The excavation of the Suez Canal was not smooth sailing.
In the past four years, there have been more than 200 riots, large and small, with the largest number exceeding 20,000 people. All of them were bloody suppressed by the Mamluk army.
The Mamluks were already riding a tiger and could not get off. If they did not dig the river, the Ming Dynasty would not agree. If they dug the river, the people would not agree.
Some nobles wanted to oppose the king and the Ming Dynasty, and strongly demanded that the people be allowed to go back to farming instead of working endlessly, but the results of these nobles were the same as the rioting people.
The king of the Mamluks, Nasrddin Faraj, received firearms assistance from the Ming Dynasty. He saw the terror of firearms and knew that it did not take much effort for the Ming Dynasty to destroy the Mamluks. In addition, Zhu Neng, Luo Guanying, King Yan, etc. A large fleet appeared on the Red Sea, and the momentum of tens of thousands of troops arriving from the distant Ming Dynasty made Faraj unable to think of resisting the Ming Dynasty.
Once Zhu Quan's navy is attacked, the Mamluks will no longer face Zhu Quan's navy, but the larger and more elite Ming Dynasty's main force!
Cairo city.
Faraj met Zhu Quan, Zheng He, Shen Wei and others.
Zheng He presented a crown made of exquisite ceramics, gold and gems, and solemnly said: "Dear Mamluk King, thank you for your great efforts and sacrifices in digging the Suez Canal. This will be a great river. A river with a name that has passed through the ages. There is also a river in the Ming Dynasty, called the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. When the emperor of the Sui Dynasty excavated it, he was burdened with countless infamy, but the river has always existed and countless people have benefited from it..."
Farage didn’t know who the emperor of the Sui Dynasty was, but Zheng He’s words were very pleasing to his ears.
There is indeed a big problem within the Mamluk dynasty. Year by year, the repression is increasing, and the conflicts are getting bigger and bigger. The pressure and suffering on the army are also increasing. If we continue at this rate, we will not wait for the canal to be dug. The Mamluk graves will be dug first. .
The current efforts can indeed bring huge benefits.
Once the canal is dug, the Mamluk dynasty will control this canal and reap the benefits of the canal. As long as taxes are collected, it will be enough to bring endless wealth. The sacrifices and contributions now are for future benefits.
Facing Zheng He, Faraj smiled and said: "The wise and brave Duke of Ming, the Mamluks will spare no effort to promote the excavation of the canal. Please tell the great Ming Emperor that we are willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and send envoys to the Ming Dynasty .”
Zheng He immediately agreed: "The Ming Dynasty is tolerant of the world and welcomes guests from far away. If the king sends envoys to return to the Ming Dynasty with us, the emperor will definitely be happy and receive him well."
Faraj was very happy and arranged: "In that case, how about letting Nowruz Hafiz take the people to go with the Duke?"
"good."
Zheng He agreed and then said: "The Mamluks are friends of the Ming Dynasty. The purpose of building the canal is for East-West trade, so the Ming Dynasty should contribute some efforts. If the king requests it, you can write a letter or ask us to bring a message to the emperor."
Farage nodded heavily and sighed: "To be honest with the Duke, there are indeed many difficulties in building the canal, and the most difficult one is food. In order to prepare food, we have exhausted all means and increased taxes, but it is still difficult to meet the canal food supply. Necessary. Although Venice fully supports it, purchasing large quantities of grain, and even transporting grain day and night with 3,000 ships, such a huge supply of grain still leaves it with insufficient back-up force, and the supply often cannot keep up..."
Zheng He frowned slightly.
This is true, and it is also the biggest problem.
Tingning King Zhu Quan said that in order to prepare more food, the Duchy of Milan refused to sell it, and the two countries started a war. Venice defeated the Duchy of Milan and had to help the Duchy of Venice raise food to protect itself.
In order to obtain more food, the Kingdom of Venice also began to expand its navy. Adam, a businessman who once went to the Ming Dynasty, suddenly became a Venetian noble, joined the Committee of Ten, and was later appointed as a navy general. Now he is leading eight More than a hundred small boats roam the Mediterranean.
Zhu Quan’s prediction was that Adam wanted to use his navy to head east, firstly to cooperate with Timurid’s western expedition, and secondly to sweep away the remaining maritime forces of Byzantium and Ottoman and ensure that Venice’s maritime power in the Mediterranean land
position, and the third is to raise food.
Some of the food looted by Harry during his western expedition was sent to the Mamluk Dynasty for the people of the Canal. But even so, there is still not enough food to eat.
Zheng He said to Faraj: "After I go back, I will report this matter. Once I receive permission, a large amount of food will be shipped from the far east. Ming Dynasty will never treat you badly, nor will it look at you. It’s just that the canal is a big problem, no matter what the cost, it must be dug!”
After hearing Tongshi's translation clearly, Farage smiled broadly: "We will ensure that the canal can be excavated smoothly until it is opened to navigation."
Zheng He stayed in Cairo for two days and then took his people back to the port.
Zhu Quan handed a document to Zheng He and said solemnly: "Tell the emperor that a batch of grain must be transported. Without grain, it will be difficult for the canal to continue. Ming will act as a savior in distributing grain and let the people here see it." To the kindness and prosperity of Ming Dynasty."
Zheng He took the document, discussed it for a while, and led the fleet to leave.
Watching Zheng He's fleet go away, Zhu Quan couldn't help but sigh a few times.
Guard Zhou Hai asked: "The prince seems unhappy."
Zhu Quan shook his head: "How can I be happy? As steam engines have experienced the baptism of long voyages, cross-sea voyages are no longer out of reach, nor will they be a voyage that takes several years. From the Red Sea to the old port, it is thousands of miles away. How long will it take them? Oh, it won’t be more than a month, or even only 20 days. There is the main force of the Ming Dynasty Navy in Old Port, so what does 20 days mean? Let me tell you, during the Hongwu period, it took 20 days to send the documents from Jinling to Jiayuguan. How many days!"
The emergence of steam engines and ships has changed so much. Not only can the Ming Dynasty Navy ignore the seasons and ocean currents, but it can also travel day and night. They are faster than the eight-hundred-mile expedited emissary, and the Ming court's control over overseas countries will be greatly enhanced as a result.
Zhu Yunwen paid more and more attention to the Red Sea. After Zhu Neng and Zhu Di left the Red Sea, the imperial court sent him as many as six documents in the thirteenth year of Jianwen's reign!
A few years ago, the documents from the imperial court were mainly brought back by Li Suyun when he returned from the mines, one letter every two years.
This shows that the imperial court's ability to control enclaves outside the mainland is getting stronger and stronger, to the point where it is like a local border!
The most frightening thing is that the imperial court is still promoting the construction of trains. Once completed, the imperial court's ability to control the border will reach an unprecedented level. Places that once took three months to travel back and forth will now be able to travel back and forth within a month.
The more powerful the court becomes, the longer it stretches its hands, and the more ridiculous its ambition becomes.
After all, the era suitable for careerists has completely ended in the hands of Zhu Yunwen, and the powerful court is enough to crush all disrespectful enemies.
Zhu Quan gave up completely. As long as the canal was dug out, he could go fishing in southern Africa. The heat was getting a bit hot, and with his status as a prince, it would be no problem to have a small garden to live in.
Zheng He's fleet was moving at full speed above the sea.
After replenishing supplies in Guri, he went straight to the Old Port without any further stops. In the old port, Zheng He heard the news that Zhu Neng and Luo Guanying's fleet had returned safely to the Ming Dynasty.
When arriving at Bago Island, Zheng He heard even more shocking news.
A treasure ship of the Nanhai Navy of the Ming Dynasty accidentally ran aground on the tidal flats of Luzon Island due to improper operation and sergeant error. The powerful steam engine power directly sent half of the treasure ship to the shore. The steam engine overloaded and malfunctioned, completely losing power.
After listening to the news, Mao Zhoutai always felt that the problem was unusual, especially when the Nanhai and Nanyang Navy dispatched many sergeants to rescue them at the same time, but they still could not be rescued, and many sergeants were forced to stay there.
No one knows how the Kingdom of Luzon reacted. Anyway, Ming Dynasty made up its mind to take the treasure ship to the sea, but it will take a long time. During this period, the sergeants cannot live on the treasure ship and need to find A place to live, and then find more people to come over to discuss countermeasures.
So those who built the house built the house, and those who built the fence built the fence.
When Zheng He was passing by with his fleet, he took a look. Well, someone actually transported cement. Is this planning to build a city?
Clearly, this was not a treasure ship accident.
Why did the court think so badly?
Said, but Zheng He, Mao Zhoutai and others all knew that "the more the merrier" meant not only soldiers, but also territory.
The fleet successfully arrived at Jinling on October 5, the 14th year of Jianwen.
Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Wenkui and other ministers welcomed their return at Longjiang Pier, and a ceremony and celebration were inevitable.
The return of Zheng He's fleet meant the perfect end of the first global voyage. Both teams achieved a global journey. The most important thing is that this voyage cultivated a large number of new people, especially Mao Zhoutai's The rise made Zhu Yunwen assert that the Navy will not lack commanders in the next thirty years.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Di's letter brought by Zheng He. In the letter, Zhu Di did not ask for assistance, nor did he desire trade. He just expressed his usual greetings and reported the development status and plans of the Yan Kingdom.
Behind the seemingly plain letter was Zhu Di's wariness, which meant: The country of Yan belongs to me and my descendants, so the court should not worry about it.
Zhu Yunwen didn't care about this. There were still many things that Ming Dynasty needed to solve. The country had not yet reached its peak, so there was no need to bother Zhu Di.
During the two months in Jinling, Zhu Yunwen always paid attention to the developments in Beijing. Every day, the Security Bureau sent a list of officials the second prince had contact with, and even wrote down the conversations clearly.
The navy personnel are all back, and it's time to return to Beijing.
However, when he returned this time, Zhu Yunwen chose to visit privately incognito to see if the people at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty had changed from the abjection and embarrassment in the early days of his accession to the throne.
The Hongwu Dynasty took thirty-one years to build the foundation, and the Jianwen Dynasty took fourteen years to build.
The prosperous age finally came to the land of China again, driven by various forces.
