The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 373 The war is about to begin
Baslin Island, which is the Central Asian country of Bahrain in the previous life.

From the Black Caliphate to the Umayyad Dynasty and then to the Abbasid Dynasty, this place has always been an important port of the Arab Empire.

The Abbasid Dynasty was destroyed by Hulagu Khan during the Western Expedition of the Mongol Empire, and Basrin Island became a lawless area, with several rulers changing.

But the regimes of those rulers were not stable, so they did not care much about this small island.

Until the appearance of Qin Wang Zhu Chong.

Zhu Chong's fief was on Paradise Island (Socotra Island), where the harsh climate made it unsuitable for human habitation, let alone supporting a large population.

However, Qin's real target was not here, but the Anxi (Iran) Plateau.

However, now it is occupied by the Black Sheep Kingdom and the Muzaffar Kingdom respectively. As a latecomer, Zhu Chong naturally cannot expose his target too early.

So he set his sights on Basil Island.

We must first gain a foothold in the Anxi (Persian) Gulf before we can better manage this place.

Basil Island is a good destination.

First, he sent Xinghong and Cen Xintong here to understand the situation, and then, with the help of Azasa, he got to know the leaders and elders of various tribes.

The leaders and elders of these tribes were naturally very welcoming to people from the Ming Dynasty.

After all, the Ming Dynasty defeated the powerful Mongol Empire and must have become more powerful.

Moreover, the products from the Ming Dynasty were sold all over the world, which shows how wealthy it was.

A wealthy and powerful country, its people are respected wherever they go.

After getting to know everyone, Xinghong finally revealed her true colors.

They wanted to gain ownership of Basil Island to use it as a docking point for merchant ships and to establish a supply point.

In fact, the tribesmen didn't take the island seriously at all.

However, when someone wants to pay to buy it, many people emerge to claim its sovereignty.

And emphasized how important this place is to us and we absolutely cannot... charge more.

The most important thing is that they want to obtain the distribution rights for some Ming Dynasty products.

When Zhu Chong heard Xinghong's message, he said disdainfully, "They are greedy and short-sighted. They have brought shame upon their ancestors."

Li Fang reminded: "A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Besides, this is their home ground, so we need to be careful."

"Hmph." Zhu Chong didn't like this kind of preaching advice, but he also knew that the other party was right.

The key point is that Li Fang is only following him temporarily, and will go to Li family’s own fiefdom in the future.

This is also the reason why the other party has the confidence to speak so frankly.

Since the two parties are in a cooperative relationship, he has nothing to be angry about.

Even if you don't like to hear it, there are some things you have to listen to.

So, he just snorted coldly to express his displeasure and didn't care about anything else.

Although Li Fang spoke bluntly, she didn't really want to offend Zhu Chong.

Seeing the other party expressing dissatisfaction, he immediately lowered his posture and said:

"The other party has expressed the intention to sell Baslin. I wonder what we should do next?"

Zhu Chong put away his emotions and said, "Go to Basilin on my behalf."

"Tell those Arabs that if they are willing to lower their prices, I can form an alliance with them and help them resist foreign enemies."

"It would be best if we could get them to form an alliance..."

Li Fang was puzzled at first, frowned and thought for a moment before she understood his plan, and couldn't help but show admiration:

"Your Majesty is wise. I know what to do now."

After all, the Qin State was an outsider, and after occupying the Basil Islands, it would inevitably be coveted by the local powers.

For example, the White Sheep Kingdom and the Black Sheep Kingdom, and even the Timurid Khanate, which has always been hostile to the Ming Dynasty, would make some small moves.

Even send troops to attack them directly.

Although those Arabs are scattered, they still have certain fighting power as local tyrants.

Their network is here and can also help collect intelligence.

In short, if this alliance can be established, it means that they have opened a breakthrough and started to integrate into the local society.

However, what he didn't know was that Zhu Chong had a more far-reaching plan in forming this alliance.

For example, using these Arabs to disrupt the local area and create conditions for subsequently conquering major powers such as the Black Sheep Kingdom.

It can also help Azasa restore his country.

At the same time, supporting these white-robed princes can also contain Persia after its restoration in the future.

He was not naive enough to think that Persia would always be loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

Nor do they believe that Persia will honestly abide by the agreement and not engage in territorial expansion.

Therefore, we must plan ahead and put a bridle on them.

Since Azasa is planning to establish a country based on religion, it should be a relatively niche religion.

Then we can support a group of believers of popular religions and let them engage in opposition.

Most of the white-robed princes in Asia Minor are followers of the absolutist doctrine and are therefore the most suitable candidates for this task.

This was Zhu Chong's overall plan, which was formulated based on Chen Jingke's plan with slight adjustments.

However, there is no need to tell Li Fang, the ally who is destined to leave, about this plan.

After obtaining Zhu Chong's authorization, Li Fang went to Basil Island and met with the leaders of various forces.

He originally thought that bargaining and forming alliances would be troublesome.

Who knew that when the other party heard that they were willing to provide military protection, they immediately became excited.

They quickly stated that as long as the Ming Dynasty (Qin State) was willing to provide them with military protection, they could lower the price of selling the Basilin.

They could even hand over diplomatic power to the Ming Dynasty (Qin State).

Li Fang was so shocked that she was speechless for a moment.

What was going on? So easily... no, even impatiently, did they hand over military and diplomatic power to others?
Don’t these Arabs have any concept of nationality or ethnicity?

So much so that he thought the other party was setting a trap for him.

After Azasa's explanation, he knew the truth of the matter.

Apart from their beliefs, these people really have no concept of nation or ethnicity.

For those white-robed princes, nothing is more important than their rule over the tribe.

Having someone provide them with armed protection can save the cost of maintaining the army.

why not?

This kind of cognition and thinking shocked Li Fang so much that she almost thought she was listening to a story.

However, looking at the eager tribal leaders, he had to believe it.

In fact, what he didn't know was that these white-robed princes in his previous life were of the same character.

But at that time, they handed over diplomatic and military power to the great powers such as Britain, France and the United States.

In this life, the Ming Dynasty just took the lead.

However, these tribal leaders are the kind of people who won't release their eagles until they see the rabbit.

We know that the Ming Dynasty is strong, but how many soldiers does your King Qin have? Is he capable of protecting us? You have to show it, right?

So the Qin fleet appeared in Anxi Bay.

Hundreds of warships covered a large area of ​​sea, stretching as far as the eye could see.

In order to demonstrate firepower, they also placed many target ships on the sea.

More than 20 gunboats fired from seven or eight miles away and sank all the target ships.

The deafening sound of the cannons and the unparalleled attack power completely conquered the white-robed princes.

They signed the alliance letter happily and publicized the agreement everywhere.

The purpose is to tell everyone that they are protected and that people with bad intentions should stay away.

The Qin State also took the opportunity to send a note to the Anxi States, and the Asia Minor Alliance became our protectorate from then on.

I hope you can all live in peace and avoid any unpleasantness.

One can imagine how big of a response this statement caused locally.

The Ming Dynasty, which is said to be the most powerful and wealthy country, actually extended its hand here?
Then the responses of different countries were not consistent.

Although the Muzaffarid Dynasty was a country founded by the Mongols, it was targeted by the Timurid Empire and was on the verge of extinction.

There was no time to worry about these things. Kara Yusuf, the leader of the Black Sheep Kingdom, was very worried.

He had just led his tribe to independence and was constantly facing the threat of the Timurid Empire.

So, I don’t want to have another enemy.

But his country believes in Shiism, which is a mortal enemy of Sunnis.

The white-robed princes of Asia Minor supported by the Qin State are basically all conservatives.

Will they take action against them just because of their different beliefs?

Just when he was worried, Azasa appeared.

It means that Qin does not believe in Islam, has no intention of intervening in religious wars, and will not take action against the Black Sheep Kingdom.

The key point is that the Ming Dynasty and the Timurid Empire have a feud, and it is a feud that will not end until one dies.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Not only will the two sides not become enemies, there is also the possibility of cooperation.

Yusuf did not believe his words completely, but sent someone to inquire privately.

It turned out that everything Azasa said was true.

The Ming Dynasty believed in Buddhism, Taoism and Mazuism, and people had considerable freedom of belief with basically no religious persecution.

Moreover, there was a real feud with the Timurid Empire, and Timur had threatened several times to launch an eastern expedition to the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, Yusuf finally felt relieved and began to think about forming an alliance with the Qin State.

Of course, at present, this is just an idea and has not been put into action.

After all, the Qin State had just arrived, and no one knew their true plans, let alone whether they could gain a foothold.

So there is no rush to form an alliance.

However, business relations can still be established, as the products of the Ming Dynasty are really delicious.

As for the Ottoman Empire...they haven't reached here yet.

At this time, they were so busy fighting with the Europeans that they had no time to care about what was happening here.

The country with the biggest and strongest reaction actually came from Aries.

One is the Black Sheep Country and the other is the White Aries Country. Just by looking at the names you can tell that these two don't get along.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

These two countries are mortal enemies and will never stop fighting.

The Black Sheep Kingdom believes in the Shiite school, while the White Sheep Kingdom believes in the Xunite school.

The Black Sheep Kingdom and the Timurid Empire were semi-hostile, and the White Sheep Kingdom was a vassal of the Timurid Empire.

Although the Aries Kingdom and the white-robed princes of Asia Minor all believe in Zen.

But both sides also have hatred.

The hatred comes from territorial demands - Aries wants to expand.

In fact, the previous Aries Kingdom did occupy part of the territory of Asia Minor more than ten years later, and Basrin was also briefly ruled by them.

Now the Qin State suddenly emerged, seized the ownership of Baslin, and declared its right to protect the white-robed princes.

In the eyes of the Aries Country, it is just stealing the fat meat in their mouths.

Tolerable or unbearable.

However, a person's name is like the shadow of a tree. The name Daming still has some deterrent power.

The White Sheep King Kara Osman reported the incident to his suzerain, the Timurid Empire.

At this time, Timur had just returned from his conquest of the Golden Horde.

Although he won a great victory in this battle, the war that lasted for five years also exhausted the empire's soldiers and people.

Normally, it would take at least two or three years of rest before launching another war.

However, the ambitious Timur could no longer tolerate it when he learned that the Ming Dynasty had extended its hand here.

He doesn't care how other forces act, but he cannot tolerate the Ming Dynasty's forces.

So he ignored the advice of his subordinates and insisted on personally leading an expedition to Asia Minor.

Prepare to use iron and blood to tell the world who is the king here.

However, he also knew that the main force that followed him to conquer the Golden Horde could no longer go out.

Otherwise, there is no need to fight, because the exhausted subordinates will rebel first.

So they drew back some of the garrisons from other places and barely gathered an army of 50,000.

For example, all the troops that were attacking the Muzaffar Empire were withdrawn.

This gave the precarious Muzaffar State a chance to catch its breath.

Shah Mansur, the king of Muzaffar, was overjoyed, and without hesitation, he told Zhu Chong the news he had found out.

He naturally had no good intentions.

The more brutal the fight between Qin and Timurid Empire, the better. It would be best if the stalemate could continue so that Timur would be unable to take care of other things.

The Black Sheep Kingdom was also on high alert, fearing that it would be caught by Timur.

And Yusuf also had a similar mentality, ready to sit on the sidelines and watch the fight between the two tigers.

Therefore, he had been passing information to Zhu Chong.

The white-robed princes of Asia Minor were also panicked. Timur's reputation in this area could stop children from crying at night.

They couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Why did they form an alliance with the Qin State?
But it was too late to regret, and all they could do was pray for Qin's victory.

Zhu Chong took the opportunity to put forward many conditions, such as helping Qin to gather various intelligence and purchasing war horses for Qin.

The men in white robes, who had no way back, naturally agreed.

So all kinds of information came in continuously.

Timur had just set out, but Zhu Chong had already figured out the color of his underwear.

Of course, Zhu Chong did not give all the intelligence tasks to these people.

Xinghong and Cen Xintong also took this opportunity to spread their intelligence network.

Obtained more detailed information.

For example, who were the specific enemies of the Timurid Empire, such as the restoration of Tokhtamysh, the Great Khan of the Golden Horde who was deposed by Timur, and so on.

Some of this information can be used now; some cannot be used right now, but can provide support for long-term plans in the future.

In addition to this information, Zhu Chong was most concerned about the issue of war horses.

The importance of cavalry in Anxi and Asia Minor is unquestionable.

It’s a pity that this place is too far away from the Ming Dynasty and it is not convenient to transport war horses.

As an outsider, it was unrealistic for him to purchase war horses in large quantities.

That's why he took this opportunity to threaten the white-robed princes to purchase war horses for him.

Faced with the threat of death, the white-robed princes also burst out with tremendous power.

It only took half a month to gather more than 4,000 war horses.

Of course, the Black Sheep Kingdom and the Muzaffar Kingdom made a lot of secret contributions.

Zhu Chong was overjoyed and immediately selected two thousand guards to form a cavalry.

His guards were carefully selected, and a large number of them were cavalrymen themselves, skilled in mounted archery.

After getting familiar with the warhorse for a period of time, the combat effectiveness will be restored.

At the same time, he ordered people to recruit all the young and strong people among the people into the army.

An infantry force of 14,000 men was formed.

These people are not cannon fodder. From the day he arrived in Asia Minor, he implemented a policy of universal military service.

Everyone has to attend military training two days a week.

After such a long time, the young and strong men are all qualified soldiers.

With the Prince's Guard as the backbone and young and strong civilians as soldiers, the combat effectiveness of this army is not bad at all.

Then it is time to build chariots, chevaux de frise, bows, crossbows, arrows and other supplies to prepare for the next battle.

Twenty days later, Timur's army finally arrived at the Aq Qoyunlu.

A great war is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)