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Chapter 1049 The Last Piece of the Puzzle 5
"Oh... they are indeed likely Kurdish soldiers. Their fighting capacity is quite good. Find a way to contact the leader of his tribe through this external intelligence agent. If necessary, you can ask Abulun to cooperate in the name of the King of Yarkand. Do you know what I want you to do by asking you to find them?"

After hearing this explanation, the murderous intent in Hong Tao's heart immediately dissipated, and he continued to assign tasks to Wang Datou calmly, but it sounded a bit puzzling.

"I am a dull student and cannot guess what His Majesty is thinking. However, if we want to help Persia fight the Ottomans, the Kurds will definitely be of great use. They should play a similar role to the Mon people in Shalian Port, who are specifically used to cause trouble."

Wang Datou was not hiding his incompetence. He was indeed unfamiliar with the Kurds and had even heard of them for the first time. But he knew his emperor too well. When it came to harming people, he was unrivaled in the world, and his opponents often didn't even realize they were being harmed.

One of his best tricks is to instigate internal strife among others, and then use various methods to lure one party into accepting his orders and charging into battle in the front, while he hides behind to come up with bad ideas and hand out knives.

This is how Annan was messed up, and the Nguyen family became puppets; this is how Mongolia south of the desert was torn apart, with the Kharchin and Tumed tribes aiding and abetting the evil; Myanmar was also tormented so much that it was unable to take care of itself, and the Mon people of Shalian Port made an indelible contribution.

Now they have set their sights on the Kurds. Following the previous steps, no matter who wins or loses in this fight, Persia and the Ottoman Empire will probably be in big trouble.

"Hehehe, smart! Let me tell you a trick. There aren't that many Zhuge Liangs in the world, and there's no need to be creative and cunning in everything. A thousand tricks are not as good as one. In the battle between countries, there are two great weapons. As long as they are used correctly, they are extremely powerful.

One is religion, the other is ethnicity. The older the history, the deeper the hatred, and the more difficult it is to reconcile. Once the flame is lit, no one can put it out unless it burns for ten or eight years. Even if it is put out, it may revive again in a few years, causing endless trouble.

Now do you understand why I spared no effort and money to promote ethnic assimilation and religious coercion? If we want the empire to be stable and peaceful, it is far from enough to have strong ships, powerful guns and brave soldiers.

If you look through history books, you will find that all the powerful empires in history have fallen apart from within without exception. The root cause is still religion and ethnicity. When they are weak, these two things are cohesion and combat effectiveness, but once they become strong, they become a powder keg that can explode at any time.

Hong Tao was not angry but laughed when his thoughts were seen through. If there were more ministers like Wang Datou in the court, he wouldn't have to work so hard. But he had to clear his name, lest everyone didn't understand him, talked about him behind his back, and regarded maintaining national security as inhumane.

"Your Highness has good intentions for your education, but unfortunately not everyone in the world can understand. I have one more thing that Your Highness needs to clarify. If we can contact the Kurdish leader, what reasons should we use to convince him, and how should we provide assistance?"

Wang Datou had indeed wondered before why the emperor vigorously suppressed Buddhism in the country, restricted the development of Christianity and Islam, and persisted in moving people of various ethnic groups back and forth and mixing them together.

Now I finally understand. Recalling that Europeans have been fighting for more than ten years over sectarian disputes and there is still no end in sight, and the Yarkand Khanate also fought over the White Mountain and Black Mountain conflicts and even colluded with foreign enemies to destroy its country, it is indeed the same as what the emperor said.

But now is not the time to ponder the principles of the world. The key is to first clarify the task to be done. Facing a group of strangers who know almost nothing about them, it would be difficult to reach a consensus in a short period of time without a solid reason.

"... Kurdistan! Tell them that as long as they are willing to cooperate in the fight against the Ottomans, the Empire will provide them with sufficient money, food and equipment, and support them in establishing their own country in this region when the time is right."

Hong Tao could easily come up with practical solutions to problems that were difficult in the eyes of others. This was the reason why the civil and military officials, including the people, took the emperor more seriously and believed in him more. Now the emperor appeared again, stood up, walked to the big map, picked up a charcoal pencil and drew a circle at the end of the Persian Gulf, the southern Ottoman Empire, the western side of Persia, and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

"There is one thing I don't understand. How many Kurds are there? Can they support such a large country? If they rely entirely on the Empire's help, I'm afraid it won't be a long-term solution."

Looking at the oval black circle, Wang Datou couldn't help but frown. He stood up and walked over, picked up a ruler to measure it, and after a little thought, he raised his doubts.

The circle drawn by the emperor was more than 1200 kilometers long from east to west and more than 400 kilometers wide from north to south, which was larger than the Korean Peninsula. If you want to occupy such a large piece of land, in addition to money, food and weapons, there is another very important parameter, that is, population.

The number of people was insufficient, and after several battles, only the elderly, the weak, women and children were left. It was useless for everyone to have two muskets. Korea had a population of nearly 700 million, but it was still almost destroyed by Japan.

The population of the Ottoman Empire and Persia would probably not be lower than that of North Korea. If one wants to establish a country under their noses, one would need at least several million people to fight to the death for a long time.

"The Kurds are a large tribe in the local area, not only in Persia, but also in the Ottoman Empire. Their number should not be too small. I don't know the exact number, so I have to rely on you and the Ministry of Rites to provide the corresponding information.

Remember to treat them differently when dealing with them. The Kurds living in Persia are Shia Muslims, while the Kurds living in Ottoman Empire are Sunni Muslims.

It is not easy to get them to temporarily put aside their religious differences and unite to face the outside world. Don't think about doing it all at once, first get in touch with them to test the situation, and then make plans based on the feedback."

Population size is indeed a big problem, but Hong Tao is not a god, so how can he know the exact number of people in a group thousands of miles away? But this does not hinder his layout in the Middle East.

If the Kurds are too few in number or too many factions to be helped, there are backup plans, such as supporting the Arabs oppressed by the Ottomans and letting them establish a country in this area.

In any case, there must be a country controlled by the Ming Empire between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. This will ensure that the empire's goods can enter the European market relatively smoothly. We must never pin our hopes on others.

"The students immediately arranged for people to go to Khasab Port by sea, where there was a Portuguese supply station. Only through them could they enter the British-occupied Port of Hormuz across the strait."

With the emperor's appeasement, Wang Datou was completely safe and had a preliminary plan. He still relied on the relationship between Portuguese merchants and tried to find a breakthrough from the ports controlled by Persia and the British.

(End of this chapter)