1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 803 Suez Port Incident
April 1665, 4, Egypt, Port of Suez.

Song Changping got off the boat with several sailors, and before he could recover, he saw a port official walking over arrogantly with a few entourages.

"Sir, they need us to express." The local interpreter hired by the Persian trading company held his hands and said helplessly: "In Egypt, and even in the entire Ottoman Empire, this is a common practice."

"Tell them that we are the envoys sent by the Daqi Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire." Song Changping glanced at the Egyptians with some dissatisfaction, and said angrily, "If we bribe the local officials, wouldn't it harm our two countries?" The face of the government? Tell them that this cannot be done, and they must take into account the dignity of their Ottoman Empire!"

The Egyptian interpreter looked at Song Changping in embarrassment, and then at the port managers who were showing greedy expressions. He curled his lips and turned around to tell them what the people of Qi had said.

Since 1646, Qi State has maintained a vague relationship with the Ottoman Empire through the Barbary pirates, and the bilateral trade of weapons for slaves between the two has flourished.It is roughly estimated that in the past ten years, Qi State has purchased more than 7 female slaves and artisans with various professional skills from Barbary pirates.The Barbary pirates also obtained a large amount of fur, sugar, porcelain, as well as artillery and muskets from Qi through trade.

Even, ten years ago, when the Ottoman Empire competed with Venice for Crete, the Navy once considered ordering large sailing warships from Qi after being hit hard.However, considering the long sea route and passing through many sites in the European Christian world along the way, it is still a question whether the warships ordered can safely sail back to the Mediterranean Sea, so the transaction has not proceeded.

However, as Qi’s artillery and muskets were successively installed in the Ottoman army and passed the actual combat test, their quality and performance were unanimously recognized by the army, which was much stronger than the ordnance produced by their own arsenal.Today, the ordnance from Qi has become the largest import commodity of the Ottoman Empire. Every year, more than 200 artillery pieces and more than 4000 flintlock guns are transported to the Ottoman mainland through the Port of Suez, and quickly equipped to the frontline troops in Europe.

As early as eight years ago, the State of Qi conveyed to the Ottoman Empire through the Barbary pirates its willingness to establish formal diplomatic and commercial relations with it, and hoped that the two sides would send full-fledged diplomatic representatives to each other to better maintain their friendly and cooperative relations.However, there has been no response. It seems that they are not very interested in this "small country" in the southern New World.

However, Muhammad IV began to establish his authority as the leader of the orthodox sect of God, commanding the conquest of various Christian countries in Europe.However, due to the serious internal injuries of the empire and the lack of financial resources, although they once achieved excellent records, their records have deteriorated.Especially when he attacked the Holy Roman Empire in 1663, he was defeated by the Central European coalition forces and was forced to sign a 20-year peace agreement, which made the Sultan no longer have the right to abolish the monarchs of Eastern European countries.

Looking around in a daze, the Ottoman Empire faced all enemies, the Holy Roman Empire in the north, the Safavid Empire in the east, and Venice, Spain and other maritime powers in the west.Only in the south, there is such a trace of security.However, although the Egyptian province has a governor stationed in Istanbul, facing the deep-rooted Mamluk forces in Egypt, it is impossible to rule it.

The Grand Vizier Koprulu Fazuo Ahmed Pasha, who is in power, has made great efforts to rectify the administration of officials, restore social and economic stability, reform the army, and prepare to revive the glory of the empire again.An Ottoman official mentioned to him that Hanzhou Qi State was quite powerful in Southeast Asia and had defeated the Dutch twice.If they take the initiative to accept them as allies of the Ottoman Empire, it may benefit the empire.Not to mention, the artillery and muskets produced and provided to Ottomans by this country, as well as a large number of swords and armors, have excellent performance and have played a good effect on the battlefield. This country should be a good potential arm for the empire.

Therefore, Grand Vizier Koprulu suggested to Mehmet IV that he send high-level officials to visit and inspect this southern New World country. If possible, he could follow the example of the Kingdom of France and establish an alliance of mutual assistance and cooperation. Fight against European Christian countries together.

In April last year, an Ottoman delegation of more than [-] people arrived in the mainland of Hanzhou. While meeting with officials from the foreign affairs department of Qi State, they also successively visited several large military enterprises and steel factories in the local area.When they took the Jian (Ye) Yong (Xing) Railway that had been built and opened to traffic for several years, they were all shocked and inexplicable.In the factory, Qiguo's strong industrial manufacturing power was even more impressive.Factory buildings full of chimneys, roaring machines, production sites with flowing water, products rolling off the assembly line in a steady stream, commodities and raw materials piled up in the port...

Everything proves that this New World country is not a backward and weak remote country.The vast territory, numerous overseas territories, and a powerful navy that overwhelms all surrounding countries and forces all show the country's growing national strength.

More importantly, this country has a very different culture and religion from those of European Christian countries.They were inherited from the mainland of China and belonged to the branch of Chinese civilization, and their attitude towards the Ottoman Empire was not at all repulsive and hostile like those European Christian countries.

Of course, the officials who visited Osman selectively ignored Qi's suppression and restriction of the True God religion in its territory.This kind of governance method should be exactly the same as the Ottoman Empire's suppression of national culture and religious beliefs in Europe, Arabia and other regions, and they are all to maintain the legal rule of the country.

The king and the cabinet government of Qi State tactfully refused to sign a contract with Osman similar to a mutual aid alliance.But they emphasized that Qi State firmly supported the Ottoman Empire in safeguarding its special rights and interests in Europe, and gave material and moral support to the Empire in defending the territorial integrity of Europe.Qi State is willing to continue to provide Ottoman with all kinds of ordnance and materials needed, and can even provide a large amount of capital loans when paying the corresponding collateral in response to the needs of the empire.

It may be that the distance is too far away, and the Ottomans did not express much anger and disappointment at Qi's failure to agree to establish a mutual aid alliance.They also don't expect this southern New World country to help the Ottoman Empire militarily. They won't be allowed to bypass the African continent and cross tens of thousands of sea miles to cooperate with the Ottoman army to attack European countries.

Don't be ridiculous, even the most hardcore ally would not make such a stupid move.

Previously, what the Ottoman Empire valued most was their military alliance between France.In 1536, François I, the French king who believed in Catholicism, and Suleiman I, the Ottoman Sultan who believed in true God, formed a military alliance to deal with the common enemy, the Holy Roman Empire.This alliance was called the "evil alliance" by European Christian countries, but it did play a very important role in the external expansion of the two countries.

However, in 1643, the young Louis XIV became King of France because his mother was Princess Anne of Austria, who was born in the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. During her regency, the alliance with Ottoman was suspended.Although in 1661, Louis XIV became pro-government, he continued his previous foreign policy, maintaining neutrality and avoiding an alliance with the Ottomans.

Perhaps it was precisely because of the diplomatic isolation that Grand Vizier Koprulu and Mehmed IV sent a mission to Hanzhou to inspect the strength of the Qi State and see if they could give it a try. No to the Ottoman Empire to get some external support.

Hanzhou is far enough away from the Ottoman Empire, which will surely prevent any geographical disputes and conflicts between the two countries; in addition, Qi State has good industrial production and manufacturing capabilities, which can provide the Ottoman Empire with a large amount of military supplies with superior performance. What is rare is that Qi State did not seek to obtain gold and silver coins that were relatively scarce in the Ottoman Empire. Female slaves, craftsmen, ores, livestock and horses, and various specialties could all be used as exchange materials.

Just ask, is there a better partner than this?
Officials of the Ottoman mission, who were fully authorized by Grand Vizier Koprulu and Mehmed IV, started negotiations to establish formal diplomatic and commercial relations with Qi. The two sides agreed to send plenipotentiary representatives to each other's capitals.

Ottoman granted Qi State the monopoly right to trade in the East. Ships from Far Eastern countries must obtain the consent of Qi State if they want to trade with Ottoman; Ottoman lowered the tariffs on the entry of Qi State goods; effectively protected the businessmen of the two countries to do business legally and freely in each other's territory; Ottoman opened the port of Suez, the province of Egypt, to the Qi State, allowing merchants from the Qi State to establish business houses and factories here; Qi State warships and merchant ships can dock and obtain supplies at the ports along the Red Sea and the Gulf (Persian Gulf).

Song Changping, as the first plenipotentiary representative of the Honglu Temple in the Qi State to the Ottoman Empire, was against this background, and came to the Port of Suez on an armed merchant ship under the Persian Trading Company.He will stay here for a few days, waiting for the Janissaries sent by the Ottoman Governor in Egypt to escort him to Alexandria, and then transfer to the Ottoman Empire's ships and arrive in Istanbul to meet Mehmed IV and Grand Vizier Koprulu , and eventually establish a representative office of Qi State.

But he didn't want to, just set foot on the port of Suez port, and was blackmailed by several port officials.What's the matter with this shit!Lao Tzu is the envoy of Qi State to the Ottoman Empire, representing the dignity of our Da Qi Kingdom, how could he bribe a port official?This humiliates the prestige of my country Qi!
Mahmoud Hamdi looked at the man who claimed to be the plenipotentiary representative of the Daqi Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire with some surprise, and then a sneer could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

Qi country?I’ve never heard of it, it’s probably a small oriental country, maybe it’s converted to True God, and it’s just trying to curry favor with the Ottoman Empire.The question is, even if you go to Istanbul, will you be able to meet those big figures in the empire? As for His Majesty Sultan, I'm afraid he won't even look at you!
Even if you are really valued by the Ottoman Empire, so what?This is Egypt, that is, the Governor-General sent by Istanbul, but he is still suppressed in Cairo.This place is under the jurisdiction of Suez Pasha Ahmed Fathi, and everyone must abide by all the regulations of Lord Pasha.

"Hmph, let's see!" Mahmoud Hamdi gave Song Changping and his party a cold look, then turned and left.

After the Ottoman Empire occupied Egypt, it established the Egyptian province in Egypt.At that time, Sultan Selam I tried to establish a top-down effective rule in the homeland of the Mamluk dynasty, but the deep-rooted Mamluk forces in Egyptian society broke Selam I's plan.Although the Mamluk dynasty perished, the Mamluks, as a military group, are still deeply rooted in Egyptian society. The Mamluks have always been an important class in the Egyptian political structure and have a significant influence on society.

Soon after the establishment of the Egyptian province, the Mamluks launched a war against the rule of the Ottoman Empire, trying to restore the Mamluk dynasty.Although the new Ottoman army stationed in Egypt easily crushed the rebellion.However, this also made the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Selam I, realize that in order to stabilize the rule of the Ottoman Empire in Egypt, he had to rely on the power of the Mamluks.

The Ottoman Empire had to stop the Ottomanization of the Egyptian provinces, restore and retain its ruling structure, and turn to support the Mamluk noble class.Therefore, for the Mamluk noble class, although the Mamluk dynasty perished, the interests of this class were guaranteed.

However, with the support of the Mamluks by the Ottoman Empire, the power of the Mamluks expanded day by day, and the conflict with the Ottoman Empire's governor in Egypt became increasingly acute.The first is the enhancement of Mamluk military strength. When the Mamluk dynasty fell, its army was hit hard.After joining the ruling class of the Egyptian provinces, they continued to buy slaves in Crimea, Central Asia and other places to expand the army. The Mamluk army has since recovered its strength and has become a force that can compete with the new army of the Ottoman Empire. powerhouse.

More importantly, the taxation power in Egypt was monopolized by the Mamluks.Under the tax package system, as long as the Mamluks paid a certain amount of taxes to the Ottoman Empire every year, they could monopolize all taxes in Egypt and collect land rent and taxes from farmers and merchants at will.Over time, the Mamluks took control of the financial power in Egypt.

By this period, the Mamluks were strong enough to challenge the authority of the Egyptian governor.At this time, Ottoman's expansion in Europe was also contained, and the rulers of the empire had to focus on defending against attacks from the Habsburg dynasty, Germany, Poland and other countries.For the rich province of Egypt, it is more concerned with maintaining order, ensuring the stability of the tax system, and the import of soldiers, rather than adjusting the power struggle between the Egyptian governor and the Mamluks. In Egypt's unpredictable political environment, the governor They can only deal with it alone.

Under this situation, the Mamluks gradually gained a dominant position over the Egyptian governor, and eventually even deposed the governor stationed in Istanbul.Therefore, the Ottoman Empire implemented jimi rule over the provinces of Egypt, which was actually in a state of autonomy, and the Mamluks had great political advantages under the autonomous system.

As local tyrants, the Mamluks did not forget their old craft after they gained great autonomy, that is, infighting. In the past, they were fighting for the throne, but now they are fighting each other for land and population.Therefore, from the 17th century onwards, mutiny and rebellion in Egypt and other places have become the characteristic performances here. The governors sent by the Ottoman Empire came and went, and came and went, and there was no chance to establish their own administrative team.The rule from top to bottom is managed by the pashas in Egypt and many taxpayers, which naturally cultivates the domineering and daring of pashas everywhere.

In the middle of the night on April 4, a group of rebels who did not know where they came from suddenly attacked the port of Suez. After looting some merchant ships moored, they set fire to several hotels near the port, and then quickly disappeared into the night. among.

A few days later, an Ottoman Janissary from Cairo came to the Port of Suez, ready to welcome and escort the delegation of the Qi Kingdom to Alexandria. information.

A few days ago, more than ten members of the Qi State Mission were attacked by rebels and all died in the sea of ​​fire.

(End of this chapter)