The Rise of the European Emperor

After waiting for a while, seeing that the time was almost up, Marin cleared his throat and said:

"Actually, it's not impossible..."

Sure enough, more than a dozen big men suddenly raised their heads and said:

"Speak quickly, if it works, Venice will honor your love..." Alani said excitedly, and grabbed Marin's hand.

Marin calmly shook off Alani's hand, took out a map from his arms, spread it out, and motioned for everyone to come and see:

"Look, everyone, this is India, this is the Arabian Sea..."

These Venetian bosses are basically seeing such an accurate map for the first time, and they are a little surprised...

Marin didn't have time to teach them about geography, but continued:

"Look, everyone, this is the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The narrowest part of the western region, the Mediterranean Sea is only 39.36 leagues (190 kilometers) away from the Red Sea connecting the Indian Ocean..."

"What if, here, the Venetians dig a canal to allow more than 3,000 ships in Venice to sail freely between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea?"

"You mean, dig a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea?" Leonardo Loredan asked.

"Of course, once the canal is dug, Venetian ships will travel freely between India and Europe. Even if Spain and Portugal form a combined fleet, so what? The Spaniards and the Portuguese can send warships to India. , there are probably only a few dozen. As long as the canal is dug, Venice can send hundreds of warships at will, and there is no need to be afraid of Spain and Portugal? As for they will challenge Venice on the Mediterranean Sea and snatch the canal, it is even less so. Possibly. The ships of Spain and Portugal are pure sailboats, without oars, and in the Mediterranean where the wind is weaker, they cannot compete with the galleys of Venice at all..."

Speaking of which, the Venetian bosses present nodded, agreeing with Marin's words. And, this is also true.

In this era, pure sailboats cannot control the hegemony of the Mediterranean. In the early 19th century, when Britain and France competed for hegemony in the Mediterranean, they encountered the embarrassing situation that the wind stopped. At that time, the warships of Britain and France were all driven by pure sails. The wind stopped, and the British and French warships were forced to truce for 10 minutes, and the war resumed after the wind resumed.

In the mid-to-late 19th century, when the Suez Canal was actually excavated, at that time, the British warships basically used a mixture of steam engine power and sail power, which is the legendary sailboat. When there is no wind in the Mediterranean, the steam engine is turned on. On the ocean, if the wind is strong, the steam engine will be shut down to save coal, and sail power will be used.

Moreover, there is also a very important problem, that is, when the ship is passing through the canal, the sailboat cannot make a "z" motion, using the wind force from the headwind or other directions. Because that requires a very wide river support. But digging the canal is so difficult that it is impossible to dig a canal that is too wide. Therefore, sailing warships, if they want to cross the canal, either take advantage of the downwind, or ask a tracker to help pull them on the shore, just like the dragon boat of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty.

Of course, Venetian galleys do not have this concern. When crossing the canal, lower the sails and only paddle, to ensure that the passage is straight and does not require a wide river surface.

The later steam engine-driven ships or sailboats are no problem. The 190-kilometer canal is driven by steam engines...

...

"It's just that this piece of land belongs to the Egyptians. We can dig a canal there. Can the Egyptians agree?" Leonardo Lorre asked suspiciously.

"Of course they won't agree now, but soon, the combined fleet of the Spaniards and the Portuguese will intercept all the Egyptian merchant ships. The Egyptians will certainly not be reconciled and will send ships to fight the Venetians."

"However, what about the backward navy of the Egyptians, the opponents of Spain and the Portuguese? When the Egyptians are defeated, their interests will be greatly damaged. At that time,

The only way to defeat the Spaniards and Portuguese is to rely on Venice. "

"At that time, they will definitely agree with the Venetians to dig a canal in the Sinai Peninsula..." Marin said confidently.

"That's true, but it takes many years to build the canal... During the construction of the canal..." Leonardo Lorre said worriedly.

Marin knew what he was worried about, but it was useless to worry, so he said:

"Lord Governor, I know what you are worried about. However, it is useless to worry. With the Spanish and Portuguese joining forces, even the Venetian navy is struggling. Those Indians and Egyptians cannot win. Therefore, in the few years before the opening of the canal, Venice may not get any more spices. Only by opening the canal can the Venetians regain all the lost benefits and drive away the Spanish and Portuguese..."

Everyone looked at the map and nodded, agreeing with Marin's words. After all, the Venetians have dominated the Mediterranean for a long time. Also, both Crete and Cyprus colonies were very close to Egypt. As long as the canal is opened, the Venetians can send hundreds or thousands of warships to drive away the ships of Spain and Portugal. Spain and Portugal sent ships to India, and it was very troublesome to bypass the whole of Africa, and there were not many ships that could be sent. Under the numerical superiority of the Venetians, it will be unstoppable.

...

"Otherwise, we will attack Spain directly on the Mediterranean Sea. In this way, we can coerce the Spaniards not to attack our spice ships!" General Marino suddenly said.

"Attack Spain in what name? For those Arabs and Egyptians? They are pagans. Attack Christians for pagans and you won't be afraid of being beaten all over Europe?" Marin retorted.

Everyone in the audience was speechless...

Yes, Spain and Portugal intercepted pagan merchant ships, not Venetian merchant ships. How did Venice have reason to declare war on Spain? So, this dumb loser can only eat...

"Or, can we dismantle the ship and transport it to the Red Sea to support the Egyptian fleet and fight against Spain and Portugal?" Niccolò Pieriano suggested. This suggestion catches everyone's attention.

"This method is too stupid. How many ships can you dismantle? A dozen or so. However, it will take several months to reassemble one in the Red Sea. The Spanish and Portuguese There are so many ships, it's too late to do that."

"So, the most fundamental way is to dig through this canal so that merchant ships from Venice can freely travel between India and Europe. At that time, the whole of India can be owned by Venice..." Marin tempted. said.

The people present were suddenly short of breath. They all knew the wealth of India. If the canal was opened, Spain and Portugal were defeated, and India's interests were monopolized, what a wealth...

"But, before that..." Leonardo Loredan said calmly.

"No way, before the canal opens, Venice can only endure it..."

"You mean, Venice needs a strategic contraction?"

"Yes, during the construction of the canal, Venice had better not provoke strong enemies, but bury its head in development. When the canal is opened, Venice will take back everything it lost..."

"What do you mean, let's bow our heads to the Holy See this time and give up the Rimini area?" General Marino asked in dissatisfaction. As a military representative, he hated giving in and surrendering the most.

"Venice can also choose not to back down, and then wait to be beaten by several powerful countries, and then the wealth of everyone here will be robbed and reduced to beggars..."

"If we stick to the city, we may not lose!" Niccolò said unconvinced.

"Yes, maybe Venice will not lose. However, you will be trapped in a land-based hegemony with several major powers. At the same time, the Spanish and Portuguese fleets will quietly enter the Indian waters, breaking the The source of the spices has been removed, which has caused a heavy blow to Venice’s economy. The joint attack of several major powers, coupled with the termination of the maritime spice trade, how many years can Venice last?”

Marin's words, like a sledgehammer, slammed into the hearts of the Venetian bosses. If there is a fight with the Holy See for the sake of Rimini, and if it really attracts a beating from several major powers, Venice is likely to be finished.

Even without defeat, the decline of Venice was inevitable without the power to prevent Spain and Portugal from cutting off the sources of Indian spices. After all, the spice trade accounted for the bulk of Venetian commerce. Without the spice trade, the Venetian economy would have suffered heavy losses and would not regain its current glory...

"Moreover, if you submit to the Pope at this time, you can also take the opportunity to form an alliance with the Holy See to deal with the Spaniards together..."

"To deal with the Spaniards?" Leonardo Lorre was a little puzzled.

"Yes, the Pope has a lot of ideas about the Kingdom of Naples. It's a pity that the Papal State has limited strength and is not enough to compete with the Spaniards or the French."

"However, this is an opportunity for Venice... You can use your alliance with the Pope to find a suitable excuse to take revenge on Spain who robbed you of the interests of your spice trade. For example, the United Holy See snatch the Kingdom of Naples... After all, the Kingdom of Naples is a It was blocked at the estuary of the Adriatic Sea, and it had a great impact on Venice..."

Marin's proposal was approved by Leonardo Loredan and others. If Spain robs Venice of its interests, Venice is not to be provoked. You may not be able to beat Spain on land, but at sea, especially in the Mediterranean, you can beat Spain...

...

The Venetians did not give an immediate answer. Next, they gathered more bigwigs and started a heated discussion. After three consecutive days and three nights of meetings, the exhausted Venetian bosses finally decided to submit to the Papal State...

At the same time, the Venetian Parliament decided to immediately send people to Egypt to discuss the digging of the "Suez Canal" (the name proposed by Marin, which is a restoration of history), and to send experts to start exploring the route of the canal, so as to prepare in advance.

After all, for Venice, the sooner the Suez Canal is dug and the spice channel is controlled, the better it will be. As for the past few years, Venice intends to keep a low profile and avoid conflicts with people. Of course, for Spain, if it is confirmed that they have participated in the interception of the spice boats in the Indian waters, the Venetians will unite with the Holy See and find fault with the Spaniards. Not to mention the ability to capture the kingdom of Naples or Sicily under Spanish control, but on the ocean, intercepting Spanish ships and causing heavy losses to Spain is still no problem...

In this way, the mighty Republic of Venice jumped into the pit dug for them by Marin. And, still willingly.

After all, if the Suez Canal was really dug through, Venice would have the possibility to successfully defeat Spain and Portugal and swallow the interests of India. It's just that, after digging the canal for so long, can the Venetians really complete the excavation of the canal without incident...