Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 656 Want to open the Suez Canal ahead of time
In Zhu Youjian's impression, the route from Daming to Europe is nothing more than going south all the way, crossing the Strait of Malacca from the South China Sea, sailing into the Indian Ocean, crossing the vast Indian Ocean, entering the Red Sea, and then entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal to reach the destination .

Although the entire voyage is far away, it doesn't seem to take a year.

But a thought that suddenly flashed through his mind just now made him feel a little bit ridiculous.

There was a major error in my own cognition.

The Suez Canal, an important waterway that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and connects the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean, will not be completed until 200 years later. Now, all fleets linking Europe and Asia must bypass the Cape of Good Hope. Atlantic Ocean, and then turned north to reach Europe.

For this circle, it takes more than [-] nautical miles to sail, which is equivalent to walking [-] to [-] kilometers more.

It is for this reason that the exchanges between the East and the West have become more complicated and dangerous.

Should the Suez Canal be opened in advance at the right time?

After this idea jumped out of Zhu Youjian's mind, it quickly began to spread and grow, and it could no longer be peeled off.

The strategic significance of this canal is too great.

In the later 21st century, about 18 ships from more than 100 countries and regions in the world pass through the canal every year.

[-]% of the oil exported from the Middle East to Western Europe is transported through the Suez Canal, and the goods transported through the Suez Canal account for nearly [-]% of the world's seaborne trade every year.

Among the artificial canals suitable for sea transportation in the world, the Suez Canal ranks among the best in terms of the number of countries used, the number of passing ships, and the large volume of cargo.

For Egypt, which has sovereignty over the Suez Canal, the canal is the lifeline and cash cow of its economy.

The daily tolls for passing ships alone bring in $200 million in revenue to the Egyptian government every day.

Calculated to be [-] million US dollars a year, and this huge amount of money is as easy and labor-saving as pulling it into your pocket.

If water diversion fees and navigation mark usage fees are added, the total annual income will reach [-] billion US dollars.

But if you want to implement this huge strategic project ahead of time and get huge benefits from it, you must first turn Egypt into a colony of Ming Dynasty.

The current Ming Dynasty does not have such strength, nor does the mainstream of society have such thinking.

Only after Da Ming has tasted the sweetness of using force to gain benefits, no matter what he does at that time, it may be a matter of course.

It is still necessary to make Daming rich and strong as soon as possible, so that he can get what he needs.

During this period, the strength of the Ottoman Empire was still very strong, and the official army of Ming Dynasty might not be his opponent.

Ottoman is a multi-ethnic empire established by the Turks, named after its founder Osman I.

At its peak, its influence reached the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.

It owns most of the territory of the Balkan Peninsula, the Middle East and North Africa, reaching the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf in the east, present-day Austria and Slovenia in the north, and present-day Sudan and Yemen in the south.

According to the existing territory of the Ottoman Empire, an army of more than 200 million people can be mobilized at any time.

The Ottoman army was the most advanced combat army in the world at the time, the first to use muskets and cannons.

During the siege of Constantinople, the Ottomans began using the falcon, a short, broad cannon.The high-speed, high-mobility light cavalry uses bows and arrows and daggers to ride on Turkmen horses and Arabian horses. They do not carry heavy armor. The powerful and well-disciplined heavy cavalry wear heavy armor and launch a powerful attack on the enemy at the most critical time. .

After considering these factors, Zhu Youjian could only temporarily put away the idea of ​​marching into North Africa.

Let's put this issue aside for now, let's first completely expel the Spanish forces in Manila.

With humans, most of the wars occurred because of the competition for resources. The Luzon Islands are rich in various resources, and it is time for the Spaniards to give up this treasure land to others.

After conquering Manila, they will continue to cooperate with the Dutch to seize the resources controlled by the Spaniards in South America to ensure the strong demand for silver in Ming Dynasty in the future.

Just when Zhu Youjian finished writing these plans and handed them over to Wang Chengen for safekeeping, Lu Xiangsheng sent an urgent report of six hundred miles to the palace.

Zhu Youjian flew into a rage after browsing through it, and dropped the memorial on the table with a "snap", then walked down the imperial steps and walked back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. Wang Chengen peeked at the memorial Then he quickly followed down.

These people in Jiangnan are really crazy.

Dare to send people to openly assassinate the cabinet ministers, this is no different from rebellion, and its nature is even worse than the attack on officials in the Songjiang Mansion.

If Lu Xiangsheng really had any accident this time, Zhu Youjian might never forgive himself for the rest of his life.

This matter must not be let go. Now it is no longer a matter of killing a few people. The Jiangnan interest group has reached the point where they will not cry without seeing the coffin. They must give the strongest counterattack to completely suppress their arrogance.

"Big Companion, send someone to call the cabinet ministers into the palace to discuss matters!"

Zhu Youjian stopped and gave an order, then climbed up the platform along the imperial steps again, picked up the report and sat on the dragon chair to read it carefully.

Wang Chengen lifted a corner of his robe, trotted to the gate of the palace, and beckoned a little eunuch to give some instructions. After the little eunuch nodded in response, he turned around and flew towards the steps in front of the Qianqing palace. In a few steps, he kicked down the steps, and soon his figure appeared in the wide square, and ran towards the gate of the palace in a swift motion.

Wang Chengen hurried back to Zhu Youjian's side, picked up the teacup on the table, poured the warm tea inside into the copper bowl on the side, went back to the table again, picked up the teapot to refill half a cup of hot tea, and slowly gathered Going to Zhu Youjian's side, he lowered the hot tea with both hands: "My lord, take a sip of hot tea and let your breath flow.

Now that the New Year's Eve is approaching, do you promise that Kunxing's meat skewers will still be grilled?
Just now she came here on purpose to ask, seeing that you were writing a copy, so she didn't bother you.

Kun Xing has really grown up, he is much more sensible than in the first half of the year, if he had to put it aside, he would have already run up to you regardless! "

After Zhu Youjian heard the words, he closed the report, and quickly relaxed his brows, looked at Wang Chengen with a smile and said, "Kun Xing just came here?

Haha!

This time I didn't come to disturb me, um, I'm really sensible!

Did I say it long ago, the tree is big and straight, when I return to the harem, I will tell the empress about this matter, let's see what she has to say!
This girl doll is more sensible than boys, I know it in my heart!
Naturally, the meat skewers should be grilled, but we have to wait until after the yamen is on holiday! "

Zhu Youjian knew that Wang Chengen was afraid that he would be angry and hurt his body, so he found a topic to divert his attention.

At noon yesterday, Zhu Youjian happened to see the silver charcoal used in the palace, and suddenly thought of the barbecue skewers of later generations, so when Kun Xing was tired of him, he expressed the whole idea.

Zhu Youjian's novel statement immediately aroused Kun Xing's great interest. At that time, he clamored to eat it immediately. After hearing Zhu Youjian's explanation that he had to prepare a lot of materials, he gave up. Maybe he was afraid of his own food. Dad forgot the reason for this, and came directly to the door today.

After the two chatted casually for a quarter of an hour, the cabinet ministers, led by Wen Tiren, arrived at the Qianqing Palace.

"

　Pushing the book, the late Ming Dynasty, "The Last Dignity of the Ming Dynasty", the book friends moved over to find fault with him, and support him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)