Chapter 211 What We Need Most Now Is Time
After bidding farewell to the envoys from Florence, Peter continued to govern Anatolia. He learned from the previous Roman emperors' failure to concentrate on managing this place and began to work hard to build the core.
He issued agricultural decrees and orders to liberate serfs, and tens of thousands of Christian slaves were freed. They became local self-employed farmers or craftsmen, and obtained funds and manpower for the governor.
In the east, Isa was defeated by Suleiman and suffered heavy losses. Peter took this opportunity to go east, captured the important town of Laodica in the east, and successfully advanced part of the inland. In order to prevent the Turks from making a comeback, a series of defensive facilities were built, and post stations were built to facilitate information transmission.
For the encroachment of Wallachia, the Ottoman parties had no way to deal with it. After all, the struggle for orthodoxy was more important than anything else, and the local nomadic tribes saw no reinforcements and could only choose between migration and surrender.
In the west, Bosnia and Croatia reached an agreement, and the two countries formally formed an alliance to jointly deal with Wallachia. And they were ready to join the encirclement, but the Cossacks and mercenaries on the border of Wallachia were still waiting for them. These monarchs had no good way to deal with their actions.
The expansion of Wallachia also caused a wave of reverse immigration. Some Greeks who immigrated to Western Europe were queuing up to immigrate back. For them, the Balkans are their home. Since the threat of pagans is gone, let's go back.
When these people left, they also took away the manuscripts they brought with them, and the most important channel for Italians to contact ancient culture was cut off. In order to continue to absorb classical culture, they also came to the Balkans and brought Western European culture and art. Reverse Renaissance belongs to it.
The Florossa envoy came to Constantinople. Although it was still a bit desolate, prosperity was restored at a visible speed. The number of merchant ships in the port increased, the variety of goods increased, and the people's hearts were more stable than before.
Mircea agreed to Florence's request without much thought. After all, the other party's request was not excessive, much better than Venice. But the Grand Duke still emphasized the status of Wallachian merchants and would never allow any country to waver.
In a blink of an eye, it has been two months since Mircea entered Constantinople. The local situation has been firmly controlled by Mircea. Seeing that the time is ripe, Mircea further appointed himself as the supreme ruler, but his ministers said that the Grand Duke should become a co-emperor. Mircea did not agree. Then thousands of people came to the Theodosius Square to petition, and Mircea was "reluctantly" promoted to co-emperor.
After becoming a co-emperor, Mircea continued to relocate the government agencies of Bucuriesti, and also moved some restless nobles here for easy monitoring. Reforms were made to the ancient Roman management system, and centralization became stronger. Institutions were abolished and increased, and the cheap Helep currency was abolished and replaced by lei.
At this time, the territory of Wallachia was almost the same as that of Alexius I in the early days, but the difference was that the international situation in Mircea's time was better than that of Alexius, and there was no need to go to Western Europe for reinforcements. The current standing army and conscripts were enough.
While restoring order and economy, Mircea also made changes to education and culture. He rebuilt the University of Constantinople and began to select candidates through examinations. He encouraged ancient Greek and Roman culture and considered reopening the Academy of Athens. These things should have been done earlier, but they were dragged down by civil wars and foreign invasions. Now we can only hurry to make up for it.
At present, the biggest problem of Wallachia is that there are not enough people. The area is similar to that of France, but the population is less than half of that of France. The Grand Duke has issued orders to encourage immigration several times, and the Governor directly uses gold coins to encourage childbirth. The amount of money rewarded for the birth of enough children is strictly prohibited, and false claims are strictly prohibited. Violators will be severely punished. Of course, it is limited to Asia Minor.
Peter's army is the one with the highest proportion of firearms. Artillery and muskets ended the era of nomadic rule. Although their erratic traces still caused some trouble, the post station system and bastion construction forced them to have less and less space for activities. Some tribes can only move eastward to Syria, Persia or south to Egypt. Farmers came to the new land to settle down and fill the vacancies left by the tribes.
The governor and the co-emperor were responsible for one of the Turkic states in the east and the Catholic siege in the south. For the Turks, they needed to force them to migrate eastward, drive them out of Anatolia or assimilate them on the spot. For the siege, they felt that these countries were not even a fraction of Wallachia's strength. See if they can be purchased or directly eliminated.
Diplomatic stability is the best time for domestic reforms. The nobles of Constantinople gradually lost their influence in the city during sieges and exiles. In the investigation of fake tax-exempt people, hidden fields were found. The government confiscated all of them and rented them to landless farmers for cultivation.
As in Bucuriesti, the Grand Duke could only rely on small and medium nobles, merchants, and self-employed farmers. The great nobles really didn't dare to rely on them. He still wanted to sleep well at night.
While Mircea was working hard to govern, entertainment also occupied a lot of his time. Drama, banquets, hunting, these Mircea would try. He also built the first theater in Wallachia in Bucuriesti, and some plays with classical backgrounds were created, which contained a lot of new elements. The themes of people-oriented and the pursuit of happiness were popular. The university became a cultural center, and under the influence of various factors, it became more and more widespread and eventually spread throughout Wallachia.
At this time, Wallachia was already the successor of the Roman Empire in terms of territory and culture, and the influence of this emerging country continued. The pagans in the East suspended their plans for the Western Expedition, and instead fought among their own brothers. Baghdad, Damascus, Ankara, and Qom were repeatedly fought for, and Timur was ready to go to the East to meet the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. For this purpose, he would prepare hundreds of thousands of troops as a gift to meet the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In Western Europe, the Anglo-French War, the Hungarian Civil War, and the Reconquista did not stop. The call for religious reform in Bohemia and other places became more and more intense, and from time to time it was accompanied by infectious diseases such as plague. Social unrest caused people near Wallachia to immigrate to the Balkans, not only enriching the population, but also bringing local culture and technology. In a few years, they will be assimilated into real Wallachians by Wallachia. They will closely surround Wallachia and face the outside world together. After all, in this Europe where the political system is the same, Wallachia's goodness to the people is undoubtedly the biggest attraction.