Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 177 Carthage Must Be Destroyed
"So that's what you meant." Tuo Huan thought about it: "Then they went south to Africa, is there any other threat to us?"

"Didn't I say that Africa can be encircled." Guo Kang reminded him again: "If they go all the way south, bypass Africa, and obtain local resources along the way, they can take advantage of the situation and sell these things to India and India. Java."

"The distance of the ocean trade route is longer, but if it is managed well, the shipping capacity will be much larger. If this trade route matures, more than half of our trade routes will be lost. This is enough for us, the Italians and the Egyptians, Stay alert."

Nor is he alarmist.In the history of his world, after the Portuguese established trade routes, it caused strong dissatisfaction among the previous major trading countries.In the end, seemingly unrelated countries such as Venice, the Mamluks, and the Gujarat state of India formed a coalition to fight Portugal.The defeat of the coalition forces in Diu also marked the decline of traditional Mediterranean powers.

As for this world, I don't know how it will develop in the future.

The Javanese dollar is very interested in the routes near India, especially the saltpeter and metal minerals near Bangladesh.Because other products are only a matter of profit, but these two determine the life and death of their regime.The output of gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty was too terrifying. It would definitely not be able to support the Nanyang islands without relying on a large-scale producing area of ​​the level of Bangladesh.

Their sea power is much stronger than that of Indian states, and they are now engaged in a sea competition with the Ming Dynasty.How it will develop in the future is really hard to say.

According to Sun Shiwan, due to the strong army of the Ming Dynasty, it often occupied the city of Manlajia and cut off the channel of the strait.Moreover, when it was at its strongest, the Ming army even captured Jinzhou—that is, the northeast of Sumatra Island, occupied the old port area, and basically controlled all the areas around the Malaga route.Although the Java dollar successfully counterattacked and took back the port thanks to the large number of people, this route is already very unsafe.

Maritime merchants were very helpless about this, so they could only explore new routes, trying to go south across the Sunda Strait, bypassing the southern part of Sumatra Island, and go directly to India.

The main problem with this idea is that the population of Sumatra is very unevenly distributed.Unlike the fertile Java, Sumatra's population is basically concentrated in the north, and the infrastructure in the south is much worse. It lacks reliable large ports and cannot obtain stable supplies.

Leaving the port and sailing long distances in the open sea requires more difficulty than walking along the coast.But this is also forcing them to upgrade their technology. In the long run, it may be a good thing.

But even so, the Iberian countries cannot be allowed to operate this route.The Javanese Yuan and Ming dynasties would not reject traders with lower prices and larger shipments just because they had several Central Plains surnames.If you don't prepare well, you may not be able to compete with them in the future.

These things may be too far away, but if you don't prepare now, it may be too late when you wait "not far away".

Guo Kang was thinking while watching other people's reactions.

As a result, he found that other people did not respond.Tuo Huan, the Queen Mother, Lama Wang, and even the nuns around him all stared at him.That is, Theodora seemed to be thinking about something.

"Old sea urchin" is a little uncomfortable with this environment, looking around at everyone for a while, and staring at him with everyone for a while.

Guo Kang had no choice but to continue by himself.

"What we need to pay attention to is that these three coastal countries all have the idea of ​​trying to seize control of the sea. This is very dangerous for us, because doing so will inevitably cause competition with us. In particular, they also It is possible to cooperate to make the enemy more powerful." He emphasized the threat of the other party again.

"You keep saying that you want to prevent them from competing for the sea. Does that mean that our current sea power is not enough?" Theodora asked.

"It's not a question of enough. If the enemy is allowed to develop, then our strength may never be enough. Therefore, we need a strategy to limit them as low as possible." Guo Kang said.

"If everyone can't understand these complicated issues of geography and trade routes, then I can put it in a simpler way." He changed the term: "Our place is called 'New Rome', you know that?"

Everyone nodded.

This is relatively basic local knowledge.At the earliest, the place where most of the capital was located was the Greek city-state called Byzantium.Later, Emperor Constantine moved the capital and the Senate here, and renamed it "New Rome", which means that this is the place to replace the previous city of Rome.Even the seven hills in the city correspond exactly to each other.

In theory, the city is also a Roman city.Therefore, in official documents, this title is often used directly.

"I have to remind everyone that besides New Rome, there used to be a New Carthage." Guo Kang said, "Do you know where it is?"

"In Spain," said Theodora.

"Yes, that place is now called Cartagena, which is the pronunciation of Carthage. So far, it is still the naval camp of the Kingdom of Castile." Guo Kang said: "They use this name to build this army. Isn't it obvious what you want to do?"

"So that's it!" Tuo Huan and the others had an expression of sudden understanding: "No wonder they always say they are a big threat, so it will be easy to understand."

"Is this reason too far-fetched?" Theodora asked suspiciously.

"It's not too far-fetched, and it's very simple. As long as the Spanish countries give up their sea power, stop expanding to coastal areas such as Granada, and return all ports and islands to the true masters of the Mediterranean Sea, we can confirm that they are indeed not threatening us. thinking." Guo Kang replied: "If they can do it, we can also determine that they are not Carthage."

"Surely it can't be done." The queen mother commented.

"That means they still have the ambition to revive New Carthage." Guo Kang said.

"New Carthage is not in North Africa. The Romans probably didn't pay much attention to that place at the time. But Hannibal set off from Spain and entered Italy all the way. He has been entrenched for more than ten years, posing a huge threat to Rome."

"How can we judge that these people will not repeat the story of the past?" He stood up and reminded everyone: "Isn't the greatest enemy of New Rome the new Carthage?"

"We can cite many positive and negative examples, and put forward various ideas. Of course, some arguments and defenses will sound better than what I said. They seem to bring us more peace and prosperity, and seem to be able to Let the elders of Khuriltai and Roman citizens gain greater benefits, it seems that the small bathtub of the Mediterranean Sea can really accommodate two ambitious powers."

"But I hope everyone will remember that besides these fancy arguments, there is also a simple and ancient piece of advice passed down to this day from our ancestors in the classical era." He read the famous line in classical Latin: "I want everyone to remember, 'Carthage must be destroyed'!"

(End of this chapter)