1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 174 Armada
"Your Majesty, Ruler of the Continent and the Sea, Lord of the Balkans, Anatolia and Africa, King of the Armenians, Emperor of Rome and the Romans, Emperor Isaac III of the House of Palaiologos."

Inside the royal palace of Carthage, Isaac and Leonor sat side by side, smiling as they looked at the envoys who were coming to see them below.

There were many nobles and tribal shekhs on both sides of the hall, all of whom focused their eyes on the envoys and marveled at them.

Today's envoy was a little special. Although he was wearing ordinary Roman civilian clothes and spoke Greek with a slight accent, he was an out-and-out black man.

"It is an honor to be here at your court. On behalf of King Nzinga Nkuwu of Congo, I extend my highest respects to you. I wish you good health forever."

Next to the messenger stood a priest from the Greek Orthodox Church. His weather-beaten face had been tanned dark by the scorching sun of the equator, but his expression was one of great satisfaction.

If Denis Dias were here, he would be surprised to find that this priest was one of the four men who had penetrated deep into the Congo River.

"Our king asked me to bring a greeting gift. It's just a few presents, not a token of respect."

The Congolese envoy waved his hand, and two black slaves carried up a large box. In the box, apart from a few gold, silver and ivory products, most of the items were handicrafts produced by the indigenous people, which were of little value to Isaac.

"Thank you for your kindness. I will also prepare a return gift. Please give it to your king when you return home."

Isaac glanced at the gift slip and put it aside.

"Compared to the gifts, I am more interested in the basic situation of your country and king. Can you tell me a little bit about it?"

Speaking of this, the Congolese envoy was obviously at a loss. He shook his head and waved his hands, mumbling something to the priest beside him.

Isaac began to understand a little. It turned out that he had not completely learned Greek. He only learned some daily expressions and greetings under the compulsory education of the priests. When Isaac asked him questions in an unconventional way, he was exposed.

"Kirill, you should come."

Isaac looked at Priest Kirill who looked a little embarrassed.

"It's a good opportunity to tell everyone about your glorious deeds."

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Kirill bent down and bowed, his body trembling slightly, and it was obvious that he was very uneasy.

Seeing Kirill preparing to speak, the royal historian Lake, who was standing behind Isaac, quickly took out a pen and paper and listened attentively.

"Your Majesty, as you know, I was born in Mystras as an orphan. I joined the local Orthodox Church when I was young. My biggest dream is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every inch of the world."

Lake's pen swished, and Kirill's eyes became brighter.

Isaac looked at this priest who was extremely keen on fame and found it somewhat amusing.

"…So, I followed Mr. Dinis' expedition fleet to find the whereabouts of Prester John. After going through untold hardships, we finally arrived at the Congo River."

“The local residents are more civilized and friendly, and they have a favorable impression of the church.”

“I held seminars in the villages at the mouth of the Congo River, spreading the gospel of the Holy Father in the wild land, and won the recognition and favor of several tribal chiefs.”

"So, I held a baptism ceremony for them, and the dark earth finally welcomed the first ray of dawn..."

Isaac listened patiently to the long story.

"When Captain Dinis left, I had already learned the local language and established a good relationship with several converts at the river mouth. They said that deep in the river, there lived a powerful king who had thousands of slaves and was very rich."

Kirill's chant-like voice gradually became louder and louder, and the nobles and tribal shekhs around him were gradually attracted by the legendary story.

"I persuaded three priests who were on good terms with me to take the canoe provided by the tribal chief and go up the river."

"It is hard to describe the hardships and tribulations along the way. Three of my companions died of illness one after another. May the Holy Father bless their souls."

Kirill's voice dropped a little, and he made the sign of the cross on his chest.

"After about twenty days of sailing, I arrived at the legendary Kongo Royal Court, which the locals call Mbanza Kongo."

"Unfortunately, I didn't see any relics or legends about Prester John here. The local natives still retain the primitive belief in evil gods, and the universal light of God has not yet spread to this land."

"Just when I was feeling discouraged, King Nzinga Nkuwu heard about my arrival and was very interested. He invited me back to his palace and asked all his ministers and relatives to come and listen to my sermon."

"While I was preaching, I preached your kindness, majesty, power and wealth, and showed them the exquisite papers and glasses I carried with me, which fascinated them."

“During this period, I achieved the greatest results of this trip.”

Kirill's face flushed and he bowed deeply to Isaac in an exaggerated manner.

"Just after a sermon, I tentatively suggested to the king that I could baptize him. Unexpectedly, he agreed immediately and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian the next day."

"At the same time, dozens of his sons, a dozen brothers and sisters, and hundreds of relatives also converted and asked me to return to Constantinople to send more missionaries to Congo."

"So, I brought a few native nobles who had learned some of the language and came to the mouth of the Congo River. We spread the gospel while waiting for passing ships."

"At my suggestion, the King of Kongo gave me several villages and the attached fishing ports as a bishopric. I led the local natives to develop the land, built a wooden church and a small castle, named the bishopric St. Jerome, and the port was called Porto Chrysostom."

"After a long wait, I finally saw your double-headed eagle flag again on the sea. They were a transport ship returning to St. William Port from the New Thracian colony. They were very surprised by my story and brought me back to your court."

Kirill finished his words and everyone fell silent.

Isaac was the first to applaud, and then warm applause and cheers resounded throughout the palace.

"It is an honor for the Empire to have a priest like you."

After the applause, Isaac held his chin with his eyes shining.

Isaac was not surprised by the conversion of the Kingdom of Kongo. In the original time and space, when they faced the Portuguese, they were just like now. From the king to the nobles, they showed great enthusiasm for the European missionaries who came from afar, and immediately announced their conversion to Christianity.

As for the specific reasons, missionaries attributed it to the gospel of God, historians viewed it as the natural attraction of higher civilizations to lower civilizations, and politicians believed that the King of Congo was eager to introduce new foreign forces to reshuffle the domestic political situation.

Isaac didn't bother to care about these things. He only knew that with his promotion, the Greek Orthodox Church gained a large number of believers in distant lands without any military operations, and the Roman Empire also gained a powerful pro-Roman indigenous ally in equatorial Africa.

Real history is sometimes so magical.

"What is the current situation of the Kingdom of Kongo? Why don't you explain it to me and the ministers present here?"

Kirill took out the prepared speech and began to read.

"The Kingdom of Kongo is the most powerful country in the region, with a unified central government. The king appoints his relatives to various places as governors. The governors meet with the king every year and offer him slaves and ivory."

"But the next monarch is not appointed by the old king, but has a certain degree of election system, similar to our Senate."

"Before I arrived, they had no unified belief, no written language, and a fragmented language. They used shells and slaves as currency. They had a certain level of iron smelting and farming technology, and their military strength was relatively strong."

"The king has a standing army. They use round shields and iron swords. The garrison in the capital alone is as many as 20,000. They are called 'Ombemba'."

Twenty thousand? That much?

Isaac raised an eyebrow.

No wonder the Portuguese in the original time and space did not choose to use force against Congo at first. It turned out that they were unable to defeat them.

For Isaac, whose standing army numbered about 15,000, he would still be defeated if he crossed the ocean.

Of course, a higher level of civilization is not entirely a bad thing. At least they can trade and communicate, and they will not treat visiting merchants and explorers as food like the overly primitive natives.

Isaac looked at Kirill's slightly swollen eyes and short stature, and understood.

"Kirill, let me guess, you are suffering from ischemia?"

"Indeed, Your Majesty, you are truly a god!"

Kirill was shocked.

"After my parents died, my brother and sister died one after another due to this symptom. My symptoms were relatively mild, and with the blessing of the Holy Father, I have barely survived to this day."

In fact, according to medical theory, Mediterranean people have a natural advantage over the English and the Dutch in exploring Africa, mainly because of a common disease called thalassemia.

This condition shortens the lifespan of the patient's red blood cells, preventing malaria from exerting its full power.

You, the malarial parasite, want to invade my red blood cells and paralyze them?
Sorry, I'm paralyzed myself.

Similarly, in the tropical rainforest, after hundreds and thousands of years of co-evolution with malaria, black people have also developed a self-protection mechanism that is more violent than thalassemia, that is, sickle cell anemia.

This protective mechanism of dying in harmony with the enemy allows black people to survive in the rainforest, but it also causes them to suffer from illness and pain. Homozygous patients do not even live to the age of thirty.

This is also one of the reasons why equatorial Africa has never been able to give birth to a strong regime.

Historically, the Portuguese were very keen to mate with the equatorial Bantu people to produce heterozygous sickle cell anemia patients, so that they could better enter the rainforest and ensure their interests in Congo.

Putting aside his thoughts, Isaac looked back at Kirill who was wiping his sweat.

"Before you came, I had already discussed with the newly appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, Isidore, and decided to establish the Congo Patriarchate, with you as the Patriarch of Congo."

"I will enthrone Nzinga Nkuwu as the King of Congo and make a nice crown for him. You will be responsible for the coronation." "In addition to the monetary reward, a large caravel currently being built at the Carthage Shipyard will also be named after you, Saint Cyril."

"You guys take a break first. After the Saint Cyril is launched, I will send an envoy with paper, glass, silk, sea salt and other goods to Chrysostom Port to trade with them for ivory and precious animal furs."

"There will be a large number of missionaries in the mission. In addition to normal missionary activities, you must also try to change their mainstream language. Target the princes and grandchildren of the emperor and make them all learn Greek."

"It's not that difficult. We don't even need to teach them deliberately. They rush to learn it on their own."

Isaac looked at the Congolese envoy standing obediently beside him and switched to Latin.

"Furthermore, you will need to draw maps during your missionary journey, collect information on local customs and practices, understand the political environment, and submit detailed information as soon as possible."

"The mission will be accomplished!"

Kirill said forcefully.

"So good."

The Congolese envoy nearby saw that Isaac was about to end the conversation, and hurriedly muttered to Bishop Kirill and waved his hands.

"Oh, Your Majesty, the King of Kongo wishes to change his name to an Orthodox one, and would like to ask if he and his wife and children can be named after Isaac, Leonor, and Justinian."

Bishop Kirill translated the envoy's words with some embarrassment.

Isaac couldn't help but smile. In the original time and space, this King Nzinga Nkuwu copied the names of the Portuguese royal family and renamed himself, his wife and children João, Leonor and Alfonso.

“Leonor is not an Orthodox name, and they don’t need to honor us by using our name.”

Isaac smiled.

"Why don't you let me give them names like Arcadius, Irina, and Phocas, which are all the names of the previous emperors of the empire? What do you think?"

"Very good! Very good!"

Prince Mikhail covered his mouth with his hands, trying to suppress his laughter.

The ministers around also laughed and cheered.

The Congolese envoy didn't understand what was going on, but when he saw everyone cheering, he opened his mouth, laughed foolishly, and bowed repeatedly.

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

Kirill seemed to remember something.

"The Kingdom of Kongo is a country with a serious legacy of slavery. Slaves are the hard currency among local nobles. The king hopes to use slaves to exchange for the advanced crafts in your hands."

"But I heard that you are kind-hearted and have set strict regulations on the importation of black slaves. I wonder——"

"Well..."

Isaac thought for a moment.

"The import of black slaves will be gradually liberalized. They can indeed exchange slaves for our goods. I will ask the Colonial Secretary, Earl William, to arrange for the slaves to be placed in the plantations in Governor St. William's district."

"In the future, there will be more and more places suitable for establishing plantations, and they will be able to make use of their talents."

In fact, as a king, Isaac was a pure profit-seeker who did not care about race or skin color. A loyal black man was certainly better than a rebellious white man.

The slavery restriction laws enacted by Isaac were mainly intended to prevent the spread of tropical diseases from equatorial Africa to European territories. Now it seems that the effect is very ineffective.

According to reports from the Narcissus Medical School, they had discovered some unprecedented symptoms of diseases in brothels in several northern ports. It was later confirmed that the prostitutes had more or less business dealings with ocean sailors.

As for how these diseases, which were originally unique to chimpanzees and gorillas, spread to the native Africans and how they came to the Mediterranean ports, Isaac did not want to delve into it. Perhaps they were too civilized.

Since we have chosen to deal with African natives, such things are bound to happen.

"Then it's settled. You will stay in North Africa for a while. When the Mediterranean is at peace, I will send someone to send you to Constantinople to formally accept the imperial decree from Patriarch Isidore."

"During this period, you are responsible for taking the Congolese delegation to visit Carthage, Tripoli, Bilinchi and other cities, so that they can see the prosperity of the Roman Empire."

Kirill said yes repeatedly, then looked up again.

"Your Majesty, is there going to be another war?"

"Yes, the war continues and there is no telling when it will end."

On May 1460, 5, a transport ship returning from the New Thrace colony brought news from the Congo River Basin that the King of Kongo, Nzinga Nkuwu, who had long admired the glory of the Celestial Empire, decided to convert to Orthodoxy and accept the canonization and name bestowed by the Roman Emperor Isaac III, becoming Arcadius I of the Kingdom of Kongo.

……

Gulf of Tunis, Carthage naval port.

The Neapolitan War of Succession, which affected half of the Mediterranean, did not have much impact on the land production of the Eastern Roman Empire. Instead, the increasingly prosperous pirate business made the ports along the North African coast gradually prosperous. The continuous influx of wealth hit the port of Carthage one after another, and the arrival of Genoese craftsmen also brought a different kind of vitality to the workshop area in the east city.

If you enjoy the benefits brought by war, you must naturally bear the risks brought by war.

On May 1460, 5, the Republic of Venice assembled a fleet of more than 30 ships of various types in Venice, including all the main warships of the Republic and vassal ships of vassal states. They were reviewed next to the Venetian Arsenal and sworn to go to war.

The then Governor of the Venetian Republic, Piero Mari, delivered an impassioned speech, listing the ten major crimes of Constantine and his sons and declaring that he would never reconcile with the Eastern Roman Empire.

He emphasized to the visiting citizens the strength of the Venetian combined fleet, calling it the "Invincible Fleet."

On June 6, the Venetian Armada marched towards the city of Auron on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

The commander of the Aulon Military District, Maruna, summoned the district's border guards and local militia, and fought hard for three days with the Venetian mercenaries. In the end, they were defeated and evacuated the city of Aulon and went to Emperor Isaac's Castle in the eastern mountains to rest and try to hold on.

After a short rest in the city of Aulon, Marshal Colleoni, the commander of the Venetian mercenaries, led his troops to approach Emperor Isaac's Castle and brought in artillery to bombard the city walls. The last fortress of the Aulon military district was in danger.

After receiving the call for help, the Ioannina Military District and the Principality of Epirus assembled troops in the city of Ioannina, led by Leonardo Toco, and rushed to rescue Emperor Isaac's Castle.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Marshal Colleoni withdrew his troops and returned to Auron. After removing the thorn under its nose, the Venetian Fleet headed south from Auron, crossed the Strait of Otranto, and entered the eastern Mediterranean.

At the same time, Isaac and Prime Minister Isurter stood on the dock of the Carthaginian naval port, quietly watching the warships weigh anchor and set sail.

These warships included the Mediterranean Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the Fleet of the Kingdom of Naples and the Genoese Near East Fleet controlled by the Gattiglusio family. All in all, there were an astonishing two hundred ships.

Among them, there were six carracks, which were the main force, but they were still far inferior to the twelve ships of the Venetian Armada.

"Your Majesty, all the fire warships, including the Virgin Mary, have been repaired and re-launched, and the slaves on board have been replenished."

"However, as the prime minister, I still have to remind you that the Venetians are not like the Berbers. They are the real overlords of the sea and will definitely take countermeasures."

"If you place your hopes for a decisive battle on the fire ship, the outcome will definitely be very ugly."

As usual, Isurt poured cold water on Israel.

"It doesn't matter. I never pinned my hopes on the fire ship."

Isaac smiled and shook his head.

"So, have you decided on a location for the final battle?"

"Is there any need to think about this? The Venetians' goal is to rescue their allies in the western Mediterranean. No matter which way they go, they cannot avoid southern Italy."

"The Strait of Messina is King Ferdinand's territory, so there is only one water route left for the Venetians."

Isaac narrowed his eyes and saw a vast blue sea with wisps of smoke covering the place where the sea and the sky met. The beautiful and rich Sicily Island was just opposite.

Strait of Tunisia.

In the U-shaped harbor of Carthage, the last huge warship filled its sails and slowly set sail. The cables and wooden boards made a unique creaking sound, like a giant beast walking out of a cave and shaking off the dust on its body.

Isaac leaped lightly onto the deck of the Marcus Aurelius, waved to the prime minister on the shore, and looked at the sparkling sea.

The sailors shouted to raise the sails, and the captain and his officers walked around the deck, swearing at the disobedient sailors.

Isaac closed his eyes and felt the bumpy waves and the salty breeze.

"Your Majesty, the fleet is in good condition. Shall we set sail at full speed?"

Captain Fidel stepped forward, stood at attention and saluted.

"Sail!"

Isaac opened his eyes and smiled.

Invincible Armada? He must never return!

(End of this chapter)