Chapter 36 Various Developments of Surplus

(The quality is not very good today, if there are any mistakes, please correct them)

On the training ground, Peter was playing with the newly produced musket.

"Sir, this is a newly produced musket in Constanta."

Peter poured the gunpowder bottle into the muzzle for propelling, and then stuffed the bullet wrapped in cloth into the muzzle. And poured the ignition gunpowder on the fire plate in the bolt, and then pulled the trigger. Hit the target in front.

"This is better than the musket used before, and all the troops must be replaced."

"Sir, in this way we need to recruit more workers and craftsmen, and also buy raw materials."

Who asked the Grand Duke to buy artillery now? Although a large number of orders guaranteed sales, the output could not be increased all at once.

"Don't worry about money, the faster the production, the better."

Peter certainly didn't have to worry about money, the money given by the Hanseatic League had not been spent yet. Not only that, Peter also borne most of the expenses of public works. This also made his words very influential in the meeting.

"What is our architect doing?"

"Sir, he has been on the construction site these days. It seems that he will not come down until it is completed."

The Chamber of Commerce invited an architect named Diodoro Karazafilis in Constantinople. Familiar with various Eastern Roman buildings, he has also been to Rome and seen the Pantheon. For more than ten years, he has been thinking about building a building by himself, but in Constantinople, this idea can only be abandoned.

When he heard that the north was recruiting architects, he joined without hesitation. On the way here, he regretted it because it was much more backward than Constantinople, but in order to leave his masterpiece in the world, he persisted.

After arriving in Iasi, Diodoro received the lord's task, which was to build a church, and the funds were sufficient.

After that, the architect began his own planning. He used buildings such as the Pantheon in Rome and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople as prototypes, and finally determined the design of the church.

The church is made of flattened white stones, and arches, windows, etc. are made of hard bricks. The most indispensable part is the dome corner, which allows a huge circular dome to be built on a square base. There are also multiple small halls with circular domes. It is tall, wide, and well-lit.

At this time, the Renaissance had not yet taken off, especially in architecture. It was not until the two talented sculptors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi competed for the contract for the bronze door of the Baptistery of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence that Renaissance architecture began. Peter paid part of the construction of this church, and the believers paid the rest. Bishop Joseph also proposed that each believer should go to the church site to work for free for twelve days, so that you will be one step closer to God.

"Whatever the architect needs, just agree to it."

Peter handed the gun to his entourage and said.

"Go to Benderi in a few days."

Benderi is a town along the Dniester River and the fulcrum of the entire defense line. Peter's intention to go here can be imagined.

The Moldovan army was mainly distributed in the border and Iasi. Most of the boyars handed over their troops, which were trained with the army led by Peter, and eventually formed a defense force of 12,000 people.

Facing the three major foreign enemies of Poland, Lithuania and the Golden Horde, Peter adopted a military household system that integrated production and military training on the border. All men must receive military training during the slack season, and the lord is responsible for purchasing weapons for them. When foreign enemies attack, they can quickly join the army.

Peter is preparing to patrol the border, and other matters will be handled by others.

————Dividing line————

In a house in Constanta, some businessmen came here to talk about something, but they talked about loans.

Chamber of Commerce loans are divided into three types according to the length of time: one year, one quarter, and one month. The shorter the time, the higher the interest rate, up to 12%.

In addition to loans, this place also operates bills of exchange, currency exchange and other businesses. It can be said that the first bank in Wallachia was born.

"The bill of exchange for 200 lei to Kemplong is ready, please take a look!"

A man handed the document made of parchment to the other party.

"Okay"

The businessman took the document and left the bank with a smile. In Eastern Europe, where financial knowledge is less advanced than that of Northern Italy, this practice is the first time to see it. Although it costs money, it is safe. After all, a businessman with a lot of currency can be easily robbed.

This bill of exchange system makes many merchants put their money here. Although they can only earn 1%, they can make a lot of money in a year.

After the minting of lei, the types of silver coins in Dobruja gradually decreased. If the weight of lei is enough, they can all be exchanged for lei.

In order to create enough lei, the mint is also working at full capacity. If there is a machine, there will be hundreds of millions of coins a day.

The bank has three businesses every day: lending, exchange, and bills of exchange, but even these make a lot of lei. Ivan, the head of the mint, is also anxious. Although Wallachia does not have a large demand for currency like Venice, there is still a gap in the current silver coin casting. With the factor of trade, the demand for lei is even greater.

The demand for Bani is not that great, as it is mainly used by civilians and has no tendency to circulate outside.

"Sir, 1,500 lei a day is the maximum. If we want to increase it, we can only recruit more people."

Ivan also knew that this was the limit, but he still had to cast more for now.

"Then recruit people, anyway, the lord will agree."

Ivan doesn't care about anything else. He only mints coins, not fights or raises taxes. Unless the lord controls the silver content, they will keep minting silver coins according to this standard.

Alexander also made changes to Dobruja, which encouraged other merchants to come to the region to purchase supplies. This practice directly doubled the tariff, and the tariff income was able to offset most of the expenses. Not to mention the income from salt tax and commercial tax.

With so much money, Peter began to buy more land in Crimea. In order to protect his private property, he also hired an army to maintain it.

Stephen, the ruler of the Principality of Theodore, sold two abandoned ports in ancient Greece and the surrounding land to the Chamber of Commerce for 10,000 gold coins. Both sides felt that they had made a profit.

Peter exempted the land here from tax for six years and bought some Slavic slaves from Caffa for construction. This made Stephen very jealous, but now he has no intention of taking back the port because the big and small leaders in the country and the Tatars abroad are eyeing it. It's funny to go to see it when you can't protect yourself.