Chapter 169 Crimea

"We're here, we're finally here."

A group of ragged people came to the outside of Viruga. When the local residents saw their appearance, they immediately understood how much suffering they had suffered. Because they had also come this way.

Since the founding of Viruga, a large number of serfs and slaves have fled here to settle down every day. Over time, this place has become a thorn in the eyes of the Tatar tribe. The closest to the destruction of Viruga happened half a year ago. More than 20 tribes formed a coalition and attacked Viruga after pulling some sponsorship from Genoa. At that time, the walls of Viruga were about to collapse and it seemed that they were about to collapse. A fierce snowstorm hit, and most of the horses and cattle and sheep of the tribe died of cold. Taking this opportunity, the defenders reinforced the walls. Seeing this, the coalition had to retreat.

The defenders and residents believed that this was God's will. After the enemy retreated, they rebuilt Viruga and reinforced the walls. The slaves around heard about it and came here. The population increased and soon exceeded 4,000.

Peter provided some support to the Crimea region and sent government officials to govern it. The local people gradually moved closer to Wallachia, and the culture was reshuffled.

After this war, the Tatar tribe continued to decline. The Crimean Church gained a foothold here and gradually advanced northward, and the Crescent Church narrowed its scope as the Golden Horde retreated.

The southern part of the Crimean Peninsula is rich in iron ore. The local mines are owned by the government and have a certain scale. A large amount of iron ore is continuously transported to Constanta. With the funds from exports, Viruga has built several churches and expanded production, and some businessmen have invested in building factories here, and the local area has a stable source of income.

However, the escape of a large number of slaves not only made the Tatar tribe angry, but also made Genoa angry. The city of Kaffa under their rule was the largest slave trading center in the Black Sea. The Roman Empire and the Khazar Khanate also fought for the city. In the 13th century, due to the westward expedition of the Mongols, the power of the Golden Horde began to expand to the city of Kaffa, and the Genoese merchants in the city were also hit by the Mongols.

With the occupation of Kaffa by the Golden Horde, the slave trade in Kaffa began to rise. Before that, there was also slave trade in Kaffa, but with the addition of the Tatars and Nogai, Kaffa completely became a "slave city". The Tatars and Nogai continued to sell captured Eastern Europeans to Kaffa, resulting in millions of Eastern Europeans being sold all over the world.

In the slave market of Kaffa at that time, the price of slaves was generally around 20 to 60 gold coins, but the price of slaves would also fluctuate with the local situation. Generally speaking, whenever there was a war or natural disaster, the price of slaves was the lowest. The price of slaves in peacetime was the highest, because slave catchers could only get a large number of captives during war.

The Tatars and Nogai often attacked Eastern European villages in groups, taking children from their mothers and wives from their husbands. And whenever a war broke out, the Tatars and Nogai would plunder the population on a large scale, so that the slave industry became the main source of income for these tribes.

Before this, the Genoese and Venetians also began to engage in slave trade in the local area, and would actively kidnap Mongolians, Turks and Slavs as slaves. Food, precious metals, olive oil and weapons were widely traded in this city, and Slavic, Caucasian and Turkish slaves were loaded on ships in Kaffa and trafficked to West Asia or Egypt.

The Genoese opened the slave trade in Kaffa and made amazing wealth from it. And because Acre fell in 1296, the Pope of Rome banned direct trade with the Mamluk Dynasty, and the Black Sea route also became an important spice trade channel. Gold and silver coins fell into the pockets of the Genoese like a rainstorm.

The merchants who suffered the most from the escape of slaves were these merchants, but Viruga and Aaron were the territories of Wallachia, so they still had to consult with the Grand Duke.

"More than 300 escaped slaves came here today. Should we take them in?"

The municipal clerk asked the mayor of Viruga, who thought for a while and then said.

"Take them in. They are all poor people. God will not give up on anyone who is willing to pursue happiness. We defeated the Tatars, and we will also defeat anyone who dares to destroy the peace of Viruga. We want to let those peasants and slaves see that Viruga will always welcome them."

In order to accommodate these people, the mayor racked his brains. In addition to reclaiming land, hiring workers and training militias, he also asked some people to join the church. Expand the scope of control by borrowing the skin of the church.

"How much money is left in the treasury now?"

"Except for the money to be used in the next three months, there are still 12,000 gold lei."

"Well, take out one-third first and build another housing area to the east of Viruga."

The mayor's continuous planning is famous, which can not only accommodate more people, but also enhance Viruga's economic and military strength. More importantly, the Grand Duke has determined that Viruga is the capital of the Crimea region, and for this reason, a large city must be built to match its status.

Despite less government support, Wallachia's expansion in Crimea has also attracted the attention of the two major countries of the Golden Horde and Lithuania. Crimea's geographical location on the Black Sea was what both Vytautas and Tokhtamysh wanted, but now Wallachia got there first, so they all thought it would be better to unite and take it before distributing it.

Peter also understood the importance of Crimea, and for this reason, he carried out large-scale construction in the two important cities of Aaron and Viruga, which not only had a complete defense system, but also new weapons such as artillery and flamethrowers. Since the Lithuanian and Golden Horde armies were mainly cavalry, the long-range firepower of the city defense was very strong.

Crimea under the control of Wallachia had a population of 150,000 and was still growing. The economy was also the most developed in the area, even surpassing Kaffa and Azov at the mouth of the Don River. A large part of it was due to the local geographical location.

Local people also began to make a living by planting and animal husbandry, and raising sheep and grain became their main labor objects. Life stabilized, and before that, they dared not even think about such a life.

Wallachia became a paradise passed down by word of mouth among slaves, and many people risked their lives to escape just to gain freedom. The more they escaped, the stricter the Genoese and nomads guarded them, but even so, these captured slaves did not give up, preferring to die themselves to create opportunities for their families to escape. Rather than living in darkness, it is better to fight to the death, even if the chance is only one percent.