My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 789 Zhu Zhantan in Egypt

Behind the Port of Suez in Egypt, a large-scale canal is being excavated.

As the first governor of Egypt, Zhu Zhantan personally inspected the construction site of the canal. He saw shirtless slaves holding tools and working hard to dig the river. From time to time, supervisors patrolled around. If any slaves dared to If you are lazy, you will be whipped immediately.

For these slaves, Zhu Zhantan was a little uncomfortable at first. After all, whether it was the Ming Dynasty or the Han Dynasty, although there were domestic servants, there were no slaves. Even if he was a beggar, if a rich man beat him to death, he would get into trouble. trouble.

In contrast, the slaves in Egypt did not have any freedom. Even if they were beaten to death, the other party would at most pay some money to the slave's owner and would not receive any punishment at all.

This is the custom here in Egypt. In fact, what the Mamluks often did before was to buy and sell slaves. For example, they would send troops to capture some black Africans, or they would eat people and sell them, or even castrate slaves. If the slaves are killed, there will be no next generation of slaves. After the slaves die, those who need slaves can only buy them again.

The Mamluk slave business was very large, and many slaves were even sold to Europe. Even the Ming Dynasty and the Han Dynasty could see some slaves.

Although the Mamluk dynasty has perished, the slave traders are still there. Together with the Mamluk prisoners of war, these slaves are used as laborers to dig the canal, working day and night under the supervision of supervisors. Work.

"Please see, Your Highness the Governor, we have already used 50,000 slaves and are working hard to dig the canal. Other slaves will be shipped in the future, and eventually there will even be 100,000 slaves working together!"

An Egyptian next to Zhu Zhantan pointed at the slaves working and introduced them to him with a flattering look.

The Egyptian's name is Ayman, who used to be an official at the Port of Suez. After Zhu Yong and Zhang Zhong captured the Port of Suez, Ayman was the first to surrender on behalf of the officials, and was successfully re-employed. Now he is one of the officials in charge of canal excavation.

"Well done, but don't be too harsh on these slaves. At least let them have enough to eat. Otherwise, how will they have the energy to work?"

Zhu Zhantan looked at the dark and thin appearance of the slaves, and couldn't help but feel soft in his heart, and immediately gave the order.

After all, he is only a sixteen-year-old boy. He is usually protected by the people around him and rarely comes into contact with the ugliness of the world. Therefore, he can't help but sympathize with these working slaves.

"Your Highness is kind, and your subordinates will definitely tell the people below to do as you please!"

Aiman ​​immediately agreed after hearing this. He knew that the Governor was the son of His Majesty the Emperor and the younger brother of the Crown Prince. Therefore, Aiman ​​did not dare to have any contempt for his orders and would definitely carry them out to the letter. Go down.

"According to the current progress, how long will it take to dig this canal?"

Zhu Zhantan looked up at the busy river, and then asked Aiman ​​again.

"Your Highness, we are only responsible for the southern section of the river. Based on the current progress, if everything goes well, the river can be dug in five years. Even if there are some difficulties, it will take up to two more years. As for the Ottomans, they will be responsible for it. The northern section of the river is uncertain.”

Aiman ​​shook his head at the end.

"According to the previous agreement, don't we both need to inform each other about the progress of the project?"

Zhu Zhantan was stunned when he heard this, and then asked again.

According to the original agreement, both parties would dig the canal in sections, and they would also report their respective project progress to the other party at regular intervals, so that both parties could keep track of the other's progress for better cooperation.

"Your Highness, the Ottomans have indeed reported the progress to us, but I really can't believe what they said. We planned to complete the project in five years, but they planned to complete it in four years. And I also visited the section of the river that borders them. The Ottomans' Not only are there few people at the construction site, but the work is also very lax. I estimate that their construction period will only be longer than ours, not shorter!"

Aiman ​​also frowned when he mentioned the Ottomans. It was obvious that he was very dissatisfied with the progress of the Ottomans' project.

"These Ottomans are really unreliable. You don't have to worry about these things. I will write to the governor of the other party and ask them to try their best to supervise the progress of the canal excavation!"

Zhu Zhantan also frowned when he heard this.

He also didn't have any good impressions of the Ottomans, because since he took office, there have been minor frictions between them and the Ottomans.

Although the two countries had already divided Egypt and defined the borders, there were still some minor disputes on some borders. In addition, both countries had their own interests in Egypt, so conflicts would break out from time to time. Just after Zhu Zhantan took office During this period of time, he had to deal with no less than ten such conflicts, which made him extremely annoyed.

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will definitely do my best to dig the canal as soon as possible!"

Aiman ​​patted his chest and promised, and then he very attentively took Zhu Zhantan around the section of the canal, and personally explained to him some construction difficulties, and Zhu Zhantan also listened. With relish.

It wasn't until it was getting late that Zhu Zhantan left and returned to his governor's palace.

But before Zhu Zhantan could take a sip of tea, he saw someone outside hurriedly walked in and saluted: "Greetings to Your Highness!"

"Wu Changshi, what do you want?"

When Zhu Zhantan saw the person coming, he had to put down the tea he had brought and asked.

I saw that the person who came was about forty years old, short in stature, with a square face, a dark face and a short beard. He looked smart and capable. His name was Wu Fangcheng. He was Zhu Zhantan's long-term supervisor and was now responsible for assisting him in management. Egyptian affairs. "Your Highness, I am here to report to you about the border market!"

Wu Changshi immediately saluted Zhu Zhantan.

Because there are constant frictions between the Han and the Ottomans, most of them are related to trade, especially the merchants from both sides. These merchants dare to come to Egypt to do business. They are all ruthless characters, and some even do some unfair business. , so when there is a dispute, force is often used, and even lives have been lost.

In order to solve this problem, Wu Fangcheng came up with a way to imitate the border markets established by the Central Plains Dynasty and designate several locations on the border for transactions between the two parties.

These border markets are jointly managed by both parties, so that even if a dispute occurs, it can be resolved in the border market to prevent the matter from getting too big and difficult to deal with.

Regarding the matter of the border market, Zhu Zhantan also wrote a letter to the Ottoman governor Mufas, who also agreed very much, so Zhu Zhantan handed over the matter of the border market to Wu Fangcheng.

"How is the border market? Didn't you say that we should set up a border market first to see the effect?"

Zhu Zhantan finally had time to take a sip of tea before asking again.

"Your Highness, the first border market has been established at the junction of the two canals. We have sent people to divide the area on our side. Some well-informed businessmen have even gone to the border market to open shops. It is estimated that It won’t be long before the border market here will flourish.”

Wu Fangcheng reported it immediately.

"Where are the Ottomans?"

When Zhu Zhantan heard that Wu Fangcheng only said his side, he immediately frowned and asked again.

The border city is divided into two parts, the north and the south. The south is within the territory of the Han Dynasty and is naturally under the control of the Han Dynasty. The north is under the control of the Ottomans. The two sides use the border as the line. Merchants can move freely in the border city. If something is committed on either side, it will naturally go there. Side processing.

The advantage of this method of dividing the border market into two is to allow both parties to manage their own affairs, so as to avoid having to argue with each other if something happens in the future.

But the disadvantages are also obvious, because the border market is divided into two and unified management cannot be achieved, which is also extremely detrimental to the development of the border market.

"This one……"

Wu Fangcheng hesitated for a moment and finally spoke.

"Ottoman officials were also stationed there, but they obviously didn't pay much attention to this matter. We originally planned to cooperate with them to build some shared buildings in the border city to facilitate future trade, but the other party was not active. In the end I had to give up.”

"It's like this again. These Ottomans are short-sighted. They only care about immediate interests but have no long-term plans at all. They are so procrastinating in all aspects. It is so uncomfortable to cooperate with them!"

When Zhu Zhantan heard this, he couldn't help but slapped the table angrily.

When he first came to Egypt, Zhu Zhanhe was most worried that he would not be able to adapt to the local climate. However, when Zhu Zhantan came here, he discovered that the most uncomfortable thing was not the climate, but the Ottomans, their nominal allies in the north. Every time he encountered He would get very angry whenever anything related to them happened.

"Your Highness, calm down. The Ottomans are unwilling to cooperate. In fact, the impact will not be big. Even if our border market is completed, it will only attract everyone to trade with us. Then no one will trade with the Ottomans. Naturally, We can’t collect taxes, which is a good thing for us!”

Seeing that Zhu Zhantan was angry, Wu Fangcheng hurriedly spoke to persuade him.

"It makes sense, but if we make money in the border market, the Ottomans across the street will definitely be jealous. Before I came, my eldest brother warned me that I must be careful about the Ottomans, so we'd better make plans in advance!"

Zhu Zhantan also calmed down at this time, touched his chin and muttered to himself.

"Does His Highness want to station troops in the border city?"

Wu Fangcheng was stunned and immediately reacted and asked.

"It's a little early to send troops now. After all, when we were discussing the border city, Mufas and I both promised that troops from both sides would not appear in the border city. I can't break the promise now."

Zhu Zhantan pondered for a moment again before saying, "Yes, tomorrow I will go to Duke Cheng and ask him to station part of the army on the canal behind the border city in the name of supervising the excavation of the canal. This way , even if there is any trouble in the border market, our army will be able to kill it in time!"

"Your Highness is wise, if there are troops guarding the rear, the safety of the city over there will be guaranteed!"

Wu Fangcheng immediately agreed.

(End of this chapter)