In the lavish castle hall, the nobles lay down at the table in groups of three, listening to the noise in their ears, and it was obvious that this was a typical aristocratic banquet.

The banquet etiquette of the Roman Empire was roughly inherited from Greece, among the conquered objects, Greece was the most civilized, and the Roman nobles naturally absorbed the advantages they thought from the Greek nobles, there were three lying positions at each table, the higher the status, the closer to the middle, because everyone participated in the banquet after bathing, the whole hall was full of aroma, and there was no unhygienic situation.

"Davis, you have to pay attention to your words, a lot of people here are big people we can't afford to mess with."

Judge Brown of Serre said to Davis, an assistant next to him, who sat in the corner with another judge in a remote area.

Davis nodded with a complicated expression, indicating that he would not say more, and seeing this, Brown was relieved.

"Everyone... Ladies and gentlemen..."

At this time, the host of the banquet, the prince of the Roman Imperial Family, the highest rank of the Senate, the Honored Senator of the highest rank, the mayor of Constantinople, Romanus Valleologo, stood up,

"It's a pleasure to be here, and now, let's enjoy the wheat from Campania, the wine from Fallenus, the figs from Tusculum, the honey from Tarentham and the fish from the Tiber, all the best in the world."

As soon as Romanus finished speaking, the man who was at the same table with him stood up: the Duke of Sophia, the Honored Senator, and the Chief Deacon, Calis Laskalis,

"If that's all there is, I'm afraid it's not enough, my dear Romanus, bring out the best of yours!"

"Well, I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

Romanus looked helpless, but in fact, he was smiling, clapping his hands, and a team of beautiful young slaves came out with plates,

"Enjoy, then, the brain of the flamingo, the entrails of the fish, the head of the peacock, and the hind hooves of the camel."

From a modern point of view, this is all leftovers, but in those days, anything that was strange would be sought after, and the rarer it was, the more people valued, and everyone wanted to be unique.

The hall was filled with cheers, lined with two huge fountains, and in the eyes of the ancient Romans, the best was the one that was close to nature, with bright sunshine and gurgling water.

Plates of delicacies are served, people sit together, talking and eating, but after eating, the real conversation time is the drinking party.

"Mr. Brown, who else is that?"

Davis was curious, he was coming to such a "high-class venue" for the first time, and he was curious about everything.

"In addition to the two who have just spoken, sitting next to them are the Honored Senator, Secretary of State Nikephoros Komnenos, several governors of the empire, three here, five justices, four here, Sofia and Dacia, Serbia's metropolitans, and over there, the incoming mayor of Ankara, where the governor of Cilicia has not yet taken office, and the ambassador who is about to be sent to the court of Uzun Hassan, No, There were three Balkan tribunes except Albania, and nearly two-thirds of the senior officials of the entire empire were here. ”

"Does His Majesty Augustus know these things?"

Davis was a little curious, so many dignitaries and dignitaries gathered together, the emperor shouldn't know about it, right?

"You know, the Romanus Senator reported to His Majesty, and His Majesty agreed, otherwise, who would dare to agree to the invitation of the Romanus Senator? The blood of the previous rebel nobles hasn't cooled yet! There are a lot of these dignitaries and friends in there. ”

Davis was about to ask again, but a burst of laughter interrupted Davis's thoughts,

"Hahaha~ It's so lively here today?!"

Davis looked at it, and the visitor was dressed in high-grade armor, purple lining, red cloak, embroidered with a single-headed eagle, with a high nose and deep eyes, a square face, and a windy walk between them, and he was very capable at first glance.

It was evident that the others recognized the identity of the comer faster than Davis, and Romanus, Nikephorus, and Calis took the lead in standing up, and everyone in the hall rose one after another, and then stroked their chests and saluted,

"I have seen the Vice-Emperor Caesarslo, may Laszlo be eternally wise."

At this time, the identity of the comer was revealed, and Davis suddenly realized that Laszlo had only seen it once, but he had seen it in a hurry at the conferral ceremony, and he didn't see it too clearly.

"How? Am I coming suddenly? Haha..."

Laszlo was very arrogant, but no one dared to treat him slowly, after all, Constantine's love for him was obvious to anyone.

"How dare you, how dare you."

Everyone hurriedly denied it, making room for Laszlo, Romanus and Calis as accompaniment, Laszlo didn't care so much, and directly began to feast.

Seeing Laszlo eating as if no one was around, everyone present pursed their lips slightly, as if they were laughing at Laszlo's lack of etiquette and rudeness, only Davis laughed, but he felt that Laszlo had a more genuine temperament.

After eating, Laszlo wiped his mouth and stood up, and Romanus also stood up,

"Come, let's make a toast to Lord Caesar."

Romanus raised his glass, but the smell of wine could not hide the smell of sweat from Laszlo's body after training, and Romanus controlled his expression well, trying not to make himself look unnatural.

"No need, I'm just here to have a look, I'll patrol later, and I won't drink."

Laszlo was very unappreciative, the corners of Romanus's mouth twitched slightly, such a faceless thing was that some people did it in front of Romanus by virtue of their age when they were children, since Romanus inherited his father's title, no one dared to give him such a faceless thing, so that he was slightly unaccustomed to it, but he quickly adjusted his mood and showed a stiff smile,

"Yes, yes, patrols are a big deal, and His Majesty Constantine's task cannot be neglected, and this is true for any official of the Empire, that... Shall I send you? ”

"No need, you can continue, I'll go."

Laszlo shook his hand, refused Romanus's follow, and quickly left the hall again, the atmosphere quickly returning to its previous state after a brief stiffening, but it was clear that Laszlo's arrival had provided some talking points for the crowd, and as you can imagine, there must have been more negatives.

In the midst of the entertainment, the three of Romanus smiled at one dignitary, made one promise after another, and got one promise after another, but this was all in private, and on the surface, they were sure that as officials of the empire, they would not be in tandem, but in fact... Is it a country's ill to form a faction for personal gain?

"The Venetian has sent us a letter."

Calis approached Romanus and whispered in his ear,

"The Venetians are willing to give up some of their benefits, but they want this material to be transferred to Venice as soon as possible, and they want us to transport it."

Romanus frowned, and said without looking back,

"We can't help them transport it, and if we are discovered, it can't affect us, which is the most basic, don't you understand?"

"But... The Venetians gave very generous conditions..."

Calis was still a little hesitant, and Romanus turned his head,

"Do you have water in your head? Even if the Venetians give you more money, you have to spend your life, if this thing is caught, not only you, but your whole family is finished, do you think Constantine is a vegetarian? I advise you to dispel those unrealistic thoughts as soon as possible, there are some risks that we don't need to take, understand? ”

"Hmm... I know. ”

Calis agreed, but the tone was very unwilling, but Romanus didn't care, he didn't think that Calis dared to make his own decisions, after all, Calis was a person he also knew, greedy for money but not reckless, and he wouldn't make a big deal in the future.

…

The next day, in the Golden Hall, Constantine was receiving representatives of merchants,

"Since the establishment of the Mediterranean Economic Union, led by His Majesty, our silk sales have increased considerably, and the wine industry has expanded considerably, just a little..."

The representative considered the words for a moment, and slowly spoke,

"The local situation is not very stable, sometimes we need the help of mercenaries to be able to transport the goods safely to the destination, which is not very beneficial to the development of commerce, the empire's post station system has also collapsed, many times we can only find people's houses, but this is not very safe, some people are not only citizens, but also do not mind making some extra money, which leads to the fact that no one wants to go out to do business unless it is necessary or there is no way, and in terms of business, international business is easier to do than domestic, and the financial industry is better than real property, But compared to finance, the Medici family in Florence is obviously much more professional than us..."

Constantine nodded, was silent for a while, and sat stiffly, not daring to gasp, for fear of disturbing Constantine's thinking,

"Why don't you let the central government provide guarantees, and the government and the private sector jointly invest in the formation of a central bank and guarantee it with the credibility of the government, will such a bank be welcomed by the market?"

The representative thought about it, but still felt some concerns,

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, in terms of business, I think the market is more willing to trust the family, after all, the money is in the hands of the family, and they dare not repay the debt, but if it is a country, I think everyone may be a little hesitant."

"Then let everyone participate broadly, and the government only needs to play a supervisory role, as long as they are not allowed to tarnish the reputation of the government, and at the same time they must be under the supervision of the government, although there is less freedom, but it is safer, and for businessmen, there is nothing more important and reassuring than security, you say?"

The representative nodded, agreeing with Constantine's statement.