Chapter 8: Gutenberg

Isaac quickly summoned all the military commanders and made arrangements for matters after his departure.

"Mikhail, I will not take the flag squad with me. You continue to train the troops and try a probing attack to the north to seize some supplies."

"Kerman, you will remain with the Northumbrian off the coast of Epirus, ready to assist Ibrahim."

"Fidel, Norwich, you will take the remaining fleet with me."

The four men acknowledged the orders.

The next day, a fleet of two warships and a dozen transport ships set sail for Rome.

In addition to the flagship Saint Nicholas and the galley Manuel, Isaac's private fleet had added two corvettes.

These were ships "borrowed" from the Grand Duchy of Athens, a type of transport ship widely used in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The Athenians had modified them slightly, fitting them with six cannons, which gave them some ability to defend themselves.

The fleet sailed slowly across the Mediterranean Sea, and after two weeks, they finally arrived at the ancient city of Rome.

Rome is in the middle of the Apennine Peninsula. It was once the capital of the ancient Roman Empire and is now the seat of Pope Eugene IV.

The Catholic and Orthodox priests moved into the residence prepared by the Pope, while Isaac moved into a small estate in Rome owned by Constantinople.

Let them argue among themselves. It had nothing to do with Isaac.

"Isaac, let me show you around!"

Bishop Fojar invited him warmly.

The two got along well on the way.

Isaac gladly accepted.

Fojar acted as a tour guide and introduced Isaac to several ancient ruins in Rome.

The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Baths of Caracalla, the ancient city walls...

Finally, they arrived at the Vatican City.

The entire building was predominantly white, which was indeed beautiful and elegant, making people feel pure in their hearts.

The two parted ways here. Fojar returned to the Vatican to report, while Isaac had other things to do.

Back at his residence, the general manager, Andre, came to report.

"The person has been brought."

Isaac was delighted and hurried to the guest room.

"Hello, Mr. Gutenberg!"

Isaac greeted him in Latin.

The man was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, clearly of German descent, dressed simply, looking haggard and anxious.

"Good day, Your Highness. I hear you wish to support my cause?"

John Gutenberg, upon seeing Isaac approach, asked impatiently.

This was the first person Isaac had sought out.

"Please sit down, sir. Before making a decision, I would like to see your great invention first."

"Oh, Your Highness, you will be amazed... You will be amazed. This will be the greatest invention of the century..."

When Gutenberg talked about his invention, his eyes lit up, and he muttered incessantly, rubbing his hands together and uncovering a piece of cloth.

It was a strange-looking machine, but before Isaac could take a closer look, Gutenberg began to explain.

"Your Highness, I call this invention a printing press. Look, this is a roller that prints ink onto parchment..."

"I have also invented a new set of printing tools that can eliminate the complicated process of block printing..."

Isaac smiled at him.

Gutenberg was the inventor of movable type printing and the printing press in the West. Later, the Gutenberg Bible, printed using his invention, became a classic work that has been passed down through the ages.

Compared to the ancient Eastern invention of clay movable type, Gutenberg's metal movable type was more practical.

The maturity of paper manufacturing, the invention of oil-based ink, and the widespread use of Gutenberg's printing press led to the flourishing of the book manufacturing industry in Europe.

The Renaissance and the Enlightenment that followed laid the foundation for Europe's prosperity and strength.

Of course, all of this is history.

At this time, Gutenberg was embroiled in a legal battle with a local nobleman and was in dire straits.

Historically, after a period, the church would intervene to protect Gutenberg and begin to use his invention on a large scale.

However, now Isaac was about to beat him to it.

"Mr. Gutenberg, I am very interested in your invention. Would you be interested in partnering with me to start a printing factory?"

At the mention of a factory, Gutenberg, a big man, suddenly blushed.

"To be honest, Your Highness, I used to run a small factory in Strasbourg, but I had a falling out with my former financial backer, and now we are in a legal battle..."

What an honest man!

Aren't you afraid of scaring away your second financial backer?

"I believe in your character, Mr. Gutenberg."

Isaac said soothingly.

"I can help you resolve the previous matter. Not only that, but I will also sponsor you and support you in setting up another larger factory in Rome. All you need to do is solve the technical issues. What do you say?"

"Too... too much, Your Highness. You are simply..."

Gutenberg was so excited that he couldn't speak coherently, waving his large hands around, not knowing where to put them.

"How much funding do you need?"

"Five thousand... no, three thousand ducats..."

Gutenberg cautiously watched Isaac's expression.

"I'll give you ten thousand. Get the product ready as soon as possible."

"Yes, dear sir!"

After Isaac left, Gutenberg hugged the first 1,000 ducats Isaac had given him and sat on the bed in a daze.

Then he threw the money bag into the air, caught it, threw it up again, and caught it.

Isaac had gained another good comrade, at the cost of almost emptying his wallet.

The 9,000 ducats "borrowed" from the Athenian farmers and the 2,000 ducats extorted from the church merchants were now reduced to less than a fraction of their original value.

But it was all worth it.

After all, the first thing Gutenberg's printing press produced in large quantities was indulgences.

If he could convince the Pope to hand over the indulgence business to him, he could make a fortune.

In addition, there were religious books from major churches, Renaissance books beloved by the merchant class, ancient Greek works favored by the Byzantines, and even the Quran of Islam—all of which could become products for the printing press.

Previously, books were largely limited to being copied by priests, which was extremely inefficient.

The spread of the printing press was a game-changer.

Over the next few days, Isaac and Gutenberg were busy selecting a location for the factory in Rome and recruiting workers.

Gutenberg paid the penalty to the local gentry who had made things difficult for him and transported the remaining machines to Rome.

During this time, Bishop Fujar was a great help to Isaac.

The reason for choosing Rome as the location for the factory was because of its developed papermaking industry and huge book market.

With the help of Bishop Fujar, Isaac bought a small papermaking workshop.

The printing factory was built nearby.

A week later, the printing factory began operations smoothly.

The current scale of production is still small. Gutenberg serves as the manager, with five workers in the printing workshop and only two in the paper workshop.

The first book printed was the Bible in Latin. Isaac presented it to Bishop Fugard.

The simple and elegant font, the beautiful and standard characters, and the clear and legible writing immediately caught the bishop's eye.

"With this thing, we won't have to stay up late copying scriptures anymore!"

Fujar was very optimistic about the future of the printing press.

Isaac asked him to explain the situation to the Pope, saying that the prince from Byzantium was willing to contribute to the spread of the gospel of God.

In addition, Isaac asked Gutenberg to print some Renaissance works and ancient Greek miscellaneous books.

For example, Dante's "Divine Comedy," Petrarch's "Africana," Giovanni's "Decameron," which were popular among Italian commercial aristocrats and the middle class.

The works of Hippocrates of ancient Greece, the epic poems of the blind poet Homer, and the philosophical books of Plato and Aristotle were also loved by the people of Byzantium.

Then Isaac arranged for the best paper and ink to be purchased and selected the best copy of the Bible from dozens of printings to be presented to His Holiness the Pope.

The next day, with the introduction of Bishop Fajar, the Pope received Prince Isaac from the Eastern Roman Empire.

The bells rang softly, and incense burned.

Isaac walked through the long corridor and stairs and entered the hall of the head of the Catholic Church.

Rows of white-robed priests stood with their eyes half-closed, and two Swiss guards with long spears confiscated Isaac's weapons at the front of the hall.

Isaac walked slowly and solemnly down the corridor and stood still.

Then, he clenched his right fist, placed it on his left chest, put his left hand behind his back, and bowed slightly.

It was a standard Catholic knight's salute.

As he had said, appearances were not important.

The Pope smiled with satisfaction.

"Rise, my child."

"I hear you have brought me a machine that can ease the burden of the clergy. Is that correct?"

Isaac nodded and took the exquisite Bible from the servant behind him.

Isaac had put a lot of thought into this gift.

The paper and ink were of the highest quality and gave off a faint fragrance.

The overall design was simple and unadorned, but it felt very comfortable.

Eugene IV flipped through it, and the crisp sound of the pages echoed in the hall.

"Not bad."

"Your Majesty, we can produce three copies of this scripture a day, and if we increase production, we can produce even more."

"Very good. I will notify all the churches. If there is a need in the future, they should come to you first."

The Pope waved his hand.

Isaac thanked him but remained standing.

"Is there anything else?"

Before Isaac could speak, Fajar stepped forward and bowed.

"Your Majesty, I believe Prince Isaac's invention has more uses."

"Oh?"

"Your Majesty, I have heard that the King of Cyprus is requesting aid from the Holy See. We can use this machine to quickly print indulgences, which will not only save lost souls, but also contribute to the Holy War."

Isaac also spoke up.

"Not only that, we can also print your and my emblems on the indulgences and have them printed uniformly by the Holy See, so as to avoid the random issuance of indulgences by local churches."

The Pope slowly sat up straight.

"My child, our priests are servants of God; there would never be such arbitrary issuance."

"I apologize for my ignorance, Your Majesty."

Isaac bowed.

A few minutes later, Isaac walked out of Vatican City with the pope's special decree, full of excitement.

The pope allowed Isaac's printing house to print religious books, including the Bible, and entrusted the business of indulgences to Isaac.

According to the agreement, the profits from the first year would be split 30-70, with the majority going to support Isaac's expansion.

After that, Isaac would receive one-tenth of the net profits.

Inside the papal palace, chaos erupted.

"Your Holiness, why entrust such an important matter to a heretic!"

"Watch your tongue, Winbul. There is no longer a division between the Eastern and Western Churches. Isaac is our brother, not a heretic!"

Fujar said sternly.

The Pope also looked at Winbul.

"I apologize, Your Majesty."

Eugene IV turned his head.

"That is all for today. Everyone, leave. Fajar, you may remain."

The priests dispersed.

The Pope stood up and paced back and forth.

"Do you know why I am willing to make so many concessions to Isaac?"

Fujar thought for a moment.

"On the one hand, we have nothing to lose. If we can unify the power to issue indulgences, we will make a fortune."

Fujar paused,

"On the other hand, we are not the only option."

In fact, at that time, there were two popes in the Catholic world.

One was this Eugene IV, and the other was Felix V, elected by the remnants of the Avignon Council.

The two sides did not recognize each other and were hostile to each other.

Many local churches in France and the Low Countries took this opportunity to refuse to accept bishops sent by the Roman Curia and began to elect their own bishops, nominally still recognizing Rome as the true authority.

The Roman Curia had no choice but to accept this.

In addition, several consecutive failures of the Crusades had reduced the authority of the Roman Curia to rock bottom.

It was also difficult for Eugene IV.

"Good to know."

The pope stared into Fujar's eyes, and beads of sweat appeared on Fujar's face.

"You are responsible for liaising with Isaac and obtaining the printing press technology as much as possible."

"Yes..."

Fujar bowed and left.

The pope called him back.

"Finally, tell him everything we discussed."

Fujar was taken aback.

"If he dares to collaborate with the Avignon schismatic papacy or any other local church, I will excommunicate him from the Church!"