1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3781

Regardless of whether Persia accepts it or not, the establishment of the Hijrah Kingdom has become an unchangeable reality. Hai Han needs such a local force to assist in developing the Arabian Peninsula, training troops for the Hijrah, and forming armed forces. This is to show Hai Han's attitude to the outside world.

Whether Batiya agreed with the establishment of the Xihu Kingdom was of course irrelevant to Qian Tiandun, but he needed to convey his attitude to Persia through Batiya and let the other party understand that there was a powerful international force behind the Xihu Kingdom.

Persia can choose to join this camp or confront it, but Hai Han and its many allies will definitely not make concessions.

At the same time, Shi Diwen approached the Portuguese for a dialogue.

Although it was almost confirmed that Rui’s attitude towards Hai Han was not very friendly, Shi Diwen still wanted to confirm it in person before taking further action.

However, Rui obviously concealed his true thoughts very well. He chatted and laughed with Shi Diwen and did not show any impatience. He was even very concerned about the construction plan of Fubo Port and wanted to get more details from Shi Diwen.

Shi Diwen thought this was a good opportunity to give the other party a strong dose of medicine, so he pretended not to know Rui's purpose and enthusiastically introduced to him: "The entire port project of Fubo Port has been planned in five phases. The current construction is only the first phase. It may take several years to complete the entire project."

"We have planned several trade routes centered on Fubo Port, reaching the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and various places along the Indian Ocean. In the future, a powerful armed fleet will be stationed here to protect the Persian Gulf and the shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz from pirate attacks."

"After the project is completed, Fubo Port will become the largest trading port in the entire Persian Gulf and even the western Indian Ocean, where all kinds of goods from the East and the West will converge. Of course, the most important thing is that Fubo Port will bring long-term peace and prosperity here! I think you should also be looking forward to that day!"

Rui replied with a wry smile: "Of course!"

Although Rui did not say anything, he was horrified in his heart. He found that the situation was developing in the direction he least wanted to see. After the completion of Fubo Port, Hai Han's military presence in the local area would only become more influential. At that time, let alone his own actions, even if Persia and the Ottoman Empire joined forces, they might not be able to do anything to the garrison at Fubo Port.

Moreover, the Hai Han people made no secret of their ambitions, which made Rui even more worried about whether Hormuz Island could retain some of its trade status in the Persian Gulf in the future.

As if seeing through Rui's thoughts, Shi Diwen smiled and continued, "Your Excellency does not need to worry about the safety of Hormuz Island. The Persians know the relationship between our two countries and will not easily attack Hormuz Island again."

Rui forced a smile, thinking that it was not scary that the Persians were eyeing the Island of Hormuz, but what was scary was that you, Hai Han, were also starting to set your sights on the Island of Hormuz.

Of course, at present, this possibility should not be great. After all, Hai Han has invested a lot of resources in Fubo Port, and the port conditions and development space of Hormuz Island are obviously not as good as Fubo Port. Hai Han risks falling out with its allies to forcibly seize this island, which actually does not make much practical sense.

Moreover, this would lead to tensions between Hai Han and Persia. Hormuz Island is very close to the Persian coastline. Who knows whether Hai Han's next target will be Persia. Keeping this island and the Portuguese on it as a buffer is actually a good thing for both Hai Han and Persia. Both sides have already reached a tacit understanding on this. It's just that Rui, who is in the middle of it, has not thought of this level yet.

As for the Xihu Kingdom, Rui had not yet considered it a real threat. Although the previous military parade showed that the strength of the tribal armed forces had been greatly improved, Rui thought about it afterwards and still felt that this was a face-saving project organized by Hai Han. The so-called Xihu army had no combat experience and it would be difficult for Hai Han to form combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

It must be said that Rui's view is actually very accurate, which is also the biggest shortcoming of the Xihu Army at present. The recruit training they have received so far is just the first step in forming an army.

But he never expected that Hai Han did not have enough patience to wait for the Xihu Army to form combat effectiveness, and arranged for this force, which had only been trained for a few months, to appear at today's ceremony mainly to tell the outside world that Xihu already had such a regular army.

The real purpose of Hai Han is to use the Xihu Army as a shell to deal with those targets that are inconvenient for them to deal with directly, so as to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The day after the ceremony, Rui was eager to meet with little Abdullah. He needed to get more information from the person concerned to confirm that his understanding of the Xihu Kingdom was not wrong.

But Abdullah had received guidance from a senior Hai Han official, so he would not be easily tricked into revealing important information to Rui. Following Qian Tiandun's instructions, he passed on false information to Rui on some key topics.

Qian Tiandun knew that the Portuguese were most worried about Hai Han's expansion of power in the Persian Gulf. The previous hostile actions against Fubo Port were also intended to delay and disrupt Hai Han's progress in taking root here. Therefore, Qian Tiandun deliberately asked little Abdullah to inform Rui that Hai Han would only focus on building ports and would not take any major actions in the short term.

Regardless of whether Rui believed it or not, this information would certainly mislead and paralyze him. By then, the Hai Han army would clean up the pro-Portuguese tribal forces around Xihu, which would probably reduce some of the pressure.

After meeting little Abdullah, Rui said goodbye and left, returning to Hormuz Island. He must have been eager to sort out what he had seen and heard in Fubo Port and secretly inform the local forces he supported.

The Persian merchant Batiya chose to stay in Fubo Port because he had just learned that the Hai Han East China Sea Fleet that arrived here not long ago brought a large number of goods, including many good things worth transporting back home.

It is much cheaper to buy these things directly here than to go to Hormuz Island and buy them from the Portuguese middleman.

As a result, the amount of goods ordered by Batiya at Fubo Port far exceeded the carrying capacity of the ship he took when he came, and he might have to make one more trip to load all the goods.

Although this will inevitably increase the freight cost, Bhatia does not care at all. His procurement cost is at least one-third lower than before, and the corresponding profit can fully cover the freight cost.

He was even impatient to start negotiations with Hai Han, hoping to establish a more stable long-term supply channel based on trade.