Changfeng Thousands of Miles End Han Song

Chapter 861 The World At This Time

In Nanjing City in February, the cold winter has passed, and the spring breeze is greening the south bank of the river again.

Sunshine, breeze, birdsong, flowers.

This imperial capital, which was officially moved into by Emperor Lu two years ago, is glowing with vigorous vitality all the time.

Painting boats in Lingbo, boats and lights; beautiful land in the south of the Yangtze River, Jinling Emperor State.Just based on the descriptions of these ancient poems, a dreamlike and unreal beautiful picture can emerge in front of your eyes.

As the imperial capital of Lu Qi, the population here may not be as large as Tokyo City in its heyday, because the latter is the result of the accumulation of the Zhao and Song Dynasties for more than a hundred years.But the prosperity here is even better than Tokyo.The reason for this is also very simple, because the Lu Qi Dynasty was more open, and Chinese sea ships sailed between Tianfang/North Africa to India and then to China.In the city of Nanjing, there are not only merchants from all over the Central Plains, but also countless foreign merchants.Not only were there many white-skinned Tianfang and Indian merchants among them, but even the Heishuli from North Africa appeared in the marketplaces of Jinling City.

Of course, these Heishu Li did not consider themselves to be Heishu Li. They came from later generations of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, and they were a chess piece buried by Emperor Lu in North Africa.Since the ancient Axum Empire, they have realized the monotheization of belief, and the contradiction with Tianfang World is very sharp.

At the peak of the Aksum Empire, the territory included large areas on both sides of the Red Sea.It was only in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Western calendar that it was successively attacked by the Persian Empire and the powerful Tianfang Empire and gradually declined.Then it was replaced by the Agao people who spoke the Kushite language in the south, and established the current Zagwi Dynasty.

These Heishu Li don't think they are Heishu Li, and even look down on the surrounding Hei Shuli.

From the perspective of racial characteristics, there are indeed some obvious differences between them and the Negro race.Generally speaking, Ethiopians have lighter skin, slender builds, tall noses, broad foreheads, narrow aquiline noses, and some Semitic facial features.Therefore, Ethiopia's rulers firmly believed that they were of the "white" race.

The era is in the ascendant period of the Ethiopians, and the new Zagwi dynasty is establishing its authority, but this authority does not seem to be finally established.Anyway, this is what Emperor Lu learned from the Chinese maritime merchants who had been to Africa and Hei Shuli who came to China.In their traditional turf there are also unsubjugated 'heterogeneous'.And this was the first time that Lu Qian knew that in the ancient land of North Africa, besides the important force of the Egyptians, there were also the Ethiopians.Forgive his ignorance in previous lives.

The Ethiopians, located at the confluence of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, established the Axum Empire as early as before AD. At its peak, its territory included large areas on both sides of the Red Sea. However, after experiencing the succession of the Persian Empire and the Tianfang Empire After the attack, it completely lost its territory on both sides of the Red Sea, including the important Yemen area - an incredible thing in the eyes of later generations. Today's Ethiopians believe that their ancestors are the Queen of Sheba in Yemen and Solomon in ancient Israel. A direct descendant of the king.The country of the Ethiopians is not so much a North African country as it is a peninsula country in its roots.It was because of the Persians and the rising Tianfang Empire that they had lost a large piece of land on the Tianfang Peninsula, so they had no choice but to continue southward and go deeper into North Africa.

They directly lost the important Port of Aduris in the battle with Tian Fang World.The latter is on the southern shore of the Red Sea, the later state of Eritrea.During the prosperity of Aksum in the fourth century, it was the transfer station of sea trade between the East and the West, and the business was prosperous, and it was the trade center of Egypt and India.The result of this victory of the Tianfang World is that the Axum Empire was completely blocked in the interior of Northeast Africa, completely 'isolated'.

After the collapse of the Tianfang Empire, the Fatimid dynasty that rose on the land of Egypt became a serious threat to the Ethiopians. They were also the suzerain and backer of the Beja people.The Beja people have been engaged in nomadic life in the eastern part of Sudan for a long time.During the time of the Aksum Empire, they were the targets of the Ethiopians for their slaves and wealth (livestock), but now everything is reversed.

The weakening of Aksum's control over the Red Sea region was largely due to the interference of the Beja people.Relying on the support of Tianfang World, they continuously attacked Aksum and shook Aksum's control in the Red Sea. Later, they established several small kingdoms on the southern coast of the Red Sea to rule the area.

But now the brand-new Zagwi Dynasty has replaced the old Axum Empire, and the Fatimid Dynasty in Egypt is falling into a period of decline. After that, there are frequent coups in the palace, soldiers are good at governing, young masters are frequently established, and the military and political power of the dynasty falls to ministers and officials. In the hands of an officer of the Mamluk Guards.The governors of various places have separated their regimes, tax revenue has dropped sharply, and the treasury is empty. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this dynasty is over.And the most important point is the emergence of a large number of Chinese maritime merchants.Among them are the secret agents of the intelligence department. After these people systematically understood the internal classification and other forces of the Tianfang world, the Ethiopians, a monotheistic nation, stood out and entered their eyes.

Emperor Lu was very patient. He knew that the border of Africa was too far away from him. If he wanted to plant a seed and wait for it to take root quietly, he had to be patient, and he had to have tolerance.Because the distance is too far, you can't put a rein around the necks of Ethiopians and make them obedient like cattle and horses.

They're not the dwarfs in the east, they're close, they can be ravaged as much as they want, they can be trained as much as they want.

The current Emperor Lu, that is, the tourists who feed the 'grass mud horses' with green grass and green leaves in the zoo of later generations, must have a smile on their faces, and must not be unfriendly in the slightest, and those old men will not give face to eat or not.

Under such circumstances, how could Emperor Lu be tough?

Fortunately, the Ethiopians understand the significance of China to them, and behave very well. In order to better obtain assistance from China and more conveniently conduct trade with Chinese maritime merchants, it is also an attitude - its crown prince Mara Takla Haima Nott personally led the troops to destroy the two Beja small kingdoms on the shore of the Red Sea, and opened up the passage to the Red Sea.For this reason, he almost went to war with the Fatimid dynasty.

But the superiors of the Fatimid dynasty are not fools. How can they not know the relationship between the Zagwi dynasty and China?In other words, in the face of the emerging Zagwi dynasty, the bigwigs of the Fatimid dynasty did not dare to provoke war easily.Anyway, that's how it went.

At the same time, it also reopened the era of Beija people's sorrow.

The Zagvi dynasty exchanged ivory, rhino horn and a large amount of gold for swords, guns, swords, halberds, armor and bows that were far superior to their own production. As their strength gradually strengthened, their attacks on the Beja people became more and more sharp. Recently, the white slave trade has been added to the trade between the two countries.Of course the Bejas are not white, but there are plenty of white people in Fatima.

Black slaves cannot be bought in China, and the problem of skin color makes the differences between the two parties irreversible.As for cheap labor, there are too many aborigines in Nanyang. Besides, Tianzhu is also a source of manpower.In today's world, if there is a region with a population comparable to that of China, it is only Tianzhu.

The biggest capital of the Zagwi dynasty was gold, and they had a lot of gold in their hands. Exploration of later generations showed that the gold in that place was probably not inferior to South Africa.As early as 5000 years ago in the era of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, Ethiopian gold was the main source of gold in ancient Egypt, and it may have been the source of gifts presented to King Solomon by the Queen of Sheba 3000 years ago.

Ethiopia has no shortage of gold, but over the past few hundred years it has become worthless in their hands.

Gold is not a currency, only when it is in circulation, it is a currency, a very valuable currency.And when gold cannot freely buy the goods you want and need, is it still real 'gold' with only decorative value?

After the trade between China and the Zagvi dynasty increased day by day, the gold in their hands was real gold.But as time goes by, the good thing that a piece of silk can be easily exchanged for a large piece of gold is becoming less and less now.

At the same time, Ethiopians are increasingly going abroad.Those who believed in monotheism could not pee together with the Tianfang world. This time was the time of the Crusades. The first Crusade brought a lot of trauma to the Tianfang world. Europeans established the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Asia Minor, etc. A series of small monotheistic countries have posed a huge threat to the Tianfang world.

At the same time, the distant Eastern Empire launched the Western Expedition. The army surrendered the Gaochang Uighurs and the East Kara Khanate, swept the West Kara Khanate and the Huacizm all the way, and the reinforcements of the Seljuk Empire were also defeated.

The Qi army did not take advantage of the situation to invade Seljuk, but the entire Tianfang world felt the threat from China.

Therefore, at this moment, the entire Tianfang world is extremely hostile to the Zagwi dynasty, but they dare not break out of war with it easily, and refusing to start trade with it has become an unwritten agreement.

Otherwise, they were attacked on two sides, and they would really be attacked on three sides.

The foreign trade of the Zagwi Dynasty can only come from China.And silk, cloth, porcelain, ironware, wine, etc., are all they love.

(End of this chapter)