Chapter 310 The Opposite of Reform

Peter was still walking with the manor, and he was telling the Caesar how great the reforms of the empire were.

"We are going to plant grapes and reclaim a lot of land, all for the development of the empire."

The more the manor owner talked, the more Peter felt that something was going to happen. After all, this manor, which integrates handicraft workshops and land cultivation, is no longer an ordinary landlord, but a bit like a powerful manor in the East.

Petkov asked the steward for the register of serfs, and the guard from before came running in panic.

"Sir, please take His Highness away quickly. There will be a riot here soon."

Upon hearing of the riot, Petkov hurried to Peter's side so that he could not be harmed. When Peter saw the factory owner's panic, he felt that something was going to happen.

"Your Highness, please come with me. There will be a riot here soon."

Then Petkov quickly ordered the guards to protect Peter and at the same time captured the manor owner. After seeing this situation, the majority of serfs also began to take action of their own. They attacked the thugs and others with farm tools, and the steward, after forcing them, produced all the registers and a silver box. The guard took them all and left without looking back.

The entire estate was overrun by serfs, joined by many tenant farmers. They burned down the manor buildings and fought against those who usually lorded it over them. And Peter successfully escaped from here under escort.

"Your Highness, although I don't want to spoil the fun, this is the fact. This manor owner has expressed his stance to the letter. More than 300 households and more than a thousand serfs were enslaved and abused by him, and some were directly beaten to death."

"God!", Peter crossed himself. He never imagined that the landowners below would treat serfs like this. Although corporal punishment of serfs happened from time to time, he was the first to do it to this extent.

"What's in that box?"

"We haven't found the key and it will take some time to open it."

Peter looked at the numbers on the book and was shocked. Not only was he subjected to corporal punishment, but he also wanted every serf's daughter to have the right to their first night. The good mood brought about by the victory in the war was instantly wiped out.

"These are kept as evidence until they are handed over to His Majesty in Constantinople."

Peter was no longer in the mood to continue playing and ordered the team to return to Constantinople quickly. In the capital, the riots caused by the emperor's departure continued.

The Grand Chancellor and members of the Senate all went to the monastery where the emperor was staying, while the members of the House of Commons also left the capital. In addition, 150 representatives of the citizens petitioned Emperor Mircea to return to rule in the capital.

They knelt before the monastery door and loudly spoke of the emperor's importance and the petitions of the citizens. It was hoped that the emperor could return to the capital and continue to rule the empire.

"I always thought that the empire was good enough to them, but people's greed has no bottom line."

Mircea told Angel about the faces of these nobles, and Angel also knew that the emperor was preparing to attack these Greek nobles.

"Your Majesty, it was my fault that the selection of them was not fully implemented before."

Angel was showing weakness at this time, and the current situation required the emperor to take charge of the overall situation. As for those nobles who dreamed of returning to the ancient Roman era, seizing power from the monarch was the greatest risk for their ministers. After all, monarchs had different desires for power, and this one was the most enthusiastic about centralizing power.

"It's not your fault, it's that they are too cunning. They think that if there is peace, they can seize power."

Mircea said, looking at the crown in her hand. The previous one is gone, but now this one is newly built.

"If you want the Senate, look for it in your dreams."

Seeing that the situation was almost over, Mircea asked someone to open the door of the monastery. Many citizens and other people from the castle gathered outside. The administrator of the castle, the patriarch, and the nobles who were loyal to Mircea also came.

They all asked His Majesty to return to Constantinople to preside over the overall situation. The nobles who proposed the motion were beaten by the angry citizens and unable to get out. Now only the emperor can preside over the overall situation. The patriarch hopes that the emperor can shoulder his responsibilities and not let the villain succeed.

Mircea looked at this situation with satisfaction. This was the result he wanted.

"I already know your request. It is my responsibility to rule and protect the empire. Some traitors want to subvert this hard-won achievement, but they will not succeed. I will eliminate them all."

After Mircea finished speaking, he announced his return to Constantinople and ordered the army to guard the gates of the city and not let anyone go. All decisions will be made after he returns to the capital.

----Dividing line----

Peter led people to Belgrade, and his men finally opened the silver box. There was only a large pile of letters, mostly written in Latin.

"Klaus Johannes, who is this man?"

Peter looked at these letters, and most of them contained the correspondence between this man named Claude and the Ottoman Empire. It turned out that this person was still a Bey of the Ottoman Empire. Later, after Wallachia came over, he hid his identity in the manor.

It doesn't matter if this is the case, after all, nobles choose their allegiance based on the ruler. However, the next few letters made him a traitor.

It is full of correspondence between the Venetians and Claude. As long as he is willing to guide the Venetians, Venice is willing to help him establish a principality and will also give him a lot of gold coins. Claude only needs to hand over the local trade privileges. Just give it to Venice.

"This is treason and must be arrested as soon as possible."

Peter told Petkov that they didn't know where Claude was from, and they could only find out from the manor owner.

In Petkov's investigation, serfs and tenants in many places were in a difficult situation. They were forced to bear three-fifths or even higher rents, and there were various kinds of labor and unreasonable inheritance laws and first night rights. There were more than 60 serf riots in the province of North Serbia alone in one year.

"It seems that the policy still needs to be maintained by the government."

At the beginning, the place of governance was small, and Peter and the Grand Duke's authority easily penetrated into the local area. Now that the place is large, the legal reforms at the upper level have changed when they are passed down. The original intention of the rulers was good, but there are always bad people who turn good policies into bad ones.

The selection of talents through examinations is naturally good, but because it is grafted, it may not be suitable for the local environment. Because the task is assigned from the university for selection, those who have connections or money at home can do some dark operations to get the exam quota. This situation has become serious in the past two years. After becoming local officials, some unqualified people have begun to collude with local landlords to exploit the people. Coupled with different local policies, this has made the confrontation between some governments and the people particularly serious. However, some people at the top still suppress it and try to create an atmosphere of peace.