Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 915 0910 [The fish in Daming all grew up drinking milk]

The four major maritime republics of Italy are ranked in order of national strength: Pisa, Amalfi, Genoa, and Venice.

When the Ming fleet arrived at the Red Sea, the eldest and second were fighting.

Both sides dispatched hundreds of ships each, and the fighting lasted for two or three months, with battles taking place in many waters of the Mediterranean.

In the end, the Amalfi Republic was defeated, and the Pisa Republic won a great victory, once again consolidating its hegemony in the Mediterranean.

The Republic of Pisa is now very powerful. In addition to its own territory, it also occupies Sicily, Corsica, Tunisia, and Carthage. It also actively participated in the Crusades, helping the Crusaders transport logistics, troops, and population, and gaining control over some cities in the Crusader States.

The actual controlled territory of the Republic of Pisa already spans three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa!

Fulk returned to the royal city of Jerusalem with mirrors, silks, and porcelains, and immediately summoned merchants from the four major republics.

"This is a sacred mirror!"

Fulk held up the glass mirror and said, "The King of Kings in Seres of the East, knowing that I rule Jerusalem, gave me this sacred mirror."

"Look at the top of the mirror frame. It is a natural sun-shaped flower pearl. It is God's masterpiece, condensed from God's glory on earth. This mirror is so clear and bright that it can reflect all the evil in the world."

"I named it the Sun Mirror. I, King Fulk of Jerusalem, will henceforth be known as the Sun King!"

The merchants slowly approached, looked at the pearl carefully, and then observed the mirror.

It was indeed as clear as lake water, and could even clearly show every pore on everyone's face.

"Your Majesty, the noble and great Sun King, may God bless you."

The merchants began to flatter him.

A merchant from the Republic of Pisa asked, "Excuse me, how many gold coins can I buy this sun mirror?"

Fulk said: "It is a gift from God, it is priceless. It is not for sale!"

Merchants from the four countries were extremely jealous. If Fulk was willing to name the price, they would sell everything they had to buy it.

If it were sold in Europe, the price would certainly be equal to a number of castles, as well as the land and people around the castles.

Fulk then took out silk, porcelain, lacquerware, candles...all samples. Fulk didn't bring much money with him, so he could only buy a little of each.

"Look at this silk. It is not only finer than the silk of the Egyptians, Persians, and Arabs, but also cheaper. For the silk of those pagans is also brought from Seris."

"Look at this porcelain again. Have you ever seen such a huge and perfect porcelain?"

"This kind of lacquerware is countless times more valuable than the lacquerware you can buy in the Mediterranean. It is the royal product of the King of Kings in Seris."

"Even the candles are far superior to those in the Mediterranean. When they burn, there is very little smoke and they have fragrance, unlike the pungent smell of Mediterranean candles. At banquets of nobles from various countries, these candles will become the focus..."

"And tea. Do you know what tea is? It is the creation of the King of Kings of Seris, made by picking leaves from the sacred tree and baking them. The Seris people said that tea can be brewed with boiling water, or sugar and milk can be added after brewing. The King of Kings of Seris drinks tea every day, which can delay aging!"

"This is the paper from Seris, so pure and white that it can last for hundreds of years without turning yellow..."

Merchants from the four countries already knew that a Chinese fleet had arrived, because - the Egyptians were also reselling these goods, but the news had not yet been released for official sale!

The merchants carefully examined all the goods, looking and touching them again and again.

Finally someone asked, “Egypt is also releasing goods and has invited us to go there in the fall.”

Fulk said, "If you buy goods from me, the price will always be 10% lower than that of the Egyptians! However, you need to lend me money to buy goods. Whoever lends the most money and pays the lowest interest will be given the largest share of the goods by me. And the money I lend can be used to offset the payment for goods."

"When can we get the goods?" the merchants asked.

Fulk said, "Once you lend me the money, you can see the goods in twenty days. If everything goes well, the goods can be delivered in fifteen days."

The merchants asked again: "How much eastern goods are there in Hailimu Port?"

"Five large ships, all filled with cargo," Fulk said with a smile. "They are truly large ships, larger than any of your merchant ships."

The merchants asked, "Can we go directly to Hailimu Port to trade? As long as the transaction is successful, we will pay taxes to His Majesty."

Fulk shook his head: "No."

The merchants dispersed, and some had already returned to their countries to inform the dukes and earls of the Republic and organize more merchants and gold and silver to come and take over the goods.

They alone are more than enough to eat!
They also need to agree with each other to unify the price when shipping to Europe and negotiate the monthly shipment volume.

There are so many luxury goods, enough for them to stockpile and sell for several years!

Some people went to Egypt to inquire about the price and quantity of goods there. Soon they learned that Egypt bought more Chinese goods, and that the nobles and wealthy people in Cairo were already buying them.

As for Fulk, he was summoning the domestic nobles.

He promised to give each noble a share and sell it at a lower price so that all nobles could make a profit. The premise was that the nobles had to lend him money to buy goods.

For a time, Jerusalem became extremely harmonious, and no one clamored to overthrow the king's rule.

Some nobles took their money and troops and quietly crossed the desert to trade with the Chinese fleet.

As a result, Fulk's army has been guarding the oasis closest to the port and not allowing anyone to continue to the port of Helim.

This made the nobles who wanted to trade privately very unhappy, but they did not dare to start a rebellion because their actions would attract more resentment and jealousy from the nobles.

...Cairo.

The monarch of the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt, whose true identity was a caliph.

But except for Fatimid's own country, most Muslims elsewhere do not recognize his legitimacy.

That's why Fulk jokingly called him the "King of Egypt".

The doctrine has been ruined here. The Egyptian Caliph a hundred years ago even claimed that he was the incarnation of God.

However, the Fatimid dynasty had not experienced large-scale wars, and the science, culture, and art here were much more prosperous than those in Persia.

Chen Wo, the Ming envoy who led the team to Cairo, was standing in the Royal Library, surrounded by densely packed books - more than 20 volumes!

The philosophy, mathematics, medicine, logic, astronomy, and navigation here are extremely developed, and even systematic works on optics have emerged.

For example, Ibn al-Haytham was proficient in mathematics, philosophy and natural sciences. His Book of Optics had a profound influence on European optics and inspired Kepler and Newton.

"What is the name of this book?" Chen Wo asked.

The Egyptian scholar next to him replied through the merchant's translation: "Commentary on the Introduction to Porphyry's Logic."

In fact, merchants didn’t know how to translate it, so they simply transliterated “logic” as “若其”.

Chen Wo asked again: "What about this one?"

"Commentaries on Aristotle's Ethics."

“Who are Porphyry and Aristotle?”

“The great philosophers of ancient Rome and Greece.”

"Which country is Rome? Which country is Greece?"

"..."

Although the Fatimid Empire was an Egyptian Islamic regime, it had deep academic and cultural exchanges with Byzantium.

The two countries share their resources and study each other's academic work.

Even for most of the time, they allowed each other's churches and temples to exist within their territory.

Only the caliph who claimed to be the incarnation of God a hundred years ago issued the crazy order to destroy Christian churches, which immediately brought retaliation from the Byzantines.

After the assassination of the caliph, the two countries quickly reached a religious reconciliation, each promising to help the other, restore churches and temples in their own countries, and allow each other's believers to live and migrate freely.

"Your Excellency the Messenger, the Caliph invites you." A court official came over.

The Caliph of Egypt was called Hafez, and he ascended the throne at the same time as King Fulk of Jerusalem.

The only difference is that Hafez was succeeded by his cousin, while Fulk was succeeded by his son-in-law.

Hafiz killed his infant cousin and made him disappear completely. Then, he slaughtered his cousin's supporters crazily, even killing the leader of the sect, earning himself the name of "butcher", and the mainstream sect in the country split again.

The nobility and officials of this country have become hereditary.

The Caliphate has long been in a "protected" state, with the real power being held by military leaders, and the power of the Mamluks is growing rapidly.

"Greetings to His Majesty the King!" Chen Wo bowed.

Merchant is automatically translated as Caliph.

Hafiz smiled and said, "I am very satisfied with the gifts from your country. I can agree to your request. You can copy the books in the Caliph's library and take them away. I wanted to exempt you from the port tax, but the tax is collected by officials, and I can't interfere with domestic taxes. In return, I will give you a lot of gold and silver treasures."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chen Wo smiled.

After some more communication, Chen Wo took his leave.

Hafiz took out a glass mirror and looked at himself again and again.

This mirror is also inlaid with pearls, but has a moon-shaped look that just fits the aesthetic.

Behind Hafez, a Mamluk officer was peeking into the mirror with glowing eyes.

Coincidentally, Hafiz also noticed the look in his guard's eyes through the mirror reflection.

He pretended to know nothing, but was thinking about how to kill the guard without causing a rebellion among the Mamluks.

Under the protection of the soldiers, Chen Wo strolled around Cairo.

We passed by a shop that was packed with customers selling Chinese goods that had just been shipped from the port.

The most popular item is actually candles.

After all, other goods have appeared before.

But this special white wax insect candle was first seen in Egypt. It was said that it produced no smoke and gave off a sweet scent, so the rich wanted to buy one or two to show off.

The waiters were busy, and the shop owner stood aside and boasted to the customers: "My old friend, this time he came back with the Ming fleet. He said that everyone in the Ming Dynasty can wear silk, and even beggars can afford white candles. Cow's milk and goat's milk are always incomplete, and the leftovers are poured into the river every day. Therefore, the fish in the river are raised on milk, and the taste is unusually delicious and sweet..."

(End of this chapter)