1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 4034

Takahashi Minami wasn't worried that executing the thief would anger Ilhan, after all, the fee he paid to the caravan was no small sum, a considerable portion of which would end up in Ilhan's pocket. This local official certainly wanted the Haihan caravan to complete its journey smoothly.

The thief's actions were essentially creating trouble for Ilhan, and if word got out, it would severely damage the reputation of the caravan. Even if the Haihan caravan spared his life, he would still be severely punished by Ilhan upon returning to Suez; Takahashi Minami was merely acting on his behalf.

On one hand, there are tangible benefits; on the other hand, there are insignificant nobodys. Ilhan should be able to distinguish which is more important.

However, after this incident, Takahashi Minami also realized that the caravan's concealment measures were not perfect. Someone had already noticed the caravan's suspicious behavior along the way, but they did not expect that the Haihan caravan was not secretly digging up any valuable treasures, but just some sand.

These petty thieves are easy to deal with, but they still cause some trouble for the caravan. It's best to avoid unnecessary complications.

Although they failed to catch the mastermind, they did manage to obtain some clues. Even if they didn't have time to search for the thieves themselves, the local official, Ilhan, would likely not let go of these guys who had almost caused him to lose a large sum of money.

Of course, this is on the premise that Ilhan and the gang of thieves were not accomplices.

Takahashi Minami had no way of knowing whether anyone else was secretly eyeing the caravan's valuables, so for the time being, he could only order increased security and more people to patrol and guard the perimeter day and night.

In addition, he asked the exploration team to further shorten the operation time in order to reduce external attention caused by prolonged excavation.

All the collected soil samples were gathered in Takahashi Minami's tent during their encampment, where he personally supervised the process to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

As for the people in the carriage company, they are currently in the desert and cannot be replaced. However, the journey ahead will also depend on these logistics and supplies personnel, so they can only continue to be employed.

Fortunately, the execution of the thieves had a very good effect. The locals were all trembling with fear and dared not discuss sensitive topics such as the caravan's treasure hunt anymore. The manager also repeatedly warned them to be careful, because once they were considered accomplices by the Haihan people, no one could save them.

The further north you go, the more caravans you'll encounter from the Mediterranean region, especially those from the northern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula, and Balkan Peninsula.

For the Haihan Kingdom, which has risen rapidly in the East in recent years, most caravans have only heard of its name but never seen its people. However, when they actually encountered a caravan from Haihan in the desert of the southern Mediterranean, they truly realized that this powerful Eastern country was also a great maritime nation, whose activities had reached the gateway to the European continent.

What shocked merchants from various countries even more was that these Haihan people who came from afar seemed to be quite familiar with Europe. Even though they claimed to have never been to Europe, they knew the regions to which each caravan belonged like the back of their hand, who the rulers of these regions were, what their specialties were, and even the political camps they belonged to.

Their understanding of Haihan was often limited to rumors brought back to Europe by Portuguese merchants, including but not limited to the fact that Haihan had replaced the Ming Dynasty as the number one country in the East, that the Haihan people were extremely good at business operations, and that Haihan possessed a powerful shipping force.

These confusing and uncertain rumors all seemed to be validated by this Haihan merchant caravan. They were transported to Suez by Haihan's own fleet and their purpose was to engage in trade activities in the Mediterranean, all of which demonstrates that Haihan is a powerful commercial empire.

Due to the limited capacity of the camel caravan, this Haihan caravan did not carry a large quantity of goods, and many items were only prepared as samples. However, their quality and prices were enough to drive Mediterranean merchants crazy.

In the past, Portuguese merchants transported these Haihan goods to Europe for sale at prices at least two or three times higher than the current prices quoted by the Haihan caravan. Some scarce resources, which were exclusively supplied to royal families of various countries, such as lighters, large-format glass mirrors, silk embroidery, and high-end porcelain, could fetch prices as high as ten times or more.

Upon learning that the samples were not entirely out of stock, and that a fleet of the Sea-Han Fleet was docked in the southern port of Suez with a large amount of cargo still unloaded, caravans from various countries immediately entered a race against time, vying to reach the port of Suez.

Although many European merchants felt that Haihan goods were flashy but impractical, with limited supply and an astonishingly long delivery cycle, and that the scarcity was purely artificially created, only those nobles who loved luxury would like such things, when the opportunity to purchase them actually came, who wouldn't rush to buy a batch and ship them back to their country to make a fortune?

A few merchants recalled that two years earlier, a caravan had also arrived at Port Said on the southern coast of the Mediterranean, but that caravan carried far fewer and less diverse goods than this one.

In mid-March, the caravan led by Takahashi Minami finally arrived at its destination, Port Said. This trip took a full twenty days longer than the last one because the exploration mission along the way had consumed a lot of time.

Although there was a minor unpleasant incident along the way, fortunately no major losses were caused, and nothing similar happened afterward.

News of the Haihan caravan's arrival had spread in Port Said several days in advance. Many local merchants still remembered this lavish caravan, which had purchased a large quantity of goods during its visit to Port Said two years prior.

When the Haihan caravan visited again, many merchants took the initiative to come to the caravan, wanting to promote their own products.

One of Takahashi Minami's tasks was to gather business intelligence in the Mediterranean region, so she welcomed all such visits. Whether or not they bought anything was another matter; sitting down and having a chat was perfectly fine.

Compared to my visit two years ago, Port Said has hardly changed and is at the general level of this era. Without special opportunities, it is very likely that it will remain much the same as it is today even a hundred years from now.

Of course, in Qian Tiandun's plan, the port of Suez at the southern end of the canal and the port of Said at the northern end will become regional trade centers in the future, far more than the small port it is now.

During their stay in Port Said, the Haihan caravan not only gathered local business information, but also conducted topographical surveys and geological explorations in preparation for the subsequent port expansion and renovation project.

To cover up these missions, the caravan spread the word that it intended to buy land in Port Said to open a trading post, and therefore needed to visit various places to select a suitable location.