The Sun and the Lion

After only staying for a few days, Nasir led his fleet to leave Jeddah and continue northward after replenishing supplies and resting. He fired cannons loudly when entering and exiting the ports to declare his presence, leaving a deep impression on everyone present. All important ports in the Red Sea The docked ships knew that the Safavid warships had entered the Red Sea.

The fleet's behavior of continuing to sail north in the name of protecting the Hajj route attracted Hussein's special attention, and it is estimated that it also attracted the attention of the Sultan. He was very worried that his decision-making autonomy would be destroyed due to this stimulus, and Saladin Castle was very worried. He may be urged to put pressure on Yemen immediately.

However, the war in Yemen cannot be rushed, and the Zaid faction cannot launch an attack immediately. They can ignore the Sultan's will for the sake of victory and continue to advance the plan according to the original arrangement.

The governor of Jeddah inadvertently glanced across Yemen. As far as he knows, the King of Kings in Iran attaches great importance to the coffee trade here. Although the Port of Mocha in Yemen is the starting point of all exported coffee beans, due to frequent wars, locally produced coffee only accounts for at most one-third of it. One, more coffee is actually Ethiopian goods shipped from the Port of Berbera by Somali traders from the Sultanate of Adal.

A dangerous idea emerged in his mind—perhaps he could harass the shipping routes between the Horn of Africa and Yemen and weaken the commercial and shipping exchanges between the two places. This would also be a way to weaken Iran's presence in Yemen.

Although the coffee trade cannot be said to be the financial backbone of Safavid or even the province of Yemen, it is a business monopolized by the royal family after all. This will definitely attract enough attention. The governor of Yemen will definitely devote his energy to dealing with pirates that harass commerce rather than internal affairs. Riots in Lushan District.

Thinking of such a good plan, he quickly summoned his generals and staff to discuss it. After listening to the governor's brief statement, everyone fell silent.

"Why don't you say a word? If you have any high opinions, you might as well speak up." Hussein was indeed not a leader who ignored his subordinates. After encouragement, Selman, who was the least powerful in the officialdom, was the first to speak.

"Your Majesty the Governor, His Majesty the Sultan wants us to attack Yemen, not Abyssinia and Somalia. I'm afraid Malik will not tolerate starting a war with other monarchs without authorization."

Moreover, Yemen and the Horn of Africa are precisely the gateways to the Red Sea. They deliberately harass trade routes. The reduction of merchant ships will inevitably have an impact on Cairo's finances. Safavid may suffer a small loss, but the Mamluks have been cut open with a knife. Who will die first if they bleed each other?

If the force is too strong, it will help Safavid expand its sphere of influence. Goa has already been used as a precedent. It is very likely that an Iranian fortress will be built in a commercial port in Somalia due to the request of local lords for help?

He could already imagine the Sudanese representative coming to charge aggressively: "Why do you want to destroy the Red Sea trade?"

In short, from the perspective of both political and economic impacts, the consequences will only make Hussein's career worse, and Yu Gong will also seriously worsen his own situation in the game, leading to faster collapse. towards failure.

However, if this were not the case, Hussein really could not think of any way to distract the attention and resources of the governor of Yemen. Apart from the Zaide faction in the north and the tribes in the Tihama area on the west bank, he could not find any other allies and attacks. Direction - The two sultanates of Qatiri and Mahra that divided Hadramaut are inclined to maintain peace with Iran. A group of poor and weak herdsmen are unable to conquer Aden.

"That's all, let's wait and see when the heretics in Yemen will rise up and fight." The governor of Jeddah asked the secretary to prepare a report. He wanted to explain the enemy ship's penetration into the Red Sea first and persuade the Sudan to continue to maintain strategic composure. He was not urged to embark on military adventures.

However, there was no need to cause further trouble, as the governor of Yemen was busy with other matters.

For the people of Yemen, this year can be described as a year of disaster. Political instability alone has made the production environment extremely fragile. They are constantly tasting the bitter fruit of long-term neglect of water conservancy facilities - in the lower plains, large areas of land cannot be irrigated. Abandoned land has been abandoned, and without abundant rainfall in the mountainous areas, planting may have been completely abandoned. Despite this, the output of most villages is barely enough to feed themselves.

However, this year's precipitation is abnormally significantly lower than in previous years. Agricultural production has been significantly reduced across Yemen. Food and cash crops have been almost wiped out. Famine has violently hit the countryside. Even mosques can no longer provide relief porridge.

Due to the alliance between hungry people and herdsmen, the number of bandit groups running rampant in the countryside has skyrocketed, as if they had been given a golden gift, forcing the settlements that could still survive to defend themselves with knives. As local rulers, the emirs had to lead troops to actively suppress them. But they are weak and cannot really solve the problem. What to do? Just kick the ball to the governor of Yemen, who has money and food, and ignore it when being harassed by the Zaide faction. This time it is time to burst out with some gold coins.

The fleeing tide rushed to other places, moving in both south and north directions, and the scale was very large. The destination naturally included the prosperous Aden. In order to win the hearts and minds of the local lords, the governor could not sit idly by and launched a disaster relief operation.

The first problem to solve is the resettlement problem. There are not so many vacant houses available within the city walls, and it will also stimulate the xenophobic sentiments of the citizens. No one wants the streets to be occupied by a large influx of poor outsiders.

Except for the mosques that accommodated some refugees and the wounded and sick who were sent to hospitals, other refugees were all placed in designated areas outside the city. Tents and shacks were set up as temporary residences, and the insufficient reserves in the granary of Aden Castle provided support. Monitor their daily consumption to ensure that everyone can maintain vital signs.

Since the area around the Port of Aden is not a grain exporting area, the Governor also needs to take advantage of its commercial hub and import additional grain from other places. Somalia, which is only a few feet away from Aden, can meet their immediate needs first. The food shipped from the Port of Berbera should be enough to sustain them until the merchant ship returns from India.

In addition, he also needs to organize an army to march into the mountains to restore order. First, he needs to ensure that the fragile connection between Aden and Sana'a will not be blocked by rampant bandits. He can also take the opportunity to use relief food to suppress the original lords and support them. Collaborative Tribe.

After the situation calms down, all the refugees will be sent back to the abandoned settlements to resume production, and the new settlements will no longer belong to the original owners. With this coming and going, won't power smoothly penetrate into the interior?

The secretary wrote the leader's plan into a concise and smooth report. The governor of Yemen was quite proud of his idea. As long as Diwan was willing to approve funding for this project, it would be easy to achieve political achievements.