Chapter 466 Sigismund's Finances

The friction between Austria and Hungary intensified, but to be precise, Austria was beaten unilaterally. After all, who could afford a cavalry? Only Hungary, Burgundy, and France had the financial resources, not to mention Rome, which had plenty of money.

Sigismund was finally ready to invite all bishops and popes to attend the religious conference, and the venue was chosen in Constanta. In order to show fairness, he also invited Hus of Bohemia to come.

Despite repeated persuasion by believers, Hus still wanted to go. He wanted to prove that he just wanted the Catholic Church to return to its essence and not have so many luxurious things. I hope the emperor can give him a chance to explain.

At this time, the Holy Roman Empire was recruiting troops and accumulating strength. The Berlin Alliance gathered nearly 35,000 people, and the Hanseatic League provided three months of funds. At the same time, because the northern trade was cut off, the southern cities could only rely on the trade with Burgundy and France to survive. And the loans of many princes were cut off at once, because they found a new way of development, doing business with Moscow and Rome through the Vistula River and the Baltic Sea.

In order to compete with Sigismund, the Berlin Alliance directly sent people to Novgorod and Rome, and Sigismund wrote directly to Poland and Lithuania, and all of Central and Eastern Europe was linked up.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Burgundy sent 17,000 people to help us."

Upon hearing so many people, Sigismund thanked Burgundy's eight generations of ancestors. Next, he only needed to bridge the church's division and prestige would be there. He would be able to officially fight against the emperor of the Eastern Empire after he was crowned emperor.

"Okay, let them all enjoy the best hospitality, and don't be afraid of spending money."

Sigismund also became generous because he directly attacked the remaining autonomous cities and used the power of the German king to force the cities and citizens to bear most of his expenses. He also made up for part of it through the tributes of the empire's princes. This made him rich directly, but the bankers in Genoa were not very good, and the loans were always delayed, and they were almost bankrupt.

The Genoese Parliament had sent envoys twice, so why did Sigismund, who was originally timid, become so crazy now. Could it be that he had lived in poverty for too long and wanted to indulge himself? But even so, he had to consider his own feelings. If they went bankrupt, who would lend him money?

"Your Majesty, our current money can only support two months, and Genoa still has a payment of 150,000 to pay back. You see..."

Sigismund waved his hand with a relaxed expression. "If the Genoese come to collect debts, we can delay as much as possible."

This sentence again made the treasurer unable to bear it. "Your Majesty, you have delayed three times, and the total amount is 600,000 gold coins. Just pay back part of it first, and let the Genoese see the money before lending it to us."

What sin did he commit to have such a master in this life, no, a prodigal son. Every time someone said that he could delay the repayment, he would keep finding excuses to prevaricate. The open confrontation of the Berlin Alliance allowed Sigismund to easily default on a loan of 100,000, and then borrowed from merchants in other cities, but he has not paid it back until now. Several merchants have been forced to commit suicide and bankruptcy. Augsburg even did not allow the emperor to come in, lest the other party find excuses to borrow money again.

Sigismund was a little unhappy, "I can borrow when I want to, and I can repay when I want to. Do I have to look at the faces of those merchants? Tell them that I will repay after I pacify the north, and let them wait."

Now he has not been crowned as emperor and he calls himself "I", which shows how much impact the sudden level leap has brought to him.

The financial officer had no choice but to withdraw to appease the merchants from cities such as Genoa and Augsburg. Hearing that it was still delayed, he immediately got angry.

"What's the matter, Stokes, you promised to repay it last time, why are you still cheating? I tell you, my business is almost going to fail, and I'm waiting for this money to save my life."

"Me too, I'm waiting for the money to buy wool, and the price of wool has risen by one third at this time, and life is almost unbearable."

The merchants talked about their difficulties, how could Stokes not know. Genoa's economic situation is not very good, and major southern cities such as Augsburg and Munich have also been drained. Now we are waiting for Sigismund to pay back the money.

Not only him, but other princes have more or less arrears, all adding up to about 1.2 million lei. It seems that the southern region has developed well. There is so much money to borrow.

"Please calm down, your majesty said that as long as the north is defeated, the money will be paid back, definitely."

"Bah, I don't believe a word of your words, I just ask you, can you pay back the money today?"

Stokes shook his head in fear, and this finally ignited the anger of the merchants. A man who looked like the leader of the merchants stood up.

"Everyone, since Sigismund is not trustworthy, we don't need to lend him money anymore. Stokes, go back and tell him that as long as he doesn't pay back the money, we won't welcome him to come."

The group of merchants smashed the reception room before leaving, and said that Stokes was also on their list, and the sanctions would be lifted when he paid back the money.

"No, I feel wronged! He is the one who owes the money, not me!"

"Who made you his housekeeper?"

Just this sentence, Stokes felt wronged. He was just helping Sigismund to look after the manor, and later he was diligent enough to become the current treasurer. Now he doesn't want to do this mess anymore, but where else can he go?

France, England, Castile, Aragon, none of these would work. As an outsider, he would never have a chance to make a name for himself. He had to find a country where ordinary people could make a name for themselves. The answer was obvious: Rome.

In recent years, Rome's situation has been well known to everyone, especially the fact that it promotes talents in an unconventional way, which makes countless intellectuals yearn for it. If he goes there, he will definitely have a chance.

He did it as soon as he said it, but before he left, he had to deal with the matter of Sigismund. Didn't he want money? Then he borrowed it, and borrowed it continuously. He borrowed money from all the places where he could borrow money, because Sigismund gave all his property to him to manage, so he mortgaged a lot of land and manors to the other party as items. No matter what it was, he would mortgage it directly as long as he had it in his hands.

Many people saw the other party coming with collateral, thinking that it must be true, so they lent money to Sigismund again, but they didn't know that this was just the madness of the butler before he ran away. Only a small part of the money was given to Sigismund, and most of it was taken away by Stokes.

Because speed was needed, many lands were mortgaged at a discount. By the time Sigismund realized what was happening, the man had already fled in a car, leaving him with only a huge bill.