eastern european eagle

Chapter 76
In the south, Bayezid again exhibits the properties of lightning.The months went well in Anatolia and Greece, and most of Thessaly was soon taken.

The so-called Christian allied forces fled in all directions after a slight charge, and the nobles also packed up their property and went to Italy to have fun.Only the local people were left to suffer.

In the eyes of these western aristocrats, these ordinary people who believed in the Orthodox Church were not worth mentioning. They died as soon as they died, and it was no big deal.

And the people can only submit to Ottoman. Even if the other party keeps their beliefs unchanged, the arrest of strong men and blood tax still make them miserable.Revolts began one after another.

On the other hand, Bayezid personally led the army in Anatolia.The target is Sivas on the coast of the Black Sea. Those emir countries can only report to the regiment to keep warm, but the size is too small, and it will be a matter of time before they are captured.

Mircea is still paying attention to the compilation of the code in Kemplonge. Most of it has been completed so far, and there are still some details to be added.

At the same time, Mircea received a special envoy from the South.An envoy from Constantinople.

Manuel II was an aggrieved emperor. He hoped to play the role of a loyal subject on the surface to confuse the wolf-like Ottoman Empire.The further increase in tribute overwhelmed the impoverished empire, and the sultan ordered a large Turkish garrison into Constantinople. These people were not under the rule of the Byzantine central government, but directly under the Muslim regime.But it seems that such humiliation has not yet satisfied the capricious sultan.

After Manuel II learned of the results of the Battle of Skopje, he understood. Fortunately, he did not join, otherwise he did not know what the consequences would be.

So on the one hand, he prepared to go to Western Europe to ask for reinforcements, and on the other hand, he sent people to Kemplong to ask Wallachia to send troops to help him.

But what did he use to get Wallachia to save him?Land, no, the Roman Empire has no land to reward.At this time, there were powerful enemies outside the Ottoman Empire, and there were various local separatist forces and nobles trying to usurp the throne. The area under the jurisdiction of the central government was getting smaller and smaller, the urban economy was not improving, and the countryside was dilapidated due to the spread of the war. The Italian city republics have their own ghosts, just want to make more money in the "Last Supper" before the collapse of the empire, and once again take advantage of the Eastern Roman Empire.

As for money, it is even worse. From the tax point of view, the tariffs are hardly collected, because Italian businessmen engaged in import and export enjoy the privilege of tax exemption or tax reduction.The land tax is not paid by noble landowners, churches and monasteries, although self-cultivating farmers must pay, but there are not many of them. If the tax is too heavy, they would rather give their land to noble landowners for protection, but they can no longer Suffering from paying taxes.Central expenditures were increasing, because fighting the Ottoman Turks, fighting the Serbs, and fighting rebels against the center cost money.The emperors had to worry about raising treasury revenues.John V had to pawn off the emperor's jewels and even sold some of his lands cheaply.

Manuel also understands that he has nothing to reward, but he can't let people do it for nothing.The only thing he can use is to give him the title of Duke of the Kingdom.

State Duke, also called despot, is also translated as tyrant. Manuel I first conferred this title on Hungarian King Bela III (Greek name Alexios, who lived in Constantinople as a proton, and She was engaged to the daughter of Manuel I, and thus obtained the title of the original exclusive emperor, and was once confirmed as the heir to the throne. However, in 1169, when Manuel I's only son was born, Bella's engagement was broken and she was deposed Caesar) to demonstrate his suzerainty (Bela III had not succeeded to the throne at the time, but the principalities under his rule Dalmatia, Bosnia and Slavonia were incorporated into Byzantium).Thereafter the title became the honorary title of the monarchs of various "despotic principalities", such as the monarchs of the Morea despotism that ruled the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Mircea treated the envoy with the highest courtesy, but kept silent about the rescue of the Eastern Roman Empire.Just sent some gifts to Basilius, and the title of Duke was also given to Mircea.

For Mircea, being able to get the affirmation of Rome is the biggest gain.Although he can also make the archbishop crown himself a king, it is not as good as the Roman emperor.And this is still a Duke, not a lower-level Caesar.This shows that Wallachia is an independent country, not his vassal.

At the same time, Manuel also proposed another thing: marriage.

Although Manuel had no children, he had a younger brother.Despot of Morea Theodore has a 12-year-old niece.

"Your Majesty has a niece who is about the same age as the Grand Duke's eldest son. If the two families can get married, it will be the luck of the two countries."

Mircea didn't refuse, but didn't agree either.It just needs to be considered. After all, it is a niece and not a daughter, and the right to declare is weak.

But the Despot of Morea had no son, and after his death Morea passed to Wallachia, and that was the only thing of real value.

After receiving the title of duke, Mircea had the crown and dress prepared and at a certain time would be crowned king.And now, not a certain time.

Mircea pursued a moderate policy towards Poland and Lithuania, trying to befriend them, and waged a cold war against Hungary and the Ottomans, maintaining a fragile peace.After all, Wallachia has territorial claims with both countries.

----split line----

At this time, envoys from Western Europe had arrived in Bursa. In the same month, France reached a consensus with the Ottoman court on the issue of ransom. France needed to pay 200000 florins.And those nobles who would be freed realized that there was not enough money to support their customary luxury.So I prepared to borrow money to support the scene.

And Western Europe will not have a crusade for a long time, at least so many countries participated.They must recuperate, especially Britain and France, who joined the Crusaders while the trauma of the Hundred Years War was still there, and the losses can be imagined.

(End of this chapter)