1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Pirates: an ancient and honorable profession.

Some say that they have existed ever since ships were invented.

Ancient Greece was undoubtedly a maritime civilization. The Balkan Peninsula is crisscrossed by mountains, making it unsuitable for agriculture and unable to support a large population.

As the saying goes, when God closes a door, he opens a window.

The Greek region is surrounded by the sea on three sides, boasting a long coastline and many excellent harbors.

This led the ancient Greeks to explore the sea early on, colonize suitable places to live, establish city-states, open up shipping lanes and engage in trade.

Trade stems from profit, and so profit-seeking pirates were born:

"We are pirates, fierce pirates, oh oh..."

"With a bottle of wine in our left hand and treasure in our right, woo-hoo!"

On the vast Mediterranean Sea, a dilapidated paddle-sail ship with patched sails was sailing crookedly.

"We are not afraid of the Venetian fleet, la-la..."

"Not to mention the fools of the Knights Hospitaller!"

A drunken old sailor held the rudder with one hand and a dirty wine bottle with the other.

"Billy! Shut your pig mouth!"

A head poked out of the captain's cabin and shouted angrily.

"You idiot, Jettner! Either fire me or leave me alone!"

Billy, still drunk, turned his head and shouted back at Captain Jettner, unwilling to back down.

After a while, the voices fell silent.

Jettner breathed a sigh of relief and focused on his own business.

"Burp!"

"We are the kings of the Aegean Sea..."

The hoarse, mocking voice began to drift again.

"Damn it!"

In the cramped captain's cabin, Jettner slammed his fist on the navigation table, nearly knocking it over.

A letter fell to the floor.

Jettner picked it up carefully, mustering his courage to open it.

The letter was covered in gibberish, resembling a child's scribbles.

He took out his code book, took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and read the letter again.

"Dear Jettner, my eternal friend, I am sure you will be very surprised to see this letter written in secret code..."

"The dungeon in Genoa is dark and gloomy, but I have met many formidable characters there..."

"Almighty Lord! Did you not bestow your blessings upon me so that I might spread your gospel?"

"Guided by the Lord, I have arrived in Bilinchi, a kingdom founded by the holy warrior, King Isaac."

"King Isaac has been very kind to me. He does not look down on me for being a pirate, nor does he discriminate against my Genoese heritage. This is somewhat different from the stereotypes..."

"Of course, this may have something to do with the fact that King Isaac is half Genoese."

The letter writer rambled on, irritating Jettner.

"Dear brother, I'm sure you're angry and furious reading this, cursing me for being so long-winded. But this is not a good habit. God will not..."

Jettner forced himself to resist the urge to tear up the letter. He swallowed hard and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

He skipped to the next few lines.

"God..."

Skip again.

"Almighty Lord, I..."

Skip to the last paragraph!

"In short, I have now been entrusted with an important task. I am the captain of the Grand Magistrate's ship, as well as of the Marine Corps. However, I must admit that there are only 30 people in the entire Marine Corps, and they are all my friends from prison."

"Speaking of the prisons of Genoa..."

"We are about to embark on a holy war at sea, fighting the infidels in the name of the Lord."

"King Isaac honors our presence and is willing to take us with him on this holy war. What are we waiting for? Let's go and see Bilinchi!"

"Your eternal friend,"

"Giovanni Giustinian."

Huff—

After being tortured by the drunken Billy and the fanatical Giovanni, Jettner finished reading the letter. He let out a long breath and began to think.

Although Giovanni liked to write long letters and ramble on about religion, he was a reliable man who never lied.

His dilapidated ship had only thirteen sailors and they could only catch food by following large pirate ships, and even then it depended on the pirates' mood.

Without money, there were no big ships or sailors.

Without big ships and sailors, there was no money.

Jettner's eyes shifted.

He had no interest in so-called holy wars, but he was deeply impressed by King Isaac and his famous Mediterranean fleet.

If a fleet dared to rob the transport ships of the Mamluk Sultan, it could probably pull off a big job if it was determined to do so, couldn't it?

Jettner pulled out a crumpled sea chart and fished a compass and a worn pen out from under his bed. He then calculated his position.

"Billy, you old fool!"

Jettner poked his head out.

"We are pirates, proud pirates! Oh, oh..."

"You fool, full left!"

Bang!

A wine bottle smashed on the deck in front of him, startling Jettner.

"We are sons of the sea, flying the flag of freedom, yo ho ho..."

The pirate ship Clever Billy creaked as it sailed southwest.

...

In April 1449, a piece of news began to spread in the eastern Mediterranean with the help of some people.

Isaac, the "heretic" of the Kingdom of Cyrenaica, was preparing for a holy war at sea. He joined forces with the Republic of Genoa and numerous Christian pirates in order to launch a large-scale attack on the Islamic coast.

Suddenly, many small and medium-sized pirate forces became active, eager to join the holy war and share in the spoils.

However, the Venetians, the hegemonic power in the eastern Mediterranean, dismissed this news.

These merchants cared little for the Pope's wishes, engaging not only in trade with Islamic nations, but also selling large quantities of weapons and armor — items strictly prohibited by the Vatican — to Muslims.

They had almost monopolized the spice trade in the eastern Mediterranean and held significant commercial influence in Islamic nations such as the Mamluk Sultanate.

Anyone daring to challenge their authority in the Eastern Mediterranean trade would be crushed! Even the once-mighty Republic of Genoa had been utterly defeated by Venice, so what could tiny Cyrenaica possibly achieve?

Nevertheless, numerous small and medium-sized pirate factions flocked to Bilinchi, eager to join the feast.

They were not worried about failure. In recent years, Captain Fidel and his ship, the Grand Duke of Moria, had repeatedly successfully raided the Mamluk Sultan's transport ships, establishing a considerable reputation.

The Venetians did not want to break ties with their trading partners and the Knights Hospitaller did not want to take them on. Like wolves that had smelled blood, these money-hungry madmen of the sea gathered in the port of Bilinchi.

"Hmph, oh oh..."

"Ouch!"

Jettner punched Drunk Billy on the shoulder, knocking him off balance.

"Captain, I quit!"

"Then Smart Billy will have no first mate!"

Jettner ignored the old sailor, who was prone to outbursts of madness, and looked at the crowd coming and going at Bilinchi Port.

In recent days, pirates and all sorts of people had gathered here, and this increase in footfall had indirectly promoted the prosperity of commerce.

"St. Josephine wine! Sailors' favorite!"

Jettner grabbed Billy, who was drooling over a crystal wine bottle, and walked into the crowd.

"Sea amulets! They have the blessing of the sea god Neptune!"

"Only ten ducats!"

A shifty-eyed Italian vendor shouted.

"Heretic! Arrest him!"

The crowd laughed and the vendor cursed and ran away as fast as he could.

"Dates! Dates from Surt!"

"Sir, would you like a bathhouse woman? I guarantee you'll be satisfied..."

"Sailor's medicine! It can cure sea curses! I'm a sailor on the Saint Nicholas and I can vouch for its effectiveness."

Jettner smiled, not believing any of it.

He pulled Billy along, pushed away the peddler and declined the services of the scantily clad bathhouse attendant. He continued on his way.

Passing through the noisy dock district under the watchful gaze of the guards, Jettner entered a small tavern.

It was clean and elegantly decorated, with an antique, exquisite bar. The waitresses were graceful and most of the patrons were dressed in military uniforms and carrying swords. Although they were vulgar, they were not rude.

Jettner knew that this was not a place for pirates.

Just as he was about to turn around, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Jettner! Billy! Over here!"

In a small corner, Giovanni was surrounded by a group of people who were smiling and welcoming his two old friends to sit down.

Jettner realized that Giovanni's companions were all former shipmates, bound together by a bond of life and death.

Giovanni warmly pulled Jettner to his side, then skillfully tossed a bottle of fine wine to Billy.

"Brother, we have to keep our voices down. This place used to belong to the imperial guards, and it was difficult to get this spot..."

"The desert honey wine here is exceptional. Try it..."

"God bless you. How have you been these past few years?"

Giovanni poured golden wine into Jettner's glass.

"How could we be? Every silver coin we earn goes into the belly of that old drunk, Billy."

A low chuckle rose and everyone began to chat about old times.

Surrounded by his old friends, Jettner relaxed and enjoyed drinking and talking with everyone about the past and the future.

As the wine flowed, they all began to remember why they were there.

"By the grace of God..."

They exchanged glances and Jettner nodded.

He lowered his head and whispered into Giovanni's ear.

"First mate, the captain is dead. You're the boss now. You've made it big, so don't forget your old friends!"

"Of course! It's all thanks to God."

"You called us here. Do you have any new information?"

"What does King Isaac want? Can you tell us?"

Giovanni sobered up and looked at everyone seriously.

"You are all my confidants. I will not hide anything from you."

"This time, I brought you here to make a fortune."

He pulled a beautifully crafted document out of his robe.

…

"A privateering license?"

Isult looked at the document that Isaac had handed him.

"Yes."

"What does it do?"

"The holder of this license can dock at any of our ports to purchase supplies and recruit sailors, and they can buy navigation supplies and slaves at discounted prices and use the naval repair yard in Orlon at reduced rates."

"Most importantly, after registering here and obtaining the license, their pirate status will be cleared and their plundering activities will be regarded as part of a holy war."

"This is the approval document from Pope Nicholas V and Patriarch Gregory III."

Isaac presented the permission documents from the two religious leaders.

Isult's expression darkened.

"Your Majesty, I must remind you that you are a king — a purple-robed nobleman under the apple tree and co-emperor of Rome — not a pirate!"

"Tolerating pirates, let alone supporting them, is something not even the Venetians would do openly!"

Isaac sighed softly. This high-achieving graduate of the University of Florence was somewhat arrogant and unwilling to do things he considered beneath him.

Even when Isaac was developing the slave trade on a large scale, Isult was unhappy about it, believing that it was beneath a despotic prince.

"Dear Isult, don't worry too much about reputation. It's worthless."

"By supporting pirate activities, we can constantly strike at our enemies. We can harass the Ottoman fleet while Constantinople is under siege, and we can recruit sailors and ships in the process."

"These pirates are not recognized by any country and are on the run. If we can gather them together, we can make a fortune from their service fees alone."

We can build a pirate port specifically for privateer ships and use their strength to enrich our own treasury and weaken our enemies!

Where there are sea routes, there will be pirates. This is a powerful force that will always exist, whether you acknowledge it or not.

Decades later, in the original timeline, the Ottoman Empire relied on pirates — whom no one believed in at the time — to build its navy from scratch, dominate the Mediterranean and even venture into the Atlantic.

Kemal Reis, Piri Reis, Barbarossa Hayreddin...

These legendary figures, renowned in later generations, were all once humble pirates.

Isult still looked complicated.

"Your Highness, have you considered that most of these pirates don't care whether they're robbing Christians or Muslims? Allowing them to plunder will cause you great trouble."

"Setting aside how the rulers of various countries would view you, dealing with Venice alone would be a major obstacle."

That was indeed true. While Isaac could disregard the opinions of other rulers, he couldn't afford to ignore the Venetians, who were the dominant power at sea.

"We will avoid targeting Venice's trade colonies and instead involve the Pope in negotiations to secure their neutrality."

"The Venetians are not a monolithic bloc. Many members of the Council of Forty are dissatisfied with Christian, who monopolizes trade with the Mamluks. We can exploit this."

In any case, we cannot abandon the substantial benefits we are about to gain simply because the Venetians might be angry. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater is not Isaac's style.

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