Dear friends,
I am bound to my bed and I am afraid I will not last much longer. The Lord Almighty will soon call me to His Presence to pass judgement on my acts. But before I depart, I want to manifest how lucky Venice is in having such a great group of nobles that combine political wisdom with military courage. Fate will have it that many of you might not have the chance to display your military skills, specially since I always instructed Fodoroni to make the best use of resources without paying any attention to the noble origin of the commanders at hand. Coronel HoChiMinh, your intervention was a bright point in the darkness of the first year of war, as with inferior forces, not properly trained, and crossing the river Po, you were able to lift the siege of Milan, esentially invalidating the advantage that the Emperor had gained through his treason. Senators, do not quarrel if some between you appear to be more favored by the goddess of fortune, as I am sure many wars await our Serenissima and bellissima cità. As senator Dandolo would have reminded us if he was still between us, Genoa still lives, and Genoa should be destroyed [Delenda est Genoa].
And speaking of the Genoese, they appear to not be able to handle their own businesses. Ever since we destroyed their fleet in the glorious war that gave us ownership of Kerch, 30,000 Genoese soldiers had been trapped in the island of Corsica, unable to do much good. Genoa has not bothered in building a new fleet, and so now, when their own subjects have rebelled against opression, the army cannot help their government. Curiously the siege of Genoa by 17,000 rebels appears to last forever. For years it appeared to go nowhere, and then it advanced until flames erupted from the houses inside the city, only to stop again for over one year. Perhaps in the next period we will see the fall of the Genoese government, but as they change monarchs every two years it will not affect them much.
Regarding rebels, we were very lucky that only Alexandria rebelled during our long wars. Despite having a garrison of 11,000 knights, the rebels managed to take control of the city by surprise. Fodoroni has not reported the name of the commander of the garrison, perhaps to avoid his just punishment for letting the rebels take control of the city. But the garrison soon massacred the 3,000 rebels that came out of the city, and besieged Alexandria until it was recovered. Now that warexhaustion is ended, and with full tolerance to muslims, we should not have too many rebellion problems, specially once the muslims in Egypt forget their previous life as subjects of the Ottomans. Soon we will be able to place tax collectors in Egypt, if the Senate decides to tax our new subjects. With the peace, the Egyptians are more calmed, and we have started to build a small fleet in the Red Sea. We will need to deploy at least 6,000 men to protect our trading post in India before we can send civilians to settle a colony. Otherwise we would be sending them to their deaths.
The war was undoubtly an economical burden. Our increased inflation will soon recover thanks to the work of our efficient governors. We have lost many merchants, and our trade is always a struggle. Every time we start governing the Serenissima, a string of merchants is kicked from several markets, and then we spend years recovering the previous number of merchants in centers of trade. However, as we are the richest most advanced nation by far, I don't think it has supposed much problem. Perhaps we are short in manufactories that a more peaceful enviroment would have allowed, but it is not a real problem either.
Regarding our neighbours you will soon have a full report. It has not been a specially violent period. Our alliance with Spain, Theodoros and Bulgaria will be stable for the next 10 years. Only our new vassal really apreciates us. Portugal continues going her own way. The alliance of Burgundy and France, that formerly terrorized Central Europe, is in decadence, eaten by internal problems. England continues warrying with the Celts. Continues wars take place between the Poland-Hungarian alliance and either Russia or some Northern countries, but in general they lead to little result. Savoy doesn't appear to be able to chose the right allies, and is now allied to the Huguenots and Scotland. The Pope is still quiet under our boot.
Finally, my fried Meryoni Cornaro, you will have to do in your party without my presence, as I have a more important appointment to attend. Choose wisely my substitute, as something is happening in the East. The Turks are still powerful, and their new sultan is said to be un unreliable drunkard.
Your Doge, Girolamo Priule
