Chapter 7： Open up the Egyptian trade route

As early as last year, Marin had arranged for his men to be responsible for the preparation of the Egyptian business road. To this end, Marin also ordered shipbuilders from Venice to build two 500-ton class paddle sailboats suitable for Mediterranean sailing.

Of course, the paddle sailboat that Marin requires is different from the paddle sailboats these craftsmen have built. The difference is that the paddle sailboat required by Marin is equipped with artillery. Therefore, these experienced Venetian shipbuilders need to improve the paddle sailboat and increase the gun positions.

However, after all, they have built many oars, and the specific data of the ship is still very clear. As a result, they directly built two ships together, and after the main body was completed, they made improvements and added some gun positions.

At the same time, they also absorbed the experience of the previously built "Hoffman-class" 500-ton battleship (previously, Italian craftsmen participated in the battleship manufacturing). Gun door.

After half a year of hard work, hundreds of Italian shipbuilding craftsmen and local shipbuilding craftsmen have finally produced two 500-ton paddle sailboats, which can not only hang larger spinnakers, but also use rowing oars Sailing in the Mediterranean region where the wind is weak and the wind is often stopped.

It's just that because there are many rows of oars on both sides of the paddle sailing boat, you need to swing and paddle in the naval battle. Therefore, this affects the placement of gun positions. In the end, the craftsmen tried their best to vacate 22 gun positions, 10 on each side, one on each end. In naval battles, a maximum of 12 artillery can participate in the battle.

Moreover, paddle sailing requires a lot of manpower. It is also a 500-ton ship, a Hoffman-class battleship, and only 60 sailors can control the sails. The two 500-ton paddle sailboats require not only 60 sailors to control the sails, but also 120 rowers to paddle. Rowing a row of oars is a hard job. It is said that many oars sailing on the Mediterranean Sea in Venice buy a lot of slaves to paddle. Among them, many ships, from Kafa in Crimea, bought tall and strong Russian male slaves, locked their shackles, and arranged to paddle on the boat.

Marin had no slaves at the moment, so he had to recruit a group of strong men to row the paddle, and recruit some sailors to control the spinnaker. In addition to the 120 oarsmen and 60 sailors (including the captain), each of the two paddle sailboats is equipped with 50 gunners and 70 musketeers for self-defense.

In this way, the crew of these two oars reached a total of 600 people. However, because of the large number of people, there is no fear of pirates at sea.

It is only 1501 now that the Barbary pirates that dominate the Mediterranean have not yet emerged, and they will have to wait for decades to appear. In this era, the overlord of the Mediterranean was still Venice.

However, Spain is also quite powerful. Spain now occupies Sardinia and Sicily, and even recently partitioned the Kingdom of Naples with the French to gain control of the southern region of the Kingdom of Naples.

It can be said that Spain has become the hegemony of the western Mediterranean, while Venice dominates the eastern Mediterranean east of Italy, and also occupies Greece ’s Crete and the island of Cyprus close to the main island of Asia as its colony.

However, Marin heard from the Jewish merchants who traveled to and from the Mediterranean that although the Venetians dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, they still had to give Spain some face. If one or two merchant ships flying the Spanish flag go to Egypt and other places to trade, the Venetians will not stop. After all, Spain now occupies the southern part of the Kingdom of Naples, where it is an Adriatic exit. If it is not necessary, the Venetians do not want to tear their faces with Spain.

It just happens that Marin has the title of Earl of Spain. So, Marin decided to let the two oars sail the Spanish flag, stick to the Mediterranean and African coast, and go to Egypt to trade.

As for those African indigenous pirates, there are some, but they are not strong in this era. 600 people on two ships can definitely drive away those indigenous pirates.

Of course, the two ships entering and leaving the western gateway of the Mediterranean Sea-the Strait of Gibraltar, still need to say hello to the Spanish authorities. Moreover, Marin also intends to use the Spanish settlement of Ceuta on the Moroccan side south of the Strait of Gibraltar as an important stop to supplement fresh water and food. After all, he also has the title of Count of the Barbarians of Spain, which can still be done.

To this end, Malinte sent Kohler to go south with his own letter and went to Spain to negotiate with the Spanish court. Malin specifically advised that this matter should be handled by Prince Juan, not by the cunning Spanish kings. Because, whether it is Ferdinand II or Isabella I, are all old foxes. If you ask them to do it, there may be waves.

It is different to find Prince Juan. Marin has a life-saving grace for him, so Prince Juan naturally has a good opinion of Marin. Plus, as the only sons of the two kings, Prince Juan already has the power to participate in politics. This is a small matter he can do.

Once the formalities are completed, the two paddle sailboats will fly the Spanish flag and enter the Strait of Strait directly. After reaching the port of Ceuta for repairs, they will continue along the African coast and head east to Egypt for trade.

As for the guide, Marin had already found it. Marin spent a lot of money to buy several Jewish businessmen who traveled between Europe and Egypt all year round, let them lead the way, and was responsible for contacting local Egyptian businessmen.

Egypt route is too important for Marin. Whether it is the natural soda needed for making glass or the thenardite needed for making paper and cooking pulp, Egypt is very rich. The alkali wadi near Cairo was one of the most important sources of natural soda in Europe before the Lübland alkali production process. Glauber's salt has not been developed yet, and nobody in Egypt wants it, so it is discarded as waste. Only a few alchemists will use thenardite for alchemy research. As long as Marin wants to buy, Egypt has a lot of thenardite, and it is very cheap ...

In addition, Egypt also has a lot of cheap wool. Although the sheep of the Arab breed are not as good in quality as the Merino sheep in Spain, they may not be able to catch up with the wool of the fine wool sheep in Britain. But that is also wool. The point is, because people in the Arab region are popular for grazing, there are sheep everywhere, so it is very cheap ...

In Egypt, in addition to the Nile River Basin, which is mainly engaged in agriculture, other areas, including the Jerusalem area under the control of the Mamluk dynasty, the Hanzhi area, Syria, and Lebanon, are all nomadic areas. Don't have too much wool in these areas. After importing, it can also be processed into resistant woolen textiles ...

Anyway, opening up the Egyptian trade route is a very important thing for Marin. Therefore, Marin attaches great importance to this, sending two ships with a huge scale of 600 people. You know, there were only dozens of people on a ship before the Columbus and Amerigo expedition fleet ...

In addition, the reason why Marin has to open the Egyptian route is not only the need for economic interests, but also political considerations. Right now, the Egyptian region is still under the control of the Mamluk dynasty. However, a dozen years later (1517), the Egyptian Mamluk dynasty would be wiped out by Ottoman Turkey.

Ottoman Turkey is a dead enemy of Europeans. If Ottoman Turkey controls Egypt, the trade between Egypt and Europe will be abolished. But if the trade with Egypt is abolished, then Marin will not be able to obtain Egypt's natural soda and thenardite. In this way, Marin's glass industry and paper industry must stop, which is absolutely unbearable for Marin.

Therefore, Marin intends to sell the Mamluk dynasty by selling some high-quality steel knives and armor, and even some muskets, to strengthen the Mamluk dynasty.

In fact, the reason why the Mamluk dynasty was eliminated by the Ottoman Turkey is not that the Mamluk dynasty is too weak, but that the Ottoman Turkey is too strong ...

Ottoman Turkey once occupied Egypt, the consequences will be more serious. Because, the Ottomans will continue to go west and control the coasts of Libya and Algeria. After that, the famous Barbary pirate will be born ~ www.novelhall.com ~ threatening the safety of European merchant ships.

Moreover, after possessing the food production areas of Egypt ’s Nile River Basin under the control of the Mamluk dynasty and Syria and other rich areas, the national power of Ottoman Turkey will increase greatly. It was after the annexation of the Mamluk dynasty that Ottoman Turkey did not have any worries, and officially opened the mode of slamming Europe with all its strength, and besieged Vienna several times ...

Marin did not care whether Turkey occupied Syria, but in Egypt, Marin did not want to be occupied by Ottoman Turkey. After all, Ottoman Turkey and Europeans are extremely opposed, and Egyptian trade will stop when the time comes.

The army of Mamluk dynasty may not beat Ottoman Turkey in the wild. However, Marin decided to teach the Mamluks to build strong fortresses and intends to secretly sell artillery to them to offset the Ottoman Turkish artillery advantage. In this way, even if the main force of the Mamluk dynasty was defeated by the Ottoman Turkey, it can still be maintained by the city, artillery and guns, so that the Turks can't fight.

Know that the Austrians rely on the fortified city of Vienna, and with just over 10,000 people, they bluntly blocked the siege of hundreds of thousands of Turkish troops. The Mamluk dynasty is much stronger than Austria. As long as you have mastered the technology of building a fortress, and have enough guns, you can rely on Cairo in the fortress to resist the Ottoman-Turkish attack and keep the Nile Valley. The Nile River Basin is an important source of natural soda and thenardite in Egypt. As long as the Mamluk dynasty kept the Nile Basin, Marin ’s interests were also protected. As for the rest of the Mamluk dynasty, did Marin control him to die? Even as long as the Mamluk dynasty kept the Nile Basin, Ottoman Turkey would stop its westward movement. By that time, the Barbary pirates in Libya, Tunisia and Algiers will not appear ...