Chapter 308 The Nobles Are Causing Trouble Again

"Your Highness, His Majesty is really generous. One-fifth of the spoils, this is worth millions of florins."

Nicholas said to Peter, the wealth of northern Italy is well-deserved. Looting once can earn money that you can't see in several lifetimes. Although most of it belongs to the empire, Peter also took a lot.

"Don't think I don't know what you are thinking. Didn't you take a lot?"

Nicholas took a lot of things in the battles of Venice and Rome, and also robbed a Venetian woman to enjoy. Based on his military exploits and so many years of hard work, Peter gave him a large manor and other fiefs, enough for him and his descendants.

"Your Highness, Milan and Savoy will probably hate you."

"Then hate it, anyway, they can't do anything."

This attack by Rome made these states have no idea about them for at least ten years, and there are two vassal states in Italy. If the war resumes, it is really uncertain who will win.

Peter himself doesn't know how much money there is in his small treasury, but he knows that there are a lot of gold coins. In addition to participating in commercial trade, art and literature can also be seen.

However, the road to recruiting Italian intellectuals and artists seems to be blocked. What Rome has done here can scare many people. How dare they go to Constantinople? But why recruit Italian intellectuals?

This thought feels like nonsense, so delete it from Peter's mind. Let's go back to Constantinople and talk about it.

Back to Salageb, the local area has stabilized under the governance of Plankovic. Those who are disobedient have reported to Constantinople, and the people on this land will always be subjects of the empire.

————Dividing line————

In Constantinople, after the persuasion of Patriarch Carol, Patriarch Anthony finally decided to restore the Roman Patriarchate and re-establish the Roman Patriarchate.

Why can Catholicism be so domineering on the land of Orthodoxy, while the Orthodox Church cannot fight back? The destruction of Venice is the lesson they gave to those heretics. The bells of Hagia Sophia rang the loudest on that day.

The policies promulgated by the emperor were promoted by the officials below, and naturally went smoothly in the city. However, due to different situations in other places, the same policy will have different effects. But basically, they are all developing in a positive direction.

Mircea works ten hours a day because he likes to do everything himself. He finally started a business and had so much property. If he doesn't read it a few more times, he's afraid that it will be gone.

"Your Majesty, this is a proposal jointly submitted by the nobles."

Mircea took the document, and the content inside made him want to laugh. It turned out that they wanted the emperor to follow the example of Augustus and turn the Boyar Conference into the Senate. This institution also had to control the power of taxation, military command, etc.

"How dare they do that? Aren't the previous lessons enough?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me for being blunt. Your previous methods were only aimed at the nobles of Wallachia and Moldova. Now those who submitted proposals are from Bulgaria and Thessaloniki."

The nobles began to hinder the emperor's orders for their own interests. When the nobles who supported Mircea found that the emperor was gradually encroaching on their rights, they began to use the Boyar Conference to fight back.

During the one-month meeting, the nobles repeatedly proposed that the emperor transfer power here. On the surface, it was for the emperor to be less tired, but in reality it was just for their own interests. It would be better if it was a monarchy like the Holy Roman Empire. If you want to ascend the throne, you have to get their consent.

And they think that such a monarchy is most in line with Rome. Look at Augustus, and then look at how powerful Rome was during the Five Good Emperors. If Rome wants to return to that era, it must change the current monarchy.

It seems that there are still some fish that slipped through the net when cleaning up Western Europe, even if Venice was destroyed.

"Did they agree to this?"

"No, the meeting was very divided on this, and many people quarreled."

The Boyar Conference was divided into the House of Lords, which was mainly composed of great nobles, and the House of Commons, which was mainly composed of landlords, merchants, and small and medium nobles. This proposal was made by a small group of nobles in the House of Lords. The House of Commons would not agree, because centralization can better protect their interests. And some of the members of the House of Commons were promoted from the bottom to become nobles. They either participated in foreign wars or passed exams to become bureaucrats. They all benefited from the centralization of power. If they want to return to the era of the great nobles, they should become great nobles first.

"Let them quarrel. The more intense the quarrel, the more at ease I can be."

Why did Mircea hate these nobles like those Wallachian nobles, so ungrateful? You have to force him to kill, right?

"Keep watching them, and tell me immediately if there is any situation."

"Yes"

At this time, not only the lower house, but also the upper house were quarreling like crazy at the Boyar Conference. If you want to die, don't drag us with you. Dare to fight for power from His Majesty the Emperor. Are you possessed by Sulla or reincarnated Augustus? Ten courageous people don't have your courage.

"This is to make the empire great again. The emperor is busy with all kinds of affairs, and we need to share some of his burden. This is also the responsibility of the establishment of the conference."

Before a member who advocated the proposal finished speaking, he was refuted by another person.

"If it weren't for the emperor and Caesar, would the empire have achieved what it has today? You are just a landlord in Thessaloniki, and you are here by flattering others. Don't think I don't know how you praise the emperor."

"You, nonsense..."

The upper house was in a mess, but the lower house was quite relaxed. They discussed economy, agriculture, and borders. They were not like the nobles who had nothing to do after eating. They had many petitions and hopes from the local people.

"Speaking of which, should we go to Dalmatia to buy a manor? The price there is one-third lower than here."

"No, I think Anatolia is the best, there is tax exemption for two years."

The emperor could listen to the suggestions of these members and receive petitions during the one-month meeting, which was also useful for the emperor to govern the local area.

At this time, the Boyar Conference was already a parliamentary institution with more than 200 people, 74 of whom were in the upper house, and the rest were members of the lower house. This was actually Mircea's intention, so that the number of people in the lower house always exceeded that of the upper house, so as to suppress the most rebellious nobles. Each house had a leader to manage the meeting process, and the chancellor was responsible for gathering them together during the meeting. But it only stated the emperor's wishes and accepted their petitions. The so-called proposals they passed had no legal effect without the emperor's approval.