Chapter 188 Military and Religious Expansion

Chapter 188 Army + Religion = Expansion

For the Hungarian Civil War, neither Peter nor Mircea had the intention to expand, but if it was offered by themselves, they had to think about it before making a decision.

In seven years, Wallachia almost unified the Balkans. This speed in the game means a stability reduction of 3. Now it takes time to digest such a large land.

After conquering Serbia, Peter executed and exiled those nobles who disobeyed his orders, adopted a migration policy for obedient nobles, and sent monasteries and churches to preach. Sometimes he had to expand and assimilate at the same time.

It has to be admitted that the mineral resources in Serbia are too rich. Three silver mines were found alone, and a lot of iron mines were found in Bulgaria and Macedonia. There are also copper, coal, tin and other minerals. Wallachia contracted out some of the minerals and made a lot of money.

With these funds, the local administrative planning will be more perfect. Even if those nobles want to play tricks, they will not succeed.

Peter personally went to Smederevo to stabilize the situation, expelled many Catholic nobles, and established a local government with a high concentration of Orthodox. Peter was also on guard against Croatia and Bosnia.

Recruitment offices were established throughout Wallachia. Recruited soldiers generally underwent military training, and the recruitment period was mostly more than half a year. In order to make them feel at ease to fight, some military pay would be paid in advance as living expenses for the soldiers' families.

Wallachia's conscripts generally recruited some people for military training from the age of seventeen. Basically, one soldier was required for every 20 households. After training, they would be stationed at the border or other places. After three years, they would become reserves and would return to the battlefield during the war. If you ran away, your family would be exiled and your property would be confiscated. If you are not afraid, you can try it.

Foreigners can also join the Wallachian army, but they must start from low-level positions. This is to ensure fairness, and the military academy established by Peter before has also been expanded. Officers began to join the army in an endless stream, and the quality of the army is also improving.

At present, Wallachia has 70 conscription offices across the country, which can recruit up to 50,000 people, the highest ratio in Europe. Together with the standing army, a total of 90,000 troops can be recruited. Excluding the defense, there are about 50,000 troops that can be used.

Such an army has exceeded the number of most European countries. While the armies of most countries use cold weapons, the Wallachian army has begun to equip matchlocks and artillery on a large scale. The power of firearms in battle has attracted great attention from the two rulers, so various policies have been adopted to support the military industry. Now Wallachia's firearms can be said to be the best in Europe.

In addition, the government has adopted a policy of recruiting some people engaged in the mercenary industry in Wallachia. They will be reorganized into mercenary groups, and they will be the first to fight after the war begins. The treatment is the same as that of the standing army. The purpose is to reduce the probability of them making trouble and re-employment after being laid off.

Peter placed the mercenary group on the border of Bosnia, and these mercenaries soon fell into their old habit: looting. They frequently harassed the border of Bosnia, and Croatia was still asking the Pope for support, so Bosnia had to suffer for a long time.

After so many years of reform, the framework of centralization was finally built by Peter and Mircea. The newly emerging military landlords and self-cultivating farmers, the industrial and commercial classes and the church were all filling in various things. The political influence of local nobles was limited, and the signs of division were strangled, without the painstaking efforts of gluing together like Spain.

At the same time, the development of centralization also means that all classes have common demands. Farmers need more land, the army needs more military merits and rewards, and merchants and craftsmen need more markets. All of these require a stable domestic environment and external expansion to achieve. And Peter also complied with their wishes, stabilizing the country while gradually unifying the Balkans, and the territory continued to expand. Everyone was very satisfied, and their support for the Bartlan family became more and more solid.

In terms of military merit rewards, Peter adopted the official rank table and military rank system to stimulate the enthusiasm of the lower-class people to join the army. In the three conquests of the Ottoman Empire, more than 2,000 people were awarded different military ranks and more than 20,000 people were awarded land. Half of them were from the peasant and citizen classes. At the officer level, although the nobles still accounted for the majority, the proportion was declining year by year, and the more enthusiastic lower-class people were replacing their positions.

Even though the nobles gradually lost their political and military advantages, their economic position remained stable. In order to compensate the nobles, Mircea granted the nobles some economic privileges, including tax incentives, investment factory incentives, etc. Peter also gave the nobles incentives and privileges in the shipbuilding and shipping industries in the newly promulgated decree. Relying on the preferential treatment given by the Grand Duke, and in order to earn more money to maintain expenses, the nobles began to invest in industry and commerce on a large scale.

Textiles, flour, silk, printing and dyeing, shipbuilding, as long as they can make money, they are involved, and they only have preferential treatment. In the market, they have to compete with the people, and after the survival of the fittest, the final winner is determined.

Industrialists and businessmen can also enter the upper class by making money and marrying nobles, which is nothing new in northern Italy. Therefore, in Wallachia, this new type of nobles gradually increased. The traditional nobles who relied on land as their main income gradually decreased, which was what the Grand Duke wanted to see. These land nobles were the base of the conservatives, and reforms must reduce resistance.

Among all the economic factors, the church is a very special one. They expanded their assets by annexing the land of the Crescent Church and enslaved the Turks to work for them. In addition to food, they also operated industries such as brewing, textiles, and mills. Some temples also acted as banks.

The growth of the church economy brought about the demand for power and the erosion of the national economy. More than 10 monasteries were started every year, some of which were funded by the church and some by princes and nobles. Most monasteries became the church's treasury and there was a struggle for power.

Although Peter supported the expansion of the church, he could not touch the power he had finally concentrated. As early as four years ago, the Grand Duke issued a decree that no one could donate land to the church unless the Grand Duke approved it. At the same time, he guided the church to spread the gospel to pagan places and firmly grasped the power to appoint and dismiss bishops so that the church would not cross the line.

The church also played its role honestly. They had rebuilt the first monastery in Nicomedia and gathered a group of Orthodox Christians. The order also formed a guard for protection. The Ottomans cracked down severely, but to no avail. Many years later, some people realized that the landing of the Orthodox Church in Anatolia was only a prelude to the demise of the Ottomans.