1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 254 Kosovo War

Grand Principality of Serbia, Kosovo Basin.

The overall terrain of Serbia is high in the south and low in the north. North of Belgrade is the Vojvodina Plain, which is flat with many rivers, lakes and swamps, and a crisscrossing water network. Many tributaries such as the Tisza River flow into the Danube River here, and the land is relatively fertile.

There are many mountains and hills south of Belgrade, which is also the actual control area of ​​the Grand Duchy of Serbia. There are about 600,000 Orthodox Serbs living in this land.

Of course, there are far more Serbs in the entire Balkans. The entire northern Serbia, including Belgrade, is currently still under the rule of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Since the death of the last Serbian monarch, Stephen Dušan, the once very powerful Serbian Kingdom rapidly weakened and was defeated by the Ottoman Empire, which came from behind. Its own destiny was no longer in its own control, and it was forced to be sandwiched between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, and was tragically torn apart in the struggle for hegemony between the two powers.

The Ottomans were defeated in Anatolia, and Hungary, under the leadership of the wise emperor Matthias I, shifted its focus to Bohemia in the west. Although the two great powers were gone, the profound influence they brought would not easily fade away. The whole of Serbia fell into civil strife, with each representing one side's interests and dragging the people onto the battlefield for their own selfish desires.

During hundreds of years of war and chaos, large areas of Serbian settlement in the north were seized by Hungarians, and almost all important ports in the west were lost. Commercial trade suffered a severe blow, and the once powerful Serbia turned into a small landlocked country trapped in the mountains. It was weak and its people were poor, and it could only jump back and forth in the game between major powers in exchange for a good night's sleep.

However, even so, the former Serbian monarch Grand Duke Durand was still very wealthy and was even nicknamed "the richest monarch in the entire Christian world."

This is certainly not because Grand Duke Durad has the ability to turn stones into gold, nor is it because the Serbs are so hardworking, it is simply a gift from God.

In the Kosovo Basin in southern Serbia, there is a small mining town called Novi Brdo, which is rich in gold and silver.

In terms of precious metal reserves alone, the whole of Europe can be described as completely poor. In such a vast area of ​​land, there are only a few scattered gold and silver mines, and they are all small in scale and their output is very limited.

After the Black Death, Europe's commodity trade began to recover and commercial activities became more frequent, but there was a serious shortage of precious metals used as equivalent exchange, the price of gold was high, and deflation occurred. In some places, it even degenerated into barter.

At the same time, a large amount of gold and silver flowed into the hands of the Arabs through East-West trade, further exacerbating the shortage of precious metals in Europe.

Before the Age of Discovery, Europeans had relatively few methods of obtaining precious metals. Apart from a small number of gold and silver mines, Italian trading city-states, led by Genoa, would also exchange gold from sub-Saharan Africa with Muslim regimes in North Africa to get a share of the gold and salt trade.

After the Eastern Roman Empire ushered in the Age of Discovery, a large amount of precious metals from overseas alleviated Europe’s “money shortage” to a certain extent and stimulated the prosperity of the commodity economy, but it did not completely reverse this phenomenon and the gap remained large.

Perhaps this problem will be completely solved when large amounts of precious metals from the Americas flow into Europe.

However, gold and silver mines are always a gift from God. Before they are all mined, Kosovo's minerals will still attract the covetousness of countless people.

Ten years ago, Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire easily led his army into southern Serbia, briefly occupied the New Brdo gold and silver mines, and plundered them by exhausting all resources, earning a lot of military funds.

After Mehmed II moved to Anatolia, the officers who were ordered to garrison New Brdo knew that they could not escape death, so they fled the Balkans with the gold and silver that had been mined, and burned New Brdo to the ground. A large number of mines were destroyed, and a large number of skilled miners were scattered.

After the Grand Duchy of Serbia took over Kosovo again, Novi Brdo was rebuilt to a certain extent and some mines were reopened, but the mining volume was far less than before.

Later, the Eastern Roman Empire began to recover the Balkans, and many Turks who remained there and refused to convert were expelled. Except for Bulgaria, which was still under the rule of Mahmud Pasha at the time, the Kosovo Basin was their main destination.

The arrival of this wave of Turks made things even worse for Serbia, which was already in trouble both internally and externally. The nobles were busy fighting for power and had neither the will nor the ability to wipe out the Turks, so they could only allow them to wreak havoc in the countryside.

Later, Bulgaria fell, more Turks and Bulgarians flowed into Serbia, and even the Cumans took the opportunity to rob.

By 1467, the whole of Serbia was on the verge of collapse under repeated external shocks. The people were in poverty, the land was abandoned, the nobles were divided, and the country was in decline.

In the New Brdo mining area in Kosovo, Royston Brankovic, then 25 years old, rode a pony and walked slowly on the path beside the mine, watching the busy miners and the eager foremen.

Although his last name was also Brankovic, he was a descendant of a branch family that was as distant as possible. He went to Italy to study when he was young. When he came back, he happened to encounter the civil unrest in Serbia. He was appointed as the manager of the New Brdo gold and silver mine by Prince Brankovic who occupied the Kosovo region. He was responsible for sending the mined precious metals to the city of Pristina and into the pockets of the nobles.

When Royston first took office, New Bournemouth was in a state of disrepair. He began his work with great enthusiasm, surveying various mines, sorting out collapsed mines, draining accumulated water, and rebuilding the mining system.

Having studied in Italy, he was a staunch humanist who was well aware of the importance of talent and people's hearts. He not only searched for scattered skilled miners and persuaded them to return to the mines to work again, but also went down the mines himself to investigate, listen to the miners' voices, understand the various problems encountered during mining, and improve them step by step.

He also adhered to the original intention of humanism and established some teaching institutions in the mining area. He used part of the gold and silver to educate the children of workers. In addition to mining knowledge, he also opened theology and literature courses.

Under his more than three years of governance, New Bourde was reorganized, the previously destroyed mining system was rebuilt, the living standards of the miners were improved, and they had great respect for Royston.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. More and more Turks heard about the wealth of New Bold and came to plunder from time to time, demanding that Royston pay high protection fees on a regular basis.

Royston was unwilling to give up easily. After seeking help from his family to no avail, he gritted his teeth and gathered all the miners together. He gave a hearty speech, calling on the miners to unite and protect their homes.

In this era, the miners were a group of brave men. They immediately became excited and expressed their willingness to follow Royston to fight against the invasion of the Turks.

Royston immediately divided the miners into small teams, bought a small number of weapons from merchants, organized training after mining, and also called on women and children to take charge of sentry and other chores.

So, when the remnant of the Turkic army came to the door, what was waiting for them was not the prepared gold and silver, but hidden arrows and swords and guns. Royston made full use of the intricate underground network in the mine, sent out a guerrilla team to fight and retreat, lured the Turks into the mining area, and then led a large number of miners out from underground, catching the Turks off guard.

The battle was not large in scale. The Turks fled in panic after leaving behind more than a dozen corpses. The miners defeated the powerful enemy, preserved the fruits of their labor, and became more respectful of Royston.

Later, Royston won several more battles, killing more than one hundred Turks, and became famous. More and more old miners began to return to New Bourde, and the mining area became more prosperous.

For a long time, the surrounding bandits and Turkic remnants did not dare to approach the mining area at will.

Because the miners lacked regular weapons and often used pickaxes to kill the enemy, the Turks nicknamed them the "Miners' Corps." This was meant to be a mockery, but it actually boosted their momentum.

Two years ago, Bulgaria was conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire, and a large number of Turks poured into the surrounding areas. These people were more organized than the previous defeated soldiers. They did not attack the mining area head-on, but handed a letter to the prince, asking him to withdraw Royston for the sake of friendship between the two sides.

Grand Duke Lazar, who ruled the Kosovo region, was already wary of Royston's rising popularity. Deep in the power struggle, he did not want to be enemies with the Turks. After a little hesitation, he agreed to the Turks' request and demoted Royston to Pristina. At the same time, he sent a new chief, a greedy confidant, to the New Brdo mining area.

However, the miners were very angry when they learned the news. They immediately imprisoned the new commander and demanded that Royston continue to stay in office.

When the news reached Pristina, Grand Duke Lazar was furious, but soon calmed down, imprisoned Royston's mother and brother, and adopted a compromise approach, keeping Royston in the mining area and appointing his own confidant as his deputy.

Faced with Lazar's threats, Royston had no choice but to endure it for the safety of his family.

However, as soon as his cronies came to power, they began to do evil things. Not only did they disband the miners' corps directly, they also placed their cronies in positions of power, won over foremen, abolished all the workers' welfare benefits of the Royston era, exploited the lower-level miners, and used them as slaves.

In order to prevent the miners from rebelling, the cronies shamelessly invited a Turkic tribe to act as their "protectors", regularly paying protection fees and using foreign enemies to suppress internal unrest.

With the help of his confidants, the Turks and Grand Duke Lazar signed an agreement to share the gold and silver.

In order to make up for the lost share of gold and silver by Grand Duke Lazar, his cronies exploited the lower-level miners and strictly prohibited them from leaving the mining area to prevent them from escaping.

Royston saw all this, but could do nothing.

A scream woke Royston from his thoughts. He looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a skinny miner lying on the ground, with a wheelbarrow also tilted to the ground, and the silver ore on the wheelbarrow scattered all over the ground.

"Hurry up! This is the ore sent to Master Osman. If you delay and make them unhappy, you will be in trouble!"

The supervisor at the side walked up and kicked the miner in the face. The latter groaned, his thin chest heaving up and down, and soon he was silent.

"The overseer killed someone!"

The onlookers immediately shouted loudly, picked up their pickaxes and surrounded the overseer, glaring at him angrily, wishing they could eat him alive.

beep—

A sharp whistle sounded, and a small group of Turkic soldiers guarding the mine ran over, pointing their sharp spears at the miners.

The two sides confronted each other for a while, and then a confidant named Bogdan walked over slowly, accompanied by several fully armed soldiers.

"Don't you all want to eat? You don't want to eat, and neither do the women and children?"

Bogdan's narrow eyes swept through the crowd, and the miners lowered their heads and said nothing.

"Everyone, go to work, and remember to find someone to replace this dead guy."

The miners knew they were powerless to resist and gradually dispersed, leaving only the son of the deceased, crying loudly while holding his father's body.

Royston shook his head and sighed.

Bogdan and his supervisors got their current positions by relying on their ability to flatter and fawn. They have no idea how to develop production or motivate workers. They only know how to exploit and drain the pond to catch fish.

What matters most is never the cold stones, but the workers who mine them.

Royston rode his horse towards the dead man, jumped off the horse under Bogdan's fearful eyes, came to the young miner, squatted down, and closed the dead man's eyes.

"Lord Royston...they--"

"Come on, take your father to church."

Royston interrupted the young miner, picked up the body and put it on the horse.

"This kid hasn't completed his mission for today, he can't leave."

Bogdan stood in front of the horse and said coldly.

"Bogdan, don't go too far. If you even try to stop something like this, the priest will blame you."

Royston rushed straight forward, Bogdan quickly dodged, and the soldiers behind him also made way.

The little miner followed Royston, his red and swollen eyes full of sadness and hatred.

"Master Bogdan, why don't we kill him?"

A soldier stared at Royston's back and asked in a low voice.

"Your Highness won't allow it."

"He is also a member of the Brankovich family and has a high prestige in the mine. It is not easy to attack directly."

"And that priest, he's also an obstacle to our control of the mines, we have to find a chance to get rid of him as well."

Bogdan retracted his jealous look, pursed his lips, and left the mine with his soldiers.

Royston led the little miner farther and farther away until they could no longer hear any sound from behind, and then they slowed down.

"Do you hate me?"

Royston suddenly asked.

"I do not hate you, sir."

The little miner wiped his tears and looked at Royston's broad figure.

“My father always said that the years you serve as chief are the best years, and every day is full of hope.”

“It was you who told us not to sanctify our suffering, not to place our hopes on heaven after death, but to focus on the present, on each individual.”

“Everyone also said that if it weren’t for your and the priest’s secret help, Bogdan and the Turks would have become even more unscrupulous.”

The young miner gave Royston a forced smile.

"I don't blame you. No one blames you."

"I just don't know when these days will end."

The little miner's eyes became wet again and he let out a long sigh.

"Do you remember those North Macedonian merchants who did business with us before? They said that in the Eastern Empire in the south, everyone can live well and have a stable life. There is no exploitation by officials and no oppression by the Turks."

"Sometimes I just can't understand why we can't live like them, as we are all Orthodox Christians and devout believers in God?"

Royston nodded silently.

"It would be fine if we gave the gold and silver we mined to the Grand Duke, but why should we hand it over to the Turks? Five carts today, ten carts tomorrow, when will it end?"

The little miner whispered.

Royston sighed and stroked the little miner's dirty hair.

"The Grand Duke wants the Turks to help him fight and eliminate the rest of his brothers. Not only our mining area, but also the tax collection rights of many villages have been granted to the Turks by him. These villages are also suffering the same hardships as us."

"Lord Royston, why can't we resist? As long as we have your leadership, we are not afraid of them!"

The young miner clenched his fists and stared at Royston's face. "Everyone is waiting for you to regroup and lead us to rebuild the miners' corps, so that they can see how powerful we miners are!"

"As long as you give the order, we——"

"Okay, stop talking."

Royston sighed.

"Have you ever thought about what we would do if Lazar and the Turks joined forces to wipe us out?"

"We can seek refuge with the emperor of the Eastern Empire! Doesn't he claim to be the protector of Orthodox Christians? How could he stand by and watch someone die without helping?"

"Emperor Isaac's grandmother is Serbian, and Prince Manuel's mother is the daughter of Grand Duke Durand. They will protect us!"

the young miner exclaimed.

"The day before yesterday, I went to the mountain to dump slag, and I saw the emperor's soldiers from afar. They should be the Bulgarian Royal Mounted Police. They were all wearing beautiful clothes!"

"Everyone says that this basin is surrounded on three sides by the Emperor's territory. As long as he is willing to protect us, that bastard Lazar will be unable to stop us!"

Royston looked at the young miner deeply and said nothing.

To the west of the Kosovo Basin is the Diocese of Cetinje and the Albanian Military District, to the south is the North Macedonian Military District, and to the east is Bulgaria. It is indeed surrounded on three sides by the Eastern Roman Empire.

"Don't let the overseer hear these words, understand?"

Royston warned.

"Yes, I know."

The young miner lowered his head.

Royston thought about it and put his head closer to his ear.

"Don't be afraid. Lazar won't live long, and neither will the Turks."

"Leave the rest to me."

Arriving at the church, Royston handed the young miner and the horse to a monk, and walked quickly into the church and into the priest's study.

"Royston, you're here."

The priest was reading a letter. When he saw Royston coming, he smiled and nodded at him.

"Another miner died."

Royston was silent for a moment and pulled out a chair.

"He is a very good man and a brave warrior. He once ambushed the Turks with me in the tunnels and killed two of them with his own hands."

"I see, God bless him and his son."

The priest made the sign of the cross on his chest.

"Is this all you can say? An Orthodox Christian lost his life to the tyranny of the Turks, and this is all you can say?!"

Royston became furious and grabbed the priest's clothes.

"Didn't you say that the emperor's army would arrive soon and rescue us? What about now? How long do we have to wait?"

The priest did not struggle, letting Royston grab his collar.

The room suddenly became silent, with only Royston's heavy breathing and the priest's gentle breathing remaining.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said these things."

Royston finally realized his own impoliteness and bowed slightly to the priest.

The priest shook his head slightly but was not angry.

"Father, a year ago, Bogdan disbanded my miners' corps and introduced Turks into the mines."

"For the sake of my family, I could only watch him take away everything from me. I couldn't do anything."

There was a hint of sadness in Royston's eyes.

"That day, the miners all looked at me with disbelief in their eyes. For a moment they thought it was a joke."

"I was afraid of seeing that look, so I escaped alone, got drunk, and walked into your church, trying to atone for my sins to God."

Royston looked around.

"But you told me that we have not completely failed. The emperor of the Eastern Empire will protect all Orthodox Christians and will definitely free us from Lazar's evil clutches."

"I have been waiting for a year, and every day has been a torment. Just now, the little miner told me that they believe in me and they don't hate me."

"Give me accurate information now. When exactly is your emperor going to attack Lazar and destroy the Turks?"

Royston raised his head and looked closely into the priest's eyes.

"Royston, His Majesty will definitely take back Serbia."

The priest spoke slowly.

"What I can tell you is that, at present, there are many priests in the entire Kosovo region who have secretly pledged allegiance to the emperor. Most of them are low-level priests like me. Without noble blood, they will never be able to rise under Lazar's rule."

"But, once Your Majesty strikes, it will surely be a fatal blow. In addition to Kosovo, the Orthodox Christians in the north must also be protected."

"So, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long."

The priest raised the Orthodox cross on his chest and placed it to his lips.

"Besides, don't you care about your family in Pristina?"

After these words came out, Royston's face turned pale and his hands fell down weakly.

"I have reported your situation to Emperor Isaac and Prince Manuel. They both admire you very much."

The priest spoke slowly.

"He is of noble birth, talented, kind to the people, good at governance, and good at military strategy."

"You should know that if the Empire wants to rule Serbia for a long time, it will definitely need the support of the Serbian nobles, but not a fool like Lazar."

"What do you want to say?"

Royston asked.

"Prince Manuel is ready to solve your worries, so that the New Burdo Gold and Silver Mine can retain its vitality to the maximum extent and restore its maximum production capacity as soon as possible."

Royston's eyes widened and he stood up immediately.

The priest handed the letter on the table to the excited man with a smile in his eyes.

"Just a week ago, Prince Manuel reached an agreement with the Dragash family and planned to marry a noble lady from the Dragash family in order to gain their support."

"The prince specifically asked the Dragash family to take care of your family. The Dragash family has now invited them to their home in the name of a banquet and is protecting them."

The Dragaš family is a traditional aristocratic family in southern Serbia. Constantine XI's mother Helena came from this family.

Royston flipped through the letter quickly, his hands shaking.

"Go, Lord Royston, gather your miners and destroy the Antichrist and his servants. The Emperor's army is on the way and no one can stop it."

The priest's voice suddenly became high-pitched, as if he was singing a passionate war song.

After reading it, Royston gently put the letter down and bowed deeply to the priest.

I pushed open the door and walked out of the church. It was already dark and the outside of the church was filled with miners who had come to see the deceased off.

They had just finished a day's work and rushed over without stopping.

Seeing Royston coming out, the miners saluted him one after another, their eyes focused on him.

"Sir, what's wrong?"

The young miner saw Royston's ruddy face and walked up to him and asked.

Royston looked around, a dazzling gleam in his eyes.

The miners looked at Royston and were suddenly stunned.

Ever since Bogdan and the Turks came here, Royston has become depressed, and the miners have not seen such a calm and confident look for a long time.

At this time, the supervisor who was in charge of monitoring from the side came over, holding a bottle of wine in his hand, reeking of alcohol, and showing no respect for the deceased.

He burped and glanced sideways at Royston.

Royston looked at him with hatred in his eyes.

"Just you? Where are the other overseers?"

"Lord Bogdan is treating us, so we're going to have a drink, what's going on?"

Royston nodded, smiled softly, then drew his sword and chopped off his head with one blow.

The wine bottle smashed to pieces on the ground, and blood gushed out from the wound on the neck, staining the ground red.

"Miners, the emperor's army is coming, and the good days of the Turks are over."

Royston raised his bloody sword and shouted loudly.

The miners watched this scene, and the shock in their eyes gradually turned into pleasure and ecstasy.

"Come, follow me, take your pickaxes, and break the shackles from under your feet!"

"For the Emperor, for God, and for yourselves!"

……

In April 1467, after several years of infiltration into Serbia, the Eastern Roman Empire finally stepped out from behind the scenes and launched a war against Serbia to claim the title of Grand Duke for Prince Manuel.

The Kosovo region, which was surrounded on three sides, was attacked first. With the cooperation of local nobles and priests, several armies of the Eastern Roman Empire quickly defeated the remnants of the Turkic troops and Serbian defenders who were roaming the countryside, and approached the city of Pristina.

On May 1467, 5, the Dragash family in Pristina declared their allegiance to the Eastern Roman Empire, recognized Prince Manuel as the only Grand Duke of Serbia, opened the city gates at night, and let the Eastern Roman army enter the city.

Grand Duke Lazar of the Brankovich family saw that the situation was hopeless and wanted to surrender to the Eastern Roman Empire, but was refused and defeated and killed. His body was hung on the city wall and was despised by thousands of people.

On May 5, Isaac came to the city of Pristina and held a coronation ceremony for his younger brother Manuel in the city, coronating him as the Grand Duke of Serbia and placing the crown of Lazar on his head.

In the following month, more than 20,000 Eastern Roman troops completely cleared the Kosovo Basin. All nobles who had opposed the Eastern Roman Empire in advance were exiled to New Thrace with their families, while nobles and priests who had started the rebellion in advance were generously rewarded.

On June 6, the Eastern Roman army continued to march northward from Kosovo, marching towards the north in a mighty manner, preparing to eliminate several other Brankovic princes in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)