Chapter 241: Winning over and Demonstrating

Peter stayed in Naples for a month, during which he only traveled, and then nothing happened. The intelligence written by those spies could be published as a travelogue.

But where they could not see, Peter secretly interacted with other forces in Naples. The bishops of the Orthodox Church and the Chamber of Commerce that traded with Rome became his targets for wooing.

The southern Italian region is mainly agricultural, and the local people have not experienced fierce conflicts like in the north. People are satisfied with a self-sufficient life. Although industry and commerce have developed to a certain extent, they have not yet grown to shake the landlord class. Under the oppression of the landlords, the farmers live a miserable life, which is suitable for the church to win over.

Banks and chambers of commerce also opened branches in Naples to be responsible for the commercial layout of this place. The frequent trade between the two countries is a good opportunity to promote integration.

And the day before leaving Naples, the Hungarian envoy finally found Peter and handed him the letter written by Mary.

"Is Sigismund going to attack so soon?"

"Not yet, but many nobles and church personnel have come to his side, and the king is worried that he can't resist."

Peter thought carefully about the situation in Hungary and decided to go to Hungary after visiting other countries. Now it is necessary to ensure that the Buda regime cannot fall, and then gradually annex it.

As the Roman army arrived at the Hungarian border, Sigismund also became honest. Perhaps he was afraid, or perhaps he chose to continue to accumulate strength for a safer purpose. This also gave the other party time.

And at this time, his debts increased. The debt of nearly 230,000 silver coins forced them to take out land to pay off the debt again. Soon the Duchy of Bozzoni became larger.

At this time, the Duchy of Bozzoni was already a third-party force within the Kingdom of Hungary, and some towns also defected to the Duchy. As for the newly rising Duke of Bozzoni, both Sigismund and Mary wanted to win him over, and both sides sent people to see him, but the Duke did not show up once, which made them feel strange. Not only that, because the place is close to Poland, even Władysław wanted to meet him to see where he leaned, or whether he was ready for independence.

After leaving Naples, they sailed north to Genoa. It was more depressed here than a year ago, but the facade was still acceptable. Even the governor came.

Peter expressed his willingness to increase trade and friendship to Genoa, and the governor was so happy that he wanted to take off. He always wanted to rely on the East to make Genoa regain its former glory. As long as the Eastern trade route could be reopened, it could rely on trade to rise again.

And Peter was thinking whether giving Genoa to Milan would make the in-laws happy and let them join the future war against Venice. After all, there is an outlet to the sea.

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The visit of the Romanian Caesar brought friendly signals to Western Europe, and in Constantinople, Basilius was discussing with his ministers the punishment measures for the West after solving the pagans in the East. 1204 was a hurdle that could not be overcome.

The two biggest threats, Ottoman Empire and Lithuania, have no intention of looking at Constantinople for the time being, and they can just gradually erode it. Then there is the punishment of the West.

"Your Majesty, I think Venice is the primary enemy of the empire. It is not only a matter of a hundred years ago, but their caravans also earned profits that belonged to our country. In the long run, the country's financial resources will be exhausted, which is not good for the empire."

The Minister of Finance analyzed it from the perspective of trade and finance. He felt that the need to punish Venice as the first target is not only religious, but also economic. Romania needs to take back the eastern trade route occupied by Venice, which is the most important source of income for the empire.

But Adrian, the head of military affairs, has a different answer. He believes that the focus should be on Hungary in the north. Queen Mary, whom they support, will not be able to hold on for long. They need to help her unify Hungary as soon as possible, and then take the opportunity to annex it.

Moreover, the benefits of Hungary are no less than those of Venice. With Hungary, it means that the middle reaches of the Danube can be controlled, and then march into Central Europe; and Hungary's rich agricultural resources are a great supplement to Romania, and Transylvania's minerals can promote industry.

In addition to Venice and Hungary, some people proposed a third way, which is to accumulate strength, solve one side first and then turn back. Because of the geographical location, the empire had to attack on both sides, and the enemy saw their weaknesses and used guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to consume their strength. Their suggestion was to go east, solve the pagans in the east and then solve the heretics in the west. The current situation does not allow the empire to attack on both sides, and it can only concentrate on solving one side.

Mircea looked at the map in front of him, thinking about the chain reaction brought by each method. Attacking Venice may allow some Holy Roman countries to join; annexing Hungary, Sigismund will not give up, going east is the safest, but there are also very powerful enemies in the east. He once smashed the Ottoman with one punch, and Rome cannot provoke him now.

Now it’s better to farm honestly, but the ministers have overlooked a place, which has brought much less impact than the other two countries, that is, Croatia and Bosnia between Venice and Hungary.

After Croatia's independence, it has been actively seeking to join the Holy Roman Empire. King Louis felt that only by joining the Holy Roman Empire could Croatia's security be guaranteed. At the same time, he also showed goodwill to Venice, granted Venetian merchants privileges, and was ready to go through fire and water for the Holy Roman Empire at any time.

Bosnia is much simpler. The local nobles are fighting among themselves. In fact, the whole country has been torn apart. The rulers can only rely on the church to manage the grassroots. The conflicts between the Orthodox Church, the Bogomils and the Catholic Church have exacerbated the turmoil. It can be said that the time for annexation has come.

However, Bosnia does not welcome Romania very much. Faced with military harassment, some peasants and nobles formed guerrillas to fight back. In addition, the local area is mountainous and the cost of security warfare is too high, which is not suitable for Romania now.

But looking around, only here is the most suitable place to show muscles to the West, and their reaction is also the smallest. It is also easier to enter the Adriatic Sea and attack Venice from the sea and land.

Before, Mircea put the army on the Roman border to test the reaction of Bosnia and Croatia, but it scared them both, because even Croatia only had 3,000 troops to command, and the coastline was occupied by Venice, and the navy was even scarcer. Mercenaries are no more than two months at most. Such military strength is obviously not enough to face Romania.

The only advantage they had was the terrain. They used the mountains to fight a war of attrition with Romania, attempting to wear them out. But given their size, it was not certain who would outlast whom.