prosperous age

"Although we cannot provide assistance to your country, since the imperial court has established diplomatic relations with your country, normal trade can naturally take place, such as the trade of firearms and cannons."

Wei Guangde spoke slowly.

Wei Guangde's outright rejection of the possibility of an alliance with Britain against Spain left Earl Robert feeling somewhat humiliated.

And now, the Ming Dynasty's prime minister is actually saying that they can trade firearms with them, which is even more ridiculous.

He had seen the Ming Dynasty's firearms long ago.

However, I'm not interested.

Undoubtedly, the Ming Dynasty acquired Western firearms and modified them according to actual usage conditions, so they could no longer meet the needs of the European battlefield.

They certainly wouldn't be interested in such firearms, let alone buy them.

Count Robert immediately said, "Spain is very powerful, and we need allies."

As for firearms, I don't think we need them.

Even if there is a real shortage, we can purchase it from France, the Netherlands, and other places.

Wei Guangde originally intended to use this meeting to try to directly sell firearms to Britain.

Once Ming Dynasty firearms appeared on the European battlefield, it would greatly help in opening up the market.

Although European firearms were advanced, their productivity was too low.

According to the initial estimates of the mission to Europe, their output was far less than that of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Works, with a huge gap.

"Since your country has no intention of purchasing firearms, that doesn't matter."

I was just thinking that since your country supports the Protestant regions like the Netherlands in their resistance against Spain, you might need these things.

Looks like we were overthinking it, haha.

Wei Guangde said cheerfully, but he wasn't in a hurry to sell the firearms. He then asked, "I wonder how much your country, located in Europe, knows about the Ottoman Empire in eastern Europe?"

"The Ottoman Empire?"

Were there any conflicts between the Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire?

When Wei Guangde mentioned the Ottoman Empire, Earl Robert knew the geographical location of the two countries very well. They were quite far apart, so how could they be involved?

"The Ottoman Empire lies between our Great Ming and Europe. I have heard that they impose heavy taxes on goods transported from the East to Europe, which seriously affects our trade with European countries."

Wei Guangde spoke casually, but still managed to express the Ming Dynasty's dissatisfaction with the Ottoman Empire.

"It was normal for them to collect taxes on goods that passed through Ottoman territory."

As far as I know, they are mainly targeting Arabs and Persians.

Yes, Persian goods were almost never allowed to pass through.

After all, wars break out between them from time to time.

However, Persian goods are indeed quite good; their carpets are excellent, and their crystal products are of even better quality than those from Genoa.

Earl Robert began to speak.

However, at this point, Earl Robert suddenly paused, because he thought of a way to promote ties between Britain and Ming.

Although they visited the Ming Dynasty twice under the guise of clearing the way for British merchant ships.

But in reality, their visits were for the same purpose as all overseas merchants who came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute and trade.

They came to Ming China to purchase goods and also took the opportunity to visit Ming officials, thus maintaining close ties between the two countries.

However, it's unlikely that many British merchants would be willing to travel thousands of miles to trade in the Ming Dynasty.

Distance is a real disadvantage.

That's enough for them to make several round trips on the Mediterranean route.

However, the Ming Dynasty prime minister said that their goods were blocked in the Ottoman Empire and trade was subject to rent, and it seemed that Britain could solve this problem.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I deeply sympathize with the difficulties your country's merchants have faced in the Ottoman Empire."

Our country and the Ottoman Empire have just signed a trade agreement, which will allow us to obtain relatively low taxes.

I just don't know if your country is willing to cooperate. Your merchants would transport the goods to Arabia or Mir, and our merchants would then transship them into the Mediterranean coast for sale to other countries.

This would greatly shorten the voyage for merchants from both our country and yours, ensure their safety, and maximize the benefits of the trade agreements signed between our country and the Ottoman Empire.

"It was a suggestion from Earl Robert," he suddenly said.

The most troublesome aspect of the distance between Britain and Ming China was that it involved going around Africa, which was a very long distance.

If the trade could be conducted near the Red Sea, and the goods could be transported overland to the Mediterranean and then distributed to European countries, the shipping costs could be significantly reduced.

British merchants practically monopolized the trade of goods with Ming Dynasty China.

The enormous profits involved need no further explanation.

As for the Ottoman Empire, the British and all of them shared a common enemy: Catholicism.

Although Protestantism split from Catholicism, religious conflicts in Europe could trigger major wars, so they naturally did not mind uniting with pagans to fight against the powerful Catholic Church.

In fact, Britain had already negotiated and signed a trade agreement with the Ottoman Empire two years earlier.

The background to this was the need to unite against the threat posed by the Catholic Church.

"Miss? Is that the place on the west coast of the Red Sea?"

After thinking for a moment, Wei Guangde asked the question.

"That's right, some people also call it Balga."

Earl Robert explained.

Wei Guangde knew about Balga, because in fact, many Ming Dynasty maps were transliterations of Spanish.

However, that area, the part on the west bank of the Nile, is called Barga, so it's likely that the missionaries weren't familiar with the terrain there.

Because it was near the Red Sea, Matteo Ricci named it Sassid.

When Wei Guangde saw the map, he thought that Egypt was divided into two countries, with the Nile River as the boundary.

One called him Barga, the other called him Sasid.

Utilizing the geography gained from the Ming Dynasty's voyages and Europe's knowledge of land, Matteo Ricci is now in the Ming capital, preaching and working at the Four Barbarian Institute, which includes refining the Ming Dynasty's overseas maps.

Matteo Ricci traveled from Lisbon to the Ming Dynasty by Portuguese merchant ship, sailing around Africa.

He had never traveled across Eurasia himself; his geographical knowledge came from the sailors' descriptions and comparisons with European maps.

At that time, maps were considered strategic intelligence in all countries, and those circulating among the public were very brief and often contained many errors.

Nautical charts are, in fact, secrets of all countries.

He could only see limited nautical charts because he was a missionary sent to the East by the church.

“Indeed, it would be beneficial to merchants on both sides if we could establish a city there for trade.”

After thinking about it along Robert's lines, Wei Guangde also found it to be very reasonable.

"By the way, Your Excellency Prime Minister, is your country planning to go to war with the Ottoman Empire?"

Just then, Robert suddenly asked a question.

In the West, trade disputes can easily escalate into conflict.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, if the distance is close, perhaps it is possible.

However, the Ming Dynasty would absolutely not take military action against the Ottomans, who were thousands of miles away.

The military action against Japan alone has already exacerbated the already dire financial situation of the imperial court.

If it weren't for the abundant spoils of war there, the accountants in the imperial court would probably have already calculated the accounts and said that the Ming Dynasty had lost money in this war.

"Hehe, how could that be?"

Goods from my Great Ming Dynasty will never have trouble selling.

Wei Guangde said with a smile.

Shortly after, Wei Guangde said, "Let's end our discussion here for today. We also need to consider the trade route your envoy mentioned."

You can go back and think about it some more. If you think it's feasible, we can discuss it in more depth next time.

After seeing off Earl Robert and his party, Wei Guangde immediately ordered someone to fetch a map.

"Don't go, let's take a look together and see where would be a suitable place to build a city in the west."

Wei Guangde spoke to the people around him.

"Your Excellency, do you really intend to build a port in the West just for this trade route?"

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's words, Jiang Zhi said in surprise.

"I have this idea."

Wei Guangde did not evade the question and answered directly.

In this era, many rules are unclear, or rather, it's mostly about negotiation between the two parties. If they can't reach an agreement, then might makes right.

In Wei Guangde's view, it would not be difficult for the Ming Dynasty's navy to claim a piece of land along the Red Sea coast of Africa and build a city at this time.

According to earlier records, Zheng He's fleet established friendly relations with countries in Africa and Arabia, although contact became less frequent later, it is possible that they tried to establish relations.

After the map arrived, Wei Guangde asked them to discuss where it would be most advantageous to build the city.

Trade between the Ming Dynasty and Europe has already encountered resistance from the Ottoman Empire.

Even if there are fewer sales channels, it doesn't seem to matter much to the Ming Dynasty.

Don't forget that Wei Guangde was driving the improvement of the Ming Dynasty's productivity.

If the production of goods increases, but a market cannot be found for these goods, then the "capitalists" will ultimately suffer.

The Ming Dynasty would not confront the Ottoman Empire head-on. If it could increase the volume of goods exported to Europe by taking advantage of the trade agreement between the British and the Ottomans, it would indeed benefit both countries.

The goods were shipped to Africa and sold to the British.

Firearms were sold directly to the Persians, who then used them to hinder the Ottomans' eastward advance.

Wei Guangde believes that he actually played this game quite well.

The map was delivered quickly, showing the border between Asia, Africa, and Europe. The lines looked somewhat exaggerated, but the general outline was still visible.

Undoubtedly, almost everyone's attention has been focused on the location of the Red Sea outlet.

That place is Somalia.

Well, when people mention that place in later generations, all they can think of are pirates.

However, at this time, without the Suez Canal, the Red Sea was not an important shipping route, and therefore there was no longer a breeding ground for piracy.

"Ma Jia's location is good, but the location of the wooden frame is not good. If it could be near the estuary, it would be perfect."

Jiang Zhi looked at the map and pointed to the location of Somalia.

Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia.

To trade with the British there, they would have to walk hundreds of miles.

Conversely, by establishing cities hundreds of miles north along the Red Sea coast, both sides could shorten the distance.

Moreover, there is a country there.

Wei Guangde also felt it was unsafe to build his city directly near someone else's capital.

However, as mentioned before, because the Red Sea's status as a transportation hub is not prominent, it is generally not a good place to build a city.

Everyone else was looking at the map, but Jiang Zhi was very focused on searching on the map.

“Good loan, what do you think of Blacklandia?”

This area leads to the Western Red Sea, but meets the requirements for building a city, as there is a river nearby.

This time, the place Jiang Zhi had his eye on was roughly the location of Djibouti in later generations.

This place guards the narrowest part of the Red Sea's entrance, but as Jiang Zhi said, there is a river there, as can be seen on the map.

The presence of rivers means the presence of fresh water, which is essential for people to live and reside in the area for an extended period.

Judging from the map, it belongs to a tributary of the upper Nile River. The water volume may not be large, but it seems feasible to build a small town there.

Wei Guangde knew that modern maps were too different.

To make an accurate decision, it is essential to send someone to conduct an on-site investigation beforehand.

As for the surrounding areas, there are no traces of rivers, making it very difficult to build a city.

It can be said that the location of the river near Black Pia was the best place to build a city.

“If Shan Dai builds a city there, he will inevitably have to send soldiers to garrison it.”

"Such a large-scale operation would be far less efficient than simply choosing a nearby port city and trading with Anelian merchants."

Zhang Ke whispered his thoughts.

That place was too far from the Ming Dynasty; even if you were to calculate from Burma, it would be thousands of miles away.

If something happens, the imperial court won't even have a chance to provide assistance.

Although later generations have said that Zheng He's fleet established data points along the routes they traveled, and that some people even stayed behind to guard them.

However, according to the court documents that Wei Guangde saw, although the Ming navy had established some docks in various places, no soldiers were left to guard them.

For example, Mogadishu, also known as Mogadishu, had its earliest docks built by people sent by the fleet, making it a well-established port.

The purpose, of course, is to facilitate the fleet's docking and rest.

There were personnel remaining in the old port.

However, after the Ming Dynasty retreated, some fleets also brought back people from overseas.

Of course, many stayed behind for various reasons.

Even on the African coast, such as Pate Island, it is said that Zheng He's fleet encountered storms and some ships drifted to the island.

Indeed, many Han Chinese customs and relics have been preserved there.

However, they were definitely not intentionally left behind by Zheng He's fleet; rather, an accident caused them to be stranded in the area.

It can be said that although the Ming Dynasty no longer controlled the sea routes to the West, it never truly gave up on its overseas Chinese.

“I understand what you mean, but building a city there will not only guarantee the safety of merchants.”

There, it could also serve as a gathering place for the imperial court to collect various information from the west, and it was also a city belonging to the overseas Ming people.

Wei Guangde spoke up.

Building cities overseas was not something Wei Guangde came up with on a whim.

In fact, this was how the Portuguese expanded their control over the Indian Ocean.

“If it’s unclaimed land, building a city isn’t out of the question.”

At least, merchants can find a sense of security there.

Shen Shixing also spoke up.

In fact, building such a city, as long as trade routes are established, will not result in financial losses in maintaining the city.

Just kidding, with trade routes, there will be no shortage of merchants coming and going.

The city is raking in taxes so much that it can easily cover the expenses of the garrison.

Therefore, the key point that Shen Shixing pointed out was actually "unclaimed land".

"The Ministry of War and the Embroidered Uniform Guard dispatched elite troops to escort the chief craftsmen of the Ministry of Works to the local area to find a site for building the city."

Right now, it's all just imagination; who knows how many years it will take to actually build a city.

Wei Guangde laughed and said, "However, as you all know, the footprints of our Ming Dynasty's maritime merchants have now spread all over the ocean."

Since the imperial court has collected taxes, it still has to consider their safety.

"Building our Great Ming city overseas means that at least there, merchants can sleep peacefully, unlike resting in foreign lands where their safety is in the hands of others."

After saying that, Wei Guangde looked at Liu Shouyou and said, "Have Zheng Jun lead the team, bring more boats this time, and escort the people over to take a look." (End of this chapter)