Chapter 9 Grand Duke Mircea's Thoughts

"Dear Archduke, the King of Hungary has been very dissatisfied with us recently."

In the capital, Kemplongli, Foreign Affairs Director Yanku told Mircea about the recent diplomatic situation.

Wallachia was surrounded by the Ottomans to the south, Hungary to the west, and Poland and Lithuania to the north. Among them, the relationship with Hungary is even more important.

In 1330, Basarabus, the Archduke of Wallachia, severely defeated the Hungarian army at Posada, thus allowing them to recognize Wallachia's independence. King Charles Robert of Hungary was able to escape by changing his clothes. Shortly thereafter, in order to fully deal with the threat of the Golden Horde, Basarab took the initiative to repair with Hungary, and the relationship between the two countries improved thereafter.

However, despite the improvement, relations between Hungary and Wallachia were still tense due to the competition in Transylvania.

Hungary gradually occupied Transylvania from the 10th to 13th centuries. Due to the stubborn resistance of the Wallachians, Hungary was forced to recognize the status of the autonomous principality of Transylvania. Although the autonomous principality is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Hungary, it enjoys a high degree of autonomy and has a different state structure from that of Hungary itself.

In order to consolidate the newly acquired territory and crowd out the power of the Vlachs, Hungary began to encourage Germanic tribes such as the Saxons and Szekelys to immigrate to Transylvania starting in the 12th century. This policy in Hungary was well implemented, and immigration activities continued throughout the 12th and 13th centuries. The increase in the number of outsiders caused the proportion of the original main ethnic group Wallachians in Transylvania's population to continue to decrease. Some Romanians were also forced to migrate to the south and east of the Carpathian Mountains.

Wallachia could only watch them being squeezed into space, but could do nothing. Because the country is too weak.

After Mircea succeeded to the throne, everything began to change. Not only did it attack the pro-Hungarian forces, it also consolidated Wallachia's control over the Iron Gate, which made Hungary a little unhappy. However, in the face of the Ottoman threat, the two countries could only temporarily cooperate.

From his accession to the throne in 1386 to the present, Grand Duke Mircea has worked hard to govern this land. Rectifying armaments, fortifying castles, developing the economy, and strengthening centralization were all in order to defeat the Ottomans.

As the Ottomans approached, some people from the Balkans also moved north to Wallachia. Mircea followed his son's advice and used the land to attract people. More than 100,000 people have come to Wallachia in recent years.

What surprised him even more was Dobroga, which was ruled by his son. He didn't know what method this kid used. It can provide tens of thousands of ducats and a large amount of food. This allowed him to use the money to raise an army and build forts.

After expanding his army, Mircea also began to centralize power. He changed his title from Woyward to Grand Duke (Woyward means warlord), and expanded the scope of his control through confiscation, redemption and other means. If time permits, his next step will be to transform the current elective monarchy into a new one. It became a hereditary monarchy, but in order for his son to successfully succeed to the throne, he had to win a big victory to help him gain prestige.

"Their dissatisfaction has long been expressed. Our ancestors got rid of Hungary's control decades ago. Now they are coming back again. I will not let them out."

As Mircea said this, he still felt a little unsure. But when he thought of his son, all the uneasiness in his heart disappeared.

He believed in his son.

"How are things going?" Mircea turned his attention to military director Adrian.

"Grand Duke, your order has been fulfilled. The large army can be expanded to a maximum of 20,000 people."

The so-called large army refers to the state levies of Wallachia, usually composed of farmers and citizens.

Before this, Wallachia could only recruit more than 10,000 troops. After Mircea succeeded to the throne, he established a military affairs office to be responsible for the training of civilians. At the same time, the Eastern census system was also introduced to obtain as many troops as possible.

When the census was first introduced, it faced opposition from some nobles. Mircea took this opportunity to arrest and execute a group of people, confiscated their territories and redistributed them to supporters to consolidate power. Moreover, the census also required a large number of literate people to conduct. Those literate but declining nobles and merchant families saw opportunities. Mircea promoted these people in large numbers and used them to fight against the great nobles and implement policies.

Now Mircea is rushing to train his troops, build fortresses, and prepare for a showdown with Ottoman. But whether it is improving the government or training the military, it is inseparable from money.

Mircea reorganized the financial department and divided it into the development department. This department is used to reclaim new land and search for new minerals, especially in areas near Dobroga. Swamps, forests and other places are reclaimed as farmland, and the power of these lands is determined by Mircea. Therefore, land reclamation is also a way to strengthen centralization.

In addition to these measures, Mircea derived most of his income from Dobroga. Peter handed over more finances than all the nobles. This was a money bag.

“Who is better, us or the Moldovan army?”

Mircea asked this question and Adrian replied.

"Grand Duke, our army has been trained for a long time, while most of Moldova's army are farmers recruited temporarily. We can defeat them in a short time."

This is the truth. Moldova was still in a period of chaos at that time. Since independence, no monarch has been in office for more than 10 years. In addition, Poland has been in constant friction with its old enemy, the Teutonic Knights, and its brother, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This period is the best time to take over Moldova.

Moldova became independent more than 20 years later than Wallachia, and it lags behind Wallachia in all aspects. Especially in terms of population, with an area similar to Wallachia but only half the population of the other side, this is the fundamental gap between the two sides.

After getting the answer he wanted, Mircea had a bottom line in his heart. What Peter said to him fueled his ambition. He always wanted to make Wallachia the master of the Balkans. But the situation of the country limited his ambition. When he first succeeded to the throne, Wallachia was still in a mediocre state. His father Radu and brother Dan wanted to expand their influence, but failed under the influence of Hungary. However, let him and his son realize their dreams.

"Okay, that's it for today!"

After ordering all the ministers to withdraw, Mircea went to the church to pray.

Mircea was a devout Orthodox Christian who went to church to pray every day. He once donated 600 slaves to the church. He also divided the country into three large dioceses and ten small dioceses, and began to choose bishops by Wallachia on its own, and began to ignore the words of the Patriarch of Constantinople. Who made the two countries separated by the Ottoman Empire?

"Dear Grand Duke, you look a little troubled?" Archbishop Carol of Wallachia asked the ruler of Wallachia. (At this time, the Wallachia diocese was not recognized by Constantinople, so it did not need to be called the Patriarch)

"The threat of pagans is in front of us. Can God have mercy on this country?"

Mircea asked the doubts in his heart. Wallachia and the Ottoman Empire are like snakes and elephants. Although the army is now in high spirits, facing the Ottoman Empire with a vast territory, Wallachia can only fight a speed war. Especially taking advantage of the Ottoman Empire's failure to give a fatal blow in the Balkans.

"Grand Duke, don't worry. God's hope has come to Wallachia. Those pagans and those who blasphemed the holy land will definitely pay the price they deserve."

The pagans are Osman, and those who blasphemed the holy land refer to the Western European mercenaries such as Venice who looted Constantinople 180 years ago. This is the pain of all Orthodox Christians.

Archbishop Carol has also seen the situation in recent years. He is a religious person and he cannot tolerate the Orthodox holy land being desecrated again. Therefore, he fully supports all the policies of Grand Duke Mircea, and he also calls those executed nobles devils. He does this in order to drive out heretics and pagans one day.

"May God bless you!" Mircea said while gesturing.