eastern european eagle

Chapter 535: Participation in the Political Council Meeting ()
Since the Minister of War is accompanying His Majesty on the expedition to Lithuania, the military situation will not be discussed for the time being. But everyone knows the current military situation. Except for Poland, the overall situation of other countries has been determined, and now is a stable stage.

"According to His Majesty's decree, let's discuss the possibility of conquering Mecca and Medina."

Everyone was surprised. The war has not yet ended and the next one has started to be discussed. Moreover, it is still a stubborn fortress of pagans.

"Prime Minister, is this really His Majesty's will?" asked a representative of the parliament.

"Yes." Listerine nodded. "His Majesty has issued an order requiring us to prepare supplies and be ready to attack Mecca at any time."

Everyone felt that this was impossible. Not to mention the long distance to attack Mecca, but the material preparation and the erratic Arab cavalry were huge difficulties.

"Everyone, what we need to do now is to formulate a plan, not to question His Majesty. We can wait for His Majesty to come back for more details."

"Prime Minister, it's not that we question it, but it's just that it's too difficult. Since the founding of Rome, no army has gone deep into the desert to fight. Even in the battle with Carthage, you should know where Mecca is. This must be It takes several years of preparation.”

Everyone talked about the difficulty of conquering Mecca. Listerine also knew that it was not possible with the current situation, but they could only abide by His Majesty's will.

Based on the current situation, if you want to attack Mecca and Medina, you need to prepare supplies shipped by hundreds of thousands of people, as well as an army of 150,000 people. If it is changed to merchant ship transportation, some savings can be made, but the specific situation needs to be analyzed.

The Senate decided to expand the port of Aden and turn it into a base for the Indian Ocean Fleet. And it continues to expand into the Arabian Peninsula, adopting a differentiation strategy for local tribes, wooing Shiite tribes, and suppressing the majority of Sunni people.

But this matter requires the participation of the military department, and they can only do logistics. But at least the affairs of the Southern Yamen have been settled. Some tribes in Yemen recognize the authority of the emperor. As long as the support of the remaining tribes can be won, there will be no resistance in the south of Mecca.

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"Master Prime Minister, although the empire now has a lot of surplus and a strong army, can we wait until His Majesty returns to discuss the attack on Mecca?"

A proposal was made to postpone the discussion, but Listerine vetoed it. "We need to come up with an initial version today and make changes after His Majesty returns, but this matter must be done."

Across Aden, Rome's colonies in East Africa expanded further. Abyssinia also formed an alliance with Rome, where the local coffee-slave economy prospered and the king became wealthy through Roman trade.

Abyssinian earned more than 40000 lei every year from the export of coffee and slaves. He relied on this money to annex many tribes and built a new capital and palace. He also sent people to Constantinople to meet the emperor. At the same time, giving Roman merchants free passage also increased prosperity. The king was very proud of his actions. Of course some colonists were happy.

De La Salle penetrated deep into the East African plateau. He followed the river of Lake Tana and arrived at the confluence of this river with another river a month later. He recorded the different humanities here, and he boldly guessed that this was the upper reaches of the Nile River, which was the Nubia region mentioned in historical manuscripts. He submitted his opinions to the Senate and the Emperor, and Peter kept his word, granting him a knighthood and the title of Count of Nubia. De La Salle thanked the emperor for the reward and built his own estate and fortress at the confluence of the two rivers.

This is the second person in Rome to be awarded a title for exploration. According to Rome's title reward rules, those who explore and discover can only be given the title of earl at the beginning, and will be promoted according to their importance after the place develops.

De La Salle had not felt so comfortable for a long time. He came out of his newly built house and looked at the busy people around him. Although he did not have the title of king, he had five years of imperial tax exemption and construction rights, and future generations would also Can inherit the title.

"Father", De La Salle's son Louis came to him. This son was born after his marriage at the age of 40 and was now in his prime.

"Child, you have to remember that this is the greatest asset I leave to you."

De La Salle looked at these places with pride. In order to attract people, he asked his son to bring some people from France. Of the 1000 people in total, one-third were gone when they arrived at Andronico, and then half were gone when they arrived here.

The remaining people settled here and cleared the land, and a new town was built around the castle of De La Salle.

De La Salle converted to Orthodox Christianity and forced baptism on every French immigrant. They then obtained permission to farm and trade here.

But their arrival aroused the hostility of the local people. The local Arabs and tribes were eyeing them and attacked every time, but the opponent's fortress technology stopped them.

The entire fortress uses the most advanced technology. Because stone takes too long to make, wood is used as the material first. The remaining farmers farmed or weaved here, and it was at the confluence of rivers, where trading ships traveling from north to south could stop and conduct transactions.

Farmers feel that although they have left their hometowns, their lives have improved a lot. And De La Salle is also very happy. His income has increased a lot, and his annual rent collection exceeds that of most nobles in France.

Not only De La Salle, but also many adventurers from Italy and France planned to try their luck, because the empire looked at these people the most severely, not only to convert them to Orthodox Christianity, but also to learn Romanian. Even so, many people want to try it every year.

As for the domestic people, they are very relaxed. They are also the main force of colonial immigrants. Southeast Asia and East Africa have become their main destinations, and local profits exceed their imagination.

However, they are still more willing to go to Ukraine or Syria than to colonize. Why go to the colonies when life is better there and the risks are less.

Thanks to the stability and prosperity of the empire, a new wave of immigrants began. Immigrants from Italy and Hungary settled in Rome, and in the Italian territory of Rome, landless farmers and poor people from the HRE and France came here with their families. Although they knew that the Roman emperor was terrible, no matter how terrible he was, he was not as terrible as the nobles of his own country. As long as they paid taxes and faith, they could have a better life in the future.

(End of this chapter)