The war in Italy has not started, but the war of words has not stopped. The two sides are going back and forth, it is very lively,

Different from the bustling scene in Central Europe, although the Kingdom of Portugal is silent, the things it does are not small at all.

The Portuguese were very keen on opening up new routes. As early as 1420, the Portuguese discovered and colonized the Madeira Islands. In 1431, the Azores were also discovered. These two islands in the Atlantic Ocean soon became Portugal.

This made the Portuguese more interested in the new route.

Among them, although Prince Enrique was not a king, as a prince, he played a foundational role in establishing Portugal's colonial empire and was hailed as a pioneer of the great voyages by later generations.

Prince Enrique doesn't know what great achievements he will make in the future. Now he is having a headache with domestic affairs.

Portugal is divided into two factions. One is the continental faction that advocates attacking the Kingdom of Morocco. After the "great" King Joao I conquered Ceuta, the trade center of North Africa, the Moors of North Africa spontaneously moved the trade center to Tangier.

, Ceuta was extremely desolate for a while, so a group of nobles came up with the idea of ​​Tangier, wanting to bring this city under the rule of the Kingdom of Portugal and monopolize the trade in North Africa.

The other group is the Navigation Group. Members of this group advocate opening a route bypassing the Near East and conducting trade directly with Asia. Its leader is Prince Enrique.

If you want to open up a new route, you can't just talk, you must have money. Before that, the Holy See supported Prince Enrique's exploration activities and handed over the Knights of the Christian Church of Tomar to Enrique.

Gram, except for the real estate that is not allowed to be sold, all funds are at Enrique's disposal, which allows Enrique to have a free hand.

But things are different now. The Holy See lacks funds, and the funds of the Christian Congregation of Tomar were required to be handed over. The Navigation Sect suffered a huge blow.

"Your Highness, you have to think of a way. You can't let Simon and the others go forward to slander His Majesty."

"Yeah yeah…"

Noisy voices continued to sound, and it was obvious that this was an internal meeting of the Nautical Faction.

Although navigation has brought huge economic benefits, a large part of this is due to the slave trade. Europe is vast and sparsely populated, and the land development rate is not high. Coupled with years of war, slaves are actually a very scarce commodity.

But it is obvious that catching slaves in Europe will cause public outrage throughout the Catholic world.

Therefore, the first thing Enrique did after establishing a colonial stronghold in Cape Altyn was to sell black people from West Africa to the outskirts of Ragush in order to appease the domestic nobles who were angry because they had gained nothing from the voyage. Since 1455, every year

Eight hundred black people were sold to Europe, and the evil European slave trade began and lasted for more than four hundred years.

Now Enrique is in contact with the black tribal kingdoms in West Africa. Gold, ivory and slaves from the interior of Africa are very popular in the European world. If the communication is good, Enrique can become the richest man in the entire European world in one fell swoop.

,

What's more, Prince Perode, who was the former regent, handed over all the profits and trade from the voyage to Enrique, and it was permanent. This meant that the royal family could not get much benefit from the voyage. In contrast, attacking

Tangier monopolized North African trade and built an African trading system. This thing was even more tempting to King Afonso V.

"Okay, stop arguing."

Enrique yelled, suppressing everyone's voices, and the scene slowly calmed down.

"Everyone knows that the king is not interested in big voyages. How can I persuade him?"

"But, Your Highness, you are the king's uncle after all..."

The person who spoke earlier smiled charmingly.

"If it were you, would you like to watch those people sent by the mainland make money while you have nothing?"

When Enrique asked, the man had no choice but to shut up, embarrassed to speak any more.

"Then what do you think we should do? We can't just let the mainland faction get bigger, right?"

Another businessman stood up, his tone full of anxiety.

"It's not necessary,"

Enrique's expression softened a little,

"His Majesty Afonso just wants us to give in to the profits. The country cannot make any money from the voyage, and there is no way to develop the country."

"Give profit? How can this be done? We don't earn much to begin with. Even if he is the king, he can't steal money from us, right?"

After hearing what Enrique said, the businessman felt like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and his hair immediately exploded.

"Yes, we still have to communicate with Songhai, Mali and other tribes. Now, we don't know how much money it will cost. We don't make any money!"

Someone echoed.

There were several large empires in the history of West Africa, but they later declined. But until now, there are still many black tribes in West Africa, and the advantages of equipment are not obvious. Several tentative attacks in West Africa have been repelled, and we have no choice but to

Ability to adopt peaceful means.

For a time, people were furious. For this group of businessmen or business aristocrats, gold was the most important thing. The Atlantic Ocean is not like the Indian Ocean, which is as docile as a cat. The Atlantic Ocean is the most stormy ocean in the world. Every time you go to sea, that is

After crossing the line of death once, if you still can't make any money, then you will be willing to go to sea!

"Then why don't we support the king's war against the Kingdom of Morocco?"

A weak voice sounded, and the atmosphere in the whole place was stagnant.

Enrique was surprised. He looked at the person who spoke and motioned for him to come forward.

"If you have any ideas, please tell me in detail."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The man first said hello to everyone, and then answered Enrique's question,

"We can support His Majesty the King in his action, but the target must be changed to the Atlantic coast. This has three advantages,"

"First of all, by occupying the Atlantic coast, we can isolate the Sunnis from the great voyages, prevent the enemy from gaining power and contribute to the Crusade cause."

This is the persistent pursuit of the Portuguese. Although they are far away from Rome, the Portuguese are really filial sons of the Catholic Church. Unlike the "filial sons" of France, they are really making contributions to the world of God.

"Secondly, we can use this to ease the relationship with the king and gain his support. In this way, if the king will not support our actions, at least he will not oppose it."

"Last and most important,"

With a proud expression on his face, the man told the information he knew.

"The emperor of the Byzantine Empire recently issued an edict to support the winemaking and textile industries and implemented a tax-free policy. The coast of Morocco has sufficient sunshine, which is suitable for the growth of grapes and olives. If we sell raw materials to the Byzantine Empire, then

Back to…”

He didn't finish his words, but everyone knew what he meant.

"What's the use of this? Aren't there taxes on the raw materials when they go to Byzantium? If you brew wine and sell it to other countries, you still have to collect taxes. Isn't this just taking off your pants and farting?"

Someone said disdainfully that they were not interested in his proposal.

"Hey, this is how ignorant you are,"

He first retorted a few words to the other party,

“Although the Byzantines imposed heavy taxes on imported textiles and finished wine products, they had no restrictions on the import of raw materials. In their country, Salonika, Athens and Constantinople had no restrictions on these two commodities.

Collecting taxes and lowering export tariffs, this means that we can make a lot of money by exporting raw materials to Byzantium. If we can also build workshops in Byzantium, we will make even more money. After all, we only need to pay for imports.

The customs duties and transportation fees in the country are enough, and they are cheaper than at home.”

This is true. In China, let’s take brewing as an example. When brewing wine, the state has to collect taxes. There are also tariffs on exports. When you go to other countries, there are import tariffs. However, it is different with the Byzantines. The raw materials are shipped there.

, a transportation fee, and then there is a very small export tariff and import tariff. If it is sold to the Byzantines, there is no import tariff. Isn’t this very profitable?

Foreign investment values ​​​​such aspects as low-cost labor, raw materials and policy support. Now that Byzantium has all the conditions, there is no reason to refuse. Similarly, the Byzantine government can also obtain accelerated economic circulation. This is

A good thing that is mutually beneficial.

"What's more, His Majesty Afonso just killed His Highness Pedro in a coup not long ago. The mainland faction is so powerful that it will be very detrimental to us to resist blindly!"

After being persuaded like this, many people were a little shaken. No one wanted to have a quarrel with the king. After all, they still had to make a living in Portugal. We are all civilized people, why should we carry it to death? It would not be good for everyone.

"Oh, so be it!"

Enrique sighed. The trade with Byzantium can only be said to be better than nothing. The trade volume is nothing compared to the gold in Africa. But in order not to go against the king, it can only be like this.

,

In fact, Enrique himself is not very opposed. He has personally led the war against Tangier before. But judging from the incident of Afonso killing Pedro, the world already belongs to these young people, like

It is difficult for an "old man" like him to influence the current Portuguese political scene, which is why he is so enthusiastic about navigation. However, he does not object to the Moroccan war.

The Portuguese have gone further and further on the road to navigation. The printing technology invented by Gutenberg is the icing on the cake. It is becoming easier and easier to draw nautical charts. The world south of Cape Bojador is no secret. Enrique wants to

Create a trading system centered on the Gulf of Guinea, drawing trade lines from the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, Arabia, Egypt and other places to the Gulf of Guinea, thereby weakening the Mamluks economically and supporting the development of the Crusades. This was at the time
Chapter completed!