John VI offered cash payments to the Ottoman sultan Orhan to vacate the city, but was refused. The sultan reportedly said he had not taken the city by force and could not give up something which had been "granted to him by Allah".
John VI proposed a financial inducement to Ottoman sultan Orhan to vacate the city, but was rejected. The sultan reportedly maintained that he had acquired the city without using force and therefore could not relinquish it, as it was a gift from God.