The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"Dear brother, there have been some changes in Naples recently. I hope you can help your nephew."

After Mary wrote the letter, she asked someone to send it out immediately. It was urgent to ask her brother to come. At the same time, she also wrote to her sister, the Duchess of Romagna, hoping that she could come to Naples to chat with her. Otherwise, she was a little scared alone.

The news of Laszlo's death spread throughout Naples within a few days, and all the nobles were eager to compete for the position of cabinet minister.

At the latest cabinet meeting, Salvini, the Minister of General Affairs who handles national affairs and the Duke of Calabria, spoke first.

"Your Majesty's departure is our most serious blow. But we can't indulge in grief. Now we need to let His Royal Highness succeed to the throne as soon as possible."

Peter sat in the main seat and watched the minister speak. His mother was crying beside him, which made him feel under great pressure.

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"According to my opinion, we need to guard against the threat from Aragon. They must want to take this opportunity to retake Sicily. We should stockpile heavy troops here."

"Well, let's do as you say."

Peter now needs to take over the state power as soon as possible and not let the enemy take advantage of the situation. He asked each minister to perform his duties, and all unstable factors must be eliminated in extraordinary times. And for Naples, the most important thing is to find foreign aid.

Most of the grain and fruits produced in Naples are exported to Romania, and they import handicrafts and luxury goods such as spices and ironware from Romania. The economic and trade ties between the two sides are quite close, and with the military port factor, Romania will protect itself no matter what.

"What are the movements of other countries?" Peter asked.

"Basically, there is no movement, but Aragon, Genoa, and Savoy are plotting something recently, and I am afraid they want to do something in Sicily and Sardinia."

Sicily is a vulnerable place for Naples. Unlike Naples itself, the nobles of these two independent islands are very powerful. Even Laszlo had not completed the centralization of the local area, and with the death of the previous king, they would definitely take other actions.

"Pay attention to Sicily and Sardinia, there must be trouble in these two places."

In Barcelona, ​​the capital of Aragon, King Ferdinand I was listening to the report from Naples.

"Hahahaha, he is finally dead. Although I don't know who did it, he did a good job."

Ferdinand was undoubtedly happy. Since the loss of Sicily, Aragon's status has plummeted. The failure of the navy has reduced their scope to only the northeast corner of Iberia. And Laszlo stepped on them and his status gradually rose.

Now that he is dead, this is a good time for Aragon to regain its status.

"Can our army be dispatched?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the army is at your command at any time. Genoa is also willing to transport your soldiers, just pay."

"Okay, it's just money, I have it."

In recent years, Aragon has developed the land around Barcelona. There is little arable land in Iberia, and there are few plains near Barcelona. They built water conservancy facilities and asked the people to reclaim land. After witnessing the rapid rise of Romania, they also began to take the mass line, giving citizens and farmers some rights and limiting the oppression of the nobles. There was some effect after all, at least fewer people fled south.

And this policy had a huge impact on Aragon. The increase in arable land meant more income, and the taxes paid by farmers were twice as much as before Ferdinand ascended the throne. The second was population. The development of farmland attracted a large number of landless farmers. It provided Aragon with sufficient labor resources.

With money and people, Aragon can rise again. And Naples is their first target.

"We have reached an agreement with the Harrison family in Sardinia and the Villa family in Sicily. If we can recapture the two islands, they will become the Duke of Sardinia and the Duke of Sicily respectively. And regard Your Majesty as the King of Sardinia and Sicily."

Ferdinand was very satisfied with this, after all, he knew how difficult it was to centralize power. It is better to delegate power to local nobles, and they only need to pay a tax.

However, Naples chose the most difficult path, which was to abolish the political rights of the nobles and let them live in the manor with their wealth. This was simply a betrayal of the aristocracy. Did they really think that they could govern the country by watching the citizens? This was not a small country like Venice or Florence. To face a country with a very large territory and population, they had to have the assistance of nobles and bureaucrats. But bureaucrats and nobles are one and the same, so offending nobles is offending bureaucrats.

He was doing this now to set things right and to let the nobles return to their rightful positions. I believe everyone will support him.

And things were just as they thought. 33 nobles from Sardinia and Sicily jointly gave advice to the new king. They asked to abolish some of the harsh policies of the previous king and let the nobles dominate the bureaucrats again. If they agreed, they would recognize his rule.

"Humph, this is a threat. They just thought that no one could rule them because their father was dead. Am I weaker than my father?"

Peter didn't want to be labeled as weak. When he was studying in Constantinople, he realized that being tough was the way to maintain his power. Especially showing toughness to the enemy can temporarily form a concentration of power. If there is a victory, it will be a propellant for expanding power.

Fortunately, my father left me a strong Naples. As of now, the whole of Naples has nearly 40,000 regular troops, and can recruit 30,000 more. It also has a fleet of 80 ships. These assets were left by Laszlo, the old father. Although it costs a lot, it is also the reason why other countries dare not move.

"Let our army gather in Naples, and the Calabrian army will cross the sea to Sicily to stabilize the situation. If Sardinia rebels, then this place cannot be involved."

Of the two islands, Sicily is more important. Because the local wheat is an important food export, and the geographical location is also important, so if you have to choose one of the two, you have to protect Sicily first.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Romagna is also on our side, and the Duke is willing to send 4,000 troops to assist."

Although it is not much, Peter understands that this is the greatest assistance they can get. In addition, there is also a cousin, the Prince of Iberia, who is willing to take out part of the army to assist, which is his current trump card. The most important thing is still diplomatic deterrence. If Russia, Brandenburg, England and Romania work together, the other countries will probably have no choice but to run away, so we have to wait.