Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Ivar also paid 100,000 dinars to become a shareholder. This was Orville's instruction. He wanted to take the initiative to give the other party a share of the cake. Only by sharing common interests can the other party be better on his side.

In fact, he feels that he may not lose money in the future, because Ivar is really interested in developing the Indian Ocean trade route. After the war ended, he has been studying the sea conditions of the Red Sea and the seas further east. It should be said that he has already learned a little bit about it. Results.

If this thing can happen, the benefits behind it will be unimaginable. A successful voyage can bring more than ten times the profit, but Orville's half-percent share given to the other party is still less.

In addition to the traditional areas of transportation, hotels and trade, Orville is also planning to move the paper mill here and build new arsenals, shipyards and ironworks. The area is large enough to accommodate these things. , but that’s a story for another day. The first step is to get the boat out.

In order to achieve this, Orville personally went to Pliny.

——

Pliny's residence was right next to the port. He was a very responsible person. After confirming that his duty was to ensure the safety of Egypt's shipping, he bought a house near the military port with his own money and lived in it. From here to the port It only takes ten minutes by car and horse.

The Pliny that Orville saw was a slightly older middle-aged man, his hair had turned white, and there were obvious signs of weathering on his face. He was probably in his early fifties now, and could barely be considered a middle-aged man.

When the other party saw Orville, he shook hands with him enthusiastically: "I have wanted to see you for a long time. I have many non-work issues that I want to ask you about, but you must still come to me for work reasons. So, Please tell me first, I know everything.”

[Gaius Pliny Secundus, the knowledgeable scholar]

Diplomacy: 18

Military: 17

Management: 21

Strategy: 9

Knowledge: 37

Pliny's personal ability is indeed worthy of his personal resume - he has been the financial inspector of several provinces, a cavalry captain and fleet commander, a lawyer, and an encyclopedic scholar. He has written works on many subjects, and his understanding of subjects such as military, law, human geography, finance, literature, rhetoric and speech has given him very good attributes. It is obvious that he is a talent worth recruiting.

With these mixed thoughts flashing through his mind, Orville put a smile on his face, responding to the other party's enthusiasm: "I have heard your name a long time ago, and I also have many issues I want to discuss with you. But let’s get back to the business now. I want to ask you about the navy. I’ve been quite busy recently and I don’t have a deep understanding of this aspect. Can you tell me about the current situation? ?”

Regardless of the other person's age, he still respected this kind of intellectual. Since the other person's works were still used as introductory natural history textbooks more than a thousand years later, Orville felt that he had reason to use the honorific title for him.

"Her Majesty the Queen chose the time very well. The arson caused heavy losses to the navy directly under the royal family. Except for the navy sent out to perform the mission, most of the remaining ships were burned. There were also those who were lucky enough to survive. The damage was severe and most required thorough repairs at the shipyard.

Looking at it now, excluding the ships I brought, there are still fifteen Ponte ships (main-level five-story galley warships) and more than fifty other warships in the military port here after the rescue. Some of these ships are not in very good condition and it is time for them to be retired and replaced. "

Since it only needs to deal with insignificant pirates and does not need to deal with other naval powers, the Egyptian navy is also somewhat under-armed like the army, and gradually can only fight public security wars. The navy was already shrinking in size, but after being burned like this by Cleopatra, it was basically possible to start from scratch.

This is actually not a bad thing for Orville. It is better to say that he is happy with it, so as not to waste time arguing with those in the Egyptian Navy, it is more reliable to directly cultivate his own direct troops.

In addition to the Egyptian navy, Pliny brought about forty warships, including five pont ships, and the rest were small and medium-sized warships.

His fleet was not originally the main fleet. Its mission has always been to clear out pirates in the area. This kind of military strength is enough for daily use. That's why Vespa was so generous in seconding both people and fleets. The Senate still had no objections. Because it really isn't a big deal to them.

After thinking about it, Orville said to Pliny: "I will trouble you and my subordinates to do something later, to screen the officers and sailors in the Egyptian fleet. In my opinion, position is as important as ability. Do you understand what I mean?"

Pliny immediately understood: "Of course, I will try my best to keep your navy free of potentially dangerous elements, and you will have a maritime force loyal to the empire rather than Egypt."

Orville nodded: "I will find a way to solve the missing sailors. You don't have to worry too much. You will have to worry about the training of the ships and sailors later."

Orville does have talents like Rollo and Ivar who are good at water warfare, but letting them train the navy may only be able to train a large pirate fleet, not to mention that they may not be able to adapt to the Mediterranean in a short time. combat situation.

Taken together, it is more reliable to leave it to a professional navy admiral. The person is here, and it will be in vain if you don't use it.

These were all Pliny's duties, and the negotiations were not difficult. The two sides easily reached a consensus.

After that, Orville chatted with Pliny for a long time. Orville learned some necessary knowledge about the navy from Pliny, while Pliny was very interested in many of Orville's "inventions", especially the new papermaking technology.

Now the cheap paper made by Orville has become famous in Rome, and it has never been worried about sales, because cheapness is indeed the biggest advantage. Even with a lot of premium, it is still much cheaper than parchment or papyrus. Orville has made a lot of money by selling books and paper.

Pliny humbly asked Orville for the principle. After the other party promised not to leak the secret, Orville also shared the general principle with him. In fact, he was not afraid of the other party leaking the secret. Knowing the exact process, Orville directed hundreds of papermaking craftsmen to try purposefully for several years before they could barely produce usable finished paper. The other party only knew the principle, so it would take at least seven or eight years to restore it through reverse engineering. By then, the process would probably have leaked out. Orville did not intend to keep the technology secret until he died.