1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 358 City of Gold
On the vast plateau, a large river flows southwest. The river water is dull gray and winds inconspicuously on the yellow-green land.

Upstream of the river, a new small town is located on the high ground. The town has no city walls and the urban planning seems chaotic. Various houses and tents are scattered on several streets around the small church.

Located in southern Africa, this small town belongs to the New Thrace Colony and is the first and only city established by Eastern Roman immigrants on the South African Plateau.

New Thrace was the longest-developed large colony of the Eastern Roman Empire, and also the large colony with the largest number of immigrants. Hundreds of people were exiled here every year. They had to face ferocious beasts, unpredictable weather, and difficult to interact with indigenous people. The mortality rate of the first few batches of exiles was very high, with almost only one in ten surviving.

However, with the increase in the number of exiles, the situation changed a lot. Farmlands were reclaimed, manors were established, towns and ports were built, the once ferocious and brutal man-eating beasts fell under the muskets, the dense forests that were once full of unknown diseases were burned clean, and the once savage Khoisan natives gradually gave up their life of eating raw meat and drinking blood under the leadership of priests, and voluntarily or forcibly joined the civilized world.

Advances in medicine greatly reduced the mortality rate of Eastern Roman immigrants. The pioneers who had just arrived in New Thrace probably could not afford the expensive cinchona bark, but the antimalarial herbs from the East perfectly solved this problem. The New Thrace government planted a large amount of Artemisia annua near the port of New Thrace, and the immigrants would also carry some herbal seeds with them and plant them wherever they went.

Now, the entire New Thrace colony has a registered population of more than 30,000, including Eastern Roman exiles, mixed-race descendants of exiles and local indigenous peoples, and Khoisan converts to Orthodoxy. More than half of the population is distributed along the southwest coast.

Due to the vast land and sparse population, intensive farming does not exist in New Thrace at all. Everyone has a huge amount of land, and there is no contradiction between people and land. Everyone only chooses the best land to occupy, and each settlement is far away from each other. This model has greatly increased the speed of New Thrace's territorial expansion. In the past twenty years, the New Thrace colony has extended to the interior of the plateau, although most of the place is uninhabited area.

However, the overly scattered settlements also made the vast countryside of New Thrace a wild and lawless place. Law and order only existed in a few large cities on the southwest coast. In the wilderness outside the cities, unruly people rode past on horseback waving muskets, and cowboys drove herds of cattle and sheep in groups of three or two.

The New Thracian government and the Eastern Roman Empire were powerless to do anything about this situation. They could neither manage it nor wanted to. For the capitalists and merchants in the port of New Thracian and Constantinople, these things had nothing to do with the overall situation.

A few years ago, under the instructions of the central government of the empire, an official expedition team climbed onto the South African plateau. According to a rough map, they established a prospecting site near a river in the north of the plateau. Several large tribes that converted to Orthodoxy also followed the expedition team and moved here to serve as an outer barrier.

Later, a large amount of gold was soon discovered at this prospecting site, with dozens of large and small gold mines distributed around it. In addition to gold mines, there were also dozens of precious minerals. The prospecting site was quickly upgraded to a city and directly governed by the New Thracian government.

The river next to the city was named "Val River" because it was gray during flood season. Since many of the first residents were named John, the city was named "Johannesburg".

Johannesburg is far away from other settlements. Apart from gold ore, the local area produces almost nothing else. The food it relies on is provided by the affiliated Khoisan tribes who have converted to Orthodoxy. Every year, two caravans come here from the port of New Thrace to exchange clothes, weapons and tools for gold in the hands of gold diggers.

Due to its long distance, although Johannesburg is known as the "City of Gold", the amount of gold it can provide to the imperial government every year is not that much, and the number of gold diggers it can attract is far less than that of Brazil's Black Gold City. However, with the increase in population and the expansion of population gathering areas, one day it will develop into a famous big city.

A caravan travels on the dirt road leading to Johannesburg. This area has a subtropical climate, and even in the winter in the southern hemisphere, the temperature in Johannesburg is still moderate.

There were many guards on both sides of the caravan. They were well-equipped, and each of them carried a lightweight musket. There was also a group of Khoisan servants in front and behind the caravan. They had no muskets, but were only equipped with some iron swords. Their fighting power was not strong, but in this land, this was completely enough.

If this was on the Mexican plateau or in Guinea, this caravan would certainly not dare to cross the vast uninhabited area in such a high-profile manner. Although the natives were backward, as long as they united, they could still completely swallow up the small number of colonists with their absolute numerical advantage.

However, the indigenous people of South Africa are the Khoisan, a race with yellowish skin. They have no unified language, no written language, no iron tools, no agricultural technology, and they don't even understand the tribal system. They are still in the most primitive clan era. Due to extremely backward productivity and organizational models, their population is not large, and their settlements are also scattered. There is not a trace of "brotherhood" between the clans. They admire the strong and bully the weak. When faced with Eastern Roman immigrants from afar, their first reaction is to compromise, surrender, seek asylum, and attack other clans, rather than unite, resist, and share a common enemy.

Furthermore, the Khoisan people of South Africa face a bigger opponent - the Bantu blacks.

The Bantu people can be described as the Indo-Europeans of sub-Saharan Africa. They originally lived in central Africa. Because they acquired iron technology and farming technology from the outside world, they left the surrounding tribes far behind at all levels and gradually expanded from Central Africa to the surrounding areas, annihilating other tribes, killing men, and abducting women. Many indigenous African races were eliminated and devoured by the Bantu people before the arrival of Arabs and Europeans.

Since the Bantu were strong in combat and highly civilized, while the Khoisan were weak in combat and less civilized, the New Thracian government chose to support and assimilate the Khoisan, signed protection agreements with them, helped them deal with the southward migration of the Bantu tribes, and in the process gradually introduced them to the embrace of Orthodox Christianity and the Greek language.

Johannesburg is located on the front line of the Bantu people's migration southward. There are already many Bantu tribes nearby, and the "protection agreement" for the Khoisan people is widely praised among them.

Thanks to the protection of priests, a Khoisan tribe could not obtain true equality after converting to Orthodoxy, but at least it could be regarded as a member of an acceptable community. No one would carry out large-scale massacres, and order would still exist, even if it was very fragile.

If a Khoisan tribe was defeated by a Bantu tribe, they would not even have the chance to defend themselves, as everything from food to artwork to population would become their spoils.

In the middle of the caravan, a middle-aged man wearing glasses was riding on a horse. Unlike the others who were absent-minded or nervous, he looked around with interest, and from time to time urged his horse to pick up a few stones from the hillside by the road and put them into the cloth bag he carried with him.

"What exactly are you looking for, Mr. Gustavo?"

When Gustavo broke away from the group for the fifth time and hurriedly caught up, a young Khoisan chief couldn't help but look at him.

"There is no gold here. We explored it when we built the dirt road."

"You are not like those newcomers who think that New Thrace is all gold, are you?"

"Gold? Ha."

Gustavo shook his head.

"I am not so vulgar. To me, gold is just a soft and stable metal. It will not change even under the burning of fire."

"Since you know I'm here to explore for minerals, and you also know this is the emperor's intention, then cooperate with me. This matter has nothing to do with you, so there's no need to question it."

"I am responsible for the safety of the entire mining industry in Johannesburg. I will crack down on any illegal mining or theft of minerals. How can you say it has nothing to do with me?"

The young man snorted.

"Besides, although you carry the royal documents and have the trust of the New Thrace United Chamber of Commerce, you are a German after all. I cannot trust you completely."

"Oh?"

Gustavo was so angry that he laughed.

"You know it quite well."

"Gustavo, 45 years old, born in the Electorate of Saxony in the German Empire, graduated from the University of Siena. Your ancestors were local miners, but later their families were destroyed in the Hussite War. When you were young, you witnessed the miserable conditions of the workers in the German mines. You have repeatedly asked the Elector of Saxony for funding to study minerals and explore mining and smelting methods that are less harmful to the workers, but the Elector of Saxony is obviously not interested in this."

"So, you came to the East Empire two years ago and were employed by the Fugel Mining Group. You voluntarily resigned a year ago and were hired by the Empire Mining Exploration Team."

The young man said simply.

"Your personal information is in our control long before you arrive."

Gustavo was stunned.

"I never thought that even in such a wild place, there would be someone like you who loves to argue."

"My name is Shamon. My father is a Roman and my mother is a Khoisan. I grew up in the empire. I returned to my father's tribe three years ago and came to Johannesburg with the original expedition."

Shamon said.

"From now on, please do not call me a Khoisan or a great chieftain. All tribal leaders who pledged loyalty to the emperor were given the title of tribune."

"Also, don't look at me like that just because of my yellowish skin color. I'm an Orthodox Christian and I speak Greek better than you. If a conflict breaks out between the two of us on the streets of Constantinople, the citizens of Constantinople will definitely support me. Do you believe it?"

Shamon looked at Gustavo defiantly.

"I know that you Germans are very talented in mining. We did learn our mining model from you. I admire you for being willing to come here for your ideals."

"But since you are here, you must abide by our rules."

Gustavo rolled his eyes and shook his head. He really didn't want to haggle with this hot-blooded young man.

"Well, since you are in charge of mine safety, you must know something about minerals. There are some things I need to consult you about."

Gustavo quickly changed his mind and searched in his bag.

“Is this common here?”

This is an ordinary stone, but there are a lot of filamentous substances on it, gathered into clusters.

"Asbestos? Take it away."

Shamon frowned.

"Aren't you studying mining? Haven't you read the recently published Imperial Mineral Handbook? Don't you know that you can't touch this thing casually?"

"Of course I have. Can you guess who wrote the third chapter?"

Gustavo curled his lips.

"The Emperor told the mining exploration team not to touch asbestos casually. Why do you think that was the case?"

“Isn’t this a curse from the devil?”

Shamon said with a look of taboo.

In order to improve the quality of citizens and avoid unnecessary casualties from diseases, the Imperial Ministry of Education once published a number of educational pamphlets on various aspects of life, and required priests to explain to the people how to boil water, eat cooked food, kill insects and mosquitoes, pay attention to hygiene, plant potatoes in the mountains and hills, and plant staple food in the plains and lowlands... everything was clear about what could be done and what could not be done.

"The Imperial Mining Manual" is one of them. The Eastern Roman Empire encouraged people to explore for minerals. Due to the vast land and sparse population, in order to avoid underreporting, all the minerals explored by the people in their own fields belonged to themselves. After registering and obtaining a certificate, they could rent, sell or mine them independently and only had to pay taxes.

For those large mineral deposits accidentally discovered by the public, the imperial government will not forcibly demand them, but will levy huge taxes, which will increase gradually with the idle time and degree of idleness. If you can afford it, you can do whatever you want, but if you can't afford it, everything will be confiscated.

The manual also provides detailed descriptions of hazardous minerals, and recommends that private or small mining companies do not mine them on their own. Galena, arsenic, mercury, asbestos, etc. are all included in the list.

Ordinary people obviously do not understand or want to understand those profound scientific principles. In order to speed up the promotion, the government made all the complex principles clear when compiling pamphlets - what you are allowed to do is God's arrangement, and what you are not allowed to do is the devil's temptation.

"No, the first research I conducted in the Eastern Empire was on asbestos. The emperor gave me some advice and I did some research on it."

Gustavo adjusted his glasses.

"According to research, asbestos velvet is too fine, and a lot of dust is generated during the mining process, which often accidentally enters the mouth and nose. Over time, it can easily lead to breathing difficulties and a series of diseases."

"But it is undeniable that asbestos is perhaps the only non-plant fiber with special properties that can be used to make special fabrics, such as fireproof cloth, which the ancient Egyptians used to make the pharaoh's shroud."

"One of my research topics at the University of Constantinople is new methods of extracting asbestos, funded by the Royal Textile Corporation, and two of my students are developing a mask that can effectively protect against asbestos dust."

"If you want asbestos, order it from Johannesburg. There are a lot of asbestos mines here."

Shamon shrugged.

"You don't need to go to great lengths to study how to prevent dust. Just use Bantu slaves. We have plenty of them."

Gustavo frowned and said nothing when he heard this.

"Sir, I know you sympathize with the miners and want to use advanced technology to improve their working conditions, but please don't abuse this sympathy on the Bantu people."

Shamon glanced at him and said lightly.

"They expanded rapidly with technology that was ahead of other tribes, destroying countless tribes until they encountered the Romans, who had more advanced technology."

"I heard from the tribal elders that many years ago, the entire southern Africa was inhabited by brown and yellow people, but now more than half of them have turned black."

"The Roma in Johannesburg rarely killed the Bantu people. It was usually the Khoisan who did it, and the priests couldn't stop them."

"When a Khoisan tribe signed a protection agreement, the first request they made to the Empire was not for food and tools, but to help them wipe out the neighboring Bantu tribes. Guess why?"

"The Bantu were also invaders, not indigenous peoples. They were not innocent, they just happened to be the losers."

Shamon ended the argument indifferently and did not agree with Gustavo's attitude.

"Your Majesty believes that this topic is meaningful. This type of mask will definitely have more uses in the future, such as firefighting and chemical experiment protection."

Gustavo sighed.

"Well, these things have nothing to do with me. Let's get back to the minerals."

The small town was just around the corner, and Gustav took out a turquoise crystal stone.

"This is fluorite. Do you have a lot of it here?"

“There are a lot of them. Some Khoisan tribes will make them into handicrafts, but their value is not very high. They are far inferior to high-end gemstones such as diamonds and jade.”

Shamon said.

"Why, are you interested in this kind of gadget?" "Well, we are researching better methods for metal smelting. Fluorite may be able to bring about the next metallurgical revolution."

Gustavo stroked the rough stone.

"We found that fluorite is a very good smelting additive that can effectively remove impurities. At the same flame temperature, the iron and copper smelted with fluorite are purer."

"In addition, fluorite can be used to make lenses and glass, and can also be used as an additive in ceramic manufacturing. It has a wide range of uses."

"The Emperor organized this exploration team with two main goals, and fluorite is one of them."

"I understand."

Shamon thought about it.

"There is a lot of fluorite in Johannesburg. Mining some shallow veins does not require any technology. We can offer rewards to surrounding tribes and ask them to mine for us. We will directly purchase it with food."

"By the way, isn't there any fluorite in the empire?"

Shamon looked at Gustavo.

"Yes, but very little."

Gustavo said helplessly.

"Fluorite has long been recorded throughout the Mediterranean world, with records of its use in ancient Rome, but it was mainly sourced from England at the time."

"The Greek peninsula has a good climate, plenty of water and heat, and a decent agricultural potential. At least it can be self-sufficient, but when it comes to minerals... Sigh."

"For a country whose core territory is the two banks of the Aegean Sea, its greatest advantages are its winding coastline, abundant deep-water ports, and a large number of skilled sailors."

Gustavo smiled.

"Others often say that the prosperity and strength of the Eastern Empire today is entirely based on its vast colonies and developed overseas trade. In my opinion, this is the only way to become a powerful country."

"Agriculture is not as good as France, mining is not as good as Germany, and animal husbandry is not as good as Spain and England. The former Eastern Empire relied on the Silk Road, but now, the Silk Road is no longer there."

The caravan arrived at the edge of the city, and the patrolling cavalry recognized them and rushed over to negotiate.

When the residents saw the Chamber of Commerce’s flag, they immediately came forward, cheering, glancing at the boxes of merchandise, and waving their gold.

In this wild land, the most valuable things are commodities, and the cheapest thing is gold.

"By the way, you just said that fluorite is one of the two main purposes. What's the other one?"

Shamon asked loudly while greeting the crowd.

"We also have to explore the saltpeter mines near Johannesburg. That's our second goal."

Gustav responded.

"I remember there are some saltpeter mines here, too?"

"Saltpeter? This kind of thing should be very common, right?"

Shamon was stunned for a moment.

"There is no shortage of saltpeter in the empire."

"No, saltpeter is also different. A few years ago, some alchemists obtained two different crystals through dissolution and extraction. One of them is easily affected by moisture, and the other is not."

Gustav explained.

"Among general gunpowders, the second type, which is not easily affected by moisture, accounts for the vast majority. This type of gunpowder is more stable."

"But they also found that when the amount of the first crystal was increased moderately, the power of the gunpowder increased significantly."

"Different saltpeters make different gunpowders, that's the difference."

Gustavo said.

"Also, the charcoal and sulfur content also affects the performance of the gunpowder, which is very important."

"The higher the charcoal content, the more slowly the gunpowder tends to burn, but once the sulfur content reaches a certain level, the gunpowder explodes violently and can be used for mining and destroying city walls."

"In addition to sulfuric acid, nitric acid and phosphate fertilizers, the chemistry departments of several universities are almost entirely devoted to the study of gunpowder."

Gustavo spread his hands.

"We have actually been looking for the best saltpeter veins. Your Majesty said there are a lot of them in South America, but we can't get any of them now."

"Okay, I will fully cooperate with you."

Shamon nodded.

"Smelting and gunpowder, all for the sake of war."

"Of course, your majesty is at war."

Gustavo said.

"These two technologies are part of a larger plan that started a long time ago, and we are all just a tiny part of it."

"In any case, King of Kings, bless my king."

Gustavo crossed himself.

……

Endless military tents were lined up along the river valley, and military flags fluttered in the strong summer breeze, with red and yellow stripes looking bright and vivid.

Obviously, this military camp belonged to the Kingdom of Aragon, an important force on the Iberian Peninsula.

In the central camp, Fernando looked at the pile of military newspapers on the table and closed his eyes in boredom.

In the past few years, King Juan II of Aragon has grown older, and Fernando has gradually taken over domestic and foreign affairs. With the support of his father, the young and energetic Fernando started his own road to power. It was not until then that Fernando truly understood how bad the mess his father left him was.

The disunited Navarre, the devastated Catalonia, Valencia whose income had plummeted due to the Granada War, the small and sparsely populated Sardinia, and Sicily which was under fierce attack. In Fernando's opinion, there were few places in the entire United Kingdom that were worry-free.

Many people blame Juan II for the rapid decline of the Kingdom of Aragon in a very short period of time, which is indeed the case. But no matter how others blame and resent, Fernando always has his grievances to answer.

This is because everything Juan II did over the years was basically for Fernando.

Not being the eldest son, not being the direct heir to Navarre, not being the people's favorite heir, Fernando had to resort to conspiracy and civil war if he wanted to ascend to the throne.

As the situation had developed to this point, Juan II had helped Fernando clear all obstacles before his succession. His more legitimate brothers and sisters had all died, and Fernando had become the only male heir to the United Kingdom of Aragon.

Fernando could not change the past, but he had to deal with the current crisis. He had to strive for the throne of Castile, which was not only related to the honor and disgrace of the Trastamara family, but also to his own dignity and honor.

Now, he has married the Kingdom of France, and Louis XI has become his father-in-law. Fernando certainly would not completely trust this treacherous and cunning father-in-law, but he had to admit that in today's Mediterranean world, Louis XI was the only Catholic monarch who had the ability and courage to confront the Eastern Roman Empire head-on.

No matter how strong the Eastern Roman Empire's navy was, it could not pose a threat to the core areas of France. No matter how rampant the Eastern Roman Empire's capital power in the Mediterranean world was, it probably would not affect the citizen workshops in France. France's army was enough to defend its territory, and France's large population also gave them greater war potential.

However, France had not yet been unified at that time. Although the Duke of Burgundy had set his sights on the Duchy of Lorraine and the Swiss Confederation, they did not mind causing trouble for Louis XI in other places.

Not long ago, King Edward IV of England reiterated the French claim to threaten Calais, saying that the English had no intention of a full-scale war, they just wanted to take the opportunity to blackmail someone.

Louis XI once again relied on his diplomatic skills to solve this problem and successfully obtained Edward IV's withdrawal through the exchange of interests.

In addition, Louis XI took this opportunity to sever the alliance between the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Burgundy, and arranged a marriage between his children and Edward IV, further isolating Charles the Bold.

To a certain extent, Louis XI had completely solved the problems left over from the Hundred Years' War between England and France more thoroughly than his father had.

In this battle for the throne, Ferdinand received the "strong support" of Louis XI. He sent a total of 5,000 soldiers to the Iberian Peninsula, including a 1,000-man imperial company, which was very powerful.

In order to further gain the support of France, Fernando also made some concessions on the throne of Navarre, allowing his half-sister Leonor to bring the inheritance right of the throne of Navarre to the Foix family in France, and thus also received the support of the Count of Foix.

At present, Fernando has used various means to gather an army of nearly 30,000 people, including the royal private army, the nobles' private army, several knightly orders, French reinforcements and conscripts from various places. Although they are of varying quality and the dispatch is chaotic, they are ultimately capable of fighting and have the bargaining chips to compete for the throne.

Fernando was very nervous when he led the army to war for the first time. The army was too complex and he dared not delegate power to his subordinates. He could only appease the soldiers at all times, dispatch food and fodder, and summarize information. Military reports came like pieces of paper, which put him under great pressure.

"Your Highness!"

There was the sound of hurried footsteps, and a knight came into Fernando's tent, interrupting his thoughts.

"Your Highness, I received a letter from Sicily. It contains one piece of good news and one piece of bad news."

the knight said quickly.

"The good news is that Palermo and Messina are very stable, the local chaos has been basically quelled, and the city defenses are very strong."

"Yeah, okay, what else?"

Fernando braced himself.

"The bad news is that Syracuse has fallen."

The knight said.

"The Greeks immediately organized the Autonomous Province of Sicily, and His Holiness did not raise any objections."

After a long silence, Fernando sighed.

"Send them a message, asking them to defend Messina and Palermo and use the mountains to delay the enemy's forces."

"Besides that, we can't control anything else."

"Right now, Castile is the top priority. Once the war here is over, Sicily will be put on the agenda."

Fernando stood up and patted the knight on the shoulder.

"The Greeks' rule in Iberia is not actually stable. Most of the forces are only cooperating with them with a skeptical attitude. There is no loyalty at all. They will be defeated in one defeat and return to their original form."

"I plan to march south to Toledo immediately. Once we take Toledo and defeat Justinian, the Greeks will be completely defeated in Iberia."

"Success or failure depends on this one move, hurry up and prepare."

……

In the summer of 1475, Prince Ferdinand of Aragon assembled an army of nearly and marched southward in a mighty force, aiming directly at the city of Toledo.

At the same time, the Carlist Party also marched north from Granada, their target also being the city of Toledo.

The two armies, one in the south and one in the north, simultaneously advanced rapidly towards Toledo, the capital of Castile. The bells of war rang slowly around this thousand-year-old capital.

(End of this chapter)