The Eagle of Eastern Europe

John immediately led people to the camp, where Peter had been waiting for a long time. He knew that Florence would agree. Such a war was completely coerced by Venice. Now that Venice was gone, it was natural to withdraw.

"Your Highness, Florence has agreed to your terms."

Then boxes of gold coins were brought in, and everyone in the Obichi family also handed them over to the other party.

"You were the fastest among all countries to sign a treaty, and now the two countries can coexist peacefully."

"Florence is willing to maintain friendly relations with your country. This accident has become a thing of the past. The two countries should look to the future."

Caesar Peter of the Roman Empire and John the Consul of Florence signed a peace treaty in Pistoia. Florence withdrew from the war with Rome, becoming the second country to withdraw. (The first one is Venice)

Florence gave the Roman army the right of passage, which meant that they could use the highway between Florence and Rome to quickly travel and plunder. Now the army has changed its style of plundering. In addition to buying grain at low prices, it no longer robs farmers. There is no profit. Their targets were dignitaries and religious figures.

As the center of Catholicism, there are many monasteries and churches in and around Rome. In addition, there are many private residences of cardinals, which contain the lovers they kept and the wealth they plundered. Robbery of these is the most profitable.

A fat bishop was pulled out of the house by the soldiers. He said one sentence, you will go to hell.

It is not up to them to decide whether to go to hell or not. After all, Peter said that he himself was hell. The soldiers beat him violently, then robbed him of his belongings and drove away.

By the road from Florence, Peter could reach the city of Rome in ten days. The current Pope Boniface IX doesn't know where he made the mistake, but he didn't leave here. He has an aura that the city is here but the city is gone.

He ordered all the troops to be assembled and prepared to defend Rome. But now the famous Swiss Guard has not yet been formed, so only 4,000 militia troops have been recruited. These soldiers could not withstand the Roman army.

To the south, Naples and Aragon faced off across the Strait of Messina. Aragon's navy caused losses to the coastal cities of Naples, but Laszlo had nothing to do about it. However, he went north to annex the Principality of Urbino to somewhat recover some of the losses.

The openness of the conversion caused internal divisions in Naples. The Catholic nobles and the nobles who supported Laszlo confronted each other. Under the leadership of the cardinal, the Catholic League was established with its headquarters in Sapri.

But Laszlo would not just die. He pulled out the new army he had trained in recent years to fight against these Catholic nobles. The nobles who benefited from various reforms also sided with Laszlo. When Rome fell to Venice, those neutral nobles immediately defected and declared their conversion to Orthodox Christianity.

Martin of Aragon sent his own navy to continue to cause damage to Naples, and the Roman Empire's navy also arrived immediately due to the king's invitation. The good days of the Aragonese navy were coming to an end.

(Okay, let’s go a little further and go back to the north)

Peter led the army as they marched along the avenues of ancient Rome, along which aqueducts and other relics of the Roman Empire could be seen.

"These are all products left over from a distant era. It's a pity that these people didn't cherish them properly."

Peter looked at these ruins, and he had different feelings when he looked at the same ruins with different time differences of hundreds of years.

"Your Highness, we have received news that the city of Rome has assembled 4,000 militiamen for defense."

"What about the heretic?"

"He's still in Rome"

Peter heard that the Pope was still in Rome and had to admire his courage. But it is also possible that he has no place to run, and it is not impossible for him to rob Rome. Anyway, he is also a Wallachian barbarian from the north, and he is still a heretic, so a robbery is not too much.

At this time Peter was surrounded by fifty thousand troops and 160 artillery pieces. The modified gun carriage can be pulled by horses, making it lighter. This can also save a lot of time. Finally, on the twelfth day, the Roman Empire army came to the city of Rome. This is the second time Belisarius has come here.

"Papa, they are coming."

At this time, Boniface IX was not staying in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but in Castel Sant'Angelo. Castel Sant'Angelo was first used as a fortress to prevent the invasion of Visigoths and Ostrogoths, then as a prison, and finally converted into a magnificent papal palace.

The most elite troops in the Papal State are here, but they are only slightly better than those militiamen. After all, the Pope was still afraid. He could only pray to God to protect him from being beaten to death by heretics.

As soon as the Roman army arrived in the city of Rome, they immediately began artillery bombardment. The defenders in the city had never seen such a formation before, and they were frightened away. The Roman army captured the city of Rome in only 7 hours, so fast that even Peter found it incredible.

Peter entered the city of Rome, and the Eternal City was fairly well governed by the Papal State. It is another major pilgrimage site in addition to Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela. Rome built many important buildings during this period, including the Old St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world.

"Bag everything up here, this city has suffered too much filth and needs to be cleaned."

Peter's order meant that planned plundering began again, and a large amount of art and property was looted. The properties of cardinals, bishops, nuns and other religious figures are all gone, and their names as locust armies will be abolished if they are not stripped off.

What Peter valued most was not the possessions, but the books in the basement. They were all packed and shipped back to Constantinople, including many books of extremely important religious status, including the Vatican Codex and a Bible with pages decorated with 1.5 kilograms of gold. In addition, Aristotle, Early printings of the works of Dante and Virgil, early printings of the works of Aristotle, Dante and Virgil, as well as a large number of manuscripts before the 2nd century are here.

Peter looked at these things. They were all cultural treasures. Wouldn't it be a waste to put them here? It would be better to change them to another home, so that their value could be realized.

What followed was a massive plundering by the army. For three consecutive days, the city of Rome was in this state. A large amount of treasure was transported away by robbed ox-carts and horse-drawn carriages, but the Pope showed no sign at all at the Castel Sant'Angelo. He just wanted to let them finish the robbery and leave as soon as possible. Don't come again. But who makes the church too rich? The income from tithes, buying and selling priesthoods, believers' donations, and occasionally selling indulgences can equal the income of a country for several years. If you don't get more, how can you be worthy of the army mobilized by Rome?