Regarding Muhammad's suggestion, the Queen Mother pondered for a moment, but then turned to Guo Kang: "Child, what do you think?" ”

Guo Kang didn't expect her to give up thinking so quickly, so he had to think about it, and then asked: "Does the Queen Mother remember the first Khan Basil's march into Naples?" ”

The Queen Mother thought about it and nodded.

"Do you remember his intention to send troops at that time?" Guo Kang looked around at everyone again and asked.

"There was a problem with the succession of the Anjou family in the Kingdom of Sicily, and several branches were constantly fighting, and the Kingdom of Aragon wanted to take the opportunity to intervene and expand its territory into southern Italy." Theodora and her grandmother looked at each other, and then spoke: "Basil believes that the Greek region is now an important territory for us, and we cannot allow a strong enemy to appear so close to the sea, so at the invitation of France, I sent troops to help the Anjou family and expelled the Aragonese army. ”

Guo Kang nodded.

Originally, Sicily and southern Italy were the territory of the same kingdom, but after the Sicilian Vespers War, the kings of the French House of Anjou were expelled from the island by the Aragonese army, leaving only Italian territory.

Since their capital was in Naples, they were also popularly known as the Kingdom of Naples during this period, but their official name was still the Kingdom of Sicily, as a sign of orthodoxy. This leads to the existence of two Sicilian kingdoms at the same time, which is quite easy to confuse people.

"People haven't forgotten their ambitions." Guo Kang reminded: "Before, the Kingdom of Aragon also pretended to appoint a member of the royal family as a separate king of Sicily. But just a few years ago, I didn't even do this kind of performance. Their army has also been operating near Sicily, and I estimate that in a few years it will be another attack on Naples and annexation there. ”

"And the Anjou family, as you have seen, will definitely not be able to stop them. France, while supporting them, has not been able to achieve tangible results. ”

"Last year, the struggle for the throne of Aragon ended, and a new king, Fernando, had just ascended the throne." Guo Kang paused and asked, "Do you remember his title?" I can't always remember these things that are too long......"

Theodora nodded: "King of Aragon, King of Valencia, King of Mallorca, King of Sardinia, King of Sicily, King of Corsica, Duke of Athens......"

"Alright, that's it." Guo Kang hurriedly interrupted her: "How can you carry ......?"

"Isn't that what you need to learn in a diplomatic course?" Theodora muttered, "Do you want to be a think tank or be lazy? ”

"I didn't say I wanted to be." Guo Kang scratched his head: "Anyway, let's see, people have been claiming the entire Kingdom of Sicily, as well as the territory of the so-called Duchy of Athens before. ”

"A few decades ago, we might not have paid much attention to these places, but as Basil said, the Greek region is already an important core territory for us. Can we tolerate him coveting Athens? ”

Everyone shook their heads.

"The Greek region is our core territory, so Naples is an important frontier that cannot allow the enemy to exist for a long time. The Adriatic Sea was not wide, and pirates and invading armies could come from Naples at any time, leaving the Greek region in peace. Shall we give up our barriers to others? ”

"That's really not going to work." Tuohuan said.

"This new king has just defeated various competitors, and it is very likely that he will take new actions, especially if we have too many enemies to take care of for the time being." Guo Kang said: "Don't forget, this country has expanded step by step from the Spanish peninsula, and what they have always wanted is the hegemony of the Mediterranean." ”

"But the Mediterranean is too small to accommodate two masters." Guo Kang shook his head and knocked on the armrest of the chair: "Do you think who is the right person to be this master?" ”

"In both theological and secular senses, Rome should be the master of the Mediterranean." Grand Lama Wang nodded and said.

"If you remember that we are Rome." Guo Kang said: "Then don't forget that these countries in Iberia have been merging with each other, and now there are only three left." ”

"This Portugal is not an honest person. He is now going to seize this port, not only for the benefit of the Mediterranean. "Don't forget, starting from Morocco, there is another direction of expansion. ”

"The place where the Murabit dynasty began was not Morocco itself, but on the Senegal River in the south. While they were attacking north, they were also attacking the Kingdom of Ghana in the south. Because it is also very wealthy, it is an important source of gold. ”

"After the collapse of the Murabit dynasty and the kingdom of Ghana, the more powerful kingdom of Mali emerged. They are best known for their pilgrimage to King Musa in Egypt in 1324. Along the way, the gold spent and handouts caused the price of gold in Egypt to drop by a fifth, only to recover more than a decade later. ”

"Why are they so rich?" The Queen Mother asked in surprise.

"That's what happens over there." Guo Kang replied: "Moreover, West Africa has easy access to the Mediterranean, and there are currently six main roads alone, each with more than 10,000 camel caravans. The pilgrimage procession of Muses is said to have numbered as many as 60,000 people, and it was not possible to keep up with the supplies along the way. ”

"Sea freight is also very convenient. The fleets of Western Europeans could not pass Morocco, so they felt that the outside was a wild land, but in fact it was just their own seafaring level. In the time of the pharaohs, the Egyptians surrounded the whole of Africa. ”

"Of course, this case is just an isolated case, and it may have been intentional by their king." Guo Kang analyzed: "The local culture was originally relatively backward, but after this series of displays, the Egyptians know their reputation. Musa was able to return to Timbuktu with a large number of scholars, architects, and merchants, and also purchased real estate in Cairo and Mecca as transit points for travelers. In this way, the trade route is more smooth. ”

Scholars who traveled to West Africa from Egypt and Andalusia helped him build new cities and open academies to promote education. At one point, thousands of students were studying at the universities in Timbuktu, many of them from Spain. In this way, the local civilization managed to rise to a higher level. ”

"Anyway, it's a trick to spend money." "Gold wasn't particularly valuable in their hometown, but when it was spent, it immediately turned into more financial channels and state power, including military upgrades," he concluded. ”

"After this, the Kingdom of Mali organized more than 10,000 cavalry, defeated the Tuareg nomads who often came to raid, and conquered parts of Sudan eastward, taking control of the gold mines there, and establishing a trade route that ran through all of Africa from the coast of West Africa to the Red Sea."

"These people look like they are wronged, but they are actually very shrewd, and they seem to spend a lot, but a lot of what they earn back is priceless things. The Spanish nouveau riche cannot be compared to them. ”

"And if we allow Portugal to succeed in gaining a foothold, they will also intervene in these precious assets." Guo Kang finally reminded.

(End of chapter)