Episode 1005 Meanwhile, elsewhere….. (10) As
the ‘Great Circr Route’ became established as the official route, those who were most confused were the people of the empire.
“What? Great Circr Route?”
“Daae~circr route?”
The people of the empire, especially the sailors of the navy and merchant ships, who heard the story shook their heads. In the decades since the discovery of Shinji, the empire has not been idle. Although the construction of a ‘sea wall’ was a top priority, they never forgot to explore and survey Shinji’s coastline.
“We have to stop the dog hole from opening!”
Finding the guano mine in the process was the best harvest. Therefore, the Empire had the best geographic information rted to Shinji, both in quality and quantity. Of course, there is a condition that it is limited to the coastline.
Therefore, when the ‘Great Circr Route’ became a hot topic in Europe, the people of the empire were confused.
“If we hadn’t guided them from the moment they first came with a map, they would have all gone to the goal!”
* * *
As soon as the war in Italy ended, Portugal moved quickly. They set off by entrusting newly builtrge ships topetent naval officers and sailors who were selected after careful screening.
Of course, crossing the Antic Ocean relying only on a map was a dangerous task. To lower the risk, Portugal entered into a deal with the empire.
Instead of sharing the Portuguese naval port on the Azores Inds, located in the middle of the North Antic, with the imperial navy, they asked for route guidance and a supply base. Since the Azores Inds were also needed by the empire, the empire readily agreed to this transaction.
Soon after, the Portuguese expedition departing from Ceuta entered the imperial naval port of Gibraltar. Funnily enough, it was to receive a final inspection from the Imperial Navy. The Portuguese Navy was not without experience in long-distance voyages.
However, thanks to changes in history after the intervention of Xiang, most of their long-distance voyages were explorations of Africa.
“Wine? Drink vinegar instead of water, or throw it away.”
“Are we going to war? We are overarmed. It would be better to fill that space with more food.”
“You know that water goes bad, right? Why don’t you buy a distition tank and a water purification tank? It’s not that expensive.”
In the meantime, the empire and its people did not forget about making money. While the Portuguese outside were conducting final inspections, going back and forth, a fierce battle of wits was taking ce at the Imperial Navy’s Gibraltar headquarters.
-Who will be in charge of directions?
Since it was certain that there would be more harm than good, the captains were in a situation where they were slowly retreating. In the end, three people were selected after a lottery.
* * *
The Imperial-Portuguese fleet departed from Gibraltar and crossed the Antic Ocean via the Azores Inds. The ce where the fleet arrived was the Empire’s Namsinji Inds – the area around what is now Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
The Portuguese fleet, which safely arrived at the Namsinji Inds and the Imperial Military Port, took a short break and resumed maintenance. Afterpleting rest and maintenance, the Portuguese fleet began heading south again, guided by the imperial warships of the Namsinji Fleet.
As the voyage continued, the busiest people were the captains and navigators of the Portuguese fleet.
-I will guide you to the safe zone at the southern end of the unidentified area. After that, you can take care of it. This was the promise between the Empire and Portugal. ording to this promise, the Imperial Navy of the Namsinji Fleet only provided guidance in silence, and the rest was left to the Portuguese Navy.
Because of this, the captains and captains of the Portuguese fleet had no time to rest. The route was recorded based on the map provided by the empire, and the locations of suitable ces as intermediate supply bases were recorded. The work didn’t end there.
Even the amount of drinking water and food consumed during the voyage and the number of patients that urred were meticulously recorded.
After sailing like a blind man relying on a guide’s cane to navigate, the Portuguese fleet was able to arrive at the southern end of the unidentified area. To be precise, it was the Rio Grande region located in the Tierra del Fuego Inds in history before the intervention of the fragrance.
“A little further down from here, at the southern end. That river is thest ce where you can easily get fresh water. That’s where our guidance ends.”
Portuguese Fleet Commander Bartolomeu Dias nodded at the words of the Imperial Navy Captain in charge of guidance.
“I understand. Thank you.”
“Supplies will arrive in three months as fast as possible. Good luck.”
The Portuguese fleet’s mission was to check the route northward by circling the south. As expected from the empire, this part was missing from the map. Dias expressed his sincere gratitude to the words of the Imperial Navy captain.
“I am truly grateful for the Empire’s hospitality! I sincerely hope that God’s blessings will be with you forever!”
Did Dias’ heartfelt wishes move the captain’s heart? The captain paused for a moment and spoke to Dias.
“I’m sure His Majesty will be pleased with themander’s wishes. And… as a fellow sailor, I have to say that there are three detour routes from here. So, that’s enough.”
After speaking briefly but of immense value, the imperial captain got off Dias’ ship and returned to his own ship. Dias, who realized the meaning of the captain’s words, greeted the departing imperial warship with a bright face.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Meanwhile, the military interpreter who apanied the captain looked at him with a face full of worry.
“Maybe I told you too much?”
Unlike the interpreter, who was full of worry, the captain’s expression was carefree.
“Wouldn’t it be appropriate to repay someone who has prayed for God’s blessings on His Majesty?”
“But…”
“After all, isn’t it our empire anymore?”
* * *
With the Imperial Navy gone, the lone Portuguese fleetnded its naval forces. After the blessing of the priest whonded together, Dias shouted loudly in front of the sailors.
“By the order of Joao II, the great monarch of Portugal, we hereby dere that from now on this is our Portuguese territory! From now on, the name of this ce will be ‘Porta de oportunidade’ and the name of thisnd will be ‘Glory.’ It will be ‘terra da gloria’!”
“viva! viva!”
As soon as Diaz’s promation ended, everyone present shouted hurray.
* * *
Dias set up a base camp at the ‘Gate of Opportunity’ and called the captains together.
“The Imperial Navy Captain told me there are three detours. It will be our mission to find those detours.”
One of the captains questioned Diaz’s words.
“Isn’t that a lie?”
“What does he have to gain by lying to me?”
In response to Diaz’s rebuttal, the captain who made the problematic statement kept his mouth shut. Dias red at him for a moment, then pointed his finger at the map and continued speaking.
“Of the three, the first would be a typical detour along the outside of Gloria. The other two would be… Hmm… If this ce we’re staying on was an ind, there would be a waterway.”
No one questioned Diaz’s point. After confirming that there were no objections, Diaz moved on.
“It is likely that at least one of those channels is here in the middle of the bay north of the Gate of Opportunity. So I will split the fleet in two.”
Diaz’s n was as follows.
-Of the fleet divided into two, one is sent north to explore the waterway.
-The other is to explore the existence of an unknown waterway and the possibility of a detour.
None of the captains objected to the n, which was so simple and clear. Afterpleting maintenance, the Portuguese fleet was divided into two and went on an expedition.
* * *
Through the exploration of the fleet led by Dias, three straits were discovered and the Great Circr Passage was revealed.
Depending on the location, it was given names such as ‘East of the Gate’, ‘South of the Gate’, and ‘Inlet of the Waves’, but in history before the intervention of the Fragrance, it was called ‘Strait of Magen’, ‘Beagle Strait’, and ‘Drake Strait’.
The most infamous ce among these was ‘Wave Entrance’.
During a storm with an average wave height of 10 meters, most sailing ships could not even dare to pass in the face of waves with a wave height of 30 meters. Of the two remaining waterways, the most popr was ‘North of the Gate’.
This was because it was the widest. Thanks to these two waterways, Portugal was able to advance into the western part of the Gloria continent more quickly. And less than five yearster, Italy followed Portugal’s lead and advanced into the western part of the Gloria continent.
For Italy, which had spent a huge amount of money in thest war of unification, advancement to Gloria was the only hope. This was because many vested interests had already been lost in traditional Mediterranean trade. While Portugal and Italy werepeting for colonies in Gloria, Ennd and France also entered Gloria.
As the situation unfolded, a fierce battle for colonies began to take ce in Gloria. This battle for colonies was very fiercepared to the history before the intervention of the township. It was thanks to the empire taking over Shinji.
As the huge northern and central areas of Shinji became part of the empire, the area that European powers could upy was greatly reduced.
* * *
In this fierce colonialpetition, what emerged as the eye of the typhoon was Shinji’s sugar liquor distillery, which was ceded by the empire. The port, built to transport sugar liquor from sugar liquor distilleries, was an excellent supply base.
European ships crossing the Anticpleted supply and maintenance at the ports of these distilleries and then set sail loaded with spirits. The destinations these ships headed were their colonies created on Gloria and Terra. As a tool to exploit the colony’s indigenous people, sugar liquor was a more reliable and overwhelmingly cheaper means than force.
Native people who were addicted to sugar liquor had to endure harshbor in mines and farms operated by Europeans in order to drink sugar liquor. Of course, many indigenous people began to die because they could not endure this harshbor, and Europeans began transporting ves from Africa. And here a problem arose.
The empire had banned ve transport ships from entering the port.
-Only ships transporting sugar liquor can call at ports located where sugar liquor distilleries are located.
It was natural that the European powers rebelled against this cause of empire. But the empire was strong.
-ording to what we have observed so far, ve transport ships are full of all kinds of diseases. For the safety of the people of the empire, the entry of ve transport ships had no choice but to be blocked.
“Those natives are imperial people?”
“He is registered in the empire’s family register, follows the empire’sws, and pays taxes to the empire, so he is definitely an imperial citizen! Are you dissatisfied?”
“These are ves who work in the distillery!”
“Didn’t you read the contract’s additional provisions? The workers working at the distillery are hired by local imperial workers! In addition, these workers are paid the wages specified by the empire!”
There were various disputes after that, but the empire’s position remained the same.
-The distillery is yours, but thend and port are the Empire’s!
Eventually, European powers had to bring ves to Gloria through the sea route from Africa to Terra.