Chapter 15: The Wife of Constantinople

  I took a look at Wendell's expression, there was surprise, dismay, and confusion, but not the anger I didn't want to see. This is good, it means that his wife is not a fanatic so far.

  The pale-faced sexton's cheek twitched, he turned his head away, and his eyes suddenly went blank, taking in the large expanse of snow-white chest. Wendel pulled out three gold coins from her small pouch, smiled enchantingly, and placed the money on the wooden plate with a crisp sound. The sexton holding the plate seemed to be suffering from severe delay, and it took him several seconds to reluctantly leave.

  After the holy ceremony, I stood with Wendil in the middle of the aisle in the cathedral. She asked me to wait a moment. I looked at her suspiciously, and she smiled lightly, with a glint in her eyes: "I couldn't just donate three gold coins to the bishop in St. Irina's Cathedral, what about you, Your Highness?"

  "I'm a poor man." I've given up the idea of putting on a good show in front of her, and with a businesslike attitude, whatever happens just happens...

  "So you only donated one silver coin to the church?" The smiling woman, who looked like a little girl, blinked her eyes coquettishly, with pure and beautiful eyes, white teeth, and red lips that were stunning. "I remember the Bible says that donations are part of our income, and that part is one-tenth."

  I couldn't help but smile, after all, a single dinar was still money, and although it couldn't buy much in terms of living standards, it could still be used to shoo away beggars and get a heartfelt thank you.

  The widow of Leonidas' household must have made quite an offering to the bishop of Hagia Irene, for he, who had maintained a dignified demeanor from the beginning to the end of the sermon, put aside his episcopal dignity and even proposed that she stay behind for dinner. When he learned that she didn't have time, the bishop of Hagia Irene personally escorted us out of the church door.

  "Alright, where are we off to next?" Wendell and I stood at the entrance of the grand cathedral waiting for our coachman to drive the carriage over.

  Just as I was thinking about it, she quickly made a suggestion: "Go to the outer port area on the side of Perama Gate, there's a great restaurant over there."

  "Alright." I noticed that she had a look of relief on her face when I acknowledged her proposal.

  She is afraid.

  A 25-year-old woman is actually afraid of a minor? It's a bit ridiculous, but that's the fact. This is the privilege and status gap caused by superiority, even if this woman named Wendy can easily grasp all stages of men, but she has never been able to surpass Prince Seofano's son, even when I was still a minor.

  But these were not the main reasons she was afraid of me.

  After getting on the horse-drawn carriage, we started today's meeting topic.

  Are you dating?

  Don't be kidding, I'm afraid if I say that the real purpose behind everything Seofano's family is doing now is to marry her off, Wendell might just faint. So my cheap old man has conveniently provided a thick veil of business talk for me and her long-term entanglement.

  This is the real reason why Leonidas' beautiful widow was afraid. Think about it, on a certain day's sleepy morning, you suddenly learn that the world police and the largest arms supplier in the globe have sent someone to tell you that they want to cooperate with you to do business, what would be your first thought? I think it would definitely not be surprise.

  After the Holy Mass, Constantinople was bathed in brilliant sunlight that pierced through the white clouds, casting a kaleidoscope of light and shadow on the ancient domes and increasingly bustling streets.

  In Constantinople, there were many lucrative businesses. For the Roman Empire, which was located on two continents of Asia and Europe as a transit station, it was even more so. A thousand years ago, reselling silk imported from the Han Dynasty was a profitable business. Later, Emperor Justinian stole silkworms from the Turks, and the silk that survived in the Greek peninsula gradually occupied the market at a lower price, so later on, the most lucrative business became reselling spices.

  Pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon... those things that cost ten or twenty taels of silver per catty in the 21st century were as valuable as gold at that time, and even now they are still about the same. However, the spice trade route is no longer on the old road from India to the Middle East to Ankara to Constantinople, but like the history of the past world, it has changed to sea and land routes. Along with spices, other precious goods such as porcelain, silk, tea leaves, ivory, rock sugar, and musk were transported into Western European countries.

  But all these changes did not mean that Constantinople lost its function as a transit hub between East and West. Nowadays, the five most profitable businesses in Constantinople are silk, wool processing and uniform industry, coffee, perfume and saltpeter.

  Silk has been a major contributor to the Roman Empire's tax revenue since ancient times. As for the woolen textile industry and uniform production, the Greeks had already begun raising sheep when the ancestors of England, the Celts and Saxons, were still living in the wilderness. Therefore, the processing of wool is an industry that developed based on the empire's geographical environment and historical traditions. Coffee, this is a beverage that was introduced from Ethiopia based on the previous emperor's manuscripts and vigorously developed to counter tea. As for perfume, it goes without saying that it was created by my predecessor, who relied on the vast rose gardens at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains to produce rose perfumes that conquered women all over Western Europe, replacing the empire's military forces.

  To be honest, I quite admire that predecessor of mine. Not only did he create perfumes and gunpowder, but also promoted the 18th-century noblewomen's fashion ahead of time. Who knows if he brought a solar-powered handheld computer when he traveled through time...

  However, the fact that Rome was able to survive for so long, more or less, is due to the new financial channels he came up with. Wasn't it because of the drying up of financial resources that Byzantium gradually declined in history?

  The perfume industry is indeed a lucrative one, and over the centuries, many kingdoms have carved out their share of the market. However, the allure of century-old brands remains strong, and wealthy individuals still covet perfumes from the Roman Empire just as they would insist on buying silk from China. But the business that our family, the Sefano's, is discussing with the Windiers has nothing to do with perfume.

  Saltpeter! This is what we want to talk about, of course, just a simple chat, the detailed project is none of my business. In fact, making money from women is not difficult, and making money from men is also easy. As long as it's related to war, there are plenty of violent elements like Alexander and Morris who come to buy with gold and silver. Who let saltpeter be a part of gunpowder? Later cars, tanks, airplanes can't leave oil, now a country's army can't leave saltpeter either, unless they want their army's combat mode to return to over a hundred years ago. However, this is unlikely, everyone knows that the current era is no longer the Middle Ages where you can just wear a suit of armor and charge forward.

  At the same time, not every country can produce saltpeter, and the Kingdom of England is a notable example. Fortunately, they have the East India Company responsible for trade in the Far East. As far as I know, the East India Company sometimes receives tasks similar to purchasing saltpeter for the kingdom to eliminate half-year taxes. The annual tax that the East India Company pays to the British royal family is around 250,000 pounds, and half of 250,000 is 125,000 pounds. Britain's annual fiscal revenue is less than 30 million pounds, which is equivalent to 360 million sols in the imperial currency!

  The British Parliament can offer such a large discount because they purchase in very large quantities, around six or seven hundred tons, and the East India Company has to pay annual taxes and trade duties on each transaction. As for those small countries without shipping industries and lacking saltpeter, they have no choice but to buy it at high prices from the Dutch and English.

  When I said that the item of trade was saltpeter, and added a deadline granted by Cheap Daddy to the back, Windell picked up the elegant smile that had been rippling on his face, and gradually fell into deep thought.

  It was only then that I had the time to take in her carriage. The decorative layout was tasteful, with a strong feminine touch, the floral patterned leather upholstery was bright and soft, the carved scrollwork and flowers were intertwined and curved, blending together seamlessly, giving off a delicate and charming feel, and looking at the uniquely shaped windows, the outside scenery was adorned like a beautiful painting.

  "That's still quite a large number," Wendell said.

  I smiled and said nothing, wondering if this beautiful woman had a corresponding degree of wisdom in addition to her bust.

  "Three to four hundred tons of stock, this is enough to shock the entire English and Dutch markets!" The beautiful woman was somewhat excited, but it's not hard to understand why. Anyone who hears such a huge number would be shocked. After all, this is a number comparable to the annual import volume of a large country. And what about the exorbitant profits from saltpeter? Let me give you some numbers: the East India Company bought saltpeter at a low price in India for over 16,000 pounds, and then sold it in Europe for 730,000 pounds! A threefold profit can drive people crazy and make them take risks. And after saltpeter was transported from India to Western Europe, its price increased by more than ten times! This is still due to the recent scarcity of wars leading to a decline in prices!"

  Britain, which relied on trade routes for gunpowder due to its lack of saltpeter production, clung to their longbows. Other major European powers had large territories and were largely self-sufficient in saltpeter production, but secondary powers like Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony relied heavily on trade with the Dutch and English for their military supplies.

  "This means we can't avoid offending the English and the Dutch. The Dutch are still okay, but those English have been carrying that barbaric and greedy streak on their bodies for several centuries, and our weak fleet and lone ships will inevitably be nervous whenever they encounter them." Wendel's face turned red with anger, "The Kingdom of England controls the English Channel, if we don't want to take a detour and do business with saltpeter for a long time, we have to get along with them and give up some benefits."

  "A very sincere suggestion." I nodded and asked, "Madam, how much do you think we should open up on the price of saltpeter?"