eastern european eagle

Chapter 569 Father and Son

Peter had to deal with a large amount of documents in Constantinople. In order to prevent the crown prince from being idle, he asked Alexander to help.

"Father, there are some Polish and Lithuanian people moving towards Kiev recently. Could it be..."

"It doesn't matter. After all, he is angry. Just wait until he dies."

Peter was talking about Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. Because the ransom was not settled, this ruler with many military achievements was forced to live in Constantinople for more than a year. During this period, he was also forced to play musical instruments for the emperor. Later, Peter offered 100,000 gold coins to redeem Vytautas. Wladyslaw quickly sent the money and he returned to Vilnius.

Then he was surprised to find that Lithuania, which was originally a big country in Eastern Europe, now only had Samogitia and part of the Rus region, and had become the weakest country in Eastern Europe.

Vytautas was determined to revitalize Lithuania, but the first step was to re-centralize power. This was too difficult, because the Lithuanian nobles no longer trusted him because of his experience as a Roman captive. With the large-scale expulsion of Jews by Rome, Vytautas saw hope.

He recruited a large number of Jews, let them do business with other countries, and collected taxes to increase his strength. This is how he slowly recovered, and actively interacted with Livonia and formed an alliance with it. Prepare to fight against Russia together.

After Michael became the Tsar, he dared not slack off. He had to seize the time to consolidate the territory and expand the army. Lithuania must be eliminated.

However, it was not until he became the Tsar that he realized how difficult Russia was. Most of Russia is located at high latitudes, with a cold climate and low grain production. The only goods worth exporting are fur and wood. In addition, some sticky things in northern Finland and are also the main goods purchased by Rome. Russia's main export destination is Rome, followed by Berlin, Denmark and other countries.

Michael wanted to learn from his brother's reforms in Rome, but he was not very adaptable to the backward Russia. He wanted to reform serfdom, but serfdom was the economic foundation of Russia. Since Kievan Rus, slave trade and serfdom have been their main economic operations.

The Dnieper River created Kiev. It was in this river of gold that the most exported thing was people. The various principalities fought constantly, not so much for land as for things that walked on two legs on the land.

Faced with such a situation, Michael could only start from simple aspects, such as using the name of the church to publicize that slave trade was not in line with the Bible, he wanted to stop the loss of population, and he attacked Eastern countries such as the Siberian Khanate and the Khanate of Kazan in an attempt to obtain more population and resources.

Moreover, the Tsar at that time was not the one who held all the power in the future. Michael had to share power with the princes who supported him. The Boyar Duma became the ruling body. Michael also gave them some rights and interests, such as shortening the free migration time of serfs, and the nobles could hunt down serfs who had fled for more than three years, but not for five years at most.

Michael wrote to his eldest brother several times, hoping to strengthen the alliance between the two countries. Peter also replied that Rome supported Russia's territorial claims in the east and Lithuania, but if it wanted more, it would need to be discussed with the third brother.

"Vytautas is a genius, but he is Lithuanian. I hope he goes to hell."

Alexander didn't know why his father was so hostile to the Poles and Lithuanians, and he wished that they would all disappear. Moreover, his father was very supportive of his second uncle's actions, and his second uncle also asked his cousin to come to Constantinople several times. If he was right, his father wanted to destroy Poland and Lithuania together with his second and third uncles. "Father, the Empire's garrison in the Kiev Province can deter Lithuania, and Russia also has a large number of troops in Minsk. At present, Vytautas has no strength and intention to send troops to the Empire."

Peter nodded at Alexander's words and said, "Your idea is good. Lithuania alone does not have the ability to attack Romania, but what if Poland is included?"

Alexander "Poland" was still very confident. "Poland is now facing the threat of Brandenburg and will not help Lithuania."

"Don't say it's impossible, everything is possible."

Peter taught Alexander, “You must know that the current King of Poland is the son of the former Grand Duke of Lithuania. He will fight to the death to keep Vilnius.”

This puzzled Alexander: "Isn't Poland stronger than Lithuania? Does he still want to use Poland's money to subsidize a country that has lost a lot of land?"

"Yes, he became the King of Poland by accident. Lithuania is his home. He will."

The destruction of a country is a common occurrence in this era. Rome is preparing, Russia is preparing, and only Brandenburg is left. Rome still needs to continue to encourage the other side to strengthen its strength.

"Your brother is coming back. He is doing very well in his inspection in Sibania. When he comes back, you will go to Kiev on my behalf. As the crown prince, you must take on this responsibility. The future empire will be handed over to you."

Alexander suddenly felt the pressure doubled. He had known his future since he was canonized as the crown prince in Hagia Sophia. He studied all the courses that suddenly increased. Since last year, his father asked him to handle some political affairs to train himself. He also visited Hungary, Naples and Brandenburg on behalf of the emperor. The local situation broadened his horizons and gave him a certain understanding of the current situation.

"Don't worry, father. I will do everything in my power to protect the empire and my responsibilities."

Peter nodded. His son was indeed a good one. As long as he married the Duke of Bourbon, the rest would be his business.

It has been nearly 30 years since he became the lord of Dobruja. The rapid changes in his status during this period made him dare not imagine it. The decline of great powers in history such as the Ottoman Empire and the Golden Horde was also super fast. Moreover, under the influence of Peter, the Medici, Persi, York and other families that shone brightly in history either disappeared or waited quietly in one place. Even the Habsburgs, the future giant family, are now just staring at Bartram fiercely in Austria. He can feel that Habsburg's eyes are mixed with anger (losing his Swiss ancestral land), envy (becoming an imperial ruling family so quickly and spreading everywhere) and jealousy (why not himself).

Let him envy her, but her great cause must not be affected. The Habsburgs, Jagiellons, Valois, and Solon combined were not as good as Bartram, but her shallower roots were also a flaw. As long as she could survive three generations, her family could proudly say that she was a very ancient family.

(End of this chapter)