Chapter 237 Diplomacy and Exploration
After Peter became Caesar, he also felt Mircea's different attitude towards him. This is something that every emperor will experience. In order to dispel his father's suspicions and give himself a break, Peter offered to visit his sister and another future in-law.
Mircea agreed and prepared a lot of gifts. Diplomatic notes were also sent to Naples and Milan.
Sofia travels with Peter. She has not been to the Western world yet, and this time he shows her the world.
In addition to Naples and Milan, Mircea also decided to expand to other countries, just like the previous Roman emperors who went to the West, but this time it was not a request for help, but a normal visit.
Mircea also sent a diplomatic note to France. Maybe they can attack Shinra together with France. It is always a good thing to go and see.
Speaking of diplomacy, the Peter-sponsored fleet has moved south to a port near Cairo. Mason met with the current Sultan Nasir Faraj and not only submitted his credentials, but also made a request to the Sultan to expand trade and trade privileges.
The Sudan wished for it because he desperately needed Romania's entry to drive Egypt's economy and tax revenue. Especially the locally produced cotton, linen and silk, these are the textile raw materials Egypt needs.
The textile industry in Alexandria flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries. Because it enjoyed the reputation of "the most beautiful textiles in the world are in Alexandria", Alexandria's textiles were highly praised by consumers. However, now, the dynasty's textiles have lost their advantage.
Alexandria's textile industry gradually lost its dominance, partly due to the plague. Secondly, insufficient supply of raw materials is also an important factor. Linen, cotton, silk, wool, etc. are the main raw materials for Alexandria's textile industry, but due to the war, the raw materials needed were not in sufficient supply. At the end of the 14th century, Timur's army marched westward, capturing the important town of Aleppo in 1400; and captured Damascus in 1401. Because Timur's army controlled Persia and Syria, high-quality raw materials and dyes could not be supplied to Egypt, so the textile industry gradually declined.
Now that Romania is proposing to expand trade, that is also good news. According to what their businessmen know, Romania not only has silk and wool, but also cotton, and the textile industry can be saved.
The Sultan was pleased to agree to Mason's request to cross the border. Then they headed non-stop to the Isthmus of Suez, where the canals dug during the ancient Egyptian and Persian periods were still in front of them. It seems that it wasn't that difficult in the past.
But in fact, since the river has been abandoned for 600 years, the land is so hard that it can be used as stone. It is not a trivial matter to transport all the ships there, but they soon found a method from previous war cases: first They spent money to bribe several nearby tribes, greased the bottom of the boat and laid planks on it, and then used human power to pull it. It only takes a few dozen days.
Of course, this is only limited to large commercial ships. Small and medium-sized ships can be disassembled before construction. You can also pay some freight to transport them and reassemble them.
There were many Berber tribes in southern Egypt, and the fleet exchanged some novel items for their labor. Some ships quickly covered more than half of the journey, and some Romanian businessmen heard that they were going to the East, so they sponsored some funds and supplies, and some people even followed them.
The local scene in Egypt is still an eye-opener for Mason and the others. The spices and oriental goods that Europe wants can be found everywhere here. The goods handled here every year are valuable. Now Romania is also going to the mysterious East.
In order to sponsor the eastern fleet, Peter suspended the exploration of the African interior, because this was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also faced the two major enemies of climate and paganism. The cost is not generally high.
For the Suez Canal plan, the company formed has already begun preparations. Because the land in Suez and the nearby Sinai Peninsula was barren and the climate was hot, the local lords also sold the land in the Suez River channel at a lower price, and then hired some people to try to dig, hoping to get a good start.
----Dividing line----
Returning to the north, Vytautas finally reversed the situation, solved the disobedient nobles in the country, and then went south to join the Cossacks in Kiev. Both sides paid a heavy price but there was no result. At this point, Vytautas decided Withdrew from the war and signed a peace treaty with the Cossacks. Both sides recognized the existing border, and Kiev was also owned by the Cossacks. The war ceased for twenty years, etc. Then both sides stopped fighting and the situation in the north stabilized.
After the signing of the peace treaty, the alliance between the Cossack Emirate and Romania became closer. Not only did the local church obey the orders of Constantinople, but even the local trade also relied heavily on Romanian merchants. The Russian trade routes from Moscow to Kiev to Constantinople became more active, and large amounts of goods flowed along the Dnieper and Don rivers and were traded in various towns.
The city in the middle reaches of the Dnieper River was also named Mircha Fort in memory of Emperor Mircha. Due to its geographical location, it attracted people and businessmen from all over the country and was the most important city after Kiev. At the same time, after Kiev was taken away, Lithuania was the gathering place of Orthodox Christians. I don’t know if they will continue to fight next time.
The impact of this war was also great. It changed the structure of Eastern Europe, from the alliance of Poland and Lithuania to the coexistence of Poland, Moscow, and Romania. Lithuania's strength was severely damaged and it could only rely more on Poland. After Moscow solved the other small Russian countries, it set its sights on Novgorod. Romania also gained a lot of land in the expedition to the Golden Horde. Eastern Europe is about to get busy again.
In Anatolia, Suleiman finally surrendered. He sent people to seek peace from the emperor and voluntarily abandoned cities such as Nicaea and Prusa because he understood that this would not work. The other brothers must be dealt with as soon as possible before he can turn around and seek revenge westward. To this end, he paid a tribute of 150,000 silver coins to Constantinople and called Mircea his father in the letter. This was very useful to the emperor, and he finally decided to maintain the existing border line, but the assistance he mentioned was not at all. You must know that hundreds of years ago, Manuel I listened to Arslan and sent him a lot of supplies. , and as a result, they turned their backs on the supplies and refused to recognize the people. This lesson will not happen again.
After Nicaea and Prusa were obtained, western Anatolia was completely annexed. This was a big step for Romania and the first step in its revival. The local Christians still make up the majority, so there is no need to worry about assimilation for the time being, but the further inland you go, the greater the paganization will be. For this reason, a long-term solution is needed to ensure that Romania can control the inland areas for a long time, rather than just grabbing it. run.