The Eagle of Eastern Europe

While Peter was busy sending the fleet away, estates funded by merchants were blooming all over Sicily. They were very smart. They did not start in the coastal areas where Westerners were strong. Instead, they went inland and engaged in mining and forestry. They relied on the help of the Orthodox Church to take root in the southern mountainous areas. They bribed the local governor and obtained a small town in Palermo, the capital. piece of place.

Since the nobles and big businessmen in Sicily were all taking orders from Aragon, Romania could only find another way to penetrate the local poor peasants and citizens. This has yielded huge gains. Many peasants who were oppressed by the nobles have converted to Christianity, and even the Crescent Christians who were hidden in the mountains two hundred years ago have returned to the Orthodox Church.

The Eastern Roman Empire had the deepest and longest influence on southern Italy. When Michael VIII, he even instigated the Sicilian Vespers War against the Kingdom of Naples. Now that Roma wants to return to Italy, Sicily and Naples are the primary targets.

"Let us pray together, for God, and especially for us to go to heaven after death."

An Orthodox priest led the people to celebrate mass in the small church he built. While preaching, he also criticized the Catholic Church, accusing them of being a group of beasts in human skins who were swindling on the land in the name of God. Fortunately, the gentleman Tantinople continues to maintain its pure faith, and they are the envoys sent to save these innocent lambs.

In addition to the church, the influence of merchants made the local families feel threatened. Because the cotton and other commodities sold by Romanian merchants caused losses to the industry and commerce invested by the nobles, but fortunately, most of their business was grain from the plains, so the losses were not very large.

People from the east snatch cakes, which is something that no big family in Sicily can tolerate. Even the maritime power Venice respected them, so why did the Orientals try to steal their jobs as soon as they came?

Colonial trade activities in the Western Mediterranean and North Africa were all under Peter's control and supervision. There would be shadows of the chamber of commerce he founded as far away as Ceuta and as close as the Levant. Using the businessman's intelligence network, you can get the latest news and even the gossip in the palace.

Regarding the activities of Romanian businessmen, Peter was encouraging and restrained. Maritime trade with Venice, land trade with other countries, and redistribution of interests all require the control and implementation of the latest policies. It must not only avoid sanctions from other countries, but also ensure the growth of its own strength.

The strength of the navy is also growing. Romania now has two fleets, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The development of the shipbuilding industry provided high-quality ships for shipping and the navy. Thessaloniki and Smyrna, two excellent ports, became the base of the navy.

The problem of piracy has been basically solved. Except for a few pirates 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 40,000-strong army, we all agree that the cost is too high. Can we reduce it appropriately?"

Prime Minister Angel proposed to Mircea the suggestions 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. This is a big problem for the newly established Romania. Not a small expense.

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

After being crowned queen, Mircea's ambitions soared. Although it has not reached the level of Manuel I, the expansion of territory has reached the level of obsession. He believed that only a strong army could ensure 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 situation was tight and there was also the problem of population. Now Anatolia is in urgent need of population, and the expansion of the army will inevitably compete for labor. These two reasons are why the Senate does not agree with the expansion of the army.

But Mircea doesn't care about this. He feels that Romania must continue to expand its army now. Manuel is a fragile person. He will be depressed after the failure of the Battle of Mileosephalon, so he should be able to fight slowly and steadily.

The will of the monarch cannot be refuted, but the Senate also successfully persuaded Mircea not to expand the army all at once, but to expand the army in batches. That leaves time for the chancellor to put together the funds.

According to the new financial report, there are currently 1.6 million silver coins in the national treasury, and the national tax revenue after excluding expenditures is 3 million. The crisis can be overcome for the time being, but the minister can only hope that there will be no major events in the future that require money.

The document of privilege was also promoted nationally, and Bartland's status as the Chosen Son was promoted nationally through the church. At the same time, the primogeniture system established the rules of succession to the throne and legally ended the chaos of succession in Eastern Rome.

The diversity shown in the succession methods of Eastern Roman emperors was caused by the specific environment of Eastern Roman society. The various inheritance methods indeed maintained the continuation of the Eastern Roman Dynasty on the surface, but they also made the succession process of Eastern Roman imperial power more complicated, intense and tortuous. This is another feature of the succession system of Eastern Roman emperors.

Among all 91 emperors, 43 died of illness, 45 were murdered, and 3 died of unexplained accidents. Normal deaths and abnormal deaths accounted for about half each. In other words, one out of every two emperors died unexpectedly, fighting for the throne. The bloody struggle that unfolded is fully revealed from this set of figures, and its intensity is evident from this. What is particularly worth pointing out is 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 of Eastern Roman imperial power took place in an extremely dangerous environment.

In order to ensure a smooth succession to the throne, Mircea also made changes to the marriage law. The heir to the throne must be engaged before the age of 14 and get married by the age of 18. Because parents and children take a very cautious attitude towards marriages where the number of times is strictly limited, it takes more time for them to reach a consensus. The same is true for the marriage parties. Although they have the right to marry at the age of 14 (12), few people practice early marriage. Late marriages were especially common in the royal family, and as a result, there was a large age gap between the emperor and his heirs.

How can this be done? We must avoid the situation of the young emperor, so that those ambitious people have no chance to interfere with the succession of the throne. For his grandson Alexander, Mircea also began to find a fiancée for him.

As for his other sons, Mikhail is planning to change his title to Duke of Ukraine, Vlad will enter the army for training after completing college courses, and Stefan has just entered school and has not made any plans yet.

Peter had been crowned Caesar and was also responsible for Anatolia and Ukraine. He was very relieved about his son, but he was worried about the father-son fight scenes like those decades ago, and he was afraid that the human tragedies caused by mistrust would happen again. This kind of contradiction could not calm down in his heart for a long time.