Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Since he said he was going to buy luxury goods, Orville did spend a lot of effort to do this.

It is not difficult to buy things when you have money in hand. What is difficult is to find a stable and large number of long-term suppliers. Orville did not go to Antonis because he did not want to owe favors. He had two other friends who could help.

One was King Herod of Parphi and the other was Valerian of Capua. Both of them would deal with people in Alexandria and more or less knew some friends doing business in Alexandria.

Through their relationship, Orville has found many potential partners. They are still in the stage of shopping around and negotiating prices, but it can be said that they have found a way. It is not difficult to purchase a certain amount of luxury goods. Orville is now The money on hand is just a sprinkling of water for Alexandria, a city with a population of hundreds of thousands. If you throw it all in, there will be no response, so it is enough at this stage, and the most basic goal can be said to be successfully completed.

But at this time, Orville noticed that Ivar was making other moves - he was studying maps of the east of Egypt, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and he admitted that he was indeed interested in the unknown world further east.

The urge to explore the unknown world is secondary. The main reason is that Ivar may have been stimulated by the local wealth. If a merchant ship traveling between Egypt and India can come back alive, the profit will be at least several times higher. If it is a spice ship, the profit can be even greater. When it reaches fifteen or even twenty times, anyone will be jealous after seeing the gold and silver in the ship with their own eyes, not to mention that these Vikings think that their navigation skills are not inferior to anyone else, so they can really eat this food.

Orville is happy to see this happen. Now the route east of Egypt is not in the hands of the Romans. Their navigation talent is really hard to describe. At most, they can fund the local merchant ships and return part of the profits. If the Vikings If people can further open up trade routes, it will not be harmful to the overall trade structure of the empire.

………………

Soon after, in Alexandria, Egypt, Orville was on the ship observing the situation.

Stilico said that he could safely leave the task to him, but Orville felt that after all, he wanted to command the troops rather than just sit back and enjoy the results, so he also needed to have an in-depth understanding.

Maps these days are not very accurate and rely more on human brain memory. Instead of counting on others, the most reliable way is to visit the places yourself and remember the terrain and surrounding conditions clearly. This can barely offset the local advantages of the locals.

While inspecting the river mouth, Orville compared this place with Ostia, the largest and most advanced port city in Rome, and concluded that this place was more lively than Ostia, but far less efficient and faster than Ostia. .

He personally believes that this means that Egypt's strength is no longer what it used to be - you must know that starting from Caesar, the Romans have always used Alexandria as a model for learning. He proposed a series of grand infrastructure construction projects, including rebuilding the city of Alexandria. Port of Stia, major road repairs, lake reclamation, wetland development, diversion of the Tiber River, excavation of the Isthmus of Corinth, etc.

The construction plan of Ostia, the gateway port of Rome, was largely based on Alexandria. Even Caesar invited many Egyptian and Greek craftsmen to Rome. They were indeed the most advanced and outstanding at the time, but Later, due to some "force majeure factors", this project was delayed for a long time.

By the time the port of Ostia was actually rebuilt, it was already more than ten years ago during the Claudius period. At this time, the Romans did not rely too much on Egyptian craftsmen, because they themselves were not inferior. Some of the craftsmen are from the local area. After completion, Port Claudius is one of the most advanced ports in the Mediterranean. In Orville's opinion, both the planning and the construction techniques used are much better than the current Alexandria Port.

Compared with the Port of Ostia, the berthed ships in Alexandria are very densely arranged, the layout of the entrance and exit of the ship port is not so reasonable and effective, and the management personnel are full of omissions. It can only be said that they can barely keep the port running smoothly. They often ask for bribes and even sit on the ground. Starting prices, sometimes have a completely negative effect.

It can be said that there is no way. It must have been hundreds of years since this port was built in the early Ptolemaic Dynasty. The Ptolemaic royal family did not carry out a thorough and large-scale renovation of the port. On the contrary, Alexander more and more The population has slowed down the port's operating efficiency to a certain extent, making it more bloated than expected.

After sailing on the sea for many times, Orville had just returned to land. At this time, Trajan rode up to him and asked him for instructions: "Master Astolfo has something to ask you. You see, you are now See him again?"

Orville was stunned for a moment when he heard Astolfo's name, because he hadn't actively contacted him for a long time after leaving him in Rome without saying goodbye. Orville was mentally prepared for the loss of contact with him, but he didn't expect it. Now I can still take the initiative to find him.

"Then let's ask him to come to the camp to find me."

Trajan's expression was a little strange, but the distance between the two was a bit far, and Orville didn't notice it, so he let Trajan ride back.

——

Orville didn't wait around. He returned to the camp and had a simple dinner. After a while, he carefully checked the army's combat readiness. After a while, when he started to read a book to kill time, Astolfo just arrived. Late.

As soon as they met, Astolfo began to touch the back of his head and laughed awkwardly: "I really trouble you with this matter. I encountered some troubles at the hotel. If it weren't for your help, I would have to pawn all my equipment to get out."

Orville turned his head to look at Trajan, who could only shrug his shoulders to express his helplessness. It was obvious that he solved this matter and did not report it to Orville.

He could probably outline the process of the matter in his mind. It was very likely that Astolfo could not make up for his debts, so he asked Orville to come over. Otherwise, he didn't know when the other party would contact him.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he was also quite speechless to Astolfo: "You'd better have something serious to ask me, not just to ask my reliable subordinates to fill in your accounts."

"Don't worry, although there is a little such factor, I can still repay you."

Astolfo subconsciously glanced at the soldiers around him, and Orville understood: "The soldiers I can bring with me are loyal and reliable. Don't worry about them leaking secrets. I will take responsibility if there are any problems."

In his opinion, Astolfo might not be as reliable as these guards. After all, they were selected by himself, and then lived with him for several years in the military career, eating and living together, so there is no need to doubt their loyalty.