Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 353 Tyr Port

Today's Kingdom of Jerusalem is not big, but not small either.

7 square kilometers of land is roughly equivalent to two Hainan Islands.

If we include Cyprus and the Principality of Damascus, it would almost catch up with Zhejiang Province.

With such a size, if it were placed in Europe, it would not be much different from England itself.

Judging from the land area and population alone, it can be regarded as a third-rate country in Europe at that time.

If we take into account the advantages in finance and taxation, the country's overall national strength can be considered second-rate.

However, in terms of resource allocation efficiency, it can be said that it far surpasses almost all countries of this era.

The long coastline provides the kingdom with convenient shipping infrastructure.

Although there are not many excellent ports on the Levant coast, it is difficult for it to make any contribution in later generations.

But today, when most sailboats weigh only a few dozen or a hundred tons, it is completely sufficient.

Maritime transport formed the link between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Cyprus and Antioch.

Lorian and his group set out from Transjordan, crossed the Jordan River, and after heading north for a certain distance, they arrived at the port of Tyre.

What he saw and heard along the way made Raymondin, who was originally a little depressed, become much more cheerful.

After all, there are so many things I have never seen, and I always want to ask about them.

During this process, Lorian also got to experience the thrill of being a father.

When they arrived in Tyre, Raymondin couldn't help but open his mouth.

Although he saw many towns along the way, those cities were obviously not comparable to Tyre.

Today, Tyre is no longer the small city it once was. It can be said that it has completely defeated Acre in the competition and has become the largest port city on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

Nearly 50,000 people live around the port of Tyre.

Nearly 10,000 people gathered in the renovated old city, while more people were distributed in the area outside the city walls.

The new city of Tyre, like the town of Al-Hadi, was an undefended city.

According to Gailis, as long as the kingdom has enough troops and the support of the people, no enemy will be able to threaten the heartland of the kingdom.

In this case, building city walls actually only restricts the development of the city and prevents industry and commerce from prospering.

Of course, this can only be said because of the special national conditions of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In Europe at the same time, cities built walls, in most cases, not to defend against invasions by foreign armies.

But to guard against the actions of the lords.

Who, exactly, has both force and no morals, and drools over the city’s wealth?

Of course, it’s the lords outside the city.

The greatest significance of the city walls in early times was to protect merchants and citizens from being plundered by the lords.

But in today's kingdom, that kind of feudal lord has disappeared.

……

Ten years is neither long nor short.

For many people who are in the midst of change, they do not feel it deeply because they are personally involved.

But Amadeus is different. He comes to Tyre basically every four years or so. This is his third time in Tyre in the past ten years.

When I first came here, it was still a big construction site.

Although there had been a plan for a new urban area and many houses had been built at that time, it was obvious that construction could not be stopped in a short period of time.

The second time I came was in 96, four years ago. At that time, Tyre had become quite impressive. As the largest port city in the eastern Mediterranean, it had begun to prepare to build better artificial docks to accommodate more merchant ships.

Now, when I came for the third time, I could see the completely completed port.

This time, they were accompanied by an army.

A battalion of the Imperial Knights stationed on the southern border was dispatched towards Antioch.

Among these people, Raymondine was also mixed in as a family member, and these days he followed Amade to broaden his horizons.

And now, Raymondin couldn't help but open his mouth again. He had seen the Dead Sea before, but he had never seen a real ocean, let alone such a busy port.

Dozens of sailboats are lined up at the dock, where masts are like a forest and people are coming and going.

For a moment, Raymondin felt that the population of the entire Arnon County might not be as large as that of this city.

Of course, this is indeed true. A city of Tyr's level is already qualified to be called a metropolis in the kingdom, and in terms of administrative level, it is equivalent to a county.

"Sir, where are those ships going? Do they need so many ships to transport so much cargo?"

As the former bishop of Karak, Amadeus is naturally well-informed.

Just like most bishops, they came from the monastic system and had been to Rome.

He, Ameidai, is also a well-traveled and knowledgeable man.

So he replied: "Of course we need so many ships, but in fact, this is still too few."

"Today, there are at least 30 million people in the whole of Europe. These ships can only meet the needs of nobles and wealthy businessmen at best."

In Tyre, dozens of merchant ships left the port every week, loaded with goods from the East and sent to Venice, Genoa and Florence.

Then they were resold to inland Europe through these maritime republics.

Whether it is the king of France, the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, or the group of cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.

Although they say they oppose the Jerusalem heresy, they have no hesitation when it comes to consuming Middle Eastern luxury goods.

In fact, the high-quality incense used in the Papal Palace in Rome was all produced in the Middle East and sent to Italy via the Kingdom of Jerusalem or Egypt.

Because the ports of the Kingdom of Jerusalem operated more efficiently, had more complete warehousing infrastructure, and levied lower tariffs, many merchants would even give up purchasing goods from the port of Alexandria in Egypt and choose Jerusalem instead.

In this way, the city of Tyre became the hen that laid the most golden eggs in the kingdom.

The Imperial Knights' Brigade did not stay in Tyre for too long. After a simple replenishment, this army of several hundred people, plus horses, was divided into ten ships and headed north.

After leaving the shore, Amedee also felt a little surprised, because this voyage was different from the previous ones.

In this era, most ships sailed along the coastline or hopped between islands, and would not rashly sail in the middle of the ocean.

Because it is close to the coastline, you will naturally encounter a lot of reefs and complex landforms.

Therefore, most of them sail during the day and dare not act rashly at night.

But this time, the boat trip can be smooth regardless of day or night.

A large number of lighthouses, like stars, point the direction for ships to move forward.

(End of this chapter)