Chapter 236 Correction

While Peter was busy sending the fleet, the manors funded by merchants were blooming all over Sicily. They were very smart. They did not start from the coastal areas where Westerners were strong, but went inland to engage in mining and forestry. Relying on the help of the Orthodox Church, they took root in the southern mountains and bribed the local governor to obtain a small area in the capital Palermo.

Since the nobles and big merchants in Sicily were all under the command of Aragon, Romania had to find another way to infiltrate the local poor peasants and citizens. This has achieved huge gains. Many peasants oppressed by the nobles converted, and even the Crescentists who hid in the mountains two hundred years ago returned to the Orthodox Church.

The Eastern Roman Empire had the deepest and longest influence on southern Italy. During the reign of Michael VIII, it had provoked the Sicilian Vespers War to fight against the Kingdom of Naples. Now that Rome wants to return to Italy, Sicily and Naples are the primary targets.

"Let us pray together, for God, and for our entry into heaven after death."

An Orthodox priest led the people to hold mass in the small church under construction. While preaching, he did not forget to criticize the Catholic Church, accusing them of being a group of beasts in human skin, swindling on the land in the name of God. Fortunately, Constantinople continued to maintain pure faith, and they were the envoys sent to save these innocent lambs.

In addition to the church, the influence of merchants made the local big families feel dangerous. Because the cotton cloth and other commodities sold by Romanian merchants caused the industry and commerce invested by the nobles to suffer losses, but fortunately, their main source was food on the plains, so the losses were not much.

People from the East snatched the cake, which was something that all the big families in Sicily could not tolerate. Even the maritime power Venice was respectful to them, so why did the Orientals want to snatch their jobs as soon as they came?

Colonial trade activities in the western Mediterranean and North Africa were under the control and surveillance of Peter. From Ceuta to the Levant, there would be the shadow of the Chamber of Commerce he founded. By using the intelligence network of merchants, you can get the latest news and even gossip in the court.

Peter encouraged and restrained the activities of Romanian merchants. Maritime trade with Venice, land trade with other countries, and the redistribution of interests all require the control and implementation of the latest policies. It is necessary to avoid sanctions from other countries and to ensure the growth of its own strength.

The strength of the navy is also growing. Romania now has two fleets in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The development of the shipbuilding industry provides high-quality ships for shipping and the navy. The two excellent ports of Thessaloniki and Smyrna have become the bases of the navy.

The pirate problem has been basically solved. Except for a few sponsored by North African countries, the others have either been incorporated or disappeared.

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"Your Majesty, regarding your proposal to expand the army by 40,000, we all agree that the cost is too high. Can it be reduced appropriately?"

Prime Minister Angel proposed to Mircea the suggestion discussed by the Senate, because according to Mircea's idea, the standing army will be increased to 80,000 in the future, which means that it will be expanded by another 40,000, which is a considerable expense for the newly established Romania.

"Why, can't the empire afford so many troops?"

After being crowned as the queen, Mircea's ambitions soared. Although not as strong as Manuel I, he was obsessed with territorial expansion. He believed that only a strong army could guarantee the security of the country, so he decided to expand the army and continue to expand the land.

Angel continued to persuade the emperor, saying that the financial tension and the population problem were the problems. Now Anatolia was in urgent need of population, and the expansion of the army would inevitably compete for labor. These two were also the reasons why the Senate did not agree to expand the army.

But Mircea didn't care about this. He felt that Romania must continue to expand the army now. Manuel was a fragile person. He was depressed after the failure of the Battle of Myriokephalon. Then he should be able to take steady steps.

The will of the monarch could not be refuted, but the Senate also successfully persuaded Mircea not to expand all at once, but to expand the army in batches. Leave time for the Minister of Finance to prepare funds.

According to the new financial report, there are still 1.6 million silver coins in the treasury, and the national tax revenue minus expenditure is 3 million. The crisis can be survived temporarily, but the ministers can only pray that there will be no major events that require money in the future.

The privileged documents were also promoted throughout the country, and Bartlan's identity as the chosen son of God was promoted throughout the country through the church. At the same time, the eldest son inheritance system in it determined the rules of succession to the throne, and legally ended the chaos of succession in the Eastern Roman Empire.

The diversity of the succession methods of the Eastern Roman emperors was caused by the specific environment of the Eastern Roman society. The diverse succession methods did maintain the continuation of the Eastern Roman dynasty on the surface, but it also aggravated the complexity, intensity and twists and turns of the succession process of the Eastern Roman imperial power. This is another feature of the Eastern Roman emperor succession system.

Among the 91 emperors, 43 died of illness, 45 were murdered, and 3 died of unexplained accidents. Normal deaths and abnormal deaths each accounted for about half, that is, one out of every two emperors died an unnatural death. The bloody struggle for the throne is fully reflected in this set of figures, and its intensity can be seen from this. It is particularly worth noting that among the emperors who died abnormally, the number of emperors who were executed was as high as 31, accounting for 1/3 of the total number of emperors. It is obvious that the succession to the Eastern Roman emperorship took place in an extremely dangerous environment.

In order to ensure a smooth succession to the throne, Mircea also changed the marriage law. The heir to the throne was ordered to be engaged before the age of 14 and married at the age of 18. Because parents and children took a very cautious attitude towards marriages with strict restrictions on the number of times, they needed more time to reach a consensus. The same was true for the parties to the marriage. Although they had the right to marry at the age of 14 (12), few people practiced early marriage. Late marriage was especially common in the royal family, so the age gap between the emperor and the heir was large.

How could this be possible? It was necessary to avoid the situation of the young emperor, so that those ambitious people would not have the opportunity to interfere in the succession to the throne. Mircea also began to find a fiancé for his grandson Alexander.

For his other sons, Michael was going to be re-titled the Duke of Ukraine, Vlad would enter the army after completing his university courses, and Stefan had just entered school and had not yet made plans.

Peter had been crowned Caesar and was also responsible for Anatolia and Ukraine. He was very confident in his son, but he was worried about the father-son fights like those decades ago. He was also afraid that the human tragedies caused by distrust would happen again. This contradiction could not be calmed in his heart for a long time.