Chapter 143 The Renaissance and Weights and Measures

Chapter 143 The Renaissance and Weights and Measures

At the state meeting hosted by Archduke Mircea when he returned, many ministers proposed to take this opportunity to expel the Ottomans from the Balkans, so that Wallachia would become the only master of the Balkans, and then march to Constantinople and be crowned Roman Emperor. , and then continued to regain the Holy Land until success.

But Peter stopped this whimsical move. Now that the war has just ended, he continues the war instead of resting with the people. Is this because he is afraid that the country will not collapse quickly enough?

Peter's idea was supported by the Grand Duke. Now he really needs to cultivate his health, and the construction of the army must continue, and the standing army must be increased, so as to maintain the combat effectiveness against the Ottomans.

Mircea continued to implement reforms in the newly conquered lands, liberated the serfs on the Ottoman lands, issued tax reduction decrees, and conducted land and population inventories. And even if it is difficult to promote Wallachian culture to these areas, it must be carried out.

Rome sent a special envoy for the second time, and Basilius invited Archduke Mircea to meet Manuel in Constantinople, and he was still welcomed with the highest courtesy.

This is a great honor for Wallachia. After all, other countries have always gone to Constantinople on their own without an invitation from the emperor. But if you think about it, you know that the emperor must rely on the power of Wallachia. Drive the Ottomans out of the Balkans.

However, asking Wallachia to send troops with just a few words would be too simple. It would have to be exchanged for other things, such as a castle or his crown.

There are still many intellectuals from Constantinople, and they have made great contributions to Wallachia in art and culture. In the murals of the Cathedral of San Canito, the portrait of Archduke Mircea highlights his majesty, making people kneel down unconsciously when they see it.

Under the influence of Greek culture, Wallachian culture also began to have an ancient character. The literati in Constantinople especially liked to copy the cultural classics of ancient Greece and Rome. "The editor John Stobeysk compiled a very rich poetry stack. Collection." And they also translated and collected classic culture.

Even ancient philosophy, drama, ancient grammar and rhetoric are not spared. "The ancient style of Constantinople is very strong, learning ancient Greek, collecting and copying ancient books has become a common practice, studying ancient philosophy and drama, studying ancient grammar and Rhetoric also became a "hot topic" in intellectual circles. This topic caused a wave of Greek fever in Wallachia.

The Balkans were once again quiet, and Wallachia's achievements made its neighbors jealous, especially Hungary. Wallachia, which was originally just a small country, has now become almost as big as Hungary.

The Hungarian nobles are somewhat unbalanced. They also want military exploits and land. Why can Wallachia have these but they don't?

Some people put pressure on Sigismund to expand abroad, and the king took the opportunity to make deals with them and ask them to support him. At present, the struggle between him and his wife Mary has become intense, and he must gain more support from the nobles.

The Catholic Church was already on his side, and as long as he had the support of the nobility, Mary would be alone. But doesn’t Mary understand this?

Although her political ability was a problem, Mary was not stupid. She could feel that the Hungarian nobles were gradually turning to Sigismund's side. This is all because she has not participated in politics for a long time. Although it is dangerous, she does not want to give up.

"Your Majesty, do we still have a chance of winning?"

asked Count Lajos, a loyal supporter of Mary, a Transylvanian landowner who, unlike others, was kind to the peasants, at least not lynching them. And he could no longer get used to the fact that the country was controlled by foreigners. Therefore, when Mary sent someone to win over him, he did not hesitate to join the Queen's side.

But now, they are obviously at a disadvantage and may fail soon. I wonder what other tricks Mary has.

In fact, what else could Mary do, it was just to call for foreign aid. But what support does she have?

Mary suddenly thought of the Wallachian crown prince. He would definitely help her.

She decided to write a letter to the crown prince, hoping that he would support her on any terms.

As for Poland, there was little emotion. Wladyslaw concentrated on the war against the Teutons, while Lithuania continued to annex the lands of the Rus' Principality. Not too much energy for Wallachia.

Such a window period is very precious for Wallachia. They should take this opportunity to continue reforms and accumulate strength, and they do so.

After five years of reform, Wallachia has accumulated a certain amount of strength, and the next step should be the second reform measure. The reform of local governments and the military was just the beginning.

Afterwards, Peter began the work of unifying weights and measures. In this era, the smallest unit of length in Europe is actually the inch...

Moreover, there is currently no vernier caliper in the modern sense in Europe. Only the United Kingdom has a ruler similar to a vernier caliper. Of course, because this ruler does not have a precise scale, the measurement is not very reliable.

In this era, the difference between a master craftsman and an apprentice, apart from their knowledge, lies in their craftsmanship. For example, a master craftsman has better skills in grinding parts. When it comes to the stage of approaching the scale, he will be very careful, so that there are very few parts that are wasted and the yield is high. As for those apprentices, if they fail to control things well at a critical moment, the parts will be scrapped. Even if it is not scrapped, the running-in performance of the parts is not good due to poor manual control.

Moreover, it is very difficult to check the quality of workpieces in this era. You need to take out "standard" workpieces and compare them carefully with the sun, which is a test of your eyesight.

Moreover, there were no weights and measures for centimeters and millimeters in this era, so Peter needed to define it himself. Therefore, Peter needed to "create" such weights and measures himself.

Peter had obtained data on imperial units from Genoa during his travels, and if he wanted to deduce how long a standard centimeter was, all he had to do was figure out how long a standard inch was. According to the principle that one inch equals 2.54 centimeters, you can quickly find out how long 1 centimeter is. Then, every 10th of a centimeter is 1 millimeter...

At the same time, 1 standard imperial pound is equal to grams. Therefore, as long as we get the standard weight of 1 imperial pound (all countries generally have copper as a standard weight reference), we can deduce the weight of 1 gram...

Later, under the surprised gaze of the attendant, Peter deduced the lengths of 1 centimeter, 1 decimeter, 1 meter and 1 millimeter. Then, using the British pound, the weight in grams and kilograms was deduced. Later, craftsmen were arranged to use copper to create standard reference copper rulers of 1 meter and 1 decimeter, and also used copper to create standard gram copper weights as a standard reference for weight. After making the reference items, these standard items were sealed and wrapped in paper. Only take it out for comparison and use when necessary.