The Aegean Sea Island, West Island and several surrounding islands originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire. However, through the "Erzinjan City Agreement", several islands were ceded to the Ming Empire and became the Ming Empire's second place in the Mediterranean.
colony.
Because of its unique geographical location, Xihai Island is located in the Aegean Sea and is the only way to the Black Sea. A large number of commodities from the Ming Dynasty passed through Nayun Province, then through the Black Sea and the Turkish Strait to the Aegean Sea, and then were transported to the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and other countries.
Relying on such an emerging golden sea trade route, Xihai Island also developed rapidly and became a famous trading island in the entire Mediterranean, gathering merchants from all over.
There are merchants from the Ottoman Empire who brought slaves from Eastern Europe, which is currently the largest business in the West Island; merchants from the Arabian Peninsula, they brought tall Arabian horses; merchants from France, their goods are mainly wine, this thing
Very popular in Daming...
A large ship flying the flag of the Ning Kingdom sailed towards Xihai Island from the south. On the deck of the ship, Alexei and Andrei stood upright, facing the sea wind and looking towards Xihai Island ahead.
“The scenery of the Mediterranean is really nice!”
Alexey looked at the West Island in front of him, with blue sky and white clouds, tall buildings standing on the top of the mountain, seagulls flying in the sky, warm sunshine, beautiful beaches, and sea ships extending in all directions.
The last time he passed by here, he was still a slave. In the cabin where the slaves were kept, he could not see the beautiful scenery outside at all.
This time, I can finally appreciate the beautiful scenery of the Aegean Sea. It is so beautiful and intoxicating.
"Actually, they are almost the same~"
Andrei didn't really know how to appreciate the scenery. In the Principality of Moscow, he was a serf and came from the lowest level, so naturally he never cared about these scenery.
"Yes, it's actually the same. It's just that our situation is different, so the world is different."
When Alexey heard this, he smiled and sighed.
The two of them traveled thousands of miles this time. From Tianzhu Ningguo, they first took a ride to Egypt, then took a boat from Egypt to Xihai Island, and later planned to take a boat to the Black Sea and arrive at Crimea, the northernmost part of the Black Sea.
Khanate, and then from Crimean Khanate to Muscovy.
They want to return to their hometown, to the Principality of Moscow, and then bring all their relatives to live in Ningguo.
The two people, who were originally just humble slaves, fought bravely and performed outstandingly during Ningguo's attack on Beitianzhu. Not only did they regain their freedom, but they also received a large amount of land, wealth and slave rewards. They achieved great success on Ningguo's side.
The salted fish turns over.
However, the two of them did not forget their family members who were far away in the Principality of Moscow. They also traveled thousands of miles and took huge risks to return to the Principality of Moscow to pick up their families and live together in Ning Country.
The journey has been very smooth, because the areas around the Indian Ocean are basically the vassal states and colonies of the Ming Dynasty. To the people of Ningguo, it is no different from their own home.
As for the Red Sea area where there are many pirates, after the Red Navy's suppression in recent years, they have been wiped out. In Egypt, the relationship between Egypt and the Ming Empire is very good. Both sides are building the Egyptian Canal, which will be opened next year.
It will then be much more convenient to travel between Europe and the Indian Ocean.
The truly dangerous place is the Mediterranean. Since ancient times, there have been so many pirates, including Ottoman pirates, Arab pirates, Viking pirates, English pirates, etc. Almost every merchant ship walking on the Mediterranean Sea will turn into a pirate ship if given the chance.
.
Of course, here in the Mediterranean, everyone has a consensus that it is best not to provoke the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has two colonies in the Mediterranean and stationed two navies to protect the Ming's interests in the Mediterranean.
As long as you dare to loot the ships of the Ming Dynasty, these two navies will pursue you. No matter which country or place you escape to, no one will dare to take you in unless you are prepared to withstand the artillery fire of the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, although the majesty of the Ming Empire is very useful, anything can happen on the sea. The ships of the Ming Dynasty often carry a large amount of goods and treasures, and looting one is enough for these pirates to live a good life.
.
There will always be some people who are not afraid of death and will attack passing Ming ships. This has also led to the fact that in the Mediterranean, besides the slave trade, the hottest business is the escort business.
Almost every Ming Dynasty ship traveling to and from the Mediterranean would hire escorts to escort them. These Ming escort agencies have extremely high credibility and professionalism.
With their escort and the prestige of the Ming Empire, the ships of the Ming Dynasty were much safer in the Mediterranean Sea, and accidents rarely happened.
We arrived at Xihai Island smoothly, but the road ahead was not smooth.
It is still very safe to go to the Black Sea from Youxi Island. As long as you take the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, basically no one dares to provoke them. Even the pirates of the Ottoman Empire, who are frightened by the countries along the Mediterranean, are not willing to provoke the Ming Dynasty people.
Not only is the Ming Dynasty tough and vindictive to the outside world, but more importantly, the Ottoman Empire does not dare to provoke the Ming Empire at all. Once something goes wrong, the Ottoman Empire Sultan will deal with you first.
The Ottoman Empire did not dare to provoke the Ming Empire. More importantly, the Ottoman Empire now needed the Ming people to buy their slaves. They also needed to buy food, weapons and equipment from the Ming Empire.
The Ottoman Empire is safe, but once it reaches the Black Sea, the situation is not so good. The Black Sea itself is extremely stormy and quite dangerous. Secondly, there are many pirates active in the Black Sea.
The frequent wars in Eastern Europe have spawned a large number of thieves who are not afraid of death. Coupled with its location on the important east-west trade route, it naturally attracts a large number of pirates to rob passing ships.
Of course, as long as the flag of the Ming Dynasty is flying, the safety of the ship can still be guaranteed, but after arriving in the Crimean Khanate, it is really dangerous to go to the Principality of Moscow.
Because the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate have always specialized in plundering Slavs and selling them as slaves, and they also kept a large number of slaves themselves.
Alexey and Andrei looked like they would be captured as slaves or killed outright when they arrived in the Crimean Khanate.
It is definitely not an easy task to return to the Principality of Moscow smoothly and then take your family back from the Principality of Moscow. Although they are now from the Ning Kingdom and have Ning Kingdom's customs clearance documents in their hands, they are not
A Ming man with black eyes and black hair.
Thinking of this, Alexei and Andrei seemed worried, full of worries about the road ahead.
"Andre, I think we'd better hire a bodyguard to escort us back, otherwise I think it will be difficult for the two of us to return to the Principality of Moscow safely."
Alexey looked at the West Sea Island he was heading to, and at the Ming Dynasty dragon flag flying at the highest point of the island. Along the way, he had to admit that this flag of the Ming Dynasty was really useful.
I met several groups of pirates on the road. When they saw the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty, they immediately stayed away and did not bother to rob them. The people of the Ming Dynasty were not easy to mess with. This was the consensus of everyone.
Although the people of Ming Dynasty are easy to get along with, they are gentle, very trustworthy and honest, and they always seem to be submissive, but the fleet stationed in the Mediterranean Sea by the Ming Dynasty has a special organization responsible for the safety of Ming people. Any Ming people who enter this area
, must be reported to them.
Where you come from and where you are going, there are clearance documents along the way. If something goes wrong at any point, they will follow this to investigate and will not stop until the murderer is brought to justice.
It is said that this organization was established at the strong request of Liu Jin, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. It was Liu Jin who set up the reward system. Every ship overseas must pay an amount every year, called overseas safety fund.
The purpose of this amount is to protect the safety of every Ming Dynasty person overseas, and at the same time, it also serves to avenge the murdered Ming Dynasty people.
Once something happens to someone from Ming Dynasty overseas, the mechanism will be activated. The first step is to investigate the truth of the matter. After the truth of the matter is investigated, the mechanism will be activated.
First, the Ming Dynasty's troops stationed overseas would come out to hunt down the murderer, and then continue to offer rewards in overseas countries. In short, they would never give up until the murderer is brought to justice and revenge is avenged.
Although the establishment of this system added a lot of work to the Ming Dynasty's overseas garrisons and government offices, it effectively protected the safety of the Ming Dynasty people overseas.
You must know that at the beginning, the people of Ming Dynasty were synonymous with fat sheep overseas. I don’t know how many people of Ming Dynasty were killed for no reason. The murderers went unpunished and publicized everywhere that the people of Ming Dynasty were weak and could be bullied.
But now, few people dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty anymore. Even the country behind you cannot protect you, because even the Ottoman Empire is not willing to bear the wrath of the Ming Dynasty.
A Ming Dynasty dragon flag is enough to make Xiaoxiao from all directions retreat.
Looking at the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty, Alexey and Andrei couldn't help but straighten their backs. They are now considered people of the Ming Dynasty. Ningguo is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the people of Ningguo are also protected by the Ming Empire.
However, the two of them are Slavs after all, and there is a huge difference in appearance from the people of Ming Dynasty.
"I also think so. If it were just the two of us, we would probably have died without a burial place before reaching the Principality of Moscow."
Andre thought for a while and agreed. Although they were from Ningguo and were protected by the Ming Empire, they were Slavs after all.