"Dear Governor, this is what the emperor of your country personally promised. As long as my country agrees to this condition, the two countries will be reconciled forever!" Mustafa moved out the giant Buddha of Emperor Chongzhen in front of Lu Xiangsheng, " Not only did I agree, but I was also willing to surrender to the Ming Empire forever."
He had already been to the southern city of Persia Town once. Comparing what he saw and heard on the two previous trips, he was surprised to find that the people's livelihood in Persia was recovering so quickly. Except for the fact that there were fewer people, he could not tell the difference between a few years ago. That kind of dilapidated appearance due to the military disaster.
It can be seen from this that the Ming Empire has definitely established a firm foothold in Persia. Looking at it like this, within a few years, the Ming Dynasty will be able to launch a large-scale war with sufficient logistics.
Seeing this, he felt very happy and felt that the Ottoman Empire's decision this time was definitely the right one. If it were delayed for another two years, once the Ming army used large-scale troops against the Ottomans again, it would definitely be like thunder, which the Ottoman Empire could not resist. And by that time, even if the Ottoman Empire agrees to that condition, it will probably be too late.
Therefore, when Mustafa saw Lu Xiangsheng and mentioned this matter, he saw that Lu Xiangsheng seemed a little stunned, so he quickly said the above words to remind Lu Xiangsheng that he had no right to refuse what the Ming Emperor had said.
Lu Xiangsheng was indeed a little surprised when he heard this.
If the Ottoman Empire really agreed to cede the area east of the Black Sea Strait, it would be equivalent to the former Ming Dynasty ceding the area north of the Yangtze River to others. If this kind of thing happened in Ming Dynasty, it would be absolutely unacceptable.
But now, the Ottomans agreed. And listening to the messenger's tone, he still had to force himself to accept it.
Haha, there is such a thing in this world. If it were in the past, I would never have imagined that such a thing would happen!
In fact, although this incident surprised him, it was not too surprising. Because Emperor Chongzhen had discussed this matter with him before leaving. However, at that time, Emperor Chongzhen did not confirm whether the Ottoman Empire would finally agree.
Emperor Chongzhen only said that the reason why he did this in the first place was that he had no intention of seizing more land. The reason for the expedition was mostly for the oil underground. The most oil-producing areas have been occupied by the Ming army. The reason why they want the area east of the Black Sea Strait is just to establish a frontier zone to protect the oil areas.
Based on Emperor Chongzhen's idea, Lu Xiangsheng knew what he should say.
Therefore, after he came to his senses, he said with a smile: "Since I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, have said it before, of course there is no problem. But do you Osman know what tribute you will have to pay if you surrender to the Ming Dynasty?"
Today's Ming Dynasty is different from before. It does not need weird gadgets or luxury goods, but only food and grass.
In the past, the Ming Dynasty had already asked each vassal state to pay tribute once, and Mustafa had naturally heard of it. I wasn't surprised to hear it at this time, but it was a bit embarrassing.
Because the Ottoman Empire had evacuated all its population in order to strengthen its walls and clear the country. As a result, one can imagine how much pressure there will be on food and grass! At this time, the Ottoman Empire was also short of food and grass!
However, this is a requirement to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. If you want to hold Daming's lap, this is the price you have to pay.
Mustafa thought that before he came, both the Queen Mother and his brother-in-law had told him that the future of the Ottoman Empire was entrusted to him.
Thinking of this, Mustafa gritted his teeth and said: "There is no problem in paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty. No matter how difficult the country is, we must express our respect for the Ming Dynasty. We will definitely pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty."
Having said this, he paused and then asked: "I just don't know how much food and grass my country needs to pay tribute? On the way here, I saw that there was a good harvest in Persia. There should be no shortage of food and grass, right?"
Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but smile after hearing this. Not only in Persia, but also on the Yan Yingyuan side and the Baghdad plains, there is going to be a bumper harvest.
However, he did not show off and just answered Mustafa: "You should have heard that European countries are discussing alliances to deal with the Ming Dynasty. A war is inevitable. To prepare for a rainy day, of course, the more food and grass, the better!"
At this point, Lu Xiangsheng began to estimate how much food and grass the Ottoman Empire would pay as tribute? If you say too much, the Ottoman Empire will not be able to deliver it, and it is useless no matter how much you say; if you say too little, it will make the Ottoman Empire cheaper, which is not good either.
Mustafa was overjoyed when he heard this. He rolled his eyes and quickly replied: "I did hear that! Those Europeans have gone too far. They even want to unite to deal with the Ming Empire. How about this? Our Ottoman Empire is now Now that we have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, the affairs of the Ming Dynasty are also the affairs of Osman. I, Osman, are willing to send out all the troops from across the country to deal with the European countries together and teach them a harsh lesson. In this way, food and grass are also crucial. You see... …”
Lu Xiangsheng did not have Emperor Chongzhen's eavesdropping system, so it was impossible to know about the fleet assembly on the Austrian coast. Therefore, it is impossible to know accurately that the reason why the Ottoman Empire took the initiative to cede was because European countries would unite to destroy the Ottoman Empire.
At this time, after listening to Mustafa's reasons, he thought for a while and nodded: "It is inevitable for each vassal country to send troops. But it is also an attitude that you can take the initiative to propose it. In addition, you said It makes sense. In this case, I can report to Your Majesty the amount of grain and grass that I pay as tribute and grant a certain degree of reduction!"
The matter of paying tribute is actually under the control of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple. But it was too far from the capital, and Emperor Chongzhen gave Lu Xiangsheng full power, so he actually had the final say.
The reason why he is not sure is that Lu Xiangsheng knows the duty of a minister. Even if he can decide, he still has to go through the process to show his respect for the emperor.
Mustafa was very happy after hearing this, and felt that he had gained a lot of advantages. After going back and talking about it, he would definitely be affirmed. So, Lu Xiangsheng was urged to sign the agreement quickly.
Just like that, the Zhennancheng Agreement between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire was signed.
The agreement stipulated that the Ottoman Empire ceded the area east of the Black Sea Strait to the Ming Empire. From then on, it would always be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. As the sovereign state of the Ottoman Empire, the Ming Dynasty had the obligation to protect the Ottoman Empire.
After the signing was completed, Lu Xiangsheng looked a little puzzled as Mustafa left with a smile on his face. No matter how you look at this agreement, it is a shame for the Ottoman Empire. It cedes territory and pays compensation; but why is he so happy? Could it be because of that inconspicuous little stipulation in the agreement?
Since there is already a relationship between a suzerain state and a vassal state, nearly 100,000 prisoners were previously captured by the Ming army. Based on their voluntary principle, they can choose to go back to the Ottomans, or they can choose to settle here in the Ming Dynasty and take their families in the Ottomans. come over.
For these prisoners, Ming Dynasty was not cruel enough to squeeze them to death.
It was originally agreed at the beginning that as long as they work hard and perform well after completing big tasks, such as building the railway at Mingwei Fort, how many acres of wasteland to farm in Baghdad, how much harvest, etc., or after a certain number of years, If you win, you will be able to remove your status as a prisoner and gain freedom.
Only in this way can the enthusiasm of these prisoners be brought into play. Otherwise, when there is no hope, the enthusiasm for labor will never be high, and taking care of so many prisoners will also consume an unknown amount of energy on the Ming army!
Although they have reconciled with the Ottoman Empire now, it is actually time for those captives to fulfill their original promises. Therefore, in Lu Xiangsheng's view, this was an easy matter, and Ming Dynasty did not suffer any loss. Why was the envoy happy?
There is another point that Lu Xiangsheng himself is sure of. Now that there is this agreement, he guesses that with a high probability, the captives will not only not return to Osman, but will ask their family members in Osman to come to the Ming Dynasty.
Mustafa had already gone back. Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while and couldn't figure out why he was happy, so he stopped thinking about it.
For him, this matter was over. As for the European countries uniting to deal with Ming Dynasty, he is not the most concerned about it. It's not that he looks down on European countries, but he understands that it is definitely not that easy for European countries to unite.
After fighting for so many years, he understands a truth. In war, what matters is not the number of troops, but the number of elites who are at your disposal! European countries have their own plans, so their combat power is definitely not the superimposed combat power of one plus one, but something less than two.
Having said that, what Lu Xiangsheng is most concerned about now is actually an important matter that Emperor Chongzhen explained before leaving.
Yan Yingyuan's side has already taken over part of Egypt and controlled the smallest place. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to dig a canal in that place, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.
This matter is a bit troublesome.
Although the Ming Dynasty had the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that navigated north and south, it can be said to be the longest canal in the world. Logically speaking, it would not be difficult to dig a canal here. Not to mention, in ancient times, it had been excavated and abandoned several times, and there was a certain canal foundation.
However, the difficulty with this canal is that this area is a desert area, sparsely populated, and the land output is even less. In order to have enough labor to dig the canal, sufficient materials must be provided, otherwise too many people will die and the project will not be completed in the year of the monkey.
The difficulty now is to add another one. Where can we get enough free labor?
The original plan was to go back and destroy the Ottoman Empire after being fully prepared, so that subsequent prisoners could be used for this purpose. However, now the Ottoman Empire has voluntarily surrendered. Thinking of this, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but be a little surprised. Could it be that the Ottomans escaped and the Ottoman envoy was so happy?
