1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 158: Pirate King
The city of Carthage, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The geographical location of this large city in northern Africa is extremely important from the perspective of politics, military and trade.

To the east of Carthage, the Theb Peninsula extends from southwest to northeast, and together with Sicily forms the Strait of Tunis, dividing the entire Mediterranean into two, with frequent ship trade.

To the west of Carthage, the Atlas Mountains end here. The Majerda River, which originates deep in the mountains, flows from southwest to northeast and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. In the lower reaches, it washes out fertile river plains suitable for growing wheat and various grain crops.

The flow of the Majerda River varies greatly with the seasons. In the summer, the river dries up and the flow is small, while in the winter, the water is turbulent and the river surface is wide. Together with the Atlas Mountains, they form two natural barriers to the west of the city of Carthage.

To the northeast of Carthage is the Gulf of Tunis, a bay sandwiched between the peninsula and the mainland, with gentle currents and abundant seafood.

The ocean currents along the Mediterranean coast and the water of the Majerda River carry silt, which is deposited on the protruding parts of the coast and river banks due to the slowed flow rate, forming lagoons of various sizes. The soil around the riverside lagoons is fertile and suitable for farming, while the coastal lagoons have a higher salinity, which not only serves as a flood prevention function but is also the best source of sea salt.

The Mediterranean spring is mild and humid. In the fertile land around the city of Carthage, farmers began to work hard, harvesting and drying the winter wheat and winter rye sown last autumn, and sending them to mills and bakeries for baking.

After completing the harvest, farmers dare not stop but continue to sow spring wheat, spring rye, various vegetables and cash crops. They are busy until summer when they have a moment of leisure.

After the Punic War, Christians from Surt, Cyrenaica and all over Europe came here, bought land and serfs, occupied the land vacated due to population loss, and established serfdom manors of various sizes.

Muslims who converted to the Kairouan sect escaped the fate of becoming slaves while watching in fear, but the heavy taxes were like a mountain, forcing them to struggle for basic livelihoods all year round and unable to raise their heads.

Muslims who refused to convert and defeated soldiers became the spoils of the conquerors, doing heavy work in farms, ranches and salt fields, swallowing inferior food day after day, and their hard-earned products could only be handed over to the warehouses of plantation owners and slave owners.

Those who are dressed in fine silk are never silkworm breeders.

However, they were not without a way out. Unlike the Ottoman Empire, Isaac did not prohibit pagans from converting for the sake of tax revenue. Instead, he vigorously promoted the rebaptism movement. The doors of the church would always be open to them.

On the country roads, the sound of horse hooves and rotating axles broke the tranquility of spring ploughing. The peasants and serfs working in the fields looked at the armored knights and carriages painted with gold and red family emblems galloping past them in fear, and fell to their knees, not daring to look them in the eye.

“Agriculture is the cornerstone of a great country. Without stable food output, it is impossible to support a large population and form large cities.”

“Without large cities, traditional industry and commerce would not be able to flourish, let alone develop advanced technology.”

In the carriage, Isaac looked at the scenery outside the window and instilled the art of governing the country to Justinian on the side.

"The agriculture mentioned here includes planting, breeding, forestry and fishery, all industries that produce food are included in this category."

"Constantinople was able to reach a population of hundreds of thousands in the past thanks to the agricultural plains surrounding Thrace."

"The city of Baghdad, located in the Mesopotamian Valley, sits on fertile land along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Its population exceeded one million during its heyday."

"Cairo relies on the irrigation of the Nile River to support a population of nearly 400,000 in the arid desert. It is the largest city in the Mediterranean world."

Justinian nodded, not quite understanding.

"Then, except for Carthage, Bilinchi, and a few coastal cities, your African territory seems unsuitable for developing agriculture. Can we not become a great country?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Isaac smiled.

"There is indeed not much land suitable for farming in our territory, and most of it is located along the coast. This is the decision of the Holy Father, and we cannot change it."

"That is why, apart from the big coastal cities, the population of Africa, Sirte and Cyrenaica is relatively dispersed, distributed in various pastures and oases, engaged in animal husbandry and commerce. This is actually a good thing for our rule."

"With several large cities suitable for farming as the core, supplemented by vast dryland oasis nomadic areas, plus the three-field system reform and farming and animal husbandry that I have been promoting, there will be no problem with food in the territory in the short term."

“The Mamluk Sultanate in the east and the Marin Dynasty in the west all used this mode of production.”

"In the final analysis, rulers must adapt to local conditions and implement different laws in different lands. It is extremely foolish to fight against nature."

"The advantage of agriculture is that the output is relatively stable, but it is also because of this that we, having lost almost all of our territory in the Balkans and Anatolia, cannot rise quickly by relying on basic agriculture and must rely on external means."

"Of course, when we become strong, we will definitely drive out the Ottomans and take back our homeland. By then, we won't have to be as cautious as we are now, treading on thin ice with every step."

Justinian tilted his head and thought for a while, then continued to ask questions.

"You just said that agriculture is the most stable, but it takes a long time to take effect. So, we must develop other industries to improve our national strength in a short period of time?"

"That's true. Objectively speaking, our main source of funds is not agricultural output, but the ocean trade in West Africa, the slave trade in North Africa, and the gold and salt trade across the Sahara Desert."

"Compared to agriculture, the advantage of business is that it is quick to produce results and does not require a large number of people to work in the industry. The disadvantage is that it is not stable enough and can decline rapidly due to some force majeure factors."

"But remember, no matter how the trade routes change, the ocean is always a source of wealth. It will become more and more important as technology develops. In the core areas of the empire, agricultural areas such as the Balkans and Anatolia are scarce. At this time, maritime trade is the best supplement."

"The main reason I brought you here today is to explain this."

The carriage continued to move forward, crossing fields and finally stopped at a port outside Carthage.

Isaac took Justinian into the port and met the naval shipbuilder Mansreti, a Hussite, who was waiting there.

After conquering Carthage, Isaac sent people to bring Mansreti, who was far away in the Oron military zone, to the new capital and asked him to rebuild a larger naval shipyard in the Gulf of Tunisia based on the old foundation left by the Hafsid dynasty.

After all, the Aulon Military Region is too far away from its own North African territory, isolated overseas, and is always surrounded by foreign forces. The security situation is not optimistic.

During the previous Morea War, the Venetian fleet had tightly blocked the sea routes of the Aulonian military region, making Isaac extremely uncomfortable.

The Gulf of Tunisia is surrounded by two land capes. Not only is the wind and waves calm, but it is also more populated and the security situation is more secure.

Now, Isaac has moved the main port of the Mediterranean Fleet to the Gulf of Tunisia, and added supporting ancillary facilities near the military port, the naval shipyard being the most important one among them.

"Your Majesty, in accordance with your order, with the cooperation of the Prime Minister, I have brought most of the workers and service personnel of the Aulong City Naval Shipyard here for resettlement. In half a year, we have built one large dock and eight small and medium-sized docks, and we plan to expand them further in the future."

Mansreti's face was flushed, and as he introduced himself, he rubbed his hands nervously.

It has always been his dream to manage a large shipyard and have the big ships he built sail around the world, and now it is finally going to come true.

"The old equipment left by the Hafsid dynasty is still stuck in the last century. We have been modifying it again and again, and we have barely cleared out three small docks..."

Isaac nodded and took Justinian for a stroll in the salty sea breeze, watching the workers busying around, hammering and pounding.

Mansreti followed behind, closely following, explaining to the emperor and the prince the various facilities of the shipyard and the various ships under construction.

"This is the Bangkok, a small galley ordered by Prince Theodore. It cost four hundred ducats to build and is sold for eleven hundred ducats."

"Unlike other galleys, the Bangkok is more like an armed merchant ship. Its spacious hold can accommodate more slaves and goods. It is a special design we adopted specifically for the Black Sea trade..."

Mansreti touched here and knocked there, with a satisfied smile on his face, as if he was kissing his first love.

"This is the Neptune, a caravel built specifically for ocean trade. Once completed, it will belong to your Atlantic Fleet and be commanded by Earl William..."

"The Ramses, a slave ship ordered by a Coptic slave trader."

"The Flying Gothic, custom-made by a Gothic merchant for the Mediterranean trade..." "Your Majesty, Prince, please move over here and witness our highlight of the day."

Mansreti walked quickly, muttering to himself.

Isaac and Justinian followed him to the only large dock in the Carthaginian shipyard. Looking up, they saw a huge keel.

"Wow……"

Justinian's mouth opened wide and his eyes sparkled.

"Please take a look at the large carrack sailing ship we are speeding up to build. It is also our first large warship independently developed and built, the Marco Aurelius."

Isaac nodded slightly and clapped his hands to congratulate Mansreti.

This large warship was of course ordered by him, and he had seen it several times before, so he was not too surprised.

Although it was independently developed, the Marco Aurelius was almost completely modeled after a warship captured from Venice, a large carrack renamed Constantine the Great.

Building a large warship is very difficult, and maintaining the operation of a large naval shipyard is even more difficult. Even after opening up the sale of ships to foreign countries, the Carthage Shipyard still failed to turn losses into profits and has always relied on Isaac's financial subsidies.

The navy is a money-eating behemoth. Since the Moria War, Isaac has not continued to expand the size of the fleet. Instead, he has carried out another streamlining and elimination, selling old warships while building some new warships as supplements.

The Marcus Aurelius, on which Isaac has poured a lot of effort, will be officially launched at the end of this year and join the Mediterranean Fleet, replacing the old Prince of Morea.

By then, the Duke Moria, which had fought for Isaac for ten years, could be successfully retired and fixed on the shore of the Naval Academy to receive the admiration of everyone.

"Mansreti, we were in a hurry the last few times and we haven't had a good talk yet."

"In your opinion, what is the biggest difficulty that is restricting the development and growth of our shipyard?"

Isaac let Justinian visit it himself, pulled Mansreti, and asked seriously.

The shipbuilder thought about it.

"Your Majesty, the funds and personnel you provided us are very abundant, even luxurious."

"But despite this, our shipyard still faces some difficulties that are difficult to overcome in a short period of time."

"For example, our shipyard is not famous enough. Foreign nobles and wealthy merchants obviously prefer the prestigious Genoa Shipyard and Venice Arsenal."

"A few months ago, the Knights Hospitaller approached us and tried to rebuild a large warship as their flagship to replace the one they seized from the Mamluks."

"If we can get this deal, the net profit will be enough for you to build another Marcus Aurelius."

"But unfortunately, they didn't choose us, and gave the order to the Genoese instead."

Mansreti spread his hands helplessly, his tone quite regretful.

"Well... this really needs to be done slowly. I believe in your talent."

“If you can turn the shipyard around within three years, one-fifth of the profits will be yours.”

Isaac promised.

Mansreti thanked him and continued his sermon.

“The biggest difficulty is that we don’t have a stable source of wood.”

"Oh? Please elaborate."

"The trees in the Atlas Mountains and the Green Mountains are not suitable for building large ships and ocean-going ships. If you only need small and medium-sized ships that can sail in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, then the wood in these two places is more than enough."

“But obviously you need more than that.”

Mansreti walked up to the Marcus Aurelius next to him and patted its wide keel.

"All the large timbers on this battleship come from my hometown, the Netherlands."

"It's not just us. Venice, Genoa, Portugal... these countries all used Dutch wood when building large warships and faced the same dilemma."

Isaac walked forward, stroked the warm wood, and thought about how to break the deadlock.

Historically, the Netherlands rose rapidly with its advanced shipbuilding industry and soon became the sea coachman that traversed the world, which was inextricably linked to these timbers suitable for shipbuilding.

So, how did Portugal break the deadlock?

Brazil.

Brazilian rosewood and the South American colonies named after it enabled Portugal to break away from the Netherlands' timber monopoly and build its own naval supply chain.

"Don't worry about this. I will give you an explanation within ten years."

After saying goodbye to Mansreti, Isaac took his son to a reef on the seashore and looked at the naval port not far away.

Isaac had two original intentions for occupying North Africa. One was the booming trans-Sahara gold and salt trade, and the other was the superior geographical location here.

“From Carthage, if you travel at full speed, you can reach Messina in less than a day, Naples and Rome in less than a week, and any coast of France, Aragon, and Italy in less than a month.”

Isaac touched Justinian's head and explained to him.

"In this way, as long as the situation on the European continent changes, the entire southern European coast will be directly exposed to our attack."

The next words were too cruel, so Isaac did not tell the still young Justinian.

After more than ten years of naval development, Isaac could say with certainty that, apart from Venice and Genoa, he was the biggest in the Mediterranean.

The War of the Neapolitan Succession is about to begin, and the Kingdom of France is about to march into Italy, so I must make plans early.

If one day, I fall out with several Catholic countries in the north, then their coasts will become my hunting grounds.

The Barbary pirates have caused unrest on the southern European coast for hundreds of years. If we support the pirate cause with the whole country's strength, they will be even more difficult to resist.

On the distant sea, the fleet that had finished training was returning home, and the eagle flag was fluttering above the warships.

A few days ago, Isaac wrote a long letter to his father in Constantinople, asking him to cooperate with him and gradually implement the plan.

Everything is ready, now just wait for the opportunity.

(End of this chapter)