Chapter 202 Split Consciousness and Undetermined Situation
Outside the St. George's Church in Constantinople, two groups of people were confronting each other, holding iron tools and stones, with fierce eyes.
"Scaparis, are you sure you want to help outsiders to tarnish this city again?"
"Bah, Bartold, you are the culprits who brought shame to Constantinople. The tragedy of a hundred years ago has not yet dissipated, and you are going to ask for their help again. Are you worthy of this city and the innocent citizens who died a hundred years ago?"
The quarrel between the two sides became louder and louder, and even the church priests came to stop it. It was useless. Later, someone threw a stone and ignited the gunpowder barrels of both sides. They soon fought, blood flew in the air, screams and collisions were heard, and some people joined the fight directly after hearing the reason.
In Constantinople, such situations can be seen every day, and the reason for the fight is whether to ask for help from Wallachia, or to ask Grand Duke Mircea of Wallachia to rule Constantinople.
In the past, the emperor would have killed all these traitors. But now is different. The pro-Western and Orthodox factions are fighting to the death, and even the lower-class people have joined the debate. Especially when Wallachia invaded Anatolia, the Orthodox faction directly began to prepare to support the new emperor.
In order to keep his position, Manuel temporarily cooperated with the Western faction. He frequently met with envoys from Venice, Genoa, Florence and other countries, and discussed a large number of loan contracts with them, all in silver coins.
It turned out that the Roman Empire stopped minting gold coins decades ago. Since Constantine IX at the end of the Macedonian dynasty, the gold coin Nomisma has been depreciating due to the decline in quality. During the Komnenos dynasty, the depreciation of Nomisma continued. The government replaced the Nomisma gold coin with the Hyperion gold coin, but it still could not stop the depreciation trend. After the fall of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, the Nicaea Empire continued to mint Hepilon gold coins, but the quality was not as good as that of the Komnenos and Anchylean dynasties.
After the establishment of the Palaiologos dynasty, Hepilon gold coins continued to be minted, but the quality was not good enough. A series of civil wars later caused the value of gold coins to fall into the abyss, so from 1341, the Roman Empire had no gold coins, and all minted silver coins.
The nobles were alienated and the people were fighting. All of this was tormenting the 47-year-old emperor. His opponent, the 42-year-old Mircea, was sharpening his knife and staring at his throne. Whether to voluntarily abdicate or fight to the death, these two options might make him doomed. Now it seems that he has chosen the first one.
"Your Majesty, there were several fights in Constantinople today."
"I know, leave."
Manuel waved his hand tiredly. The retreat of the Ottomans had not brought him a few days of happiness. The landing of Wallachia in Anatolia made him worried. Isn't this an Orthodox version of the Ottomans?
Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, usurpation of the throne was very common. For example, his ancestor Michael VIII usurped the throne of John IV of the Nicaea Empire, and blinded the child and locked him in a monastery. Now, he is also worried that he will have such an end.
What's more, his younger brother Theodore did not listen to his orders. Although he paid him a lot of taxes every year, he never mentioned the division of land. He could force the division, but this would only push his family to the side of Wallachia. Such a situation seems unsolvable.
However, Mircea did not pay much attention to the affairs of Constantinople. Because after landing in Anatolia, Hungary received good news: Transylvanian Grand Duchess Mary proposed that the two countries form an alliance, and Wallachia would help Mary retake Hungary. In return, Transylvania could be handed over to Wallachia for management.
Mircea could finally realize the wish of his ancestors and take back Transylvania. Now Mary's only ally is him. If she does not rely on Wallachia, then the nobles and people of Transylvania will swallow her up.
Mircea and Mary exchanged more than a dozen letters, and finally signed a treaty in Busolav.
The treaty stipulates that Wallachia will provide a batch of funds and weapons to Transylvania, recognize Mary's title of King of Hungary, and Mary will hand over Transylvania to Wallachia for custody after retaking Buda, and the title of King of Croatia will be purchased by Wallachia for 30,000 gold coins.
After signing the Brasov Agreement, Wallachia began to intervene in the Hungarian Civil War. Nearly a year of war left Hungary devastated, with a large number of people exiled. The surrounding Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, and Austria were all eyeing it covetously.
The people were fed up with the status quo. Since Sigismund was not good enough, they would change a king to rule.
Some small nobles who converted to Orthodoxy held an election meeting and unanimously agreed that Mary, the Grand Duchess of Transylvania, would be the King of Hungary. And sent someone to Cluj to report the news to the Grand Duke.
The great nobles and landlords still supported Sigismund as king, and he recruited some mercenaries to serve him after receiving money. The struggle of the civil war may continue for a while.
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Anatolia temporarily restored peace, merchants began to shuttle back and forth between the two territories of Wallachia, and Genoa was happily preparing to purchase alum. Peter used their payment to start building infrastructure.
Roads, military buildings, and town halls are all necessary. In the Roman Empire, these were the basic elements for controlling the place. Since the place had been destroyed by nomadic tribes for too long, everything had to be started from scratch. Peter was also very busy, fearing that there would be any mistakes.
Relying on the church, the army, and the nomadic tribes that he had taken refuge with, Peter successfully stabilized his rule in the local area. At the same time, the ruler of the Principality of the Aegean Islands also told Peter that he would not block Wallachia's merchant ships. As for the Knights Hospitaller, they only proposed that the two sides get along in a friendly manner. After all, they are a Catholic Knight Order approved by the Pope, and it is not a good thing to have too much contact with the Orthodox Church.
Wallachia's merchants took a fancy to the resources here and began to invest in the establishment of factories, including textiles, metallurgy, shipping, brewing and other industries, especially metallurgy. Because the exploration team sent by Peter discovered several iron mines and a coal mine in the local area, Peter established an iron smelting plant near Smyrna, as well as a supporting firearms factory responsible for the production of artillery and muskets, and the shipyard could not be left behind. These are all necessary foundations for expanding the army.
The exchanges between Thessalonica and Smyrna became closer, and the number of merchant ships traveling back and forth gradually increased. Wallachia began to occupy an increasing share of the Aegean Sea, and even Venice could not stop it.