In the narrow Bosporus Strait, more than thirty ships were slowly sailing toward the Black Sea to the north. Tian Erniu stood on the deck and looked at both sides of the strait.
"The place of throat is truly worthy of its reputation."
"As long as some artillery is set up on these two banks, no matter how powerful the fleet is, it will never pass here."
"My Ming Dynasty's territory has expanded to the South Caucasus region on the east coast of the Black Sea. Although we can freely pass through this strait according to the agreement, it will always be restricted by the Ottoman Empire. If they are not happy, they can cut off this place at any time."
"If we want to protect our Ming Dynasty's interests, it is best to occupy this place and send an army to garrison here."
Tian Erniu looked at both sides of the strait, but he was thinking about the future in his mind.
He did not participate in the negotiations between the Spanish and the Ottoman Empire. Jiang Liang participated in the negotiations on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, but judging from the news now.
The Spanish opened their mouths loudly, not only demanding the cession of several islands in the Aegean Sea, but also demanding that the Ottoman Empire cede territory in North Africa. They also demanded that the Ottoman Empire pay war compensation of up to 30 million taels of silver.
There is no doubt that this was rejected by the Ottoman Empire, and negotiations between the two parties became extremely difficult.
Jiang Liang, who was involved in it, felt it was very difficult. Even though he spoke for the Spaniards appropriately, the Spaniards wanted too much and were too greedy. They had to compare everything with the Ming Dynasty.
I feel that the Ming Dynasty not only obtained a large amount of land, but also received huge war reparations. As an ally, Spain should be similar.
The land in North Africa requires huge war reparations, but from the perspective of the Ottoman Empire, a ceasefire agreement has been reached with the Ming Dynasty. The Ottoman Empire can mobilize its elite troops and is not afraid of its neighbors at all.
Spain is nothing. In the past, Spain was beaten by the Ottoman Empire and could only develop on the sea. How could it bow to Spain?
Therefore, the Ottoman Empire did not agree to any of Spain's requests. For the sake of Ming Dynasty, they went to great lengths to lease several islands in the Aegean Sea to Spain for a few years. Other than that, they did not agree to any other requests.
Spain was very angry when it could not get the benefits it wanted, and threatened to attack the Ottomans together with the European Knights, directly to the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Obviously, such threats have no effect, and the Ottoman Empire is obviously not scared.
The fleet slowly moved north, and it didn't take much time to pass through this narrow strait and enter the Black Sea.
"This is the Black Sea?"
The fleet sailed into the Black Sea, and the water in front of the eyes was dark. At the same time, it could be clearly felt that the wind and waves in the Black Sea became more violent.
Tian Erniu has traveled all over the country and has seen a lot. He has been to many sea areas and has seen the sea water in various sea areas. The water in most seas is blue, but the black sea in front of him is dark, which makes
Everyone looks a little scary.
You don't need to think about it to know that the water in the Black Sea must be very deep. The deeper the water, the darker the color and the more terrifying it appears.
Taking out a map, Tian Erniu began to carefully study the situation around the Black Sea.
The more than thirty ships under his command, according to the orders of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, will be divided into twelve ships to form the Ming Dynasty Black Sea Fleet, specifically used to safeguard Ming Dynasty's interests in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Tian Erniu has many things to do. He not only needs to choose a suitable port in Nanyun Province to build a port, but also needs to formulate relevant rules and regulations, etc.
In short, he may not be able to return to the Ming Dynasty this year. He still has to be busy here and finish the matters related to the Black Sea Fleet before he can return to the Ming Dynasty.
"To the north of the Black Sea is the Crimean Khanate. It was a branch of the Kipchak Khanate in the past. The main supporting industry of the Crimean Khanate turned out to be the slave trade. It specialized in plundering the Slavs in the north and then selling them to the Ottoman Empire.
Slave traders, eventually some of these slaves stayed in the Ottoman Empire, and some were resold to our Ming Dynasty through the slave market in the Mediterranean."
Tian Erniu set his sights on the Crimean Khanate in the north.
Before coming, he had already collected relevant information and fully understood the place.
The slave trade has a very long history and tradition in the Black Sea region.
Historical records can be traced back to the Greek city-state era, and the slave trade industry was already very developed and popular along the Black Sea coast.
From the beginning of the Fourth Crusade, the Italian Genoese began to enter the Black Sea to engage in slave trade. By the 13th century, the Genoese signed an agreement with the economically distressed Golden Horde Mongolian Khan to specialize in slave trade.
.
The Mongols were responsible for going to the north to plunder Slavs as slaves, and then selling them to the Genoese in Kaffa on the Crimean Peninsula. The Genoese sold these slaves to nobles and religious leaders in the Middle East at high prices.
Later, with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Empire replaced the Genoese and became the suzerainty of the Crimean Khanate. The slave trade business also passed into the hands of Ottoman merchants, and a steady stream of white slaves were acquired through this trading method.
Sold everywhere.
"Now that the Crimean Khanate has seized the opportunity to get rid of the control of the Ottoman Empire, it may be our Ming Dynasty's turn to get involved in the slave trading business."
"The Ottoman Empire cannot be allowed to make money in vain like this. As long as a port is built here in Nanyun Province, and there are ships dedicated to and from the Crimean Khanate in the north, slaves can be continuously imported into our Ming Dynasty. It happens that Nanyun Province
If it wants to develop, the slave trade may become the first industry."
Tian Erniu had a smile on his face. Since the Ming Dynasty has expanded its territory here, the original system in the Black Sea will naturally be broken. The greatest benefits will naturally go to the Ming Dynasty first. Since the slave trade is the most profitable, it will naturally have a hand.
What's more, Ming Dynasty's demand for slaves is increasing.
Not to mention anything else, in the Hezhong area alone, there are a large number of fertile fields that cannot be cultivated because there are not enough manpower, and there are a large number of pastures that cannot be cultivated because there are not enough manpower to graze them, so these pastures can only be allowed to turn into wild horses.
A gathering place for camels and wild sheep.
Therefore, people in the Hezhong area urgently need a large number of slaves to help them farm, especially those large cotton plantations that require more slaves, so that the price of slaves in the Hezhong area has been rising.
"To the west is the Kingdom of Hungary (the Kingdom of Hungary at this time was still powerful and ruled a relatively large territory, including later Romania and part of Bulgaria). Maybe we can do business with them in the future. When merchant ships arrive at the Danube, my Ming Dynasty's goods can be
It was shipped directly to Eastern Europe.”
"I heard that the current Kingdom of Hungary is a weakling. The nobles in the country are rebelling against the emperor. They even want to pass their throne to the Habsburg family."
Tian Erniu looked at the information in his hand and couldn't help but sigh. European countries always give people the impression that they are very chaotic. Each country is very small, but they often marry each other, so that sometimes a monarch appears.
Often becomes the monarch of several countries.
A monarch has many titles hanging on his head, such as the monarch of some kingdom and the duke of some place at the same time. It’s a mess.
"The influence of the Habsburg family is very huge. It seems that if there is a chance, we can have a good chat with members of their family."
Seeing the name of the Habsburg family, Tian Erniu also pondered for a moment. The Habsburg family is a very famous family in Europe. He has heard of this family more than once or twice.
And judging from what we know now, the rule and influence of the Habsburg family is almost all over Europe. If the Ming Dynasty wants to maintain its own interests in Europe, it will definitely have to deal with this family.
"To the south is the Ottoman Empire. In the short term, the Ottoman Empire should not dare to do anything to our Ming Dynasty, but they control the Bosporus, which is not a good thing for our Ming Dynasty."
"The enemy that the Black Sea Fleet needs to defend against in the future is the Ottoman Empire!"
"This time's grievances, coupled with the future slave trade to rob the Ottoman Empire, new and old grudges, combined, once the strength of the Ottoman Empire is restored, it will definitely still cause trouble for our Ming Dynasty."
Tian Erniu looked towards the south of the Black Sea and pondered slightly.
The land acquired by the Ming Dynasty is the South Caucasus, which is to the east of the Black Sea. To the north of Nanyun Province is the tall Caucasus Mountains, and it is connected with the Crimean Khanate. There is nothing to worry about.
The huge Caucasus Mountains are enough to block the cold current from the north. Moreover, they are just grassland nomads. There is nothing to fear at all. The Ming Dynasty will expand to these areas in the future.
The only ones that need to be vigilant are the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire in the south. Although there is nothing to worry about in the short term, in the long term, they are the most threatening.
After the fleet entered the Black Sea, it kept sailing eastward. It took several days to finally reach Nagumo Province on the east coast of the Black Sea.