Taking Laszlo with him, Constantine toured around Athens just to find out whether the true situation in the empire had improved.

Due to the unique natural conditions of Athens, agriculture is not developed here. Even the soil has only a thin layer with hard marble and limestone underneath. This means that Athens is difficult to be self-sufficient and must rely on external supplies.

to survive,

But correspondingly, the underdevelopment of agriculture has led to the shipbuilding, navigation and handicraft industries in Athens. There are many cities here, the population is dense and relatively concentrated. Although barbarians continue to move in, the number of Greeks is still the majority. Therefore, here

It is also one of the places closely connected with Constantinople.

Walking on the streets of Athens, Constantine and Laszlo did not bring any guards, but the luxurious robes they wore also highlighted their status. A small blank area was formed around them.

In order to keep a low profile, Constantine did not even wear purple robes, because in Byzantium, only the royal family could wear purple robes, which would completely disrupt his plans.

"Your Majesty, there are so many people in Athens!"

Laszlo was extremely emotional. The city of Athens at this moment was richer and more prosperous than Constantinople before the war. Blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, merchants, stonemasons, etc. could be seen everywhere, each hawking, and the whole market was in full swing.

, a lively scene.

"Okay, I didn't bring you here just to see you like this."

Constantine is a little funny. It is normal for young people to be interested in all new things, but he is not bringing Laszlo to play today.

Constantine took Laszlo to the blacksmith shop, and the person in charge rushed over to entertain him with sharp eyes.

"Two noble men, what are you going to fight?"

"What can you hit here?"

"Oh, that's a lot."

The person in charge shrugged, very proud,

"Not to mention simple farm tools, scimitars, broadswords, square shields, spears, and even foot-stringed bows are all fine, as long as you can afford the price."

The crossbow is a crossbow. This may be a terrifying instrument from the far East that frightened Europeans so much that at the Second Lateran Council in 1139, Pope Innocent II banned crossbows from being used by Christians.

Applications in War,

Naturally, Constantine could not allow such a powerful anti-personnel weapon to circulate in the world. Constantinople had also issued an edict to control crossbows, but he did not expect that Athens would sell them almost openly, without any control.

Constantine's edict was taken seriously.

Laszlo looked at Constantine a little worriedly, but Constantine didn't pay attention to Laszlo's actions at all. He seemed not to care about what the person in charge said, and even had a smile on his face.

"Give us two hundred-pounders, so they can be used easily."

"Okay, please pay the deposit."

Where would Constantine carry money with him? In the past, his attendants would carry it with him, but now only Laszlo is around, so he will naturally pay for it.

Constantine turned to look at Laszlo, who reluctantly paid. It was not because of this that he was unhappy, but because the store's blatant defiance of the imperial prohibition made him feel uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty, do you want...?"

Laszlo approached Constantine and wanted to ask him what to do. Constantine raised his hand and stopped him.

"Master, let me ask you something."

The keen-eyed Constantine saw a plate of unknown fruits not far away. He walked over, picked up one, put it in his mouth, and said vaguely,

"Hey, sir, please excuse me. As long as I know something, I will definitely not hide it."

The person in charge left after collecting the money. Only a few blacksmiths were tinkling iron on the side. Constantine just found this opportunity and was ready to ask about the situation.

"I heard that Constantinople issued an order saying that privately making foot-stringed bows is not allowed. Didn't you get the order here?"

"Oh, you said that."

The master's hands kept moving, swinging the hammer one after another,

"I heard about it, but we didn't build it privately."

Constantine nodded, and then continued to ask calmly,

"Governor Moria allowed it?"

"Hey, the provincial governor has so many things to do, how could he notice such a small workshop like ours?"

The master smiled and continued,

"He is a nobleman from Constantinople. I heard he has a very high status. On the day he entered the city, the governor even went to greet him in person. He was wearing a purple robe. Hey, he looks so majestic."

"Is it the royal family?!"

Laszlo whispered to Constantine that the master's words frightened him,

Constantine's expression remained unchanged, but he probably already knew something in his heart.

"Is your family the only one allowed?"

"More than that?"

At this point, the master also became interested and counted them one by one with his fingers.

"The Modi family in the south of the city, the Ralph family in the east, and almost all the blacksmith workshops in the city have received permission."

"It can't be for free, right?"

Constantine had a teasing smile on his lips and a hint of temptation in his words, but the master ignored him and continued speaking, minding his own business,

"Free? Our family alone paid 600 ducats. I heard that several other workshops also paid a lot. The highest one was Modi's family, which paid a full 1,200 ducats. Damn it."

A miser who saved so much money..."

The master's words were filled with complaints. Obviously, this was a considerable financial burden.

"It's true or false, why don't I believe it?"

There was doubt in Constantine's tone, which irritated the grumpy blacksmith.

"My old Carter can do everything except lie. That's something only the devil can do, Carter~Carter~"

He shouted inside, preparing to ask his son, the person in charge just now, Carter Jr., to take out the voucher.

"Take out that medal."

Following Carter's movements, a small iron medal appeared in front of Constantine, with the double-headed eagle emblem of the Byzantine royal family on it.

Constantine turned it over and over for a long time, then returned it to Old Carter. After agreeing on a date to pick up the crossbow, he left the blacksmith workshop with Laszlo.

"How is this going?"

On the way back, Laszlo looked puzzled and could only ask Constantine,

"Isn't it clear yet? These are all good things done by my 'good brothers'."

Constantine sneered that these people were really the black sheep of the country.

As such an ancient country, it is inevitable that the number of royal members will increase. After the Comnenus family left, the Baliolo family has more and more members after several generations, and these people occupy

As Tang He in the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang" said, after successive generations of kings, there will eventually be thousands of kings, and the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed?

The situation in Byzantium is roughly similar. In fact, these people are not necessarily all deadbeats. There are also some talented people, but the talented people are definitely in the minority. After all, few people who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths are willing to fight.
Chapter completed!