Chapter 3 Basic Situation of Wallachia

(Back to the point, welcome to 1391, the late Middle Ages in Europe, where feudal nobles were maintaining their last power, and the emerging wealthy class also rose in this era, and they constituted the main promoters of the later Renaissance.)

Walachia, a small country on the Balkan Peninsula. It has only been sixty years since its independence in 1330. As we all know, Eastern European countries are sparsely populated, so even after so many years, the population of Wallachia is only more than 500,000, and a considerable part of it is in the capital, Kemplong.

It was originally an ordinary small country. But a few years ago, changes began here.

In 1387, Grand Duke Mircea announced that two nobles would be sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. But both of them were very close to Hungary, so the Hungarian King Sigismund sent someone to hint to the Grand Duke to release them, and Mircea agreed. As a result, they were released, and they were found dead in the house the next day.

This made Sigismund so angry that he screamed, but he could not produce evidence to prove that it was Mircea who did it. So they had to swallow their anger.

A month after this incident, a Chamber of Commerce was established in Wallachia, the first Chamber of Commerce in Wallachia. Every summer, they would go upstream from the Danube to Buda, Pest, Vienna and other cities to do business. Every time, they could make a lot of money and bring a lot of daily necessities to the country.

Relying on these, Wallachia formed an army of free farmers and town residents in the second year and captured the northern part of Dobruja (Dobruja was an autocratic country at that time). This landlocked country finally had its own outlet to the sea. And it was named Constanta by the ten-year-old Peter, the son of Grand Duke Mircea and the future heir of the Grand Duke.

Speaking of this heir, Grand Duke Mircea felt that this was a gift from God. Since he was born, he has not cried like other children, and likes to stay alone and read quietly.

Very precocious, this is the view of people around him. When he was eight years old, he began to put forward his own views on state governance. The method used on the two pro-Hungarian lords before was his advice.

Later, he proposed to establish a chamber of commerce to increase income. Mircea agreed and let him go ahead. As a result, they brought them 300 Venetian ducats in the first year, in addition to 2 cannons and more than 30 muskets, as well as five or six people engaged in firearms production.

Relying on these, Wallachia established the first firearms unit, which was small but groundbreaking. At the same time, Mircea was also allowed to expand his troops to 6,000 people.

With complete armaments and high morale, the next step is expansion. In 1389, Wallachia sent 3,000 people to attack the Dobruja Despotate and quickly eliminated those pitiful troops. Forced the other side to cede the northern region. Wallachia had its own outlet to the sea, and the firearms unit they established played a big role in this.

In order to encourage his son, Mircea announced that he would confer this newly added land on him, and gave him various powers such as coinage and military power. This is not an ordinary favor.

In this way, at the age of ten, he became the youngest lord in Wallachia and even in Eastern Europe.

As the person involved, Peter said that he didn't want to be so outstanding. But he was not a person of this era, he was a crossover.

Originally, he was just a student who went to Bucharest to study. He stayed there for two years and made a girlfriend. He was finally going to take her back to meet his parents, but there was a sudden earthquake and he was unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself here and turned into a baby.

After several years of understanding, he understood that this was one of the predecessors of Romania, the Principality of Wallachia. And by learning that the King of Hungary was Sigismund and the progress of the Ottoman Empire, it was estimated that it was now the 14th century.

Since he came here, he would be at peace. Since he came here. It would be a waste if he didn't make some impact. Therefore, he conceived a plan for the development and expansion of Wallachia in his mind.

The land in Wallachia is relatively fertile, and there are still large areas that are undeveloped. In addition, with the acquisition of the Dobruja region, Wallachia had an outlet to the sea, so it was necessary to increase the population, not only for the economy, but also for the army.

So, after he was able to think independently, he began to show his political wisdom. He began to provide advice to his father, Grand Duke Mircea. Including encouraging reclamation, rectifying finances, training the army and limiting the power of the nobility.

These policies were effective immediately, and a large number of Balkan refugees came to Wallachia. Most of them were farmers, and many were handicraftsmen. The population of Wallachia also grew rapidly, with up to 33,000 people coming here a year. They were settled in areas near the Black Sea and Bulgaria.

Unlike Moldavia and Lithuania. Wallachia faced less threat from nomads, and there were large tracts of uncultivated fertile land in the country. This gave Wallachia a small window of development.

So, when he learned that he had become the lord of Northern Dobruja, he felt incredible. However, he could also put his blueprint into practice.

The Northern Dobruja region has developed to a certain extent under the rule of the Dobruja Despotate, and as one of the important ports on the Black Sea, if Constanta is developed, there will be a stable income.

They did what they said, from reclaiming land to building ports. A new city stood on the coast of the Black Sea, and the construction of the port also attracted many people to settle here. In about a year, the population of Constanta increased from less than 2,000 to 4,000.

The port of Constanta on the southeastern Black Sea coast faces the Black Sea to the east, the Danube to the west, Bulgaria to the south, and Russia to the north. As early as the 6th century BC, an ancient Greek castle was built there. It was once an important port of the Dacian Kingdom, and was later taken under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was then ruled by the Eastern Roman Empire, the Slavs, and the Bulgarian Empire in turn.

At the end of the 14th century, Bulgaria was divided into three parts, and the Bulgarian Tsardom, the Dobruja Absolute State, and the Vidin Tsardom were established. And Constanta was under the rule of Dobruja, and then it was incorporated into the territory of Wallachia.

Constanta, the pearl of the Black Sea. Its geographical location determines that it can become an international port comparable to Constantinople.

In the city hall, Peter looked at the increasingly prosperous city. He sighed that his hard work was not in vain.

"Your Highness, this month, about 600 people from Moldova, Bulgaria and other places came here to settle down. There is also a brewery, two wool textile mills and three shops near the port."

"Okay, my dear financial director, what do you think we should do next?"

Peter asked the director in front of him, Alexander. This poor businessman from Belgrade always has some good suggestions in his mind. Peter also saw his ability, so he decided to let him be the business director here.

"Your Highness," Alexander saluted him and said. "I think that in order to achieve greater development here, we must continue to expand the population, and secondly, we must compete for benefits from Venice and Genoa, because they take the bulk, and only a small part is ours."

Alexander is also talking about the current situation of all cities along the Black Sea coast, because Venice and Genoa, their small cities can only get very little profit.

Especially Venice, because of the behavior in 1204 and the sale of territory by the Roman Empire, their influence has spread throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Now, the Eastern Mediterranean has been controlled by Venice and Genoa, and Constantinople only has the function of cargo transit.

"That's right, but at present, the power of the Venetians is too great. Fortunately, their relationship with Genoa is not good, and we can take this opportunity to deal with it."

After receiving a disguised reply, Alexander immediately understood what Peter meant.

"Yes, Your Highness."