The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Peter had no choice but to continue his hard work. At present, he was still concerned about population issues.

In fact, the population of the Balkans and Anatolia has been recovering in the past decade or so. The population of Wallachia has increased to 1.03 million, and Moldova has 890,000. This growth rate is the fastest within the empire. Bulgaria and Serbia are also growing steadily. On the one hand, the increase in population fertility and on the other hand, the increase in immigrants from other places.

The improvement of living standards, a stable society and the encouragement of the church are the three factors that promote population growth. With the growth and mobility of the population, the country also has more labor force to increase its wealth and army.

"Your Highness, the army still needs 25,000 muskets, 600 artillery pieces and 100,000 artillery shells."

Adrian submitted the army's firearms supplement list to Peter. This was the first time Peter had seen so many firearms.

"Even if we are defending against Osman, is this too much?"

"Your Highness, recently more Ottoman cavalry have been discovered on the border between our country and the Ottomans. These nomads do not want our farmers. Their tents and properties can be moved, but the farmers' houses and crop fields cannot be moved. This requires strengthening our country's borders. defense."

The way the nomads come and go is disgusting. Although they are driven away with cavalry every time, they will come back. The border between the two countries is thousands of kilometers long, and it is impossible to cover everything.

"Deploy another cavalry regiment to Ancyra, and tell the Cossacks that no matter whether it is intentional or unintentional, if they find Ottoman cavalry or herdsmen to kill them, the treasures on them will also belong to them."

Peter also asked for the continued expansion of cavalry regiments. There are currently ten cavalry regiments in Rome, each with 2,000 men. Generally speaking, equipment is prepared by the state, but they have to pay a sum of money for weapons and so on. After all, they have to reduce expenditures. Maintaining a large standing army also costs money.

This is only for the Army, and the Navy's cost is only slightly less than that of the Army. The naval ships captured from Venice saved a lot of money, but other expenses also included money for training and supplies, and corrupt officials inside would also take advantage of them.

The nobles and officials whom Peter punished all had more property than wealthy merchants. The mayor of Skopje's property is as high as 200,000 gold coins, and Klaus's property is equivalent to 1.2 million gold coins. All of this was collected into the national treasury, and the treatment of these people indeed shocked some officials, and the living environment of the people was also much better.

Punishment laws for corrupt officials range from imprisonment to death, and confiscation of property is also a necessary option. People are also encouraged to appeal, and the courts must also hear cases.

Apart from political affairs, Peter was also busy finding a good family for his youngest sister. The Duke of Milan is no longer available, nor are the three Iberian countries. Moscow already has one, and Poland and Lithuania have to be cancelled. If she is willing to endure hardship, then Georgia is a good choice.

Georgia is now considered a Caucasus power, and they support the Trebizond Empire to expand their influence. However, there are still some small forces in the country that are ready to take action. In the past few years, they have recognized Timur as the suzerain state. If you want this place, Trabizon must also be solved together.

For the Timurid Empire, trade routes between Constantinople and Samarkand were opened with the permission of both rulers. Roman merchants could go to Baghdad, Basra, and Tabriz to trade, while merchants from the Timur Empire could also come to Constantinople and Ancyra. Trade between the two parties began.

As for another nomadic empire, the Golden Horde, the Roman Empire maintained good relations with it. The two sides are relatively active in trade cooperation, but for the sake of relations with Moscow, it is better not to go further for the time being.

Peter's life was so simple, handling various government affairs with the help of the Senate. I usually go to the training ground or the library to spend time when I have nothing to do.

Envoys from Genoa and other countries would also secretly give Peter some small gifts, hoping that he could provide convenience in some aspects or say something nice in front of the emperor. Peter also accepts everyone who comes. As for how he handles it, it depends on himself. Even if you don't do anything yourself.

----Dividing line----

In the distant port of Aden, Mason issued a mobilization order. It is required to concentrate most of the ships to go to the east to destroy this group of pirates. It has only been more than a year since they went there. It feels a bit too fast.

Mason couldn't help but feel unhappy. How could he sit still after such a big thing happened to his family? He must deal with the Eastern pirates as soon as possible and go back. According to his father's letters, they are now living well in Thessaloniki with the help of his friends. Mason guessed it was Peter, which he was very grateful for.

In addition, Mason also received a letter from Peter, saying that there would be a large island as his fiefdom in the future. The premise is that the exploration of the east is successful, so Mason begins to show his evil side. In India, many people were forced to build ships for the governor, and a war was fought in the southern tip to bring the Kingdom of Kozhikode and Chulung under colonial rule. The local king had to hand over 100 large ships and thousands of sailors for his dispatch. Ceylon Province also handed over some Arab ships and sailors. This expedition had a total of 210 ships and tens of thousands of personnel.

To finance this expense, Mason withheld the profits that would have been given to the East India Company and wrote to them telling them why. If he comes back alive after failure, he will go to court to be judged by himself.

"Mr. Governor, all our reserves are on board. We can still receive supplies when we go to Ceylon. After passing Ceylon, we can go to Aceh, where we will encounter pirates."

"Well, tell everyone, if you are scared, you can get off the boat now, otherwise you will have no chance."

Mason will not give up this time, he will definitely solve it in one go. His Highness was worried that he would run into the ships of the great powers in the East, so he specially prepared two diplomatic letters, and then he had to rely on himself.

People in the Port of Aden gathered on the pier and watched a large number of ships gathering here. They also saw the governor from Constantinople announcing an expedition to the East. These large ships began to leave Aden uniformly.

In early 1404, the first large-scale colonial campaign to conquer the East in the history of the empire began. Among them are ships from European standards, as well as ships from Arabia and India. The people on board are also diverse, including Romanians, Neapolitans, Arabs, Dravidians, Indians, Ceylonese, etc. They are led by Mason and the Romanian commander under his command, began this unprecedented operation.