The Eagle of Eastern Europe

In 1412, the Roman Emperor Peter ended the anti-Roman League war that lasted for more than a year. During this period, Rome joined several other countries to beat Egypt, Poland, Lithuania, Castile and other countries, and regained its international status. Although some wars continued in Central Europe, Europe generally restored peace, and no country engaged in large-scale wars. History books call it the Romanian Peace.

Time flies, and it came to 1417 in a blink of an eye.

The climate in August was very hot, but the tax officials in Donetsk still ran around the fields, in order to reconfirm the land owned by each household and the growth of crops, to roughly estimate how much land tax each household in the jurisdiction should pay after the autumn harvest.

"Balivic, how is your work?" asked another tax official, Galas.

"It's OK. Except for a few who still want to resist, the others are collecting taxes smoothly. What about you?"

"Same, they are all very obedient. It is estimated that this year will set a new record."

Donetsk is the province with the most development potential in Ruthenia. In recent years, the tax collected from here has exceeded one-third of the entire Ruthenia. The abundant resources have attracted a lot of people to come. In just a few years, the population of Donetsk has increased from 100,000 to 250,000. The local economy has exploded.

"I have to admit that it was right to come here. The coal and iron produced here have made other provinces scramble for it."

This achievement made them proud. The coal and iron produced in Donetsk and Luhansk became the main source of the empire. The endless resources have become the local cash cow. Relying on this, their Donetsk can be so rich.

"Two years ago, His Majesty asked the Crown Prince to come here for inspection, which is the honor of this place. Relying on the Don River and the port, our income will be higher year by year."

After the Eastern envoys came to Constantinople, Peter asked them what the name of the heir to the empire there was. Chen Cheng said that he was called the Crown Prince, and Peter thought this name was very good, so he quoted it. Then the coronation ceremony of Alexander was held in Hagia Sophia. The Crown Prince officially became Alexander's title, and it was also the name of every future heir to the empire.

In recent years, Romanian schools have been established in most cities in the empire. Many people who want to work in public office have greatly improved their literacy, writing, and arithmetic skills after studying in school, and then take the public office examination. Citizens who cannot pass the formal examination can also participate in the secondary assessment and serve as clerks. According to their years of service and performance in the empire, they still have the opportunity to be promoted to formal public office.

The tax collectors who follow them are all locals. They receive a certain salary as tax collectors during the slack season, and they have to go home to cultivate the farmland during the busy season. In fact, they are part-time jobs. The empire relies on these part-time clerks to support the various management work at the grassroots level of the entire country. Therefore, every official who officially takes up a public office will be warned by his superiors: respect the clerks under him, otherwise the work will not be supported and it will be difficult to complete the tasks assigned by the superiors!

In addition to Donetsk and Luhansk, Dnipro, Kiev, Zaporizhia and other places have the fastest population growth and income growth. Ruthenia, which was originally a wilderness, has regained the prosperity of the Kievan Rus period and provided a steady stream of goods to the empire.

"Since the establishment of this place, most of the past ten years have been bumper years. God is really blessing us!" A person sighed.

"This is all the credit of the great Majesty! He is protected by God, so the gods will always bless our empire!" Balivik emphasized that as a young man, he has a stronger sense of identity with the empire.

Since this place was incorporated into Rome, the Orthodox faith has gradually spread. Catholicism, Crescent Church, Judaism, etc. were forced to migrate. In particular, the Jewish decree issued by Peter directly destroyed most of the synagogues, and Orthodox churches rose from the ground, most of which were made of wood.

The church established two dioceses, Ruthenia and Kiev, here, and two archbishops were responsible for local religious affairs in Mircea Castle and Kiev. This is to prevent a diocese from becoming too powerful to compete for the status of Constantinople.

"By the way, we have to visit this last one in person." Balivik said to the tax collector in charge of collecting taxes in the city.

The other party naturally understood that this last person was Angel Iliescu, who had served as prime minister. After retirement, Angel began to manage the family property. He bought a lot of land in Donetsk. Although the empire has restrictions on land purchases, there are no restrictions on workshops and minerals. Therefore, Angel contracted two coal mines, a logging yard, and several caravans in the local area, and a large amount of silver came in every year. Although they also pay taxes, they have to ask nicely. After all, they are people respected by both emperors.

Today, although Angel is retired, his children are still active in politics. The eldest has become a member of the House of Lords, the second has joined the Empire's Ministry of Commerce, and the youngest, the third, is engaged in family affairs and tries to expand the family industry. Such an experience naturally made others rely on him for protection, and everyone was polite to him.

"If that's the case, then go early, otherwise you won't be blamed by the higher-ups."

That being said, in reality, the local nobles really cannot touch them. Although the current mayors of the empire have much more power than before, there are two semi-system officials in each city that they cannot control: tax officials, whether junior or intermediate, are directly under the Imperial Finance Department, under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Finance, and directly responsible to the king.

The other is the judge, who is assigned to each city by the Supreme Court of the Empire. Whether it is hearing a case or making a judgment, he is not interfered with by other people or departments; and the other half is the military training officer, who is assigned by the training station of each corps and ultimately under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Military Affairs. The local chief executive is not allowed to interfere in military affairs, but every time a city or region organizes large-scale military training, it involves countless people who have to put down their farm work and leave behind complicated official duties, which is bound to cause some disorder in local government affairs. Both parties must coordinate to solve it. Therefore, the training officer and the local chief executive are in a cooperative relationship, which can only be counted as half.

The two came to Angel's mansion, and the butler led them into the reception room. Because the former prime minister was nearly 80 years old, every step had to be careful. Fortunately, the other party did not say much. He had witnessed a lot in the past few decades, so he paid the tax. As long as it was paid, the royal family would continue to reuse their family one day. The old boyar's honor would not be lost.