Chapter 112 Leaving Hungary and coming to Bohemia
When Grand Duke Mircea returned to his room to rest tiredly, he was very envious of Peter and could visit other countries. But he can't, he is the Grand Duke and must stay here.
Maria had a conflict with Mircea because Peter went on a trip without telling her, which made him dumbfounded. It's a good thing for my son to go out for a visit, and the expenses are sufficient, and he has a guard, so he'll be fine.
Mircea attaches great importance to population growth. He uses all means to encourage births. At one time, he even thought about curfews. The church also stopped encouraging and promoted the concept of births. At the same time, a stable environment is also a key factor for population growth.
Here Wallachia was prospering, and over there Peter came to Pozzoni. Since we had to go to Brno and Prague next, and Peter had not yet overcome his seasickness, the boat was unavailable. Pozzony is an important economic and administrative center in the Hungarian border region. This strategic location destined the city to frequent attacks and battles, but it also brought it economic development and increased political status. In 1291, Andrew III granted the city privileges for the first time.
Compared with Buda, this city is more of an army and a fortress. Trade is also prosperous, but mostly agricultural products and livestock.
"Does Hungary have nothing to offer except these things?" Nikolai said.
“The natural soil of Hungary brought them food and wealth, coupled with the minerals of Transylvania.”
The more I talked about it, the more I felt that Hungary was too good to talk about anymore.
However, because it is close to Bohemia, products from there can also be seen here. Mainly gold and silver jewelry and some textiles.
"These are really nice. Are they from Bohemia?"
"Of course, these are high-end goods I imported from Prague and Brno." The businessman looked proud, as if this was a great achievement.
"Why, are Bohemian's so popular? Are they so great?"
Seeing that someone was dissatisfied, the businessman immediately changed his expression to a serious one.
"Don't be dissatisfied. The goods from Bohemia are in high demand. Not only Hungary, but Poland, Venice, and France all import large quantities from here. I managed to get them with great difficulty."
The businessman talked about the hot-selling goods in Bohemia, and also said that transporting the food here to Prague would be several times the profit. Peter understands this situation because there are too many silver mines in their territory and inflation is rising.
In this case, it’s even more important to go and see it. The only kingdom within the territory of the Shinra, the head of the four secular electors, was waving to him.
In Pozzoni they hired several carts and purchased some grain, intending to sell it in Prague.
"What is this Holy Roman Empire? Are they and your subjects all people in heaven?"
Nicholas' words made Peter couldn't help it, so he just added the word "sacred" to make it taller, so why not add a few more.
"The Holy Roman Empire just added the word holy. It is not holy at all now."
"But he has a lot of land"
"There are a lot of them, but most of them are not mine."
Peter began to tell a steady stream of the history of this big country, the richness of which even Mason would be ashamed of.
"Sir, you are really amazing. Even the person who knows the most about history has to be humbled in front of you."
This was very helpful to Peter, and for a moment he said what would later be ridiculed.
"This so-called Holy Roman Empire is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
After Peter finished speaking, there was silence. No one spoke to me.
"Sir, this..."
Peter also felt that something was out of place, so he changed the subject and asked about the situation of the current King of Bohemia.
"The current king Wenzel relied on his father to sit on the throne of the king. He was originally the emperor of the empire, but because he did not go to Rome for coronation, his title is the king of the Roman people."
Peter nodded, knowing this was the same as before. This King of Bohemia was a fool. During his reign, many nobles planned to separate themselves and formed an alliance. His brother, King Sigismund of Hungary, was also among them.
"In that case, let's take a look."
Following Peter's order, this improvised caravan took action. Brno is 125 kilometers away and takes three or four days.
Soon, Peter felt that riding in a car was worse than riding in a boat. Despite hiring the best car, the bumpy route still hurt his butt like hell. It didn't take long to decide to march on horseback.
Soon they came to the border of Bohemia and Hungary. The flag of Bohemia was waving above, and many merchants from the East entered from here.
The convoy led by Peter also came to the checkpoint and officially entered the territory of Shinra after paying the toll. Then he learned about the trivialities within Shinra territory.
HRE was never an empire, just a loose confederation. Even before the Thirty Years' War, there were 390 states and more than 1,400 lords of land in the country. Let alone now.
On the way to Brno, Peter encountered several blackmails. When the goods accidentally fell on the ground, people appeared around asking for tax. Their reasoning is that your goods were dropped and the land is ours, so you have to pay.
What kind of gangster logic is this, but Peter still paid the taxes. Is it possible that you still want to fight with them?
Fortunately, they were not far from Brno. Peter ordered them to move forward quickly and be careful on the ground, because some of them were dug by the lord himself in order to collect more money.
They are thinking about how to improve transportation, but they dig the roads themselves into potholes. This reflects the difference in Eastern and Western thinking.
When he arrived in Brno, Peter directly asked people to exchange all the grain into currency. He did not want to be blackmailed anymore.
After arriving, Peter found that there was also a lot of German atmosphere here. The upper-class people are basically Germans, while the local Bohemians are from lower-level positions, including farmers, craftsmen, wage workers, etc.
This was not enough, and the Germans from Central Europe continued to squeeze their living space. Coupled with the Catholic degeneration of spiritual beliefs, their endurance has reached its limit.
"If this continues, when will it end?"
The tavern was filled with bohemians from the lowest classes, disillusioned not only with the secular classes but also with the Catholic Church.
Peter ordered a local beer and sat watching.
"Those people are so arrogant. I went to get last month's salary, but only one-third was deducted for various reasons."
"You can still get money. I worked for a month and I was paid for it by some food."
Many people complained, and the more they spoke, the more excited they became, and the discussion even threatened to tear the roof off.