Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1735 Chinese Cavalry in Egypt

"You guys, be quiet, be quiet!"

Several wealthy Chinese businessmen frowned as they looked at the noisy Egyptian laborers below.

It's noisier than the vegetable market here.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian laborers gathered in Cairo, and the Suez Canal Company hired them for extremely low wages, basically leaving them with nothing to eat.

It is very difficult to manage 10 workers in the long construction period of [-] years.

"Every ten people form a group, and a laborer is selected as the team leader. Every ten groups form a battalion, every ten battalions form a regiment, and every ten regiments form a brigade."

The Chinese merchants divided the 10 Egyptian laborers into 10 brigades and managed them in a militarized manner.

The bottom team leaders were laborers, and the commanders of battalions, regiments, and brigades were local Mamluk nobles in Egypt.

Perhaps these laborers are not afraid of Chinese merchants who are unfamiliar to them, but they are definitely afraid of their local nobles.

In order for the Mamluk nobles to help them manage labor, Chinese businessmen gave them some remuneration or commercial benefits.Some prestigious Mamluk nobles served as brigade commanders, while the labor battalion commanders and regiment leaders were assigned by these nobles to serve as minor nobles or subordinates.

The Mamluk nobles took charge of various villages and towns in Egypt, and Chinese businessmen will often deal with them in the future.

The Mamluk nobles also desperately needed oriental spices, tea, porcelain and other industrial products, and they were happy to establish contact with Chinese merchants through the construction of the Suez Canal.

Although Sun Chuanting once led the Allied Forces of the Six Nations to teach them a lesson, some Mamluk nobles have changed their masters from the Ottoman Empire to the Venetians, and they pay more attention to their own commercial interests.

With the Mamluk nobles directly managing them, Chinese businessmen and engineers can concentrate on the construction of the Suez Canal itself and overcome the technical difficulties of building the Grand Canal, instead of being trapped in meaningless conflicts with labor.

If the laborers are not obedient, let the Mamluk nobles teach them.

"The Suez Canal has a total length of 170 kilometers. It starts from a small village on the Mediterranean Sea in the north. It can be developed into a port in the future and ends in Suez City on the Red Sea in the south. The width of the canal is about 100 meters and the depth is 15 meters. It is expected that 5 people will pass through it in the future A giant ship of more than 50 ton is enough to meet the use of the next 50 years. If a larger giant ship appears after [-] years, the expansion project will be carried out at that time."

Engineers from Huaxia are gesturing on the map, and before the official start of work, they conduct the final inspection.

A lot of money, engineers, and 10 Egyptian laborers have been invested. If the project goes wrong in the early stages of planning, then the money thrown into the project will not be recovered.

"The Lord of the Army has confirmed that there is no problem with this project, and we can start construction." The Huaxia businessman got the consent of Chu Yun, and Chu Yun determined that the construction of the Suez Canal was necessary and feasible based on the experience of later generations.

After the Suez Canal Company recruited enough laborers and found food suppliers, it finally started the ten-year construction project of the Grand Canal of Suez.

No one thought that in the next ten years, more than 10 Egyptian laborers would die for this international Grand Canal.

The supply of food and fresh water is still a trivial matter, but the most important thing is the casualties caused by diseases. Diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, bronchitis, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and dysentery have claimed the lives of a large number of workers.

However, the hygienic conditions in Egypt are too bad, there are no qualified doctors, and the doctors brought by the Chinese merchants are struggling just to treat themselves.

This is what happened later.

When the Suez Canal Company officially began to dig the Suez Grand Canal, a group of Chinese cavalry came to Egypt from the Indian Ocean by boat.

This is a small cavalry regiment of 500 people. They are stationed in Egypt to protect the safety of all Chinese people in Egypt, as well as to protect the safety of the Egyptian section of the Asia-Europe submarine cable project and the Suez Canal.

This cavalry unit rode tall horses, they carried muskets on their backs, and they had swords on their waists. They came to Cairo City to report first.

Chinese cavalry with oriental faces and uniforms appeared on the streets of Cairo. Venetian, Arab, and Egyptian merchants in Cairo all looked at the energetic Chinese cavalry with curiosity and awe.

There is also a powerful cavalry in Egypt, that is, the Mamluk cavalry who once defeated the Mongolian cavalry.They were local nobles, a bit like medieval knights were in Europe.

However, during the expedition to Egypt, Sun Chuanting severely taught the Mamluk cavalry with hollow phalanxes and new muskets. When the Mamluk cavalry saw the Chinese, it was like a mouse seeing a cat, and they did not dare to speak ill of them.

When the Venetian rulers saw the arrival of the Chinese cavalry, they were a little worried.

But according to the treaty they signed with Chu Yun, Huaxia has the right to send a force of no more than 1000 people to protect the Suez Canal.

Therefore, it is legal for a small cavalry regiment of 500 people to appear here, and the ruler of Venice cannot order them to leave, but entertain them well.

"We are mainly stationed in Cairo, and occasionally go to the construction site of the Suez Canal to inspect and suppress unrest. When necessary, we will also build castles along the Suez Canal." A cavalry major met Konar, who was the governor of Cairo.

"Please do whatever you want," Conor said helplessly.

If he doesn't let them stay in Cairo, does he have a better way?The city of Cairo was brought down by the Chinese to help the Venetian, and it is not easy for Venice to refuse the request of the Chinese.

He also felt the trend of the Chinese actively expanding in Egypt. The arrival of the Suez Canal Company and the Egyptian Cavalry Corps announced that the Chinese had the privilege of overriding the Egyptian Mamluk nobles here, and they were on an equal footing with the Venetians in Egypt. It is a class higher.

The importance of Egypt is not that it once had an ancient Egyptian civilization, but that it is located on the only way of the East-West Maritime Silk Road.

500 Chinese cavalry were stationed in Cairo. They sometimes conducted training in Cairo, and sometimes went to patrol the construction site of the Suez Canal to avoid interference with the Suez Canal project.

And this small number of Chinese cavalry has also become a powerful force in Egypt. When there is a Mamluk noble rebellion, the Venetians will even choose to ask this Chinese cavalry for help, asking them to quell the rebellion.

If the Huaxia cavalry appeared in the territory of any Mamluk nobles, these noble gentlemen would be scared to death.

(End of this chapter)