Chapter 396 Two Years Later
Everything in Europe is evolving according to the established script, wars should be fought, and trade should be carried out. Two years have passed like this, and everything seems to have changed again.
First, there was the official opening of the Suez Canal. This hundreds-kilometer canal can pass all merchant ships and warships, eliminating the need for tricks like boating on dry land. And it happened to be opened on Mircea's birthday, which was also a gift from the company to the emperor.
With this canal, Red Sea trade can quickly increase, and companies can collect tolls here, which can earn back some costs.
As for the Mamluks, their feelings had not been taken into account before, so Rome and Egypt re-established a treaty. The canal was controlled by Rome, but the Mamluks were guaranteed to be able to cross the river in major events. With the new covenant in hand, the envoy left happily.
Roman merchant ships could also trade in the East, but in order to protect the interests of the East India Company, the emperor signed a decree: trade in India could only be carried out by the East India Company, and Indian goods could only be transported by the company's merchant ships.
This situation directly caused Roman merchant ships to flood into the Red Sea. Since India cannot go, then they can go further to the east. They can always operate other businesses. Moreover, their merchant ships are all registered at the Trade Department and are completely legal.
Moreover, the number of immigrants since the opening of the canal has exceeded 1,500 per year. It seems that the Eastern trade has made many people want to take risks, and the conditions are really favorable, so they moved their families. Ceylon, Formosa and India are the first choices. The land here is fertile and you can become a landowner by farming honestly for a few years.
During Mircea's reign, Rome completed one achievement after another, and such a prosperous empire was enough for him to add to the history books. Mircea, the Archduke of Wallachia, saved the endangered Roman Empire from fire and water, and believed that his reputation would be very good.
In addition, Hungary held a ceremony to establish the crown prince. The plan to directly annex Hungary failed, and marriage was adopted to maintain the alliance. After returning from Hungary, Peter also expressed to Mircea the need to find a suitable female from the family for marriage. The search was thus carried out, and in the end Margaret, who was two years younger than the Crown Prince of Hungary, was chosen, whom Peter should call his niece, the daughter of his cousin Basarab.
Peter returned to the Senate. This time he had more power. The emperor directly pushed some ordinary things to Peter, and he only had to sign. In this rapidly changing era, he is a bit behind the times. In order to make the empire last for a long time, Mircea is paving the way for Peter, hoping to hone his ability to govern, so that he will have no worries.
The first thing Peter did when he returned to the center was to resolve the rebellion of the Baitakshi Order. The local government had ordered a strict investigation, but there were still some people hiding in the empire, ready to cause unrest at any time.
Peter made a prompt decision and used large sums of money to lure people to report on each other. As long as it was true, each person could exchange for 10 lei. At the same time, a joint sitting system was implemented. One person hid the whole family and was exiled and executed. If he was reported, the punishment would be reduced. In this extraordinary period, some extraordinary means had to be used.
The number of people in the sect has indeed decreased over the past year, but there have also been cases of unjust, false, and wrongful convictions. The local people will falsely accuse others in order to get rewards. Some people can be found innocent and released, while others have become souls killed by the sword. Peter also kept spreading that all this was caused by the Baitakshi cult, and that as long as he disappeared, there would not be so many things.
The local people were already at odds with the religious group, and now their hatred has become direct under such propaganda. The sect's activities in the local area are even more difficult, and everyone is eager to get rid of them quickly.
The new Sultan Shaharul of the Timurid Empire has signed a contract with the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Zarayi Dynasty, and signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance with Rome, and the northern region has basically returned to peace. There is no need for the two emerging countries to confront Rome and just sign agreements one after another. Long-distance trade routes were reopened and taxes increased.
The influence of the Roman Empire on the Holy Roman Empire has also gradually increased. The convening of the Augsburg Imperial Parliament is the most dangerous time for the family. If it performs poorly, Brandenburg will take back Brandenburg's hard-won position as elector.
Fortunately, the distribution of seats in the parliament gave an opportunity. There were a total of 340 members, of which 110 were firmly opposed to Vlad and 105 supported Vlad through activities. Most of them were cities under the influence of the Hanseatic League.
The Hanseatic League also wanted to continue to expand its business in Rome, so it supported Vlad, who also belonged to the Bartland family. And Bernhard also used his family influence to convince some people, but the remaining 125 members decided the final ownership.
Most of the members here are earls, barons, and lords. They all have one common characteristic: they are poor, so gold coins have become the best solution.
It was Peter who helped, using the bank to provide Vlad with nearly 600,000 florins, which was enough to bribe these people. Even Earl Sauron, who had initially firmly supported the abolition of the Elector, decided to abstain. The reason is for no other reason than to support the other party to become the elector.
The Elector of Saxony has never had any heirs due to his frailty, and he has become extremely ill in the past few years and will soon go west. According to imperial law, only the emperor can appoint unclaimed land, so as long as the Earl of Sauron votes against or abstains, he will convince Job Sturt appoints you Elector of Saxony.
The other party was obviously tempted by such conditions, so he agreed. Coupled with generous bribes, it was already a sure thing.
Vlad was attacked by Albrecht in the Senate, believing that he should not be here and that it was an insult to the Empire.
"In my opinion, a country should be tolerant. If an arrogant person attacks another person here with a ridiculous title, then he should be an enemy of God."
This made Albrecht angry. Wasn't he talking about himself? His father, Rudolf, used the minor privilege documents as a model and carefully "find" the major privilege documents. The Duke of Austria became the Archduke of Austria, and the emperor was required to condescend to go to Vienna for the coronation. This was blatantly looking down on the emperor. If he did this, then the emperor would be Just like Emperor Zhou.
"You have the ability to name names."
The dignified Archduke of Austria was cornered, but Vlad continued to poke his lungs, even uncovering the story of John's murder of his uncle hundreds of years ago. And mocked them as misers, which would not have happened if they had agreed to the request given to them by their father.
At this time, the one who suffered the most damage was the Archduke of Austria. In the final vote, the Habsburgs were unhappy and voted against, Wenzel's supporters voted against, and those influenced by the Hanseatic League voted against. The vote ended with a disparity of 120 to 220. veto. Brandenburg retained.