Chapter 77: Will Hops and Banks Affect Heresy?

Peter looked at the thing that looked like artificial iced black tea in front of him and fell into deep thought.

"Is this really wine?"

The merchant in front of him hurriedly explained to Peter that this was the best wine purchased from Munich.

But the thing in front of him had a sour taste and smelled a bit like swill. Is this really the world-famous German beer?

Peter was still ready to try it, but once the liquid entered his mouth, Peter had a lot of effort to swallow it.

Even Munich, which has the best brewing technology, is not working now.

"What's missing?" Peter was thinking. Then he remembered that hops were missing.

Hops are mainly used as bittering, flavoring and stabilizers in beer. In addition to bitterness, they also give hop aroma, fruity or citrus aroma. Hops are also used in beverages and herbs for other purposes.

But now Europeans don't know the role of hops, they just use it as a herbal medicine, and large-scale use has to wait until the Duke of Bavaria ordered mandatory use in 1526.

And this gave Peter an opportunity, why don't they brew their own beer.

Unlike wine, beer is a grain wine, mainly brewed from rye. If hops are added to make the quality of Wallachia beer higher than that of Munich, then the source of money will come.

However, Wallachia is not suitable for growing hops. It has to be imported from the Holy Roman Empire and Russia, but for the profit of beer, there should be no problem.

In Wallachia's trade, two-thirds are dominated by the government and the lords, and other merchants account for only one-third. This kind of government-dominated trade is very rare. After all, the lords of various countries generally believe in physiocracy and free markets, and Wallachia is not common.

In this two-thirds of trade, Peter accounts for more than half of the trade volume. And he handed over the profits to the Grand Duke, or invested in public facilities. And he also funded the construction of a large manor to meet his own luxury needs.

Another industry differentiated from trade is the financial industry. This institution, which was originally mainly engaged in currency exchange, now has all the business of a bank. It can be said that this is the first bank in the Balkans.

This bank adopts the same joint-stock system as the Ross Company, and the selection of the person in charge requires the consent of the shareholders. And it has to hand over profits to the government every year. Because of this, Grand Duke Mircea issued a banking license to this institution.

Another difference from the Italian bank is that this bank has someone behind it. If someone owes money and doesn't pay it back, unless there is a reason, they will make you find ways to spit out the money.

Because of this, the financial industry in Wallachia is controlled by this bank. Although there are some small banks opened by Armenians, they are not as good as this bank in terms of connections and funds.

Among the bank's business, half is foreign exchange and currency exchange, lending accounts for a quarter, and the rest is deposit business. The interest rate of the loan is determined according to the length of time, but it is lower than usury.

This is all Peter's credit. If it weren't for him, Wallachia would probably still be that obscure small country. Later, Grand Duke Vlad gave Wallachia a little fame.

After having this idea, Peter had just ordered to import hops, but Burgas's urgent report came.

"Come here, you can leave if you can't make a living, why are you so hypocritical."

Peter made no secret of his disgust for them. These people were Catholics living in Burgas.

Peter felt that he was already very tolerant. He didn't force them to leave and didn't want their lives. He just checked the wrongful convictions of the past 80 years. How could it be persecution?

Those Catholic residents suddenly found that they had become second-class citizens. Not as good as those pagans, no, not even as good as the Roma.

So in Burgas and other places, Catholics began to make trouble. They refused to pay taxes and even destroyed buildings such as markets, but they were all minor incidents and were arrested and imprisoned by the army.

"You said, I should be the most merciful lord, why are they so ungrateful? They should all be burned to death."

Nikola on the side immediately agreed. "Sir, your mercy is unmatched. These people really don't know what's good for them."

Peter became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. In the end, he issued such an order.

"Take out a group of those who were thrown into prison and chop them off, and all their families will become slaves."

"Sir, what about those children?" the subordinate asked.

"Take them all away, convert them, and train them militarily. Remember, train them according to the specifications of that knightly order."

"Yes"

Recently, Peter has been reading the introduction of the Knights Hospitaller, and is also familiar with the training of Western knights. It's a pity to kill these children or reduce them to slaves, so let's use them as soldiers.

Their training content is also very much, first of all, language. In addition to learning Wallachian, they also have to learn Greek. Then, they also have to learn music and musical instruments, because in order to maintain discipline, they are required not to engage in regular entertainment activities such as drinking and gambling, so they are asked to learn music as a substitute.

Then there is military training such as swordsmanship and archery, and then physical training such as running and wrestling. They are not allowed to get married, and they need to go to a monastery or accept monks' asceticism in their spare time. Hmm... a little familiar.

Anyway, this is the best way for them. After all, they are still alive, and they are also the front troops, and they only do it once, and they are gone after they are used.

The darkest hour for Catholics has come. They will either be killed or enslaved. Mothers and children will be separated and will never see each other again. Although some people will know this news, what can they do?

At the same time, the poll tax policy began to be tried in Catholic families. It was mainly for families who were waiting for punishment. The church was destroyed and the land under their name was inherited by the Orthodox Church. The local Catholic nobles who had not been touched by the Ottomans were uprooted by Peter, and the policy of religious unification began to accelerate.

And those Turkic families thought they were the worst, but when they saw the situation of Catholics, they suddenly felt that they were not so miserable. (All thanks to the contrast of peers)

The governor ordered the promotion of Wallachian writing. The missionaries and priests who needed to preach in Wallachia accounted for one-third, and the proportion was increasing.

Merchants also used it because they wanted to do business in more distant places. Landlords and nobles also used it because they wanted to become great nobles and wanted to enter the center.

As for the rest of the people, some people began to use it because the University of Constanta began to recruit people. The university adopts an examination system. No matter who you are, as long as you pass the exam, you can enter the university. Of course, the travel expenses and other expenses had to be borne by themselves. After college, government officials would come to take exams, and those who passed would be assigned to various positions.

This practice was also to attract the landlords and the citizen class to be loyal to the central government. And to spread the Wallachian language so that they would not rebel, and at the same time improve administrative efficiency.