“I must acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged. Joseon, no, the Empire has grown too large to handle as I please.”
Cosimo cleanly accepted the situation.
“However, my pride won’t allow me to be pulled along helplessly. Besides, there’s little profit in that. Recognition is recognition, and profit is profit. We must dig deep where we can and seize the vital points.”
Cosimo thoroughly reanalyzed the situation.
“Those weapons the Empire is offering to sell – though it stings my pride, we have no choice but to buy them. If we try to save money by dragging this out into a long-term engagement, we’ll only suffer greater losses. Especially given Europe’s current situation.”
***
Even before Pope Nicholas V advocated for ‘reflection and repentance,’ Europe had begun gradually reducing conflicts and moving toward reconciliation.
One of the main reasons was the ‘fatigue’ felt by both commoners and nobles.
Long before the letters from monks who arrived in Joseon sparked the flame, Europe had been suffering from religious conflicts between the Pope and the Basel Council.
In this situation, a single question thrown by Hyang from Joseon fanned the flames into an even larger fire.
As these religious conflicts stretched beyond ten years, everyone from the nobles at the top to the commoners at the bottom began experiencing extreme fatigue.
***
Beyond these religious issues, economic problems also forced reconciliation.
Beyond just intellectual debates between religious figures and scholars, fierce bloody conflicts erupted between followers of different doctrines. These violent conflicts grew increasingly larger, and many territories were reduced to wasteland after being caught in such disputes.
As this continued, farmers and nobles facing economic difficulties began pressuring religious figures and intellectuals.
-Is this truly what God wanted?
The people’s resentment was the strongest pressure on religious figures and intellectuals.
With the significant population decrease due to the Black Death, the position of serfs and free farmers had strengthened. And proportionally, their dissatisfaction had grown.
To suppress the dissatisfaction of these serfs and free farmers, lords and religious figures employed the method of holding festivals.
In addition to traditional festivals like Easter and Christmas, celebrations commemorating the feast days of various saints began to be added.
Thus, numerous festivals were held throughout Europe, and merchants targeting these peak seasons traveled across the continent.
The item these festival-traveling merchants sold most was ‘Pong-su’ exported from Joseon.
Meanwhile, these movements of nobles and commoners were also desired by great merchants like the Medici.
Most European nobles were debtors to great merchants like the Medici. Nobles, regardless of their rank or territory size, were deeply in debt.
Consequently, the number of nobles going bankrupt due to the long-lasting religious conflicts was gradually increasing, and their bad debts were becoming a headache for the great merchants.
***
“While we can’t help the weapons situation, the Empire’s conditions are problematic.”
Cosimo reconsidered the ’40 percent share’ that Hyang had proposed.
“Since the Empire has taken this stance, I too must reconsider. It’s unfortunate. If things had gone well, I could have secured at least a quarter share.”
As soon as he heard about the ‘four-nation joint venture’ from Giovanni who returned from the Empire, a plan immediately formed in Cosimo’s mind.
‘If this works out!’
Cosimo didn’t let that momentary flash of inspiration slip away and immediately sent Giovanni back to the Empire.
After sending Giovanni to the Empire, Cosimo smiled with satisfaction.
“Portugal isn’t the only one who’d be troubled without my money.”
The Ottomans were also indebted to Cosimo.
***
Though the Ottomans were growing as the rising power in the Islamic region, maintaining this growth wasn’t easy.
Their territory kept expanding for conquest, which meant military expenses took up an increasingly large portion of their finances. However, if they stopped expanding, those who profited from war would certainly rebel immediately.
There were two ways to solve this dilemma.
One was to continue expanding until there was no more land to take, or until the militant privileged class ran out of resources.
The problem was that in such a depleted state, if any foreign invasion occurred, there was a very high risk of immediate collapse.
The other was to find and secure another source of income for the Sultan that wasn’t based on territory. Using this resource base to strengthen the Sultan’s grip on power – military power – and then suppress the privileged class. If they could control the privileged class, they could stop expansion at an appropriate point and establish a stable state system.
This was why they accepted Cosimo’s proposal. If they could secure – if not monopolize – the trade routes to and from the ‘Land of Flowers,’ it would become a new source of income for the Sultan. Additionally, they could divert the attention of the privileged classes symbolized by the Sipahi and Timar system by attacking Cairo’s treasure houses, famous for their wealth, and the fertile Nile Delta.
When Murad II accepted the proposal, Cosimo supplied a substantial amount of military funds and mass-produced Florence-made matchlocks copied from Joseon models. Murad II then used these military funds and matchlocks to strengthen the combat power of the Janissaries, the Sultan’s personal forces.
***
Because he had a leash on not just Portugal but also the Ottomans, Cosimo was confident.
“Mehmet II may have made bold promises to the Empire, but he can’t escape from me.”
Though Mehmet II was the strongest candidate for the next Sultan, Cosimo’s wealth was sufficient to manipulate this outcome.
And Mehmet II knew this too. Therefore, he couldn’t ignore Cosimo’s words.
“Of course, he could change his tune after becoming Sultan, but I’ve learned something good from the Empire’s actions.”
He would obtain a document acknowledging the promise from Mehmet II before the competition between Sultan candidates began in earnest. Of course, just as the Empire had done, ‘in Allah’s name.’
After organizing the situation thus, Cosimo planned to secure a 5/100 share from both Portugal and the Ottomans. Naturally, this would be through secret agreements that wouldn’t be revealed to other countries, just as he had done with the Empire. They would only find out when conflicts arose.
If he added the 5/100 to be obtained from the Empire, the Medici family’s total share would reach one-quarter of the whole.
With such a share, the Medici family would reap maximum profits while mediating between the three countries.
However, Hyang, the Empire’s Emperor, had put the brakes on this plan.
***
After analyzing the situation up to this point, Cosimo filled his empty glass with wine and glared at the map.
“Hmm… Since the Empire landed a blow on me, I should return the favor?”
Cosimo’s gaze was fixed on France.
“Portugal alone would struggle against both the Ottomans and the Empire. But…”
Moistening his throat with wine, Cosimo continued.
“But with France, it’s a different story.”
***
Was it the butterfly effect of Hyang’s intervention? It concluded almost six years earlier compared to the history before Hyang’s intervention.
It was Charles VII’s choice to win against the nobles – even including his own son.
– Normandy and Calais remain, but we can take them back later! Now we must first suppress these nobles!
Impressed by Eastern royal politics learned through monks’ letters, Charles VII had begun strengthening royal authority in earnest.
Thanks to this, policies strengthening royal authority, such as the increase in standing armies that occurred in the history before Hyang’s intervention, were progressing even more intensively.
And for this strengthening of royal authority, Charles VII actively utilized the church’s division as well.
He weakened the nobles’ traditional support base by supporting reformist religious figures and intellectuals favored by the people while criticizing fundamentalists and conservatives.
However, all these strategies and schemes absolutely required money, and lots of it. As a result, the relationship between Charles VII and Cosimo was very close.
Recalling France’s political situation, Cosimo smiled slyly.
“Paris would be tempted, but so would Burgundy.”
At that time, Louis XI, Charles VII’s son and strongest political rival, was in Burgundy.
***
Whether Paris or Burgundy, France at that time was the country with the most soldiers experienced in actual combat – large-scale battles at the national level.
“If we add the weapons bought from the Empire, even that tedious war could end quickly. And with Portugal and France together, the Ottomans couldn’t be stubborn either.”
Having organized the situation thus far in his own way, Cosimo chuckled while repeatedly jabbing his finger at the Suez region on the map.
“And about that canal… I should take advantage of the Empire’s mistake.”
In Cosimo’s view, the Empire’s suggestion of the canal was clearly a mistake.
“They’re not wrong. It does cost a lot to transport iron horses and railways. And they have to worry about potential technology leaks too. Plus, it’s true that the process of unloading from ships, loading onto iron horses, and then loading back onto ships at the destination is complicated and expensive.”
Refilling his empty glass with wine, Cosimo continued with a broad smile.
“However, while railways and iron horses require complete dependence on the Empire, that’s not the case with the canal. The excavator Giovanni mentioned might be impressive, but it can be replaced by any means. We can hire more laborers, or bring in more slaves. The excavator isn’t the only answer.”
As Cosimo said, this was indeed a mistake by Hyang and the Empire’s officials.
***
As King Sejong began his reforms and full-scale industrial promotion policies were implemented, private slaves had almost disappeared except for government slaves.
To suppress the power of local privileged classes who opposed reform policies symbolized by the liberation of private slaves, the court treated slaves as property and raised the property tax rate.
As a result, large numbers of private slaves were freed and released as commoners.
This wasn’t aimed solely at weakening local privileged classes. It was intended to increase the number of wage workers who would serve as the labor force needed for growing commerce and industry, an important consumer market, and a source of tax revenue to cover increasing finances.
As private slaves became an endangered species this way, the concept of slavery faded from the minds of Sejong, Hyang, and court officials.
Of course, there were still enormous numbers of government slaves remaining, but the vast majority of these were political prisoners, or criminals, so they didn’t count.
However, in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, slaves were still everyday existences and the easiest means of securing labor.
Cosimo intended to exploit exactly this weakness.
“Why do we need the Empire’s excavators? Slaves are cheaper? And the less influence the Empire has, the more profitable it is for me.”