Chapter 269 Annexation of Bosnia
On the seventh day of the siege of Jajce, the defenders at the east gate could not stand it any longer. They opened the city gate without permission to welcome the Roman army into the city.
Other defenders continued to resist the Roman army, but they were just trapped beasts still fighting. Small Bosnia could not muster many troops at all. Jajce was completely captured that night. At this time, the Kingdom of Bosnia was destroyed, 24 years after its founding.
After Peter entered Yaice, he began to look for traces of King Stefan. The soldiers reported that the king was killed by the defenders before the city was breached. This made Peter sad and asked people to bury the king generously.
Hvoye Vokozy Hvatinich was brought forward, the great nobleman who promoted Stefan to the position of king. At this time, he was no longer as beautiful as before, his clothes were in tatters, and he was kneeling at the foot of the steps in disgrace.
"Tell me, Bosnian, if you have ever regretted rejecting the Empire's offer."
"Hmph, I regret it. I will never regret it. You people trampled on our land, massacred our people, and destroyed our treasures. I can't wait to kill you to take revenge."
Seeing that he was so stubborn, Peter had no choice. He walked down the steps, raised the other person's head, and said.
"It's a pity that the empire is so unbearable in your heart, but the world is like this, the weak eat the strong."
Peter issued the final disposition of the Bosnian people. According to social status and property division, the disobedient nobles, intellectuals, and landowners were all exiled and their property was confiscated. Divide these lands among your soldiers and those who should be enfeoffed. These are the new social classes in Bosnia, which will help stabilize the local notice.
As a consolation for the new territory, tax exemptions were also a must. Peter has allocated a batch of funds from his private coffers for reconstruction and exempted the place from taxes for three years. The planning here will take a long time to complete, so it is a good choice to take this opportunity to rest.
The size of Jajce is much smaller than that of Constantinople and Bukur Yesti. Because of the poor transportation, there are not many economic activities here. Most of the people make a living from agriculture, and commerce is mainly carried out by foreign merchants. This is one of the reasons why Bosnia is weak.
"Tell Constantinople that 150 officials are needed here to take charge of various affairs."
Peter directed his men in various matters at the Bosnian palace, mainly in agriculture. The local area needs to build water conservancy facilities to increase production, and also needs to provide protection for homesteaders to avoid land annexation.
The demise of Bosnia directly shocked neighboring Croatia. King Louis ordered the army to assemble towards the capital, ready to respond to the enemy at any time. And asked Venice for help. Austria, sandwiched between the two countries, also provided military passage. Venetian mercenaries could enter Croatia through Austria.
However, now Venice has declared war on Rome half a month ago on the grounds that its own merchants were attacked, but the parliament is quarreling again over the future distribution of benefits. Each family wanted to spend less money and gain more for themselves. They wanted to capture Constantinople again, and then let the Doge of Venice become the emperor, and the Parliament controlled Constantinople in Venice. Then no one in the East can challenge them.
However, perhaps the absence of war for many years has made them a little relaxed. The cost of collecting all the navy at once is also very high. Although Venice is rich, the tax revenue has been hovering between 800,000 and 1 million ducats. The collection of naval ships, plus so many sailors' wages, no matter how rich they are, they can't afford it. Spend, not to mention the cost of mercenaries.
Moreover, 21 merchant ships have been sunk by the Roman navy this month. The Venetian navy wanted to take revenge, but they took them directly to the encirclement. Moreover, they did not fight alone. They divided the fleet, surrounded it, and then destroyed it.
The messengers brought the news of the capture of Bosnia back to Constantinople. Mircea was overjoyed and ordered the city to celebrate for three days. This was Rome's first major victory since the war began, and Peter's requirements were met as much as possible.
Rome could maintain a minimum of stability, and areas ruled in the early years such as Wallachia and Moldova could provide daily necessities and food. Venice can only rely on international trade to obtain supplies. If Venice's maritime trade can be cut off, then it can force the other party to negotiate peace within a year.
"Send people to Naples, hoping they will act with the Empire."
Mircea began to call for foreign aid. King Laszlo of Naples did not know whether he could obey his father-in-law's order to surround the Venetian merchant ships. Or remain neutral and provide ports and other assistance to the Roman navy.
After Laszlo learned that Rome and Venice were at war, he was ready to take this opportunity to gain some benefits, but he wanted to gain the maximum benefit, so the timing of his exit must be accurate.
Under his rule, Naples' economy recovered. Locally produced volcanic ash, silk, wool, and cotton were exchanged with Roman textiles and luxury goods. He also gave Roman merchants the right to trade throughout the territory. If the great nobles weren't too powerful, he could have done better.
After Laszlo reached an agreement with Peter, he tried to centralize power in the country. The lords of Taranto and Lucania launched rebellions and were defeated by the new army trained by Laszlo. He also took over the lands of the rebel nobles and strengthened the strength of the royal family.
After solving the security problem in the southern region, he also set his sights on the place only one strait away from Naples: Sicily. Sicily is ruled by the Kingdom of Aragon. It is far away from the Spanish mainland and is basically ruled by the local nobles. However, the current King Martin of Aragon lives in Palermo, Sicily. Aragon has increased its control here and won it. It will take a long time.
But one thing he could do now was to confiscate the papal lands in Naples and the power to appoint bishops. Of course, it was not a violent confiscation, but a temporary withholding of the land harvest, waiting for the Pope to send someone to negotiate with him. As for excommunication, he was happy to imitate his idol Philip IV and be imprisoned in Naples.
The Eastern sects developed from the Western Orthodox Church compressed the Catholic space and also tore apart the society of Naples. The Catholic aristocrats and the Orthodox aristocrats were in conflict, and Laszlo acted as a mediator in the middle to profit from them. However, the spread of the Orthodox Church among the lower class people is still faster than the king imagined. By constantly attacking the Catholic Church, the people will be disappointed with them, and then take the opportunity to attract them to convert to Orthodoxy. It spread most rapidly among urban citizens and workers. Because farmers were tied to the land, their beliefs followed those of the nobility.