The Eagle of Eastern Europe

The route from Zanzibar to Fort Andre has been opened, but it requires more travel. This is also a very risky route. Who knows if they will encounter any storms, and they don't know enough about this place, so they need to move slowly and steadily.

The empire has currently explored most of the African coast, and Fort Andre is the southernmost point. Next, they can continue to explore south. Maybe we can even meet the Portuguese fleet.

The Swahili people live along the coast where Zanzibar is located, and they are the descendants of Arabs and blacks. They were loyal to their religious beliefs and were good at sailing. When the Roman merchants arrived, the locals welcomed them, but they were eyeing the missionary activities.

The empire's fortress in Kenya was named Port Sophia, which quickly grew into a town of 150 people. Local wheat was also an important source of food for the southern colonies, because the local climate in Andreburg was not suitable for wheat growth, so some barley could only be grown to maintain operations. But the sweet wheat bread is their favorite, so wheat has become one of the most imported goods here. In exchange for food and daily necessities, local wood production has increased directly. Some of the wood here is of precious species, and there is no point in cutting it down.

The entire African route is actually very fragile. Pirates and unknown storms along the way will destroy the fleet. Therefore, if you take a trip and come back safely, you will have dozens of times the benefits. This is actually a gamble, but the courage to take the risk and go to Africa is very high. The empire wants to be stationed for a long time. After all, it must provide Egypt with a stable rear.

The connection between Rome and the Eastern colonies required strengthening the management and control of the canal. The Senate passed a plan to garrison 2,000 troops in Ashkelon and was ready to advance to Jerusalem at any time.

As a Roman enclave, Ashkelon had a castle re-established and the town expanded around the castle. Not only does this flank the Suez Canal, it also directly threatens Jerusalem.

It’s not like Sudan is unaware of this situation, but it’s a done deal. You can’t just fill in the canal again. Moreover, his own army may not be able to fight Rome. The newly recovered land has not yet recovered its strength, and everything indicates that it is impossible to fight.

And you have to pay a toll to cross the canal, otherwise you won't be able to cross. This makes the local pilgrims and businessmen hate people to death, why are they so rogue. Even Venice and Genoa were respectful to Egypt. Why did Rome repeatedly approach the Mamluks but the Sudan was unwilling to do anything?

The Haram Mosque in Mecca is the holiest place of Crescent Religion. The Forbidden Mosque has 25 gates and 9 tall minarets, built with the Kaaba (Kaaba) as the center. It has always been a destination for pilgrims, especially those coming from the direction of Egypt, in large numbers.

However, the successive arrivals of the Mongols and Timur reduced the number of pilgrims here because too many people were killed. The Mamluks finally regained the land, but the Roman canal was blocked again. As a result, they could only go to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. Aden in the south was occupied by pagans. The entire two sections of the Red Sea were almost dominated by Christians. How to go on pilgrimage?

Suleiman, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, wrote to the Sultan and Caliph of Egypt, asking them to occupy the Roman Canal so that they could contribute to Allah.

This Suleiman was an extraordinary person. He was from the Hashemite family. Because his ancestor married Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, he became a descendant of the Holy family. He controlled the cities of Mecca and Medina for a long time.

This time it was also because the reduction in pilgrims cut off their income, and even the descendants of the prophet needed to eat. The resurgent Christians and the schismatic heretics became his obstacles.

In order to protect themselves, the emirs in Syria could only pay tribute to Cairo and Constantinople. The most powerful Emir of Damascus has a population of only 400,000, and most of them are concentrated in the area south of Damascus. The pressure from Rome could only be met with a policy of appeasement, while heretics such as the Druze and Alawites in the country launched attacks on the ruling class, which was dominated by Sunnis. Although they also respected Mecca and Medina, they The hatred for the local area is still greater than the hatred for Rome. All dynasties in the past have turned them into vanguards and eliminated them after seizing power. This was the case for the Abbasid dynasty, which finally reached its peak. The Fatimid dynasty was unrivaled from Tunisia to Egypt, but was still destroyed.

Compared with heretics, Rome was much more tolerant of them. They also absorbed a lot of Christian elements, and the government only charged an additional poll tax, and everything else was the same. Moreover, the amount of tax is determined according to the property of the person being taxed, and the blind, paralyzed and poor are exempted.

As the situation in the Middle East turned, the Catholic Church here was forced to convert to the Orthodox Church. The previous plunder of Rome had frightened them, and they no longer dared to say that they would launch a crusade. I am very satisfied with this situation, but I still deserve a lot.

Currently, the East is still searching for members of the Baitakshi sect. Local people are scared to death when they hear about this group. They didn't dare to take them in, for fear that they would die one day.

The local Sunni people were also forced to convert to Orthodox Christianity and other sects, and their language and culture needed to be reshaped. And after converting, you can take the exam to select officials, so you can rise in class. It can be said that such a policy suits them very well.

Rome spends as much money on culture as on infrastructure. The Library of Constantinople is already the largest library in Europe. One-third of the local collection is original and one-third is collected from various places. The remaining one-third was stolen from Western Europe. And used printing for backup to protect the culture of the Roman Empire.

This culture spread to other places along with the church and the army. However, Northern Italy, the most economically advanced country, lacked the foundation of Roman culture at this time, and could not be revived just by having money. So they turned to the culture of Charlemagne's time, and Gothic churches continued to rise. Only the Cathedral of Florence in Florence continued to be built and maintained its Romanesque style.

The Roman Empire continued to maintain the Eastern Roman style, that is, dome architecture. But there is a Wallachian style mixed in. It is no longer a simple dome, but three small domes made of columns. There is also an Orthodox cross on it.

After Rome's troubles in Italy, they made great contributions to the empire in culture and other aspects. Peter wanted to send a large medal to each of several other countries. If one is not enough, just make a few more. I believe the other party will be very happy to accept it.