The Rise of the Maritime Empire

[No System] + [Age of Discovery] + [Global Hegemony] + [Military Warfare] + [Finance and Technology] He is a prince of a tributary state! The emperor favors him, provincial officials curry favor with him, and a powerful Arab merchant family backs him! But he is a false prince. He recruits artisans, builds ocean-going ships, sails south across the seas and west across the oceans, selling spices and trafficking in slaves to forge a path to wealth through overseas trade. To him, the Middle East is merely a stepping stone, the Mediterranean is an inland sea, the golden sea routes are the goal, and a global commercial network is the true empire…