Mazarin was heard to say to Anna of Austria: "Joao IV of Portugal has died, and his eldest son Theodosio succeeded to the throne as the new king of Portugal..."
Upon hearing this, Anna from Austria, who had been worrying about it, couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help complaining: "Isn't this normal? Why make such a fuss? I was really shocked just now, thinking something had happened. Got it!"
"No, it's not over yet!" Mazarin complained after being interrupted. He didn't care at all and continued to say in shock, "The new king of Portugal ordered to collect a large amount of grain and grass supplies and personally sent them to the Arabian Peninsula..."
After hearing this, Anna from Austria couldn't help but wave her hands and said: "This is not surprising. Portugal can exclusively sell so many new guns and cannons from the Ming Empire, and even has that kind of steam paddle-wheel battleship, which shows their relationship. It’s definitely different. Now I heard that the Ming army defeated the Ottoman army and went to please the Ming people. It’s not surprising!”
"No..." Mazarin was interrupted again and decided to finish speaking in one breath, then continued speaking very quickly, "According to rumors, Theodosio took over as King of Portugal and said he wanted to be canonized by the Ming Emperor. That’s it. Count Lendosim objected, and Theodosio stabbed him to death on the spot!”
"What?" At this time, Anna of Austria was completely shocked. The Portuguese king succeeded to the throne without the consent of the Pope. He actually needed the canonization of the Ming Emperor to succeed. Doesn’t this mean that the Emperor of Ming Dynasty should be higher than the King of Portugal! When did countries in Europe need the consent of the emperor in the Far East?
No matter how she thought about it, she felt it was unreliable, so she couldn't help but ask again: "Is this news true?"
Mazarin listened, presented the secret report in his hand, and reported at the same time: "It's just a rumor, but Earl Lendosim is indeed dead. However, no one has confirmed how he died. And the new king Theodore Theo has left Lisbon, the news needs to be confirmed again!”
It has never happened before that a European king would be canonized by the Ming Emperor. Therefore, even if there are rumors on the streets of Lisbon, and even princes and nobles swear by it, no one dares to believe it is true.
After hearing this, Anna from Austria asked Mazarin: "What do you think?"
Mazarin listened and replied slowly while thinking: "It is not easy to draw a conclusion on this matter. After all, such a thing has never happened before. But one thing is certain, the relationship between Portugal and the Ming Empire. That is absolutely extraordinary. Otherwise, it would be unreasonable for the Portuguese to resell all the things of the Ming Empire."
At this point, he saw that the queen's face seemed to express dissatisfaction with his answer, so he had to say frankly: "If you really want me to say it, it is not necessarily possible to be canonized by the Ming Emperor. However, the new king of Portugal He is very flattering to the Ming Empire, that’s for sure!”
"Yes!" Anna from Austria said with envy after hearing this, "If the Ming Empire could treat France like it treats Portugal, we would have no problem currying favor with them!"
There have been constant wars since the Thirty Years' War of Religion. The Thirty Years War was over, and there was still a civil war and a war with Spain. With all this, France's finances have gone bankrupt. Seeing the Portuguese making a lot of money relying on their connections with the Ming Empire, she was definitely envious and jealous.
When Louis XIV heard what she said, he said, "Then we also send people to the Arabian Peninsula to negotiate with the Ming people and let them trade directly with us."
Upon hearing this, Anna and Mazarin from Austria looked at each other and their eyes lit up.
In the past, the Ming Empire was too far away and there was no way to contact it. Now everyone in the Ming Empire has come to the Mediterranean Sea. If we can form an alliance with the Ming Empire like Portugal and get enough benefits, then of course it would be good!
As long as there are enough benefits, God can abandon it!
However, Anna from Austria quickly came to her senses and immediately said hesitantly: "But, France and the Ottoman Empire are in an alliance. Isn't it bad to contact the enemies of the Ottoman Empire?"
"What's wrong?" Mazarin said casually after hearing this, "If we can form an alliance with the Ming Empire and get the same benefits as Portugal, then I won't want this ally of the Ottoman Empire!"
Interest, in the final analysis, is interest.
As a result, the French queen and her prime minister discussed the final result. From the beginning, he was afraid of the Ming Dynasty, but then he thought about whether he could get benefits from the Ming Dynasty, and secretly sent envoys to the Arabian Peninsula.
As for the various conflicts between Europe and Ming Dynasty that were discussed at the beginning, if the interests are large enough, those conflicts can naturally be ignored.
………………
At the same time that France got the news, Spain naturally also got the news, and because it was close to Portugal, it got the news faster.
Similar to the results negotiated by France, the final decision of King Felipe IV of Spain was to send an envoy to the Arabian Peninsula to see if he could gain benefits from the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, we also need to be convinced that the Ming people will not continue to advance westward.
This is generally the case in European countries. Even Spain, which had a hostile relationship with Ming Dynasty, did this, let alone other countries.
For them, first, through the Battle of Baghdad, it was proved that the Ming Empire was too powerful. It is irrational to provoke such an opponent. Now there is no sign that the Ming Empire will definitely come and destroy them. Therefore, they did not want to take the initiative to start a war with the Ming Empire. But the vigilance is definitely very high.
Second, although there are various differences between European countries and the Ming Empire, if the Ming Empire can guarantee not to move westward, then they will compromise or even curry favor with the Ming Empire in an attempt to obtain benefits from the Ming Empire.
Unlike these European countries, the Ottoman Empire sent envoys. While trying to reconcile with European countries, it also began to lobby European countries to join forces with the Ottoman Empire to defeat the threat from the east. And promised that the Ottoman Empire would never be an enemy of European countries in the future.
In this regard, European countries generally ignored the Ottoman Empire's envoys, waiting for a reply from the Ming Dynasty on the Arabian Peninsula.
Even the Vatican, after careful consideration, sent envoys to the Arabian Peninsula to test the Ming Empire's intention and the possibility of proselytizing within the territory of the Ming Kingdom.
Against this background, European countries began to describe the Ming Empire as a demon from hell that would bring endless suffering to Europeans. On one side, I went to the Arabian Peninsula to contact the Ming Dynasty.
……………………
In the twenty-ninth year of Chongzhen, that is, in the early spring of 1656, the excavation work of the Suez Canal was in full swing.
In the original history, that is, in the mid-19th century, the canal company hired thousands of Egyptian migrant workers at very low wages and forced them to perform extremely heavy labor in the tropical desert of the Isthmus of Suez. There was a lack of drinking water on the construction site, and a large number of Migrant workers died of thirst. Moreover, the food they provide is shoddy and small in quantity. One meal is not even enough for a child to satisfy their hunger. Most migrant workers are often in a state of semi-starvation.
In addition, the sanitary conditions are very poor, and diseases such as bronchitis, hepatitis, lung disease, and dysentery are extremely common, especially the plague, which has claimed the lives of a large number of migrant workers.
According to records, in 1863, typhoid fever swept through the construction site and many migrant workers died suddenly.
Also, in 1865, cholera broke out at the construction site and a large number of migrant workers died. No one could even be found to send the patients to the first aid station, and no one was there to dispose of the bodies of the migrant workers who died on the construction site.
A total of about 120,000 Egyptian migrant workers died during the construction of the Suez Canal, with an average of 738.5 deaths per kilometer.
In this dimension, the Ming Dynasty dug the Suez Canal. Although it used prisoners of war and avoided paying wages, the overall investment in financial and material resources was far more than that of the original company in history.
This is related to the concept that Ming Dynasty has always inherited. Moreover, Chinese people pay attention to hygiene and epidemic prevention.
It's not that the Ming Dynasty was more compassionate than those Europeans, but if they didn't treat prisoners of war as human beings, they would die soon. Where would they find labor?
You must know that prisoners of war are the best labor force. They are all strong and strong in body, and because of their connection with the army, they also have strong organizational skills.
For this reason, the Ming Dynasty transported a lot of vassals and potatoes from the country, Dongwu and other places. Regardless of nutrition, at least it gave them something to eat so that they could have physical strength to work. He also promised that as long as he performed well during the process of digging the canal, he could become a citizen of the Ming Dynasty or be released back to his country.
As for those who don't perform well, I'm sorry, I can only use them until they die.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the excavation project, various machinery was also used. Excavators, railroad tracks, etc.
This is also true. The progress of canal excavation in this plane is far faster than in the original history.
Of course, death is inevitable. However, not many people care.
The Ming Dynasty’s excavation efforts indeed consumed a lot of materials. Against this background, when Theodosio personally escorted a large amount of grain and supplies to the northern section of the Suez Canal, the Ming army was very happy.
Sun Chuanting was originally busy with affairs in the entire Middle East, which could be said to be very busy, but after hearing this, he immediately took time out and sent an order to meet Theodosio, the king of the vassal state.
After receiving the order, Theodosio immediately rode on horseback to the city of Suez along the excavated Suez Canal without saying a word.
Along the way, he naturally saw the bustling construction site and felt very emotional. Only the Ming Dynasty had such organizational power, and it was possible to excavate more than half of the project so quickly.
With this in mind, he became even more respectful when he went to see Sun Chuanting.
