Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 219 Olive Branch

The map Orwell showed was a world map drawn by Ptolemy, which was almost the same as the Ptolemy map of later generations. The world maps of this era certainly had many omissions, inaccuracies and even errors, but overall they were still desirable. They basically outlined the contours of their known world, and the depiction of the Mediterranean world was much more accurate.

Such a map is the result of Ptolemy's efforts for more than ten years. In this era, only someone with such extraordinary talent in astronomy and geography as him could draw a simple world map, and some of them are quite good to look at.

Faced with such a magnificent and vast world map, the Vikings' first feeling was that they had discovered a new world. New lands, adventures and other civilizations were waiting for them to discover.

I'm afraid many people have a misunderstanding about these Vikings - they did not rely entirely on looting for a living, trade was also an important part of their lives.

They traveled on long ships along various trade routes in the North Sea. Although the North was short of supplies, it still had many specialties: honey, furs, fish, amber, slaves, and timber. They sold these specialties in exchange for food, weapons and equipment, and various other necessities of life from the South.

In ancient times, it was not clear whether sea merchants or pirates were pirates. When business was going well, they might be ordinary merchants. But when business was not going well, it was normal for them to suddenly decide to become pirates. It was just that the Vikings might have decided to do so more often.

Orville did not regard Ivar and others as bandits or threats. If used properly, these people could still become a force for his own good.

He needed merchants and transport ships to transport Britain's resources to the continent. Relying on scattered Celtic and Anglo-Saxon merchants could not solve the problem. Cultivating from scratch was not a realistic thing as it required too much time and financial investment.

On the other hand, Gaul produced more grain than it needed. If it took the trouble to transport this grain to Rome by land, it would never be able to compete with the grain from Sicily and Egypt, which was transported by sea and had lower production costs.

From this point of view, a more realistic option is to reach an agreement with these Vikings, let them consume part of the grain produced by the Gaul province, and then the Gaul province will import some special products from the north and resell them to the Mediterranean world. This simple trade will be of great benefit to both parties.

Although it is impossible to prohibit private trade, the governors of Gaul before Orville and Tia were more or less arrogant and disdained to trade with the northerners. I am afraid they did not know how to do it. As a result, the economic ties between the northerners and the Roman Empire were relatively weak, and now the relationship between the two was more of an antagonistic and hostile one.

In view of this, Ivar couldn't tell how much benefit Orvel could bring to him by doing this. He had no specific idea about this matter.

This time Ivar was really lost in thought. He sat on the chair, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously, his brows furrowed, and it was obvious that he was thinking carefully and weighing the pros and cons.

After thinking for a long time, he still didn't make a decision on the spot, but wanted to wait for a while: "Please give me some time to think about it, I need to consider this matter carefully." "No problem, I have time and can wait." Orville had no reason to refuse.

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After Ivar left, Tia turned around and looked at Orvel: "Do you think he will agree to this? He seems hesitant and wavering."

"In fact, he doesn't have much choice. If the fight continues, regardless of whether we win or lose, the Danish king has always coveted his land and wants to take it for himself. If Ivar is damaged, he won't be able to keep the land he has worked so hard to get. It is the best choice to quit while we are ahead. This is definitely a bit unfair to the Celts in Ireland and Scotland, but there is nothing we can do about it. With Ivar's temper, his family background is much richer than Rollo's, and it is impossible for him to willingly follow our arrangements."

There can be no such thing as politics without compromise. Those Celts were not provincial residents of the Roman Empire by identity, and theoretically Orville had no obligations or responsibilities to them. Deciding their fate in private through a piece of paper meant that he would be morally criticized by those intellectuals, and at most he would be subjected to a lot of rumors and biographies. For a powerful man like him, it was not a serious problem.

Even in the eyes of the locals, Orville had done his best. After all, he had provided a lot of help to the locals. When the locals were invaded by the Vikings, it was good enough for the Romans to say a few words to persuade them to make peace. People in this era did not have such an excessive sense of morality. No one would ask for more, unless they took the initiative to become part of the Roman Empire, then there would be more powerful people to give them justice. Ivar was right about this, at least in this era.

Tia did not deny Orville: "Then I hope he can make the right decision. It's about time we put some pressure on him. How are your soldiers preparing?"

"Fifty longships, ten five-decker galleys, crews and supplies are ready and can be deployed at any time. Rollo sent his men to infiltrate the enemy. I roughly know the location of the main force of the Franks. They are still used to being on land and are concentrated on a small island. The natural resources on the island are not enough for them to survive, and the reserve resources are definitely not too much. We just need to tow away or burn their ships, and if they don't want to starve to death, they will have no choice but to surrender."

They were indistinguishable in appearance and cultural habits. With Rollo's connections in the Lowlands, it was easy for him to find one or two captains willing to be insiders. Although the Franks could claim that they were Vikings or Danish troops from the north, their habits could not be changed in a short period of time.

One look at their stationing pattern at sea showed that they were a group of inexperienced newcomers. Their combat effectiveness might be good in a head-on battle, but they had obviously made common sense mistakes.

In this situation, Orville wanted to make some progress in the lowlands, so he immediately prepared a large enough fleet for Rollo, hoping to surround and kill these people on the island.

Tia nodded with satisfaction: "Then let Rollo go out to do things. We should add more weight on our side, so that Ivar will make the right decision sooner."

(End of this chapter)