eastern european eagle

Chapter 629: Reforms of Charles VII
The three brothers formally signed a treaty in Warsaw, which stipulated that Livonia, Samogitia and Polotsk would belong to Russia; the western part of Poland including Warsaw would belong to Brandenburg; and Romania would obtain the Lesser Poland region including Krakow.

This division was basically based on the previous treaty, the only difference was that Russia gave Warsaw to Brandenburg because the other party was willing to give up some of its economic interests.

Russia's gains were not small, as it gained the wealthy Livonia and a vast coastline. Russia could rely on the Baltic Sea to develop trade.

"The war is finally over." Peter sighed.

Although it took some time, there is no change to the next plan. The next step is the highlight.

The sudden change of power in Eastern Europe is a warning to other countries. No matter how much hatred they have, they should put it aside. Stopping heresy is the most important thing.

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Charles VII had been a little sad recently, but he cheered up again after being encouraged by ministers such as the Duke of Orleans.

They now had to pull out an army as soon as possible, otherwise the enemy would definitely occupy the entire French territory. In order to let the king know what to do, the Duke of Orleans specially asked the Duke of Bourbon to come and talk.

Now the Duke could no longer remain neutral. Although his property might be protected by Britain, the French would hate him. He could only apologize to his in-laws.

"Your Excellency the Duke, we invited you here today to restore the power of the Kingdom of France. I wonder if you have any suggestions?" The Duke of Orleans said beside him.

"Your Majesty, Duke, I am here to provide the court with a good solution. We must now rebuild an army. When I went to Romania before, I learned some of their military training and composition methods."

The Duke gave a detailed review of the Romanian army at the court: "I am impressed by the strong discipline and obedience of the Romanian army, which is different from the armies of other countries I have seen, including our own. It is said that they have specially formulated a military law to restrain the behavior of soldiers and have strict regulations on all aspects.

And they seemed to be very happy to train, and did not complain about the waste of farmland because of training. Therefore, they could use the weapons in their hands skillfully, and they could maintain a complete formation during the march. They were not only serious in building the camp, but also had a clear division of labor and high efficiency. Therefore, they could build a well-defended camp in a short time. "Such a statement surprised Charles VII. After all, the military discipline of all countries is similar now. The current French army is provided by the lords except for mercenaries. The lords granted fiefs to their vassals, and the vassals served the lords for free. This
This method has serious flaws. If the vassal dies and there is only a female heir or the heir is a child, he will not be able to respond to the lord's call to perform military service obligations. In addition, there is a time limit for the vassal's obligation to serve the lord. The most common is that the vassal serves the lord for 40 days a year without pay, and after this period, he has the right to withdraw from the battlefield.

After the 12th century, mercenaries began to play an increasingly important role in Western European wars. During the Hundred Years' War, some soldiers in the British and French armies served the king based on feudal obligations, but more were mercenaries who fought for rewards, spoils of war, and ransoms for prisoners of war. During the truce of the Hundred Years' War, mercenaries who lost their jobs gathered together to form many armed gangs that survived by robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and protection fees, the so-called "Free Corps." They not only invaded France and wantonly ravaged urban and rural residents, but also defeated the royal army in large-scale field battles, thus directly challenging the king's authority.

In order to eliminate the harm of the "Free Legion", the French royal family adopted measures such as military expedition, bribery and diversion. The desperate Charles V even turned to astrology, but none of them could fundamentally solve the problem. Due to the intermittent war, the mercenaries of both sides always turned into "Free Legion" during the truce, and became mercenaries again after the war resumed. Under the circumstances at that time, only by reforming the army's recruitment method, establishing a standing army controlled by the king, and getting rid of the situation of over-reliance on mercenaries, could the problem of the rampant "Free Legion" be fundamentally solved.

"The Duke said it well. We need to learn from Romania. They have a lot of knowledge that France needs to learn from." Charles VII paused and continued. "I hope Your Excellency the Duke can assist me."

Charles VII gave the Duke of Bourbon the post of Minister of War, modeled after the English cabinet, and decided to restore the previously disbanded Knights of the Order, who would serve as the king's own troops.

Today's France is a joke. Some people in the Holy Roman Empire joked that there are three Frances: one is the French of the British, whose borders extend from Guienne to Calais, including Normandy, Vixen, Maine, Piercardy, Champagne, and Île-de-France; one is the France of Burgundy, which, in addition to the Duchy of Burgundy, includes the Counties of Nevers, Flanders, and Artois in the north; the third is the France of Charles VII, whose territory is limited to the area around Bourges.

Although the king had the will to revive the kingdom, he now needed the help of the Estates General. In 1302, Philip IV convened the first Estates General to obtain the approval of the clergy, nobles and the third estate for the mobilization of the whole people and the related military service tax. Subsequently, the principle of levying military service tax could only be formed with the consent of the Estates General.

In the past, French kings issued a mobilization order and levied a military service tax, which provided a basis for Charles VII's request, but a mobilization order could only be issued in an emergency, and the military service tax was a temporary burden on the subjects. How did Charles VII solve the problem of supporting the Royal Cavalry in peacetime?

Certain classes or social groups tried to gain exemptions from the military service tax. The clergy were particularly dissatisfied with the military service tax imposed on them by the king and believed that they should be exempted. According to tradition, the clergy were responsible for prayer and had no obligation to pay taxes to the king. The clergy tithes collected during the Crusades set a precedent for French monarchs to tax clergy, but the clergy tithes were generally justified by wars against pagans and had to be approved by the Pope, or at least by the French Council of Clergy.

Although the Edict of Knights and the Military Service Tax were unpopular among the people, Charles VII decided to implement them, not only for the sake of victory, but also for the sake of centralization so that his descendants would not have to worry about these things.

(End of this chapter)