The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"Oh, that's a shame."

Horvath looked at Mary and said in a contemptuous tone.

"Now, get out of my palace!"

Mary issued an eviction order, and the other party had to go out, but after they left, Mary was on the verge of collapse. These nobles relied on their own strength to do whatever they wanted, and Mary could not do anything to them except to deprive them of their right to participate in parliament. Now that they have come to force her to have a baby, it seems that Buda cannot stay any longer.

Mary had her luggage and soldiers packed and prepared to go to Pest. After entering Buda, she repaired and reinforced the Pest Castle next to it to prevent a coup from happening, which is now in good use.

And the nobles who were forcing the palace did not give up. They were ready to assemble their soldiers and use force to force Mary to reopen the parliament and form a regency. Without these nobles, how could Lajosh become the most powerful king in Hungary? It was not them. Help?

But they forgot that the soldiers that Mary can control are in Szekesfehérvér, not far from Buda. As long as there is a slight disturbance, they will kill Buda and will not be bribed by them. The reason is that most of the army The people were composed of Transylvanian nobles and Hungarian land-granting yeoman farmers. They were both Orthodox Christians and vested interests, so naturally they would not oppose the king who supported them.

After preparing to go to Pest, Mary also looked at the sky on the window sill of the palace. She didn't know what the future of Hungary would be, but the country must not be destroyed in her hands.

Mary spent the most difficult two days, because the nobles launched their followers in Buda to launch a public opinion offensive, saying that Hungary's situation was all caused by Mary's incompetence, and that only by opening a parliament could Hungary get better.

A few fools would take the bait of any speech, and the common people who had the most difficult life believed the nobles' lies and began to oppose Mary. The Catholic Church was already fighting her to the death and began to instigate believers, especially businessmen and citizens, to oppose her. I thought that the king might obediently confess in front of the church, but their happy time would only be 55 hours.

On the tense third day, an army of 1,000 men came to Buda. Unlike other armies, this army was uniformly black armor, black horses and black cloaks. The leader was even wearing an iron mask, which looked very scary.

A soldier ran to the city walls to tell the defenders that the Duke of Pozzoni was coming. He was asked to notify the king quickly, and the defenders did not dare to neglect and hurried to the Buda Palace.

Before long, the gates of Buda were opened to welcome the Duke's visit. His troops were well received in the barracks outside the city, and the Duke went with his bodyguard to see Queen Mary.

The heavy sound of armor struck every soldier's heart. What kind of person this was was what every noble thought. The same is true for Mary. She hopes that the Duke is here to help her, because the large areas of land and soldiers in his name are important guarantees against the opposition.

"Welcome, Duke."

The man in the iron mask did not speak, but greeted Mary according to etiquette, and then asked someone to hand over a letter, indicating that he would be loyal to her.

Mary was overjoyed when she saw it, it was such a surprise. Then she quickly asked people to prepare a banquet, and she wanted to entertain the Duke well.

The Duke of Pozzoni was then accommodated in the palace, and Mary, in order to gain his support, walked with him in the gardens.

"I wonder if the Duke has ever been to Buda?"

The Duke took one look and didn't intend to continue acting.

"Been here and entered here."

The familiar voice made Mary stunned for a moment. She would never believe that someone far away would appear in front of her.

"Your voice reminds me of a man, but in Constantinople."

Peter understood that she had probably guessed his identity, so he took off his mask. Mary shed tears when she saw it was really him.

"I knew that no noble would be on my side except you. They all went to Zigmund."

Mary confided in Romanian to Peter that it was Peter who saved her when she was most in danger. He also helped Mary gain a foothold many times. Such kindness will never be forgotten.

"The Duke of Pozzoni is always at the king's service"

Peter's words of loyalty to Mary amused her. With Peter here, there was no need to worry about the opposition.

Soon the banquet to welcome Peter began. He still showed himself in an iron mask, and many people called him the Iron Mask Duke. This was exactly what Peter wanted.

The next day, Mary declared the Duke of Pozzoni to be the commander-in-chief of the country and led the army to resist the enemy. Before Peter left, he hanged all the opposition nobles who did not run away. Especially the one named Horvat, who was clamoring to make him pay before he died, which was really funny.

The army that Hungary obtained with the whole country's efforts was handed over to Peter, totaling 20,000 people, all of whom attacked westward. This caught Sigismund off guard. No one expected that Mary would take the initiative to seek death. You must know that they are German militiamen and mercenaries who have experienced hundreds of battles, and they are not comparable to those in Hungary.

But Sigismund was not afraid, Albrecht was frightened, because Pozzoni was less than 70 kilometers away from Vienna, so close. If he fights back, he will be the first to suffer. While he is gathering troops, he will also move his family to other places. Linz and Tyrol are not allowed. His relatives there are not yet aware that they will use this as a threat. What to do, so temporarily moved to the Styrian region. Come back after the war is over.

As for Sigismund's other supporter: Count Friedrich of Nuremberg, he gave him 100,000 gold coins. Relying on the important position in the local area, the earl collected taxes well, and Sigismund repaid his support with Brandenburg as a gift, so the gold coins were spent quite a lot.

But no matter how he solicited sponsorship, Sigismund's financial resources could only support the army's salary for two months. It was impossible to resolve the war within two months. All he could hope for was an internal coup in Hungary.

After dealing with the opposition, Mary directly issued a decree to nationalize part of the nobles' land, and gave the other part to the Duke of Pozzoni. She also gave the Duke the right to rule the northern region, as evidenced by documents. Now Peter is also the most powerful man in Hungary. According to Mary's reward, all the land of the disobedient lords in northern Hungary belongs to him, which covers tens of thousands of square kilometers. Moreover, there is also the right to reduce or reduce taxes. The native Hungarian nobles have been suppressed. Coupled with the fight against Catholicism, the eastern forces have gained more and more advantages, and the war that will determine Hungary's future has come.