The southwest of the Red Sea is Egypt controlled by the Romans.

Egypt was also the most important grain-producing area of ​​the Romans. At the same time, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal were the most important trade routes. The Datang merchant ships transported important goods from the East, such as spices, silk, porcelain, tea, sugar, paper, and even weapons and armor from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and to Constantinople.

The huge tariffs brought by the trade with the Tang Dynasty have now become the main income of the Romans. The various armor, swords, etc. sold to the Romans by the Tang Dynasty have made the Roman army even more powerful.

If the Red Sea is cut off.

For the Romans, it was even more terrifying than Egypt being taken away by the Persians.

Although there is still a land route to the north, the transportation capacity of that Silk Road cannot be compared with that of sea route.

This time Prince Heraclonas came to hope that his ally Tang would join the battlefield.

I hope that the Tang Dynasty's navy can escort the Tang Dynasty's merchant ship Red Sea, and even help them regain the Sinai Peninsula to seize control of the Suez Canal.

"We have always had a good relationship with the Ethiopians of the Aksum Empire on the southern coast of the Red Sea, and they are willing to form alliances with us against the Arabs."

The Kingdom of Aksum ruled the Ethiopian Plateau on the southern coast of the Red Sea, and later captured some southern Arab kingdoms on the northern coast of the Red Sea.

Because of the maritime trade in the Red Sea, the strength of the Aksum Kingdom was also very good. In the past, it was considered a three-strongest in this region with Rome and Persia.

Due to the important strategic location of the Horn of Africa, it has become a gateway for restricting ships entering and leaving the Red Sea. Even in the hundreds of years since the founding of Aksum, it will regularly invade the Arabian Peninsula.

The rise of Arabs is also a great threat to them.

The Romans were interested in the maritime power of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang people's merchant ships were huge, especially those armed merchant ships, which were big and fast.

Compared with Rome, Axum, Persia and Arab warships and technologies in the Mediterranean and Red Sea areas, they are undoubtedly much more advanced.

"We are willing to ced the Sinai Peninsula to the Tang Dynasty as a territory, jointly guard the Suez Canal and protect the trade line."

Zhang Chao smiled slightly.

Although Emperor Chiraclio is old, he is still very smart.

The Sinai Peninsula is not very large on the north bank of the canal. The key is that it is still occupied by the Arabs. Of course, they will not lose money by handing over this peninsula to the Tang Dynasty in exchange for the Tang Dynasty to protect the canal. In particular, this peninsula is close to the Arabian Peninsula.

If the Tang Dynasty stationed here, it would also become a barrier to Egypt in the Eastern Roman Empire.

In addition to the Aksum Empire on the east side of the south bank, there were two guards in Roman Egypt.

It's easy to calculate.

However, for the Tang Dynasty, if the canal was controlled by the Arabs, it would be a bad thing.

Trade between the East and West was equally important to the Tang Dynasty. If the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea were controlled by the Arabs, trade with Western countries such as Rome would be blocked.

Rome and the countries around the Mediterranean were the largest trading partners of the Tang Dynasty.

The route was blocked, and who would sell the spices, silks, tea, sugar and porcelain from the Tang Dynasty to?

If they sell it to Arabs, they will definitely monopolize trade. Then the price will be decided by them. All the money will be made, and they will make a lot of money.

Let the Arabs monopolize the profits of East-West trade, then grow and grow, and then turn back to compete for the trustworthiness of the Tang Dynasty control, Hezhong and other places?

This is no longer a foe.

"If the Tang Dynasty wants to intervene in the Red Sea, it is not enough for the Sinai Peninsula, which is now in the hands of the Arabs. We can send a fleet to it, but at that time, Rome and Aksum must send troops to help capture the Sinai Peninsula, and then hand it over to the Tang Dynasty. If the Arabs attack, the two countries will also have to send troops to defend."

"also."

Zhang Chao put down his wine glass and took out a map of the Red Sea coast.

"This place east of Aksum must be allocated to the Tang Dynasty, and the two countries recognize the territory of the Tang Dynasty so that the Tang Dynasty can garrison the Tang Dynasty."

The place Zhang Chao refers to is the Amazonian Peninsula, also known as the Horn of Africa.

It is quite a big place, but it is very desolate. There are many indigenous states of all sizes. They must not be weak and poor. Even the Aksum Empire does not occupy this place.

Zhang Chao proposed to include this Horn of Africa into the territory of the emperor in order to station troops.

Prince Heraclonas pondered for a moment but did not object.

Anyway, it is a barren land, poor and backward, and has no resources. Although from a military perspective, it guards the eastern entrance of the Red Sea and is called the Red Sea Pull.

The Romans, Axum, Persians or Arabs, their warships were not able to block the mouth of the Red Sea. They usually guarded the inside of the Red Sea bay, especially for the control of the narrow canal connected to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

If the Tang Dynasty is really willing to send a fleet to occupy the Horn of Africa, and is willing to send a fleet here, build a castle or something, then it's okay.

Anyway, as long as the east-west route can be maintained, this will ensure the economy for the Romans.

At the same time, the Tang Dynasty really garrisoned here. The more troops it stationed, the stronger the power to fight against the Arabs. Why not do it?

There are several very important locations in the Red Sea, such as the Suez Canal, the Mande Strait to the east, the Port of Aden, and the Horn of Africa.

On land, the Tang Dynasty really does not have the ability to run to the Arabian Peninsula now, and Africa will compete with the Abbess, Romans, Aksum and others for power. After all, it is too far away.

But if we only occupy some bay ports or even offshore islands, this Tang Dynasty is really operational.

Protecting an important route to the Mediterranean is to protect the important maritime trade of the Tang Dynasty.

It even protects the Tang Dynasty's territory in Central Asia in disguise.

The prince was very happy that Zhang Chao was willing to send troops.

"We have another request this time, and I hope the Tang Dynasty can agree." The prince was in a good mood and took the opportunity to add more arms to the Tang Dynasty, including, but not limited to the armor, swords, bows and crossbows on the military shopping list in the past. He also proposed to buy warships from the Tang Dynasty, including muskets and cannons, which were very sharp firearms.

"There is no problem with swords, armor, bows and crossbows. If the number increases, we can guarantee the supply. Warships are OK, but it takes time. If you are in a hurry, we can modify some merchant ships and convert them into armed merchant ships. We can also pull out a few of them from the warships for you to use first."

There are also some old warships in the Tang army navy, all of which are early products, and now they appear relatively small and old.

It's good to take the opportunity to eliminate and sell it to the Romans.

But they don't have to consider firearms.

Even if it is a musket and cannon with less power, Zhang Chao does not intend to sell it to them.

If they have the ability, they will create it themselves.

"Slaves can be used for settlement!" Zhang Chao made a request.

"Can!"

The prince was only concerned about whether he could obtain warships, armor, weapons, etc. from the Tang Dynasty. As for the price, it was not a problem, and it didn't even matter what settlement was used.

The Arabs are indeed putting huge pressure on them now, and how to defend the Asia Minor Peninsula and Egypt has become the top priority.

The advanced large sailing ships of the Tang Dynasty, the strong and light armor and sharp swords all became their urgently needed equipment.

As long as the Tang Dynasty traded continuously and the Tang ships continued to transport spices, silk, etc., the Romans would not be short of money. They took the goods traded with the Tang Dynasty to trade with other European countries, and even with the barbarians in the north, making more money.

If you turn around, you will benefit several times or even dozens of times.

They are only afraid that the Tang Dynasty will be out of stock, and they are not afraid that the Tang Dynasty will be expensive.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Chao brought his wives, concubines and children to the palace to wish Chengqin and his family a happy New Year.

On the second day of the lunar month, Xia Hua took her sister Ruohua and her son Xiaolong out of the palace to go back to her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings.

Cheng Qian also came over to sit together for a long time and had a meal.

After the meal, Zhang Chao talked about negotiations with the Roman prince.

"Send troops to the Red Sea?" Cheng Qian was puzzled while peeling the seeds.

"I know that the court is using troops at several places now, and the pressure is still relatively high. So this time I plan to change the way to solve this important problem at the moment. Your Majesty should know how important trade with the West is to us. If we lose trade between the Mediterranean countries, we will be greatly affected and our economy will suffer a huge loss."

"Wen Yuan has any good solutions?"

Zhang Chaodao, "I propose that the court authorizes some maritime merchants join forces to establish some maritime security companies, which are specifically responsible for overseas route safety and protect the safety of Datang's routes and merchant ships."

"To be specific?"

Zhang Chao's security company is actually similar to those East India companies in European countries in the Age of Discovery. Historically, several European countries have established East India companies.

These companies have an important authority granted by various countries, which is overseas colonization rights. They even have the right to start wars overseas, the right to sign contracts, and even the right to issue currencies. They are equivalent to a small vassal state overseas.

Zhang Chao proposed that the court recruit shareholders and establish a joint-stock coastal security company, authorize them to purchase warships and weapons from the court, and allow them to recruit and train a group of crew members, sailors and soldiers.

Authorize them to establish strongholds on maritime trade routes.

Their responsibility is to protect the route and protect merchant ships at sea.

Merchant ships traveling on all routes need to pay them a security premium, and the port strongholds they established can be taxed according to the tax laws of the Tang Dynasty.

Cheng Qian frowned. The security company was a bit too powerful.

"Your Majesty, you can actually recruit in segments. For example, from Funan to Wolf Teeth Shop, you can recruit a security company, from Wolf Teeth Shop to the Death of Sriva, you can recruit a family. From Sriva to the Death of Sriva to the Lion Kingdom, you can recruit a family, from the Lion Kingdom to the Port of Xindu. From Xindu to the Horn of Africa of the Red Sea."

"We divide the sections into sections, so we patrol security in sections."

This is also to make Cheng Qian feel at ease. If the entire East-West route is on a security company, it will be too powerful and I am worried that it will be difficult to get out of the way.

"Your Majesty, the strongholds and ports established by these security companies can be regarded as overseas territories of the Tang Dynasty. Security companies can own half of the taxes and the other half will be handed over to the court. In addition, the court can send officials to supervise the government, and the administrative and judicial power of the territory belongs to the court."

Recruiting shareholders to establish a maritime security company, and then asking them to buy ships and recruit sailors to colonize overseas to establish strongholds, protect routes and merchant ships. The places they captured were regarded as assets of their company, and in fact, they admitted in disguise that they had opened up their territory.

These territories have similar interests to the territories of the nobles. The only difference is that they are not owned by a certain person, but owned by many shareholders of a company.

In the past, only nobles had their votives. If this plan was passed, in fact, as long as the merchants and landlords had money, they would have the opportunity to become shareholders of overseas territories.

Chengqian was considering the impact of this plan on the court. It seemed that in this way, the court did not need to send troops and money, and could protect overseas routes. Each security company was responsible for its own profits and losses. If it could conquer the territory, it would become the territory of the court.

It not only opened up its territory and increased taxes, but there seemed to be no reason to refuse.

Chengqian smiled.
Chapter completed!