1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 4027

With the strength of the special operations division, taking over the almost undefended port of Jeddah would certainly not be a difficult task. Even without much prior preparation, if they launched an offensive using the fleet currently docked in Jeddah, Takahashi Minami estimated that it would take at most two days to completely occupy the port and the city.

Taking this place is not difficult; the difficulty lies in garrisoning it after its occupation, which is no easy task for a special operations division with limited manpower.

The biggest drawback of doing so is that it will affect the flow of goods in the surrounding area. If Arabs hear that this place is not safe, they will definitely choose to avoid it and will no longer send various goods to Jeddah Port for trading in the short term. Then the supply function here will be greatly lost.

Takahashi Minami knew very well why his superior valued Jeddah Port. Unless he could find a way to preserve its supply function, even if he submitted a plan to capture Jeddah Port, it would definitely be rejected by Qian Tiandun.

How to keep Jeddah Port neutral during the war, and ideally provide Haihan with the necessary supplies, was a question that Takahashi Minami still couldn't come up with a perfect solution by the time the fleet finished resupplying and left the port.

However, there was also good news: two Egyptian merchant ships joined Takahashi Minami's fleet.

This was also thanks to the Special Operations Division's last visit to Suez. When Qian Tiandun was investigating the local trade situation, he visited a trading company and sold a batch of Haihan goods to them at a relatively low price in exchange for some business information that only industry insiders knew.

These goods, once transported north from Suez through the desert into the Mediterranean, could fetch prices several times higher, making the profits incredibly substantial. Moreover, prior to this, the limited local goods were all resold by the Portuguese, and the profits from direct trade, eliminating intermediaries, were nowhere near as high.

The manager of the trading company who handled the deal had recently been in Jeddah port with two ships to purchase goods. Upon hearing of the arrival of the Haihan fleet, he took the initiative to visit them and was subsequently received by Takahashi Minami.

Takahashi Minami had met this person before when she went to Suez, so the other party didn't hide anything and readily explained his purpose.

Given the success of the previous collaboration, he hoped that Haihan could sell some more goods to his trading company. Ideally, a long-term partnership would be established, in which Haihan could also purchase various goods from the Mediterranean region from the trading company. This would be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties.

Takahashi Minami readily agreed. Upon hearing that the other party was about to return to Suez, she simply invited him to travel with her, so that they could unload and sell the goods on the spot after arriving at the port of Suez.

In exchange, the other party will also provide Takahashi Minami with the necessary consultation and guidance services for this trip.

As for the nature of this armed fleet, the Egyptian merchants didn't care. After all, when the Haihan fleet visited Suez last time, the government didn't raise any questions, and it seemed that no one thought the Haihan had come from afar to take over Suez.

The Egyptians' lack of vigilance stemmed from a similar reason to that of the Arabs in Jeddah: their submission to the Ottoman army occurred around the same time as Jeddah's, which is why Suez had not experienced war for over a century.

According to information provided by Egyptian merchants, local businesses were required to pay substantial business taxes to the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire's suppression of rebellions in Eastern Europe had dragged on for over a year, leading to ever-increasing local taxes. No one found this problematic; it had been the case since their earliest memories. Being under the Ottoman Empire's protection meant they were obligated to pay taxes—it seemed perfectly natural.

Takahashi Minami tentatively inquired whether Egyptians would be willing to voluntarily break away from Ottoman rule if they could obtain higher income and lower taxes, but in exchange for a different allegiance. This question seemed to have struck a nerve with the Egyptians; they had probably never seriously considered this hypothetical scenario—if they broke away from Ottoman rule, to whom should they pledge allegiance? Should they return to Arab rule? But the Arabs who previously ruled Egypt had already submitted to the Ottomans!

Unable to get the answer he wanted, Takahashi Minami was helpless. After all, Haihan had not yet truly demonstrated its strength in the Red Sea region, and Egyptian merchants probably did not regard Haihan as a competitor of equal strength to the Ottomans.

To Takahashi Minami's slight relief, after hearing the introduction of Zhenhai Port, the other party readily agreed to send merchant ships to Zhenhai Port for trade.

Before the establishment of Zhenhai Port by Haihan, there was only one major port at the southern end of the Red Sea: Aden. Now, with the addition of Zhenhai Port on the way to Aden, this is undoubtedly good news for merchant ships on long voyages, as it not only means an additional supply point but also more trade opportunities.

Goods from Haihan have proven their outstanding commercial value. If we can source goods directly from Zhenhai Port in the future, the prices will definitely be much cheaper than if Haihan delivers them to our door.

Moreover, these transactions were outside the Ottoman Empire's regulatory scope, which meant paying less tax. Combined with the price difference, the profits could be quite substantial.

These Egyptian merchants are pragmatic; as long as there's money to be made and enough profit to be made, then Haihan is our friend.

As for what other intentions the Haihan people might have towards the Suez region, that's a matter for the Ottomans to worry about; what does it have to do with us Egyptians?

Upon arriving at the port of Suez, Takahashi Minami's first act was to visit the local governor with gifts. As for the trade with the Egyptian merchants, that was left to the accompanying steward, Fryfon.

The trade affairs along the route were all managed by the Furuifeng Trading Company, and Gaoqiao Nan would not interfere too much. Although Li Yuande did not go in person, his subordinates were also very familiar with this type of trade, so there were no difficulties in handling it.

Two years have passed since the Sea Han Fleet last visited Suez, but the governor here is still the old acquaintance Ilhan, whom Takahashi Minami had dealt with on his last visit.

When Qian Tiandun last came to Suez, he gave Ilkhan a lot of benefits, so much so that Ilkhan specially sent a team to act as a guide for Haihan's business inspection.

Of course, Ilhan's actions may not have been out of good intentions. Under the guise of being a guide, his main purpose was actually to monitor the movements of Qian Tiandun and his group in the area.

Overall, the last "cooperation" between the two sides was relatively pleasant. Furthermore, no Haihan personnel visited Suez in the two years that followed, which reassured Regent Ilhan considerably.

(End of this chapter)