1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 264 New World Strategy

In the old Ottoman palace in Adrianople, Isaac met Christopher Columbus, who had just been appointed as a third-class senator and governor of Venezuela.

"Your Majesty, long time no see."

Columbus was obviously in a hurry, and his forehead was covered with sweat.

"What are you doing these days?"

Isaac waved his hand and the maid brought Columbus coffee.

"I first went to visit my sick godfather, and then, as you arranged, I took the sailors to rest in Constantinople."

"I found that Constantinople is more prosperous than when I last left. There are many merchants and many workshops have been opened."

Columbus smiled.

"Yes, I made some reforms, granting merchants, mine owners and workshop owners considerable power."

Isaac nodded.

"Your Majesty, you said before that our discovery is of great value, but it did not give us any direction for the next step."

"How exactly are you going to arrange the western colonies?"

Columbus asked.

Isaac heard this and fell into deep thought.

This time, Columbus deviated from his route and did not land in Brazil as Isaac had planned. Instead, he went to the Caribbean Sea, which was not a bad thing.

Of course, Columbus only touched the edge of the New World, and what he brought back was not of much value.

In Isaac's vision, the Eastern Roman Empire's colonies in the New World would be mainly divided into three parts, namely the St. Constantine colony composed of large islands such as Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Central American colony composed of Maya, Inca, and Aztec, and a small South American colony. As for North America and the rest of the South American continent, they would be divided among its allies, including Portugal.

The core of these three colonial areas is the three major civilizations in Central and South America. They are densely populated, highly civilized, very rich, with extremely abundant gold, silver and gems. They have a sound urban system and agricultural system, and do not require much investment in the resources required for initial development.

As for North America... Isaac really doesn't have the time to develop it, so he will hand it over to his allies first. It will definitely be occupied by the subsequent colonial powers in the future.

With this money from afar, Isaac could maintain a large army and continue his conquest of surrounding areas.

The money invested in the military will naturally flow into the market, thereby boosting domestic industry and agriculture.

To this end, Isaac formulated a plan in his mind.

The first step was to build the island of Cuba into a forward base, establish plantations, grow tobacco, sugar cane and coffee, obtain a large amount of funds, and lay the groundwork for subsequent conquests.

The second step is to go from Cuba to the already declining Maya and erode the Yucatan Peninsula religiously.

The third step was to use the pro-Christian civilization of the Yucatan Peninsula as a base and use absolute military superiority to destroy the rising Aztecs in one fell swoop and secure victory.

As for the farthest Inca, deal with it last.

This plan would probably take ten to twenty years. Isaac could not pin his hopes on luck like the Spaniards in the original time and space. Things like one hundred people destroying the Incas and six hundred people conquering the Aztecs were too accidental, and Isaac was unwilling to take the risk.

Of course, the natives of Mesoamerica were still playing with bronze and obsidian, and there was a gap of countless generations in military terms. They did not need too many soldiers, and it would not slow down Isaac's conquest of the Ottomans.

A forward port in Cuba, fifteen ships, and twelve hundred well-trained sailors armed with iron tools and muskets were enough.

"After a few days, you will take a larger fleet to Cuba again to completely pacify the area. At the same time, you can also find out the surrounding situation and draw a map."

Columbus nodded and thought about it.

"Your Majesty, I actually have a good idea about pacifying Cuba and the other large islands."

"Go ahead."

Isaac responded with a smile.

"According to my observation, the natives have very low resistance to diseases. Some of them started to get sick as soon as they came into contact with us. They had a hard time getting even the most basic cold. Some islands even started to have smallpox outbreaks."

Columbus pondered.

"We can use this to place felts, clothes and other daily necessities contaminated with smallpox patients at crowded places such as water sources, so that they can receive God's punishment."

Seeing that Isaac didn't say anything, Columbus shrugged.

"Your Majesty, from what I've observed, those natives are a bunch of barbarians, not even worthy of being called human beings. Not to mention the Caribbean cannibals, even the Tainos are practicing human sacrifice, they're just a little better."

"This is the conquest of barbarism by civilization. God will bless us."

Isaac sighed slightly when he heard this.

Indians did perform human sacrifices, and many tribes liked to skin and eat human flesh, which was indeed very barbaric in the eyes of the Old World civilization in the 15th century.

However, Isaac was actually very clear that they were actually quite different from the African tribes. They were a fully formed civilization, but their history was about two thousand years later than the mainstream civilization of the Old World.

Their ancestors may have come from Siberia, and when they came to Central and South America and began to develop, they were already two thousand years behind other civilizations. This was an objective condition and not entirely their own fault.

Of course, even compared with the major mainstream civilizations two thousand years ago, they are still more barbaric.

Two thousand years ago, the major mainstream civilizations in the Old World had basically abolished this primitive remnant and began to use livestock, food and pottery figurines for sacrifices. Human sacrifice was strictly prohibited.

Going back further, the Shang Dynasty in the East also practiced human sacrifices, but they only sacrificed more than 10,000 people in a period of several hundred years, and the largest number of sacrifices was only a few hundred people, which was far from the scale of the three major civilizations in Central and South America.

However, the three major civilizations in Central and South America were very developed in agriculture, politics and urban construction, and they fed a population of tens of millions by growing corn and other grains. The Aztec capital was even larger in population than any city in Europe, including Constantinople.

They also independently invented papermaking, had their own language and writing, and had a tradition of using writing to record historical materials. In this regard, they were definitely ahead of many Old World civilizations.

In the original time and space, the Spanish colonists relied on absolute military suppression and extremely good luck to destroy the three major civilizations in a very short period of time, and then relied on diseases such as smallpox brought from the Old World to slaughter a considerable number of Central Americans.

Because Central America was isolated from mainstream civilization, they had never been exposed to various diseases from the Old World and had no resistance to these diseases, resulting in an extremely high mortality rate.

In the Old World, smallpox had a mortality rate of only 20 percent, but among Native Americans, it was nearly 90 percent.

Of course, this is also mutual, and certain diseases in the New World will also be transmitted to the Old World, such as the infamous syphilis.

As long as Isaac wants to occupy the three major civilizations of Central and South America and destroy the old order, the diseases of Eurasia will naturally be spread there. This has nothing to do with Isaac's personal wishes.

Isaac thought about it and spoke.

"Columbus, remember, we are here to make money, not to kill people. Killing is just a means, not an end."

"Jesus Christ taught us that when we face lambs who have temporarily strayed from the right path, we should lead them back to the right path instead of just slaughtering them."

"We need labor in the colonies. If we kill all the natives, who will farm for us?"

In the original time and space, the colonists did wipe out most of the indigenous people, and then introduced black slaves from Africa to serve as cheap labor, transported goods through the Atlantic circulation, and accumulated wealth. This is the triangular trade.

From a purely interest perspective, African blacks are actually not as good as Native Americans. They cannot match the latter in farming technology or docility. They cannot do many things and can only do simple jobs.

"Columbus, have you ever thought that if we could convert these natives to Orthodox Christians and have them join our family, it would be a great act of kindness, and even Jesus Christ would bless us."

Isaac groaned.

In Isaac's view, American civilization was very backward, its belief system was very primitive, and it had no ability to resist the well-developed Christianity.

If these people could be utilized and converted into Greek-speaking mixed-race Romans who believed in the Orthodox Church over a period of one to two hundred years through missionary work and marriage, they might be able to solve the problem of manpower shortage in the Eastern Empire. It would be very difficult to assimilate an Arab into a Roman, because their culture and beliefs were already formed, and their level of civilization was no less than that of Christian civilization, so it was impossible to complete the transformation in a short period of time.

However, it is much easier to transform a Native American into a Roman. This is the inherent attraction of developed civilizations to later ones.

A blank piece of paper is good for painting.

As for their own backward culture, it must be eliminated. Just refer to the Spaniards, and there is no need to put in too much effort.

The biggest problem was disease, which Isaac was going to get as soon as Europeans started coming into America in large numbers, whether they wanted it or not.

Of course, there is a way.

You know, Isaac is the inventor of cowpox in this dimension and has saved countless lives!

By now, the cowpox vaccination method had spread to half of Europe, but only a few countries, such as the Eastern Roman Empire, had made universal vaccination a national policy. Egypt, an old plague area, still saw smallpox outbreaks from time to time.

Of course, the national policy is just a document. The current administrative capacity cannot complete universal vaccination, and it is impossible to completely eliminate the virus.

"Columbus, let me tell you, I have an idea."

Isaac looked at Columbus.

"First, when you go to Cuba next time, use your prestige and influence to spread the theory of annihilation. Tell the natives that their gods have abandoned them and will soon send down a wave of annihilation punishment that will kill most of the population."

"You could describe the symptoms of smallpox in more detail to make it more credible."

"Second, tell them that only the one true God can save them, and that as long as they convert to God, obey Rome, and accept the blessing of vaccination, they can avoid this disaster."

"They had never seen cattle from the Old World before, so they certainly wouldn't have doubted it, and might even have worshipped it as a sacred animal."

"Third, spread the plague on several cannibal islands, predicted it in advance, and took the Taino chief to watch, causing panic."

“Fourth, they were required to convert en masse and be vaccinated with cowpox, so as to spread the plague after the end.”

"In this way, those who converted to Christianity survived, while those who refused to change their ways died of diseases. Those people were very superstitious, and soon more and more people would become Orthodox Christians."

Isaac smiled.

"What do you think of this approach?"

"Your Majesty is really brilliant. I never expected that."

After hearing this, Columbus was amazed.

"However, this plan requires the cooperation of many people. We also need to win over a group of converted chiefs in advance. I can't do it alone."

"Don't worry, I will send people to support you, including a large number of priests and doctors, and your ships must also carry a large number of cattle."

Isaac nodded.

"I suggest you choose an isolated island with abundant water and grass as a breeding ground and gathering area for the cattle. When everything is ready, bring the infected cattle there to infect the entire herd, thus getting a lot of cowpox."

"In addition to cattle, sheep can also be used."

"This will probably require two or three fleets. I will assign you at least forty ships."

“We strive to complete the entire plan within one year.”

The speed of navigation in the Atlantic Ocean is very fast. When the sea route is mature, it will only take more than a month to sail from the Governorate of St. Nicholas to the Antilles, and a year will be enough.

"Your Majesty, is it really worth it for these natives?"

Columbus asked doubtfully.

Isaac smiled but said nothing.

Of course it is worth it. There are tens of millions of people who can be put to good use.

If Cuba's plan succeeds, Isaac can let the Cuban natives who have converted to Orthodoxy take these "miracles" to the three major civilizations in Central and South America, use their own experience to publicize this "doomsday theory", guide them to convert, and then gradually promote the Cuban model in Central and South America.

As for those who stick to their original beliefs and are unwilling to change, I am sorry.

Of course, this plan has flaws. It is impossible to convince all the indigenous people. A large number of indigenous people will still be infected and die from the viruses carried by the colonists.

However, the more they died, the more real the demise theory woven by Isaac became, and the more natives abandoned Quetzalcoatl and converted to Jesus Christ.

What? You said you converted to Christianity, got vaccinated, and still died of some other disease?
It must be that you are not sincere enough, why did others survive? Go back and think about it carefully, whether you still believe in Quetzalcoatl in secret.

Isaac predicted that if this plan could be implemented perfectly, the three major civilizations in Central and South America would have half the number of deaths due to his intervention compared to the original time and space, and he could gain a large number of devout Christians, even more devout than the old Romans.

Later, Isaac would send a large number of priests to Central and South America to tell the indigenous people that Greek was the language of Jesus Christ and that the Roman emperor was the projection of Jesus Christ on earth. If they wanted to be completely free from disaster, they must learn Greek as soon as possible and be loyal to the Roman emperor.

In order to arouse the missionary fanaticism of the clergy, Isaac planned to divide the land of the New World into parishes according to the Catholic system. The more people you can convert, the more church property you can obtain and the more religious taxes you can collect.

If Isaac could gradually complete the assimilation of the Native Americans within one hundred to two hundred years, making them believe in Orthodox Christianity and speak Greek, the centripetal force of the Central American colonies, which were mainly composed of superstitious people, towards the empire would be very strong, and even the late-developing colonial powers would find it difficult to make any changes.

In the future, when the indigenous people suffer from famine and food shortages, there will be no need to fight wreath wars or conduct large-scale human sacrifices to eliminate the excess population. Just come to Anatolia and North Africa. The emperor loves you.

"Columbus, if our plan comes true in the future and they believe in the Orthodox Church and speak Greek, then we can't treat them too badly, at least we can't treat them the same way we treat black slaves."

Isaac said.

"As for free labor, I will launch the Great Turkish War in a few years, and there will be no shortage of slaves then."

In the original time and space, the reason why European colonists were willing to use African slaves was not only because of the simplicity of shipping and the low price, but also because of another very important reason.

They had no white slaves to use.

When European colonists from the original time and space entered America in large numbers, the white slave trade was firmly controlled by Muslims, whether in the Black Sea or the Mediterranean. It was not that Christians liked black people, but that they had no other choice.

However, Isaac will launch a war against the Near East in the future, and there will be all kinds of white slaves, including Turks, Arabs, Turkmen... and their prices will not be much more expensive than black slaves.

Of course, black slaves are definitely indispensable. Some gold, silver and gems are buried in the tropical rainforest, and only black slaves can resist those diseases.

The difficult-to-assimilate Muslims were driven out of Anatolia, and the easily-assimilated Native Americans were moved in to fill the living space left by them, thus achieving a round of population replacement.

The total population of the three major civilizations in Central and South America plus the surrounding small civilizations could reach 40 million. As long as two million Orthodox, Greek-speaking "new Romans" could arrive in Anatolia and, after intermarriage and intermarriage, their former selves would be completely unrecognizable, the population pressure on Isaac would be greatly reduced.

Furthermore, the benefits of colonial assimilation are long-lasting. Even if they are inevitably independent in the end, they will still feel a centripetal force and sense of belonging to the Eastern Roman Empire, which speaks the same Greek and believes in the same Orthodox Christianity.

America has so much wealth that it cannot be used for extravagance. It is only appropriate to use it for the national issue of population replacement and national assimilation.

This major project will continue for hundreds of years. As long as future generations can see the tremendous energy contained in this plan, it will never be stopped easily.

In the original time and space, Spain and Portugal treated the Native Americans as livestock, but even so, they eventually created a "Latin American" ethnic group that believed in Catholicism and spoke Spanish and Portuguese. There was no reason why Isaac could not do the same.

After a long period of interbreeding, the Native Americans would be completely Roman, and they themselves would despise their ancestors who were keen on human sacrifice and flaying.

This is the great plan that Isaac has been planning for a long time and will continue to implement.

New World - The Great Türkiye Project.

(End of this chapter)