Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

The Parthians were middlemen in the silk trade, but their skills were pretty good. The high-level middlemen among them did not transport the silk fabrics of East Asian powers to Rome to sell them in their original form, but disassembled the silk fabrics of East Asia and reassembled them into patterns and colors that the Romans liked and sold them to Rome for money. This was quite technical in Orwell's opinion, and it was indeed no problem for them to make some money.

But it is obvious that at some times, the Parthians made too much money, which made the Romans very unhappy. The many wars that broke out between the two sides cannot be completely separated from silk.

As Pliny said, it is certainly impossible to completely give up silk. We can get a glimpse of the Mediterranean people's obsession with silk from Greek mythology.

The story of the Argo, Jason, Medea and the Golden Fleece is quite famous. Among them, the Golden Fleece is a magical golden woolen skin hanging on a tree. A series of disputes and adventure stories broke out around the Golden Fleece, which can be said to be one of the legends in Europe since ancient times. This story may be adapted from the story of silk.

In the classical period, Greeks and Romans believed that silk was the fine wool picked from trees by Seres, as recorded by Pliny the Elder.

"They sprayed water on the trees to wash off the white fluff on the leaves, and then their wives spun the wool into thread and wove it into cloth. Because someone in a distant area completed such a complicated labor, the noble ladies of Rome were able to wear transparent clothes and appear in public."

The silk hanging on the tree and the golden wool hanging on the tree are equally magical and precious, and may have something to do with each other, but this can only be classified as a fantasy of the people at that time.

However, although the Romans' understanding of silk is strange and ridiculous now, in fact, it was not only the Seres who tried to domesticate wild silkworms and reel silk since ancient times. For example, the residents of a small island in Greece and the Indians once used wild silkworms to collect silk for weaving, but their domestication was unsuccessful. Instead of popularizing this skill, it was gradually forgotten. In the end, only the Seres domesticated wild silkworms into domestic silkworms.

According to the historical process, due to the outflow of sericulture technology to the Western Regions during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Persians obtained domestic silkworms in the early sixth century, and then the Byzantines also obtained domestic silkworms during this period and began to breed them.

The Peloponnese Peninsula was originally named after Zeus' grandson Pelops, but after the introduction of silkworms, it became Moria (mulberry leaves). Sericulture and silk reeling also became an important source of revenue for Byzantium.

If Orville wants to solve the fiscal gap caused by silk imports, the best way is of course to teach people how to fish rather than give them fish, so that people here can master the technology of sericulture, but this is not easy. Domestic silkworms are almost impossible to obtain under strict supervision. Even if wild silkworms are selected and bred from now on, it is not too late in their lifetime. Orville does not hold out hope in the short term anyway.

To sum up, this matter is basically unsolvable at the moment. Orville thought about it carefully, but he still didn't have the heart to spend a lot of money. He also wrapped silk on the bows and crossbows of ordinary soldiers to increase their strength, so he could only let them make do with it for now.

Comparing the performance comprehensively, since the Central Plains people chose to wrap silk instead of beast tendons, there must be a reason. Things like silk and spider silk are much stronger than animal tendons, but there is no way without them.

The impact of lacking silk is not very, very large. The crossbows are not to the point where they cannot be used. They can still penetrate armor and shields to kill people, but the performance and life are slightly worse. Compared with the sky-high price of silk, Orville is still more willing to save costs and then use the money in a more appropriate place.

That being said, Orville still asked his men to select some experienced breeders and asked them to see if they can think of a way to breed wild silkworms and then cultivate domestic silkworms to raise silkworms and reel silk. If they can succeed, they will be rewarded heavily. Orville also issued a bounty notice. Anyone who could breed the embryonic form of silkworms would receive at least 500,000 dinars in gold and silver, and other rewards were countless.

Most people in the Mediterranean, even those with insight, believed that "silk grows from trees", so Orville had no hope for the outcome of this matter. He just issued a bounty order with a try-and-see attitude, hoping that there would be brave men under the heavy reward. It would be best if there were, but it didn't matter if there were none.

The method of obtaining bow materials can basically only be arranged in this way. Another problem is the acquisition of war horses.

War horses are not the same as draft horses used for farming. The former can be ranked alongside any of the most important strategic materials in ancient times. It is a very precious and expensive resource. Otherwise, the salary/maintenance fee/food supply of a cavalryman would not often be ten times that of an ordinary soldier.

The war horses in Orville's hands were prepared by Cleopatra, but the number was still not enough. According to Orville's idea, he should at least have a cavalry unit of two to three thousand people directly under him to deal with various problems.

It was hard to find a reliable rider, and he could barely find enough professionals. As for the warhorse, it was definitely unrealistic to just ask Cleopatra for it. Although she was a rich woman, Egypt was not a place where warhorses were abundant, and the stock was limited. Orville was not thick-skinned enough to ignore it.

So Orville changed his target this time - he asked the Nabataeans for warhorses.

Before the development of modern horse breeding technology, it was generally believed that excellent war horses came from the Arabian region. Arabian horses have strong explosive power and endurance, and their tolerance to harsh environments is impeccable. Modern European horse breeding has also introduced a large number of Arabian horse genes, which is enough to show that the quality of this kind of horse itself is not bad.

Compared with the mediocre horses in Rome, these nomadic peoples have the best war horse resources that Orville can find.

And war horses are almost the lifeblood of the locals. They can be used when fighting for livestock, water sources, and resisting enemies. They are definitely unwilling to give them away easily, even if Orville asks for them directly, unless he wants to go to war with the locals for this matter.

It is not a good sign to have a very stiff relationship with neighbors and want to solve everything with force, so Orville changed his method and negotiated a deal with the other party.

First of all, Orville will pay to open a horse farm in partnership with the other party in the future to increase the number of war horses bred.

Secondly, Orwell would provide salt, food, farm tools, cloth, wood and other basic living materials in exchange for the war horses, and the Nabataeans would give him a very favorable price.

The last and most important point is that in the future, Orwell would support the Nabataeans to fight against the Persian merchants in the East, making their business strength stronger as compensation.