The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Brandenburg, Berlin.

After Vlad became the Elector, he began to spend a lot of effort to govern here. With the friendly relations with various countries, this place has already grown to the size of a large city.

"Your Highness, look carefully, this is the correct way to use the sword."

The tutor is showing the Elector's son swordsmanship. As a necessary skill for the nobility, swordsmanship is naturally an important course in all noble families.

"Karl!"

Vlad called his son on the balcony, and Karl waved to his father. Such a warm scene is rare, especially in recent years.

The Huss Rebellion has swept across Bohemia, and it has also caused considerable waves in nearby countries. In Dresden, the people destroyed the church and fought with the local nobles; and in cities farther away such as Stuttgart, people attacked the local church, which shows the oppression of Catholicism on them.

But there are also stable places, the religious principalities and Austria and Bavaria in the south are all good. Habsburg proved his loyalty to Catholicism, and Sigismund also needed a helper, so he naturally reused them.

Albrecht was 20 years old at this time, and his uncle returned the power to him. He soon married his fiancée, Elizabeth of Luxembourg. With the help of his father-in-law, Albrecht immediately took his troops to the southern region to suppress the peasant uprising. Now the south has been basically pacified.

The situation in the north is a bit complicated. In Bohemia, the core of the uprising, King Wenzel has been in poor health in recent years, but he still supports the uprising led by Hus. This made the local nobles extremely disappointed with the king. They secretly planned a coup and prepared to support Sigismund as king. But the king's son-in-law became a problem. The Berlin Alliance led by Vlad was the largest alliance in the Holy Roman Empire, with strong strength, and he was also the son-in-law of the Luxembourg family. If Sigismund and Wenzel were gone, Bohemia would be fought over by the two families of Bartland and Habsburg, and it would definitely be another bloody storm.

"Sir, the Pope has issued a decree to form an army to attack Prague again."

"Let them fight. They have come several times. I don't know how many troops they have to invest in this bottomless pit."

In the past few years, under the call of the Pope, various countries formed a crusade to attack the Hussites, but they were all resolved one by one. Now that the crusade is formed again, I am afraid it will fail.

"But sir, we can't fight Sigismund for a long time. Although we are the most powerful alliance, we can't withstand a protracted war. Only peace can restore our economy and trade."

"We didn't help them directly. We just contacted them."

Yes, the alliance army was allowed to enter Silesia in the name of suppressing the uprising, and the local nobles didn't even look at it when they tried to stop it. In order to prevent the other party from disrupting the situation, Sigismund pinched his nose and admitted the other party's actions in Silesia.

His subordinates kept persuading him, "Sir, we must protect this hard-won achievement. If we stand on the wrong side in this war, all our undertakings will collapse immediately."

But Vlad was not afraid at all: "Sigismund will definitely compromise. I can also inherit Bohemia. Why should I let the Habsburgs take advantage?"

It turns out that the problem is here. As the only kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia has become the richest place with its own resources. Vlad also wants it here, so that his position in the Holy Roman Empire can be further consolidated.

Of course, Vlad also knew that this was unlikely. The noble power in Bohemia was too strong, and the punishment of confiscation of property and exile in the East would encounter great resistance here. And within the alliance, Brandenburg's tendency to centralize power made some people feel disgusted. Vlad must stabilize the internal situation and then expand outward.

"If, if it really doesn't work, let them give me Silesia."

Vlad also compromised. If it really doesn't work, just divide Bohemia into two parts. He will be a little aggrieved, and Silesia will be fine.

Such words made his subordinates speechless for a while, and you are still aggrieved. With an emperor brother, two king brothers, a king brother-in-law, and a duke brother-in-law, who can compare with such a kinship?

And Silesia is also the richest place in Bohemia. The important geographical location and rich mineral resources have made the local importance rise sharply. If you don't act tough, it will be difficult for the other party to admit that Silesia belongs to Brandenburg.

"Alas, the glory of the entire north is on me. I have to fight with Vienna and guard against Burgundy. There is no one in the world who is more tired than me."

Speaking of which, Vlad has been very tired in recent years. The first problem is the lack of money. Brandenburg, a rotten land, requires a long time to be governed before it can be effective, and the newly purchased Westphalia land is not as important as it will be in later generations. In addition to the newly captured East Pomerania, it also obtained the important port city of Danzig, which reduced the financial burden.

Fortunately, the eldest brother knew that his younger brother was not easy, and secretly gave Vlad some money in the name of the Chamber of Commerce, which made him less sad. But Vlad didn't want to be said by others that he was a person who relied on his eldest brother to live. He wanted to use his own power to become the leading king in Europe.

Vlad began to work hard to improve the status of Brandenburg, and successfully promoted the Archbishop of Berlin to Patriarch, gaining more power. The Hanseatic League gradually lost its independence, and the smallest Brunswick City Council passed a resolution to swear allegiance to the Elector of Brandenburg.

With his start, some small cities are ready to pledge allegiance to Brandenburg, whether for a better future or for something else. The three core alliance forces of Lübeck, Hamburg and Lüneburg have not shown any inclination yet. But there are more or less voices to pledge allegiance to Brandenburg.

No matter how much the upper class opposes, the inclination of the lower class has changed. The propaganda of Orthodox missionaries has made some people change their beliefs, and their hearts are naturally towards Berlin. In addition, the church where the Pope is really indifferent to human affairs, which has led to a very rapid change in the local area. Of course, there are also few people. Now the entire Holy Roman Empire has a population of about 6.3 million, and the population of the place where the Berlin Alliance is located accounts for about one-third, which is about 2 million. Most of the others are in the southern region, including Austria, Bavaria and other countries.

Although there are fewer people, they can make a faster change. Vlad also concentrated power in his own hands as quickly as possible, and the power of the Elector of Pomerania gradually decreased, but Vlad did not let them suffer any loss. He used economic benefits to make them loyal to him. This created a win-win situation.