Chapter 443 Changes
Lübeck, the capital of the Hanseatic League, is also the economic center of the northern Baltic Sea. In the castle in the city center, King Jobst of Germany was lying in bed waiting for God's call.
Originally, Jobst's health was still okay, but a few days ago when he was riding, the horse got frightened for some reason and threw him off the horse. From that fall, something went wrong. He is still alive now, but he is already on his deathbed. It's time.
The priest had prayed for him, but some people still felt that death was not fast enough, so they covered the king with a pillow while he was sleeping. The German king who had helped Brandenburg so much just exited the stage.
In order to obtain more information in recent years, various princes have been developing their own intelligence networks. Brandenburg is the closest, so the news of King Germany's death naturally came to Vlad first.
"What, Jobst is dead?"
"Yes, sir, the mayor of Lübeck personally confirmed it."
This is going to be troublesome. If he cannot choose someone with a neutral attitude, he will have a difficult life in the future.
"We need a suitable candidate, and one that other electors will not object to."
Although he has the support of Rome, if he wants to continue to live well, he must get the highest level to recognize him. Now he has to continue looking to see if there is a suitable person. Anyway, he will not succeed by himself.
Brandenburg has recently expanded slightly. The Teutonic Knights had no money to pay compensation, so they had to sell part of their land to Brandenburg. Although most of it is bad land, it can be considered a progress. After all, it will be powerful in the north in the future.
At this time, the land area of the Teutonic Knights country was 170,000 square kilometers, and its population was as high as 1 million. However, after the Battle of Grunwald, the Teutonic Knights lost a large amount of territory, and the Livonian Knights became autonomous and broke away from the control of the Knights. That's why the trouble has reached this point.
The climate conditions here are between temperate maritime climate and cold temperate continental climate. Winter here is much colder than in Western Europe. At least, Western Europe is warmed by the North Atlantic Current, and the average winter temperature does not fall below zero. And here, because there is no warming effect like the North Atlantic Warm Current, and cold air blows from the Eastern European steppes from the Western Siberian region from time to time. Therefore, the temperature here in winter is generally around minus nine degrees, which is colder than in Western Europe at the same latitude.
The climate is unfavorable and the land is barren, so agriculture is a weakness, but the aborigines and knights here have never relied on the sky for their livelihood. In this era, European trade was relatively large, that is, food, salt, furs, wood, spices, etc. The aborigines along the Baltic Sea sold amber and furs to the south in exchange for daily necessities. This is the origin of the Amber Road. .
The place of the Teutonic Knights is perfect for grazing, with large areas of unclaimed grassland. However, only many areas near the coast and near rivers were stocked with horses, cattle and sheep. And many areas in the interior are still undeveloped...
If the Teutonic Knights can be obtained, then Brandenburg can extend his power to Livonia. Of course, the specific division must be discussed with his second brother. I heard that he recently acquired a large piece of land, but it is a bit cold.
----Dividing line----
"Sir, do you really want to do this?"
"certainly"
Deleanu, the newly appointed senior official of Yerevan Province, told people around him: "In the East, there are people who lend money to farmers to help them. Now we can also do this to help farmers get through difficult days. We only need them during the harvest season." Just pay it back with interest.”
Deleanu's official career has been going smoothly since his good performance in Iasi. He also came into contact with some Eastern books, including laws that stipulated that the government lend money to farmers to protect them from landlord exploitation. He thought it was good and planned to try it in Yerevan.
"Will doing this make those businessmen angry?"
Several subordinates are still a little worried. After all, loans are a means for landlords and businessmen to generate income, and the targets are these farmers and civilians. Now that the government is directly intercepting their business, will they cause trouble or hinder them?
"You are really scared. This is also to generate revenue for the government, and the interest rate is low. Those farmers can't even borrow it, let alone anything else."
Deleanu has always aimed to sit on the position of prime minister. Although the road to promotion in Eastern Rome is simpler than that in other countries, it still requires a foundation of political performance. His previous political achievements in Tulcea, Iasi and other places were good, but it was not enough to enter the Senate. If he could make contributions here, then he would definitely become a figure as famous as Agrippa through the ages.
In fact, he found this method in Eastern books while he was in Constantinople. This oriental figure's books have caused great controversy among scholars. Some say it is a good policy to increase income and enhance national strength, while others say it is a move that is harmful to the country and the people. But Deleanu feels that if used properly, it will be a booster for his career as an official.
No matter what the psychology of these local officials is, they all know that they must have their own political achievements to avoid being beaten down. The construction of water conservancy facilities has become the mainstream. From Illyria to Van City, there has been an upsurge in building water conservancy. If one place cannot complete it, multiple places can complete it together. In addition to this, they also use various methods to boost the local economy. To be honest, they really don't know how Rome has so many means to keep an eye on them.
Not only are there assessments every two years, but there are also countless unannounced visits, and those who fail to meet the standards are directly fired. Last year, 15 people failed to meet the standards and were forced to retire. Officials like them can only work conscientiously to prevent the other party from catching them.
Even so, the public's enthusiasm for the examination is still very high. In the new official selection examination, 60% of the financial officers and half of the judges are from the citizenry. The influence of the nobles on officials has been greatly reduced. Moreover, their children must take exams if they want to become officials, but the government has specially set up schools for them to study. It can be regarded as taking extra care of them.
Moreover, the Eastern books during the Great Translation Movement had a considerable impact on them. Books such as The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean, and the Tao Te Ching were interviewed. The ideal kingdom in them is very similar to the concept of God’s kingdom of heaven. People who have traveled to the East It is said that the East is the real heaven on earth. This made the Eastern Route a popular voyage across the Empire.
Of course, the titles of some books are also translated into other names, otherwise they would not be able to understand them. For example, "The World in Dreams" was originally thought to be a fairy tale book, but turned out to be a popular science book. I can only say that my imagination is really rich.