Chapter 303 The overall situation has been decided

Chapter 303 The overall situation has been decided

After Peter went north to Bologna, he received a letter from Charles, the French crown prince, saying that he was willing to be a friend with him.

Peter knew that this was his intention to use Roman power to gain an advantage in the fight against England, and as a courtesy, he also wrote a letter to Charles, inviting him to Constantinople.

In addition to letters from Dauphin Charles, he also received letters from Louis, Duke of Orleans.

The Duke of Orleans has always been at odds with the Duke of Burgundy. The leaders of the two factions both have direct male bloodlines close to the French royal family, so they have great influence on the affairs of the Kingdom of France. Their control over the government competes with each other and their differences become a the basis of the conflict. The two are nobles of the same level who hold the fiefs of the Principality of Orleans and the Principality of Burgundy respectively, but neither party has the right of priority to inherit the French royal family.

The Duke of Orleans wanted Charles VI to intervene with force according to his wishes. He seemed to want to break the armistice agreement between Britain and France, and even provoked King Henry IV of England to a duel. But the Duke of Burgundy disagreed, because the industry in Flanders depended on the import of British wool. A war would lead to an embargo of British goods, leading to industrial collapse.

The two sides faced off like this, and Rome's fighting in Italy made the Duke of Orleans, the main supporter in the south, see the possibility of support. It's not like he didn't know that Burgundy and England were flirting with each other. Since he wanted to introduce foreign forces, he would come too.

Constantine planned to press the two countries again to see if there was more oil and water, so he led the army to advance from Piacenza. Three days later, Pavia was forced to surrender and Kaicheng was attacked directly at the doorstep of Milan. The Duke who was preparing to unify the north had to first declare that he had prepared 700,000 florins for Rome.

The Duke was so scared that he finally spent some money to obtain the title of Duke, and now he was bleeding heavily to avoid robbery. If he doesn't come out, his losses will be even greater.

Count Amedeo of Savoy received the news that the Roman army had arrived in Pavia and imitated the Duke of Milan in sending money to calm the situation. Approaching Northern Italy, they began to recruit troops in the fiefdoms of the states to prevent the war from burning towards them.

Austria began to be unable to maintain a state of war, and Albrecht sought peace with Rome. He sent people to Buda to discuss peace talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Pinsk.

Count Pinsk obtained permission on Peter's departure from Hungary to engage in appropriate diplomatic conversations as long as they did not damage the interests of Rome and Hungary.

Pinsker negotiated with the Austrian envoy, and nothing much was said between the two parties. Austria and the Duke of Lower Luxembourg recognized Mary's Hungarian throne, and the two countries reconciled. However, there was no clear explanation of the most fundamental succession to the Hungarian throne, only that it could be designated by Mary.

The Austrian-Hungarian War ended with the Treaty of Buda. The Anjou family retained the throne, while the Austrian Habsburgs lost not only money but also the Duchy of Carniola. It can be said that the gain outweighs the loss. But the marriage with Sigismund can still give the Habsburg family a basis for future election as German king, as long as no other family intervenes.

----Dividing line----

When the spoils obtained from Venice arrived in Constantinople, citizens gathered on both sides of the streets, wanting to see how the goods of this so-called most powerful country in the Mediterranean were different from them. When seeing the statue of the Four Emperors and some stone carvings, some scholars recognized that Venice had snatched it from the Castello a hundred years ago, and now they have finally returned.

In order to show his victory, Mircea specially paraded these trophies brought back from Venice to let everyone see the power of Rome. The aristocratic governors of Venice were also paraded in prison cars. They were reviled by the citizens, but as prisoners they could only wait for their final judgment.

Mircea used these objects to decorate Constantinople. The gold ornaments were melted into other pieces and installed on the Hagia Sophia. The books were placed in the Library of Constantinople. The gold coins went into the treasury, ready to be paid for the construction of the empire.

Mircea is most concerned about the construction of the army and border defense. The Senate passed a resolution to expand the standing army to one hundred thousand, which also means that more funds and equipment are needed, unified uniforms, weapons, training, a large number of officers, and Money was needed for their rewards after victory in war and for compensation of seriously injured soldiers. Now that there are so many, it can take a while.

"Meet His Majesty"

Mircea meets with the new finance minister recommended by Peter, because finance needs sources, and industry and commerce are the best choice. The previous one cried too many times that Mircea was tired of him. He hoped that this person could give him a different feeling.

"Are you Baptiste, the finance minister recommended by the Imperial Caesar?"

"Yes, your majesty. Thanks to the favor of your majesty and Caesar, I can become the minister of finance. I will always be loyal to you and use my talents to repay you."

Hearing these words, Mircea had some different feelings, but it seemed that this man still had some talent. He might be able to develop the economy of the empire, and it would be best to become the first in Europe and revitalize Constantinople.

And this Baptiste is indeed not a native of the country. He was born in Bordeaux in the Aquitaine region and was sent to a missionary school when he was a child. However, the local war forced his family to move to Pavia. When he became an adult, he went to work in Genoa and saved some money to open a trading house with others. It can be considered a small achievement.

Then came the older version, who wanted to go east to see if he could climb up in politics. He originally wanted to take the exam, but he gave up because there were too many people and he was a bit old. However, there are always more solutions than difficulties. By chance, he learned that the Roman prince Peter planned to import Merino sheep from Aragon, so he sold all his property and smuggled 10 pairs of sheep to Peter. This made Alexander, who was in charge of Peter's private property at the time, feel that this man was capable, so he absorbed him as his assistant.

This big gamble made Baptiste enter politics. He soon showed his talent in finance. Whether Peter was the governor of Anatolia or the governor of Bulgaria, he could do a good job in trade matters, especially in some mining fields, using the technology introduced from Central Europe. Mining deeper veins has doubled the output of some minerals.

Alexander recommended him to Peter when Mircea was appointed elsewhere, and Peter then asked him to help handle his personal finances. Over the past few years, the effect was remarkable. The finances, which were originally thought to be a mess after Alexander left, were still in order. Peter was completely relieved by him, and when Mircea asked Peter to recommend a candidate for finance minister, the first person who came to mind was Baptiste.