1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 382 The Tea Thief
The dark clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, the storm on the sea blew away, the sea calmed down, and the warm sun of late spring shone on the deck. The sailors on the ship breathed a sigh of relief, and many passengers folded their hands and prayed for safety.

This is a distinctive oriental medium-sized sailing ship with a pointed bow and a wide stern, a pointed bottom and a wide top, upturned ends, and a high bow and stern. It has a certain ocean-going capability, but the hull is not tall, and it is obviously difficult to install a large number of broadside guns. If a naval battle occurs, the sailors will attack the enemy ships on the deck with bows, crossbows, stones and muskets.

This is a Fu ship, also known as the "Fujian ship", one of the three major types of ancient oriental sailing ships. It was popular in the Eastern dynasties and within the radiation range of the Eastern dynasties. It is the most suitable one for ocean voyages among the three major types of ships, and it is also the most numerous type of sailing ship in Zheng He's fleet.

A few months ago, this blessed ship was once a member of the private fleet of the Sultan of Malacca. It was named "Baybars" by the Sultan to commemorate his respected Muslim warrior, the most powerful monarch of the Mamluk dynasty, Sultan Baibars.

However, a few months later, the ship had become part of the Eastern Roman Empire's Malacca merchant fleet, and Albuquerque handed it over to local forces for management.

On the deck of the Fu ship, Robert, still disguised as an Arab, was pale and lying on the side of the ship, breathing in the fresh air. The two-month arduous sea journey made the horticulturist feel chest tightness and shortness of breath. Looking at the dizzying ocean, he once again recalled the tragic situation in Malacca City.

In early 1477, Sultan Mansour Shah of Malacca died of illness, marking the end of Malacca's golden age.

While domestic forces were fighting for power, the Governor of East India of the Eastern Roman Empire, Albuquerque, led more than 30 Eastern Roman warships and more than 40 Arab sailboats into the Strait of Malacca, lined up outside the city of Malacca, prohibited any ships from entering or leaving, and demanded that the city of Malacca hand over all the perpetrators and carry out a thorough "de-Islamization."

When the Eastern Roman Empire's powerful ships and guns finally loomed over their heads, the Malacca royal family was suddenly in a panic. The respected old prime minister Perak Dun rectified the situation and sent envoys to Albuquerque's flagship Fleur des Oceans, hoping to resolve the problem through negotiations.

At the same time, Pili Dun sent envoys to other cities, calling on them to come to Beijing to defend the king.

However, Albuquerque did not bother with the Malacca people. He simply detained the envoys and bombarded the city.

Malacca was not a fortified city, but successive sultans had built fairly good fortifications and also had a small number of firearms. In addition, they had an absolute numerical advantage and relied on the bridge over the Malacca River to block the Eastern Roman fleet from afar. They managed to stabilize the situation in the early stages of the war. The coastal areas were bombarded, but the royal palace and the main city remained impregnable.

After the initial attack was thwarted, Albuquerque turned eastward and easily occupied Singapore, a small port at the easternmost end of the Strait of Malacca, using it as an outpost for the attack on Malacca City.

Although the people of Malacca used their relatively strong national strength to hold off the initial attack, their long-standing Islamic fanaticism had already aroused resentment among many people. With the death of the powerful monarch, and amid internal and external troubles, many businessmen developed different ideas and tried to gain more benefits from this conflict.

On March 3, Albuquerque issued the Malacca Declaration in Singapore, pointing out that Muslims wearing white turbans are the scourge of Malacca City and all Muslims in Malacca City must be cleared out. But apart from them, Hindus and Buddhists can guarantee that all their interests will not be violated. Ethnic groups willing to rebel against Muslim rulers and support Christian rule will be given complete autonomy and receive better treatment than during the Muslim rule.

This declaration was quickly spread to the leaders of various ethnic groups through the secret lines that Albuquerque had planted in Malacca in advance. The Muslim rulers naturally also received a copy, and suspicion and doubt quickly grew.

For a time, ethnic and religious conflicts intensified, and many Muslim civilians vented their panic and anger on non-Muslim groups. Chaos spread, public security was disrupted, and society was in turmoil.

Then, the persecution of non-Muslims spread from the lower class to the upper class. Despite repeated dissuasion from Prime Minister Perak Dun, Muslim nobles and Muslim scholars insisted on asking the government to seize all merchant ships and merchants of non-Muslim groups to prevent them from providing support to Albuquerque.

On March 3, an Indian businessman and a Chinese businessman found Albuquerque's spies buried in the city and disguised as Arabs. On behalf of the two merchant groups, they handed him the city defense map and deployment map of Malacca, and also marked several weaknesses of the Malacca Bridge.

Seven days later, Albuquerque once again assembled his entire army and brazenly attacked the city of Malacca. He ordered all artillery to concentrate bombardment on the Malacca Bridge across the Malacca River, specifically targeting several sections of the bridge that had been rebuilt in recent years.

After nearly a whole day of bombardment, the Malacca Bridge collapsed, the East India Fleet entered the inland river, Indian and Chinese merchant ships immediately turned against them, and non-Muslim groups also chose to rebel under long-term pressure. The Malacca Sultanate was in danger.

Due to the backward military technology and military quality of Southeast Asian countries, they almost became lambs to be slaughtered when the natural barriers of the ocean and bridges no longer existed. The matchlock muskets popular in the East were no match for the arquebus. The elephant troops, which the Malacca people had high hopes for, became sitting ducks for naval guns and muskets in street fighting because of their slow movement and large size. The frightened elephants rushed around, making it difficult for the Malacca army, which had a numerical advantage, to deploy, and they were divided and defeated by the Eastern Roman sailors and non-Muslim rebels.

On the evening of March 3, the siege of Malacca was declared over. The Malacca royal family fled to different cities with the support of different forces. Albuquerque entered Malacca on the Fleur des Oceans and announced in the name of God that Malacca belonged to the great Eastern Roman Emperor and was a sacred and inseparable part of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Subsequently, Albuquerque announced the establishment of the Governorate of Malacca, which was temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of East India. He did not adopt the advice of some extreme sailors and did not burn his bridges. He still abided by the agreement with non-Muslim ethnic groups, granted them community autonomy, and allowed them to retain their own beliefs and their own culture.

In Albuquerque's view, Hinduism and Buddhism are far less offensive and aggressive than Islam, and there is no hatred between them and Christianity that has spanned thousands of years. Islam has been spreading along the Indian Ocean coast for thousands of years. If Christian forces want to maintain their power, they must win over these local religions that are also suffering from Islamic oppression.

Among them, Albuquerque particularly favored Hinduism. He believed that this religion was simply a ruling tool tailor-made for foreign rulers. The strict caste system divided the various classes of the entire ethnic group. As long as the middle and upper class Hindus could recognize the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, they would naturally help suppress the dissatisfaction of the lower class people.

However, in order to further break them up from the Malacca Sultanate, Albuquerque gave all the "glory" of clearing out Muslim gathering areas to these non-Muslim groups who were willing to compromise. He also promised to give them two-thirds of the spoils and used the captured Malacca merchant ships to establish a maritime chamber of commerce in which every local force involved in the great cleansing could participate.

Under coercion and inducement, most non-Muslim groups wielded their knives against the Muslim community. Some Muslims with weak faith were also eager to avoid disaster by converting. For a while, the entire city of Malacca became a river of blood, and dead bodies floated on the dark red water.

During that period, Robert stayed in Malacca and truly witnessed Albuquerque's ruthless methods. He saw how he maneuvered between local forces, aroused their deepest desires, provoked conflicts between them and Muslims, and pushed this bloody feast to a climax through various means. He himself did not even leave any official massacre order and never personally wielded the butcher knife against civilians.

The outcome of the matter is predictable. The Muslim regime's rule in Malacca collapsed completely. Albuquerque converted the largest mosque into St. Paul's Cathedral, and the rest of the mosques were converted into Hindu or Buddhist temples. The Eastern Roman colonists replaced the Islamic colonists and divided the heritage left by the Muslims together with the Hindu and Buddhist forces who were willing to be loyal. They sent all the rebels to see Allah, and achieved rapid stability, which was straightforward and neat.

However, for Robert, this horrific atrocity was unacceptable. He was just a botanist studying horticulture, and he was not the same kind of person as Albuquerque after all.

Later, Robert boarded the ship of the Malacca Chamber of Commerce and continued his mission. The main ship of this chamber of commerce was the oriental ship captured by the Malacca Sultanate. It was under the flag of the Malacca Governor's District and engaged in the South China Sea trade. It was actually controlled by Indian and Chinese businessmen.

These two types of merchants were the most shrewd and wealthy people in the Malacca Sultanate, and they were also the ones who suffered the most from Muslims. Albuquerque granted them trade privileges that originally belonged exclusively to the Arab Muslim merchant group, and immediately won their support.

Robert knew that most of these Indians were Hindus from southern India, and the beliefs of the Chinese community were very diverse. Although some big businessmen had been "baptized and converted" to please the rulers, they only added a tablet of Jesus Christ after their ancestors, Guan Gong, Mazu, and Buddha. It didn't cost any money anyway, so it didn't matter if they worshipped one more.

Albuquerque did not want to care about these situations. The Eastern Roman Empire was destined to not be able to immigrate here on a large scale. After all, the center of the Indian Ocean was the Indian subcontinent. The Eastern Roman colonists had to use Indians and Chinese, who were also outsiders, to exploit the lower-class Malays. It would be enough for them as long as they were not as rebellious as the original Malacca Muslims.

"Mr. Robert, are you okay?"

A young man speaking Arabic came over. His name was Anand, an Indian who could speak Arabic, Malay, Chinese and Japanese. He served as Robert's translator this time.

"We'll be there soon."

"I'm fine. Thank you."

Robert nodded and gave a very forced smile.

He was born in Tobruk, Cyrenaica. His father was of Armenian descent and his mother was of Berber descent. Robert usually used Greek as his main language of communication, but he was also fluent in Arabic.

In this Indian Ocean, Arabic is the main language of business communication.

More than two months ago, this merchant fleet started its first commercial activity under the leadership of the Malacca Governorate, sailing to the Japanese Islands loaded with spices such as pepper and cloves, and then purchasing tea and silk from Japan. Under Albuquerque's arrangement, Robert also became a member of the merchant group.

Of course, Robert knew that the so-called "Japanese goods" that the merchant fleet was going to purchase mostly came from the Ming Dynasty. It was only because the Ming Dynasty promulgated a strict maritime ban policy that some smugglers used many islands in the Japanese archipelago as places to stockpile goods.

"Anand, those pirates we encountered a few days ago, they shouldn't come again, right?"

Robert thought for a moment, looked at Anand, and asked with lingering fear.

"Are they Ming people or Japanese?"

"All of them, sir. Judging from their accents, the leader should have been born in Ming China. The senior sailors are also Ming Chinese. Most of the Japanese are wandering samurai who work for the Ming Chinese."

Anand explained.

"Strictly speaking, they are no longer Ming people, but wanted criminals of the imperial court."

"Don't worry, our fleet will definitely pay protection fees and tolls regularly. Pirates also have their own rules. They will not continue to embarrass us."

"The pirates are so rampant? Doesn't the Ming Dynasty government care?"

Robert frowned.

"Logically, they should be the most powerful country here."

"How can we control it? Pirates have existed here for a long time. They were under control a few decades ago, but they have become more rampant in the past decade."

Anand shook his head.

"Both the Ming Dynasty and Japan want to control it, but neither of them can do it well."

Robert calculated the time and thought about what he had learned about the situation in Japan in recent months. He understood and nodded.

Ten years ago, in 1467 AD, the third year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty and the first year of Onin in Japan, due to the capriciousness and incompetence of Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, the political situation continued to be chaotic. The "Yamana faction" and the "Hosokawa faction" fought for political power, and the contradictions gradually escalated, and finally evolved directly into a fight, and the Onin War broke out.

The leaders of the Yamana faction and the Hosokawa faction both died in 1473, the eighth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa abdicated, and the heirs of the two factions declared reconciliation in 1474. From then on, large-scale wars came to an end, but small-scale conflicts became commonplace and have continued until the present day in 1477.

The Onin War heralded the beginning of the Warring States Period in Japan. The Muromachi shogunate gradually declined, the old order continued to collapse, incidents of the weak overthrowing the strong became common, and another chaotic era in which heroes emerged officially arrived.

The beginning of the Warring States Period in Japan undoubtedly contributed to the arrogance of the Japanese pirates. The Muromachi shogunate gradually lost control over the local areas, and the trade system between the Ming Dynasty and Japan was destroyed. Local forces who could not obtain formal trade channels could only obtain goods through smuggling and looting. The complex island atolls of the Japanese archipelago also provided a good shelter for the pirates.

Land appeared ahead and the merchant ships coming and going became more frequent. Robert perked up and carefully observed the small port.

"It's pretty average."

Robert said truthfully.

"It's smaller than my hometown, let alone compared to Constantinople, Carthage and other cities."

"Sir, this is just Kyushu Island, the southernmost island of Japan. It is indeed not a wealthy place."

Anand explained.

"Our destination this time is Satsuma Domain, which is a territory of the Shimazu family."

"Which Shimazu?"

Robert asked casually.

"This... should be Satsumazu... or Toyosu Shimazu?"

Anand was stunned.

"I'm just a translator. I don't know much about them."

"But I heard from the sailors that the Shimazu family seems to have just ended the civil war and is in the process of peace talks. They will definitely welcome the Nanyang merchant ships."

Robert nodded without answering.

Before leaving, Albuquerque had a conversation with him, telling him not to worry about the diplomatic affairs of the East India Governorate and to concentrate on implementing his own plan.

Albuquerque said that the current focus of the Eastern Roman Empire is still to seek stability and prosperity of the East Indian route, and it will not have much contact with the Ming Dynasty and Japan in the east. It doesn’t matter if the plan fails. If there is no way to obtain high-quality tea varieties and skilled tea farmers from Japan through the private level, he will conduct formal diplomacy on behalf of the Governor-General’s District of the East Indies with several guardian families on Kyushu Island, and use various means to achieve his goals.

Moreover, he also told Robert that tea seeds and tea growers were not only found in Ming Dynasty and Japan. The emperor's previous visit had achieved some results. The first batch of tea seeds and potted tea trees had arrived in the Mediterranean. Regardless of whether Robert was successful or not, he would get the reward he deserved.

Having said that, Robert still wanted to complete his mission. Along the way, he traveled half the world, suffered a lot, and was forced to disguise himself as an Arab because Arabs had interactions with Japan in history and would not arouse much suspicion.

During his time in Malacca, Robert read a number of records on the Japanese tea industry written by Arab merchants and gained a general understanding of the industry.

In this era, although tea has become one of the most precious commodities in the Indian Ocean, there are only a few countries that have tea tree planting and tea manufacturing industries. Apart from the Ming Dynasty, there are almost only Japan and Korea.

At this time, Japan was the second largest tea producer after the Ming Dynasty. The earliest Japanese tea all came from China. Buddhism and tea were introduced to Japan during the Sui and Tang dynasties, which led to the close relationship between Japanese tea and Buddhism from the beginning. As time passed, Japanese tea naturally experienced a period of rise and decline, and it happened to be ushering in another heyday at this time - the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa might not be a good monarch, but he was definitely a good tea drinker.

As early as when he was in power, Ashikaga Yoshimasa was keen on Zen Buddhism and the tea ceremony. He was an absolute fanatic of tea culture. At this time, when he was less than 40 years old, he had already unloaded the political burden early and drank tea and chatted with a group of tea lovers every day. Tea leaves, tea sets, tea ceremonies, tea art... This series of tea-related industries or cultures developed rapidly under his leadership.

Kyushu Island, where Robert is about to arrive, is one of the most important production bases of Japanese tea. Hundreds of years ago, the monk Eisai went to the Song Dynasty, conducted investigations everywhere, and brought back the best batches of tea varieties to Kyushu Island, allowing the tea culture based on Zen Buddhism to develop and grow here. Hundreds of years later, the tea production of Kyushu Island has become considerable.

The ship arrived at the port and several small boats approached. The captain of the Fu ship was negotiating with them.

"Sir, I know you're here for tea, but what are you going to do about it?"

Anand looked at Robert.

"You might as well tell me your plan so that I can make arrangements."

"Let's go to the big cities inland first and look for those famous temples."

Robert said.

"The best tea is always in the temples. These monks know the most about tea. I will try to persuade them first and ask them to send someone to go back with me to bring back tea seeds, tea trees, tea ceremony and tea making techniques."

"If they are unwilling, I will have to steal from the people. I will also ask the empire to send more personnel to search for tea growers and tea makers."

"If even this fails, I will have no choice but to report it to the Governor-General of the East Indies and ask His Excellency Albuquerque to come and take it personally with his fleet."

"Sir, we are businessmen. It is best not to use force if we can resolve it peacefully!"

Anand was shocked.

"I am a Buddhist. There are some merchants on our fleet who are proficient in Buddhism. I can arrange it for you. In the name of promoting Buddhism, I will ask the temple to send monks to Malacca with tea trees, tea seeds and tea farmers. We will not ask about the rest of the matter. What do you think?"

"If we just ask them to give tea seeds to tea farmers, they will definitely not do it. But if we ask them to spread Buddhism, there will definitely be monks who are willing to do so. That's how the first batch of tea in Japan came from!"

"The best tea gardens are strictly guarded by temples or nobles. You may not be able to find them if you look for them among the common people!"

"This ocean is full of storms and waves. It would be risky to rashly bring a large fleet here. Why should Lord Albuquerque do this?"

"Oh, that's a good idea."

Robert nodded.

"Okay, let's do as you say!"

In May 1477, the Malacca merchant fleet arrived at Satsuma Domain in Japan. Robert, a horticulturist from the Eastern Roman Empire, landed in Japan along with the merchant ship and began to contact various major temples, inspect well-known tea gardens, collect folk tea varieties, and record tea planting techniques and tea making processes.

……

Eastern Roman Empire, northern Anatolia, southern coast of the Black Sea, Province of Paphlagonia, Pontus Region, City of Rize.

As of 1477, the core territories of the Eastern Roman Empire were mainly divided into three parts, namely the Balkan Peninsula, central North Africa, and western and northern Anatolia. Among the three parts, the Balkan Peninsula is of course the core of the core, North Africa is the bridge of the empire connecting the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, and Anatolia is not as developed and important as the first two parts because of its short recovery time. The economic center has moved westward, and the Silk Road is almost cut off. It is difficult for Anatolia to restore its status hundreds of years ago.

Due to the continuous border wars and the rapid population movement, Anatolia underwent several changes in administrative planning and was eventually divided into three provinces: Bithynia with Nicaea as its core, Asia with Smyrna as its core, and Paphlagonia with Trebizond as its core. The administrative arrangements of ancient Rome were referenced and some changes were made based on actual conditions.

Among the three major provinces in Anatolia, Bithynia is the fastest growing one. It is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean Sea to the west, and is only a short strait away from the Thrace region. The characteristic ceramics of Nicaea have formed an industry with strong support in recent years, and the annual output is very close to that of Adrianople's porcelain.

The province of Asia Minor had the largest land area, but the most complicated situation. Coastal and riverine cities represented by Smyrna, Manisa, Circae and Aydin were developing rapidly, and the capitalist economic system had already thrived there. These cities had excellent agricultural conditions and the advantage of shipping. Relying on the rapidly prosperous wool textile industry, they successfully connected to the Aegean economic circle centered on Constantinople.

However, the situation was very bad in the inland plateau under the jurisdiction of the province of Asia. Too many Turkic tribes remained here. Eastern Roman immigrants occupied large pastures and arbitrarily invaded the farmland of Turkic villages. As the demand for wool in large coastal cities increased exponentially, the phenomenon of "sheep eating people" became more and more serious.

Of course, the Turks would not sit idly by and wait for death, but they could not defeat the three central legions that were ready to suppress them at any time, a dragoon regiment and the Slavic cavalry that came to rotate garrisons. They could either adopt guerrilla warfare tactics, or accept the new plan of the Eastern Roman government and stay in their "reservation", or they could only flee eastward with their families. Hatred spread everywhere, and killing continued all year round. The once fertile fields turned into barren grasslands, and every large ranch raised private armies. Cowboys carrying spring-loaded rifles or crossbows grazed large tracts of cattle and sheep in groups of three or five.

This is the source of raw materials and an indispensable part of the development of capitalism, but it is also a place of barbarism, a lawless place, the edge of civilization, and an ideal home for criminals.

In the first twenty years of the Eastern Roman rule in North Africa, the population of Africa and Cyrenaica was almost halved, and it was not until more than ten years ago that it began to recover explosively. Now, the same fate will be repeated in Anatolia.

However, the province of Paphlagonia, located in northern Anatolia and the southern Black Sea, was a different story. A relatively intact Orthodox community was preserved here, and the proportion of Orthodox Christians was already very high. After the more than 200,000 Greek Orthodox Christians of the Kingdom of Trebizond were successfully taken over by the Eastern Roman Empire, this became the most stable area ruled by the Eastern Roman Empire in Anatolia.

Due to the obstruction of mountains, the Eastern Roman Empire's rule on the southern coast of the Black Sea did not extend inland at all. Transportation between cities basically relied on coastal roads and ocean transportation. The tribunes of the province of Paphlagonia conscripted slaves and built strong bastions at several important passes in the Pontic Mountains to keep the Turks on the southern plateau out.

Of course, not many emerging industries have been developed here. Apart from some influence of capitalism on the production model, it is basically no different from the past few hundred years.

Rize is a small city located in the east of Trebizond, surrounded by mountains and the sea. The city has a population of only 2,000 and its economy is mainly based on agricultural and animal husbandry. It was once a transit port on the Constantinople-Batumi route. However, with the advancement of navigation technology, trade ships are capable of long-distance voyages, and their dependence on coastal port chains has been greatly reduced. Merchant ships departing from Constantinople often only make brief stops in Sinop and Trebizond, and then they can completely bypass Rize and go directly to Batumi.

Technological progress is certainly a good thing for society as a whole, but it may not be the case for individuals or a minority group.

However, God is fair. When he closes a door, he often opens a window.

On the mountain road south of Rize City, a royal cavalry was winding its way up. In the center of the team, Isaac was riding on an Andalusian horse, feeling very happy.

The war was over, the enemy was seriously ill, the eldest son stabilized the situation in the Donbass coalfield, the second son was attacking the remnants of the Georgian princes with the assistance of the Eastern Roman army, the eldest granddaughter Victoria was born, and various reforms successfully survived the initial chaos and were proceeding in an orderly manner... A series of good news made Isaac very happy. More than 30 years of hard work and struggle were finally not in vain.

The only thing that troubled him was the education of his youngest son Anastasius. The child was almost twelve years old. He had lived in the midst of flowers and splendor since he was a child and had never suffered any hardship. He grew up under the doting of his mother. He liked reading, but only learned literary poems to seduce young girls. He liked practicing swordplay, but only participated in competitions to win the favor of noble ladies. He hung out with the second and youngest sons of a group of high-ranking officials and nobles all day long. He did not do any serious work and kept clamoring for a fiefdom. If he was not given one, he would go out and fight on his own.

Due to his busy schedule, Isaac did not educate him much, but it did not matter. He would not be the heir anyway, and he would not be given a fiefdom. If he wanted, he could go out and explore on his own, or go to Western Europe and find a rich and landed female aristocrat to marry. Anyway, among all of Isaac's sons, he was the one who looked most like Constantine XI, a typical Greek handsome man.

He had originally planned to rest in Constantinople for a while, but the arrival of another piece of news forced Isaac to hurriedly take a boat to Rize on the Black Sea coast.

"Your Majesty, it's almost time."

A guard reported in a low voice.

"Their garden is just ahead."

Isaac nodded, put aside his messy thoughts, kicked the horse's belly, and trotted away.

The mountain range is shrouded in clouds and mist, with the main peak in the distance covered with snow. The forests are lush and green, and the scenery is very beautiful.

The horse team arrived at a camp where workers were building fences and houses. Next to the camp was a newly opened garden.

In the garden, several agricultural researchers walked around, measuring the area of ​​the garden. Some of them picked up some soil from time to time and put it on their tongues to taste.

"How's the situation?"

Isaac didn't waste any time and went straight to the person in charge here, a researcher at the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute.

"Your Majesty, the situation is good. Fifteen of the forty seedlings they brought back in pots have been successfully planted."

The researcher said happily.

"We are also trying to plant the remaining seeds, but we estimate that we will have to wait a few months before we can see the results."

A faint smile appeared on Isaac's face, and he nodded, walked towards the garden, and gently stroked the slightly withered seedlings.

This is the tea tree, an extremely valuable commercial crop.

As early as a few years ago, Isaac sent several groups of agents belonging to Prometheus or Hermes to Southeast Asia and India, trying to find tea seedlings and tea seeds, so as to take control of this product that was destined to shine in the global market.

However, things are not that simple. Southeast Asia has a long history of tea drinking culture, but it does not have tea-growing technology or tea-growing industry. Although India has wild tea trees introduced from Yunnan, it has not formed an industry and no one cares about it at all.

Therefore, Isaac set his subsequent target on Japan, the second largest tea producing country, and started the third phase of the "Tea Thief" plan.

However, the early exploration was not useless. The tea seedlings in front of Isaac were one of the results.

These tea seedlings came from the Dai Viet Kingdom. To be more precise, they were looted from northern Vietnam near the Ming Dynasty border by a group of South China Sea pirates employed by the East India Fleet.

Decades ago, northern Vietnam was once the territory of the Ming Empire. This place has always been deeply influenced by Chinese culture. When Emperor Yongle conquered North Vietnam, he also moved some Ming people here to settle and reclaim wasteland. They brought Guangxi tea here and also planted, made and drank tea.

After Emperor Xuande abandoned Vietnam, the tea-growing industry in northern Vietnam declined rapidly. The native Vietnamese people could neither manage tea gardens nor grow or make tea, and these tea gardens gradually became deserted.

Of course, the Vietnamese are not completely useless in making use of tea trees. They quite like to "drink tea" and regard tea leaves as a dish. They have also developed some unique food culture based on this.

After getting these tea seedlings, Isaac ordered people to leave some of the seedlings on Ceylon and find a tea-growing base. The other part was transported to Constantinople via Egypt and then here.

Since tea has very high requirements for climatic conditions, there are almost no places suitable for growing tea in the whole of Europe. Looking around the Mediterranean world, places where tea plantations can be established are equally scarce.

As it happens, Isaac had one.

In the 21st century, the northeastern coast of Anatolia is the largest tea production base in the entire Mediterranean world. Relying on the tea plantations near the city of Rize, the Republic of Turkey has become the world's fifth largest tea producer.

Of course, since the top two countries, China and India, occupy the vast majority of the market, this "fifth in the world" is very inflated. However, due to the extremely low transportation costs, if Rize in the Paphlagonia province can become the Eastern Roman Empire's tea base in its homeland, the market prospects will definitely be very promising.

Furthermore, due to their dietary structure, nomadic tribes undoubtedly love to drink tea, but they are unable to grow it themselves. This makes "tea" often a commercial weapon with high value in current international politics.

The Turks in Anatolia were a nation that loved drinking tea, and the per capita tea consumption of the later Republic of Türkiye ranked first in the world.

Isaac stared at the tea garden, which only had a few seedlings, with his eyes flickering.

Isaac knew that tea production was a highly technological industry. It was not enough to have tea seeds or tea seedlings alone. It was necessary to rely on professional talents and let them bring various techniques of tea planting, tea picking and tea making to the Eastern Roman Empire in order to achieve real development of the Eastern Roman tea industry.

In the original time and space, the Germans, Dutch and British all focused on tea varieties rather than technology in the initial period. The result is predictable. Isaac will not repeat their mistakes. He is determined to obtain tea technology from Japan.

"Very good, let's cultivate it slowly first. There is no need to pick and make tea for the time being. Once the professional technology is in place, we can think about the next step."

"I have obtained several books on tea from Southeast Asian pirates and am organizing their translation. You can also read more in the future. You will definitely gain something."

Seeing that their work was quite good, Isaac did not interfere too much. He gave a few instructions to the researcher and prepared to go down the mountain to discuss some assistance measures and incentive policies for the tea garden with the administrative department of Lize City.

Although the tea industry in the Eastern Roman Empire had just started, it would be impossible to achieve scale without ten years of hard work. However, after all, everything depends on human efforts. Once a seed is planted, it will always sprout in the future.

(End of this chapter)