Now the storms and trials of his reign were at an end, and Gustavus allowed to gather the fruit of his wise management, which itself grew wiser with his old age. In 1544 the Union of Succession of 1540 was confirmed at Westeros. In matters of finance Gustavus laid the foundations of the modern state. The bailiffs were multiplied and made to give close accounts of the revenues. Fiefs granted to nobles before were now kept by the crown. The great nobles who held fiefs were placed under stricter control. The bloody Christian did useful work for the crown by ridding it of many unruly heads. The privileges granted by Westeros Recess were enforced, but the king saw to it that the nobility received back only what was properly due. But when the crown was concerned, property was taken from the Church to the greatest tension of these privileges, and likewise for the king’s private rights, by means of which less scrupulous tactics both the state and the king were enriched. The former came in possession of 12,000 farms, the latter of 4,000, in his case called “inherited estates.” As Gustavus was a great economizer, he left a treasury replete with money and uncoined silver, in spite of elaborate pomp on state occasions, expensive royal marriages and wooings, and a feud with Russia. From which of the two treasuries in his care expenses were paid, Gustavus was not overparticular. He set a good example as a practical farmer and agriculturist, the dairy at Gripsholm standing under the personal supervision of the queen, with twenty-two less ladylike assistants. Gustavus created the nucleus to a standing army of hired troops, of natives and foreigners, about 15,000 in numbers, and provided Sweden with a considerable and well-equipped fleet. He encouraged the mining industry by supporting the silver mines of Sala and the copper mines of Falun. He introduced the working of iron, according to new methods, calling in German experts whose work he superintended in person. Putting an end to the supremacy of the Hanseatic commerce, he made treaties of commerce with the Netherlands and France, making Helsingfors in Finland the centre of the trade with Russia. On the western coast he founded the new town of Elfsborg, and ordered the inhabitants of New Lœdœse to move thither. To the common people Gustavus held an attitude which shows evidence of love and confidence. Many of his letters and messages to them abound in hints at practical methods in farming. The schools were improved and partly reorganized through the spirit of Reformation, while the University of Upsala lost in importance and prestige, the students again going abroad. The war with Russia, commencing in 1554, and marked by mutual invasions, offered no aspect of importance, and was ended by a treaty of peace in 1557.