As stated by his advisers, Zara Yaqob decides to send a naval expedition East to find new civilizations to hopefully trade with. Horizons would expand and hopefully so would the economy.
Also as requested by the Minister of Expansion, half the army was tasked to move North to Meroe to fight the barbarian invasions. The horse archers would take quite a while to get there though so they would be useless right now but would hopefully can stave off future invasions.
As expected, the barbarian medjays attacked with their archery against the Ethiopian swordsmen. They endlessly threw themselves, wave after wave, against the defending troops. The swordsmen were some of the finest troops that Zara Yaqob could have asked for as they held strong against barbarian nomads.
In the newly founded city of Yeha, the defending forces had to deal with similar barbarian invasions of impis. It was a hard life, on the frontier, but it would pay off in the end. With both copper and iron Ethiopia could now become a military power.
The final group of barbarians were killed by Ethiopian blades. The workers building the cotton plantations at Meroe now were not living in constant fear of a brutal death at the hands of native savages.
Unfortunately there was some territory standing between new lands and Ethiopia. The trireme had no choice but to declare war on this small city to be able to pass through its lands. This was unfortunate but necessary.
The exploration paid off! Or so they thought. The emissaries aboard the Ethiopian ship made landfall near India and met with an Indian envoy. They did not trust us nor did they even want to give open borders. They were willing to trade us Currency but we had nothing they wanted for it. The meeting a miserable failure. The position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs was looking shaky but things were alright.
The army finally moved into Meroe to defend the frontier city from outside invasion. They promised the citizens they would keep them safe, or die trying.
With no where to go the trireme decided to move into the Persian gulf to maybe find other civilizations. As they sailed up the sea they encountered pirates and a battle ensued. Ethiopia lost. This was Ethiopia's only trireme and now besides a galley or two the coast was undefended. This was unacceptable and the citizens were outraged. In response the king asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take sabbatical and take a rest next time the ministers were called together. He still held his position he just would not appear next meeting. Zara did not want to do it but thought it necessary to keep the citizens happy.
On the frontiers of Gondar there were more invaders. They attacked with furiousity against the horse archers defending the city. Miraculously the city was defend against the impi invaders. The outer cities were the walls to protect interior Ethiopia and were heralded as the heroes of the empire.
In the North there were more savages that were moving onto friendly territory. The horse archers stationed in Meroe were ordered to advance towards the barbarian archers and intercept them before they do any damage. They faced off against each other before battle, then we attacked. The horses were galloping at full speed towards the terrified archers across the desert firing arrows at record speeds. The archers could not stand up and were easily defeated by the superior Ethiopian army.
With the Gondaran Silver Mines completed they were now in need of protection. The workers that had built it were now being targeted by a pride of lions to the South so soldiers were dispatched to defend the civilians. With more money, more research, and increasing military power Ethiopia was sure to grow now. Things were looking wonderful.
) before we can take them out.
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It will hopefully come out tomorrow.
