The Rise of the European Emperor

Now, with New York shipyards designing and building specialized cattle and horse carriers, transporting cattle at sea on a large scale is no longer a problem. After all, New York shipyards are now building a plethora of large cattle carriers. That kind of professional ship can transport a hundred or dozens of cattle and horses at a time, and dozens of ships can be dispatched together to transport thousands of cattle at a time.

Therefore, the sea transportation of farm cattle is no longer a big problem. The only problem was how to transport the cattle from the interior of the Songhai Empire to the seaside.

Marin first considered taking the Niger River. It seems that in later generations, this river not only flows through Mali, but also flows through Niger and Nigeria.

However, after mobilizing the intelligence files of the Songhai Empire sent back from the Laayoune colony, Marin gave up this route. why? Because that route is not safe, there is a war...

The uppermost part of the Niger River is now under the control of the declining Mali Empire. Then, the upper and middle reaches are controlled by the Songhai Empire. However, the downstream area is controlled by West African powers such as Hausa, Oyo and the Kingdom of Benin. Moreover, it seems that the Songhai Empire is at war with Hausa and is still at a disadvantage. The main reason is that the cavalry, which the Songhai Empire relies on, cannot be used in the tropical rainforest, but it is not as good as the jungle warriors of the Hausa people...

Because of the war with Hausa, it is obviously unrealistic to go up the Niger River along the river. If you transport a small amount of goods, you may be able to use a galley to take a trip to the Niger River to transport it. However, large-scale transportation of livestock is still free...

Since this road is blocked, we must find a way to take another route. One of them is starting from the Songhai Empire, driving cattle, passing through the Mali Empire, and then going to the seaside to load a ship...

However, the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire are sworn enemies. How could Songhai's cattle be allowed to pass through Mali smoothly? Don't make a fuss, all the cows you bought were seized by the Mali Empire...

Marin had no choice but to study the current situation in West Africa. These information are all newly sent.

"Huh? The territory of the remnants of the Mali Empire is mainly south of the Senegal River?" Marin's eyes lit up...

Marin remembered that it seemed that the Senegal River in later generations was the boundary between Senegal and Mauritania. Among them, the area south of the Senegal River is mostly a tropical grassland zone, with a dry season and a rainy season. The area north of the Senegal River has gradually changed from a semi-desert to a tropical desert. Therefore, the land north of the Senegal River was too dry to be conquered even by the Mali Empire. Therefore, at present, on the north side of the Senegal River, there are mainly some grasslands in semi-arid areas, and there are some indigenous tribes with a small number of people. These small tribes are small and poor. Mainly breed some sheep and camels in the semi-arid desert. Therefore, the Songhai Empire and the Mali Empire were too lazy to conquer them, because there was nothing to offer...

"You can't see it,

I like it..." Thinking of this, Marin's eyes lit up.

Relying on his memory, he drew a map of the situation in West Africa in later generations, including the border line and the direction of the two major rivers, the Senegal River and the Niger River.

After drawing, Marin gestured with his fingers, and was surprised to find that the distance between the upper reaches of the Senegal River and the upper reaches of the Niger River was only about a hundred kilometers, which was very close.

Perhaps, there are many mountains and rivers in the distance of hundreds of kilometers between the two rivers, but there must be a way to pass through...

However, the shortest distance between the two rivers seems to be under the control of the Mali Empire. To pass safely, a war with the Mali Empire is required.

It's not that Marin can't beat the Mali Empire. After all, this is a sunset empire that even the Songhai Empire can't beat. However, the problem is that if he defeats the Mali Empire, he will end up making the Portuguese cheaper.

why? Because Marin now needs to rely on the Mali Empire to prevent the Portuguese from capturing Timbuktu. At present, the Portuguese are taking the most difficult route - they are taking the route of later Guinea...

In the later Republic of Guinea, the territory is densely covered with tropical rainforest, and the territory is crisscrossed with mountains, making it very difficult to walk. The Portuguese are also unlucky, but they chose such a path, and they are asking for trouble.

If they take the Senegal route in the north, the terrain there is relatively flat, mostly tropical grasslands, which is much better than taking the tropical rainforest and rugged mountains.

Moreover, after crossing the prairie in Senegal, there are some mountains at the junction of the east of Senegal and the later Republic of Mali, but not many, and it is easier to pass.

However, the Portuguese don't know...

They didn't know the situation in the inland of West Africa, so they could only start from the most familiar place and head inland. Coincidentally, the Portuguese established a trading base on the coast of Guinea earlier, so they simply started from here and headed inland. Then, embarked on a most difficult path.

At the beginning, Marin almost died laughing when he learned that the Portuguese were going to take the Guinea route. Because, he has long known the rugged terrain of the Guinea region, and has long been waiting to see a joke.

Sure enough, until now, the Portuguese colonial army is still fighting against the terrain, tropical rainforest, and black fighters in the jungle on the Fouta Jallon Plateau in Guinea. Of course, there are poisonous insects and diseases in the tropical rainforest that are more terrifying than these three...

Over the years, Portugal has lost more than a thousand colonial soldiers, but it still has not crossed the Fouta Jallon Plateau. After all, the Fouta Jallon plateau is 70,000 to 80,000 square kilometers, and it is full of tropical rainforest. The plateau and mountains plus the tropical rainforest, the Portuguese were abused unjustly...

...

And Marin, who is familiar with the geography of later generations, obviously knows that it is more convenient to reach Timbuktu by going to Senegal. But the problem is, he doesn't want to make a wedding dress for the Portuguese...

You know, if he openly sends troops to conquer Senegal and defeat the declining Mali Empire, the Portuguese are likely to come out to pick peaches with the "Treaty of Rome" signed at the beginning.

In order to protect the interests of dominating the Americas, Marin had to give. Otherwise, both Spain and Portugal would have reason to intervene in the colonization of America.

However, Marin was unwilling to give up the opportunity to open up this land route. After all, as long as this relatively flat road is opened, then he can drive tens of thousands of cattle on land like he bought cattle from the Eastern European grasslands from the Crimean Khanate, arrive at the seaside, and ship them to the Caribbean, or , in the Philippines, you can...

However, because they want to keep the Mali Empire, let them preserve their strength to fight against the Portuguese. Therefore, Marin does not intend to take the route south of the Senegal River.

In this way, he can only choose the route north of the Senegal River...

To the north of the Senegal River is the territory of the later Mauritania. In later generations, Mauritania was an arid country dominated by deserts. Moreover, slavery still exists in the territory.

However, Marin remembered that there seemed to be many towns in the southern part of Mauritania in later generations, including the southeastern inland area.

Well, this proves that, apart from the banks of the Senegal River, there are many places with water sources in southern Mauritania. Even if there are no rivers, there are springs and wells.

As long as you find the right route and let the cattle pass through, you can get fresh water from time to time, and you can reach the Atlantic coast smoothly and safely. Then, ship for transportation.

But the problem is that because the route is very long and there are so many cattle, it is easy to attract the covetousness of the local people. After all, in the black world, cattle are a symbol of property. In later generations, when African chiefs married their wives, they used cattle as bride price. As long as there are cows, there is everything...

Therefore, in order to ensure that the cattle are not robbed by the blacks along the way, Marin needs to send someone to control this transportation route.

After much deliberation, Marin decided to send troops to occupy the area north of the Senegal River, the southern border of Mauritania in later generations, and until the western part of Mali in later generations. Then, straight to Timbuktu...

As long as this route is opened, in the future, the African buffaloes traded from Timbuktu, as well as... black slaves...

Yes, Timbuktu not only has a lot of cattle that can be traded, but also a lot of black slaves that can be traded. As long as you bring enough salt, the African buffalo and black slaves can be taken away at will. The premise is that you have a way to transport away...

Previously, the route in the Sahara desert opened up by the Laayoune colony was not suitable for transporting cattle at all, and black slaves were only suitable for bringing a group of the strongest. It is difficult for the weak to get out of the Sahara Desert. Moreover, the transport volume is very small.

But if the road north of the Senegal River and the southern border of later Mauritania is opened, it will be very different. Because the terrain here is flat, and there are water sources along the way. Not only can it drive tens of thousands of African buffaloes through at one time, but it can also drive tens of thousands of black slaves at the same time...

At that time, the tropical colonies of the North Sea State will not only be able to solve the problem of farming cattle, but also bring enough black slaves as labor.

The only problem is to hide it from the Portuguese. Otherwise, the Portuguese will definitely come to snatch this colony that legally belongs to them...

...

"Then support a puppet regime and control southern Mauritania..." Marin thought for a long time, and finally made a decision.

He planned to go to Egypt to buy hundreds of thousands of combat slaves trained by Mamluk cavalry. Then, the commanders of the North Sea State were sent to command them to control the area on the north bank of the Senegal River, fight all the way to the east, enter the territory of the later Mali, and border the Songhai Empire. Then, use the opened channel to transport the African buffalo and black slaves traded from Timbuktu...

In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, mainly to avoid the eyes and ears of the Portuguese, Marin decided to choose an obedient one among those slaves and support him as the apparent king. As for the name of the country, Marin helped to figure it out-Mauritania Sultanate...

At that time, this nominally independent country will protect the land trade route between Marin and the Songhai Empire. At that time, when Marin buys cattle, he will also use the name of the Mauritanian Sultanate, pretending to buy from them instead of from Timbuktu. In this way, the Portuguese will not covet here.

If the Portuguese really coveted this area, the Egyptian Mamluk cavalry commanded by the officers of the North Sea Kingdom would teach the Portuguese how to behave. After all, the Portuguese Army is scum. Facing the elite Mamluk cavalry, even the Mamluk cavalry composed of Egyptian slaves must be taught to be human...

And with those Egyptian Mamluk cavalry as cover, the Portuguese couldn't say anything. Of course, to trade with the locals in Mauritania, Marin had to obtain the consent of the Portuguese. Therefore, Marin sent envoys to Lisbon with gifts, in order to obtain the approval of the Portuguese to allow North Sea merchants to trade livestock and slaves with the natives of Mauritania...