Chapter 459

Rome has now sent court ambassadors to Georgia, Moscow, and Brandenburg. Although they are diplomatic envoys on the surface, they actually act as liaisons and spies for allies.

Everyone with a discerning eye knows that Moscow is already an ally of Rome. One provides troops and the other provides resources. Lithuania is obsessed with it. Even the northern affairs have to be put behind because Rome is too strong.

Vytautas needs funds to reorganize the army, so he is particularly enthusiastic about the compensation of the Teutonic Knights and keeps urging them. The Knights are speechless. They have never seen such a tight situation. Lithuania has a vast territory and abundant resources. How can it be reduced to relying on compensation to live?

Don't blame him. Lithuania looks big, but in fact, the places that can be controlled are Samogitia and places with many Lithuanian nobles. There are few nobles in the vast Ruthenia region in the south, and even if there are, they are near Lviv and Kiev. In the middle and lower reaches of the Dnieper River, a group of cities represented by Mircea Fort and Zaporizhia have risen rapidly, changing the pattern of Ruthenia.

Immigrants from Rome began to cultivate this land under preferential policies and encouragement, and used the Black Sea and the Dnieper and Don rivers to go deep inland for trade.

Five years ago, the northern government learned that an iron mine was discovered in Donetsk Province, which opened a new starting point for the development of the northern region. And with the discovery of coal mines, it embarked on the road of industry.

Because of the use of artillery and the expansion of population, the use of iron has increased, so the coal and iron in Donetsk have become an important source for the empire. A large number of people came here to become farmers and miners, producing coal and iron ore for the empire, and transporting them to the steel mills established by the government for production.

In the southern Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, it is the farmers' field, and the output of the reclaimed farmland is comparable to that of Wallachia. Not only can it be transported to other provinces, but it can also be exported to other places.

It is precisely because of the increasing importance of the northern region that Rome is ready to open up a land route with Northern Ruthenia, including from the Dniester River and the Caucasus. Completely complete the monopoly of the Black Sea.

The Roman caravans crossed the Don River and expanded their trade to the south along the Black Sea coast and the Volga River. After the decline of the Golden Horde, local trade was basically controlled by Roman merchants. The local social order was also being controlled by Roman missionaries.

While expanding its overseas territories, Constantinople also began to expand its northern lands, and the northern government was responsible for this matter. In order to better complete the emperor's mission, they advocated war against Lithuania, which controlled a large area of ​​Ruthenia. There was another reason: these places used to be Orthodox lands, but now they were occupied by Catholic Lithuania, which was not acceptable.

If no one around was strong or there were internal problems, they would have attacked long ago. But now Rome is the strongest, and these countries also feel threatened and are ready to unite.

————Dividing line————

Sigismund was furious after receiving Vlad's letter. He was a small elector, but he openly disobeyed the order of the German king, which was simply treasonous.

"This is really bad. Brandenburg is going to resist the imperial edict." Sigismund said viciously.

Now the entire Holy Roman Empire is in his control. He thought that the Berlin Alliance would surrender, but the other party was so tough. Who gave him the courage?

In addition to his own position being threatened, the situation within the Holy Roman Empire was also precarious. The Hussite movement in Bohemia was getting more and more intense, seriously threatening the status of Catholicism.

Although Sigismund relied on the Vienna Alliance to stabilize the situation, his still tight wallet prevented his ambition from growing further. This is also the reason why he wanted to strike the Berlin Alliance as soon as possible, just to blackmail the other party.

"Your Majesty, Brandenburg is unscrupulous because of the support of Constantinople. Not only that, but also with the support of Moscow, Naples, Hungary and other countries. Don't act rashly."

The persuasion of the ministers did not calm him down, but made him even angrier.

"Am I being insulted by that kid in Berlin?"

Sigismund was so angry that he died, and at this moment, the messenger sent back another message: Wenzel was re-established as the German King.

After Vlad wrote a letter, he began to think about other ways. Since the German King was not on their side, he would re-establish one. It happened that his father-in-law Wenzel had been the German King, so he brought the Berlin Alliance to support him to return to the throne.

However, before that, Vlad needed to defeat the nobles in Bohemia. They created obstacles to their plans, and the rise of the Hussite movement gave them an opportunity. Wenzel strongly supported the reform movement, making those nobles and bishops panic all day long.

In order to protect themselves, most of the nobles fled Prague, and Wenzel also went to the Bethlehem Church to be re-crowned as the German King under the support of the Hussites. And got the support of the Berlin Alliance.

Although Wenzel did not have many troops, he was supported by the Berlin Alliance's 10,000 troops, the Hanseatic League also gave some financial assistance, and Hus also told the believers to support the king. In this way, two kings appeared in the Holy Roman Empire, one was Sigismund, who was supported by most of the nobles and princes, and the other was Wenzel, who was supported by the northern princes and religious reform forces.

The last time this happened in the Holy Roman Empire was during the Great Interregnum. Now it should be called the Luxembourg Civil War. This is also the complete break between the Berlin Alliance and the Holy Roman Empire. After that, they directly began to confiscate the property of the Catholic Church and expel their clergy. This had a serious impact on the Catholic world in the north, but it also forced the Catholic Church to unite closely around Sigismund. The Archbishop of Mainz announced as the Prime Minister of the Empire that he would conquer Bohemia and asked the king to repent before that.

But although Wenzel was called a fool, he really kept going on this matter. Anyway, he and his brother couldn't give birth to a son, and he was also imprisoned by Sigismund. With all these things, the possibility of reconciliation was directly declared zero. In order to further strike, Wenzel directly converted to Orthodoxy in front of the people.

At this time, the Orthodox Church and the Hussites were in a friendly period. Before Catholicism was eliminated, both sides could still tolerate it.

Although the Hanseatic League was reluctant to trade with other cities, there was no gain without sacrifice, and the trade route of Rome was waiting for them.

Besides, they were now tied to the chariot of Brandenburg and could not get off. Even if the other party was wrong, they had to go all the way.

So, when Vlad asked the representatives to sign the agreement, the members of the Hanseatic League were the first to sign. This was not for the sake of justice, but to save themselves first and then talk about other things.