Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

The map Orville showed was a world map drawn by Ptolemy, which was almost the same as the Ptolemy map of later generations. The world map of this era certainly had many omissions, inaccuracies and even errors, but overall it was still desirable. It basically outlined the outline of their known world, and the drawing of the Mediterranean world was much more accurate.

Such a map was the result of Ptolemy's efforts for more than ten years. In this era, only people like him who were amazing in astronomy and geography could draw simple world maps, and some of them were very good.

Facing such a magnificent and vast world map, the first feeling of the Vikings was that they had discovered a new world, and new lands, adventures and other civilizations were waiting for them to discover.

For these Vikings, I am afraid that many people have a misunderstanding - they did not rely entirely on looting to survive, and trade was also an important part of their lives.

They traveled on various trade routes in the North Sea in long ships. Although the North was poor in materials, it still had many specialties: honey, fur, fish, amber, slaves, and wood. They sold these specialties in exchange for food, weapons and equipment from the south and various other necessities of life.

In ancient times, sea merchants and pirates could not be completely distinguished. When business was going well, they might be ordinary merchants. Once business was not good, it was normal for them to become robbers on impulse. It was just that the frequency of these Vikings' impulses was a little higher.

Orville did not regard Ivar and others as robbers or threats. If used properly, these people could still become a helper.

He needed merchants and transport ships to transport British resources to the mainland. Relying on scattered Celtic and Anglo-Saxon merchants could not solve the problem. Cultivating from scratch was not a realistic thing. It required too much time and capital investment.

On the other hand, the grain produced in Gaul also exceeded its own needs. If the grain was transported to Rome by land, it would not be able to compete with the grain from Sicily and Egypt, which was transported by sea and had lower production costs.

From this point of view, the more realistic option is to reach an agreement with these Vikings, let them consume part of the grain produced by the Gaul province, and then the Gaul province will import some special products from the north and resell them to the Mediterranean world. This simple trade is of great benefit to both parties.

Although it is impossible to prohibit private trade, the governors of Gaul before Orville and Tia were more or less self-righteous and disdained to trade with these northerners. I am afraid they did not know how to do it. As a result, the economic ties between the northerners and the Roman Empire are relatively weak, and now the relationship between the two is more of opposition and hostility.

In view of this, Ivar could not tell how much benefit Orville could bring to himself by doing this, and he had no specific concept of this matter.

This time Ivar really fell into deep thought. He sat on the chair, tapping his fingers on the table unconsciously, frowning and thinking carefully, weighing the pros and cons.

After thinking for a long time, he still did not make a decision on the spot, but wanted to wait for a while: "Please give me some time to think, I need to consider this matter carefully."

"No problem, I have time and can wait." Orville had no reason to refuse.

…………

After Ivar left, Tia turned around and looked at Orville: "Do you think he will agree to this? He seems very hesitant and wavering."

"In fact, he doesn't have much choice. If the fight continues, regardless of whether we win or lose, the Danish king has always coveted his land and wants to take it for himself. If he damages his vitality, Ivar will not be able to stand on the land he has finally obtained. It is the best choice to stop while he is ahead. This is definitely a bit unfair to the Celts in Ireland and Scotland, but there is no other way. With Ivar's temper, his family background is much richer than Rollo's, and it is impossible for him to be willing to follow our arrangements."

Politics cannot be without compromise. Those Celts are not provincial residents of the Roman Empire in terms of identity. Theoretically, Orville has no obligations and responsibilities to them at all. Privately deciding the fate of the other party through a paper agreement means that he will be criticized by those intellectuals morally. At most, he will suffer a set of rumors and write a big gift package of biography. For someone with real power like him, it is not a serious problem.

Even in the eyes of the locals, Orville has done his best. After all, he has provided various kinds of help to the locals. When the locals were invaded by the Vikings, it was good enough for the Romans to say a few words to persuade them to make peace. People in this era do not have such excessive moral sense. No one will ask for more, unless they take the initiative to become part of the Roman Empire, then there will be more powerful people to give them justice. Ivar is indeed right about this, at least in this era.

Tia did not deny Orville: "Then I hope he can make the right decision. It's about time for us to put some pressure on him. How are your soldiers prepared?"

"Fifty longships, ten five-layer galleys, seamen and supplies are ready and can be used at any time. Rollo asked his men to infiltrate the enemy. I roughly know the location of the main force of the Franks. They still have the habit of being on land and are concentrated on a small island. The natural resources on the island are not enough for them to survive, and the reserve resources are definitely not too much. We just need to tow away or burn their ships. If they don't want to starve to death, they can only surrender."

Their appearance and cultural habits are indistinguishable. With Rollo's connections in the lowlands, it is easy to find one or two captains willing to be insiders. Although the Franks can claim to be Vikings or Danish troops from the north, their habits are definitely not changeable in the short term.

Their stationing mode at sea shows that they are a group of inexperienced people. Maybe their combat effectiveness is good in a head-on fight, but they obviously made common sense mistakes.

In this situation, Orville wanted to make some progress in the lowlands, so he immediately prepared a large enough fleet for Rollo, hoping to surround and kill these people on the island.

Tia nodded with satisfaction: "Then, let Rollo go out of the port to do things. We should add more weight on our side, so that Ivar will make the right decision earlier."