When the Ptolemaic family ruled Egypt, Egypt was not a maritime power. In order to maintain its rule, especially to maintain suppression of the Antico dynasty of Macedonia, Egypt's diplomatic strategy was always to support Epirus, Athens, Sparta..., and to support all Greek city-states that resisted the Macedonians, so she had a powerful navy.

In addition to supporting Greek city-states, Egypt also frequently competed with Seleucid for Asia Minor and Syria. If Macedonia was suppressed because of politics, the Ptolemy family, who came from Macedonia, knew that once another Alexander the Great appeared in Macedonia, his rule in Egypt would collapse immediately, and then the competition with Seleucid for Asia was due to the economy.

Egypt's resources are extremely monotonous. For example, Egypt has always lacked the wood needed to build palaces and ships. Since the Pharaoh's era, Lebanese cedars have been very popular in Egypt. Now, the forest resources of Lycia, Asia Minor, are particularly important to Egypt; Egypt is a major grain-producing country, but when the grain harvest is poor, it is necessary to import food from Palestine and Cyprus to solve the urgent problem; Syria also produces wine and high-quality olive oil. Egypt's olive oil production is limited and of poor quality, and mainly produces vegetable oil in China.

In addition to resources, taxation is also the top priority. The taxes of the dynasty not only come from Egypt, but also from territories outside Egypt. Syria and Asia Minor orchards, vineyards, olive gardens, land, forests, fisheries, animal husbandry, and handicrafts all have to pay taxes to the empire; in addition, trade tariffs between the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, spices, ivory, and gems from Africa; olive oil, wine, osmanthus, metal lead, metal tin, and metal copper from Europe to Asia and Africa.

Egypt not only has temples, but also countless officials. Almost all of the Egyptian army was mercenaries, and paying these people commissions was a huge expense. Macedonia had already controlled the city-states on the Greek islands a hundred years ago. There were many Greek soldiers in the Alexander Expeditionary Force. It was not difficult for Macedonia to control Greece again after Alexander. If Egypt wanted to suppress Macedonia, it could only support Epirus, Athens, and Sparta.

After becoming Pyros, the king of Epirus (319-272 BC), became the son-in-law of Ptolemy II, it would cost money to support him to seize the throne, it would cost money to support him to fight against Macedonia, and it would cost even more to support him to fight against the Romans to achieve a ‘Pyrosy victory’;

Egypt was an authoritarian empire, but Ptolemy claimed that he highly favored democracy and would fight for the independence of Greek city-states. This was simply unbelievable. In order to create a rabbit hole, Egypt had to spend a lot of money to put the city-states such as Athens and Sparta in it. City-states like Athens, which had insufficient food, Egypt would fight against the Macedonians whenever Egypt had left food, and they would stop resisting whenever Egypt had cuts.

In addition, the Carthaginians in the west also needed appropriate support. Although the two countries belonged to the Mediterranean East and West and were mutually beneficial, Egypt needed horses produced in Sicily, Spanish silver, and British tin. During the First Punic War, Carthage asked Ptolemy II to lend 2,000 tarantes of silver (1,200 million dramarcks), but Carthage finally lost.

Political goals require strong economic support. Without sufficient money, Egypt not only cannot suppress Macedonia, but also difficult to maintain its own army and empire. In the economy, tariffs are crucial, and spices are crucial in tariffs. The Chunis occupied the origin of spices and were hit hard for Egypt. Ptolemy III did not know how much damage this would bring to him, but he knew that this matter was equivalent to losing the Syrian war.

"Your Majesty, if the Chuni controls the spice trade, then, then..." Alexander Zoa, the noble and elegant palace, Ptolemy III sat on the snow-white plaster seat and looked at the old Minister of Finance Apollonius. Since his father, Apollonius was the Minister of Finance of the Empire, and he knew the benefits brought by spices best.

"... Then... the tariff will lose at least 3500 tarants." Apollonius said, which was more than 20 million Dramak's income. "This is equivalent to a quarter of Wang Ting's fiscal revenue..."

Apollonius spit out a surprising number, which scared Ptolemy III, but the problem was not just that. Apollonius said again: "If they transport Indian goods to our sea, the loss will be greater. Maybe, maybe they will also go to Nubia, where there is a gold mine, if their envoys meet... and see..."

What Apollonius wanted to say is that King Anekhamani of Kush, who basically became a vassal state of Egypt. If the Chunis engage in trade with the Kush and sell them armor and weapons, it would definitely be a disaster.

"Your Majesty, maybe we can negotiate with the Chunis." The entourage officer Ciceos suggested. He was a Jew, and the Egyptian official economy could not lack the support of Jewish merchants. Ptolemy treated the Jews with all their favor.

"Your Majesty, the news came last year that the Chunis had controlled the pepper." Chief Minister Lisimakos dispelled the proposal for negotiations in Ciceos. "It is certain that the merchant ships have been seized since their envoy refused to burrow the cherry of Hermias. Last year their fleet blocked the Persian Gulf and earlier this year hunted the Seleucid merchant ships in the lucky Arab (bia, a port between Muha and Kanna ports).

News from Bactricia said that Chuni was fighting a large-scale war with Chinni, with more than one million soldiers participating in the war. After fighting with the Seleucids, Chuni lost the object of trade, and the war also required a lot of money. Only spices could meet their needs. The Chuni obviously hoped to control the spice trade."

"Impossible, Impossible, Impossible..." Another advantage of controlling the trade route is that the news is extremely well-informed. Egyptian merchant ships in the Black Sea in the north and Red Sea in the south are all gathered in Alexander Zoya. Ptolemy III, who just remembered something, kept saying that it was impossible.

"Your Majesty!" said Lisimakos. "If we do not support the Main immediately to retake Shebwo and Timna, what we will lose will be more than spices, but all the goods from the East."

"I want to remind you that the thunder weapon of the Chunis is irresistible, and this is the main reason for the defeat of the Mein." Dociseos said. "If we cannot discover the secret..."

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Chapter completed!