Chapter 417 The turning point comes
Since Peter initiated the examination system, the study direction of intellectuals in Rome began to shift from art and culture to governance. Coupled with the temptation of noble titles, officials are keen to increase their political achievements to promote themselves. Especially in the Balkans, land inventory work is also the most active.
Officials across the country began re-inventorying and reclaiming land, adding more than 2 million acres of farmland last year alone. They fell into a kind of physiocratic fanaticism, especially in the east. The construction of water conservancy facilities irrigated a lot of land, which also stabilized the local society.
"All submitted documents will be sent to the study. I want to read them one by one."
Now I must cheer up. Except for Peter, the other three sons and two daughters are all abroad. If I don't do my best, it may harm the family. I must not let this happen.
Mircea learned many things from the East. Compared with the East, the imperial power of Rome was like a younger brother. In terms of centralization and efficiency, it was far inferior to the East. In particular, there had never been a Praetorian mutiny in the East, which made him particularly envious. .
In comparison, the supremacy of Roman imperial power seemed too weak. If bureaucracy cannot replace aristocracy, it will be a disaster. Although the Bartram family relied on this power to reach its peak, it must change in Rome.
In the West, at the invitation of the Governor of Venice, Captain Muccio Sforza of Milan entered Venice with his mercenaries. This mercenary once fought against the Romagna army and accumulated rich combat experience.
"Working for money, working for adventure" is his unwavering life creed. Sforza's team was hired to carry out various assassinations, kidnappings, smuggling, and even coups. Moreover, the composition of his mercenaries is complex, and they come from all kinds of people, but they all have a common characteristic, that is, they like war, and war is everything in their lives.
Of course, he would never be satisfied with a mercenary leader. What he wanted was Milan's supreme position. Therefore, with many children, he continued to marry nobles and intimidated the surrounding small cities to recognize his authority. However, even Savoy looked down upon him as a mercenary.
Venice's request for help allowed him to see an opportunity, and he could take the opportunity to seize local governance and establish himself as king. Then let all countries recognize him, so that the family can enter the upper class society.
"General, we have entered Venice. Verona has sent someone to give you a gift."
"What's there?"
"The gold coins are all florins. The mayor of Verona said they are for tolls."
When Sforza heard this, he knew that he must spend money to eliminate the disaster. Since he is so sensible, he cannot help but be reasonable. Just go around and spare their lives.
However, those towns that did not pay the protection fees were out of luck. I'll beat you first before attacking Rome. Who knows if you are Rome's internal agents? As a result, the facilities that were finally restored were destroyed again, and the local wealth was looted. The devastation was no less than that of Peter's army sweeps.
How could the Venetian people think of the current situation? They might as well be good citizens under Rome, so that they can live a stable life.
It's a pity that such a good opportunity was ruined by them. The only thing they could do was to run for their lives. As for national justice, screw it, it's really not worth mentioning in the face of survival.
For the first time, Domenico had doubts about democracy. In order to quickly pass the proposal, he directly led soldiers to force the MPs to agree. Then they ordered Petro, the only one in their cabinet with military experience, to lead 8,000 people to attack Trieste. He said he had military experience, but in fact he only served as a soldier in Venice for two years. Others who had the ability were either eliminated. Xiaole may have contributed to agriculture in eastern Rome.
Petro can be said to have rushed the duck. He can only charge in one wave. His only confidence is that Trieste's defensive strength is not as good as before. If he charges directly, he might be able to defeat it, and then the situation will be restored. .
"My lord, Trieste is already before us."
Looking at the city wall in front of him and the corpses around him, Petro felt a lot of pressure. He still pointed forward and launched the first wave of attack orders.
The defense of Trieste's city walls has been reduced after many attacks, but the gunpowder reserves are still sufficient. Thanks to the continuous delivery of supplies by the Roman navy, the city did not fall into a state of collapse. Moreover, soldiers can also be transported from the south to support the city, which can be said to make up for the loss of the city wall to a large extent.
The artillery on the city wall fired again, and the falling shells caused many losses to the Venetian army. However, due to many days of use, some artillery had not been cleaned for a long time. As a result, one artillery exploded, taking away the lives of three soldiers and part of the city wall. But fortunately, the opponent also ordered to withdraw his troops. The loss of attacking without large-scale siege equipment would be too great.
Because Rome imposed a very strict naval blockade on Venice, Venice could not defeat the opponent even if it had a navy. In the face of strong opposition from some people, Domenico made a decision: to give up building a navy and sink all ships in important waterways to prevent the Roman navy from landing.
"I know it is painful to make this decision, but we have to face reality. Venice's navy is not enough to resist the Roman navy. Only by preserving its strength can we have a chance to survive."
The Governor's speech was not understood by the Parliament. They believed that the navy was the pride of Venice and could not be easily abolished. The Governor's direct and unethical policy violated Venice's original intention.
It was so rigid that they almost lost their lives, but fortunately, most of the policies were passed under the force of the governor: increasing the poll tax by 50%, devaluing the currency by 20%, imposing a tax in kind, and recruiting 10,000 more soldiers.
There is nothing that can be done about it, otherwise the Venetian government will collapse. Local agricultural output took time, and some remote areas began to flee. The local chiefs directly joined the fleeing team in order not to be held accountable. This makes the already small population become smaller and smaller.
Moreover, there is also a problem with its own foreign aid. Austria doesn't know why there is such a quarrel in HRE. I heard that Brandenburg proposed something that he cannot accept. I don't know what it is. They just hope that the aid funds will come quickly.
Nowadays, Austria is trying to survive by demolishing the eastern wall to make up for the western wall. He could only borrow money from Genoese businessmen to repay the Hanseatic League. By all means, things were finally settled here, but there were still many things waiting for him to deal with. The scope of the Berlin League led by Brandenburg was expanding. The strength is already comparable to that of the Swabian Alliance. A storm is coming.