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Chapter 1363 Continue to ask for protection money

On the island of Malta, the temporarily formed Egyptian expeditionary force parted ways here, and the two legions of the Papal State and Sicily with a total of 5000 people boarded their warships with looted treasures.

"I hope we will still be friends and not enemies next time we meet," said Ludowig of the Papal State.

"There are no permanent friends in the world, only permanent interests. If we can stand on the same front next time, then we are friends, otherwise we can only be our own masters." Sun Chuanting brought the officers of the Fourth Fleet to serve these A temporary comrade-in-arms farewell.

"I hope we don't have conflicts of interest." Ludowig had seen the power of the Far West Dispatch Army under Sun Chuanting, so he didn't really want to fight the Far West Dispatch Army.

"We should devote ourselves to the great cause of the anti-Ottoman Empire. They have monopolized the land trade from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Only by completely defeating this behemoth will the trade between the East and the West be smooth." The Spanish infantry major said.

Nor did he want to be an enemy of this strange army from the East.

"Our anti-Ottoman alliance has not been disbanded yet, maybe we will enter the Mediterranean one day."

Sun Chuanting's words made the forces along the Mediterranean Sea tremble. After they left the Mediterranean Sea, they might come back.

Wait, if the anti-Ottoman alliance has not been disbanded, wouldn't the Chinese have always been the leader of the alliance?
The key is that China has no territory or colonies in the Mediterranean Sea. Even if the Ottoman Empire wants to trouble the Chinese people, they have no choice but to vent their anger on other members of the anti-Ottoman Empire alliance.

It's really insidious. After disrupting the situation in the Mediterranean Sea, he patted his ass and left.

Ludowig and the Spanish major figured out the connection, but couldn't quite laugh.The Ottoman emperor must have retaliated afterwards in order to restore the face of the Ottoman Empire.

I don't know who in the Allied Powers will bear the wrath of the Ottoman emperor for Sun Chuanting and his party. Is it the island of Malta or the Venetians?

Ludowig and other people from the Papal States and Sicily left the island of Malta in warships.Only the Fourth Fleet, the Royal Fleet, and the Knights Hospitaller were left on the island of Malta, who were the first to deal with the Barbary pirates.

"Your Knights will send a few more ships to inform the coastal towns of Levant and ask them to hand over the protection fee we need, otherwise we will end up like Egypt. They have to prepare the protection fee within half a month after receiving the news. 10 taels of silver in large towns, 5 taels of silver in medium-sized towns, and 2 taels of silver in small towns. If we go to collect protection fees in half a month and they are not ready, we will attack the town and loot it. "Sun Chuanting instructed Castella.

The Egyptian provinces, as powerful as the Mamluk cavalry, were captured because they refused to pay protection fees!
Sun Chuanting and the others now have the confidence to make a decision with the Levant region, either pay the protection fee, or end up like Cairo!

"I will send someone to make an ultimatum to the coastal towns of the Levant." Castella said excitedly.

The looting of Alexandria and Cairo is to share the spoils with Venice, the Papal State, and Sicily, but this time the protection fee from the Levant region does not need to be divided among these three countries, which means that the Knights of the Hospitaller can get a larger share of protection fee.

"Castella, it's not easy for your Knights of the Hospitaller to survive on the island of Malta, is it?" Sun Xu, the commander of the Fourth Fleet, mentioned intentionally or unintentionally.

"It's not easy. Such a small island supports the knights and the islanders. By providing supplies, fishing and farming for the passing merchant ships, it is difficult to get enough food and clothing. But it is difficult to live a better life. We still have Facing the attack of the Ottoman Empire, we need to buy warships from the Venetians, and sometimes we can only go to sea to plunder. Valat City was built by the Papal State, Spain and other countries with donations." Castella generously It is admitted that the Hospital Knights also participated in the same robbery as the Barbary pirates, but the Barbary pirates robbed the merchant ships of Western European countries, and the Hospital Knights robbed the merchant ships of the Ottoman Empire.

"If you make a living by plundering, sooner or later it will bring crisis to the island of Malta. Why don't you cooperate with us? If we operate the business in the Mediterranean in the future, this place can be used as a trading station to provide supplies, repairs, and berthing services for our merchant ships. Then you We can collect service fees from it, and we can also have a reliable and secure base in the Mediterranean Sea. We will earn money together in the future.” Sun Xu proposed an attractive plan.

The island of Malta occupied by the Knights Hospitaller is indeed small, but it is the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and is coveted by many forces. From here, you can go to Western Europe, Southern Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. The geographical location is unbelievably good.Moreover, this is not an independent kingdom, but the residence of the Knights Hospitaller, and it is much easier to control than other places.

The Knights of the Hospital took them back to their station, feeling like they were being lured into the house. Sun Xu and the others immediately fell in love with this island, and wanted to use it as the future naval base of the Fourth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

"This matter is related to the fate of our Knights, please give us more time to think about it..."

It's not that Castella doesn't know that Malta is a rare place to live, and many forces want to occupy it, but he has received a lot of benefits from the coalition forces.The so-called short hand for grabbing people and soft mouth for eating people, he can't refuse decisively.

"Don't worry, we'll talk about it after we get Levant's protection fee." Sun Xu didn't put on a gesture of wanting to eat the island of Malta.

The Fourth Fleet does not have enough troops to divide the Mediterranean Sea. First, sell the hospital knights as a favor. Later, Western companies will develop business in the Mediterranean Sea. Merchant ships often stop at the island of Malta. It is easy to forcibly turn the island of Malta into a Your own trading station, and then send warships to protect the merchant ships. Will this become the naval base of the Fourth Fleet soon?
The coastal towns of the Ottoman Empire in the Levant region of Western Asia heard that the expeditionary force captured the capital of the Egyptian province in just two months, and the prosperous city of Cairo was plundered by rebels. These towns were in an uproar.Immediately these terrified Levantine towns succumbed to the ultimatum of the Knights Hospitaller, and a total of 27 towns were willing to pay protection fees.These towns are located at the end of the ancient Silk Road, and they monopolize the Silk Road on land. The amount of protection fees collected from them exceeds a staggering one million taels of silver.

For the towns that were still recalcitrant and unwilling to pay the protection fee, they fell one after another under the strong guns of the Fourth Fleet, and wars broke out along the Mediterranean coast.

(End of this chapter)