eastern european eagle

Chapter 570 Berlin
Brandenburg, Berlin.

After Vlad became the Elector, he began to spend a lot of effort to govern this place. Coupled with the friendly relations with various countries, this place has already grown into the size of a large city.

"Look carefully, Your Highness. This is the correct way to use the sword."

The tutor is demonstrating swordsmanship to the Elector's son. As an essential skill for aristocrats, swordsmanship is naturally an important course in every aristocratic family.

"Karl!"

Vlad called his son from the balcony, and Carl waved to his father. Such a warm scene is rare, especially in recent years.

The Hussite uprising had swept across Bohemia and had also caused considerable disturbances in nearby countries. In Dresden, people destroyed churches and fought with local nobles; in cities further away such as Stuttgart, people attacked local churches, showing the oppression of Catholicism on them.

But there were also stable places, such as the religious principalities and southern Austria and Bavaria. The Habsburgs had proved their loyalty to Catholicism, and Sigismund also needed a helper, so he naturally made use of them.

At this time, Albrecht was already 20 years old, and his uncle returned power to him. He soon married his fiancée, Elizabeth of Luxembourg. With the help of his father-in-law, Albrecht immediately led his troops to the southern region to suppress the peasant uprising, and now the south has been basically pacified.

The situation in the north was a bit more complicated. In Bohemia, the core of the uprising, King Wenzel had been in poor health in recent years, but he still supported the uprising led by Hus. This made the local nobles extremely disappointed with the king. They secretly planned a coup and prepared to support Sigismund as king. But the king's son-in-law became a problem. The Berlin Alliance led by Vlad was the largest alliance in the Holy Roman Empire and was very powerful. He was also the son-in-law of the Luxembourg family. If Sigismund and Wenzel were gone, Bohemia would be fought over by the Bartland and Habsburg families, and it would definitely be another bloody battle.

"Sir, the Pope has issued a decree to raise an army again to attack Prague."

"Let them fight. They still come after several attempts. I don't know how many troops they have to devote to this bottomless pit."

In the past few years, under the Pope's call, various countries have organized crusades to attack the Hussites, but they have all been resolved one by one. If they organize a crusade again now, I'm afraid it will fail.

"But my lord, we cannot fight Sigismund and his men for long. Although we are the most powerful alliance, we cannot withstand a prolonged war. Only peace can restore our economy and trade."

"We didn't help them directly, we just contacted them."

Yes, they directly sent the allied army into Silesia in the name of suppressing the uprising, and they ignored the local nobles' attempts to stop them. In order to prevent the other party from disrupting the situation, Sigismund reluctantly acknowledged the other party's actions in Silesia.

His subordinates kept persuading him, "Sir, we must protect this hard-earned achievement. If we stand on the wrong side in this war, all our undertakings will collapse immediately." But Vlad was not afraid at all: "Sigismund will definitely compromise. I can also inherit Bohemia. Why should I let the Habsburgs take advantage?"

The problem was that Bohemia, as the only kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, had become the richest place with its own resources. Vlad also wanted this place so that his position in the Holy Roman Empire could be further consolidated.

Of course, Vlad also knew that this was unlikely. The nobles in Bohemia were too powerful, and the punishment of confiscation of property and exile in the East would be met with great resistance here. And within the alliance, Brandenburg's centralization tendency made some people feel disgusted, and Vlad had to stabilize the internal situation before expanding outward.

"If, if it doesn't work, then let them give me Silesia."

Vlad compromised. If all else failed, he could just divide Bohemia into two parts. If he was willing to accept it, he could just take Silesia.

Such words made his subordinates speechless. You are still aggrieved. You have an emperor brother, two king brothers, a king brother-in-law, and a duke brother-in-law. Who can compare with such a relationship?

Moreover, Silesia is also the richest place in Bohemia. Its important geographical location and rich mineral resources have increased its importance. If we don't act tough, it will be difficult for the other party to recognize that Silesia belongs to Brandenburg.

"Alas, the glory of the entire North is on my shoulders. I have to fight with Vienna and guard against Burgundy. There is no one in the world who is more tired than me."

It can be said that Vlad had been very tired in the past few years. The first problem was the lack of money. Brandenburg, a rotten land, required a long time to be governed effectively, and the newly purchased Westphalian land was not as important as it was in later generations. In addition to the newly captured East Pomerania, he also obtained the important port city of Danzig, which reduced the financial burden.

Fortunately, the eldest brother knew how difficult it was for his younger brother, and secretly gave Vlad some money in the name of the Chamber of Commerce, which made him less sad. But Vlad didn't want to be called a person who relied on his eldest brother for a living, and he wanted to use his own strength to become the leading king in Europe.

Vlad began to work hard to improve the status of Brandenburg, and successfully promoted the Archbishop of Berlin to Patriarch, gaining more power. The Hanseatic League gradually lost its independence, and the smallest Brunswick City Council passed a resolution to swear allegiance to the Elector of Brandenburg.

With his start, some small cities were ready to pledge allegiance to Brandenburg, whether for a better future or for some other reason. Lübeck, Hamburg and Lüneburg, the three core forces of the alliance, had not yet shown any inclination. But there were also more or less voices that wanted to pledge allegiance to Brandenburg.

No matter how much the upper class opposes, the inclination of the lower class has changed. The propaganda of Orthodox missionaries has made some people change their beliefs, and their hearts are naturally towards Berlin. In addition, the church where the Pope is really indifferent to people, which has led to a very rapid change in the local area. Of course, there are also few people. Now there are about 630 million people in the entire Holy Roman Empire, and the population of the place where the Berlin Alliance is located accounts for about one-third, which is about 200 million. Most of the others are in the southern region, including Austria, Bavaria and other countries.

Although there were fewer people, the transition could be made more quickly. Vlad also concentrated power in his own hands as quickly as possible, and the power of the Pomeranian Electors gradually decreased, but Vlad did not let them suffer any loss, so he used economic benefits to make them loyal to him, which was a win-win situation.

(End of this chapter)