Chapter 88 Bad Taste

This Orthodox religious order that combines the characteristics of the Knights Hospitaller and other religious orders is named after Jesus' disciple Andrew and is called the Andrew Society.

The abbot of the monastery is also amazing. He directly invested in the planning work in a fanatical state, obtained the initial funds through donations from believers and land income, and recruited 28 monks with high standards, who became the first batch of members of the Andrew Society.

However, despite how fanatical the Andrew Society was, the Orthodox Church was also in its heyday. All this was brought about by the compromise between the Patriarch and the Grand Duke.

As early as after the signing of the Ottoman Peace Treaty, Grand Duke Mircea had a series of talks with Archbishop Carol. Mircea knew that religion was the most effective way to connect peoples with different languages.

The church also wanted to obtain land and increase its influence, but the land must be granted by the Grand Duke himself, and anything done by the meeting must be reported to the Grand Duke. From this, it can be seen that the Wallachian Church has not yet been separated from the government, which is also in line with the practice of the Orthodox Church being controlled by the government.

The most buildings being built in Wallachia now are churches and monasteries, which is to better spread religion and control the region, and also to attract foreign believers to migrate here.

In the process of attracting immigrants, fishermen and craftsmen are given special attention. Because fishermen are the reserve of naval sailors, both long-distance voyages and naval forces need sailors. For this reason, Wallachia offers very good conditions for naval recruitment, with half of the allowances and taxes plus or minus. Although it is not as good as Venice and Genoa, it is the best treatment compared to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Moreover, the exploitation of fishermen by the nobles these days is very heavy. Generally speaking, those coastal lords will require fishermen to hand over more than 40% of their catch. Among them, some are fresh sea fish. The rest are pickled salted fish.

These days, salted fish require a lot of salt to be pickled. Fishermen themselves are very poor, and they have to pay for expensive salt to pickle salted fish for the lords. All in all, the cost they handed over to the lords reached as much as 60% of the catch. In addition, 10% of the catch needs to be handed over to the church. Therefore, the fishermen's harvest was only about 30%, so their lives were very difficult.

Now, the fishermen only need to pay about 40% of the harvest, including the tithe of the church, which is nearly half of the usual tribute. Naturally, the fishermen's life will be much better.

At the same time, the sailors of the merchant fleet are also a source of the navy, but Wallachia's own merchant fleet is not enough, and they will compete with the navy for people, so they must continue to recruit, and may have to open a naval school.

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When everything was moving forward, Peter had a bad taste. He gathered the Guards Corps and the Cossack Guards and headed towards Nis. Hearing that Brankovic became the head of Serbia, he planned to go to congratulate.

"Are the gifts ready?"

"My lord, they are all ready."

Peter looked at the artillery and shells and nodded with satisfaction. If the other party is a smart person, it should be coming soon.

Kruševac, the capital of Serbia, was planned to move the capital to avoid the attack of Wallachia after it gained Niš. But now he needs stability, and only when he is stable can he implement the plan.

For this reason, he did not eat well or sleep well every day, was busy on the front line every day, and went to church to pray. I hope everything goes well.

On the 49th day of his prayer, a bad news came: the Wallachia army gathered in Niš. It seems that they are going to attack Kruševac.

This news directly scared Brankovich. At present, his soldiers are still with the Sultan. Even if they can be mobilized urgently, how can they compare with the soldiers on the opposite side? Sending them to the battlefield, isn't that giving war merits to the opposite side?

"How many people are there on the other side?"

"Not sure, at least 6,000 people, and there are 200 knights."

Brankovich was a little dizzy when he heard this number. You know, this is 6,000 people, and there are 200 knights. He can believe that these 6,000 people are temporarily put together, but these 200 knights can't be fake. The other side must be well prepared.

"What should I do?" Brankovich began to panic. If the other side wanted to attack here, he would not have enough strength to stop it.

Although he could ask for help from the Ottomans, as far as he knew, Wallachia and the Ottomans had signed a peace treaty. The treaty stipulated that both sides would not invade each other, but Serbia was not included, and the Ottomans would not necessarily join this possible war for him, so he had no choice but to ask for peace.

"Order all troops to assemble. Huh, wait a little longer, wait a little longer." Brankovich wiped his sweat and gave orders to his men.

Within a few days, the news of the Wallachian army's assembly spread throughout Krushevac. Some people were terrified, fearing that their property would be damaged; some people were delighted, thinking that the Christian brothers had come.

Some Ottoman Sipahis also knew the news, but due to the treaty they could only wait for the Sultan's order. As long as the Sultan gave the order, they would immediately go to break Wallachia.

But the Niš army was training and hunting all day, and there was no fighting at all, which made the Serbian defenders, who were nervous at the beginning, begin to relax. I thought they were just bluffing and had no intention of attacking from the beginning. But Brankovich always had a vague feeling of uneasiness.

"What are they going to do?"

The answer was soon revealed. Ten days later, at night, two super-large guys were transported over.

Peter patted the two guys and felt that the other party would definitely come. And he was still rolling and crawling.

This is a super siege gun that the artillery craftsman spent two years making. It weighs nine tons and has a caliber of more than 450 mm. It was held in the first test firing. With a roar that shook the earth and the mountains, the shell sank into the mud 6 feet deep 1 kilometer away.

It took a lot of effort to transport such artillery. In addition, there were mountains and rivers along the way, which also increased the difficulty of transportation. At the same time, there was a team of engineers responsible for building the bridge in front and opening the road, but fortunately they had already arrived.

In order to install these heavy metal cannons, the soldiers used a complex pulley system. In order to prevent the defenders from destroying these expensive weapons, huge wooden shields were specially installed to protect the cannons, while the cannonballs and gunpowder were transported by the fleet using rivers. Come. The artillery unit is composed of two well-trained team members, who are fully responsible for the arrangement, loading, firing and even maintenance of artillery.

"Send the order, the army will go to Serrela Castle tomorrow."

This castle is 15 kilometers away from Krusevac. It was originally Lazarevich's castle and later fell into the hands of Blancovich. Peter made up his mind to use this castle to give Serbia a fatal attack.