1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3680

The Ottoman Empire was undoubtedly one of the most powerful empires in Eurasia during this period, and the expansion of the empire was inevitably accompanied by constant wars. The greatest resistance the Ottoman Empire encountered in its eastward expansion came from Persia.

In order to control strategic locations and trade routes on the Eurasian continent and to quell disputes between different religious beliefs, the war between the Ottoman Empire and Persia broke out at the beginning of the last century. The two sides fought dozens of wars of varying sizes over the course of more than a hundred years, with both sides winning and losing.

This long war lasted until 1639. When Tao Donglai, representing Hai Han, was holding anti-Qing cooperation talks with Ming and Korea in Jinzhou, Liaodong, Persia and the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Schillingburg on the other side of the Eurasian continent, announcing the end of the war between the two countries.

Although there was a ceasefire in name, the two countries' battle for hegemony in the Middle East has not ended, and conflicts and disputes, both overt and covert, continue to occur.

Rui tried to scare Qian Tiandun by using the scenario of "two major regional powers joining forces to deal with Hai Han", but he didn't know that Qian Tiandun's understanding of the situation in the Middle East was no worse than his, and he even knew how the situation would change in the next hundred years. Naturally, this set of intimidation tactics would not be effective.

Portugal was able to settle in the Strait of Hormuz, where the spheres of influence of the two countries meet, and it also took advantage of the contradictions between the two countries. At least the Ottoman Empire was very happy to see Persia suffer a setback at the hands of the Portuguese, and even stationed troops in the Strait to prevent Persia from sending out all its troops to attack Hormuz Island.

Similarly, if Hai Han wanted to establish an armed stronghold and trading port like Hormuz Island in the area controlled by the Ottoman Empire, Persia would probably be happy to watch the fun rather than intervene to stop Hai Han’s actions.

Rui now also felt Qian Tiandun's power. All the methods he could think of seemed to be completely ineffective in front of Qian Tiandun. Qian Tiandun could easily resolve them one by one and was almost completely unaffected by him.

After Lu Yi left, Dong Shangyi said excitedly: "The general is really powerful. He only needed a few words to defeat that profiteer!"

Li Yuande said: "Now he not only doesn't dare to blackmail us, but also has to think about how to save the situation and let us stay here as long as possible."

Dong Shangyi said, "By the way, is the plan that the general just announced serious? Are we really going to build a new port in this strait?"

Qian Tiandun nodded and said, "Of course I am serious. I have been planning this for a long time, but the specific implementation will have to wait until we go on a field investigation."

Dong Shangyi said: "I am afraid that the Portuguese will get ahead of us and deliberately go there to enclose land and hinder our actions."

Qian Tiandun said, "The reason I told Lu Yi about this just now was to let him know in advance that I'm determined to get that piece of land! If he doesn't know what's good for him and wants to play some tricks, then I won't give him any face."

In the more than one year since Qian Tiandun led his troops out of the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, he had already planned various expansion plans and conducted very detailed research on the footholds to be chosen in various key areas.

However, the data he relied on all came from the big database brought to this time and space when he traveled through time. The time gap of several hundred years would cause many differences in the topography and landforms. No matter how good the planning was, he still had to wait until after the on-site investigation before making a final decision.

Under Rui's strong request, Qian Tiandun finally reluctantly agreed to cancel the plan to lead the fleet to visit Bandar Abbas. However, he would still send a Majestic-class battleship, led by Takahashi Minami, to visit Bandar Abbas.

This concession gave the Portuguese face, but at the same time, the arrangement of visiting Persia was retained, only the diplomatic level was lowered. However, this did not prevent the smart Persians from understanding Qian Tiandun's intention. On the second day of Gaoqiao Nan's visit to Bandar Abbas, a Persian businessman secretly came to Hormuz Island and wanted to visit Qian Tiandun.

Although he knew that there were some underground transactions and gray areas between Hormuz Island and Persia, Qian Tiandun was still shocked that the Persians were so bold to come to him, and he immediately ordered the man to be summoned.

What surprised him even more was that the Persian who came to visit him could actually speak Hai Han official language: “Dear General, the merchant Batiya is willing to serve you!”

Qian Tiandun asked, "Since you can speak Hai Han dialect, you must have been to our country before?"

Bhatia responded respectfully, “I have had the honor of visiting Sanya, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. I have lived in Sanya for two years, and I am planning to visit Hangzhou, the new capital of Hai Han, next time.”

Qian Tiandun nodded slightly and said, "No wonder... So you should be quite familiar with the situation in our country. Tell me, what is your purpose in coming here to see me?"

Batiya said: "On behalf of His Majesty King Abbas II of Persia, I welcome the arrival of the Hai Han fleet. General Takahashi Nan has already conveyed the general's intentions and greetings to our country, so as a return visit, I also hope to make the general feel the goodwill of Persia."

Qian Tiandun said, "You call yourself a businessman, but you are so arrogant. The king of your country should be thousands of miles away in Isfahan at this time. How dare you claim to represent the king? Does the king himself know about this?"

Batiya calmly explained after being questioned, “General, I have another identity during my stay in Sanya, that is, a special diplomatic envoy of Persia. His Majesty the King has long admired the powerful Hai Han Empire. If he knew of your visit, he would definitely come out in person to welcome you in the warmest way possible.”

Qian Tiandun suddenly realized and said, "Then I should call you 'Lord Batiya'. I am so disrespectful!"

Qian Tiandun saw that Batiya spoke calmly and without any panic. He had been doubting his identity, but he did not expect that the other party would take the initiative to reveal the answer.

After revealing his identity, Batiya saw that Qian Tiandun had no intention of leaving, so he told him his real purpose.

Persian merchants began trading with Hai Han long before Hai Han expanded its sphere of influence westwards, so the Persian high-ranking officials had a certain understanding of Hai Han’s strength and style of doing things.

The news of the Hai Han fleet appearing in the Strait of Hormuz made the Persians realize that the situation in the region was undergoing new changes. And Takahashi Minami's visit confirmed to the Persians that Hai Han had no intention of becoming their enemy.

From Persia's perspective, the next thing is very simple: maintain friendly relations with Hai Han and prevent Hai Han and Portugal from joining forces against itself.

Batiya even believed that if handled properly, there was a chance that Hai Han would stand on the side of Persia, so he volunteered to take the task of visiting Qian Tiandun on Hormuz Island.