eastern european eagle

Chapter 9 The Thoughts of Grand Duke Mircea
"Dear Grand Duke, the King of Hungary is very dissatisfied with us recently."

In Kemplongli, the capital, Jancu, director of foreign affairs, told Mircea about the latest diplomatic situation.

Wallachia is surrounded by Ottomans to the south, Hungary to the west, and Poland and Lithuania to the north.Among them, the relationship with Hungary is even more important.

In 1330, Basarab, Grand Duke of Wallachia, severely defeated the Hungarian army in Posada, thus allowing them to recognize the independence of Wallachia.King Charles Robert of Hungary changed clothes to escape.Shortly thereafter, in order to fully deal with the threat of the Golden Horde, Basarab took the initiative to repair with Hungary, and the relationship between the two countries improved after that.

However, despite the improvement, relations between Hungary and Wallachia remained tense due to the competition in Transylvania.

Hungary gradually occupied Transylvania from the 10th to the 13th centuries.Due to the tenacious resistance of the Wallachians, Hungary was forced to recognize the status of the autonomous principality of Transylvania.Autonomous duchies, although under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Hungary, enjoy a high degree of autonomy and have a different state structure than Hungary itself.

In order to consolidate the newly acquired territory and exclude the power of the Vlachs, Hungary has encouraged Germanic tribes such as the Saxons and Seklers to immigrate to Transylvania since the 12th century.This policy in Hungary was well implemented, and immigration activities continued throughout the 12th and 13th centuries.The increase in the number of outsiders made the proportion of the original main ethnic group, the Wallachians, in the Transylvanian population continue to decline.Some Romanians were also forced to migrate, retreating to the south and east of the Carpathians.

And Wallachia could only watch them being squeezed into space, but could do nothing.Because the national power is too weak.

After Mircea succeeded to the throne, everything began to change.It not only hit the pro-Hungarian forces, but also consolidated Wallachia's control over Iron Gate, which made Hungary a little unhappy.It's just that in the face of Ottoman's threat, the two countries can only cooperate temporarily.

From his accession to the throne in 1386 to the present, Grand Duke Mircea worked hard to govern the land.Reorganizing armaments, strengthening castles, developing the economy, and strengthening centralization are all in order to defeat Ottoman.

As the Ottomans approached, some people in the Balkans also traveled north to Wallachia.Mircea followed his son's advice and used the land to attract the population.More than 10 people have come to Wallachia in recent years.

What surprised him even more was the Dobroja ruled by his son. He didn't know what method this kid used.It can provide tens of thousands of ducats and a large amount of food.This allowed him to use the money to raise armies and build forts.

After expanding his army, Mircea also began to centralize power.He changed his title from Wojwald to Grand Duke (Wojwald means warlord), and expanded his control through confiscation, redemption, etc. If time permits, his next step is to replace the current electoral monarchy It has become a hereditary monarchy, but in order for the son to successfully succeed to the throne, there must be a big victory to help him gain prestige.

"Their dissatisfaction has long been diffused. Their ancestors got rid of the control of Hungary decades ago, and now they are making a comeback again. I will not let them out."

Mircea said so, but he was still a little uncertain.But when he thought of his son, the anxiety in his heart disappeared.

He believes in his son.

"How is the matter going?" Mircea set his sights on Adrian, the military director.

"Grand Duke, the order you issued has been completed. The large army can be expanded to a maximum of 2 people."

The so-called large army refers to Wallachia's national conscripts, usually composed of farmers and citizens.

Before that, Wallachia could only recruit more than 1 troops.After Mircea succeeded to the throne, the Military Affairs Department was set up to be responsible for the training of civilians.At the same time, the Eastern census system was also introduced to obtain as many troops as possible.

When the census was first introduced, it was opposed by some nobles.Mircea took this opportunity to arrest and execute a group of people, confiscate their territories and redistribute them to supporters to consolidate power.And the census also needs a large number of literate people to carry out. Those literate but declining nobles and merchant families saw an opportunity.Mircea promoted a large number of these people and used them to combat the big nobles and implement policies.

Now Mircea is rushing to train troops, build fortresses, and prepare to compete with Osman.But whether it is a sound government or training troops, money is inseparable.

Mircea reorganized the financial department and divided it into a pioneering department.This department is used to reclaim new land and find new minerals, especially in the area near Dobroja, where swamps, forests and other places are reclaimed as farmland, and the power of these lands is determined by Mircea.Therefore, land reclamation is also a way to enhance centralization.

Apart from these measures, Mircea earns most of her income from Dobroja.Peter handed in more finances than all the nobles handed in. This is a money bag.

"Who is better, our army or the Moldovan army?"

Mircea asked this question, and Adrian replied.

"Grand Duke, our army has been trained for a long time, and most of Moldova's army is temporarily recruited peasants. We can defeat them in a short time."

This is true, Moldova at this time is still in a period of chaos.From independence to the present, no monarch has been in power for more than 10 years. In addition, Poland and the old enemy Teutonic Knights and the brotherly Grand Duchy of Lithuania have been in constant friction. This period is the best period to win Moldova.

Moldova became independent more than 20 years later than Wallachia, and it lags behind Wallachia in all aspects of the country.Especially the population. The area is about the same as Wallachia and only half the population of the other side. This is the fundamental gap between the two sides.

After getting the answer he wanted, Mircea had a bottom line in his mind.What Peter told him fueled his ambition to make Wallachia master of the Balkans.However, the situation of the country limited his expansion of ambitions, and Wallachia was still in an unremarkable state when he first took the throne.His father Radu and brother Dan both wanted to expand their influence, but failed under the Hungarian influence.However, let their dreams come true for themselves and his son.

"Okay, that's it for today!"

After ordering all the ministers to retreat, Mircea then went to the church to pray.

Mircea is a devout Orthodox Christian who goes to church to pray every day. He once dedicated 600 slaves to the church.Moreover, the country was divided into three large dioceses and ten small dioceses, and Wallachia began to choose bishops on its own, and began to refuse to listen to the words of the Patriarch of Constantinople.Who put an Ottoman between the two countries?
"My lord, do you seem troubled?" Carol, the Wallachian archbishop, asked the Wallachian ruler. (At this time, the Diocese of Wallachia was not recognized by Constantinople, so it is not called Patriarch)
"The threat of heretics is at hand, can God have mercy on this country?"

Mircea asked the doubts in his heart. Compared with Ottoman, Wallachia is a snake and an elephant. Although the morale of the army is strong now, facing Ottoman, who has a vast territory, Wallachia can only fight with speed.Especially taking advantage of Ottoman's failure to give a fatal blow in the Balkans.

"Don't worry, Grand Duke, God's hope has come to Wallachia, those heretics and those who desecrate the Holy Land will definitely pay the due price."

The pagans are Ottomans, and the blasphemers refer to the looting of Constantinople by Western European mercenaries such as Venice 180 years ago.This is the pain of all Orthodox Christians.

Archbishop Carroll has also seen the situation in the past few years. He is a religious man, and he cannot bear the desecration of the Holy Land of the Orthodox Church again.Therefore, he fully supported all the policies of Grand Duke Mircea, and he also called the executed nobles devils.He did this so that someday he would drive out the heretics and heretics.

"God bless!" said Mircea, gesticulating.

(End of this chapter)