Water Margin people

Yue Fei was delighted when he looked at the map, as it was much more detailed than the one he collected from the merchants.

The trade run by merchants was limited and the routes they took were relatively fixed, which resulted in large areas of blank space on the compiled maps.

If you are just traveling for business, this kind of map is completely fine, but marching is different. No unknown areas are allowed on the map. If even the area is unknown, then there is no way of knowing what enemies are there in the place, which are all potential threats.

"This map is okay! It's blurry and barely readable!"

Xin Qiji looked at the cowhide map with disdain. The cowhide was yellow in color and the map drawn on it was completely incomparable to the one on white paper.

"Please forgive me, General. We are poor here and have no white paper to write on. We only have this map made of cowhide and sheepskin!"

The governor said that of course they knew about white paper, but that thing was a specialty of the East, and the craftsmanship had not been leaked until now, so they had no way of knowing it. In their country, paper was a delicacy that even the nobles could hardly enjoy.

This time, the Doge of Venice and a group of noble merchants invested a huge amount of money. These maps are their secret, which were slowly explored by Venetian merchants from generation to generation. It can be said that this map is the most detailed map of the entire continent.

"Tell me what's going on here. There's not even a piece of paper. Forget it. We can just make a copy ourselves when the time comes!"

Xin Qiji said with disdain that paper was already very common in Qi State. Not to mention writing, people even used tissues to wipe their mouths. Only the savages in the West still used cowhide and sheepskin.

"Are there only a few roads in this mountain range?"

Yue Fei looked at the map for a long time before focusing his attention on the Alps, a towering mountain range that separated the north and the south.

"General, there are many roads, but there are only a few main roads. The other small roads are passable for people, but not for the army and its baggage and cargo."

The Governor immediately said that the Alps are the highest and longest mountain range on the continent.

"General, if you want to go there, I suggest you go to the west. Although the mountains there are steeper, the road is relatively easy to walk on. Although the central part is not as steep as the west, it is too long and the road has been in disrepair for a long time, so it is more difficult to walk on."

"As for the east, although the mountains there are gentle and easier to walk, it's a barren land after that! Moreover, the winter there is long and cold, so supplies are a big problem!"

A group of merchants introduced the situation of the Alps. If the State of Qi wanted to attack the mainland from the inland, it would have to cross the Alps.

"General, we can go west. That's where Hannibal led his army across the Alps and attacked Rome."

A noble said,

"Hannibal? Over the Alps?"

Yue Fei looked at the noble and asked.

"General, that was during the three great wars between Carthage and the Roman Republic in Italy, which lasted for 118 years. Carthage was once a colony of the Phoenicians, and the Romans called the Phoenicians "Punic," so we call these wars the Three Punic Wars."

In the First Punic War, the Carthaginians were defeated, and Rome acquired Sicily and the Lipari Islands in the Mediterranean. It also took the opportunity to occupy Sardinia and Corsica, and extorted a huge amount of compensation, which severely damaged the vitality of Carthage.

"Forty years later, the Carthaginians recovered and crossed the sea to seize the Kingdom of Spain. The Roman army went to conquer the Kingdom of Carthage. Wherever they went, houses were burned, people were killed, crops were trampled, and the scenery was desolate."

"The aged Carthaginian king summoned his civil and military officials to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy. Most of the generals advocated that the king personally lead the army, burn their boats and fight to the death with the Roman army."

"But the Carthaginians were no match for the Romans. Even if they tried to fight to the death, they would not win. Facing the Roman army, the 25-year-old young general Hannibal proposed to start from Spain, cross the Ebro River to the north, cross the Pyrenees Mountains, enter France, cross the Rhone River, cross France, and finally cross the Alps to enter the Roman Republic!"

The noble began to talk about Hannibal's past in detail.

"Why does this sound a bit like the Ziwu Valley Plan? Was it Wei Yan's idea?"

Xin Qiji whispered to Yue Fei that he had heard this story in a teahouse. The person who made this suggestion was Wei Yan, the last general of Shu Kingdom, but this suggestion was ultimately not adopted by Zhuge Liang.

"It's not just a little bit similar! It's exactly the same!" Yue Fei said.

"How many people crossed the mountain? What was the final result?"

Yue Fei asked.

"It is said that he brought an army of 50,000, including cavalry, infantry, and elephants! It took half a month to cross the Alps, and finally 25,000 people arrived in the Roman Republic."

"Hannibal fought bravely, and his warriors were also brave and good at fighting. They won victory after victory, causing chaos in the rear of the Romans. Later, the Romans stopped fighting Hannibal and attacked the Kingdom of Carthage. The old king of Carthage ordered Hannibal to return to help."

"Hannibal was ambushed by the Italians on his way back to the rescue, resulting in a great defeat. This was Hannibal's first defeat and also his last defeat. Later, the King of Carthage became suspicious of Hannibal, so Hannibal was kept under house arrest and committed suicide by taking poison in his later years!"

The noble replied.

"It's a bit like the Ziwu Valley Plan, but why does it also look like Deng Ai sneaking across Yinping?"

Xin Qiji frowned.

"It looks like the Alps are not easy to cross!"

Yue Fei didn't care about those things. Judging from the results, crossing the Alps was very risky and he didn't have that many people.

"Okay, I'll take the map!"

Yue Fei signaled the soldiers to put away the maps. These things had to be redrawn and compiled into a book and compared with the previous maps. They did not completely trust these Venetians.

"General, we admire the prosperity of Qi State and want to send some children to Qi State to study."

William looked at Yue Fei and spoke.

"Send the children to Qi to study?"

Yue Fei narrowed his eyes and looked at William and asked.

"Don't worry, General. They are only six or seven years old. They don't know anything. They are just going there to learn."

William quickly explained that the person he sent out was not a spy, and a child that young could not be a spy.

"talk later!"

Yue Fei neither agreed nor refused.

"General, there is one more thing. Many people have entered the Kingdom of Venice recently. Do you have any instructions?"

Baldwin IV looked at Yue Fei and asked.

"I don't have any instructions. You can do whatever you want. As long as we follow the health regulations of Qi, the Black Death will be under control soon. What remains is treatment."

Yue Fei said.

"General, now that we have submitted to Qi, I wonder if we can open up trade routes. Qi's goods are in great demand in many places here."

Several businessmen spoke impatiently. (End of this chapter)