Chapter 175
“This is the university, the place with the strongest cultural atmosphere in Constanta.”
Peter took Sofia to Constanta. The most common method Peter used to deal with his new wife was to throw money at her. Clothes, cosmetics, perfume, as long as she likes it, Peter will buy it all.
However, Sofia was not interested in any of these. What she was really interested in was academics and literature, so Peter took her to the University of Constanta.
In the past few years, the university has developed rapidly. On the original basis, four additional subjects were added: astronomy, alchemy, weapon research and craftsmanship. The last two subjects were added by Peter himself. He believed that such research would be faster.
Sofia was instantly fascinated when she saw so many books. Some written works unique to Constantinople appeared in Constanta, many of them original manuscripts.
"It's amazing, I've never seen so many books."
"If you like it, I can sell it to you cheaper."
"Okay, but I don't have any money."
"It's such a shame, but it's good that there is another way to pay."
"What is it?"
"Be my wife forever."
Sophia blushed instantly and shyly hid in Peter's arms. Peter just smiled and hugged her.
During this time, Peter took Sophia to visit many places, including Iasi, Suceava, Binjeli, and Sophia, who had the same name as her. For a princess who never leaves home, this is an unprecedented experience.
In just a few years, Wallachia expanded from a country of 80,000 square kilometers to a Balkan hegemon of hundreds of thousands square kilometers. Such a country is very attractive to people who want to take risks, and neighboring countries are also desperately trying to obtain information in order to obtain maximum benefits in the future.
The marriage with Sophia was not only to gain the claim of Roman emperor, but also to gain the support of the Greeks. You must know that after the Fourth Crusade, the Greeks hated Western Europeans, especially those who spoke Latin. Coincidentally, the language of Wallachia belongs to the Latin family, but after a long period of Eastern Roman influence, it became the most An alternative language that belongs to the Eastern Romance branch of the Latin family.
In order to ease relations with the Greeks, Wallachia took a large number of measures, including encouraging Orthodox Christianity and promoting the revival of Greek literature. The marriage to Sophia was also the most important step. Many people living in Morea and Constantinople The Greeks came to serve in Wallachia. But most of them are scholar-type people.
These measures eased the mood of the Greeks, who gradually viewed Wallachia as their second home. A large number of talents are used by Wallachia, which improves local culture, economy and other aspects, making Wallachia more like a country.
----Dividing line----
In Cluj, Archduke Mary had returned to Transylvania after attending Peter's wedding. She still has to make all preparations to take Hungary back.
However, her courtiers don't care about this at the moment, but they are more concerned about her marriage.
Marrying Mary, even if there are no children, the male family can obtain claims to the entire Transylvanian and Hungarian crowns by virtue of this relationship. How could this not interest them, so they recommended marriage candidates to Mary every day, which annoyed her.
"Gentlemen, I already have a candidate for marriage, please don't do this again."
This surprised the courtiers, who quickly asked who the man was, and Mary directly said that he was a noble from Wallachia. But refused to reveal his name. They had no choice but to give up.
Mary didn't know much about running a country, but fortunately she had nobles and churches who were willing to work. In order to protect the hard-won achievements, everyone from peasants to nobles united to build Transylvania. This made the Hungarian nobles feel unprecedented pressure.
Sigismund was also distressed. He had finally finished the wedding. There were a lot of things going on within Hungary and HRE. What was even worse was that his idiot brother had been meeting with ministers very frequently recently. What was he doing?
In order to maintain the army and his own expenses, Sigismund could only borrow money like crazy. He even went to a bank in Wallachia and used Hungarian customs as collateral to get 130,000 ducats. The money was really not enough. .
Affected by the division of Hungary, many nobles lost their lands and mines. Since there was no place for them elsewhere, they had to borrow money to survive. Sigismund took this opportunity to use money to win them over and gradually expand his power.
The division of the nobility brought about the movement of the people. A large number of peasants fled to Transylvania and Wallachia. Even if they were captured by the army every day, it would be of no avail. The fleeing peasants would only rise but not fall. Hungary's agriculture stagnated and exports began to decline.
Transylvania, on the other hand, is prospering. A large amount of land has been developed, the mines have been reopened, and several copper and silver mines with large reserves have been found, which has brought a lot of income. Mary invested her earnings into the army and construction, and also purchased cannon and muskets from Wallachia, imitating them in building an army. Her desire for revenge could no longer be contained.
Such a situation in the Balkans shocked Serbia. Branković personally brought gifts to Archduke Mircea and permanently surrendered to him. He also transferred the tribute originally given to Hungary to Wallachia. Mircea's patience with this young country has come to an end, and he plans to annex it all to save him any more worries.
Bosnia still followed Hungary as always, perhaps because they were dissatisfied with the Orthodox Church represented by Wallachia, or perhaps because they were still frightened by the historical oppression of the Eastern Roman Empire. They asked Hungary for protection and donated their gold and silver to make them think they were There is also use value.
Osman is still busy annexing the land of Anatolia and promoting Osman as their leader. They are all brothers and should unite. This sounds good, but in fact it is to obtain their wealth and manpower. Who would really say that they are as close as a family?
The overall situation in Southeast Europe has been decided, and the entire Balkans are holding their breath. Everyone knows that Wallachia wants to unify the Balkans, and no country can stop it. Some opponents can only hope that Wallachia can quickly break up after the death of its monarch like the once powerful Serbia, and the so-called unification will be just a flash in the pan.
Not only that, even Venice and Genoa, which had signed treaties with Wallachia, began to secretly contact anti-Wallachia forces, because Wallachian merchants were constantly encroaching on their two countries’ interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially Genoa and the Black Sea. Wallachia has almost taken up most of the trade, and the slave trade, which is the most profitable, has gradually declined. This is all caused by Wallachia.