Chapter 36 Various developments in surplus
(The quality is not very good today, please correct me if there are any mistakes)
On the training ground, Peter was playing with a newly produced musket.
"My lord, this is a newly produced musket from Constanta."
Peter poured the propellant powder from the gunpowder bottle into the muzzle of the gun, and then inserted the bullet wrapped in cloth through the muzzle of the gun. And pour the ignition gunpowder onto the fire dish in the gun, and then pull the trigger. Hit the target right in front.
"This is better than the muskets used before, and the army will all need to replace them."
"Sir, this way we need to recruit more workers and craftsmen, and also purchase raw materials."
Who asked the Grand Duke to buy artillery now? Although a large number of orders ensured sales, the output could not be increased at once.
"Don't worry about money. The faster the production, the better."
Of course Peter doesn't have to worry about money, the money given by the Hanseatic League has not been spent yet. Not only that, Peter also paid for most of the public works costs. This also made his words very influential in the meeting.
"What is our architect doing?"
"Sir, he has been at the construction site these days. It seems that he will not come down until the work is completed."
The Chamber of Commerce hired an architect named Theodoro Karazaphilis in Constantinople. He is familiar with various Eastern Roman-style buildings. He has also been to Rome and seen the Pantheon. I had been thinking about building a building myself for more than ten years, but in Constantinople, this idea had to be abandoned.
And when he heard that the North was recruiting architects, he joined without hesitation. On the way here, he had regrets because this place was much behind Constantinople, but he persisted in order to leave his masterpiece in the world.
After arriving in Iasi, Theodoro received a mission from the lord, which was to build a church and provide sufficient funds.
After this, the architect began his own planning. He finalized the design of the church based on buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome and the Hagia Sophia in Castello.
The materials of the church are all flattened white stones, and the arches, windows, etc. are made of hard bricks. The most indispensable thing is the dome above, which allows a huge circular dome to be built on the square base. There are several small halls with circular domes at the same time. Tall, wide and well-lit.
At this time, the Renaissance had not yet taken off, especially architecture. This had to wait until two talented sculptors, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, competed for the baptism of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The contract for the bronze door of the hall is the beginning of Renaissance architecture. In building this church, Peter contributed part and the believers contributed the remaining part. Bishop Joseph also proposed that every believer should work on the church site for free for twelve days, so that you can get closer to God.
"Whatever the architect needs, just give it to him."
Peter handed the gun to the attendant and said.
"In a few days, go to Bingjili and have a look."
Binjeli is a town on the banks of the Dniester River and the fulcrum of the entire defense line. It’s easy to imagine why Peter went here.
The Moldavian army was mainly distributed on the border and in Iasi. Most of the Boyar troops were handed over. These troops trained with each other with the army led by Peter, eventually forming a defense force of 12,000 people.
Facing the three major foreign enemies of Poland, Lithuania, and the Golden Horde, Peter adopted a military household system on the border that integrated production and military training. All men must receive military training during their leisure time. The lord is responsible for purchasing weapons for them. If foreign enemies attack, they can quickly enlist in the army.
Peter prepared to patrol the border, and others would take care of other matters.
----Dividing line----
In a house in Constanta, some businessmen came here to discuss something, but they were talking about loans.
Chamber of Commerce loans are divided into three types according to the length of time, one year, one quarter, and one month. The shorter the time, the higher the interest rate, up to 12%.
In addition to loans, it also operates money orders, currency exchange and other businesses. It can be said that the first bank in Wallachia was born.
"The money order for 200 lei to Kemplonge is ready, please take a look!"
One person held a document made of parchment and handed it to the other party.
"good"
The businessman took the documents and left the bank with a smile. In Eastern Europe, where financial knowledge lags behind that of Northern Italy, this is the first time we have seen this approach. Although it requires a fee, it is safe. After all, a businessman with a lot of currency can easily be robbed.
This money order system allows many businessmen to put their money here. Although they can only earn 1%, it is still a lot of money after a year.
After the minting of lei, the types of silver coins in Dobroga gradually decreased. If the amount of lei is sufficient, convert it all into lei.
In order to create enough lei, the mint was also operating at full capacity. If only there was a machine, there would be hundreds of millions of coins in one day.
The bank's three businesses are lending, exchange, and money orders every day, but even these have created a lot of demand for lei. Ivan, the head of the mint, is also anxious. Although Wallachia does not have as large a demand for currency as Venice, there is still a gap in the current silver coin minting. Coupled with trade factors, the demand for lei is even greater.
The demand for Barney is not that great. It is mainly used by civilians and has no tendency to be circulated outwards.
"Sir, 1,500 lei a day is the maximum. If it continues to increase, we can only recruit more talents."
Ivan also knows that this is the limit, but for now he still has to cast more.
"Then let's recruit people. The lord will agree anyway."
Ivan didn't care about anything else. He was just minting coins, not fighting wars or raising taxes. Unless the lord controls the silver content, they will always create silver coins according to this standard.
Alexander also made changes to Dobroga, who encouraged other merchants to come to the region to purchase supplies. This approach directly doubled the tariff, and the revenue from the tariff could offset most of the expenses. Not to mention the revenue from salt tax and commercial tax.
With so much money, Peter began to purchase more land in Crimea. To protect his private property, an army was hired to maintain it.
Stephen, the ruler of the Principality of Theodorus, sold two abandoned ports from the ancient Greek era and the surrounding land to the Chamber of Commerce for 10,000 gold coins. Both parties feel that they have made a profit.
Peter exempted the land here from taxes for six years and purchased some Slavic slaves from Kaffa for construction. These made Stephen very jealous, but now he has no intention of taking back the port, because the domestic bosses and the Tatars abroad are all eyeing it. It's funny that you go to see this place even if you can't even protect yourself.