Chapter 629: Reforms of Charles VII
The three brothers formally signed a treaty in Warsaw. The treaty stipulated that Livonia, Samogitia, and Polotsk belonged to Russia; the western part of Poland, including Warsaw, belonged to Brandenburg; and Romania received Kraft. Małopolska region including Kov.
This division is basically based on the previous treaty. The only difference is that Russia gave Warsaw to Brandenburg because the other party was willing to give up some economic benefits.
Russia's gains are actually not small, because it has acquired Livonia, a wealthy place, and also has a vast coastline. Russia can rely on the Baltic Sea to develop trade.
"This war is finally over," Peter sighed.
Although some time was wasted, there were no changes to the next plan. Next comes the highlight.
The sudden change of power in Eastern Europe is a warning to other countries. No matter how much hatred they have, it is probably put aside. Stopping heresy is the most important thing.
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Charles VII had been a little sad recently, but he cheered up after the encouragement of the Duke of Orleans and other ministers.
They must now pull out an army as soon as possible, otherwise the enemy will definitely occupy the entire territory of France. In order to let the king know what to do, the Duke of Orleans specially asked the Duke of Bourbon to come and tell him.
Now the Duke has no choice but to be neutral. Although his property may be protected by the British, the French will hate him to death. I can only feel sorry for my in-laws.
"Your Majesty, the Duke, I invite you here today to revive the power of the Kingdom of France. I wonder what suggestions you have?" the Duke of Orleans said beside him.
"Your Majesty, Duke, I am here to provide a good solution for the court. We must now re-establish an army. When I went to Romania, I knew some of the training and composition methods of their army."
The Duke made a detailed review of the Romanian army at the court: "What impressed me deeply is that the Romanian army has strong discipline and obedience to orders, which is different from the armies of other countries I have seen, including our own. . It is said that they specially formulated a military law to restrict the behavior of soldiers and have strict regulations on all aspects.
And they seemed to be very happy to train and did not complain at all about the waste of farmland due to training. Therefore, they were able to use the tools in their hands skillfully and maintain a complete formation during the march. They were not only serious about building the camp, but also had a clear division of labor and high efficiency, so they were very A well-defended camp can be built in a short time. "
This statement surprised Charles VII. After all, all countries now have similar military disciplines. In addition to mercenaries, France's current army is provided by lords. The lord granted fiefs to vassals, and the vassals performed free military service for the lord. this
This approach has serious flaws. If the vassal only has a female heir after his death or the heir is a child, he will not be able to respond to the lord's call and perform military service obligations. In addition, there was a time limit for the vassal's obligation to serve the lord in the military. The most common is that the vassal serves the lord for 40 days free of charge every year. After this period, the vassal has the right to withdraw from the battlefield.
After the 12th century, mercenaries began to play an increasingly important role in Western European wars. During the Hundred Years' War, some people in the British and French armies served the king based on feudal obligations, but most of them were mercenaries who participated in the war to obtain rewards, spoils of war and ransom for prisoners of war. During the truce of the Hundred Years War, mercenaries who had lost their job opportunities gathered together and formed many armed gangs that survived by robbery, kidnapping, extortion and collecting protection fees, the so-called "Free Legions". Not only did they invade France and ravage urban and rural residents, they were also able to defeat the royal army in large-scale field battles, thereby directly challenging the king's authority.
In order to eliminate the harm of the "Legions of Freedom", the French royal family took measures such as military conquests, financial bribes, and causing trouble. At that time, the desperate Charles V even turned to astrology, but none of them could fundamentally solve the problem. Because the war was intermittent, mercenaries on both sides always transformed into "Free Corps" during the armistice, and then became mercenaries when the war resumed. Under the circumstances at that time, only by reforming the way the army was recruited, establishing a standing army controlled by the king, and getting rid of the over-reliance on mercenaries could it be possible to fundamentally solve the problem of the raging "Freedom Legion".
"The Duke said very well that we need to learn from Romania. They have a lot of knowledge that France needs to obtain from it." Charles VII paused and continued. "I hope the Duke can assist me."
Charles VII gave the Duke of Bourbon the position of Minister of War, modeled on the English cabinet department. At the same time, the king decided to restore the previously disbanded Order Knights, and they would exist as the king's exclusive force.
Today's France is a joke. Some HRE people joke that there are three Frances: one is the British France, whose territory is from Gienne to Calais, including Normandy, Wexon, Mann, Picardy, Champagne and Île-de-France; one is the France of Burgundy, which, in addition to the Duke of Burgundy, includes the Count of Nevers, Flanders and Artois in the north; the third is the France of Charles VII, whose territory Limited to areas near Bourges.
Despite the King's desire to revive the kingdom, he now needed the help of the Estates-General. In 1302, Philip IV convened the first Estates-General to obtain the approval of the clergy, nobles and the third estate for national mobilization and related military service taxes. Subsequently, the principle that military taxes could be levied only with the consent of the Estates-General was formed. .
In the past, the French king issued a general mobilization order and levied a military service tax, which provided a basis for Charles VII's request, but the general mobilization order could only be issued in an emergency, and the military service tax was a temporary burden on the subjects. How did Charles VII solve the problem of supporting the Royal Cavalry in peacetime?
Certain classes or social groups tried to fight for exemption from the military service tax. The clergy was particularly dissatisfied with the military service tax imposed on them by the king, and believed that they should enjoy exemption. According to tradition, the clergy was responsible for prayer and had no obligation to pay taxes to the king. The clergy tithe levied during the Crusades set a precedent for French monarchs to tax clergy, but the clergy tithe was generally based on the war against pagans and required the consent of the Pope, or at least the consent of the French Council of Clergy.
Although the Royal Cavalry and the military service tax were unpopular among the people, Charles VII decided to implement them, not only for victory, but also for centralization, so that his descendants would not worry about these things.