Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1125, Negotiation

The next day, in the study room of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Hongzhi and important ministers were discussing state affairs.

"Your Majesty, the Governor of Hong Kong, Jiang Liang, has sent a report. King Henry VII of England has received the support of the Holy See to train the army. At the same time, he has formed an alliance with France, intending to conquer Hong Kong. At the same time, he refuses to continue to pay war reparations to Ming and Spain. .”

Fu Han, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, stood up and reported the news from Europe to Emperor Hongzhi.

"England?"

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he looked at the huge world map, and then found the location of England in the westernmost part of Europe. After thinking for a while, he said, "What do you think about this matter?"

"Your Majesty, England is a small country of Chuoer, where robbers are prevalent, and they are afraid of power but not virtuous. There is nothing to say about such a country. You must teach them severely and beat them hard, so that they will be afraid Wouldn't dare to have any thoughts about our Daming."

Liu Jian was the first to stand up and say.

It is really not an easy job to be a minister now, because not only do you need to know the situation of Daming, but you also need to know the situation around the world.

Liu Jian has been studying European history recently and knows some things about England. In Europe, Englishmen and pirates can be equated.

"This matter is not simple. The one who really supports England behind the scenes is the Holy See. The Holy See must also want to pass England because we did not allow them to preach in our Daming last year and killed them. Some people have a grudge against our Daming. Come and make trouble for our Daming."

"If it's just England, I don't think we need Ming to make a move. The Spaniards are enough to deal with them."

"If the Holy See and France are involved now, Spain may appear to be struggling."

"Hong Kong is very important to our Ming Dynasty. This is a nail for our Ming Dynasty to insert into Western Europe. It must not be missed."

"I think that the Black Sea Fleet can be dispatched from Nanyun Province to support Hong Kong, and at the same time, another [-] troops can be dispatched from Nanyun Province. Together with the original strength, it is enough to deal with all crises."

"Of course, we must issue a stern warning to France and the Holy See diplomatically. If the Holy See dares to make any changes, we Ming will support the westward advance of the Ottoman Empire. As for France, we only need to express our support and allow them in West Africa, The colonization of North Africa will do."

Li Dongyang stood up again and analyzed in detail.

He is a truly talented talent, has a relatively in-depth understanding of the situation in Europe, and at the same time clearly knows how Daming should position himself.

In terms of European affairs, Ming's policy of glorious isolation is to keep Hong Kong, let European countries fight each other, balance the power of all parties, prevent one family from being dominant, and stimulate them to compete for each other's interests. This is in Ming's interest.

"Hmm~"

Hearing Li Dongyang's words, everyone nodded their heads one after another. Li Dongyang's arrangement was more appropriate.

The purpose of increasing troops is to preserve Hong Kong and Ming's interests, but the most important means is to subdue the enemy without a fight, using diplomatic means to realize Ming's policies in Europe.

"According to Li Aiqing's opinion, dispatch part of the Black Sea Fleet and [-] troops to Hong Kong, and at the same time replenish warships and troops from other places to Nanyun Province."

"Order Jiang Liang, Governor of Hong Kong, to express our Daming's attitude to the French state and the Holy See."

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and immediately ordered.

"Yes~"

The ministers quickly nodded and agreed, Zhang Mao of the Five Armies Commander's Mansion was in charge of dispatching troops, and the cabinet was in charge of contacting European countries.

"Your Majesty~"

"I received a letter yesterday from Liu Yangzheng, the left prime minister of Ningguo."

Seeing that everyone had nothing to ask or report to Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jin also stood up.

"Oh, what was written?"

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he immediately smiled and asked.

Emperor Hongzhi has always been very kind to the clan, and he is also very supportive of the vassal kings going overseas to establish vassal states.

Because vassal kings going overseas to establish vassal states can not only reduce the financial burden of Ming Dynasty, but also expand the influence of Ming Dynasty. The establishment of vassal states can also drive the descendants of Yan and Huang to expand outward.

For Daming, this is a multiplicity of things.

Since the vassal kings were able to go to sea, there were not many vassal kings left in the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the vassal kings went overseas to establish vassal states. There were hundreds of large and small vassal states. They are all in places like Tianzhu, East Africa, and Southeast Asia.

When vassal kings went to sea to establish vassal kingdoms, the imperial court did not need to support these vassal kings. In the past, one-third of the imperial court’s taxes were used to support these vassal kings, which brought a heavy burden to the court.

Now that this heavy burden has been thrown away, the financial pressure on the Ming court is much, much less.

However, this also made Emperor Hongzhi feel a little ashamed of these vassal kings, and felt that he owed them this vassal king, so he supported these vassal kings in many cases.

Some vassal kings established overseas armies that exceeded the regulations. Logically speaking, Emperor Hongzhi should have reprimanded them, but Emperor Hongzhi acquiesced in such things and did not pursue them.

Even Emperor Hongzhi felt that an army of [-] people was still too small for a feudal state, which would affect the overseas expansion of the feudal state, and even wronged the royal descendants.

Therefore, proper expansion can also facilitate the expansion of the vassal state, so that the descendants of the old Zhu family will not have to look at the color of people everywhere when they are overseas.

Overseas feudal lords privately expanded their armies, and this matter was left alone.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Liu recently traveled to Egypt, and this is the place~"

Liu Jin got up and came to the map, pointed to Egypt and said, "Egypt is located at the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe, and its geographical location is very important."

"After some investigation, he felt that if a canal could be built on Egypt's side to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, it would be of great significance to the exchanges between our Daming and Europe."

"Building a canal?"

"Connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea?"

When Emperor Hongzhi and all the ministers heard this, their eyes widened slightly, and then they all came to the map one by one and looked carefully.

"Oh, let's not talk about it. If a canal is built, it will be really amazing. The distance between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea is very, very close. If a canal is built, it will be closer to Europe. I don't know. how much."

Looking at the map, Zhang Mao couldn't help but say.

"Isn't it? If you want to go to Europe by boat now, you need to bypass the southernmost tip of Africa. The distance is tens of thousands of miles. If the canal is built, it will be easy to go to Europe. Just plug in here."

Liu Jian pinched his beard and said.

"How far is it from here?"

Li Dongyang thought for a while and asked.

"The shortest place is only two hundred miles."

Liu Jin quickly replied.

"Only two hundred miles?"

"This canal can be repaired."

Upon hearing this, Li Dongyang immediately said with certainty.

It’s only two hundred miles. For Ming Dynasty who is good at infrastructure construction, it’s not a problem at all. We were able to build the Lingqu Canal in the Qin Dynasty, and we could build the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Going two hundred miles is nothing at all.

"At present, our ships go to Europe. There are two routes. One is to go to Nanyang, Australia, and South Gold Continent, and the other is to go to Nanyang, Tianzhu, and bypass South Africa to go to Europe."

"The voyages of the two routes are very long, and the storms in the South Gold Island and South Africa are particularly large, and ships often have accidents in these areas."

"If this canal can be built, it will be very important for our exchanges with Europe. It will save time and travel, and it will be safer."

Liu Jin pointed out two routes on the map, illustrating the importance of this canal.

Everyone also nodded. Everyone knows a little bit about sailing now. Each of them has a trading firm under their command, and merchant ships travel to and from all over the world. They all know that sailing on the sea is not an easy task.

In addition to advanced ships and excellent sailing skills, luck is also very important. Sometimes unlucky encounters with strong waves, even the best ships and technologies are of little use.

The storms in South Africa and the South Golden Continent are also notoriously severe, and they are the last places that many ships do not want to pass through. The transportation cost of this route is several times more expensive, because it is risking life to make money.

"But this place is not our vassal state or colony of Ming Dynasty."

Xie Qian looked at it, thought for a while and said, "The relationship between Egypt and our Daming has always been pretty good. It wouldn't be so good if troops were sent to occupy them."

"..."

Hearing Xie Qian's words, Liu Jin was speechless. Now these civil servants are more aggressive than military generals, and they always think of sending troops to occupy them. of literati.

"Kansu II of the Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt has already talked with Liu Yangzheng, and they are very willing to join hands with us, Ming Dynasty, to dig this canal."

"Our Ming side provided capital and technology, and they provided land and some materials from Egypt. In terms of the manpower needed, our Ming Dynasty provided [-] slaves, and they provided [-] slaves. Together, they will provide [-] people. It is estimated that it will take five years. Time to dig the canal."

"After the opening of the canal, the proceeds will be shared equally between us, each with half."

"Based on the current number of ships passing through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea for business, after the opening of this canal, at least tens of thousands of ships can pass through each year. Even if each ship charges one hundred taels of silver, it can also get hundreds of taels of silver every year. income."

"And as the trade between Ming and Europe becomes more and more frequent, there will be more ships in the future, and after the canal is completed, basically all of them can lie down and collect money."

"So this canal is not only very important to our Ming Dynasty, but also a big business that can make money."

　After checking, the tolls of the Suez Canal are not cheap now. Depending on the size of the ship, the toll is between 10 and 100 million dollars. Egypt can collect [-] billion dollars a year by relying on this canal. Tourism income is about the same~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)