Chapter 43: Saving the world is also an excellent business
In the early summer of 1348, the water city Venice.
In this era, Venice, located on the lagoon and islands, was the most splendid city in Europe:
The glorious victory of conquering the Byzantine Empire, the legend of Marco Polo's eastward journey... It is the supreme master of the Mediterranean and an immortal legend of the Western world.
Venice's urban population is only about 200,000, but its commercial empire is so vast. Venetian merchants were found everywhere from Spain to Jerusalem, from London to Constantinople. So much so that some people often say: "Where there is water flowing, there are Venetians."
The Venetians formed the earliest modern companies in the West, created the first new banks in the West, and formulated the law of the sea. Commerce became a national enterprise, and almost all Venetians were involved in it. Eventually, wealth came flooding in. For such a small Venetian Republic, the annual fiscal revenue is as high as one million ducats! This is a dizzying figure, exceeding the fiscal revenue of major Western countries such as France and the United Kingdom. It is almost comparable to the annual income of the Ming Dynasty in the same era, and the population of the Ming Dynasty was at least several hundred times that of Venice!
Venice was the best-governed city in Europe during the Renaissance. Its republican government is very stable, with only one attempted coup in a thousand years. It remains religiously and ethnically open, and both Arabs and Jews can live fairly safely here. The streets are clean, tidy and orderly, and have a full set of facilities such as libraries, public hospitals, and welfare homes. It established annuities for retired civil servants, pensions for the orphans, the elderly and the weak, and scholarships for scholars. In short, Venice may be nothing in terms of population or area. But if you want to find a place in the 14th century world that most resembles a modern city, it can only be Venice - it seems to have transcended that era!
Venice in the fourteenth century was at the peak of its prosperity and power. On its more than one hundred islands, there are many bridges, painted boats and mansions. Pigeons were circling in Piazza San Marco, and ladies were like clouds. In the dark 14th century, Venetians were still enjoying life. Unlike Beijing or Delhi, it relies on the power of the emperor in exchange for a luxurious life. All its prosperity depends on hundreds of years of hard work and adventure.
Unfortunately, all this prosperity and advancement cannot prevent the Black Death from coming!
For the Venetians, who call themselves the "Bride of Poseidon", the sea is both their home and the source of wealth. For hundreds of years, it was relying on countless ships to shuttle back and forth day and night to transport the wealth of the entire Mediterranean world into this place, as well as the successive rounds of battles with the Eastern Roman Empire, Arabs and Genoese that determined the fate of the country. Only in the great sea battle can this small city-state ascend to the supreme throne of Mediterranean overlord.
But as wealth flows in from the sea, so do threats.
In January 1348, just as the death fleet entered the port of Marseille, the God of Death also arrived in Venice.
As the first sailing ship carrying the germs docked at the docks of Venice, the horrific plague flooded the city like a tsunami and poured into every street and alley - first, high fever, vomiting, coughing and... Abscess, then silence and death.
Medieval European doctors were unable to treat these plagues, and densely populated Venice quickly fell. Historians commented: The Republic of Venice became the Republic of the Dead - this brief comment hides a bottomless horror.
In just a few months, almost half of the people in Venice died!
But Venice did not collapse. Unlike other Italian cities that collapsed, life went on. There are no wild dogs or crows preying on people in the streets, no rotting corpses in the house, and its rulers are not on the run. Venice in 1348 had indeed descended into hell, but even in this hell, Venetian people still retained their dignity - the city would never lose courage in the face of death.
In the face of the crisis, the Doge of Venice and the Assembly jointly appointed an emergency committee with full authority to deal with the disaster. The measures it takes are both detailed and reasonable. It seems blameless today.
——The port is strictly managed by the committee, and all ships are carefully searched. Once a body is found inside the ship, the ship will be burned on the spot. Any ship arriving from an affected area must be quarantined for forty days.
——In order to prevent social order from getting out of control, Venice has implemented alcohol restrictions. The import of alcohol was banned and all hotels were ordered to close. Anyone who sells alcohol without a license will be fined heavily and his wine will be poured into the sea.
——People at that time already knew that prisons were particularly prone to spreading plague. Therefore, the committee stipulated that people who were imprisoned for debts could be freed as long as they paid one-fifth of the debts.
——Two desolate islands in the lagoon were designated by the Venice Emergency Committee as mass graves during the plague.
Every morning, dozens of boats paddle through Venice's waterways. The vast water echoed with the boatman's shout: Corpimorti! Corpimorti! (Corpse! Corpse!) Hearing the shouts, some people came out of the house and threw the bodies of their loved ones into the boat.
Once the boats were loaded with bodies, they rowed deeper into the lagoon. The bodies will be buried there.
Venice's emergency committee stipulated that all cemeteries must be five feet deep. Priests conduct funerals in front of cemeteries and pray for the souls of the deceased.
It's a bleak scene, but it's also a scene full of dignity.
Compared to countless other cities that have fallen into disintegration and collapse, this cemetery and this funeral are an unimaginable luxury.
Members of the Venice Emergency Committee also continued to die, but they never gave up their duties until their last moments. Thousands of Venetians died through no fault of their own. They have done everything they can.
Even ordinary people in Venice showed amazing courage. Countless people fall every day, but those who are alive continue to work. There is no war here, but every boatman, every craftsman, and every civil servant is like a brave warrior. They were like an army marching silently against a hail of arrows - suffering heavy casualties every day and every moment, but still maintaining their front.
This is Venice in 1348, a city that still clings to hope in despair.
You know, ferocious enemies may make people brave and unite, but elusive diseases can only make people fearful and distracted.
In the face of the irresistible, unpreventable and elusive Black Death, it is already commendable that the Venetians were able to do this.
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However, although the performance of the authorities of the Republic of Venice during the catastrophe was commendable, this plague has exceeded the limits of mortal capabilities. Venice's emergency committee was unable to save the sick; at best it prevented the spread of famine and violence. As time goes by and death approaches, this splendid and great city is still irretrievably slipping into the abyss step by step - shops and markets are closed one after another, and shipyards and docks have become garbage dumps. Those in power in the Venice Emergency Committee were only trying to hold on in the darkness of despair.
More and more residents began to flee to remote rural areas for refuge. Only the most stubborn citizens, like lonely ghosts, stick to this city that is gradually turning into ruins, silently waiting for the day when the disaster ends...or the end of the world!
Then, in the terrifying atmosphere of this sect's destruction, the dawn of hope quietly rose on the horizon - starting about two months ago, rumors about "angels coming to eliminate the plague" began to spread from France and Rome kept coming. The Venetians, who regarded themselves as rational, initially scoffed. However, when the miracle of "the arrival of angels" finally appeared in Florence not far from the Apennine Mountains, the Venetians finally couldn't sit still and began to try to send special envoys to Florence in an attempt to pray for the good angels to exert their magical power and save them. own city.
——Next, the Venetians discovered that the salvation of the world by angels does exist, but it is not free.
In fact, it could even be said to be appallingly expensive.
"...One million ducats in gold?! You asked us for so much money right out of the gate?! Are they angels or devils?"
In the conference room of the Doge's Palace in Venice, a middle-aged man knocked on the table angrily, "...This is simply the most despicable blackmail!"
"...Please calm down, sir, do you admit the truth: no amount of money can buy our lives?"
The white-haired Governor coughed dryly and stopped the other party's roar, "... As of now, half of the population of our city has died! Relatives in your family have also lost their lives. Look outside the window! In this situation, do we still have room to bargain? ”
After everyone heard the words, they couldn't help but fell silent for a moment. They turned and looked outside through the windows of the conference room. The bronze statue of the Horse in St. Mark's Square still stood tall, but the noisy stalls and vendors of the past had disappeared. , there were not even a few beggars to be found, only the bleak wind blew the fallen leaves on the ground from time to time. In the city canal next to the square, there are not a few "Gondola" boats with Venetian characteristics. It looks extremely empty and lonely... an atmosphere of gloom, depression, desolation, despair, fear and sadness. It arises spontaneously in this familiar yet unfamiliar empty city. It’s hard to believe that this is the great Venice, the dazzling pearl of the Adriatic!
Seeing such a desolate city like a ruin, even the stingiest person has to admit: Venice can no longer afford to wait. No matter how harsh the conditions are, you can only grit your teeth and endure it - otherwise, once all the Venetians die, what's the use of keeping more money?
But the question is... "Can we really get so many gold coins? Lord Governor"
——Although the annual financial revenue of the Republic of Venice is indeed as high as millions of ducats, it does not mean that there is so much money in the treasury of the Doge's Palace. In fact, the current total minting volume of gold ducats in the world is probably a little more than one million, so this income is to a large extent just an accounting number. In fact, it is represented by various commodities and real estate. Even in the form of debt.
In this way, even if the wealthy people in Venice are willing to go bankrupt, they may not be able to plunder so many gold and silver coins from the city.
"...You can rest assured that the angels have expressed their willingness to accept the discount of most property, and it does not necessarily have to be coins. What's more, according to our previous secret talks with the angels, as long as the process works well, we may not It’s necessary to lose everything, but you can still make a fortune!”
The Governor smiled slyly, "...In fact, saving the world is also an excellent business..."
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ PS: I have a cold and a high fever today, and I feel dizzy, so I will write this first, please forgive me.