Chapter 586 The First Shot
Sigismund began to gather troops and informed the nobles of Bohemia as an insider. As long as they can control Wenzel, the overall situation will be settled.
At this time, the Berlin Alliance was thriving under the leadership of Brandenburg, and the countries could discuss things in a relatively peaceful manner. And with a leader to support them, they could also run their own estates to increase their income.
These years have been a rare period of peace for the alliance, although Brandenburg has been suppressing them as the leader of the alliance. But the big brother gave too much, as long as it does not involve their property, the political power will be given to him.
The Hanseatic League has the same idea. The peaceful environment not only increases their trade, but also enables them to fight with Denmark. As long as their property is not damaged, they can obey Brandenburg's command.
Vlad walked along the Danube to Pozonie, Hungary, and then took the land route through Silesia back to Berlin. Along the way, he was also thinking about what his big brother said to him.
"Remember, although the alliance is good, it will be disbanded one day, and you need to make some changes to this."
Alliance changes, how to change this? The eldest brother didn't say anything, everything can only be explored by himself.
"My lord, you are back."
"Well, what happened recently?"
"No big deal, but it was proposed in the parliament that you should become king."
Vlad was stunned and asked quickly: "What did they say?"
"The parliamentarians of Hamburg, Lübeck and Schleswig asked you to send troops to attack Copenhagen and become the king of Denmark."
They are quite thinking about themselves. After taking Denmark, they will get the Oresund Strait, and the trade in the Baltic Sea will be completely controlled by them.
"Is that so, but let's wait until the Bohemian matter is over."
Vlad didn't continue to speak, he was thinking about how to improve the cohesion of the alliance. However, the more territories, the easier it is to do things, so let's confirm Silesia first.
"How many troops can we gather now?"
"Except for those defending the city, we can have 13,000 troops."
"Well, gather them all and go to Breslau with me."
Vlad has decided that he will intervene in Bohemia this time. Since none of his brothers want to fire the first shot, let him do it.
Although Silesia is not a no-man's land, he entered in the name of maintaining stability, and the other party does not know what reason to expel him for a while. He must seize this opportunity.
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Wladyslaw has moved the capital from Krakow to Warsaw. Fortunately, he brought back most of his property from Lithuania, which supported him to bribe the Sejm to pass the resolution to move the capital.
Poland's situation is not much better than other countries, but thanks to the economic recovery of its neighbors, Poland's grain exports have reached a new height. Mazovia, which is directly under Wladyslaw's jurisdiction, produces the most. Relying on the benefits brought by exporting grain, he began to reorganize the army and planned to recover the lost land in Lithuania.
Vytautas only had the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania at this time. The nobles hated him for losing his land, the common people hated him for signing the peace treaty easily, and Władysław hated him for giving away the land he had finally obtained.
But what could he do at that time? If Władysław could come earlier, he might not have to sign.
The two brothers hated each other so much, and Vytautas could only rely on the few pieces of land to increase his power. The large area before seemed like a moon in the water and a flower in the mirror. Lithuania would eventually return to its position.
Vytautas also led troops to attack Minsk, but was repelled by the defenders. Mihaly spent a lot of effort to protect the new territory. The Russian boyars were also proud to defend the old territory of Rus, and the Orthodox Church also gave Minsk a sacred status. Lithuania, a pagan, wanted to take it back, but in the next life.
In the south, the Ruthenian provinces under Roman control and the vassal Cossack state had always been very peaceful. Most of the food produced locally was exported through the Black Sea, and mining and iron smelting in Donetsk and Luhansk provided a lot of resources. These also became the materials for Rome to expand into the Caucasus.
Constantinople invested 2 million lei here successively and built hundreds of fortresses and towns. As a border province, Kiev Province naturally has the largest army here.
Listerlin came to Kiev by ship, and the mayor of Kiev had been waiting for a long time.
"Welcome to Kiev, sir."
"Well, from today on, this place will change."
At this time, Kiev already had 40,000 citizens, the city walls had been replaced with stone, and the Basil Cathedral in the city center was rebuilt.
Taking advantage of Kiev's geographical location, it quickly attracted merchants from Russia, Poland and other countries to trade here. This is also a Russian-Romanian trade node, and there are many tariffs and transaction taxes from it, but it has been undergoing major construction in recent years, and the money will soon be spent. If the army is not paid directly by the central government, it will go bankrupt.
Listerlin also asked about Kiev's taxes, but the other party said that the big landlords here are people who cannot be touched. How could the former chancellor not know that there must be a noble among them?
"Don't panic, someone told me."
The other party also said directly that there were not only former ministers of the Senate, but also members of the parliament, and even the royal family. However, according to the imperial decree, they all had to pay taxes, so at least they didn't have to worry about not being able to pay taxes.
The fertility of the land here has attracted many people, but no one can compare to the royal family. Dnipro Province has almost become a direct territory of the royal family. Except for a few old nobles who own a few manors, the royal family has become the only landlord here.
With Mircea Castle as the center, the most fertile land around it belongs to the royal family. There are also workshops and shops in the city that are providing funds. Baptiste also discussed the problem here with the emperor before, and finally reached a compromise: taxes here can be waived, but the royal family must bear the construction expenses here.
Listerlin learned the specific situation. Although the border is peaceful at present, Poland does not know when it will launch a surprise attack. Now it is necessary to prepare for defense and pay close attention to the direction of Poland and Russia.