Chapter 383 Defensive Expansion

Zheng He stayed in Constantinople for two months, where he came into contact with a lot of new knowledge. There were more goods, books, and paintings, and Peter also presented the Eastern Emperor with two sets of Western European knight armor, a small cannon, and other things on behalf of the Roman Empire.

As the fleet set sail, this team carrying friendly exchanges between the two countries will go to the East to present gifts to the Eastern Emperor.

Mason also took the time to get married. He married the daughter of a director of the East India Company. Peter personally attended his wedding, and Mason's family also rushed over by boat after hearing the news.

The couple was relieved to see their son return safely. And knowing that his son was already the governor of the East made him even more proud.

Of course, Mason had to let his family participate in Eastern affairs, otherwise it would be too sorry.

"Your Highness, I owe too much to my family. Now I want to make up for my parents. I hope Your Highness will allow my family to participate in trade."

Peter wanted to do this, but the East India Company was completely controlled from Egypt to India. Mason couldn't have been unaware of the benefits.

"If your family is willing to endure hardships, then the one-day trade in East Asia can be left to you."

Peter is now thankful for this relenting, because the East India Company only knows the route to East Asia. But he didn't know that Mason had mastered two important trade routes, and the trade from Korea to Japan could be controlled by the family.

"Thank you, Your Highness"

Mason began to recruit the formation of an expedition team, which would cost about 30,000 florins, including the cost of ships, crews, mercenaries, food, weapons, etc. According to the plan, they will move south after they are ready, and continue to move southeast after arriving in Zanzibar, and that land is here.

The news that the envoys of Eastern countries came to the Roman Empire has spread throughout Europe. When the envoys left, many people planned to follow them. But they were all blocked by the ships of the Roman Empire, indicating that only the citizens of the empire could pass through and be allowed to go to the East. This caused merchants from other countries to protest, believing that Rome wanted to monopolize the trade in the East and violated the principle.

King Joao of Portugal saw the unlimited potential of navigation. He wanted to expand, but there was no place. Most of the places belonged to Castile. Portugal was small and had few people, so it could not go head-on.

Expansion on land is not feasible, so we can only develop towards the sea. Coincidentally, Castile also thought so, so they colonized the Canary Islands in order to find an eastern route controlled by them.

As for the monopoly caused by Rome, it is actually not wrong. Rome did monopolize the trade between the East and the West, but it did not oppress Western merchants. Their taxes were the same as those of their own merchants. It was clear that those merchants raised prices at will, so don't put the blame on them.

This time, the sale of imported goods directly caused deflation in Central Europe. A large amount of currency was sent to Rome, and the locals could only use copper coins or barter. It seems that there is still not enough gold.

The main source of gold for the empire was overseas trade, and the gold coins imported from other places would be melted and recast into the local currency. The lei has become a common currency in the Mediterranean like the florin.

In addition, gold bars from Abyssinia and South Sahara are also the source of Roman gold. The gold that Egypt obtained from trade in the southern region also flowed into Rome. Together with the gold mines in Transylvania, the Balkans and other regions, Rome's gold was already the most in European countries.

All countries envied Rome's finances and national strength. With these, they would have achieved financial freedom. Unfortunately, they were still under the feudal system and had not figured out a more advanced centralized power and official selection system. With the financial and economic capabilities, Charlemagne's glory is currently far away.

Peter obtained a large number of books from the Eastern fleet. Combined with the library of his country, he ordered the encyclopedia to compile some of them. The top scholars in the empire joined this large-scale cultural event. They wanted to revive Roman culture. Those traitors in Italy were not a real revival. At best, they were just wearing the skin of Roman culture.

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To the north of Rome, Michael was still strengthening the city defense in Sarai. The Golden Horde had prepared its army and was heading straight for him.

This is also easy to understand. Sarai is located in the center of the Volga River and is close to the Don River. Merchants traveling from the south to the north will pass through here. It is also a barrier for the capital. If it fails here, the other party will come to the new Sarai. (Astrakhan)

Each tribe also contributed troops, but the news of the Ottoman army had already reached their ears. Therefore, they did not dare to go all in, and giving half was already the most they could do.

After a while of issuing orders, Bula Khan got 22,000 people. This number was less than one-third of the previous number, but for the empire with declining strength, it was the largest number of troops that could be provided.

But before he set off, Bula Khan received a declaration from the Grand Duke of Moscow. They no longer paid tribute to the Golden Horde. Thirty years after Donskoy first broke through the shackles of the Golden Horde, Moscow roared again.

Vasily knew the importance of speed in war and ordered the army to advance quickly. Try to arrive within a week.

The Volga River was filled with ships, and the lives of the people around the entire river were affected. But when they heard that they were going to fight the Golden Horde, they expressed their support.

After hurrying, Bula Khan's army finally arrived at Sarai. At first, he wanted to imitate the tactics of his ancestors who besieged Moscow, saying that as long as they opened the gate, they would not suffer any harm to trick them into opening the gate. But the other party did not fall for it, and instead wrote him a letter, saying that as long as they retreated, they could keep their bodies intact.

This made him so angry that he could not hold on any longer. He directly ordered an attack on the city.

The Mongols were indeed good at learning, but they gradually became conservative after gaining power. The siege technology that they were proud of before had been completely lost. If they had not brought ladders with them, they might have rushed forward.

However, the current situation is probably that the only trick is to rush forward. The Mongols are indeed good at cavalry, but there is still a Volga River in front of them. Mihaly has ordered the destruction of the bridge in advance. If they want to get across, they can only build a bridge on the spot.

Just as the Mongolian soldiers were building the bridge, the artillery was fired. A large number of shells fell on the opponent's construction site, and many people fell into the river and drowned. Moreover, one of the shells directly hit Bulahan's tent, killing three dancers. The sudden bloody mess in front of him made Bulahan go crazy.

How could he know that the other party had become so powerful? They were clearly weak two hundred years ago. It must be the heresy that caused the trouble.