"Mr. Cedric!"

A voice came from afar, causing Cedric to stop what he was doing.

"Mr. Cedric..."

The man ran up to Cedric, put his hands on his knees, and inhaled hard, only then did he slowly recover.

"Teacher, I heard that you are going back?"

It was Davis, who was his favorite teacher when he was in law school, and Cedric admired him and took care of him often.

"Yes, Constantinople is good, but Italy needs me more."

Cedric was full of emotion, wanting to return to Florence was not his whim, nor was it because of Andropov's humiliation, but the result of his early plan,

In these days in Constantinople, scholars gather everywhere, the art and law schools of Constantinople, the philosophical and rhetorical schools of Athens, the bishopric school of Constantinople, etc., everywhere you go you can see people discussing the theological questions of the "Trinity" or the philosophical questions of "the nature of the universe", and there is no better place in the world for scholars.

But because of this, the difference between the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe is very prominent, even in Italy, the cultural atmosphere on the Apennine Peninsula is not as strong as a small town in the Balkans, the authority of the pope is so strong, and the enthusiasm of the people is not as strong as in the Balkans.

Historically, from Michael VIII to the fall of Constantinople, the period between Byzantine scholars and Northern Italian scholars was very close, and Northern Italian scholars were also heavily influenced by Greek culture, and this period was known as the "Palaiologos Renaissance", which was one of the few aspects of the Palaiologos dynasty with international influence.

"You have a great future, a good judge must not only understand the law, but also understand politics, I have here a few Roman law manuscripts that I copied, you can take them and read them."

Cedric took out a thick wad of paper from the side and placed it in Davis's hand.

"Me and Andropov can only be regarded as a personal contradiction at best, you don't need to ask, with your level, it should not be difficult to be admitted to the judge's assistant, do things well for Your Majesty, the new world of progress will definitely replace the decaying and dilapidated old world, I hope you can play an important role in it."

Cedric plans to open a law school in his hometown of Florence, based on Roman law and adapted to the domestic situation, in order to improve the country's laws.

In terms of culture, whether it is law, theology, philosophy, etc., almost any aspect, the Byzantine Empire has the capital to despise the West, that is, in terms of theology, the Holy See can compete with Constantinople, and the rest, then don't blame Byzantium for looking down on them, just now, it is not an exaggeration for the people of Constantinople to scold the French as barbarians, which is really not to underestimate them.

……

Due to the different numbers of recruits in various places, in addition to the unified test questions issued by the central government, each province and city has also added additional test questions for its own required departments, and all the soldiers are guarding the examination room with real guns and ammunition, so that many people have extinguished their thoughts that they should not have.

It lasted three days, the exam was over, and the manpower of various departments was greatly increased, but fortunately, the empire's finances had improved and could withstand it.

"Your Majesty, this recruitment, a total of 1,382 people were hired, most of them are grassroots officials, the cabinet and various departments recruit relatively few officials, the results of this assessment are still relatively good, and the evaluation of the examination initiated by all walks of life is also relatively high, in general, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages."

At the cabinet meeting, Calvo was reporting to Constantine, and the cabinet members were all prominently listed.

"Well, so what we're doing is in line with the development of the times? Not bad. ”

Constantine was relieved, he was very concerned about this exam, because it represented the direction of the empire's future selection of talents.

"Based on this experience, the Cabinet has jointly discussed that it is planned to hold official examinations every four years to ensure the normal operation of the country's administrative organs."

Calvo handed over the documents that had been prepared long ago, and Constantine glanced at them hurriedly, and then put them in his hand,

"Yes, the standards of the exam must be strict, and no cheating and other situations are allowed, this is our first time, there may not be these situations, we must be more careful in the future."

"Yes"

The crowd responded in unison.

"One more thing, Your Majesty, Princess Anna has always wanted to see you, probably to talk to you about the Ottomans."

Calvo went on to speak.

"Hasn't the mission in Trebizond left yet?"

Constantine asked, confused.

"It's gone, but... Her Highness Anna is still here..."

Calvo was stunned, as if he had something to say,

"Your Majesty, you are not too old now, for the sake of the future generations of the country, you should continue the strings, no matter how bad it is, you must appoint an heir, and don't let the country fall into the quagmire of civil war again."

Constantine's face was black, he didn't expect that at this age, he would be urged to marry, which really caught him off guard.

"Got it, go get busy."

"Puff"

Laszlo, who saw the whole process on the side, didn't hold back after everyone left, and almost laughed, so frightened that he immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

Constantine glanced at him and scolded with a smile,

"Stinky boy, you can laugh if you want to, who is it here to show?"

"No, no, it just feels a little... It's just a novelty, and it's not funny..."

Laszlo hastened to deny it, but the smile on his face had betrayed him.

"Well, speaking of which, you like... Twenty years old, right? How's that, do you have a fancy girl? ”

Constantine playfully shifted the conversation to Laszlo.

"A great man should not keep the private feelings of men and women in his heart, but... Oops, why are you hitting me? ”

As he spoke, Laszlo was hit on the back of the head, and he rubbed his head and asked puzzled.

"Nonsense, isn't Julius Caesar also married? I didn't see him indulged in the private affairs of men and women, if you don't want to find it, then I'll help you find it, don't say you don't like it when the time comes. ”

Constantine rolled his eyes, in his opinion, this kid is afraid that he is not stupid in military training, and he opens his mouth all day long to Caesar and closes his mouth Alexander.

"Don't, don't, I'd better find it myself, you take care of yourself first, Anna hasn't left yet."

Speaking of the back, Laszlo's smile carried a hint that all men understand, and for some reason, it looked a little obscene.

"Your Majesty, Her Highness Anna asks to see you."

The big eunuch took advantage of the gap between the two of them to talk.

"Oh, tell her in."

"Yes"

The big eunuch walked out, and after a while, Anna walked in in a hurry, and knelt on the ground as soon as she came in.

"Please save my country, the Ottomans are going to do it."

Constantine's heart moved, and he hurriedly helped Anna up,

"What's going on? Where did you get the news from? How far have things got? Trabzon didn't fall, did it? ”

Anna shook her head vigorously before answering Constantine's questions one by one,

"The vanguard of the Ottomans has reached the city of Trabzon, and the land route has been sealed, and my father has sent messengers to the Genoese colony by boat for several days and nights, and only to Constantinople on Genoese merchant ships."

"That means that the Ottomans have not yet mobilized their soldiers, but only the actions of small forces, otherwise we would not have gotten no news at all."

Laszlo took the words, his face full of solemnity.

"The Ottomans wanted to sweep away the Christian forces on the Black Sea, and the port of Trabzon was a natural harbor, and if it fell into the hands of the Ottomans, the Black Sea trade routes would not be safe."

If the Ottomans succeeded, and then threatened to cut off the trade route, not to mention anything else, the Venetians would definitely not want to turn against the Ottomans, and the relationship between the two of them had always been relatively good, mainly because the Ottomans were willing to give Venetian trade privileges, which was the reason why they were good.

"Call the cabinet ministers, we have something to do again."

After a while, the cabinet ministers returned to the place.

"To make a long story short, the Ottomans are preparing to invade the kingdom of Trebizond, and we have to stop their actions, and if you have any suggestions, you can say them immediately, and it is urgent."

Constantine briefly explained the situation, and did not shy away from Anna on the side, and directly started the cabinet meeting.

Calvo thought for a moment, then slowly stood up,

"Since the Ottomans are planning to do it at this time, they must be ready, and they must be able to guess that we may intervene, and I suggest that the whole country be mobilized, with the existing army as the main body, expand the army, let the border guards behave as usual, and try to confuse the Ottomans in order to delay time."

"In addition, in the name of strengthening the escort, we can lease merchant ships from Genoa and other countries that are closer to us to do escort work."

"Well, anything else?"

Constantine agreed with Calvo's statement, and asked the others, and Chavez stood up,

"During the war, we should control military materials such as salt, iron, and rubber bands, and the large and small blacksmith shops and carpenter shops in the country should be temporarily managed by the state, and from now on, day and night, to build equipment for the army, and the reserves of various military materials should be increased, which can be carried out secretly first, and then purchased on a large scale after the war begins."

In general, it is to delay time, and wait for Constantinople to be as prepared as possible before fighting, as for other preparations, the firing of muskets is still relatively easy, what you have to prepare is nothing more than gunpowder, there is no ammunition, and there is not much difference between muskets and burning sticks,

There are only a few reasons why the Ottomans can't bear it, either they are also preparing, or they are waiting for Constantinople to strike first, and he can still end up with a famous division, with the Sea of Marmara blocking it, and whoever makes the first move is almost the same.