Chapter 277 Conquest of the East

Chapter 277 Conquest of the East

While Rome and Venice and Genoa were fighting back and forth, the newly formed East India Company, led by Governor Mason, began to conquer the East.

With capital and a large entourage, the port of Andronico grew stronger. A large number of ships called at the port, Andre Island and the Indian trading station. Mason was ready to take the first step in conquering the East.

In order to ensure the smooth flow of Indian trade, the merchants and pirates of the Crescent Sect must be cleared, and they have two main bases, one in Aden and the other in Muscat.

As an important transit point for East-West trade, Aden was naturally heavily guarded by the rulers. But if we want to initially stabilize the trade line, we must capture Aden.

Mason can now command up to 3,000 soldiers, many of whom are converts to Orthodoxy. But fortunately they had a lot of muskets, and the terrain in Aden was suitable for shipboard artillery attacks.

During these four months, Mason launched his first war. It took 27 days to capture the trading city of Aden. This was not only because of the difference in weapons between the two sides, but also because the Rasouli Sultanate that ruled here was unable to assemble a large army to rescue the place. The local tribal chiefs control everything. To put it nicely, it is a country, but in fact it is a tribal alliance.

The head of the company's missionary department who went with Mason, Daniel, an Andreian blessed by Constantinople, used the benefits to persuade a small tribe to serve the company. The local unrest was quickly calmed down.

The East India Company built forts and controlled trade here, and also began to preach in Arabia. The impact of the capture of Aden has already spread to the Arab region. More than 40 tribes formed a coalition to retake the cornucopia. Sultan Rassouli also took part in person, and the two sides fought a decisive battle in Ayton, not far from Aden.

The battle lasted from morning to afternoon. Due to the addition of small artillery and muskets, most of the Arab cavalry units that were proud of them were wiped out. Sultan Rasuli also died in the rebellion, and Rome ensured its occupation of Aden.

The company also went deep into the East African Plateau and met King Dawit, who was ignored by the local government. He and his dynasty were nominally Christian, but their power was basically eclipsed by the local forces of the Crescent Church.

Dawit received the envoys sent by the company and generously granted them the right to trade and establish a trading station here. His idea was to let this company deal with local snakes. If they win, they can take back the land. If they lose, it won't matter.

The company also knows that this is to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf, but it is also willing to do so. After all, the company has never been afraid of dealing with heretics.

The East India Company continued to build trading stations in India. They expanded the local area and used religion and gold coins to make the local people submit to their rule. Moreover, they directly negotiated with the great local rulers, such as the rulers of the Vijayanagar Empire, to obtain a place for trade.

The company built a firearms factory, an arsenal, and a shipyard in the port of Androniko. The supply of firearms was basically guaranteed, and then expansion continued. In Yemen, in India, in East Africa. The company sells the special products here to Europe and earns the price difference. At the same time, it also collects taxes from the people under the rule to solve financial problems.

While Peter was conquering Bosnia, war broke out between the East India Company and the Sultanate of Ifat. Sultan Yeshak I led an army to attack Andronikos, but failed. The company then attacked the capital Serra with a small number of troops. The Sultan was frightened and fled inland with his cronies and property, and Serra fell.

Then the company sent people to advance and captured a large area of ​​land within a month. Sultan Ifat had to flee. The Sultanate was wiped out by the East India Company.

Mason divided these colonies into administrative divisions and appointed governors to manage each place. Among them, the one on the East African Plateau is currently the largest colony, responsible for providing the company with food, coffee and other agricultural crops. Those near Aden provided cotton, and India provided spices. The company has set up commercial offices and tax offices in various places to ensure that basic tax collection is no problem.

The Mamluks' desire to join the war against Rome also made the East India Company feel that they had to do something for the country. The headquarters of Constantinople was too far to the east, and Mason had to hit Venice hard.

Mason took advantage of his control of the Red Sea exports and began to rob and kill spice merchant ships transporting to Egypt. At the same time, he also transported spices to Egypt, and the sales price to Venice tripled. Egypt's spice trade declined, taking with it a sharp drop in Sudanese income.

The Mamluks were worried. The Sultan did not expect that Rome would have foreign aid in the Red Sea. And it directly blocked the most important spice trade, which put Egypt's income in danger.

However, the Sultan discovered that the spice trade was not immediately stopped. The foreign aid only destroyed the fleet that was trading with Venice, so it was directed at Venice.

In this case, the agreement with Venice must be carefully considered. After all, we had discussed sending troops with them before. There is no hindrance to the company's business in Egypt. If they want to dig something, then go ahead.

The company's business in Egypt can provide part of the Mamluk tax revenue every year. Relying on the transfer of rights, the company successfully obtained the tax rights of the small city of Suez and nearby land. In this way, the company could continue to contribute to the canal project, along with the black slaves purchased from East Africa, and it would be opened in less than fifty years.

As Europe's first Eastern trading colonial institution, the East India Company continued its exploration into the East. And around the southernmost tip of India, they came to a port from where gems and spices were imported. By setting up a business station here, the company can get rid of the middlemen and earn the price difference by itself.

The company divided the fleet into two, one was larger to explore the east, and the other was exploring south along the coastline. The ivory, gold and other luxury goods harvested from the East African plateau convinced the company's middle management that there was still a fertile land in the south. To this end, an expedition was organized to explore south.

After taking Aden, their eyes turned to the Persian Gulf. The two trading cities of Muscat and Khrumos have always been important trading nodes. From here you can reach Basra, the most important city in Arabia, and then go upstream to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to reach the Levant. and Anatolia, not far from Rome.

A large amount of benefits are waiting for the company, but now it is best for the company to continue to operate its own properties. Blind expansion has expanded the company's size a lot, but it has not been properly digested. In fact, this is all in vain. It must be transformed into a good asset to serve the empire.