses and isolated themselves in their houses. The officials of the empire abandoned their duties and fled to Asian lands across the Bosphorus, which completely paralyzed the city's government, leaving many of the bodies of the displaced and poor undisposed of, and had to be piled up in the streets, making the whole city begin to smell of corpses.

At the same time as the plague broke out in the city of Constantinople, the other side of the Golden Horn in the Galata Concession also became ill, and it was even more serious, it is said that at least a hundred Genoese had died, and the remaining Genoese were so frightened that they fled by boat, and even the gates of Galata forgot to close.

Seven days earlier, a serious plague had broken out in the Venetian Concession, which I had administered, and there was no way to stop the spread of the disease. To this end, I went to great lengths to collect six merchant ships to carry the healthy Venetian citizens of the concession out of the plagued city. But those Venetians who are already sick will be left behind, so as not to endanger the health of the people of the motherland. At the same time, it is also hoped that the country will be more vigilant and do a good job of prevention to prevent the Black Death of 1348 from befalling the Republic of Venice again.

Zuihou has one more thing to inform you, Lord Governor. In the midst of this terrible catastrophe, I also unfortunately fell ill. Although it was not the most terrible Black Death, it also had a terrible fever. If I die in Constantinople, I hope that the Republic will take care of my family and arrange my successor. If I am lucky enough to survive God's mercy, I will send you a letter when the plague is over.

Your most deferential servant, Girolamo. Minoto

Embassy in Constantinople, May 3, 1453"

Struggling to finish writing a letter of zuihou, and sprinkling a layer of fine sand on the paper to absorb the ink, the frail Girolamo was already sweating profusely, and his face turned an abnormal flush. He was about to shake the bell to summon the messenger to deliver this important urgent document to the ship, when he saw his local personal servant, a clever Greek boy, holding a small rough clay cup, rushing open the door of the room:

“…… Master! Please drink this! This is the holy water I just received from the church! Everyone says it's very curative! ”

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