Chapter 189: Union and Division
Mircea also opened an appeal office, where any citizen can submit a petition, and the Grand Duke basically reads it.
Today, he received a petition jointly submitted by more than a dozen people, hoping that Wallachia can protect the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture and encourage the development of academic freedom.
"Who submitted this? It doesn't look like a native?"
"Grand Duke, it was submitted by several young people from Athens."
Hearing that they were from a foreign country, Mircea was immediately curious, why didn't he seek help from his own government but found him instead.
Now Morea is busy recuperating, and Theodore is going to come here to see his daughter. Mircea is also going to discuss with him the possible merger of the two countries.
The marriage of Peter and Sophia is the first step in the union, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that the merger of the two countries is irreversible. Basilius of Constantinople can no longer use the despot of Morea. If it weren't for Wallachia in the middle, Theodore should have taken up his sword and went to Rome to talk to Manuel about the pros and cons.
His first child, John, is already six years old. If the dynasty can continue, he will be the Roman Emperor John VIII. But now, the crisis of dynasty change is imminent, and Wallachia can attack Constantinople from Adrian at any time.
Recently, the news of the neighboring country annexing Serbia came, and the people of the Roman court were panicked, fearing that Constantinople would be his next target. After the demise of Serbia, Bosnia took up the banner of the anti-Valachia alliance. Manuel privately sent an envoy to borrow the passage. The two sides were a little unhappy when they met for the first time, but they did not close the door to communication due to common needs. However, such news was soon known to Mircea.
This made him laugh and cry. I wonder if some nobles in the Roman court have secretly pledged allegiance to him. As soon as the envoy left, he got the news that they were ready to abdicate.
"Alliance? I'm just taking back the land that belongs to us. Why can't we unite as one? In this case, then you can become a landlord. This is your final destination."
Mircea has made up his mind that he wants to become Basilius and the master of Constantinople. However, this plan still needs to be considered in the long run. If you want to ascend the throne with peace of mind, you must first deal with the Osmans. Bayezid is having a great time fighting in West Asia. If you send troops while he is entangled with his opponents in the east, you should be able to land in Anatolia and stabilize the front line, and then defeat them one by one.
After controlling the western part of Anatolia, you can lead your troops into Constantinople. First, let the emperor grant him the position of co-emperor, then slowly work on it, cut off his wings, and finally let him abdicate, and a new dynasty will be established.
In order to implement the plan smoothly, Mircea must first let Morea submit to Wallachia. The biggest helper has been cut off, and Constantinople can only cry.
Moreover, Morea now needs Wallachia. Theodore needs Wallachia's military alliance, and the economy also needs Wallachia's trade to resume. The two countries can only survive in this world by uniting more closely.
————Dividing line————
Back to Hungary, Sigismund immediately returned to Buda after receiving assistance and defeated the Transylvanian troops that were besieging the city. Mary had to withdraw the army to the Tisza River.
The mercenaries recruited from the Holy Roman Empire were strong in combat power. Not only did they eliminate the enemies in the west, but the regime and the rebels in the east were also in danger. The King of Croatia even sent a special envoy to express his surrender.
However, Sigismund hesitated about whether to cross the Tisza River. He knew too well who was behind Transylvania. If he crossed the border, the Balkans would not ignore it. But if he did not pursue, the nobles in the country would swallow him.
However, Wallachia quickly made a choice for him. To be precise, it was the Wallachian Chamber of Commerce in the Hungarian bank that did it for him.
When the bank was lending money, it "inadvertently" threw a Hungarian currency into the fire. After it was extinguished, there was no coin, only a pool of silver water.
The fact that the Hungarian currency was fake shocked the entire bank. They used fire screening and concluded that 99.9% of the Hungarian currency was counterfeit.
The bank's discovery made depositors and lenders extremely nervous. They looked at these exquisite currencies and refused to believe that they were fake. But facts are facts. Even if they don't believe it, under the operation of the bank, other merchants also found that the silver content in it was 0, so they refused to accept this exquisite currency. The once prosperous capital Buda returned to the era of barter overnight.
Not only Hungary, but also Venice, Austria, Bohemia and other countries that Hungary traded with were not immune. Even if it was real currency, merchants were unwilling to believe it. Hungary's international reputation was completely bankrupt, and import and export trade fell sharply. The big landlords and nobles who had survived the crisis could not hold on, and could only sell their property and continue to oppress the peasants. As a result, the situation in the western region, which had calmed down, began to become unstable again.
People in the country began to trade with currencies from other countries, ducats, florins, and lei. The national currency gradually fell out of favor, and the prosperity of Hungary created by King Lajos the Great was completely gone. Later generations could only imagine the former prosperity in books praising him.
Sigismund had to continue looking for funds, but his previous loans were also due, so our Hungarian king planned to simply default on the debt. But how could the forces behind the bank let him go? So they issued a warning that if he did not pay back the money within a month, they would go to collect the debt with armed forces.
Sigismund scoffed at the bank's warning. He felt that the bank was just trying to scare him. First, the bank did not have such a strong force. Second, he owed the bank a total of 160,000 ducats. With such a large debt, they had to offer themselves up, otherwise how could they, the market class, fight the king.
Soon, the bank got the news that Sigismund was going to default on his debt, and the news soon reached their eldest brother. Seeing this, Peter couldn't wait to let the mercenaries and Cossacks form a group and plan to make a debut in Hungary. It is natural to pay back debts. I am not a sucker. Why should I give him money?
"Alas, Habsburg father-in-law, you forced me to do this. Who is willing to take this loss?"
He borrowed money from Sigismund just for this day, otherwise how could he cut a piece of meat from him. And he didn't have to pay most of the fees. The people in Hungary, please be a little aggrieved and pay for him.
A legion of about 12,000 mercenaries and 6,000 Cossacks is gathering, ready to join the civil war when the time comes.