Chapter 230 Eastern Strategy
The first to be surrounded was Nicomedia. The city's defenders were less than 500, and it was quickly surrounded by the Wallachian army. Within a few days, the garrison in the city was frightened and surrendered.
After Nicomedia, the Wallachian army moved south to Nicaea. In order to ensure the timely arrival of the army, all Wallachian merchant ships in the Aegean Sea were mobilized, some for religious fervor, and some for employment fees provided by the government. Some Genoese merchant ships also joined the transportation process, and for a time the entire Marma There are merchant ships for transportation in Lahai.
The Patriarch of Constantinople invested the conquest with religious sanctity, declaring that anyone who joined the conquest against the Ottomans could ascend to heaven after death. Peter also issued a notice saying that those who joined the war would receive land and wealth as long as they succeeded. Not many people could remain unmoved by such a temptation.
This time it was a rare operation involving fighting on both sides of the Black Sea, and the expenditure involved was also very huge. Taxes paid from other places were spent before they entered the national treasury. The Chancellor of the Exchequer fell ill because of money problems, and Peter had to temporarily take over the financial work, but he was still the appointed financial director.
In order to reduce some expenses, Peter decided to collect part of the spoils obtained from the battles between the Ottomans and the Golden Horde into the treasury, and the other part should be distributed in the form of land as much as possible. I hope the national treasury can still support it, otherwise the tableware will have to be melted as salary.
Poor Peter could only seek various financial supports day and night, but in recent years his political intentions have exceeded his concern for his industry. It was not until the bank report was submitted that he called himself stupid, didn't he have a bank? .
At this time, banks had spread throughout the Balkans and other regions. With Peter's acquiescence and support, traces of banks were left in Anatolia and the HRE, even in cities such as Cairo and Palermo. This shows its trade scope.
Peter urgently negotiated with the bank's general director in Constantinople, as he too needed to act in accordance with business practices. Facing the biggest boss, the head of the bank was also unambiguous. Based on the minimum required funds of other banks, a total of 300,000 gold lei will be transported to Constantinople. This would greatly ease the financial pressure, and Peter finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the development of banks is rapid, there are still risks. If local people do not pay back the money they owe, they will suffer a loss in vain. But fortunately, the improvement of trade routes has allowed the foreign exchange business to continue to remain the most profitable, with basically no losses.
In addition to conducting political affairs in the Senate, the Boyar Council of Wallachia was also moved to Constantinople.
Having been emasculated, the Council of Boyars has lost much of its political power and now has only an advisory and ceremonial role. Despite this, Mircea did not think of canceling the meeting completely. This needs to be analyzed based on the local situation.
When Mircea and Peter strengthened the centralization of power, the Boyar Conference also continued to divide. Some members of the local aristocracy who had existed for a long time looked down on those businessmen, officials, and those from small and medium-sized nobility, so they met alone in a room, and other members It was held in another room, and the boyar meeting was divided into two. The conflict between the old boyars and the new boyars was very fierce, and it was all resolved by the meeting leader appointed by Mircea.
In addition to the nobles, Mircea also packed in some religious personnel at the old boyar meeting, all of whom were under his orders. The qualifications of the new boyars are also jointly determined by the Senate and the ruler. They can discuss some issues, but cannot propose bills or vote. They participate once a year. To put it bluntly, it is an honorary title.
This can be regarded as limiting the power of the nobility. After all, everyone wants to imitate those parliaments in the West. All of them are all-round talents like Solon and Pericles. Peter can understand their mood, but it is inappropriate now. Look. What kind of harm has happened to Poland next door.
Economically, Wallachia had begun to compete for Mediterranean trade from Venice. After taking Cyprus, transit between Cilicia and the Levant had to go through Wallachia, and Venice had to pay taxes to do business. Under Peter's direction, part of the plantation in Cyprus was expanded to produce sugar and other products.
In diplomacy, Peter searched everywhere for countries with which he could communicate and for roads to the east. After Mason agreed to become a member of the Eastern fleet, he was ready to set off. Before that, he asked the Egyptian branch of the Eastern Company to go to Suez to inspect the old canal five hundred years ago to see if it could be reopened.
In the 19th century, France re-excavated the Suez Canal. It took 10 years and cost 120,000 people to open it. But this was in the 14th and 15th centuries. It is unknown how much money and lives were spent. Otherwise you have to go east around the Cape of Good Hope.
According to the time, there are still more than five years before Dongfang's largest overseas expedition, and more than two years before Dongfang's hero succeeds to the throne. There was plenty of time to hammer nails in the Red Sea area, and then march to the east again. After passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, there was the vast Indian Ocean and the Indian continent, where gold, spices, and jewelry were waiting for them.
Stable trade relations have been established between the Mamluks and Wallachia, and the Sultan set aside a piece of land in Alexandria for Wallachian merchants as a business headquarters. Sudan also agreed to their request for transit. But they were asked to pay the transit fee. Peter thought this was normal and decided to pay it.
The Wallachian Navy conducts some patrols and combats piracy in the waters around the Levant region. The pagan pirates were wiped out, and the Christian pirates were recruited first and then wiped out if they failed.
Between Wallachia and Venice, the Knights Hospitaller seemed awkward. Wallachia is less than two days away from Rhodes, and Crete, controlled by Venice, is not far away. Both sides want to control this place, and the Grand Master maintains balance.
It was not that Mircea had not thought about obtaining Rhodes through peaceful means. He first offered the Knights Hospitaller a price of 40,000 gold coins, but the Grand Master was unmoved. He said that unless Wallachia was willing to give them a piece of land as a shelter Otherwise, there is no need to discuss it.
Milgi certainly knew what a place of refuge meant, and the concept of a country within a country was something he did not want to see, but if the leader was willing to secularize the Knights, join Wallachia in the name of a duke and convert to Orthodox Christianity, he would I can agree to their request.
At this point, there is no need for negotiation between the two sides, because they are both loyal to their own religions. Those knights even uttered wild words, saying that they would definitely fight Smyrna and Constantinople to teach Wallachia a lesson. Mir Cha Ye was merciless and sent someone to tell him that if he didn't agree, he would die.