Chapter 430 Another War?

Theodore was buried in the newly built cathedral in Athens. As an autocratic prince, he was still popular in Greece. Many people mourned for him that day.

Mircea started to be busy again. I don’t know what he was thinking recently. He wanted to fight again. And the bigger the better.

“Your Majesty, Khan Kolobnev will be in Constantinople soon.”

The Cossack Emirate became a buffer between Rome and Lithuania, and the Khan still maintained the practice of meeting the emperor. As a Roman vassal, the Cossacks completed their tasks well and blocked Lithuania in the north. Rome gave them assistance every year, which also enabled the country to have enough strength to resist.

But at the same time, Rome also guarded against the nomads from growing stronger and getting rid of control. Through religion and trade, most people submitted to Rome, but some people still tried to challenge the emperor’s authority.

Two years ago, a Cossack noble named Manuel Weber joined other people who were dissatisfied with Rome to launch an uprising in the eastern region. At the beginning, they were unstoppable, but were defeated in Mircea Castle. Rome also sent troops from Donetsk Province and finally successfully wiped out the rebels.

After this incident, Rome took the opportunity to obtain the right to garrison east of Mircea Castle and built a fortress on it to control the land. The land here is too underdeveloped and needs urbanization.

"The relationship between the Cossacks and the Empire needs to be strengthened, and what happened before must not happen again."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we have built a fortress in the north of Luhansk and stored a lot of food and other supplies."

Lugo, the head of the Northern Yamen, is responsible for the reclamation and construction in the northern region. Due to the strong attraction of immigrants and policy support, a number of new cities have emerged in the north: Lisichansk, Izyum, Seversk, Crimea, Mariupol and other important towns in later generations have been established in recent years.

"Your Majesty, the population of Donetsk and Luhansk has exceeded 500,000. The local land is fertile and there are many rivers. Citizens can continue to be encouraged to go there to farm."

"Well, tell me in detail."

Lugo unfolded a large northern map for everyone, which detailed the various locations in the northern Ukrainian region.

"At present, the empire has formed two large towns in the north, Donetsk and Luhansk, and small fortresses such as Lisichansk and Seversk to consolidate its rule. A lot of land has been reclaimed in the south, and it will become an important grain production area in a few years."

The resources of the Sea of ​​Azov are also being utilized. Goods in the Donetsk region can be exported directly from Mariupol without having to go through Azov or Aaron.

"At present, we are still building fortresses in the northernmost area. Although they are under the rule of the Cossacks, they just graze cattle and sheep here. Building fortresses, opening markets, and trading with them is the best way."

He pointed to the place and Peter looked at it. It looked familiar. Four large-scale battles took place here.

"Will the Cossacks have any objections to building fortresses on such a large scale?" Peter asked.

"Your Highness, they won't. Now most of their trade is with the Empire. We still have 20,000 soldiers stationed in Donetsk and Luhansk. Their nobles are honored to take Roman names. In addition to Lithuania's unpopular rule, if we annex them, their resistance will be very small."

So Peter has nothing to worry about. He has to keep this vassal in the north. When he breaks up with Lithuania, he won't have to keep it.

"In addition to the north, the Golden Horde in the east has been seriously injured in the battle with Moscow. We can launch an expedition to push the border to another sea. We can also turn this sea into an inner lake of the empire like Augustus' Roman Empire."

Hearing such bold words, Listerin knew that he had to continue fighting, but his thoughts were not on the north. The Prime Minister proposed another way, to go south to recapture Jerusalem.

"At present, the empire has used the canal to divide Egypt into two, and the Sultan's army will not support it soon. Our country also has troops in Ashkelon. We can order them to attack nearby towns first, and use the navy to transport the army here. When the time comes, we can capture Jerusalem in one fell swoop, which can be regarded as a gift from the empire to God."

The benefits of this method are quite tempting, but the risks are also great. The first problem is that the Arabian Peninsula is short of water, especially inland. Before, each ruler attacked along the coastline to the south or north. Rome needs a lot of supplies to go deep inland, which costs a lot of money.

Second, once Rome attacks Jerusalem, will the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Zarhai Dynasty take the opportunity to attack. Will the rulers in Mecca take the opportunity to launch a call? These are all issues to consider.

As expected, this plan was opposed by many people. They felt that they should not touch Egypt before they had absolute power.

If there were people who opposed both, then the third one would be fine. Peter proposed a third goal of conquest to his father: an area much smaller than the previous two, called the Papal States.

At this time, the Papal States only had the so-called land of St. Peter's legacy, and his army was dispensable. If the army was sent to attack, it would be easy to break in. But if it was occupied for a long time, would it cause hostility from other countries besides France?

"The original Roman bishops relied on the land given by Constantine the Great to survive, but who knows whether this document is true or not? If they forged it, they have to leave. The true heir of Rome will inherit it."

Mircea actually thought that what Peter said made sense, and it was indeed much easier to attack Rome than Lithuania and Egypt. Although Rome's geographical location was not very good, and the surrounding land was not productive, the religious and political significance of taking it was definitely very high, and it could also restore the Roman Patriarchate. This could make the Catholic Church angry.

The only problem that worried them now was, what about the Pope? If he ran away, it would be fine, but if he was caught, how to deal with him would be a thorny problem. If he took Rome, at most he would be excommunicated by the Pope for the second time, but if he killed the Pope, he would probably be excommunicated by Catholics, and insulting the Pope would probably have the same result.

Thinking of this, Mircea wanted to dig Pippin out of the grave. Why did he contribute land to the Pope? You want to give Constantinople a title, but it's not like I won't give it to you.

Regarding the issue of war, Mircea still thought Peter was good, so he let him be responsible for the expedition, and he was only responsible for signing. And let the Senate assist throughout the process. This is also the old emperor gradually transferring power to his successor. If this succeeds, it will be a huge prestige.