Chapter 174 Heading East
On the right bank of the Dnieper River, a town stands here. This was built by the Cossack tribe to better trade with Wallachia, and at the same time control the Dnieper River estuary, and the strategic position is very important.
Recently, a kind of wine called firewater has become popular in the tribe. The strong taste and endless aftertaste have been unanimously praised by the Cossacks. A large number of orders have poured into Wallachia. In order to expand trade, the tribe decided to build a town at the Dnieper River estuary for fixed transactions. This is indeed convenient for merchants, and trade has gradually expanded.
The gradual growth of the Cossacks has affected the interests of Lithuania and the local Tatar tribes. The local nobles are ready to wipe out this group of Cossacks. But the Cossacks are not easy to mess with. They fought with the Lithuanian army and the Tatars, which is why they have a place to live today. Even if Vytautas personally led the army, it would not change anything.
Of course, Peter also plans to buy some land in the Rus region. Even if the Grand Duke of Lithuania disagrees, there is still the Grand Council.
The Ukrainian region is the southern border area in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is not taken seriously. Although the climate there is warm, most people are not willing to cultivate there because of the threat of the Tatars. Because if you cultivate the land, the bandits may come to rob you.
Because of this, the Ukrainian region has never recovered after the Mongol invasion of the West. After Lithuania conquered here, it only enfeoffed the nobles and asked them to pay some money every year.
The vast Ukrainian Great Plains can be developed to a less than 10% extent. The large grasslands and underground resources make Peter a little jealous. Such good land, Lithuania does not develop it, it really does not cherish it. If this can be given to him, it would be great.
At present, the colonization activities in Crimea are progressing smoothly, with Viruga as the center, and the surrounding land belongs to Wallachia. The local iron ore and grassland supply Wallachia's industry and cavalry, and the land near the mouth of the Dnieper River is also very fertile. If it can be well governed, it will be a treasure pot.
The local Tatar tribes are a hidden danger. Although the Golden Horde has withdrawn from most of Ukraine, they have not left. They would plunder the surroundings from time to time, and the Cossacks were forced out by them. There is still a long way to go to achieve actual control.
The envoy of Wallachia appeared in the Great Council of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to express friendship.
The members of the parliament are all from prominent families, and their families have been rooted in Lithuania for dozens or even hundreds of years. Facing the upstart Wallachia, they naturally disdain it.
The envoy expressed the friendly relations between Wallachia and Lithuania, and proposed to jointly fight against the Ottoman Empire and the Golden Horde, but these members of parliament did not have the heart to put it here. They just wanted to take back their Samogitia and send troops to the Rus region.
Seeing that the persuasion was ineffective, the envoy also left Lithuania. Anyway, Wallachia was just testing their attitude. Since their eyes are still on the north, the south can also make some moves.
Władysław and Vytautas had fought in their early years. Although they have calmed down now, they are only at peace on the surface. Their common enemy, the Teutons, is sharpening their knives. In order to regain Pomerania and Samogitia, they have temporarily united and have no interest in Wallachia. Let them keep an eye on the Ottomans.
Wallachia's colonization to the East is not only to expand land, but also to find gold and spices. The Arabs invented many advanced methods to extract essential oils from spices, which can be used to make medicines and treat diseases. They also used spices to refine pills and syrups, including herbal drinks. The knowledge of spices spread from Arabia to the whole of Western Europe. European pharmacists used cloves, pepper, nutmeg and mace to make drug ingredients and vigorously developed the drug trade. Although Europe was hungry for gold at that time (most of the gold was in the hands of Arabs), in the eyes of most Europeans, spices were more important than gold, and it became an important part of the European economy. Spices are vital to the European economy. Since the European climate is not suitable for growing these exotic spices, Europeans still rely on Arab merchants to supply spices.
Under the traditional trade system, spices, brocade, diamonds, opium, pearls and other goods from Asia took a long time to be transported to Europe and the freight was high. They had to travel by land and sea, across China, through the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, and finally arrived in Europe. Usually European merchants would receive the goods in Italy or southern France, and then travel by land to their destination. Along the way, the spices would change hands 12 times, and each time they changed hands, their prices would soar. It is undeniable that spices were the most profitable cash crop at the time. The Europeans' thirst for spices promoted the rise of the Italian city-state trade. City-state republics such as Venice, Genoa and Florence seized the business opportunity and acted as middlemen between Arabs and Europeans. They purchased spices that Arabs transported from India and Southeast Asia from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and the port of Alexandria in Egypt, and then sold them to various European ports on the northern coast of the Mediterranean or transported them over the Alps to the interior of Europe, thus becoming a key link in the traditional East-West trade.
In Castile and Aragon, the common reason for people to venture out to sea was to find the Spice Islands and make a fortune, which might be the only reason they dared to take risks. If a sailor spent several years of his life going to the Spice Islands and then brought back a small bag of spices such as cloves and nutmeg by legal or illegal means, the money from selling the spices would not only be enough for him to buy a small house, but also allow him to live a stable life for the rest of his life. The wealth obtained by the captain would be far greater than that obtained by ordinary sailors. The captain gained both fame and fortune, and could also obtain hereditary titles and overseas territories.
Marco Polo's description of the East built a three-dimensional "Oriental Dream" for Europeans. The words "passionate Khan", "gold everywhere", "hundreds of cities", and "luxurious palaces" outlined the outline of the dream. When Europeans touched the smooth and delicate silk and exquisite ceramics trafficked by Arabs from China, the dream became real again. Generation after generation of Europeans praised and shared the "Oriental Dream". Peter also understood that the Oriental Dream was real.
Peter also wanted to join the great voyages, but the New World was impossible. As a second choice, the Indian subcontinent and East Asia should be possible, but the prerequisite was that Anatolia and Iraq needed to be taken over. In this way, the port of Basra could be obtained, making trade with the East easier.