Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1121, give you a suggestion, dig a canal
Cairo, Egypt, Nile Delta, North Africa.

A huge fleet slowly sailed in, and finally berthed in the port of the Nile.

Liu Yang was walking off the boat and set foot on solid ground, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He doesn't like to take a boat, he is a little seasick, and the boat walks on the sea, which makes him feel insecure all the time. Only the sense of reality of stepping on the ground can make him feel more at ease.

After getting off the boat, he couldn't help but look around.

Although it is already the twelfth lunar month at this time, I can feel the coldness of winter here, and the tropical plants that can be seen everywhere bring people into the scorching summer at once.

Date palm trees can be seen everywhere, as well as mosques and minarets under the trees. They are of all kinds, blending the colors of various regions. There is also this port, which is very large, and the flags of various countries are flying on ships from all over the world. .

Here at the pier, you can see a large number of slaves loading and unloading goods, and you can also see slaves coming out of ships.

The origin of these slaves can be clearly seen. Many slaves are still wearing thick, tattered sheepskin jackets. At this moment, they are carefully observing the strange world in front of them with a pair of curious eyes.

"The changes here are really big~"

"When I came here a few years ago, it was just a small port that couldn't accommodate many ships, but now it has become a large port that can hold hundreds of large ships."

Beside Liu Yangzheng, Zhou Jingming couldn't help sighing.

As the Secretary of the Household Department of Ningguo, he is responsible for the business and sales of Ningguo. He has traveled to many places, and he has also been to Egypt, and even has many friends in Egypt.

"It seems that the Egyptians have made a lot of money by doing transit trade business."

Liu Yangzheng immediately smiled and said.

"Isn't it~"

"The route through the Red Sea, Egypt, is the closest to the Mediterranean and the safest."

"If you want to go around Africa, not only do you have to travel a long way, but the storms in the junction zone between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean are extremely terrible. Ships often have accidents, and everyone is reluctant to take that route."

"So now, when our Ming businessmen go to the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, they always go to Egypt. It is safe and time-saving. Naturally, it also makes the Egyptians earn a lot of money."

Zhou Jingming nodded and said: "In addition, they are also very profitable in transit trade. As far as slaves are concerned, they go to the Mediterranean Sea to buy slaves, and then transport them to the Red Sea to sell them to us Daming people. Once they change hands, a slave will earn a lot of money." About ten taels of silver."

"We sell spices, silk, porcelain, etc. from Ming Dynasty to the Mediterranean Sea, and we can make a lot of money casually. Once we come back and forth, we can easily make huge profits."

"The location here in Egypt is really good, the core of the Three Continents!"

While the two were chatting, one was potbellied, wearing luxurious silk products, with an emerald ring on his hand, a thick gold necklace around his neck, and a large gold belt wrapped around his waist. The gem merchant came over.

When he saw Zhou Jingming, Liu Yangzheng and others, he burst out laughing happily.

"Prime Minister Liu and Shangshu Zhou, I didn't expect it was really you. I'm so happy to see you here."

Leiding opened his arms happily while walking, the turban wrapped around his head was a little unstable, and his neatly combed beard was shaking constantly.

"Reading~"

"It was a pleasure to see you."

Seeing the person coming, Liu Yangzheng and Zhou Jingming immediately laughed too.

The person who came was Redding, a slave trader in Egypt.

In the past, because he sold some slaves to Ningguo in Tianzhu, he met King Ning, and reached an agreement on slave trading with King Ning.

By selling slaves from the Mediterranean Sea to King Ning, he earned a huge fortune and became a famous businessman in Egypt.

At the beginning, life in Reading was very easy, and he made a lot of money by relying on slave trading and other businesses, but life has been difficult for the past two years.

Because there are more and more Arab merchants involved in the slave trade, and the Ming people directly began to enter the Mediterranean Sea, bypassing the Arabs to do business, which also made their life even more difficult.

Lei Ding, who knew this well, heard that Liu Yangzheng and Zhou Jingming had passed through Egypt, and they had been waiting here early to see if they could find new business opportunities.

"Prime Minister Liu and Shangshu Zhou, you are really not enough friends. You didn't even tell me when you came to Egypt. No matter what, when you come to Egypt and my territory, please let me do my best as a landlord."

Leiding's Daming speaks very well, his words are correct, and he can even write a good calligraphy. He likes to read Daming's books and newspapers, and he is very clear about the huge strength of the powerful empire of Daming.

"Haha, I came in a hurry, so I didn't bother you."

Liu Yangzheng replied with a smile.

As Prime Minister Zuo of Ning Kingdom, his status is naturally very high, and he is a guest of honor wherever he goes in the Middle East, Persia, Tianzhu, and East Africa.

"Go, go, I have prepared a banquet for you~"

Reading enthusiastically invited Liu Yangzheng, Zhou Jingming and others to his mansion and held a grand welcome banquet for them.

Businessmen in the Middle East have a very high status, and they also like to show off their wealth very much.

Redding is no exception, not only his whole body is full of jewels, wearing gold and jade, but also his mansion, the walls are pasted with gold foil, shining golden, and the floor is paved with silver bricks, shining silver.

Gemstones, jade, pearls, coral and emeralds that can be seen everywhere are decorated to decorate the entire mansion with splendor, so that Liu Yangzheng, Zhou Jingming and others couldn't help but sigh when they saw it.

In terms of levitation, the people of Daming are indeed too low-key.

The welcome banquet was also very grand, with good wine, delicious food, and beauties, all of which were indispensable. After a round of toasting, they slowly talked about some serious matters.

"Prime Minister Liu and Shangshu Zhou, the business of slave trading is becoming more and more difficult. Recently, the number of slaves I can get is less than one-tenth of what it used to be."

"If this continues, I'm afraid there will be no way to continue the slave trade business."

Redding sighed. To be honest, he really hated the slave trade business, the profit was too high.

But now the slaves in the Mediterranean are basically sold out by the merchants of Ming Dynasty, and there are too few slaves in his hands. For example, King Ning directly sent people to set up an office on Xihai Island to do slave trading. Business.

The Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt have always had enmity. The Ottoman Empire, the largest source of slaves, refused to sell slaves to them. This day can be imagined.

Now I can only earn some money by doing transit trade, which is far worse than before.

The business of transit trade is also not easy to do, because Daming has fully opened up the business route to Europe. You can reach Europe from the Golden Continent, you can also reach Europe from the Nanyun Province on land, and you can also go to the Middle East. On the side, the Persians, the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs in the Middle East, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, etc. are scrambling for business.

Unlike before, the Egyptians relied on their geographical advantages to specialize in selling Chinese products and earn a lot of money.

"I also know that you have difficulties, my friend, but there is nothing we can do. You know the situation, not only your business has been affected, but our business in Ningguo is also the same."

"This time I personally went to the West Island in the Mediterranean Sea for the slave trade business. You saw it when I disembarked. This time I brought back tens of thousands of slaves."

Liu Yangzheng nodded and said, he also has a deep understanding that business is not easy to do.

"I also know that His Royal Highness Ning's business has been affected, and I also want to help a group of His Highness Ning."

"I don't know if there is any way for Ning Wang to make a fortune here. As long as I can use Leiding, please tell me."

Leiding nodded. He knew the situation of Daming very well, and even went to Daming once.

Daming is very big, very big, there are many, many merchants in Daming, and competition in any industry and buying and selling is extremely fierce. There are many extremely powerful firms and merchants in Daming.

The financial resources, manpower, material resources and influence used by these commercial firms and businessmen far exceed Ningguo. Once they set foot in certain fields, they will soon be able to occupy an important position in these fields and impact the original order.

Hearing Leiding's words, Liu Yangzheng became thoughtful, and then thought about where to get a map.

"Actually, there is a huge profit deal now~"

"Right now, the only way to get from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea is by land. If you want to transfer, if you want to go by water, you need to bypass Africa."

"If we can build a canal on the Egyptian side to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, then we will be able to eat and drink just by sitting and collecting tolls."

Liu Yangzheng pointed to the location of Egypt on the map, drew a line on it and said.

This trip to West Sea Island made him realize the importance of Egypt, and he made a lot of money just by relying on transit trade.

To be honest, he really wanted to suggest that King Ning send troops to attack Egypt and turn Egypt into a colony of Ning Kingdom. As long as Egypt is occupied, relying on the advantages of geography, he can live well even if he does nothing.

If another canal is built to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, then you can really sit and collect money.

"Build a canal connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea?"

When Lei Ding heard this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly, deeply shocked by Liu Yangzheng's unconstrained ideas, and then looked at the map, it seemed that it was really a good idea.

　How many slaves would it take to build a canal like this?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)