Chapter 545 Racing Competition

The Suez Canal refused to allow any ships to pass through today because the quota was full.

Ships from the East passed through the canal one after another, and the surrounding merchants and residents were stunned. They had never seen such a big ship, but a small number of people said that this was a ship from a big country in the East.

"It's so big, it's worthy of being the country with gold flowing in the East."

"Not only that, silk, spices, and porcelain from the East are shipped here continuously. They took these things out without blinking, they are really rich."

Merchants watched the big ships from the East pass through the canal. Because they were too big, they needed the help of trackers to transport them.

Not only the Romans, but also the Egyptians who were doing business came here. They also saw such a big ship, which was another huge shock to the failed Egyptians.

At this time, Egypt's income was not high, and it needed to compensate Rome for a large sum of money. Now it was not profitable to grow grain. I heard that Rome needed a lot of cotton, so some farmers switched to growing cotton. Selling made a lot of money at once, which led to more people planting.

Their goods were generally transported to Alexandria for sale, but trade with Rome was carried out in the canal area. The area has become a prosperous place, and even people who want to go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage have to pass through here.

Due to the Roman Empire's suppression of Sunnis, the number of Shiite converts has increased. The Alawites and Druze in Syria ruled the pagans as the empire's helpers. Like the Armenian Archbishop, Rome established the Grand Jafari to control those who were unwilling to convert. This position was appointed by the emperor and no one could object.

Such a policy has settled the Shiite believers in Syria and Yemen. They will not make trouble for the time being. At the same time, for the mountainous terrain of Yemen, the Southern Yamen spent a lot of time and money to open up various cities, and carried out a balancing policy among the tribes, stabilized various places, and then expanded.

Rome's increasingly large fleet made them look for new ports everywhere. Last summer, the Roman Indian Ocean Fleet led its vassal army to attack the Omani port of Muscat. After paying the price of 4,000 people, they occupied this place, rebuilt the fortress, and began to get involved in the Persian Gulf trade.

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John obtained a portion of the shares of the Southern Company from the government, and with the shares held by his allies, the Mason family has gained control of the company.

The Southern Company's expedition team reached the southernmost point they could reach. Except for Zanzibar, which was ruled by people, other places existed in the form of tribes. This gave them an opportunity. Although it was impossible to obtain land, the output from the land was still good.

In this era, the most important minerals were gold and silver. The company discovered a gold mine in East Africa, which meant that there were still many minerals in the area, and they could dig them up.

Florence was integrated faster than they thought, and the local people easily integrated into the rule of Rome. Learning Romanian and converting to Orthodoxy, the original Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was given to the Orthodox Church.

The Roman Patriarch has held the first mass in Rome, and the local people have basically completed their conversion. This eternal city has belonged to Rome forever. Who would have thought that the descendants of the originally conquered Dacians would take back Rome?

The local church property is really rich. Some nobles and wealthy businessmen sent their money and daughters to the monastery for safety and future, and then they became the spoils of Rome.

The Orthodox Church seems much more honest. Of course, the emperor does not allow them to have too much property, on the grounds of preventing them from corruption and degeneration. Of course, it is more to prevent the church from becoming independent from the government.

The church also thinks there is no problem. They just need to preach. On the Italian peninsula, a trend of converting to Orthodoxy is spreading. As long as they convert to Orthodoxy, their children will have the opportunity to become officers or officials, which is something they dare not think about.

The imperial government is planning to build a road from Venice to Naples. If it is completed, it will greatly promote the flow of goods on the peninsula. It is expected to take two years to complete.

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In Constantinople, the city guards who usually check strictly are relatively relaxed today. As long as they do not carry weapons and count the number of people, they are basically allowed to enter, but if the number exceeds the specified number, they are prohibited from entering the city. Because today is an important racing day, in order to maintain safety, this must be done.

Osborne was lucky to enter the city because he arrived early. On the way to the city, he met a Cretan businessman who was engaged in the olive oil business. He also came to watch the car race, and he had already watched one in the morning. He was fascinated by this novel competition. In his words: This is the best gift God has given to the Romans. No other competition can compare with it!

When they arrived at the entrance of the arena, there was already a long queue. Although there were many people, they were still in order under the supervision of teams of soldiers. The guards released a group of people in, and then let another group in after a while. When it was their turn, it was obvious that the arena was not full. The guard signaled that they could enter and walk along the passage on his right hand side. There was another passage on the left hand side that they could not go to. It led to the VIP seats. Almost all arenas were designed in this way.

At this time, the brass trumpet sounded long, and the athletes began to enter. The athletes all wore soft leather hats that could cover their entire heads and necks, as well as thickened protective clothing made of wool and linen leather, and dyed in various colors for easy distinction.

Osborne had never seen a sporting event like this before, but today he finally saw one.

"Osborne, which team do you want to win?"

"Blue Team!" Osborne answered without hesitation, their participating horses caught his eye.

"You actually hope Donetsk wins!" The other party was a little surprised.

"Donetsk?"

"There is information about the contestants at the entrance of the arena, and don't you know Donetsk?"

"I don't know much about it."

Osborne was a little ashamed. He had not yet completed his understanding of the entire empire when he came here. But the other party directly gave him a popular science and introduced Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, three rapidly developing provinces.

"Donetsk is the land taken from the East by Emperor Mircea. Not only is the land fertile, but there are also a lot of coal and iron, so it has attracted many people to settle down."

Osborne was surprised. He remembered that this land was sparsely populated. How could it change under the governance of Rome? Should he invest in it?

"Not only that, I heard that your majesty may add a few more places when he goes north to Lithuania this time. We should be prepared to celebrate."