Chapter 231 Stirring up the Waters in Eastern Europe
The Golden Horn in Constantinople was bustling, with the flag of Wallachia flying in the wind at the bow. Everyone knew that this was the triumphant return of the co-ruling emperor Mircea, and the people cheered and welcomed the emperor back to the city.
Mircea, who returned to Constantinople, had no time to rest, he wanted to see his grandson as soon as possible.
In the garden of the palace, Maria was taking her newly born grandson to bask in the sun. She heard the sound outside, and then saw her husband who had returned from the expedition.
"Oh, my dear husband, come and see how strong he is, and the future of the family depends on him."
Mircea looked at the newborn baby, and the smile on his face never stopped. He had to train him well and must not let the problems of the Macedonian Dynasty and the Komnenos Dynasty reappear.
The child's baptism took place six days later, but the child's name had not yet been decided because there were too many names and it was difficult to choose.
Sophia wanted to name him after his father Theodore, but Peter had different ideas. He wanted a unique name, so he wrote down all the names he could think of on paper. Basil, Alexios, Manuel, John and Michael were eliminated because they were used too frequently. He also looked through old books to try to find a name.
In the end, Peter chose two names: Alexander and Nicholas. After discussion, they decided to name the child Alexander.
With a grandson, Mircea felt that the family status should be determined as soon as possible. The little emperor was useless, so he was done with it.
However, in terms of the name, Mircea did not like the title of Roman emperor, because Wallachia had been separated from Rome for ten centuries, and now becoming a Roman emperor made them look like outsiders. It would be better to call them the emperors of the Romans.
However, calling them this way might cause a backlash from the Greeks. Because the Latin Empire established in 1204 was also called the Romanian Empire, this naming might cause turmoil.
In order to test the people, Mircea released the news first. The same is true for other cities. At first, some people discussed changing their names, but on the day of Alexander's baptism, no one was there. Compared with Rome, Romania is larger, and for the Catholic Empire in the 13th century, the Greeks prefer to call them the Latin Empire (they call Westerners Latins).
On the day of the baptism of the little prince, the cathedral was crowded with nobles and celebrities, and people wanted to see what Alexander looked like.
Mircea also accelerated the pace of seizing power. The attendants around John were replaced and he was forbidden to contact the outside world. Taking advantage of the victory in this war, Mircea decided to force him to abdicate after the Epiphany.
Before that, some auspicious signs must also be there. For example, when Mircea was discussing with the ministers, he said that he dreamed that Constantine the Great personally handed him a purple dress yesterday, and for example, a light shone on Mircea when he was worshiping in Hagia Sophia. These auspicious signs directly made the people in the city believe that Mircea was the chosen son of God, and it was an inevitable trend for Bartlan to replace Palaeologus.
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The news of Wallachia's attack on Prusa has reached Suleiman, who is at the front line. The other party is very angry and directly kicks over the table in front of him.
"Damn pagans, they don't keep their promises, they all deserve to die."
Suleiman was angry and ordered his army to the west. He was going to drive Wallachia out of Anatolia. With his army, as long as the speed was fast enough, there was a chance of success.
At this time, Nicaea and Prusa were surrounded by Wallachia. They used artillery and catapults to attack the city walls, and also used tunnels to bury explosives to prepare for blasting. With the blockade of Wallachia, many towns surrendered due to the shortage of supplies. Wallachia did not make it difficult for these pagans. Those who wanted to leave left half of their property, and those who wanted to stay had to learn Wallachian and convert. Those who did not convert had to pay a head tax.
In the north, the Cossacks hired by Mircea had good combat effectiveness. They advanced while killing all the way and soon reached the Don River. They went north along the Don River. The Khan of the Golden Horde panicked and quickly sent envoys to negotiate peace.
Mircea set up the New Wallachia Department to be responsible for the governance of the northern Black Sea. All soldiers who participated in the war were rewarded with land, and some officers were given noble titles. The Cossack tribes also obtained arable land and began to settle down.
The Cossack Emirate also asked Constantinople to send scholars, bishops and other talents, and Mircea agreed. At the same time, they negotiated an alliance treaty with the Cossack Emirate again, striving to make them vassals.
Although it is said to become a vassal, it cannot be decided easily. Once the Cossacks are accepted, it means there is a risk of going to war with Lithuania. Wallachia cannot be involved in a possible war. But assistance to the Cossacks can still be carried out.
The Cossack uprising hit the order in central and southern Lithuania. The huge principality alliance showed signs of loosening. Kiev could not withstand the attack of the Cossacks and could be broken at any time. Other principalities also sought Vytautas's protection, but the damage from the previous expedition was too great and they could not recover for a while.
Given that the Golden Horde and Lithuania were both injured, Moscow was also ready to move. Vasily I first annexed the weak Principality of Ryazan, and then forced other Russian principalities to the north, preparing to unify the northeastern part of Russia by force.
Regarding the division of Eastern Europe, Wallachia and Moscow finally reached a preliminary agreement. Wallachia can obtain the middle and southern parts of the Dnieper River and the vast land to Astrakhan, while Moscow is the northern part of Russia, Livonia, Minsk and the northern Polish-Lithuanian region. As for Kiev, negotiations continue.
But while discussing the division, Władysław finally took action. He loaned 10,000 ducats to the parliament as funds to aid Vytautas and gave him 3,000 troops to command. Władysław knew that only if he helped Vytautas in his most difficult time would he be grateful to you. And he also knew that his cousin was capable of helping Poland in the fight with the Teutonic Knights and sharing his pressure.
With these things, Vytautas could shut them up in the parliament. And temporarily recruited 2,000 troops, making up 5,000 people to go south to quell the rebellion. There will be others joining along the way, and the number may be higher.
Władysław also understood that Wallachia's attitude was crucial to whether Lithuania could survive this disaster. If he went down, even if Poland helped, it would take more than ten years to get results. Such a lose-lose move would not be done, so diplomatic means were essential. Only after solving the problem in the south can we turn our attention back to the north to deal with their old enemy, the Teutonic Knights.