Chapter 374 New Village Movement
Time passed, and Constantinople welcomed the lazy and comfortable early July. The busiest harvest season was about to end. The winter wheat sown last autumn and winter had matured, and a large amount of agricultural products flooded into the market.
Eastern Roman Empire, Central Province, Thrace Region.
The wide roads lead to all directions. On a gravel road leading to the southwest, several carriages moved slowly forward, and the Royal Mounted Police from the Thrace Region were responsible for the escort.
The largest carriage carried some lower-level civil servants, and the rest were filled with various supplies.
In the passenger carriage, Harris looked at the scenery outside the window silently. They were very close to their destination, and he felt a little nervous and excited.
Heris, 19, is a half-Greek and half-Khoisan Roman who once served as an apprentice to Academician Victor of the Olympus Observatory, but he soon discovered that he preferred dealing with people to the stars.
So, at the suggestion of his friends, he took the first civil service examination in 1472. Although his overall score was not ideal and he only passed Greek, the administrative agency was expanding at that time and there was a shortage of people everywhere. Heris was successfully hired by the administrative department and worked as a scribe in the Adrian City Government.
For Heris, the work of a scribe was certainly boring and tedious, but the title of a lower-level civil servant also brought him many conveniences, and the library in Adrianople was completely open to him.
During the four years, Chris went against his "original intention" and hardly developed any decent interpersonal relationships. He only had some correspondence with his teacher, Academician Veneto.
At the suggestion of his old teacher, Harris immersed himself in the library, taking the opportunity to read a large number of books, from professional works to popular novels, almost everything. He read "Geography" by the ancient Roman geographer Strabo, "History of the Peloponnesian War" by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, "The Travels of Marco Polo" and "The Travels of Ibn Battuta", and also read "Meditations" by Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Of course, the four years of copying work also made him feel the tremendous changes in the imperial government. There were more and more middle and lower-level civil servants who passed the examinations and entered official careers, and their quality was getting higher and higher. Most of them were young and energetic, and often full of energy, which injected a lot of fresh blood into various government departments.
The improvement in administrative efficiency enabled the imperial government to carry out more difficult tasks, such as population surveys and household registration.
The former is easy enough, but the latter is simply too complicated. Harris remembered that at this time last year, he had copied citizen information for a whole month.
Four years later, although his position has not been promoted, his knowledge level and comprehension ability have greatly improved, and his year-end assessment scores have been getting higher and higher.
After the end of the Iberian War, the Eastern Roman Empire ushered in peace. The emperor returned to the court and launched a deep reform of the Eastern Roman Empire. An ideal opportunity finally appeared before him.
"Herris, your mother is a Khoisan. Have you ever been to New Thrace?"
A voice interrupted Khris's thoughts. He looked at the person who came. It was Yevgeny, a Russian-born third-year student in the Department of Architecture at the University of Constantinople.
"It is said that the floors of Johannesburg are paved with gold and illuminated by fluorite. Is that true?"
"I was born in New Thrace when I was a child, but came to the Eastern Empire very early. I basically don't remember anything about that place."
Harris said lightly.
"As for Johannesburg, it is a mining city that has only recently emerged. It is even more impossible for me to know."
"Moreover, fluorite generally does not emit light, but Your Majesty gave it such a name."
Under the guidance of the imperial government, the identity of Eastern Roman citizens mainly depends on culture and beliefs, rather than bloodline and appearance. In recent years, more and more mixed-race children have returned to the empire from the colonies. Everyone has become accustomed to their existence, and Chrysostom has rarely been discriminated against because of his unique appearance.
Of course, they still have stereotypes about Harris's "hometown", and Harris always uses the same rhetoric. After asking once, everyone loses interest.
Sure enough, Yevgeny nodded with some regret.
"So what did you do before you became a scribe?"
"Olympus Observatory, Padawan."
Harris still gave a template-like answer.
“The instructor at the observatory is Academician Veneto Vittorio.”
"So it's him? He's also a visiting professor in our engineering department."
Yevgeny's eyes lit up.
"Ever since he built the telescope, Professor Veneto doesn't seem to like engineering very much. Has he been looking at the stars in the mountains?"
"Almost. We have achieved some results."
Harris also didn't mind repeating these academic achievements that had already been published in newspapers to his future colleagues.
"At your Majesty's suggestion, Academician Veneto mapped the motion paths of several planets and concluded that the paths of the planets revolving around the sun are not standard circles, but ellipses."
"Academician Veneto is continuing his research on planetary trajectories. It seems that calculations will be involved next, which of course I don't understand."
Herris said.
"What about you? You are a college student, why don't you stay in Constantinople instead of coming to a small country village?"
"It's all for future development. I want to join the engineering department, so I must take this opportunity to leave behind some better resumes."
Yevgeny said.
"Your Majesty is probably serious this time. This is a good opportunity."
Herlis nodded, which was roughly the same as his main purpose.
The carriage continued to move forward, the two men stopped talking, and a medium-sized village soon appeared before their eyes.
"Markara Village, here we are."
Yevgeny whistled merrily and jumped out of the carriage, followed by Khris.
Markala Village is located in the Thrace region, southwest of Constantinople, two days' drive from the nearest city, Tekirdag. It has good natural qualities and is a medium-sized village mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry, with a population of more than 200 people.
It seemed very lively outside the church at the entrance of Marcala Village. It was the slack season for farming, and the villagers gathered together to listen to the priest explaining the latest issue of "Daily Chronicle".
"In the 132nd issue of the Thracian Region's Daily Chronicle, the Thracian government issued an announcement that since Thracian farmland has ushered in a bumper harvest, in order to prevent farmers from suffering losses due to excessively low grain prices, the government will open three new granaries and purchase grain from Thracian farmers at standard prices to combat price-cutting behavior..."
The priest's long words spread among the crowd, and the peasants immediately began to discuss and cheer.
"That's great. We clearly provide so much food for the "gentlemen" in the big cities. They all rely on us for their livelihood. Why are their living conditions so much better than ours?"
"Yes, we are all citizens of the empire. Why are people from Constantinople superior to others?"
"Don't mention this. The grain capitalists in Constantinople have joined hands to deliberately lower grain prices. They really don't care about the lives of farmers..."
"Quiet!"
The priest frowned and put his hands together.
"After the farmland liquidation, there are no more landless or land-poor farmers in this village. Your farmland is almost comparable to that of the small landlords in the past. Why are you still not satisfied?"
"Being content with what you have and willing to be poor is a virtue that a good Christian should possess. God will see everything. Amen."
Seeing that no one said anything else, the priest made the sign of the cross on his chest and continued to read.
"In order to promote agricultural production, the Thracian government has reached an agreement with the Lishimel Fertilizer Factory and the Constantinople Livestock Breeding Guild. The prices of Lishimel Fertilizer Factory's bone meal fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer and Adrian liquid will soon be reduced, and the oxen and horses used for farming will also be cheaper!"
"There is also a third article. The Thracian government encourages farmers to hire foreign tenants, encourages farmers to teach foreign tenants and Saracen serfs to learn Greek, and encourages intermarriage between different ethnic groups!"
This piece of information did not cause that much of a stir. The Thrace region was covered with plains and had good land quality. The abundance of farming livestock allowed individual farmers to cultivate more and more land. The promotion of Adrian liquid and pyrethroid pesticides freed up labor for pest control.
Furthermore, the rapidly developing road system and the reformed distribution model allowed the Thrace region to gradually move towards commercial agriculture. During the harvest season, the government or chamber of commerce would purchase rural grain in a unified manner, and farmers would be freed from the sales process and only need to produce.
Therefore, unlike North Africa and Anatolia, the number of tenant farmers and serfs here was not large, and they basically adopted family farming, with families and clans as the basic units, and cultivated their own private fields.
Of course, some large landowners own too much land, and they themselves are not very willing to farm it, so there is still a shortage of labor. They often hire foreign workers or farmers who have cultivated their own fields.
However, the relationship between them has quietly changed over the past few decades of transformation. Landlords have become "agricultural capitalists" and tenants have become "agricultural workers." The relationship between the two is an employment relationship rather than a dependent relationship, which is more equal than before.
"That's about all we have to say. There are some international events coming up. Do you want to hear about them?"
The priest looked at the crowd.
"Listen, why not? Anyway, the wheat has been harvested now, and there is nothing to do."
The farmers nodded in agreement.
The priest lowered his head and looked at the last few messages.
"On June 1476, 6, at the strong request of the elder cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg, the Hanseatic League held an emergency meeting and reached a final conclusion: La Coruña, Gibraltar and Belisariupolis will be accepted as new members of the alliance. The three cities will have Hanseatic trading posts, allowing free trade. The Lübeck Law will be emphasized on the basis of the original laws, and the King of Portugal and the Eastern Roman Emperor will not impose heavy taxes on trading cities."
"On June 6, Portugal's representative Gomez and East Roman representative Fugger attended a Hanseatic League internal dinner in Lübeck, where they announced that the Kingdom of Portugal and several Hanseatic cities in the East Roman Empire would form a joint caravan to jointly participate in the North Atlantic trade."
"On June 6, the Eastern Roman representative Fugger held talks with the military department of the Hanseatic League and expressed that the Eastern Roman Empire was willing to provide loans to the Hanseatic League to upgrade ships and purchase weapons and equipment."
"On June 6, after viewing the blueprints brought by Lord Fugger, the Hanseatic League decided to borrow money from the Eastern Roman Empire to purchase a new galleon and two improved caravels retired from the Eastern Roman Navy for the alliance navy."
"The order for this new galleon will be taken by the Carthage Naval Shipyard and is expected to be delivered in half a year. It will be named "Heinrich" to commemorate the Duke of Saxony, "The Lion" Heinrich, who made great contributions to the Hanseatic League..."
"After the opening of the Atlantic trade, the high-quality timber of the Hanseatic League can be transported to the Mediterranean by sea. Both the Imperial Navy and the Hanseatic Navy will usher in an upgrade. The shipbuilding industry has a bright future. The emperor encourages citizens to devote themselves to the shipbuilding industry and jointly build maritime hegemony..."
"The Grand Duchy of Moscow completely destroyed the Novgorod Republic and signed more trade cooperation agreements with the Eastern Roman Empire. The loans they owed will be repaid by Novgorod's prisoners of war and serfs to fill the empire's population and open up Anatolia..."
The farmers listened with great interest and expressed their opinions on these matters, even though they mostly knew little about these countries and figures.
"Well, that's about it. May the Almighty bless Rome and the Emperor."
The priest put away the Daily Record and kissed the cross on his chest.
"Next, if you have any ideas or opinions, you can bring them to me. I will simplify and summarize them and submit them to the superior priests and local councillors."
The farmers began to discuss the issue enthusiastically again, and the issues were nothing more than the grain purchase price was too low, the prices of tools and livestock were too high, the urban-rural gap was too obvious, and the citizens looked down on the farmers.
"Father, can I express my opinion even if it is inconsistent with the mainstream policy of the empire?"
The village tavern owner raised the question. He came from a wealthy family and had been to many places and seen many things.
"Of course, this is a country with free speech."
The priest nodded.
"If you have been to Constantinople, you will be surprised to find that citizens complaining about the government and the emperor are everywhere, even though many of them live better than the biggest landlord in our village."
Hearing this, Harris, who was standing in the distance, nodded with deep emotion.
Four years ago, when he first went to Constantinople to take the exam, he was also shocked by this phenomenon for a long time. The citizens of Constantinople complained in the taverns that the emperor was too good to foreigners, that the emperor granted too much power to capitalists, and that the prices in Constantinople were too high. They jokingly said that Emperor Isaac was the emperor of the Russians and Turks, and that Justinian was the Khan of the Cossacks and Circassians.
Of course, later on, Harris gradually understood that, in fact, the people of Constantinople had the strongest national consciousness, and they were the most loyal to this country and the emperor who brought prosperity to this country. Although they complained, they were never vague on major issues.
If a foreigner rashly entered the tavern of the old Constantinople people and complained with them about the incompetence of the government and the dereliction of duty of the emperor, the people of Constantinople would simply quiet down and coldly ask him to leave. If he went too far, there might even be a bloody incident.
We can say that our country and our emperor don’t care at all, but you can’t. If you dare to curse the emperor, we will beat you to death.
This is how the people of Constantinople saw it.
"Speak, dear child." The priest's gentle voice brought Herlis back to reality.
"Father, I just came back from Kutahya in Anatolia and sent my son to serve as a local clerk."
The tavern owner said.
"The situation over there is really terrible. The plateau is full of chaos. There are Turks, slave-hunting groups, mercenaries, gunmen, riders, desperadoes, and eastern cowboys..."
"Greek immigrants established large ranches and farms there, hired private armed forces, and teamed up with slave-hunting groups, turning it into a chaotic country with no law or order."
"In my opinion, this is the evil result of slavery. In those areas dominated by Turks, if they were all reduced to slaves, it would lead to violent resistance. Hatred deepened year by year. Ranchers, farmers and outlaws may make a lot of money, but ordinary people became victims of chaos, whether Romans or Turks."
"Furthermore, too many foreign slaves would cause unrest and instability, destroying the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of the countryside. Bulgaria has already seen many slaves escape and gather in one place. Although they are no match for the Royal Mounted Police and cannot threaten the gentlemen living in the city, they still threaten the lives and property of local farmers before being wiped out."
"Even if they convert to Orthodoxy and learn Greek, they are still not the same kind of people as us, and many of them will become thieves and robbers."
The innkeeper bowed.
"I hope this country will not become a hunting ground for big landowners, big farmers, big ranchers and big capitalists. Thrace is not Africa or Anatolia. Slavery is not needed!"
Several large landowners in the village who owned slaves frowned, and the rest of the peasants talked about it. Some said that the Saracens were also human beings, while others said that they all deserved to die.
"Well, your idea is very good. I will report it truthfully to the church and the congressman."
The priest nodded appreciatively to the innkeeper.
"In fact, slavery is of course a great sin. The legal basis for the Empire to implement Saracen slavery is that they have to atone for the debt they owed to the Empire over the past few hundred years."
"As for the things you mentioned, I have heard of them. For now, I won't mention the interior of the Anatolian plateau. The imperial government's ruling foundation there is still very weak, and God's glory has not yet been fully spread on that land that once belonged to Christians."
The priest said.
"As for the escape of slaves in Bulgaria, the imperial government has already made an investigation. The cause was that some slave traders who were greedy for quick money violated the imperial laws and the industry rules of the slave trader's union and sold those untrained and uneducated Turkic Muslims directly from Anatolia to Bulgaria. Many of them were excellent warriors, which led them to kill their masters and become bandits whenever they had the chance."
The priest narrated these events with a blank expression.
"Although I don't like slavery, I have to say that the slave trade in the provinces of Africa and Cyrenaica was very standardized and operated very well. Training, breeding, loyalty indoctrination... were all in order."
"More than 30 years have passed, and incidents like this in Bulgaria have rarely occurred. Slavery there has stabilized the empire's rule, fully utilized the Saracen labor force, and eliminated a large number of unstable factors. In just 30 years, it has become a place dominated by Greek and Orthodox Christians, allowing us to gain a bridgehead to communicate with the Atlantic Ocean."
"In the future, if we are able to reconquer Egypt and the Levant, slavery will certainly exist there, because the Saracens there are already keen on it."
"As for the vast colonies, it goes without saying that the slave plantation economy will be the mainstay."
The priest sighed.
"During the last Senate's three-level parliament, some members proposed that the empire's provinces could be divided into slave provinces and abolitionist provinces. Each province would vote through the parliament to decide whether to retain slavery, how much to retain, and how to retain it."
“Since urban capitalists used Saracen slaves as free labor, the member of the Billingi Council attributed the Bulgarian escaped slave incidents to irregularities on the part of slave traders, excusing slavery itself. The bill was not passed for the time being.”
The priest told the story in detail, and in addition to answering the villagers' questions, he also expressed some personal emotions.
"The emperor has returned to Constantinople. The era of the young ruler is about to end. He will definitely solve this problem."
Harris had little interest in these things. As a government official, he would naturally not participate in such activities against government policies.
Seeing that the priest and the peasant were silent, Khris and Yevgeny stepped forward.
"Respected Father, we are low-level clerks from the Thracian government, here to promote the emperor's policies."
Herris said to the priest, handing him a document.
“This is our identification document.”
After a brief handover with the priest, Herlis stood next to him, facing a group of puzzled farmers.
Since the expansion of government departments, the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire began to penetrate into the countryside. Officials from the administrative center would regularly come to villages to count the population, output and acreage, verify taxes, announce policies, and promote new crops, new fertilizers and new agricultural models.
Of course, unlike the Eastern Roman tax collectors who were famous for squeezing people out of their taxes hundreds of years ago, today’s Eastern Roman officials do not have such great power. The vast majority of rural areas basically still adopt a “hands-off” model. Under normal circumstances, officials are only responsible for guidance and do not have the power to enforce.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, tobacco... Boer goats, Flemish horses, Danish white pigs... low-cost bone meal fertilizer, high-quality phosphate fertilizer, pyrethroid pesticide, Adrian liquid... These things have all been vigorously promoted by the agricultural department, but whether or not to adopt the officials' suggestions is entirely up to the farmers themselves.
Officials do not farm. Even officials from the Ministry of Agriculture cannot conduct detailed inspections of every village. The Flemish horses that are highly valued in Bulgaria may not be able to adapt to the climate in the Morea Peninsula. Phosphate fertilizers that are not expensive in Thrace are unaffordable for farmers in North Macedonia. Coercive measures often bring about a series of problems. The farmers living on the land know best what the land is like.
After all, there probably aren't many people who would complain about producing too much. Living a rich and comfortable life is the wish of most farmers. If there are indeed benefits, they will most likely adopt it.
If officials force farmers to grow new crops, raise new livestock, or use new fertilizers for the sake of political achievements, farmers have the right to raise their objections to priests and local councillors, and local officials will be held accountable and punished.
Therefore, the peasants were no longer afraid of the officials of the Eastern Roman government, as they were just ordinary people.
Harris, who was making his debut, licked his lips nervously and unfolded a document.
"Blessed be you, Emperor of Rome and of the Romans, Lord of the Balkans, Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, and the Maghreb..."
Harris solemnly read out a series of titles and appellations, and the peasants fell silent.
"Emperor Isaac believes that since the liberalization reforms, the empire's economy has continued to develop, industrial and commercial production has continued to prosper, and the urbanization process has intensified. Citizens in large cities can enjoy most of the fruits of development, while the vast rural areas are still relatively backward and the quality of life is relatively low..."
"Agriculture is the foundation of a country, rural areas are the backbone of cities, and farmers are also citizens. The imperial government has the responsibility to allow farmers to enjoy the great achievements of economic development and technological progress. We have decided to change the rural landscape..."
"At the same time, the emperor also believed that the extremely low literacy rate had seriously hindered the continued progress of the empire's economy and that some changes must be made."
"On June 6, the emperor signed two bills in Carthage, which will initially allocate 10 solidus to implement two plans at the same time. For the time being, both plans will only be carried out in the densely populated and affluent Thrace."
"The first is the Literacy Campaign Act. The imperial government will send low-level officials to temporarily leave their jobs to serve as teachers and work with local priests to implement literacy campaigns in both rural and urban areas."
Herries showed the peasants the royal seal on the document.
"The imperial government divided cities into five levels, and villages and towns into three levels. The first-level cities were only Constantinople and Carthage, and the second-level cities included Thessalonica and Birinci..."
"The purpose of the literacy campaign is to improve the literacy rate of citizens as quickly as possible. It is expected to take ten years to gradually raise the literacy rate in first-class cities to 60%, second-class cities to 50%, third-class cities to 40%... and the lowest level of rural areas to 10%."
"In order to improve the enthusiasm of citizens, the emperor plans to adopt a reward system to encourage learning with money and materials. As for you, as long as you can learn the most basic Greek characters and read simple documents and pass the exam, everyone can get currency or materials with a total value of two solidus. The materials include food, clothing, tools and livestock. You have the right to choose!"
At this point, Herlis gave the farmer a stern look.
"Now, literacy is an important piece of information for every citizen. If anyone is found to have learned to read and received a bounty through deception, he will be immediately considered a blackmailer, all his property will be confiscated, and his entire family will be exiled to New Thrace."
"What about the citizens who are already literate?"
asked a neatly dressed villager.
"You can sign up to be a night school teacher and get a salary too!"
Herris replied.
The farmers were digesting the information they had just received and whispering to each other. Some of them were disdainful while others had gleams of light in their eyes.
The solidus was the highest grade of currency in the Eastern Roman Empire, equivalent to the former Venetian ducat. Its purchasing power varied across the empire. If placed in a wealthy region like Thrace, it could probably buy enough basic food for a family of three to eat for half a year.
Two solidus is neither too much nor too little. Rich families naturally look down on this little money, but they themselves attach great importance to reading and learning. Poor families may not intend to read and write, but may join literacy classes because of the reward money, which is equivalent to setting a threshold.
"The second plan is the New Village Movement."
Harris continued reading.
"In order to improve the rural landscape, the emperor decided to launch a new village movement, which is mainly divided into three parts: roads, housing and sanitation. It will provide free cement, sand and gravel to the rural areas of Thrace, and send students from the Department of Architecture to help the rural areas renovate houses, renovate animal sheds, dig sewage ditches, build residential squares and simple toilets, and improve inter-village roads."
“Every village will form a New Village Movement Committee, and every villager should join voluntarily to use the conveniences provided by the emperor to improve their lives and beautify their homes, while in the process strengthening personal morality, promoting neighborly cooperation, and developing rural culture.”
The document ends with the deeper purpose of the literacy campaign and the new village movement, which is to provide a large number of high-quality and high-moral talents for the capitalization process of large cities, ease urban-rural conflicts, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and promote healthy economic development.
Harris thought that the farmers probably wouldn't like to hear this, so he omitted this passage.
"I am Khris from the Adrianople Municipal Government, and the man next to me is Yevgeny, a top student in the Department of Architecture at the University of Constantinople. The two of us will work together with the priest of this village to carry out these two movements. I hope everyone can take responsibility on their own and create a better home together."
Harris bowed slightly and pointed to the carriage team in the distance.
"This is the first batch of materials that have arrived. They are all cement and other construction materials. They are all produced by large cement factories and their quality is guaranteed."
"These supplies can only be used in this village. If you sell them privately, the whole family will be exiled to New Thrace as usual."
The villagers have not yet experienced the benefits of these two sports, and they don’t quite understand them, nor are they very willing to participate voluntarily. But when they heard that they were going to give gifts, they were of course very happy. They applauded, and many of them announced on the spot that they would join the committee.
Khris and Yevgeny looked at each other, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled.
Anyway, the first step was finally taken.
"Mr. Herlis, although the Thracian Plain is not large in area, it has a large population. With so many free supplies, will the government increase taxes?"
Priest Honmura asked in a low voice with some concern.
"No, this expense is not borne by the people, but by the emperor himself."
Harris smiled.
"Don't worry. Although the paper requires a huge increase in literacy, it is impossible to actually implement it. After all, only a few people will get the reward money."
"As for cement and other things, the greater the demand, the higher the production, and the cheaper it is. Do you believe it?"
"It is precisely because Thrace has a large population and densely populated villages that these two sports can be carried out. If they were carried out in several large regions in northern Bulgaria, where there are extensive large farms and pastures everywhere and people do not live together, then this plan would not be implemented at all."
Herlis looked at the jubilant villagers.
"Besides, the emperor is very rich, really."
……
In the summer of 1476, the conflict in the western Mediterranean ended, and the Latin pirates gradually declined due to the shift of the strategic focus of the Kingdom of France. The wealth from overseas poured into the pockets of the Eastern Roman Empire.
During these years, the Eastern Roman Empire's rule on the Mexican Plateau gradually stabilized, and numerous open-pit gold and silver mines came into the sight of the colonial government. Since a large number of indigenous people were retained and there was no labor shortage, the amount of precious metal mining on the Mexican Plateau continued to rise. Those indigenous people who were unwilling to convert and survived by chance became slave miners, using their own blood and flesh to mine the wealth that belonged to them, supporting the rapid prosperity of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Against this background, the Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac decided to launch a literacy campaign and a new village movement to bring the fruits of development from cities to rural areas. He used precious metals from the Mexican plateau to purchase various domestic materials, stimulate market production, and provide these materials free of charge to Thracian farmers, thereby improving their living standards, their desire to have children, and the survival rate of newborns.
The scissors gap between industry and agriculture must certainly not be imposed on our own people, and the tears of the times, the necessary sacrifices, and the price of development must certainly not be borne by our own people.
In a short time, the vast rural areas of the entire Thracian Plain became construction sites, and every night, the sound of reading could be heard from the brightly lit churches.
(End of this chapter)
Time passed, and Constantinople welcomed the lazy and comfortable early July. The busiest harvest season was about to end. The winter wheat sown last autumn and winter had matured, and a large amount of agricultural products flooded into the market.
Eastern Roman Empire, Central Province, Thrace Region.
The wide roads lead to all directions. On a gravel road leading to the southwest, several carriages moved slowly forward, and the Royal Mounted Police from the Thrace Region were responsible for the escort.
The largest carriage carried some lower-level civil servants, and the rest were filled with various supplies.
In the passenger carriage, Harris looked at the scenery outside the window silently. They were very close to their destination, and he felt a little nervous and excited.
Heris, 19, is a half-Greek and half-Khoisan Roman who once served as an apprentice to Academician Victor of the Olympus Observatory, but he soon discovered that he preferred dealing with people to the stars.
So, at the suggestion of his friends, he took the first civil service examination in 1472. Although his overall score was not ideal and he only passed Greek, the administrative agency was expanding at that time and there was a shortage of people everywhere. Heris was successfully hired by the administrative department and worked as a scribe in the Adrian City Government.
For Heris, the work of a scribe was certainly boring and tedious, but the title of a lower-level civil servant also brought him many conveniences, and the library in Adrianople was completely open to him.
During the four years, Chris went against his "original intention" and hardly developed any decent interpersonal relationships. He only had some correspondence with his teacher, Academician Veneto.
At the suggestion of his old teacher, Harris immersed himself in the library, taking the opportunity to read a large number of books, from professional works to popular novels, almost everything. He read "Geography" by the ancient Roman geographer Strabo, "History of the Peloponnesian War" by the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, "The Travels of Marco Polo" and "The Travels of Ibn Battuta", and also read "Meditations" by Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Of course, the four years of copying work also made him feel the tremendous changes in the imperial government. There were more and more middle and lower-level civil servants who passed the examinations and entered official careers, and their quality was getting higher and higher. Most of them were young and energetic, and often full of energy, which injected a lot of fresh blood into various government departments.
The improvement in administrative efficiency enabled the imperial government to carry out more difficult tasks, such as population surveys and household registration.
The former is easy enough, but the latter is simply too complicated. Harris remembered that at this time last year, he had copied citizen information for a whole month.
Four years later, although his position has not been promoted, his knowledge level and comprehension ability have greatly improved, and his year-end assessment scores have been getting higher and higher.
After the end of the Iberian War, the Eastern Roman Empire ushered in peace. The emperor returned to the court and launched a deep reform of the Eastern Roman Empire. An ideal opportunity finally appeared before him.
"Herris, your mother is a Khoisan. Have you ever been to New Thrace?"
A voice interrupted Khris's thoughts. He looked at the person who came. It was Yevgeny, a Russian-born third-year student in the Department of Architecture at the University of Constantinople.
"It is said that the floors of Johannesburg are paved with gold and illuminated by fluorite. Is that true?"
"I was born in New Thrace when I was a child, but came to the Eastern Empire very early. I basically don't remember anything about that place."
Harris said lightly.
"As for Johannesburg, it is a mining city that has only recently emerged. It is even more impossible for me to know."
"Moreover, fluorite generally does not emit light, but Your Majesty gave it such a name."
Under the guidance of the imperial government, the identity of Eastern Roman citizens mainly depends on culture and beliefs, rather than bloodline and appearance. In recent years, more and more mixed-race children have returned to the empire from the colonies. Everyone has become accustomed to their existence, and Chrysostom has rarely been discriminated against because of his unique appearance.
Of course, they still have stereotypes about Harris's "hometown", and Harris always uses the same rhetoric. After asking once, everyone loses interest.
Sure enough, Yevgeny nodded with some regret.
"So what did you do before you became a scribe?"
"Olympus Observatory, Padawan."
Harris still gave a template-like answer.
“The instructor at the observatory is Academician Veneto Vittorio.”
"So it's him? He's also a visiting professor in our engineering department."
Yevgeny's eyes lit up.
"Ever since he built the telescope, Professor Veneto doesn't seem to like engineering very much. Has he been looking at the stars in the mountains?"
"Almost. We have achieved some results."
Harris also didn't mind repeating these academic achievements that had already been published in newspapers to his future colleagues.
"At your Majesty's suggestion, Academician Veneto mapped the motion paths of several planets and concluded that the paths of the planets revolving around the sun are not standard circles, but ellipses."
"Academician Veneto is continuing his research on planetary trajectories. It seems that calculations will be involved next, which of course I don't understand."
Herris said.
"What about you? You are a college student, why don't you stay in Constantinople instead of coming to a small country village?"
"It's all for future development. I want to join the engineering department, so I must take this opportunity to leave behind some better resumes."
Yevgeny said.
"Your Majesty is probably serious this time. This is a good opportunity."
Herlis nodded, which was roughly the same as his main purpose.
The carriage continued to move forward, the two men stopped talking, and a medium-sized village soon appeared before their eyes.
"Markara Village, here we are."
Yevgeny whistled merrily and jumped out of the carriage, followed by Khris.
Markala Village is located in the Thrace region, southwest of Constantinople, two days' drive from the nearest city, Tekirdag. It has good natural qualities and is a medium-sized village mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry, with a population of more than 200 people.
It seemed very lively outside the church at the entrance of Marcala Village. It was the slack season for farming, and the villagers gathered together to listen to the priest explaining the latest issue of "Daily Chronicle".
"In the 132nd issue of the Thracian Region's Daily Chronicle, the Thracian government issued an announcement that since Thracian farmland has ushered in a bumper harvest, in order to prevent farmers from suffering losses due to excessively low grain prices, the government will open three new granaries and purchase grain from Thracian farmers at standard prices to combat price-cutting behavior..."
The priest's long words spread among the crowd, and the peasants immediately began to discuss and cheer.
"That's great. We clearly provide so much food for the "gentlemen" in the big cities. They all rely on us for their livelihood. Why are their living conditions so much better than ours?"
"Yes, we are all citizens of the empire. Why are people from Constantinople superior to others?"
"Don't mention this. The grain capitalists in Constantinople have joined hands to deliberately lower grain prices. They really don't care about the lives of farmers..."
"Quiet!"
The priest frowned and put his hands together.
"After the farmland liquidation, there are no more landless or land-poor farmers in this village. Your farmland is almost comparable to that of the small landlords in the past. Why are you still not satisfied?"
"Being content with what you have and willing to be poor is a virtue that a good Christian should possess. God will see everything. Amen."
Seeing that no one said anything else, the priest made the sign of the cross on his chest and continued to read.
"In order to promote agricultural production, the Thracian government has reached an agreement with the Lishimel Fertilizer Factory and the Constantinople Livestock Breeding Guild. The prices of Lishimel Fertilizer Factory's bone meal fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer and Adrian liquid will soon be reduced, and the oxen and horses used for farming will also be cheaper!"
"There is also a third article. The Thracian government encourages farmers to hire foreign tenants, encourages farmers to teach foreign tenants and Saracen serfs to learn Greek, and encourages intermarriage between different ethnic groups!"
This piece of information did not cause that much of a stir. The Thrace region was covered with plains and had good land quality. The abundance of farming livestock allowed individual farmers to cultivate more and more land. The promotion of Adrian liquid and pyrethroid pesticides freed up labor for pest control.
Furthermore, the rapidly developing road system and the reformed distribution model allowed the Thrace region to gradually move towards commercial agriculture. During the harvest season, the government or chamber of commerce would purchase rural grain in a unified manner, and farmers would be freed from the sales process and only need to produce.
Therefore, unlike North Africa and Anatolia, the number of tenant farmers and serfs here was not large, and they basically adopted family farming, with families and clans as the basic units, and cultivated their own private fields.
Of course, some large landowners own too much land, and they themselves are not very willing to farm it, so there is still a shortage of labor. They often hire foreign workers or farmers who have cultivated their own fields.
However, the relationship between them has quietly changed over the past few decades of transformation. Landlords have become "agricultural capitalists" and tenants have become "agricultural workers." The relationship between the two is an employment relationship rather than a dependent relationship, which is more equal than before.
"That's about all we have to say. There are some international events coming up. Do you want to hear about them?"
The priest looked at the crowd.
"Listen, why not? Anyway, the wheat has been harvested now, and there is nothing to do."
The farmers nodded in agreement.
The priest lowered his head and looked at the last few messages.
"On June 1476, 6, at the strong request of the elder cities of Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg, the Hanseatic League held an emergency meeting and reached a final conclusion: La Coruña, Gibraltar and Belisariupolis will be accepted as new members of the alliance. The three cities will have Hanseatic trading posts, allowing free trade. The Lübeck Law will be emphasized on the basis of the original laws, and the King of Portugal and the Eastern Roman Emperor will not impose heavy taxes on trading cities."
"On June 6, Portugal's representative Gomez and East Roman representative Fugger attended a Hanseatic League internal dinner in Lübeck, where they announced that the Kingdom of Portugal and several Hanseatic cities in the East Roman Empire would form a joint caravan to jointly participate in the North Atlantic trade."
"On June 6, the Eastern Roman representative Fugger held talks with the military department of the Hanseatic League and expressed that the Eastern Roman Empire was willing to provide loans to the Hanseatic League to upgrade ships and purchase weapons and equipment."
"On June 6, after viewing the blueprints brought by Lord Fugger, the Hanseatic League decided to borrow money from the Eastern Roman Empire to purchase a new galleon and two improved caravels retired from the Eastern Roman Navy for the alliance navy."
"The order for this new galleon will be taken by the Carthage Naval Shipyard and is expected to be delivered in half a year. It will be named "Heinrich" to commemorate the Duke of Saxony, "The Lion" Heinrich, who made great contributions to the Hanseatic League..."
"After the opening of the Atlantic trade, the high-quality timber of the Hanseatic League can be transported to the Mediterranean by sea. Both the Imperial Navy and the Hanseatic Navy will usher in an upgrade. The shipbuilding industry has a bright future. The emperor encourages citizens to devote themselves to the shipbuilding industry and jointly build maritime hegemony..."
"The Grand Duchy of Moscow completely destroyed the Novgorod Republic and signed more trade cooperation agreements with the Eastern Roman Empire. The loans they owed will be repaid by Novgorod's prisoners of war and serfs to fill the empire's population and open up Anatolia..."
The farmers listened with great interest and expressed their opinions on these matters, even though they mostly knew little about these countries and figures.
"Well, that's about it. May the Almighty bless Rome and the Emperor."
The priest put away the Daily Record and kissed the cross on his chest.
"Next, if you have any ideas or opinions, you can bring them to me. I will simplify and summarize them and submit them to the superior priests and local councillors."
The farmers began to discuss the issue enthusiastically again, and the issues were nothing more than the grain purchase price was too low, the prices of tools and livestock were too high, the urban-rural gap was too obvious, and the citizens looked down on the farmers.
"Father, can I express my opinion even if it is inconsistent with the mainstream policy of the empire?"
The village tavern owner raised the question. He came from a wealthy family and had been to many places and seen many things.
"Of course, this is a country with free speech."
The priest nodded.
"If you have been to Constantinople, you will be surprised to find that citizens complaining about the government and the emperor are everywhere, even though many of them live better than the biggest landlord in our village."
Hearing this, Harris, who was standing in the distance, nodded with deep emotion.
Four years ago, when he first went to Constantinople to take the exam, he was also shocked by this phenomenon for a long time. The citizens of Constantinople complained in the taverns that the emperor was too good to foreigners, that the emperor granted too much power to capitalists, and that the prices in Constantinople were too high. They jokingly said that Emperor Isaac was the emperor of the Russians and Turks, and that Justinian was the Khan of the Cossacks and Circassians.
Of course, later on, Harris gradually understood that, in fact, the people of Constantinople had the strongest national consciousness, and they were the most loyal to this country and the emperor who brought prosperity to this country. Although they complained, they were never vague on major issues.
If a foreigner rashly entered the tavern of the old Constantinople people and complained with them about the incompetence of the government and the dereliction of duty of the emperor, the people of Constantinople would simply quiet down and coldly ask him to leave. If he went too far, there might even be a bloody incident.
We can say that our country and our emperor don’t care at all, but you can’t. If you dare to curse the emperor, we will beat you to death.
This is how the people of Constantinople saw it.
"Speak, dear child." The priest's gentle voice brought Herlis back to reality.
"Father, I just came back from Kutahya in Anatolia and sent my son to serve as a local clerk."
The tavern owner said.
"The situation over there is really terrible. The plateau is full of chaos. There are Turks, slave-hunting groups, mercenaries, gunmen, riders, desperadoes, and eastern cowboys..."
"Greek immigrants established large ranches and farms there, hired private armed forces, and teamed up with slave-hunting groups, turning it into a chaotic country with no law or order."
"In my opinion, this is the evil result of slavery. In those areas dominated by Turks, if they were all reduced to slaves, it would lead to violent resistance. Hatred deepened year by year. Ranchers, farmers and outlaws may make a lot of money, but ordinary people became victims of chaos, whether Romans or Turks."
"Furthermore, too many foreign slaves would cause unrest and instability, destroying the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of the countryside. Bulgaria has already seen many slaves escape and gather in one place. Although they are no match for the Royal Mounted Police and cannot threaten the gentlemen living in the city, they still threaten the lives and property of local farmers before being wiped out."
"Even if they convert to Orthodoxy and learn Greek, they are still not the same kind of people as us, and many of them will become thieves and robbers."
The innkeeper bowed.
"I hope this country will not become a hunting ground for big landowners, big farmers, big ranchers and big capitalists. Thrace is not Africa or Anatolia. Slavery is not needed!"
Several large landowners in the village who owned slaves frowned, and the rest of the peasants talked about it. Some said that the Saracens were also human beings, while others said that they all deserved to die.
"Well, your idea is very good. I will report it truthfully to the church and the congressman."
The priest nodded appreciatively to the innkeeper.
"In fact, slavery is of course a great sin. The legal basis for the Empire to implement Saracen slavery is that they have to atone for the debt they owed to the Empire over the past few hundred years."
"As for the things you mentioned, I have heard of them. For now, I won't mention the interior of the Anatolian plateau. The imperial government's ruling foundation there is still very weak, and God's glory has not yet been fully spread on that land that once belonged to Christians."
The priest said.
"As for the escape of slaves in Bulgaria, the imperial government has already made an investigation. The cause was that some slave traders who were greedy for quick money violated the imperial laws and the industry rules of the slave trader's union and sold those untrained and uneducated Turkic Muslims directly from Anatolia to Bulgaria. Many of them were excellent warriors, which led them to kill their masters and become bandits whenever they had the chance."
The priest narrated these events with a blank expression.
"Although I don't like slavery, I have to say that the slave trade in the provinces of Africa and Cyrenaica was very standardized and operated very well. Training, breeding, loyalty indoctrination... were all in order."
"More than 30 years have passed, and incidents like this in Bulgaria have rarely occurred. Slavery there has stabilized the empire's rule, fully utilized the Saracen labor force, and eliminated a large number of unstable factors. In just 30 years, it has become a place dominated by Greek and Orthodox Christians, allowing us to gain a bridgehead to communicate with the Atlantic Ocean."
"In the future, if we are able to reconquer Egypt and the Levant, slavery will certainly exist there, because the Saracens there are already keen on it."
"As for the vast colonies, it goes without saying that the slave plantation economy will be the mainstay."
The priest sighed.
"During the last Senate's three-level parliament, some members proposed that the empire's provinces could be divided into slave provinces and abolitionist provinces. Each province would vote through the parliament to decide whether to retain slavery, how much to retain, and how to retain it."
“Since urban capitalists used Saracen slaves as free labor, the member of the Billingi Council attributed the Bulgarian escaped slave incidents to irregularities on the part of slave traders, excusing slavery itself. The bill was not passed for the time being.”
The priest told the story in detail, and in addition to answering the villagers' questions, he also expressed some personal emotions.
"The emperor has returned to Constantinople. The era of the young ruler is about to end. He will definitely solve this problem."
Harris had little interest in these things. As a government official, he would naturally not participate in such activities against government policies.
Seeing that the priest and the peasant were silent, Khris and Yevgeny stepped forward.
"Respected Father, we are low-level clerks from the Thracian government, here to promote the emperor's policies."
Herris said to the priest, handing him a document.
“This is our identification document.”
After a brief handover with the priest, Herlis stood next to him, facing a group of puzzled farmers.
Since the expansion of government departments, the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire began to penetrate into the countryside. Officials from the administrative center would regularly come to villages to count the population, output and acreage, verify taxes, announce policies, and promote new crops, new fertilizers and new agricultural models.
Of course, unlike the Eastern Roman tax collectors who were famous for squeezing people out of their taxes hundreds of years ago, today’s Eastern Roman officials do not have such great power. The vast majority of rural areas basically still adopt a “hands-off” model. Under normal circumstances, officials are only responsible for guidance and do not have the power to enforce.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, tobacco... Boer goats, Flemish horses, Danish white pigs... low-cost bone meal fertilizer, high-quality phosphate fertilizer, pyrethroid pesticide, Adrian liquid... These things have all been vigorously promoted by the agricultural department, but whether or not to adopt the officials' suggestions is entirely up to the farmers themselves.
Officials do not farm. Even officials from the Ministry of Agriculture cannot conduct detailed inspections of every village. The Flemish horses that are highly valued in Bulgaria may not be able to adapt to the climate in the Morea Peninsula. Phosphate fertilizers that are not expensive in Thrace are unaffordable for farmers in North Macedonia. Coercive measures often bring about a series of problems. The farmers living on the land know best what the land is like.
After all, there probably aren't many people who would complain about producing too much. Living a rich and comfortable life is the wish of most farmers. If there are indeed benefits, they will most likely adopt it.
If officials force farmers to grow new crops, raise new livestock, or use new fertilizers for the sake of political achievements, farmers have the right to raise their objections to priests and local councillors, and local officials will be held accountable and punished.
Therefore, the peasants were no longer afraid of the officials of the Eastern Roman government, as they were just ordinary people.
Harris, who was making his debut, licked his lips nervously and unfolded a document.
"Blessed be you, Emperor of Rome and of the Romans, Lord of the Balkans, Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, and the Maghreb..."
Harris solemnly read out a series of titles and appellations, and the peasants fell silent.
"Emperor Isaac believes that since the liberalization reforms, the empire's economy has continued to develop, industrial and commercial production has continued to prosper, and the urbanization process has intensified. Citizens in large cities can enjoy most of the fruits of development, while the vast rural areas are still relatively backward and the quality of life is relatively low..."
"Agriculture is the foundation of a country, rural areas are the backbone of cities, and farmers are also citizens. The imperial government has the responsibility to allow farmers to enjoy the great achievements of economic development and technological progress. We have decided to change the rural landscape..."
"At the same time, the emperor also believed that the extremely low literacy rate had seriously hindered the continued progress of the empire's economy and that some changes must be made."
"On June 6, the emperor signed two bills in Carthage, which will initially allocate 10 solidus to implement two plans at the same time. For the time being, both plans will only be carried out in the densely populated and affluent Thrace."
"The first is the Literacy Campaign Act. The imperial government will send low-level officials to temporarily leave their jobs to serve as teachers and work with local priests to implement literacy campaigns in both rural and urban areas."
Herries showed the peasants the royal seal on the document.
"The imperial government divided cities into five levels, and villages and towns into three levels. The first-level cities were only Constantinople and Carthage, and the second-level cities included Thessalonica and Birinci..."
"The purpose of the literacy campaign is to improve the literacy rate of citizens as quickly as possible. It is expected to take ten years to gradually raise the literacy rate in first-class cities to 60%, second-class cities to 50%, third-class cities to 40%... and the lowest level of rural areas to 10%."
"In order to improve the enthusiasm of citizens, the emperor plans to adopt a reward system to encourage learning with money and materials. As for you, as long as you can learn the most basic Greek characters and read simple documents and pass the exam, everyone can get currency or materials with a total value of two solidus. The materials include food, clothing, tools and livestock. You have the right to choose!"
At this point, Herlis gave the farmer a stern look.
"Now, literacy is an important piece of information for every citizen. If anyone is found to have learned to read and received a bounty through deception, he will be immediately considered a blackmailer, all his property will be confiscated, and his entire family will be exiled to New Thrace."
"What about the citizens who are already literate?"
asked a neatly dressed villager.
"You can sign up to be a night school teacher and get a salary too!"
Herris replied.
The farmers were digesting the information they had just received and whispering to each other. Some of them were disdainful while others had gleams of light in their eyes.
The solidus was the highest grade of currency in the Eastern Roman Empire, equivalent to the former Venetian ducat. Its purchasing power varied across the empire. If placed in a wealthy region like Thrace, it could probably buy enough basic food for a family of three to eat for half a year.
Two solidus is neither too much nor too little. Rich families naturally look down on this little money, but they themselves attach great importance to reading and learning. Poor families may not intend to read and write, but may join literacy classes because of the reward money, which is equivalent to setting a threshold.
"The second plan is the New Village Movement."
Harris continued reading.
"In order to improve the rural landscape, the emperor decided to launch a new village movement, which is mainly divided into three parts: roads, housing and sanitation. It will provide free cement, sand and gravel to the rural areas of Thrace, and send students from the Department of Architecture to help the rural areas renovate houses, renovate animal sheds, dig sewage ditches, build residential squares and simple toilets, and improve inter-village roads."
“Every village will form a New Village Movement Committee, and every villager should join voluntarily to use the conveniences provided by the emperor to improve their lives and beautify their homes, while in the process strengthening personal morality, promoting neighborly cooperation, and developing rural culture.”
The document ends with the deeper purpose of the literacy campaign and the new village movement, which is to provide a large number of high-quality and high-moral talents for the capitalization process of large cities, ease urban-rural conflicts, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and promote healthy economic development.
Harris thought that the farmers probably wouldn't like to hear this, so he omitted this passage.
"I am Khris from the Adrianople Municipal Government, and the man next to me is Yevgeny, a top student in the Department of Architecture at the University of Constantinople. The two of us will work together with the priest of this village to carry out these two movements. I hope everyone can take responsibility on their own and create a better home together."
Harris bowed slightly and pointed to the carriage team in the distance.
"This is the first batch of materials that have arrived. They are all cement and other construction materials. They are all produced by large cement factories and their quality is guaranteed."
"These supplies can only be used in this village. If you sell them privately, the whole family will be exiled to New Thrace as usual."
The villagers have not yet experienced the benefits of these two sports, and they don’t quite understand them, nor are they very willing to participate voluntarily. But when they heard that they were going to give gifts, they were of course very happy. They applauded, and many of them announced on the spot that they would join the committee.
Khris and Yevgeny looked at each other, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled.
Anyway, the first step was finally taken.
"Mr. Herlis, although the Thracian Plain is not large in area, it has a large population. With so many free supplies, will the government increase taxes?"
Priest Honmura asked in a low voice with some concern.
"No, this expense is not borne by the people, but by the emperor himself."
Harris smiled.
"Don't worry. Although the paper requires a huge increase in literacy, it is impossible to actually implement it. After all, only a few people will get the reward money."
"As for cement and other things, the greater the demand, the higher the production, and the cheaper it is. Do you believe it?"
"It is precisely because Thrace has a large population and densely populated villages that these two sports can be carried out. If they were carried out in several large regions in northern Bulgaria, where there are extensive large farms and pastures everywhere and people do not live together, then this plan would not be implemented at all."
Herlis looked at the jubilant villagers.
"Besides, the emperor is very rich, really."
……
In the summer of 1476, the conflict in the western Mediterranean ended, and the Latin pirates gradually declined due to the shift of the strategic focus of the Kingdom of France. The wealth from overseas poured into the pockets of the Eastern Roman Empire.
During these years, the Eastern Roman Empire's rule on the Mexican Plateau gradually stabilized, and numerous open-pit gold and silver mines came into the sight of the colonial government. Since a large number of indigenous people were retained and there was no labor shortage, the amount of precious metal mining on the Mexican Plateau continued to rise. Those indigenous people who were unwilling to convert and survived by chance became slave miners, using their own blood and flesh to mine the wealth that belonged to them, supporting the rapid prosperity of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Against this background, the Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac decided to launch a literacy campaign and a new village movement to bring the fruits of development from cities to rural areas. He used precious metals from the Mexican plateau to purchase various domestic materials, stimulate market production, and provide these materials free of charge to Thracian farmers, thereby improving their living standards, their desire to have children, and the survival rate of newborns.
The scissors gap between industry and agriculture must certainly not be imposed on our own people, and the tears of the times, the necessary sacrifices, and the price of development must certainly not be borne by our own people.
In a short time, the vast rural areas of the entire Thracian Plain became construction sites, and every night, the sound of reading could be heard from the brightly lit churches.
(End of this chapter)
