1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 403 Punic Salt
Under the azure sky is a vast desert. The sun above is much dimmer than in midsummer. In this Sahara Desert full of yellow sand, winter is the best season.

Amidst the yellow sand, a road with a slight hint of green appears quite inconspicuous. This road has obvious signs of artificial construction, connecting water sources one after another, cleverly avoiding quicksand areas and areas prone to sandstorms, winding its way to the distance.

This road actually does not have a road surface in the strict sense. There is a whole row of desert plants on both sides of the road, from the outermost desert thistle and desert willow to the innermost alkali grass and salt grass, which separate the middle area from the surrounding desert and form a safe road for camel caravans to travel.

If it were located within the Eastern Roman Empire, this road would be nothing. Horse-drawn carriages could not pass through it. Camel carts could, but the speed was not high and it had almost no value.

However, in this uninhabited desert, this road has become the most eye-catching scenery. It not only brought rich goods to the surrounding nomadic tribes, but also promoted the prosperity of the trans-Sahara Desert trade route. Salt, fabrics and various handicrafts from the Mediterranean world went south along the way in exchange for gold and gems from the Sahel grasslands.

The sound of camel bells echoed on the road, and the plants on both sides brought a hint of coolness to the travelers on the road. A large caravan of more than one hundred people walked slowly to the southeast. No matter whether they were merchants or guards, they were all wrapped in light and breathable clothes, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

The camel-riding guards were dressed in red, with blood-stained eagle patterns painted on their hoods. They were the Slaves cavalry, the masters of this desert.

On a camel cart, a fat middle-aged man was looking forward with a smile. His appearance was significantly different from those of the desert people. There were a few strands of brown hair on his bald head.

This is Martinitz, who was born in Constantinople. He once worked as a clerk in the mining department of the Eastern Roman Empire for a period of time. After accumulating some experience, he chose to resign and leave, ambitiously embarking on his own path as a capitalist.

Martinitz's father was a retired veteran who had served as a captain in the Thessalonica Sniper Corps. The family had some savings, and after his father's death, Martinitz, as the only son, received the full inheritance. He followed the financial trends of Golden Horn Street every day, and not long ago he felt that he had found an opportunity and immediately took action.

Before arriving in the Great Desert, Martinitz made adequate preparations. He first formed a caravan and negotiated with the Slaves Legion's office in Carthage. Then he followed a Slaves Centurion team that had just withdrawn from the battlefield and set out on this desert road, preparing to head to the distant and mysterious south.

Along the way, he visited many cities in the provinces of Africa and Cyrenaica, and was surprised to find that he was not the only one who noticed the business opportunity. The "Prince of Mammon" Carlo Tocco, who had a royal background, had already started taking action.

A well appeared ahead. The North African greyhounds in the team suddenly barked. Centurion Slavis raised his right hand, and the team slowly stopped.

After a while, a large cloud of dust appeared on the Gobi Desert on the side, and a desert tribe appeared in everyone's eyes.

"Don't worry, no one dares to mess with Slaves here."

The centurion glanced at the somewhat panicked Martinitz and said calmly.

The desert tribe slowed down and came to the front of the caravan. They had dark skin but Mediterranean faces. All of them wore blue desert clothes, and the men had blue scarves on their faces.

"The Tuareg, a people abandoned by God in the eyes of the Arabs."

The centurion explained to Martinitz.

"They all wear blue clothes. They are the best guides in the desert. Many of the Slaves Legion are from the Tuareg tribe."

"Don't worry. This is not the main gathering area of ​​the Tuareg. The barbaric tribes that were unwilling to obey our control were wiped out a few years ago. Those who remain are moderate and have a good relationship with us."

Martinitz nodded, and as he looked at the approaching Tuareg chief, his expression suddenly became strange.

The clothes on the chief were obviously made of silk, and were painted with the logo of the Royal Textile Company of the Eastern Roman Empire.

"It's nice to meet you, Red Ranger."

The Tuareg chief bowed slightly and spoke.

"We just quenched our thirst at the well and brought some goods with us. Can we trade?"

"I'm glad to hear that, too, Chief Blue."

The centurion returned the greeting.

"We have important business to attend to. We must hurry on. You can continue along this road and go directly to Sabha City for the transaction."

"Well, this is our destination!"

Chief Blue blew a whistle to call over several nomads, who took out several saplings with roots from their bags and, in front of Martinitz's stunned eyes, began to dig holes, plant trees and water them next to several dead plants on both sides of the road.

"I...I think I understand Tuareg?"

Martinitz looked at the centurion in surprise.

"You understand it too?"

“This is not Tuareg, this is Desert Greek.”

The Centurion replied.

"Several scholars from the Institute of Humanities created a new language based on Carthaginian Greek. It is basically a mixture of Greek and Arabic words. They use the simplest Greek and Arabic words, and there are only more than 2,000 commonly used words."

"But...why would they learn this language?"

Martinitz asked.

"Your Majesty sent someone to teach you?"

“I guess so, but most of them are voluntary.”

The Centurion said.

"The more docile nomadic tribes are allowed to enter the city of Sabha to trade. Learning desert Greek means higher selling prices and lower buying prices. Some goods are even only available to desert tribes that believe in Orthodox Christianity."

"Desert Greek is the common language of the Sabha region. You are no stranger to how much money the emperor has spent on language education."

Martinitz nodded. As a former government official, he naturally knew how much importance the Eastern Roman Empire attached to language promotion. There were special planning funds in ethnic minority areas. Educators included priests and government officials. Priests liked to talk about feelings and God, while government officials were more practical and would directly give money and supplies to people once they learned something.

For clergy and officials in minority areas, language assimilation is an important indicator of performance evaluation, and they must pay attention to it if they want to be promoted.

"So they...are planting trees?"

Martinic continued, watching with some amazement as the Tuareg chieftain pricked his finger and dripped his blood onto the sapling.

"Is this some ancient ritual?"

"This road is the lifeline of the middle of the Great Desert. All nomads who submit to the empire's control can use it. They cherish it very much because this road has indeed improved their lives."

The centurion bowed his head to the Tuareg chief as a sign of respect.

"Every time these tribes use the roads, they will spontaneously maintain and replenish the drought-resistant plants that protect against wind and sand, and this has later evolved into a custom."

The centurion explained in a low voice.

"As for the dripping blood, it is related to the origin of the road. Perhaps you have heard some legends about it."

Martinitz pursed his lips. He had indeed heard a lot of rumors these days.

He knew that the Eastern Roman Empire had always attached great importance to the Libyan region and had been using various methods to eliminate the restless factors here, trying to turn it into a core territory to be preserved until the distant future. The Slaves Legion would occasionally carry out a large-scale sweep of the surrounding rebellious tribes, and some exploration teams would often wander around the Slaves territory, although they had not found any particularly precious mineral deposits.

Martinitz heard that there seemed to be a lot of high-quality kerosene buried underground in this desert, and this thing would definitely shine in the future.

Martinitz shrugged off such claims.

Kerosene? It's not easy to burn and doesn't smell good. The only orders come from the military. It's not worth investing in.

However, even though others did not quite understand, the Slaves were very happy about the emperor's attention. At least the roads connecting various settlements were getting better and better. Precious goods from the north could enter the homes of every Slaves. Their goods were all provided by the Royal Company, and the prices were lower than those of other companies, almost at cost price.

Ten years ago, the first chief justice of the Isaac government, Marquis Adnan, passed away. His eldest grandson inherited the title and agreed to complete a territorial exchange with the royal family. The Sabha Oasis Group was transferred to the central empire, and the Adnan family obtained a pioneering territory with gem mines in the Kingdom of Brazil.

Thus, the Sabha region belonging to the Cyrenaica province was formally established, and the central route of trans-Saharan trade was completely controlled by the imperial government.

Ten years ago, at the order of the central empire, the province of Cyrenaica began to call on nomadic tribes who believed in Orthodox Christianity and spoke desert Greek to move to the province of Africa, where conditions were better, to block the invasion of Muslim tribes at the edge of the desert and defend the more important city of Carthage. The land they left behind was taken over by the Slaves Legion.

Taking this as an opportunity, the size of the Slaves Legion expanded rapidly, and its numbers continued to increase through attacks on unruly tribes. By the end of 1478, it had occupied a considerable amount of land and possessed the leading military force in the Sahara Desert.

With the avenue between the cities of Sabha and Tripoli as the dividing line, the Slaves Corps was divided into two ten-thousand-households. The ten-thousand-household of Western Slaves was commanded by the Corps Commander Erdosh, who also had direct jurisdiction over two thousand-households. The ten-thousand-household of Eastern Slaves was commanded by the Deputy Corps Commander Afif, who also had direct jurisdiction over one thousand-household.

At the end of the 15th century, the Sahara Desert was far from reaching the terrifying area it will reach in the 21st century. The area north of Sabha Oasis and south of Jufra Oasis was arid grassland, large enough to raise camels and desert horses, and some large oases could even develop dryland agriculture.

In fact, the large-scale expansion of the Sahara Desert occurred after the end of the 19th century, which is related to the end of the Little Ice Age, the intensification of global warming and human activities. In the past years, the area of ​​the Sahara Desert has directly increased by nearly two million square kilometers, and the disorderly and rapid increase in the Muslim population has made the deterioration of the ecological environment irreversible.

During the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert was a lush grassland. The advent of the Little Ice Age and the sharp decline in population have significantly improved the natural environment of the Slavic territory. The reduction in evaporation has allowed plants to grow in the semi-arid desert, seasonal rivers have become perennial rivers, and large wells have brought vitality to the surrounding land in summer. Animals are no longer captured by humans, antelope and desert cat populations have gradually recovered, and Barbary lions have even reappeared in some places.

The improvement of the natural environment made the construction of roads possible. With the help of Eastern Roman engineers, the Slavic Legion gradually connected the main settlements with large cities with roads, planted sand-proof forests around the roads, and connected the land to the imperial market through trade routes.

In addition to guarding the border and being called into battle, the Slaves also needed to expand the frontier, crack down on unruly Muslim tribes, bring more and more land under the jurisdiction of the legion, promote Orthodoxy, and defend the gold and salt trade across the Sahara Desert.

In this desert, the production capacity of nomadic tribes is very low. Only the Slaves Legion can obtain more powerful weapons and equipment and more abundant food supplies from the Eastern Roman Empire, which has an overwhelming advantage over other Muslim tribes.

As the colonization of Africa intensified, the Eastern Roman Empire had a deeper understanding of Africa's cultural history and natural geography. Some officials in the Colonial Department proposed the idea of ​​a "purple map", which aimed to connect the West African colonies with the North African mainland through one hundred or even two hundred years of efforts, take advantage of the global cooling brought about by the Little Ice Age, open up the Sahara route, and advance jointly from both North Africa and West Africa.

This idea was strongly supported by fanatical Romanists, who were staunch supporters of "Aegeanism" and believed that the Roman Empire should rule Africa, which was a sacred mission given to the Romans by God.

Ever since Isaac casually suggested in a speech to college students that the ancestors of the Romans might have come from Africa, calls for the "Purple Map" project have become increasingly louder, with the Pan-Romanists even glorifying the Eastern Roman Empire's colonization of the African continent as a "return to the homeland" and even using the analogy of Moses' Exodus from Egypt.

Isaac was of course dismissive of this. He never thought that the colonization action he strongly advocated was a noble thing. On the contrary, it was a project that was destined to be infamous for all eternity. But he would not stop there. The sin was in the present, but the merit would be passed down through the ages.

Five years ago, Western Slaves and Eastern Slaves jointly organized an expedition. They set out from the Sabha Oasis to the southeast, continued to advance along the water source, crossed the desert, successfully occupied the Tisbeti Plateau in northwestern Chad, and defeated the indigenous people who did not even have many iron tools.

The average altitude of the Tisbet Plateau is over two thousand meters. The precipitation is much higher than the surrounding deserts, and the temperature in the valleys is much lower than that in the deserts. It has a large number of seasonal rivers and perennial hot springs. Legion Commander Erdosh immediately asked the central government of the empire to formally establish the South Slavic Wanhu, and invited Eastern Roman engineers to open canals and wells here, open up farmland in the river valleys, and dig cave houses, and settle down there.

Therefore, the Eastern Roman Empire moved further towards the Sahel grassland south of the Sahara. Going further south from the Tisbet Plateau, the natural conditions would become better and better, and eventually they would see Lake Chad, one of the starting points of the trans-Sahara trade.

However, the Tisbeti Plateau is located in the center of the Sahara Desert and cannot support a large population. Although Yugoslavia also has a population of 10,000 households, even with their families, there are only more than 4,000 people, which is obviously not enough.

Later, many mineral veins were discovered in Yugoslavia in the Tisbet Plateau, including the most precious gold.

Later, the plan to build a trans-Sahara road was put on the agenda. Cement, bricks, asphalt... these high-end materials were all rejected. The Slavice Corps and the Cyrenaica government decided to plant trees.

Therefore, over a period of four years, the Eastern Roman Empire brought a large number of slaves of various ethnic groups to the desert and asked them to plant native plants of the Sahara Desert on both sides of the planned roads. At the same time, they dug underground canals to reduce evaporation and supply the sand-proof forest with water sources every now and then along the roads as much as possible.

The fate of these slaves was of course extremely miserable. Once they suffered from heatstroke or fever, their lives would end. Under their watchful eyes, the overseers would water the saplings with the fresh water originally allocated to them, and then wait for them to die before burying their bodies in the soil to become nutrients for the plants.

Over the course of four years, more than 10,000 slaves died on this road. The Eastern Roman Empire used countless lives to complete a feat that was unattainable by its predecessors, connecting the Sabha Oasis and the Thisbeti Plateau.

Most of these plants are herbs and shrubs, short and sturdy, but able to survive well in harsh environments. This road surrounded by desert plants connects traditional ancient camel trails and is called the "Camel Avenue" by nomadic people along the way.

Although this road is not too long, it has successfully connected the Wanhu of Yugoslavia to the imperial trade route and will provide strong support for the "Purple Map" plan in the future.

Because the Camel Road cost countless blood and lives, the nearby nomadic tribes both respected and feared it, believing that the road was extremely sacred and must be maintained after each use, and they had to pay for it with their own blood.

The Tuareg chief concluded his "tribute" to the camel road and turned toward the caravan.

"Oh? The Romans of the North?"

The Tuareg chief looked at Martinez, gesticulating and asking questions in Desert Greek.

"Where...were you born?"

"Constantinople."

Martinitz was stunned for a moment, then answered truthfully.

"It's the real Constantinople people within the walls of Theodosius."

"Oh, yes, the accent is very similar."

The Tuareg chief nodded, walked over to Martinic, took off a sparkling gem ring from his finger and handed it to him.

"Two years ago, a priest from Constantinople came to the desert to preach. My sister had a difficult birth, and he saved their lives. I remember his accent..."

The Tuareg chief spoke simply in heavily accented Greek words.

"I give it to you as a token of my gratitude. My tribe welcomes people from Constantinople..."

"Thank you so much..."

Martinitz took the ring at a loss, and the gem on the ring was surprisingly gorgeous.

He thought for a moment, then took out a box of Roma cigarettes from his pocket and gave them to the chief who looked quite kind.

The chief took it, bowed slightly to the caravan, and climbed onto the camel.

"May God bless you."

The centurion crossed himself and blessed the Tuareg.

The chief in blue hesitated for a moment and also made the sign of the cross on his chest.

“May He bless you too.”

The two teams said goodbye, and Martinitz fiddled with the jeweled ring with great delight.

"What a beautiful thing, I have never seen a gem like this before."

"What is this?"

"A specialty of the Libyan Desert, a golden meteorite."

The Centurion said.

"What fell from the starry sky is not real gold. This is also one of the goods exported by the Slaves Corps to the Empire."

"Some Tuareg tribes see it as a symbol of friendship, so keep it."

“Oh, you’ve already started selling…”

Martinitz felt a little regretful and put on the ring.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't they be Muslims? Why are they starting to believe in Orthodox Christianity?"

"They were Muslims before, but now they are isolated from the mainstream Islamic world. There are no more Islamic scholars coming here. Orthodox missionaries are trying to convert the more docile Tuareg tribes to Christianity."

The centurion said, curling his lips. "Besides, their faith is not firm to begin with, and is quite different from true Islam."

"The Tuareg are a matriarchal people. Although men control politics and war, women have a very high status and have a lot of say. They have the right to inherit property like Christian women, and they dominate cultural heritage. Women don't wear veils, but men do."

The Centurion said.

"The child's male blood relative is not his father, but his uncle. The missionaries from Constantinople saved the chief's sister and nephew, which is equivalent to saving their heir."

"Because of this, some Islamic scholars hate them very much, and they don't get along well with those Islamic scholars either."

"Our missionaries are using this characteristic of the Tuareg people to persuade them to convert to the Orthodox Church. Some more utilitarian priests will bring a lot of jewelry, clothes and cosmetics to Tuareg women of higher status every time they go to preach."

"I see. That's good."

Martinitz laughed.

“They seem pretty kind.”

"Kind? Ha!"

The centurion smiled sarcastically.

"They are the darlings of the Sahara Desert, the best guides, and the best plunderers. During the expansion of Slavice, we relied on iron and blood to subdue them, drove the most rebellious group to the west, and allowed the moderates to participate in business, which stabilized them."

"Mr. Capitalist, the Great Desert is not Constantinople. Order and rules are defined by muskets and swords. If you want to make money here, you must be careful!"

Martinitz nodded quickly and said no more.

The caravan continued to travel on the Camel Road. The plateau mountains ahead glowed iron-black under the sun.

After more than an hour's trek, everyone finally finished the Camel Avenue and entered the main city of South Slavice, St. Anthony.

Although it is a city, St. Anthony has no walls and is not very large. The Slaves live in tents, caves and stone houses left over from local indigenous people. The church is built in the largest cave, overlooking the entire valley.

The people of Yugoslavia make a living by grazing, planting, business and mining. There are very scarce farmlands and not too many pastures, but the gold mines here allow them to live a pretty good life. They can regularly purchase various goods from the trading companies controlled by the royal family, and can even use these goods to control the surrounding indigenous tribes.

Before entering the town, Martinitz's eyes lit up, and he immediately moved his body and jumped out of the car. He picked up a handful of ash from the white soil beside the road, put it in his mouth, and closed his eyes.

"Tsk tsk, good stuff, rare item!"

Martinitz looked much more cheerful, and the tiredness from the journey seemed to disappear.

"This is soda ash. The quality is really good!"

Martinitz ignored the pain on the tip of his tongue, picked up some more powder and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Better than the ones in the north!”

“Is this thing valuable?”

the Centurion asked.

“There’s a lot of land like that around here.”

"Of course it's valuable. It's the most important chemical raw material."

Martinitz nodded vigorously.

"Glass factories, paper mills, dye factories, chemical plants all use soda ash. Even the bread that nobles and wealthy businessmen eat cannot be separated from soda ash!"

"Especially for glass. To make five Roman pounds of good quality glass, you would need two Roman pounds of soda ash, and sometimes even more."

"After Venice's glass craftsmanship was taken back by the Empire, so many new glass workshops were built in Tripoli and Carthage. Wasn't it because North Africa has natural soda mines?"

"Of course, the ash from burning plants and wood can be used, but it is not the best choice. The best is the natural soda ash that has been purified."

Martinitz chattered.

"Now, for some reason, the price of soda ash is soaring across the empire. Investing in soda ash mines will definitely make money."

"Is this what you are here for?"

The centurion pursed his lips at Alkali Earth.

"I thought you were interested in our gold mine."

"Gold mine... Of course I want it, but I guess you won't give it to me so easily."

Martinitz said.

"I worked in the mining department before, so I know where natural alkali deposits are produced. They are mostly found near salt lakes or dried-up salt flats, but that's not always the case. Lake Tuz in Anatolia can't produce alkali because it has too many impurities, but it can produce salt."

"I guess there must be a lot of mountain alkali ore on this plateau. The purity of that stuff would be even higher."

The pain on the tip of his tongue finally became unbearable for Martinitz, and he quickly asked for a water bag and gulped down some water.

"How about mining together?"

“Ship it out directly?”

The centurion frowned.

“The Camel Road is not accessible to horse-drawn carriages, and the freight costs will be very high.”

"No, we will build a purification workshop in the cave here, throw away the useless impurities, and transport the high-purity finished products."

Martinitz was clearly prepared.

"This way, we still have something to earn. Purification does not require any advanced technology, just slaves."

"Well, these things are of no use to us anyway."

The centurion said as he continued to lead the team towards St. Anthony.

"You can go find our centurion. We generally welcome investment from merchants from the empire. He will discuss with you how to divide the profits and the tasks that each of us will undertake."

Martinitz nodded quickly, climbed onto the camel cart, and headed quickly towards the town.

At the end of 1478, under the huge war demand and economic situation, the early chemical industry of the Eastern Roman Empire began to take off. The light chemical industry mainly based on glass and printing and dyeing was the first to flourish. "Three acids and two alkalis" began to be used in more and more workshops. The mining and manufacturing of these important raw materials also gave rise to a series of developments and changes.

……

The cold wind of early winter blew the corners of Isaac's clothes. He stood on the hillside, quietly looking at the excellent pasture below the mountain. What was surprising was that this winter pasture, which should have been a valuable asset for the nomadic tribe to overwinter, now turned a withered yellow color, as if it had been deprived of its vitality.

Isaac rode down the mountain, spurred his horse's hooves, and kicked over a piece of dry grass. He saw that even the roots of the grass were completely destroyed under the soil, and no new buds would sprout even in the spring of next year.

Isaac looked at his achievements and laughed out loud, his laughter echoing through the valley.

The alchemist Valentine and the foreign minister Basilius came on horseback, the former looking very proud while the latter seemed hesitant to speak.

"Your Majesty, the situation is very good. It seems that the land here is no different from our experimental fields."

Valentine, dressed in a black robe, laughed.

"I received a letter last night. The raw material problem has eased a bit. His Majesty Alexios is mining pyrolusite at full capacity, and capitalists in North Africa have begun investing heavily in soda ash deposits."

"Your idea is right. Demand stimulates production."

Isaac smiled slightly and said nothing.

There were still some white solids remaining on the withered grassland, and the grass leaves that came into contact with the white solids were gray and black.

This is sodium chlorate, the most effective broad-spectrum inorganic herbicide Isaac could obtain. Alchemist Valentine has achieved his current status because of his successful production of sodium chlorate crystals.

The so-called broad-spectrum herbicide can kill most plants, including food and pasture. This non-selective and violent herbicide has long been eliminated by organic herbicides in the 21st century. Even if it continues to be used, a lot of additives must be added to control it to avoid excessive damage.

However, this unreserved rage was exactly what Isaac needed. He had already established a complete sodium chlorate production line, and was ready to send a fast cavalry team of five horses each to their winter pastures before the nomadic tribes moved south for the winter, so that they could experience what a natural disaster was.

These cavalrymen who carried out the orders were composed of Slavic cavalry and Christian tribesmen from Cappadocia. The former were the main force and the latter were the best guides.

The production process of sodium chlorate is not complicated and does not require high temperature. The raw materials are only chlorine, lime milk and soda ash. The latter two can be obtained directly from natural ores, while the former can be produced by heating concentrated hydrochloric acid and pyrolusite.

At first, a chlorine gas leak caused the tragic deaths of more than fifty Muslim slave laborers in the workshop. Valentine suggested that Isaac turn the chlorine into poison gas bombs and use them on the battlefield. However, since there was no particularly suitable storage method and Isaac did not have the ability to produce gas masks, this idea was not feasible. Isaac was not a butcher and did not want to do such a heinous thing.

Of course, the research on chlorine will inevitably give rise to phosgene, which is easier to store. Isaac will not use poison gas bombs, but his son may not. Isaac knows very well that Justinian's methods of dealing with his enemies are even more cruel than his.

There is no need to store chlorine gas to produce sodium chlorate. The reaction container of concentrated hydrochloric acid and pyrolusite can be directly connected to the sodium chlorate reactor with a glass pipe. Although this is risky and may cause harm to the human body, it is not Isaac's people who are hurt, so it doesn't matter.

As for purity, it is certainly not too high, but the intermediate product also has herbicidal ability and can be used.

At the end of 1478, the Muslim population fled eastward, the weather became increasingly cold, and the northern pastures were covered with ice and snow. The migration of nomadic tribes was inevitable. Their winter pastures were small and very fixed, probably just to the east of Cappadocia and Cilicia.

It is true that the grassland area is vast and Isaac cannot destroy all of it, but he has won the support of some Armenians and some Kurds. He knows which pastures and farmlands are the most fertile, which pastures can feed the most cattle and sheep, and which farmlands can produce the most food.

As long as one-fifth of the winter pastures and fertile farmland were destroyed by Isaac, his plan would succeed. The huge survival pressure would force the nomadic tribes to compete for living space and rob the settled farmers, leading to chaos and famine that would last for a whole winter.

Of course, a small amount of herbicide does not have much power, but it is a spark that can completely ignite the survival bomb brought about by the population explosion and severe cold weather in nomadic areas.

Even without Isaac's intervention, they would still have been in chaos that winter. What Isaac had to do was to make the chaos more intense and reduce the Muslim population that was hindering the empire's hegemony.

"Your Majesty, is this a bit..."

Basilius looked at Isaac and frowned.

"Too evil?"

"We can use some diplomatic means to persuade them to surrender."

"No, I actually have other herbicide options, such as the boric ore sand that is abundant in the Asiatic Province, which can be mined directly. But I finally chose sodium chlorate, which has a shorter soil residue time and is harmless to the human body. I don't want the eastern part of Anatolia to really become a barren land. The effect will only last for half a year at most."

Isaac said indifferently.

"But since the Turkic Muslims want to adopt a scorched earth policy, I will fight them to the end and see who will win!"

"Destroy yourself together with the enemy, this is the military strategy I am best at. I started using it when I conquered North Africa. They are not qualified to fight against me."

A hint of sarcasm appeared on Isaac's lips.

"Just wait and see. The nomadic tribes have not yet completely settled in the winter pastures. The empty wilderness is the best space for my cavalry to display their talents. They will bring endless disasters and judge the original sins of the Muslims!"

"Your Majesty, have you ever thought about this? If you prevent them from finding pasture in the winter, a large number of cattle and sheep will starve to death. This will indeed cause chaos in the short term, but it is very dangerous!"

Basilius wanted to persuade him.

"When they have fought and robbed enough but still cannot survive, they will attack the homes of the settlers under the leadership of the nomadic leaders and steal their food, cattle and sheep. This has been the same for thousands of years!"

"The Aq Qoyunlu Civil War is about to end, and the Mamluk mercenaries are also by Jacob's side. If Jacob raises his arm and takes this opportunity to unite the nomadic tribes in the east and return to Anatolia, won't it cause even greater trouble?"

"You don't have many cavalry, so you won't be able to gain much advantage in this land!"

"Dear Foreign Minister, I think you are right. You see things further than some generals who just rush in blindly."

Isaac patted Basilius on the shoulder.

"However, fighting a decisive battle is my original purpose. This winter, I will ask Gonzalo and Mehmet to speed up. By the beginning of next spring, in addition to the remaining troops, I can at least gather an army of 80,000 people and rush to the east."

"But they will only be more, a hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?"

Basilius roared.

"I heard that the Cossacks have gone back to recuperate. Do you want to visit the summer pastures after the snow melts?"

"Nomadic people trapped in desperate situations are extremely terrifying. When you cut off their chances of survival, even children who have just turned ten will mount their war horses and fight you to the death. History has long proven this!"

"I told you, I can win. Their every move has been planned. I have ten thousand ways to defeat them and completely destroy their possibility of entering Anatolia again!"

Isaac still insisted on his own idea.

"You go back and continue to communicate with the Kurds, mainly the Yazidis."

Basilius left without saying a word, while Valentine stood aside with a gloomy look.

"Your Majesty, please give this thing a name."

Valentine pointed to the dead grass.

Isaac thought for a moment and spoke slowly.

"According to folklore, after the Romans destroyed Carthage, they spread salt around Carthage so that no food could grow there anymore."

Isaac raised his head, his eyes twinkling.

"The legend is of course false. It is difficult for salt to do this. My Carthage is still the shining pearl in the Mediterranean."

"But this white crystal can."

Isaac laughed and spurred his horse into a gallop.

"Call it Punic Salt!"

(End of this chapter)