Answer: It encouraged Europeans to develop naval technology to help them find new ways to obtain Asian goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Silk Road was a system of land routes for trading goods between China and the West (130 BCE-1453 CE). When it closed, merchants were compelled to develop naval technology to use the sea as a trade route. This event was fundamental for the Age of Discovery that would drive Europeans ships to explore, and ultimately invade, the New World of the Americas.