The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Andrew would imitate Peter's reforms and confiscate all the local pagan lands and distribute them to the Orthodox Christians. At the same time, it was announced that it would be tax-free for two years, which won the support of farmers, businessmen and other groups.

The entire population of Thessaloniki was only 30,000 people. The Knights brought 1,300 mercenary troops, and the Andrei Order brought 3,000 fanatical armed believers. Together with the short-term mobilization, the garrison number exceeded 5,500.

Peter also deployed several artillery pieces as defensive garrison, hoping to withstand the Ottoman offensive.

And Peter's informant in the Ottomans also received news that the Grand Vizier was preparing to sell Thessaloniki to Venice. If this transaction was successful, it would be difficult to get it back.

Peter began to use the simplest method of destruction: spreading rumors. He directly stated that Venice was prepared to provide the Ottomans with preferential trade and the situation of European countries, and that the Ottomans, in order to express friendship, were prepared to hand over Smyrna, Bursa and Thessaloniki to Venice. This deal was revealed by a man who was loyal to God and could not understand the virtues of Venice. He hoped that European countries could unite to fight against the Ottomans and the fickle Venice.

In this era, being anti-Ottoman was a form of political correctness. Anyone who makes a deal with the Ottomans will be cast aside. Even if the upper class knows it, the people at the bottom don't know. They will only scold their leaders as traitors, and the church will punish them in order to maintain their power.

Rumors spread quickly. In Wallachia, the Venetians have been compared to thieves, and their originally low reputation has plummeted to the bottom. Businessmen from various countries spread the news to other places, and even became more and more outrageous, saying that Venice was preparing to surrender to Ottoman, that the Governor of Venice was planning to convert, and that Osman promised to make him a pasha in Italy.

Rumors are very terrible. The Doge of Venice was so angry that he vomited blood when he heard the bad news. What kind of rumor is this? He has no king and no father. He only believes in God. For this reason, he also bribed the archbishop with 100,000 gold coins. The archbishop also said that he had withstood the test and was a firm believer in God.

However, even if it withstood the test, Osman's proposal could not be used. The governor directly vetoed the proposal, scolded the Venetian envoy, and threatened to put him in jail. The envoy was afraid and ran to Smyrna to hide.

The Knights took this opportunity to attack westward, expanded their control area, and once again offered assistance to Bukur Yesti. However, Peter could not help openly and could only transport weapons and funds to Thessaloniki in the form of a chamber of commerce. . At the same time, he wrote to his father-in-law, Theodore, asking him to send troops northward.

At this time, Morea was no longer the peaceful regime it had been. After capturing the Principality of Athens, its economy began to grow rapidly. At the same time, the marriage with Wallachia and the preferential trade with Wallachia attracted many Wallachians to trade.

Now that another opportunity for expansion is in front of him, how could Theodore let it go. And he also has a clear goal, which is to expand to Larissa, so that he can build a second line of defense to prevent Osman from coming back.

It took time to reorganize the army, but at this time Ottoman stood still. Neither the European or Asian armies have any intention of regaining lost ground. I don't know why it became like this, maybe it was because I was scared by Wallachia.

----Dividing line----

After the Principality of Athens was annexed by Morea, Athens not only did not decline, but gradually regained its economic vitality, not only because of its geographical location, but also because of the participation of Wallachian merchants.

As one of the most glorious city-states in ancient Greece, Athens still has many ancient buildings standing here, including the Acropolis, which consists of the Parthenon and others.

Many intellectuals marveled at the splendor of ancient architecture and also did some research on ancient Greek culture. They gathered in Athens to discuss philosophy and literature, and the Athens School began to develop.

At the ruins of a theater, several young people were discussing the art and literature of ancient Greece and praising the glorious achievements of their ancestors.

"Their history is even older than Rome. They created the original civilization. If Rome conquered Greece with force, then Greece conquered Rome with culture."

"Okay Helias, you've talked a lot along the way. Take a break. No matter how brilliant they are, they are just dust now."

"How can you say that? Their culture is still influencing us. It is just declining now and will be revived again one day."

Helias shouted back, while the other man spoke of something else.

"I heard that people from Venice, Genoa, and Florence are very interested in Greece, and many people in Constantinople have been hired by them to Italy."

They were angry at this way of poaching people. They all belonged to Greece and Rome, but were snatched away by the nouveau riche; at the same time, they felt regretful, because Rome was now on its last legs and could not stop it even if it wanted to.

"No, it must not be like this, we must take action."

"Tsipras, that's easy for you to say. There are only a few of us now, how can we act?"

"Of course we can't rely on ourselves, so we have to find foreign help."

"Who should I look for? Rome, Morea, or Trebizond. No one from these three places will invest in this aspect."

"Have you forgotten that there is another country? As long as he agrees, it will be easy."

"You mean..."

Tsipras nodded, "Wallachia, only Wallachia can shoulder this important task. They are now the most powerful country in the East and the only country that can fight against heretics and heretics. Their strength is still growing. If the Archduke of Wallachia is put to death, everything that belongs to us will be taken back, not only culture, but also land."

The more Tsipras talked, the more excited he became, and he even imagined the prosperous times in the future. But some people have raised doubts.

"But will Wallachia do this? Will they invest gold coins in these places?"

"Have you not noticed that in recent years, more and more people have come to Wallachia from Constantinople, and most of them go to a place called Constanta. It is said that the local cultural and artistic atmosphere is better than It’s even thicker in Constantinople, where the heirs of the Grand Duke hold the fiefdom.”

Tsipras paused and continued.

"Moreover, I don't believe that they don't care about Constantinople. The marriage between the Grand Duke's heir and the Princess of Morea shows this. We can go to Constanta and submit a letter with the scholars there, hoping to accept it."

I don’t know where they got this idea, but in Wallachia, which uses examinations as the system for selecting officials, there is a certain chance of success, provided they can pass the university examination.