Time came to June in a blink of an eye. Alexius did many things to save the country in these two months. First, he returned to Trebizond to control the crowds, and then he took in the people who had escaped from Constantinople.

He tried his best to help the refugees who came, and then he improvised a small army to expand into the rural areas controlled by the lords of Plonia. Through a series of compromises with the lords, he gained their control over him.

Their trust allowed them to accept unified leadership, thereby integrating the Roman forces that resisted the Latin Empire to the greatest extent, and becoming somewhat representative.

Up to now, the forces of Alexius Komnenos have completely controlled the Trebizond area. There are still some lords outside the Pontus Mountains who are unwilling to cooperate. Because they are close to the territory of the Rom Sultanate, Alexius

Si won't be able to touch them for a while.

Although nominal unification is now achieved, the actual situation is far worse than imagined.

The first is the agricultural issue. We must know that in ancient times when productivity was backward, the development of agriculture was crucial. The rise and fall of agriculture was the foundation of a country and the basis and guarantee for its survival. Even a business like the Eastern Roman Empire that relied heavily on trade and taxation

In the empire, land taxes also accounted for a large proportion of the treasury revenue.

After the Arabs invaded and the empire lost important grain-producing areas such as Egypt and Africa, the empire's treasury revenue dropped by more than one-third! The latter had to implement a military district system. In the next few hundred years

, the most important grain-producing area of ​​the empire was transformed into the fertile coastal areas of Asia Minor. Sicily may still be able to provide food supplies for the empire, but it was also completely lost to the invasion of foreign enemies soon after.

The most fertile and elite area in Asia Minor is the coastal zone, where millions of Greeks live. In addition, Greeks have liked to live in coastal areas since ancient times, so the flow of people here has always been high, and the population has been gradually rising for a long time;

It was not until the land was gradually devoured by the Turks that the Ottoman Empire forcibly immigrated a large number of Turks here, causing the proportion of local Greeks to gradually decrease.

In addition to requiring high local fertility, ancient agriculture also required enough people to cultivate the land. After 1204, the empire was divided into several pieces. The Latin Empire occupied a piece of Thrace. There were also some Latin empires in Salonica and Athens.

The principality established by the knights, and Impyrus, Nicaea, and Trebizond constituted the three exiled forces of the empire, but they were also intrigues and power made the former brothers become enemies on the battlefield. Therefore, Alexios

Although Sri Lanka occupies the treasure land of Trebizond, there is a shortage of labor and there are not enough young people to cultivate the land. In addition, the coastal corridor of Pontus is often attacked by Turks. It is difficult to mobilize manpower from Western Asia Minor, not to mention

The Laskaris family, which occupies Nicaea, cannot protect itself, let alone send its already scarce human resources to Trebizond. There is no reason for reconciliation between the two forces.

The lack of sufficient labor force means that a large amount of land is abandoned and no one is cultivating it. In addition, the available land base is small, which is different from the Eastern Roman Empire that spans three continents. Its arable land area is insufficient, which seriously restricts the development of agriculture; there is a shortage of human resources.

Alexius will be faced with dual economic and military problems for a long time. The serious lack of labor in the vast land means that even military expansion will become a problem. These will have a great impact on the development of Alexius's power.

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The second is the issue of industry and commerce. Since the empire's navy was almost exhausted and unable to fight against Venice, the powerful maritime trade power, the Venetians occupied a large area of ​​trading ports with excellent geographical locations and gathered all the wealth along the way into their own hands. However, Terra

Bisson is located in the northeastern part of Asia Minor and plays a vital role in the Black Sea trade. The colonial stronghold on the Crimean Peninsula was also occupied by the Genoese, making it impossible for Venice's monopoly trade to proceed. The Venetians, who have always valued interests, will inevitably go through war.

, economic sanctions and other means to solve this problem will also affect the industrial and commercial development of Trebizond; in addition to the food shortage problem just mentioned, there are also some urgently needed resources, such as manpower, silk, tea, silk, glass, etc.

, these are all in short supply in Trebizond. The above points constitute a serious trade deficit problem. To put it simply, Trebizond spends a lot of money to import materials, but there are very few goods that can be exported in exchange for money.

Domestic demand for goods is unstable and government spending will consume a lot of money, which will be very detrimental to this new force.

Third, there is the problem of local social conflicts. The crisis of the Eastern Roman Empire began in the 11th century. The most important social contradictions were the annexation of land by the big nobles, the increasing poverty of small farmers, and their eventual bankruptcy. The financial difficulties of the empire severely affected the empire.

The economic foundation, coupled with the incompetence of the central government and the increasingly serious corruption problem, has led to a negative situation of polarization in the local society. The rich are getting richer and richer, the class of landlords (rich peasants) is getting larger and larger; there are fewer and fewer self-cultivators, and they are going bankrupt.

There are more and more refugees, and the poor who are driven by hunger and disease are plundering materials everywhere, which has brought a heavy blow to the local social order.

This problem will also greatly restrict the development of agriculture. If farmers lose their land and are oppressed, their labor enthusiasm will drop rapidly and natural grain production will decrease.

Fourth, there is the issue of mercenaries. Needless to say, the importance of the victory or defeat of foreign wars to the country. Alexius must build a strong Roman army. Let the Romans themselves protect their citizens from the eager eyes of tigers.

of wolves.

Foreign mercenaries were almost always active in Roman history, and they were an important military force even during the military district system.

Problems such as mercenary rebellions and refusal to send troops often occur. If Trebizond really wants to "rich the country and strengthen its army", it cannot rely too much on these capricious mercenaries. The importance of "Romanization" of the army is particularly important; instead of

Like emperors in the past, they looked to foreign armies.

If the Romans wanted to win in the war, they had to rely on their own strength, rather than alliance armies or foreign mercenaries. Over-reliance on foreign mercenaries was an important reason why the empire's border defenses were weak in the late Comnenus dynasty. Constant

One of the direct reasons for the capture of Constantinople was that the mercenaries broke their promises and did not participate in the battle to defend Constantinople.

Fifth, the issue of the military district system. The Roman Empire was torn apart, and Alexius could only live in Trebizond. Since seizing Trebizond, his ultimate goal was to return to Constantinople and recreate Eastern Rome.

The past glory of the empire, therefore, how to strengthen the army is the most important issue for Alexius to consider.

The military district system of the Eastern Roman Empire first appeared in the 7th century. It was a system that integrated military and political affairs. It managed administrative regions at all levels of the empire according to military sequences such as military districts, divisions, regiments, and battalions. Management agencies at all levels implemented a wartime system.

The power of military power is controlled by generals, and the power agencies at all levels of military regions are also established according to the military structure. The administrative system is attached to the military system. The "general" at the head of the military region has greater power than the previous "governor". The state gives hereditary land to small farmers in exchange for small farmers.

Military service obligations and tax income.

Soldiers receive farmland from the government, cultivate it themselves or hire people to cultivate it, and provide self-sufficient military food. Under the military region system, the military region system mainly establishes new military regions in each region, determines the internal military sequence of the military region, and establishes military service with farmland in lieu of pay.

A series of measures such as real estate development gradually established a political and military management system with the peasant and soldier class as the main body and the small peasant economic form as the basis of the imperial economy.

This system of military and political compatibility and the integration of soldiers and peasants promoted the formation and development of the peasant-soldier class, which played an extremely important role in strengthening the empire's national defense and stabilizing the social economy. When the Byzantine Empire was first established, there were constant wars within the empire and surrounding countries.

, and even faced crises, but the military district system gave the empire a strong military force, which could not only defend the empire, but also support its expansion. In the 12th century, the military district system was unsustainable within the empire and was abolished, and the empire's military power declined sharply.

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Alexius knew the impact that the abolition of the military district system in the 12th century would have on the military strength of the empire. He must immediately restore the military district system and carry out social reforms at the same time.

The decline of the military district system was due to the annexation of land and the bankruptcy of small farmers and the disintegration of the peasant-soldier class. However, the fall of Constantinople made the aristocratic land no longer exist, and the personal dependence between small farmers and them was also eliminated. If the issue of social polarization is further considered

If it is temporarily solved, then the most important drawbacks of the military district system will be temporarily eliminated, and Alexius' idea of ​​restoring the military district system will be possible.

The Eastern Roman Empire was surrounded by powerful enemies around the 7th century AD. Trebizond was also constantly disturbed by the Seljuk Turkic Empire, the Sultanate of Roma or the Mongol Empire, and even other Roman forces. The two faced many challenges.

The situation is so similar that it is not difficult to understand why Trebizond wants to restore the military district system.

Peasants and soldiers in the military region exchanged life-long service for the right to manage a small piece of military region real estate. They cultivated farmland with their families in peacetime, and in wartime they prepared their own weapons and supplies to fight with the army.

As long as the military district system is implemented well, Trebizond's problem of scarce human resources and insufficient soldiers will be solved. Stable soldiers will greatly improve the combat effectiveness and combat efficiency of the army; in addition, the cultivation of small farmers will increase the country's agricultural tax, and at the same time

Peasants and soldiers prepare their own weapons and dry food, which saves the government a large amount of expenses incurred by year-round campaigns, all of which will greatly reduce the government's financial burden; in addition, military real estate will allow the exiled Romans to settle down, and population mobility will be affected.

restrictions, social classes tend to stabilize, which is conducive to the restoration and reconstruction of social order.

In short, if Trebizond can solve the above problems, then Trebizond will be completely reborn and radiant. It will even be healthier than the empire under the late Comnenus dynasty and the Angelus dynasty. It will be better in all aspects.
Chapter completed!