Chapter 262 Novice Colonists
Mohammed was so angry when he saw the war report from the front that he wanted to flip the table. They all failed. The Ottoman Empire had never had so many failures since its founding. If the ancestors knew, they would come to him at night.
Now, two of his brothers are gone, and one brother is nowhere to be found. He is the only ruler of the Ottoman Empire. What he has to do now is to unite those broken forces and then launch a battle of Manzikert to open the door to Europe again.
He must continue to absorb the power of the Turkic tribes, so he turned his attention to the small countries that had regained independence around him, especially Karaman and Dulkadir. There are a large number of people here that can be used by him. At most five years, he can raise a large army to kill westward.
Rome now uses Ancela as a support point to build a defense to deal with the Ottoman Empire. And constantly build roads and bridges to improve the transportation conditions in the inland, so that reinforcements can arrive quickly.
"Now our progress in Anatolia is going well. If we continue like this, we will reach Lake Van in less than three years."
Mircea couldn't help laughing when she heard the situation on the battlefield. He didn't expect the progress to be so smooth, which made him feel that Alexander the Great conquered Persia in the same way.
Although he was a little lost, his years of career as a grand duke had trained him to be calm and cautious. He was naturally happy about the situation in the east, but he was a little uncomfortable with an army that was not under his command in Anatolia. That was Peter's army.
He was very grateful to this army for taking Ancyra and sent a lot of rewards, but it was too uneasy to leave 18,000 people here. It would be better to let them leave here and go somewhere else.
"We have to use other methods to make Peter withdraw voluntarily, but what methods?"
Mircea thought, looking at the current Roman territory. The expanding areas still need more troops to maintain. Peter's army does not have to worry about the problem of salary interruption for the time being, and he is already the heir to the throne. There is no point in rebelling at this time.
Mircea comforted himself with this idea that he should believe in his son. And now Rome's gradual strength is inseparable from Peter's pioneering reform demonstration in Dobruja. As long as he does not interfere in the most sensitive military issues, he can do whatever he wants in other aspects.
If he likes sailing, let him do it; if he likes culture, let him be in charge of it; even if he wants to expand the territory, he can also confer the corresponding title on him, anyway, it will all be his in the end.
Confrontation with the front line, large-scale construction and cultural sponsorship all require funds. Mircea began to encourage merchants to explore the eastern trade route to find more business opportunities. Taking this as an opportunity, the reconquest movement entered the second stage.
The benefits of territory take a long time to show, and trade is undoubtedly the fastest way. Mircea encouraged the export of handicrafts and agricultural products, restricted the import of luxury goods, and collected tariffs from them. For Egypt and the Levant, he knew that there were the Ross Company and the Southern Chamber of Commerce, so he granted them the trade franchise in the East. After several years of development and Peter's permission, the Ross Company was reorganized and began to explore the Silk Road from land.
The Southern Chamber of Commerce raised funds from various chambers of commerce with the emperor's charter. In the issuance of 1 million lei of capital certificates, the Great Greek Chamber of Commerce sponsored 40% of the total, which shows the local economic strength and yearning for the East.
Of course, the Chamber of Commerce is now struggling. The previous fundraising has already drained a lot of cash flow, and it will take at least until next year to recover. President Kadaj invested these funds in trade in Syria, Palestine and Egypt. They relied on local Orthodox Christians to gain a foothold in Antioch, Damascus, Ashkelon and Alexandria. According to the route map of Arab merchants and the map of the previous Roman Empire's rule and war, they decided to divide the troops into three routes: the northern route starts from Antioch and goes along the Mesopotamian Basin to Mosul, Baghdad, Yerevan and other places to open up trade with Persia; the central route is based in Damascus and Ashkelon to consolidate local trade and rule, and mercenaries are needed for protection when necessary; the southern route starts from Alexandria, goes deep into the interior of Africa and the Red Sea, and is responsible for the excavation of the Suez Canal.
Although 6% to 9% of the profits have to be handed over every year, there is still a lot of dividends left. The Chamber of Commerce gathered a group of experienced businessmen, and they were also the Chamber of Commerce with the most mercenaries and missionaries. Because they often dealt with pagans, they knew their characteristics and the habits of the rulers, and finally stood firm in the Middle East with continuous efforts.
In order to enable the Chamber of Commerce to develop rapidly, Kadaj began to implement the policy of immigration colonies, and some people who could not survive could go to the Roman colonies in the East through them. Relying on such means, he quickly gathered 150 people and set off to the East. In addition to the pressure of life, some people also came to the new land to spread religion, and the order provided them with a lot of books for spreading. The Pope of Rome did not expect that the first missionary to the East would be his mortal enemy.
The Chamber of Commerce also negotiated with slave traders and proposed to buy more black slaves. Faced with such a business, how could they let it go? When they learned that the buyer needed slaves who could do heavy work, they quickly took out the best goods. When they heard that they needed long-term supply, they laughed from ear to ear.
Mamluk Sultan Faraj took Rome's actions seriously. He didn't know what was the point of commanding a group of slaves to dig here. It was a waste of money and effort. Moreover, the large-scale purchase of land made him suspect that Rome was preparing to pave the way for an attack on Egypt. No, he would make a solemn protest to Rome.
The system of the Mamluk dynasty is similar to that of France. Local lords recognize the authority of Cairo, while Cairo recognizes their power in the local area. Both sides recognize each other and gather troops to prepare for war when foreign enemies invade. The current sultans are selected from the Circassians sold in the Caucasus. They are qualified in military terms, but they are still lacking in other aspects.
The Chamber of Commerce also has a trading point in Ceuta, where goods from West Africa are also traded, and Roman merchants use industrial products produced in their own country for exchange. As for Castile and Portugal, they are still busy with how to launch the final attack on Granada. There is no idea on them. Even if there is, they just want to collect more money.
The private colonization teams sponsored by other chambers of commerce have been successfully cultivated in Sicily. Some inland areas have been controlled. The grain produced locally is used to trade handicrafts with Naples and Rome. Less is shipped to Iberia, and some retail is also controlled by Roman merchants. The prestige of the Norman dynasty in the past is gone. Sicily will either be united or annexed.