Chapter 394 Border Provinces

On the construction site of the Suez Canal, nearly 120,000 people are working hard. This is the largest number of workers ever, and what they do will change history.

After the envoy came to Constantinople, the foreman of the canal thought that he had to speed up. The previous behavior was just a small fight. The company was not a charity. When would it be able to make a profit if it continued like this. So he began to buy slaves and requisition prisoners in large quantities, even women.

Moreover, the foreman used two shifts, one person worked for twelve hours before he could rest, working day and night, and eating poorly, all to save costs. In order to obtain more labor, the company also provoked conflicts between the lords' tribes, and then bought prisoners from the winning side.

With such work, the speed of canal excavation increased rapidly, and the canal that was expected to take ten years to dig could be completed this year. It was really a good thing.

However, the Mamluk Sultan also came to his senses. After the completion of the canal, Egypt and the Middle East were separated. If he wanted to rescue, he had to use the navy to transport or let Rome agree to pass. Wouldn't this do more harm than good?

So starting from a few months ago, they gradually increased taxes on Roman merchants, and prepared to send troops to the border. The Caliph also used his influence to transfer troops from Mecca and other places to attack from both sides.

Well, it is good to think of this, but it is too late. And the treaty signed with Rome before has also become a constraint on Egypt. The Mamluks recognized Ashkelon as the sphere of influence of Rome, which is less than 100 kilometers away from Jerusalem, and it is also Rome's transit port in the south, similar to the existence of Acre.

If a war breaks out, the other side only needs to hold on to the canal to prevent them from sending troops to rescue. Then they began to annex the land that they had finally obtained. Damascus and Jerusalem would be lost, and the naval project must be strengthened.

In order to delay the speed of Rome's advance, Egypt began to support the activities of the Baitakshi Order in Rome and greatly delegated power to the emirs in the Middle East, as long as they recognized the status of the Sultan. In this way, they can confront Rome, and the Emir of Damascus began to prepare for war and prepare to defend against the attack of Rome.

In Aleppo, the defenders began to search the city for members of the order. But because they were new here and not as familiar with the geography as the other party, most of them still escaped. Those who were caught were imprisoned and waited for the emperor's decision.

"These damn pagans, if I didn't have land here, I wouldn't come here to suffer."

The soldier who had just finished arresting complained that he had more than 100 acres of land here, and the fertility was good. The local government built water conservancy and dug wells here to solve the water problem. In order to protect their property, they were not soft on the pagans. And they often interacted closely with Damascus, just to prevent the other party from taking advantage of him.

"Be optimistic, at least they all ran away, and they can take a break for the time being."

Another soldier comforted him, all for the purpose of protecting their property. The same is true for the army in Van City. The land here is redistributed. Only the pagans who did not run away and belonged to small farmers did not have their land confiscated. The rest were distributed to the church, the army and refugees. But even such a life is hard-won. In order to continue to be stable, the local people began to convert to religion, so that they would not have to pay head taxes all the time.

Not only the soldiers were anxious, but also the local officials. The mayor of Aleppo and the senior officials of Aleppo Province also felt that they needed to quickly wipe out this group of pagans. If they failed the assessment at the end of the year, their official career would end here.

While setting up the examination agency, Rome also improved the supervisory agency. The official assessment led by the emperor was held every two years, and those who failed could just pack up and go home. And the salary system was adopted for officials, and having a fixed salary allowed them to work for the empire wholeheartedly.

The composition of the salary was sometimes not entirely currency, and some luxury goods such as spices, silk, and textiles were also issued as wages. This also reduced the pressure on currency to a certain extent. In addition, senior officials would be given a manor for retirement after retirement. This also attached great importance to civil servants.

The mayor of Aleppo directly ordered all citizens in the city to be inspected, and if they had private contact with these people, they would be directly imprisoned. And the religious leaders in the city must cooperate, otherwise they would be treated as collaborators.

After all, border harassment and internal unrest are the most challenging for their abilities. If they are not handled well, they will be dismissed from their posts or beheaded. But at least no foreign forces were found to be involved, it should be just an internal action.

A few days later, the emperor's order came down, officials in the seven eastern provinces were to thoroughly investigate the Baitakshi sect, and kill them on the spot if they were found. At the same time, heretics such as the Alawites and the Gruzites were given preferential treatment to cut off the recruitment of the sect from the root. And encourage the expansion of trade with other countries to get rid of poverty.

The seven eastern provinces account for half of Anatolia, but the population is only more than 3 million, and the economy is backward. After years of devastation, the local agricultural facilities have been completely destroyed. The 500,000 lei mentioned by Peter has been issued, and the local efforts to suppress bandits have improved a little. Mircea exempted these provinces from taxes for two years and encouraged people in the Balkans to immigrate to the East to enrich the population. I believe there will be different results in two years.

And the Knights are ready to go to the East. They are already stationed in Yerevan, waiting for a suitable opportunity to go to the designated place to establish an independent country. In the past few years, the Knights have made a lot of efforts for the empire, and everyone deserves respect. And the leader also promised that as long as the empire is in trouble, they will come to help at all costs.

Shirvanshah, who ruled in the Azerbaijan region, got rid of the shackles during the struggle between the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Timurid Empire and re-established a powerful regime. It will take some time for the Knights to gain power from it. At present, the other party seems a little nervous with the army approaching, and Georgia is also nervous. This is ready to fight him. Didn’t you say that you will let bygones be bygones before? Why are you regretting it now? Can’t you afford to play?

Brother, if Rome wants to destroy you, it would be better to go to Tiberius without stopping in Yerevan. Is it worth it for you to go to Constantinople to negotiate with the emperor and sign an agreement? This is completely illogical. But Mircea does have the idea of ​​annexing Georgia, but he is kept because he needs to guard against pagans in the East. In this case, he is secretly happy. Maybe one day he won't be needed anymore.