unclear

Chapter 1121: All Kept in the Dark
The Persians who rose up because of defeating their mortal enemy, and the Arabs, Egyptians, and Balkan peoples who got rid of Ottoman rule, all felt that the time had come and it was time to make great plans. The Ming Empire had to turn around and continue to keep an eye on the actions of all parties.

Among them, the Persians were the strongest and had the most motivation and willingness to become the hegemon of West Asia. Just when they were preparing for a big move, the Ming Empire intervened to stop them and even turned against them.

By then, the half-crippled Ottoman Empire would become a friend and partner of the Ming Empire. With sufficient military aid, it would turn around and fight a life-and-death battle with its arch-enemy Persia.

To sum it up, no regional power is allowed to emerge between the Indian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. Whoever is stronger will be the enemy of the Ming Empire and will be jointly encircled and suppressed by the surrounding traditional hostile countries.

No hostile countries? That's impossible. Just because of different religious beliefs, they are so hostile to each other. How can there be no hatred after thousands of years of fighting?

Even if we are tolerant and generous and let bygones be bygones, there is still the Ming Empire trying to sow discord. A trivial matter can be said to be a vengeance for the murder of one's father. As long as one believes it once, acts impulsively once, and takes action once, then there is real vengeance.

Once you embark on this road of no return, it is extremely difficult to turn back. His Majesty the Emperor said that this is called the evil in human nature, which is innate. People always tend to remember the bad things of others and easily forget the good things of others.

The mutual harm will only get deeper and deeper. Unless saints appear in every nation and every country at the same time, it will be possible for them to sit down and sum up the gains and losses and turn swords into plowshares.

But such a situation will never happen. Even if saints really come in large numbers, His Majesty the Emperor will send people to do everything possible to get rid of them and then put the blame on his former enemies.

Only by keeping other countries in a state of internal and external troubles and unable to concentrate on developing their economy and people's livelihood, can the Ming Empire take and take as it pleases, sell domestic products at the most appropriate price, and then buy back the best things from other people's homes at the most appropriate price, so that the lives of the people of the Ming Dynasty will become more and more prosperous.

Is this too immoral? Wang Datou never thought about it before he was 15 years old. Later, he felt that it was indeed a bit inhumane. Why couldn't everyone live in peace and have a good life?

But after working in the Statistics Department for many years, I increasingly feel that what His Majesty the Emperor teaches is the truth.

For example, when sailing on the sea, if the captain is a kind person who treats others with kindness, the crew will most likely overthrow him. This is because following a kind captain will lead to bad luck, either being cheated by unscrupulous profiteers or being robbed by cruel pirates.

The only truth on the sea is strength. Whoever is strong eats meat, and whoever is weak becomes meat.

The same is true between countries and ethnic groups. If the Ming Empire had not prepared for the future and deliberately plotted against the Ottoman Empire, when Murad IV captured Baghdad, controlled the Mesopotamian region, defeated the Persians, and unified West Asia, it would have been the Ming Empire's turn to suffer.

If you want to transport goods to the Mediterranean, you have to get the Ottomans' approval. Putting aside the taxes collected, there will definitely be various additional conditions.

What's more, the Ottomans are likely to be used as a pawn between Europe and the Ming Empire, and leaning towards either side will make the other side very uncomfortable.

By then, it would not be as easy for the Ming Empire to deal with the Ottoman Empire as it is now. It would have to sacrifice the blood and flesh of thousands of soldiers to succeed, and the effect would be far less than taking action in advance.

On one hand, there are the lives of thousands of imperial soldiers, and on the other hand, the people of other countries are suffering. It is easy to draw a conclusion as an emperor of the empire, but few can put their knowledge into practice.

Because action requires wisdom and ability, some kings and emperors are short-sighted and cannot see this step. Some can see it, but they are not able to take precautions in advance, so they can only take one step at a time. Compared with people like Piyali, I am lucky to have an emperor with a long-term vision, extraordinary wisdom, and ability.

"Persians... No, Persia is our enemy too!"

Piyali didn't understand all of the strategic layout that Wang Datou talked about, but he understood one thing: it turned out that the Ming Empire and the Persians were secretly colluding.

This is not good news. If we drive out the Ottomans but welcome the Persians, and the two sides even have opposing religious beliefs, wouldn't that be even worse?
"Don't worry, don't worry. The Persians will not go south. Egypt will always belong to the Mamluks. Okay, I'll be watching here. You should show up on the city wall and tell everyone about the Ottoman reinforcements. And cheer up the soldiers."

Wang Datou understood Piyali's attitude, which the General Staff had taken into consideration when designing the entire plan. However, the deeper layout could not be discussed, and there was no need to think so far ahead. Let's get through the current difficulties first.

"Mr. Katayama, the weapons and ammunition will be unloaded in another four hours, and all personnel are already in place."

After seeing off Piyali and his group, Wang Datou had just arrived at the dock when two Marine officers disguised as mercenaries came to greet him. They didn't know what this guy called "Pianjiabuliu" did, but they were ordered to follow his command.

"Well, very good, there is still time... Gather the team and follow me to the city wall to familiarize yourself with the terrain, and then meet with the local leaders. According to reliable information, the Ottoman reinforcements are less than a hundred miles away and will arrive tomorrow at the latest. They are said to have 15,000 troops, and the most elite of them are the 5,000 Guards.

This is Murad IV's personal army, equipped with a large number of muskets. Judging from the marching speed, they should not be carrying large-caliber artillery. But don't be careless, they are trained by British officers, have been in the army for more than 20 years, have participated in many wars, and are very experienced. "

Working with the Imperial Navy officers, Wang Datou immediately relaxed. They all came from the same system, so communication was smoother. He only needed to speak directly and the other party would understand as needed.

"Mr. Pianjia, the Navy Statistics Department has provided detailed information about the enemy's movements. As the commander of this unit, I must remind you that you cannot defeat tens of thousands of elite enemies with only 400 artillery pieces, unless they scatter as soon as they hear the sound of artillery, which is obviously unlikely."

The Marine officer was also not polite and spoke bluntly. He was very pessimistic about the defensive strength of Suez City. Although he did not say it, he had already made his attitude clear. He did not count the nearly 3000 Mamluk nobles' private soldiers as soldiers.

"Since you've brought it up, I'll inform you in advance that defensive operations don't exist. There's only one thing you and the artillery need to do, which is to slow down the siege as much as possible and create conditions for negotiation.

After I leave the city, abandon all heavy equipment and gather at the dock, ready to board the ship at any time. Stop, don't ask questions, this is an order! When the communication ship arrives, the same order from the Navy Staff will also be delivered.

Here is a list of people allowed to board the ship and evacuate. I will check it according to the list, and I will send someone to assist with the language. Okay, assemble the team, for the empire, for His Majesty the Emperor, we must win! "

With Wang Datou's rank, he could have given the order without any explanation to the two junior officers. But he always liked to convince people with reason, so he informed them of the next plan in advance, hoping that the hundreds of imperial soldiers would not be put in danger due to the delayed delivery of the information.

"For the empire and for His Majesty the Emperor, we must win!" The two officers understood everything and were very grateful to this unknown superior for making arrangements in advance. They immediately clenched their fists in return and turned to walk towards the side of the ship.

(End of this chapter)