Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Ancient navigation often relied on passion. Facing the endless ocean, most people would feel powerless from the bottom of their hearts and find it difficult to fight against it, let alone conquer the ocean and plow out their own traces on the chart. .

This is the job of the brave, and it is also an extremely confidential job. Accurate charts are often passed down from generation to generation, engraved in the heads of captains, and almost never leaked. This is the foundation for their livelihood.

The Romans have not yet found a trade route that can guarantee stable travel to India. If Orville can solve the trade route problem, then it is conceivable that the senators in the central empire will have a lot of changes in the Flavian dynasty. This is related matters of their vital interest.

After all, it is the top-level people in power who purchase the most luxury goods. They use these items as daily necessities, and the accumulated expenses are quite huge. If they can find ways to save some costs, then they will naturally soften their attitude and provide more support to the Flavian royal family. .

Of course, Orville is not ready to make this matter completely public and publicize it yet.

Firstly, it is because the stability and smoothness of the route cannot be guaranteed for the time being, and secondly, Orville is planning to wait a few years and wait for Vespa to announce it a hundred years later, which can boost the support of the local Romans for Tia.

Conquering the ocean is also a great achievement, and it is a major event that can be counted among the emperor's achievements. Orville plans to wait a few years until he has a stable Indian caravan before announcing it, so that the local people can also be happy.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is quite simple to conceal the information. Ivar must know the principle of keeping wealth secret and will not show off in this unfamiliar place. As long as he claims that these goods were exchanged for Arabs, Then no one will be suspicious, after all, it is consistent with common sense.

After all, Ivar set sail only a few days after arriving in Egypt. According to common sense, they believed that the Vikings were uncivilized barbarians. Of course, barbarians could not do what civilization could not do in a short period of time. This was a kind of common sense.

The Vikings circled around the Red Sea for several times, and finally exchanged some things with the Arabs and returned to the land of Egypt. This process conformed to their imagination, so Orville could just follow this imagination.

People are still more willing to accept false facts in their predestination than unacceptable facts, and this is true everywhere.

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In the Governor's Palace and Royal Palace, Orville and Cleopatra sat side by side, listening to Ivar tell what he had seen.

"It was a difficult adventure, and we lost almost a quarter of our sailors. But it was also a very rewarding adventure, and we actually succeeded in reaching India, the place that Alexander the Greek had touched on land.

Because of the language barrier, communication between us and those people was very difficult, but the final result was good. We exchanged gold and glass products produced in Rome with the locals for spices, and the cargo ship loaded with spices finally returned to Egypt. "

Ivar's tone was very excited when he spoke, and his eyes seemed to be dancing with fire. It was obvious that he, like his father, truly enjoyed the excitement and sense of accomplishment brought by the adventure itself.

Orville definitely encouraged the other person: "This is very good, I will record it this time. Can you tell me in detail what you gained?"

"Following your idea, we bypassed the customs and came to you directly. Master Trajan found us a professional statistician. I roughly calculated the profits of this trip. Counting the ships and not the crew members who were sent to me With the pension, this voyage can bring seventeen times the profit.”

Ivar's tone was still a little dazed when he spoke. He obviously failed to fully accept the reality. Seventeen times profit sounded really appalling. He had never heard anything like it when he was in Beihai. Of course, except for robbery, this was nothing. Make a profit or lose everything, and the profit rate is always jumping sideways.

In fact, this is all due to Ivar's lack of proficiency in business. According to some customs documents of the empire, the profit margin of a merchant ship can even be as high as twenty-five times, just like the merchant ships heading to America in the Age of Discovery. It is high-risk but high-risk. Return.

Orville was very satisfied with Ivar: "I will let someone take over the subsequent sales. You are welcome to send someone to supervise. I guarantee fairness and justice. All the profits from this voyage will be rewarded to you and your warriors. This is a tribute to you." As a reward for serving, of course, we will settle the accounts in accordance with the agreement between us. Do you understand this? "

"No problem. We are never the masters of this sea. We are just serving the masters of the world. We will get our due share, but we will not allow greed to blind our minds."

Orville later said a few words to Ivar, which were generally words of encouragement. What he should say had been booked privately before the voyage, so there was no need to reiterate it. As for Cleopatra, she was very impressed by the voyage itself. He showed greater interest and professionalism than Orville.

After obtaining Orville's permission, she took the lead and asked: "I have a general understanding of the sea conditions in the Indian Ocean. At this time, it is obviously a countercurrent to return to Egypt along the land from India. How did you do this?"

"We made a circle on the sea, first from India to the land of the Aksumites (Ethiopia), and then back to Egypt from there. There was a tailwind along the way, so it drove very fast."

The almost dead geographical memory began to attack Orville's brain again. This was related to the monsoon climate of the Indian Ocean. In short, it was not easy for Ivar to do this.

The young Egyptian king was not shy about showing off his erudition. She then asked a few more practical questions before getting to the point: "I know a scholar who studies astronomy and navigation. Can I show you her results?"

There were not many people who studied astronomy and navigation, and only Hypatia used the feminine word. Although she was now mapping for Orwell, Cleopatra still remembered her. She had some impression of the scholars in the Great Library and their expertise.

Hypatia's improved astrolabe was presented to Ivar, who realized the importance of it in a short time. After repeatedly studying and trying it out, and roughly understanding the difference from the old astrolabe, he answered with certainty: "If possible, I would like this thing to appear in the hands of every captain of my ships. It is definitely better and more accurate than the previous astrolabe, and it is a valuable result."

Although they were classified as barbarians, Ivar and others did not reject new technologies. On the contrary, he welcomed all truly useful things. Obviously, equipment that could assist navigation was useful.