Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 832

Episode 832: Chicken (6)

Spain did its best, but the situation in the Mediterranean region and the West Coast of Africa was not good.

It wasn’t bad when we first competed with Portugal to secure the west coast of Africa.

Rather, despite the limitations of the union system of kingdoms, it was gradually ahead of Portugal as it overtook Portugal in terms of population.

Thanks to this, the leaders of the United Kingdom at the time viewed the situation optimistically.

“It is time to punish the traitors of Portugal!”

“We can annex Portugal again!”

However, before we knew it, Portugal had not just caught up with Spain but started to move ahead.

“why?”

The Spanish monarchs and nobles could not understand the situation that was different from their expectations.

This was the result of Portugal’s efforts combined with Spain’s limitations.

* * *

There were several reasons why Spain had its limitations.

-Politics and economy dominated by Catholic fundamentalism.

The United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal were the countries that expelled Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula and established Catholicism as the state religion through the Reconquista.

Although Catholicism was the state religion of both Portugal and Spain, their policies toward pagans were different.

In the case of Portugal, Muslims and Jews could continue to live as long as they were loyal to them.

On the other hand, in the case of Spain, the policy was completely opposite to that of Portugal.

Spain expelled all Muslims and Jews living within its territory.

This did not end with simple expulsion.

With the expulsion of Muslims and Jews, Spain lost its powerful merchant power. As Muslim merchants and Jews disappeared, not only did Spain’s commerce and finance industry shrink significantly, but the human networks that Muslim merchants and Jews had also disappeared.

In the end, Spain had no choice but to entrust its economic management to Italian merchants in Genoa.

Traditional feudal aristocrats based on pastoralism had no other problems other than having to pay high prices for luxury goods, so they ignored this problem, which later became a shackle as the importance of international trade emerged.

-Portugal took the lead in trade with the ‘Land of Flowers’.

The competition that took place on the west coast of Africa was a situation where Portugal and Spain were either ahead or behind.

However, the ambitious Henry dominated trade with the empire and became the driving force behind Portugal’s advancement.

And this led to the next problem.

-Lost in the competition for talent supply and demand.

Although Spain was ahead of Portugal in terms of population, its naval power was rather inferior to that of Portugal.

Looking at the situation in Europe at the time, most of the key people who operated the ships of each country – captains, vice-captains, navigators, etc. – were employed regardless of nationality.

Not only executives but also experienced senior sailors often moved ships for better pay.

Ships with many capable and experienced officers and crews had a high chance of surviving unexpected events such as storms or pirate attacks. And the higher the probability of survival, the more profit it would bring to ship owners.

Salary was not the only criterion for competent sailors to select a ship. Safety of navigation was as important as pay.

In this part, Portugal overwhelmed Spain.

The routes to and from the Land of Flowers were completely controlled by the Imperial Navy. Therefore, as long as we moved along with the empire’s fleet, we only had to watch out for storms. No, even the storm was not a big problem as long as it moved along with the empire’s fleet.

If a storm seemed likely, the imperial fleet would head to the nearest port. This was because there were no ports that did not want the imperial fleet to call,

and Portugal was a country with national trade rights with the empire. In other words, this meant that the empire guaranteed identity. Thanks to this, Portugal was able to safely enter and trade with many Asian countries.

‘A ship of the nation capable of traveling on safe and profitable routes.’ Few

captains would refuse to operate a ship with these conditions.

Because of this, Portugal’s naval power, which had many capable captains and sailors, became superior to Spain’s.

-Finally, Portugal and its allies control the Suez trade route.

The construction of the railway linking Suez with the northern port of Prince Henry changed the economic structure of North Africa and the Mediterranean region.

* * *

The decline of Alexandria, the largest trade port and center of trade in the North African region, was the beginning of change. And the decline of Alexandria accelerated the fall of the Mamluks.

It wasn’t just the Mamluks.

Based on the huge profits from the Suez trade route, Mehmed II of Ottoman greatly strengthened his military power.

In particular, after seeing the success of the empire and Portugal, Mehmed II greatly expanded the navy and made generous use of the stronger navy.

As a result, the maritime power of the Kingdom of Aragon, a major political force in Spain, collapsed. This was because the trading rights in the Levant region were lost to the Ottomans.

Mehmet II, who succeeded in controlling the Levant region and the Caspian Sea region, finally conquered the Eastern Roman Empire.

With this, the eastern Mediterranean area was in the hands of the Ottomans.

This change in the power landscape in the Mediterranean region also had a great impact on Italy.

* * *

The first to rise to the surface was that the Medici family had clearly taken control of Florence.

Cosimo de’ Medici was a man who controlled and influenced the monarchs of Europe with enormous funds, but he also had many problems.

This was because construction projects carried out in Florence and other regions failed and a huge amount of funds were wasted due to various wars and political interventions.

Therefore, as soon as the Suez War showed signs of turning into a long war, merchants who were Cosimo’s vassals visited Cosimo.

“I think it would be a good idea to get out of Suez!”

“you’re right! A huge amount of money is still being invested! If you do it wrong, you will go bankrupt!”

“Even now, other families are hoping for our family to fail! Especially the Pachi family is showing their teeth!”

He strongly advocated for the vassals to withdraw from Suez, referring to the Pazzi family, the family that owns a powerful bank in Florence and the strongest competitor to the Medici family.

“You idiots! “Don’t just look right in front of you, look further away!”

But Cosimo de’ Medici did not listen to his vassals’ warnings. No, they went one step further and actively invested funds into Suez.

Cosimo’s gamble returned several times the profit.

On the surface, it was the smallest stake, but it was an exquisite casting boat between the empire and the alliance. To prevent Cosimo from joining hands with the empire, the allies secretly handed over a significant portion of their profits to Cosimo.

It wasn’t just profit dividends.

Most of the military funds expended by the Alliance in the Suez War were ‘lent’ by Cosimo.

Thanks to this, a significant portion of the huge profits earned by the alliance in Suez came to Cosimo in the name of loan repayment and interest.

Based on this influx of funds, Cosimo began to dominate European politics once again, and the Pazzi family was relegated to second place.

This was the beginning of Cosimo’s Medici family once again and completely taking control of Florence.

* * *

While Cosimo’s Medici family and Florence were gradually gaining momentum, Florence’s strongest competitor, Genoa, was gradually declining.

When Spain and Portugal entered into full-scale competition in Africa, Genoa actively supported Spain.

This was because it was an opportunity for Genoa, which had already benefited greatly from influencing Spain’s economy, to gain even greater profits.

Another problem was that Portugal’s economic sponsor was Florence. Since Genoa was competing with Italy for economic power in Europe, it could not back down.

The proxy war between Genoa and Florence, waged on the behalf of Portugal and Spain, reached its peak through the Suez War.

This was because the enormous economic benefits that could be gained through trade with the ‘Land of Flowers’ could not be missed.

Genoa also fought back to defeat its visible enemies, the allies, and Florence, which lurked behind them.

It accomplished the union of Spain and the Mamluks and attempted to tie up France by mobilizing the Habsburg Holy Roman Empire and Britain.

But this was only half a success.

Britain was in a state of disarray due to a civil war, and the Habsburgs, who were too busy suppressing their rivals seeking the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, could only pretend.

Therefore, Genoa provided considerable funds to the Eastern Roman Empire, which was in a weak position.

It was to tie up Osman’s feet even a little.

Genoa tried its best to win at a gambling table with huge stakes, but ultimately lost.

This was because the alliance took the strongest card called ‘Empire’ first.

By losing the gamble, Genoa had no choice but to decline.

This was because the enormous amount of money lost in the Suez War could not be replenished.

It would take a long time just for Spain to sell the slaves and spices it acquired in Africa.

To make matters worse, Mehmed II’s collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire proved to be a fatal blow.

This was because the Levant, a major market for slaves and spices, was lost.

* * *

Britain, Spain and Genoa, cornered in this way, became desperate to find a way out.

For those who were desperately trying to escape the crisis of destruction, rumors related to the ‘unknown southern continent’ were a ray of salvation.

“You can escape crisis if you just look for it!”

“You must find it!”

As with the ‘Western Route’, a craze related to the ‘unknown southern continent’ began to spread in England and Spain.

No, it wasn’t a craze, it was a craze.

Whenever they met nobles, merchants, as well as intellectuals and ordinary people, they talked about the ‘southern continent.’

Of course, there were many people who reacted negatively and were worried about this.

“Aren’t we being too confident when we don’t have any certain information?”

“It’s just a rumor going around among the natives, right?”

To this objection, the Convictionists responded as follows.

“Aren’t there a few natives who say the same thing? “Then there is a high possibility that it is true!”

“Look at the Imperial God! “There is not enough evidence that there is an unknown continent, but there is also no confirmation that it does not exist!”

After a fierce war of words between the two camps, the ‘Empire’ was brought in.

“The Empire must have heard these rumors, but the Empire doesn’t move! “That means there is no such thing!”

In response to the words of the deniers, the believers were at a loss for what to say. At that time, a new rumor came from Suez.

-It’s not that the empire isn’t doing it, it’s that it’s not doing it!

-It is said that the imperial navy earnestly requested it, but the emperor and prime ministers of the empire refused. The reason is because Shinji alone is having a hard time!

European intellectuals who heard the rumor realized what was hidden in the rumor.

-If the empire had the power, it would have gone on an expedition!

-That means the Empire believes there is a high probability that the rumors are true!

-If you think about the damn ships of the Empire, the Empire has probably already done some research and is counting on it to be true!

The Europeans who had analyzed up to this point simultaneously jumped to their feet.

The empire was pouring fuel into a situation where Europe was burning spontaneously.

“The unknown southern continent is real!”