Smuggling Daming

I also know that I have taken it for granted. Since Selim dared to send his son to Daming, he would definitely prevent Daming from using his son to disrupt the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire. people.

A few days later, Zhou Zhong convened the cabinet again in Wenyuan Pavilion to discuss the matter of digging the Suez Canal with the Ottoman Empire. From the perspective of Ming Dynasty, in order to build this canal, Ming Dynasty not only provided technical officials, but also had to pay Half of the construction cost, in exchange for only [-]% of the tax when the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty pass through the canal. On the surface, this condition seems to be a disadvantage to the Ming Dynasty, but in fact it is not the case.

The Suez Canal is related to whether Ming can directly trade with Europe, so the economic benefits represented by this canal can be said to be very huge. As long as the canal is successfully dug, then Ming's merchant ships can directly reach Europe. At the same time, the monopoly of foreign trade can also bring Daming's maritime trade to another level, and the huge profits represented by this are simply unimaginable.

It is precisely because of the above reasons that the opening of the Suez Canal meant another huge source of income for Ming. At the same time, it also broke the Portuguese maritime blockade. When the Portuguese could no longer benefit from the East-West trade, When huge profits are obtained, the national power will definitely plummet. At that time, it will become very difficult to maintain a large-scale navy, and it will even force the opponent to lay off some navies. This is naturally a huge challenge for Daming. good news.

It can be said that the Suez Canal represented huge economic interests and military significance to Ming Dynasty, so Zhou Zhong spared no expense to help the Ottoman Empire build this canal, which also received unanimous support from the cabinet. The expansion of maritime power not only made Daming's maritime trade more prosperous.At the same time, the domestic industry and commerce must also rely on the support of the sea trade, otherwise, relying on Daming's domestic and surrounding countries alone will not be able to digest so many commodities produced by Daming.

After Zhou Zhong reached an agreement with the cabinet, he immediately began to prepare water conservancy officials and the cost of building the canal.The cost aspect is not too urgent.Because Ming Dynasty needed to send its own water conservancy officials to inspect and measure the entire canal together with the officials of the Ottoman Empire.Finally, an approximate cost is estimated, which will take at least one or two years, and then the two countries will start to allocate manpower and property for the real construction of the canal.Moreover, it is estimated that this canal can not be repaired in one or two years, so the construction cost is also allocated year by year. Calculated in this way, the annual cost is not a big deal for Daming.

A month later, the Daming mission led by Jiao Huangzhong finally arrived at Guangzhou Port in the south of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, all the water conservancy officials of the Ming Dynasty were in place.These people all went to Egypt voluntarily. Of course, this does not mean that these people are of high quality, but because Zhou Zhong gave extremely high rewards, as long as these people can preside over the construction and completion of the Suez Canal.Then the imperial court not only gave them generous salaries every year, but also awarded them titles afterwards. This was an irresistible request for an official, so many water conservancy officials from the Ministry of Industry rushed to Egypt. At worst, if you risk your life, you have to earn a royal order and a title passed down from generation to generation for your wife and children.

This time the Ming Dynasty dispatched a total of [-] technical officials, most of whom were experienced water conservancy officials. The leading official was named Zou Tong. He had previously presided over the cleanup of the Yellow Sea and the Huaihe River, but Zou Tong is almost [-] this year. , he had already explained his funeral in advance. After all, it would take at least seven or eight years to build a canal, or even longer. With his age and the long journey, God knows if he will come back one day?

After another period of time, the fleet led by Jiao Huangzhong finally arrived at Tianjin Port. This time, Zhou Zhong went to Tianjin Port to greet him in person in order to show his grandeur. In addition, returning with Jiao Huangzhong this time was a member of the Ottoman Empire. A small envoy, this envoy firstly wanted to visit the Ming Empire, and secondly wanted Ming to stamp the emperor's jade seal on the Suez Canal Treaty. In addition, when they left, the water conservancy officials led by Zou Tong also Will go to Egypt with them.

For these envoys who came from afar, Zhou Zhong, on behalf of Zhengde, also extended a warm welcome to them, and he also secretly received the child Murad. Established a good relationship with Selim, so Zhou Zhong also made corresponding arrangements for Murad's future arrangements.

Originally according to Zhou Zhong's plan, Murad would be arranged to live in Beijing and be taken care of by the servants he brought. Even if the other party was interested, Zhou Zhong would arrange for him to study in the Imperial College, but Zhou Zhong didn't expect that The strange thing is that Jiao Huangzhong actually established a deep relationship with Murad, but this is just right, and the effect should be stronger than that of Guozijian if Jiao Huangzhong leads such a disciple to study.

In the end, Zhou Zhong arranged Murad's residence next to Jiao's mansion, which was also convenient for their master and apprentice to move around. In addition, Jiao Huangzhong made such great achievements, Zhou Zhong finally had a reason to promote him, so after the cabinet deliberated, Temporarily promote Jiao Huangzhong to the Minister of Rites. Although the position of the Ministry of Rites is relatively idle, the Minister of Rites, Jiao Huangzhong, is in charge of diplomacy. With the expansion of Ming Dynasty in recent years, the communication with the outside world has increased. Diplomacy is the function of the Ministry of Rites. One, so Jiao Huangzhong's position is also very important, and his status is similar to that of the foreign ministers of later generations.

The missions of the Ottoman Empire were not many. After all, Selim didn’t expect to meet Daming’s mission in Damascus, so he only sent a few people and some guards in a hurry, but the gifts were very generous. For example, a hundred knives from Damascus were handed out at once, which was quite a fortune in Daming.

This Ottoman mission did not stay in Beijing for too long. Firstly, Zhengde was not here, and it was impossible for them to rush to Liaodong to see Zhengde. Secondly, Zhou Zhong could also replace Zhengde to stamp the jade seal on the treaty. In this way, This treaty has officially come into effect, and those technical officials of Ming Dynasty are also ready and can set off at any time.

Under such circumstances, the Ottoman mission stayed in Beijing for about half a month, and then went on the road with the technical officials led by Zou Tong, rushed to Tianjin Port and left Daming again by boat.Although the missions of the Ottoman Empire did not stay in Ming Dynasty for a long time, they finally had an intuitive understanding of Ming Dynasty.

In the eyes of the envoys of the Ottoman Empire, Ming is indeed one of the most powerful countries in the world. Not only is the country vast, but it takes nearly a month to travel by boat from south to north, and the ports are also very prosperous. , Industry and commerce are also extremely developed, these are stronger than their Ottoman Empire, and when they saw the capital of Ming Dynasty, they were also amazed by this huge city, even if they were in Istanbul, I am afraid they could not compare with this city.

Of course, these are the economic strength of Ming Dynasty. As for the military aspect, it is not clear from the surface for the time being, but they also know that Ming Dynasty is at war with the Tatars who are descendants of the Mongols, and His Majesty the Emperor of Ming personally led the troops, and successively After defeating the Mongols, it can be seen that Ming's military will definitely not be weaker than them. After all, Ming also has an emperor who values ​​military affairs.

Compared with the Ottoman envoys who only observed Ming from the economic and military aspects, Murad, who was only ten years old and who had to live in Ming, observed Ming more comprehensively, even from the moment he entered the mainland of Ming. Since then, Murad has been very interested in Ming Dynasty. Everything here is completely different from the Ottoman Empire where he grew up. Especially in terms of religion, it is very free. Coupled with delicious food and exquisite clothes, All these fascinated the young Murad.

After Murad entered the capital, he had his own mansion. When he was at home, he was the master, and no one had the right to control him, especially those servants who came with him from Ottoman. He does one thing, which makes Murad feel a breath of freedom.

But Murad did not lose himself in this kind of freedom. The harsh education he received before made him unwilling to spend time in this comfortable life, so he would learn from Jiao Huangzhong every day. Although Jiao Huangzhong is busy with government affairs now, Mu Rad's foundation has been laid down, and he also knows a lot of Chinese characters. As long as he is assigned some tasks every day, Murad can complete them by himself. consult.

Jiao Huangzhong is also very concerned about Murad as a disciple, not only because of his status, but more because this child is smart and hardworking, such a disciple is very rare for every teacher Yes, so Jiao Huangzhong also tried his best to teach, and he also knew that Murad had no one to care for him since he was a child, so while he was a teacher, he did not forget to care about Murad's life. Others say that he is a teacher for a day and a father for life. , while Jiao Huangzhong is both a teacher and a father to Murad.

Time passed quickly. After half a year in Daming, Murad was already very familiar with Daming. Not only could he speak Chinese very well, but he was also familiar with many Confucian classics, which was considered good among scholars of his age. This made Jiao Huangzhong not only very happy, but he was even ready to let his disciple take part in the imperial examination when he grows up, maybe he could become the first Ottoman Jinshi in Ming Dynasty, but at this moment, Murad suddenly made a decision Make unexpected decisions in Brown.