After discovering that the Portugal ship had entered the port, Samuel quickly returned to the deck with the crew and guide without even thinking about eating.
Observed through the telescope, the ship's gun on the opposite side has a larger caliber, equivalent to Rome's Nine-Pounder Cannon. Moreover, their crews are larger, and they also have an advantage in boarding battles.
However, Samuel felt that the other side did not dare to start a war rashly in Hong Kong.
The Mogadishu where both parties are located is the center of East Africa Trade. Once Portugal takes action rashly, local forces will definitely stop it.
In such narrow waters, it is difficult for Portugal ships to maneuver. The locals can adopt gang-hopping tactics and use their numerical advantage to consume Portugal's manpower.
If the Portugal ship wants to attack Long-Haired Rabbit, the wisest choice is to fight outside the port, keep a certain distance, and give full play to its firepower advantage.
Samuel told everyone, "Quick, lift the anchor and raise the sail. As long as we rush out of the port first, the other side will not be able to catch up with us."
The design idea of the Portugal hull is vague, taking into account both combat needs and ocean transportation. Therefore, the maximum speed and maneuverability on the opposite side are not as good as those of the Long-Haired Rabbit.
On the deck, the crew was busy in a huddle. Before long, several Portugal people ran to the pier, shouted to Long-Haired Rabbit, and invited the captain to come forward and talk.
"Talk? What can both sides talk about?"
Samuel ignored this request, took control of the steering wheel himself, slowly drove away from the berth under the influence of the wind, and disappeared from the sight of Portugal people.
"These Greece people run so fast."
Clement is full of regrets in his heart. He really wants to communicate with the other party in exchange for some information and return for business.
In desperation, he sent a crew to inquire about the news at the dock. From the mouths of local traders, Portugal got two pieces of precise information:
1. Greece ship comes from the north.
2. Last year, Mamluk was defeated and lost the Nile Delta and Suez ports.
"In other words, this sailing ship did not go around the Africa route, but set off directly from the Suez port? No, why did Mamluk lose so quickly?"
Last spring, when Clement left Lisbon, Greece and Mamluk were facing off at the border. It is said that many fortresses were built in the north of Levant, making it extremely difficult to attack.
The mainstream view of Portugal is that the war lasted for two to three years, until Palaiologos Finance was insufficient and was forced to agree to Mamluk's request for peace talks.
"Mamluk was a powerful power with a population of nearly ten million, and it was defeated in half a year. Is this my imagination? None of the ancient Charlemagnes had this ability."
Clement sighed, looking at the busy and noisy sea and fell into silence.
From the perspective of Portugal, this is undoubtedly the worst news.
Mamluk is not good at naval battles and cannot compete with Portugal for Indian Ocean's Trade.
Vitus is violent in nature and has outstanding abilities. He is likely to intervene in the situation in this sea area and become Portugal's biggest competitor.
"Must return Zanzibar and report the message to Governor."
Zanzibar is located a thousand miles south of Mogadishu and is the new headquarters of Portugal East Africa Governor.
This seaport is located in the west of Zanzibar Island, across the sea from Africa, and was originally the territory of Kilwa (which can also be translated as Kilua) Sultan.
Last summer, Portugal launched an undeclared war against Kilwa.
Portugal dispatched seven galleons, carrying a thousand sailors and six hundred Army, equipped with Matchlock, artillery, and breastplates.
After a brief battle, the island's defenders were defeated, and the entire island fell under the control of Portugal.
After some time, Kilwa Sultan received the news and sent a fleet to recover the island. Their ships were typical Arabian dhows, small in size and without artillery, so they were defeated as expected.
Portugal The navy pursued the victory all the way and caught up to Sultan's capital Kisiwa.
Since the enemy had no artillery, the Portugal fleet bombarded the port wantonly. Marines immediately launched a landing, narrowly missing Sultan himself.
During the process of looting the palace, Portugal collected some maps and charts, and mastered some geographical information of East Africa and Indian Ocean.
From the map, Kilwa occupies a large area of Africa's coast and has a vast territory. However, the local power structure is loose and the level of development is extremely low, and it is unable to stop Portugal's Firearms Corps.
After this battle, Sultan recognized Portugal's control over Zanzibar, and paid taxes and labor every year in exchange for Portugal's "protection" of Kilwa...
March 20, noon.
After sailing for many days, Clement saw the outline of Zanzibar Island. The island is low and flat, with lush coconut trees scattered along the coastline. Inland, acres of cultivated land have been reclaimed to plant rice, cotton, Sugarcane and other crops.
He maneuvered the sailboat around to the west side, avoiding the coral reefs in the shallow water, and anchored the sailboat on the pier at the edge of the port.
The guard greeted him doubtfully, "Captain, why are you back?"
"I met the Greece battleship, yes, you heard it right, I met the damn Greece battleship at Mogadishu! They captured Sinai Peninsula and are exploring the coast of East Africa."
Clement chatted with the guards and strode towards the square in the center of the city. The town was severely damaged last year, and Governor forcibly recruited civilians and prisoners of war to build a new Municipal Square.
This area has strict planning, and key facilities such as Governor's official residence, church, armory, water well, and Reservoir have been built around the square.
If there is a local rebellion, Portugal residents will immediately withdraw to the square, block the streets, and use Barricade and surrounding buildings to hold on until reinforcements arrive.
Entering the official residence, Clement reported what Mogadishu had seen to Governor Boccaro.
Governor was shocked and angry. "Vitus defeated Mamluk last year? How did you do it?"
On the map, the distance from Zanzibar to the coast of India is about the same as the distance from Suez to India. If the Greece people arrive at India first and reach a cooperative relationship with local dignitaries, it will seriously hinder Portugal's eastern interests.
Governor plans to apply for more immigrants and troops, speed up the pace of expansion in East Africa, and go to India as soon as possible.
The good news is that there is no canal in Sinai Peninsula controlled by the enemy, so Mediterranean Fleet cannot be transported to the Red Sea, and the ship can only be built at Suez.
In early April, Long-Haired Rabbit passed by Massawa Port and sailed north with the mission.
On April 20th, Samuel returned to Suez. During the debriefing period, he suggested avoiding land and setting up the outpost at Socotra Island northeast of Horn of Africa.
The advantage of this island is that the residents believe in Christianity. Although their beliefs are quite different from the mainstream churches, they are still better than the pagan forces.
Samuel introduced the general situation of the island and asked, "When will we set off?"
The boss replied, "The specific location is decided by Central Administration. You go down and rest first, and deliver ordnance to Massawa Port in a week. By the time you finish this trip, Central Administration's reply should arrive."
At noon the next day, Red Sea Fleet's report was sent to Pelusium port.
As the matter was urgent, the port dispatched a newly commissioned Two-Masted Mail Ship to send the report of Highest-Level to the mainland.
Mail Ship has a more streamlined hull. It is smaller in size, with a deck length of only ten steps and a width of about three steps.
The two masts of the sailboat are hung with horizontal sails, a bow sail is added to the bow, and a gaff sail is added to the mizzen mast to maximize the use of wind power in all directions.
In order to reduce the load, Mail Ship only carries four naval guns and has a crew of 21, so its combat effectiveness is extremely low.
Whether encountering pirates, smuggling ships or enemy fleets, Mail Ship has only one mission: to escape at all costs and deliver letters and valuables to their destination.
After giving up firepower, protection, and load, Mail Ship gained extreme speed, able to run as fast as 14 knots (25 kilometers per hour). Under normal circumstances, the ship's speed is maintained at 7 to 9 knots.
On the morning of May 2, Mail Ship drove into Golden Horn.
From departure to now, the entire voyage took only eleven days, successfully fulfilling the shipyard's promise.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Minister of the Navy sent the mission report and exploration report to Cabinet, interrupting the ongoing meeting.
"Portugal people are so fast?"
After reading the report, Vitus began to think about the future Indian Ocean situation.
The early appearance of new sailing ships, telescopes, and new firearms greatly promoted the navigation process of Portugal. Therefore, it took only thirty years for Enrique to enter Indian Ocean.
Portugal is located on the border of Europe. There is a lack of expansion opportunities in Iberia, so we can concentrate on developing overseas.
Eastern Roman Empire is different. The first task is to enrich the population of Balkans and Northern Black Sea Coast in the east, and turn this inland area of more than 300,000 square kilometers into a core area again.
The process is long and arduous.
Vitus really wants to develop overseas territories, but there is no other way. Eastern Roman Empire must first digest the inland Anatolia and clean up the mess left by Doukas and Angelos Dynasty.
As for the Indian Ocean situation, Eastern Roman Empire does not compete for hegemony in this sea area. As long as Portugal does not interfere with the Eastern Roman Empire, Vitus is willing to maintain peace with the other party.
"It's decided, let Red Sea Fleet control Socotra Island! If the Portugal fleet acts out of bounds, we can let the Rome fleet bombard their homeland."
Vitus put aside the affairs of the South and started discussing domestic government affairs again.
Half a year has passed since the end of the war, and the construction of the new Frontier Army and administrative institutions has been completed. The military system has 200,000 standing personnel (excluding 100,000 military households), and the administrative system has 23,000 officials.
Some schools, hospitals, and dioceses have funding gaps and also need Finance subsidies.
To maintain the current situation, the annual Finance expenditure is at least 3.8 million Florin.
Sometimes, local natural disasters require additional funding for relief. For example, half a month ago, Galatia Province's Harris River water levels rose, and some farmland in the valley was destroyed.
Vitus looked through Galatia's report and replied calmly, "Let Province organize relief."
Deputy Prime Minister Carlo replied, "Your Majesty, I remember that the local summer tax has only received 60%. In addition to maintaining the normal operation of the administrative agencies, we also need to build irrigation canals. Province Treasury has little savings. If we want relief, it must be allocated by Central Administration."
Galatia has been recovering for more than ten years, Central Administration has invested a lot of administrative resources, but it is still unable to collect taxes?
My money!
Over the years, Vitus has had a gentle attitude toward Anatolia inland. Even though the four Provinces have been unable to collect all the taxes, he did not care too much.
Nowadays, Eastern Roman Empire's administrative expenses and military expenditures have increased sharply. Central Administration really has no money, and the pressure must be passed on to the lower levels.
Not only that, the two Provinces in the western part of Armenia and the newly established Antioch Province must also stabilize the situation as soon as possible and collect at least 40% tax this year!
Vitus's stipulated income standard is 4.2 million Florin. Apart from necessary expenses, he can also save some money for emergencies.
He was agitated and decided to completely eliminate Inland Horse Bandits of Anatolia and the local forces behind them.
"Inform the four Province in the interior to strengthen the anti-bandit work. If the Province defenders and Garrison District cannot handle it, Governor can apply for reinforcements from the Field Legion."
In the past, horse bandits would often run away immediately when they encountered a crackdown.
Many horse bandits chose to cross the border and hide in Armenian Highlands in the east, defecting to the White Sheep Dynasty.
When the news passed, some of the horse bandits returned to their original places and continued to cause trouble, selling the stolen goods to certain merchants or squires at low prices in exchange for information from such groups. Therefore, the horse bandits in the interior always existed, just like the weeds blooming in the wilderness, growing endlessly.
Now, Eastern Roman Empire occupies Armenian Highlands, completing the blockade of the interior of Anatolia. This group of people has nowhere to run.
In the afternoon, Vitus finished his official duties for the day and went to visit the newly born second son of Mr. and Mrs. Romanus.
According to Romanus's idea, the little guy's name is John.
Like his brother Manuel, John was a little scared of Vitus and would cry when he was hugged. Vitus had no choice but to return the baby to Romanus and walk outside alone.
Now, Romanus and Leo are adults. Judging from their characters and performance, there is no problem with the educational philosophy adopted by Vitus.
He walked along Garden, recalling in his mind the heir training systems of various countries.
Now, the heirs of the Europe country still focus on knight education. With the spread of Renaissance thought, the focus of education has shifted to cultural courses.
Ming Dynasty focuses on Confucian education, with the goal of cultivating the successors into virtuous kings who are "inner saints and outer kings".
Ottoman's education method is the most outrageous. He throws the young prince into a local place and learns military and government affairs in practice.
This way of training led to fierce competition among the princes and even civil war. Sometimes, the new Sultan would execute all his brothers after ascending the throne, which was called "Ottoman Succession Law".
In 1603, Ottoman abolished this bloody and cruel method. In order to prevent the princes from fighting for power, the princes who had no inheritance rights were placed under house arrest in the palace...
After thinking for a long time, Vitus decided to continue the previous concept and formulate a standardized royal education system.
The prince began to receive basic education at the age of five, focusing on mathematics and natural sciences, while content in theology, ancient Greece philosophy, and art was greatly compressed.
After the age of twelve, the prince enters the junior military academy, and then the higher military academy or university.
When a prince without inheritance rights reaches adulthood, he can stay in Constantinople or be granted a fiefdom in North Africa or Indian Ocean. In any case, the fiefdom of the Imperial Clan must not be located in the mainland.
Even if the prince stays in Constantinople, it does not mean that he is qualified to participate in government affairs.
In the past, all princes could participate in Imperial Council. Demetrius and Thomas often quarreled in Imperial Council and never played a positive role.
The current Cabinet system is more standardized, with the emperor, crown prince, and three Chancellors handling government affairs. Thomas and other Imperial Clan members almost did not participate in Cabinet meetings and are no longer at the core of the Eastern Roman Empire's power.
Vitus believes that Imperial Clan has only one core function - to inherit the throne when the main line of succession is extinct, so that the family will not cut off the inheritance.
If too much power is given to this group, the risk of rebellion will rise sharply, and the disadvantages will far outweigh the benefits.