1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 16 Return and Preparation

On November 1445, 11, the fleet arrived at Cape St. Vincent, Portugal.

Life at sea was so miserable that every time Isaac tried to have fun on the ship, he would miss the good life on shore.

I was only away for half a year, but it felt like countless years had passed.

When the sailors who were venturing out to sea for the first time set foot on European soil again, they knelt on the ground and cried bitterly.

After crying for a while, they touched the gold that Isaac had given them and began to laugh wildly.

The same thing happened with the Portuguese sailors.

Soon, news of the fleet's huge harvest spread throughout Portugal and to the European continent.

This time, the Portuguese fleet explored the mouth of the Senegal River and brought back 700 slaves and the equivalent of ducats in gold.

There are also some tribal handicrafts and plant seeds.

In fact, there are not many gold mines in the Senegal River Basin. It is estimated that they are the accumulation of years of trading by black tribes.

Isaac's harvest was even greater, with two large boxes full of gold products and some fine ivory.

At a time when Europe was experiencing a severe shortage of precious metals, Isaac conservatively estimated that the gold could be exchanged for 80,000 ducats, but Isaac only announced that he had received 30,000.

This is just the beginning. Most of West Africa’s gold is buried in the Ghana region in later generations. The gold reserves even account for two-thirds of the entire Chinese region.

Excluding the deep and inland veins, the remaining shallow mines along the coast and rivers are enough to satisfy Isaac.

On his next expedition, Isaac will bring a professional exploration team and a large number of ships to focus on searching for Ghana, the land of gold.

Prior to this, plunder in West Africa was mainly based on "equal trade".

Cape St. Vincent, Sagres town.

"Recruiting skilled sailors! My master is planning to explore West Africa and spread the gospel of God. We are only looking for 30 people, and those with adventure experience will be given priority!"

A man dressed as a servant set up a stage, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

"Captain Fernando's adventure has been a complete success. The land in the distance is not a land cursed by the devil, but a blessing bestowed upon us by God!"

"Go beyond Cape Verde, and gold, slaves, and glory await you!"

The crowd began to stir, and more and more people signed up.

Isaac was secretly delighted when he saw these sailors who were willing to risk their lives for money.

This is the effect you want.

Africa's wealth is unprecedented but its people are weak, so there is no need to worry about not having enough to go around in the short term.

The pie must be made bigger first, so that a steady stream of wealth can flow into the pockets of adventurers.

Gold will stimulate more people to become new adventurers.

In this way, Isaac could use his first-mover advantage to occupy important trade routes and islands and reap the benefits.

Now that sailors have money, they have to spend it, right?

There is nothing on the African continent. You can't spend money to watch black people dance, right?

This gives places like Bijagos and La Palma huge opportunities.

Brothels, casinos, food and lodging, ship repairs, slaves... these are all businesses that make huge profits with no capital.

In the original time and space, the reason why European colonists began to explore Africa in an organized manner very late was, in addition to factors such as malaria, mainly because they discovered a better place, namely the New World of America.

Isaac walked leisurely towards Prince Henry's residence.

After being informed, Isaac was led into the study.

Prince Henry was looking at the newly drawn map intently.

"sit."

Enrique didn't even look up.

Isaac didn't say anything either, just waited quietly for him to finish reading.

After a while, Enrique sighed with satisfaction and put down the map.

“The joy of success is intoxicating.”

"Congratulations, Your Highness."

"I heard you lost your first ship?"

"Yes."

Prince Henry was silent for a moment.

"Fernando expressed his apologies and said Captain Henry was a very peaceful and good man."

"The ocean is a moody widow. You may be able to conquer her body, but you can never guess her heart."

Enrique laughed.

"Well said! Boy, I haven't heard such a good metaphor in a long time! You are worthy of being a Byzantine, hahahaha..."

Enrique filled Isaac's and his own glasses with strong drink again.

"For success!"

“To succeed.”

Isaac drank it all in one gulp.

Putting down the cup, Enrique tapped the nautical table.

"You definitely didn't come to see me just to drink with an old man like me!"

Isaac did not answer, but waved to the servants behind him.

The servant brought a gift box.

Prince Enrique opened it, his eyes wide.

"Is this... ivory?"

In the box lay a crystal solid as white as jade.

"Yes, I got it from a local and asked a craftsman to polish it a little."

"Fine ivory can be carved into ornaments, seals and furniture and may be more valuable than its weight in gold."

“And this is just one of the precious trade items on the African continent.”

Enrique thought about it for a moment.

"You told me all this, aren't you afraid that I will steal your business?"

Isaac bowed.

"Your Highness has been very kind to me. I, Isaac, have always admired heroes like you..."

"Alright, alright!"

Enrique interrupts Isaac's flattery.

"what do you want from me?"

"I heard that the Regent gave you the trading rights south of Cape Bojador. I want to set up a trading company with you to run the slave and ivory business in West Africa." Enrique was a little surprised.

"You should know that the Kingdom has no way to monopolize the trade in the West African Sea. It can set up its own company."

"From this experience, I can see that the sailing ships built by Genoa and Venice for the Mediterranean trade are not well adapted to the winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean. I hope to purchase new caravels for the kingdom and hire instructors for the sailing school."

Enrique pondered for a moment.

The technology of the caravel is actually no longer a secret, but countries have not yet built it on a large scale.

This type of sailing expedition is a good choice, but its combat effectiveness is hard to describe, so it is not impossible to sell it.

Hiring an instructor is also a good thing. Through this opportunity, we can figure out the composition of Isaac's fleet and at the same time subtly pull him towards the Portuguese side.

"Since we are going to set up a company, let's get more people here and work out some rules together."

"Take my badge and go to the person in charge of the shipyard. He won't make things difficult for you."

Prince Enrique threw a ring to Isaac, on which was painted Enrique's family crest.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

……

A week later, Prince Henry called a meeting and Isaac was invited to attend.

At the meeting, Henry solemnly introduced His Highness Isaac Palaiologos from Constantinople to the merchants, praising him as a "brave navigator" and "devout believer."

Even Esaac felt a little embarrassed.

The businessmen attending the conference also showed their support.

It can be seen that Isaac's successful voyage gave Prince Enrique a huge boost in power.

The merchants who had originally doubted shut their mouths, the merchants who had originally hesitated opened their pockets, and those who had originally supported sailing were even more delighted.

The meeting was quite efficient and concise. Everyone was busy making money and had no time to chat about other things.

In just one morning, the specific framework of the trading company was basically finalized.

The Portuguese West African Trading Company was formally established, with the royal family holding 51%, Prince Henry holding 20%, Isaac holding 10%, and the remaining shares being shared equally by the merchants.

The trading company had three branches, namely Prince Henry's Senegal Slave Company, Isaac's Greek Guinea Company and the West African Transport Company jointly established by other merchants.

The meeting stipulated that expedition vessels must be registered with any branch and pay taxes regularly, and the company has the priority right to repurchase the results of the expedition.

In return, the company would recognize the explorers' achievements in Africa and use its fleet as military support.

At the same time, the trading ports and cargo distribution centers under the branch are open to registered ships. If there are conflicts between branches, they are not allowed to resort to force privately and must be decided through arbitration by the head office.

It is basically the same as that of Latin merchants, with some new colonial features.

Each branch company keeps a copy of the meeting transcript and another copy is sent to the Pope.

It is worth mentioning that Isaac could only sign a treaty with Portugal on his own behalf, not Constantinople.

People look down on it.

After signing his name on the final agreement, Isaac breathed a sigh of relief.

Through his own efforts, the expedition to the West African Sea finally got on track.

Of course, this agreement is very rough and some issues are unclear. If resources are reduced in the future, conflicts will definitely arise.

However, this happened hundreds of years later, and Isaac couldn't care less.

Now, he was humming a little tune and choosing his favorite ship with the help of the person in charge of the St. Vincent Shipyard.

This is also one of the benefits of joining the company, all civilian and commercial ships are open to Isaac.

Isaac set aside 3 ducats for the purchase of ships.

Fidel followed behind, looking at the rows of sailboats being built in the shipyard, full of joy.

In the end, Isaac took Enrique's ring and bought 6 caravels and 10 transport ships at the best price.

The transport ship has been modified to withstand the turbulence of the Atlantic Ocean.

Of course, they have to recruit their own sailors and prepare their own naval guns.

That's a lot of money again.

The wallet that had just been filled is shrinking at an alarming rate.

Isaac spent the entire December in St. Vincent, recruiting sailors and handling company affairs.

One afternoon, Isaac drank wine and lay quietly in a rocking chair, enjoying the rare sunshine in winter.

The attendant beside him read out the recent affairs report.

"The crew of the La Palma, the flagship of the Greek Guinea Trading Company fleet, has been fully recruited, and the ship's guns are basically in place,"

"Among the crew, the captain and first mate are both former officers of the Grand Duke of Morea. The ship's chaplain is from the Greek Orthodox Church. Among the crew, there are 9 Greeks, 3 Serbs, 14 Albanians, 6 French, 14 Portuguese, and Latins..."

“The recruitment status of the remaining ships varies, and it is expected that the recruitment will be completed in January next year.”

Isaac nodded, motioning for him to continue.

"Archbishop Pierre of Montpellier appreciated our charity and allowed us to continue recruiting refugees from southern France to live in La Palma and Bijagos."

"Governor Lothair of La Palma reports that the latest batch of refugees and slaves have been recruited. Although the French were not forced to convert, only Orthodox churches were set up on the island..."

"There is no news from Bijagos Island due to the distance, but the fleet led by Captain Fidel has set sail from La Palma Island and will transport the first reclamation team of 200 people to Bijagos,"

"One hundred of them are southern Frenchmen, and one hundred are Slavic slaves who have been restored to free citizenship."

"Governor Andre reports that the Monferrato Trading Company's second voyage has ended and they are negotiating the purchase of new ships..."

"Knight Conti has recruited brave men from among the refugees and has initially trained a cavalry unit of 100 men."

"Under your instructions, Commander Maruna went to Northern Italy to recruit a new mercenary group. There is no news for the time being."

"The squadron commanded by Sir William encountered the Granada Navy in the Gibraltar area and lost a converted cog and a transport ship. The flagship, the Marquis of Gian, is currently under repair in Ceuta..."

"Okay, Anders."

Isaac stopped the servant and rubbed his hot forehead.

Things happen one after another, and the key is that they are not trivial matters.

When these trivial matters were over, Isaac assembled his army and marched back to Athens.

This time, I must recruit some talents in Greece to share some of the chores with me.

"Christmas benefits must be prepared in advance. All subordinates must feel your care. Do you understand?"

"Yes, we are already preparing it."

Anders said quickly.

Isaac waved his hand and Anders left.

After being in this world for more than a year and accomplishing so many great things, I have done my best for the Roman people.

However, these are all external tricks. Osman's shadow still looms over our heads at all times, making it hard for us to breathe.

The plan of the previous stage has been basically achieved. Next, Isaac will have a head-on confrontation with Osman.

(End of this chapter)