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Chapter 1173 Jiangnan Water Town
"Your Majesty, they have prepared some gifts for me to pass on in order to thank you for your generosity. Do you want to send them directly to the ship or do you have other arrangements?"

Lisboa quickly finished the discussion with the city lords and nobles, and they all agreed to the arrangement of the Ming Emperor. Then he mysteriously proposed to prepare in advance, but he didn't know how many sizes there were.

"Wang Chengen, go and see for yourself!" Regardless of whether it was a favor or not, Hong Tao had no intention of rejecting the gift. If he didn't take it, it would be a waste. As an occupier, not snatching it was already very kind.

"Anything else?" But Wang Chengen had already started, and Lisboa had no intention of getting up.

"Your Majesty, I really have no intention of offending you, but they are very persistent and insist on getting a clear answer..." At this time, Lisboa's face was full of worry, and his eyes began to flicker.

"Tell me what you think. Don't be afraid. With your short vocabulary, it's hard to make me angry even if you curse." Hong Tao was really curious about what could have made the daring Portuguese profiteers so cautious.

"There are rumors that wherever His Majesty goes, all monks will be executed and no one will be allowed to believe in religion. But they... in this regard..." Lisboa was indeed in a difficult situation. It would be difficult to reassure people no matter how tactfully he told the emperor that he was an exterminator.

"Hey, I was wondering what the problem was. Don't worry, I won't interfere with any religious beliefs here. But I also want to let them know that there is a designated state religion in my country, and other religions cannot be preached at will, and must be strictly reviewed by the court.

This place obviously does not belong to the Ming Empire, and is not governed by Ming laws. They can believe whatever they want. In fact, what they believe does not conflict with our cooperation, what do you think? "

Look, trouble has come in just two or three days. This is because we have the halo of a winner and conqueror, otherwise what we might have encountered was not cautious inquiries, but shining sabers.

Fortunately, I had made sufficient mental preparations before coming here, and I had estimated that the situation would be even worse than it is now. There was no need to make up answers on the spot, the answers were ready-made, and they were very valuable, and most of them were true.

"Please allow me to express my sincere respect for your Majesty's wisdom and kindness. I believe they will feel the same way after knowing this. As the trade routes extend, your Majesty's heroic name will spread to everyone's ears, including the other side of the Mediterranean!"

At this point, Lisboa was completely at ease, and his joy was beyond words. He changed from sitting to kneeling, lowered his head and bit Hong Tao's whale-skin boots, and his words of praise flowed out, treating him almost the same as his heavenly father.

Of course, a submissive attitude is completely linked to interests. With the support of the Ming Empire, he and his chamber of commerce are not afraid of anyone in the Asian waters. Even if the Ottomans come back, as long as they show the agency contract, they will not easily resort to violence because of the Ming army's combat effectiveness.

On February 2, the Ming Army captured the city of Basra; on the 10th, the Ming Emperor led a battalion of 12 warriors and army officers and soldiers, escorted by 5000 naval ships, upstream along the Euphrates River.

There were also more than 2000 provincial militiamen traveling with them, oh, no, it should be called the Persian Gulf Mediterranean Chamber of Commerce Guard now, all of them camel cavalry.

They were not very good at fighting, but they were very good assistants. They could provide timely information about the situation of nearby tribes and towns, and also make reasonable explanations for the arrival of the Ming army, avoiding many misunderstandings and troubles. Of course, sometimes the explanations might be more intense, causing a certain number of casualties. War is not a game. The Ming army on the ship saw it, but they just watched. As long as the emperor did not give an order, they would not take any action even if everyone along the way died.

Three days later, Du Wenhuan led the main army of four guards to Basra, accompanied by dozens of rowboats. These were collected from nearby waters, some were borrowed and some were rented, and some tricks were needed to get the consent of the strange ship owners.

This army would use rowboats to transport supplies and ammunition and head to Baghdad along the Tigris River. Although Baghdad was still in the hands of the Persians, they could only defend the city and would never dare to come out to cause trouble for the Ottomans.

Even the Ming army knew this truth, and Tabar Pasha and the Ottoman generals would have known it. If they had really chosen to retreat northward along this route and abandoned Damascus, they would probably have succeeded.

Du Wenhuan's mission was to search for traces of the main Ottoman force along the way. If he could fight, he would fight. If he couldn't catch up, he would find a suitable place to camp near Baghdad and decide on the next move based on the situation on the battlefield.

What does it mean? Du Wenhuan did not understand the order when he received it. In the end, Ding Shun conveyed the emperor's original words and he was relieved. The emperor told him to use his two eyes separately, one to look at the Ottoman Sultan in the north and the other to look at the Persians in the east.

Facts proved that the emperor's worries seemed a bit unnecessary. The Persians seemed to be a spectator in this war. Apart from tacitly agreeing that the Port of Hormuz would become the temporary base of the Ming Navy, there was no other movement.

It cannot be said that there was no movement. For the first time, Imam Gholukhan of Abbas Province took the initiative to request the purchase of more muskets and ammunition. Given the number of troops under his control, it was obviously not for his own use.

"It would be difficult for me to deal with this matter. The painful lesson of driving out the wolf from the front door and letting the tiger in from the back door has happened more than once in history. No one can guarantee to Safi Shah that the Ming army will not take the opportunity to annex the Mesopotamian region after defeating the Ottomans.

And this possibility will gradually increase in the eyes of onlookers as the Ottomans retreat step by step. As the head of state, what choice do you have at this time besides waiting and watching?"

When the navy communication ship delivered the relevant information to Hong Tao, he was fishing on the lake. The performance of the Safavid dynasty seemed to be expected, not surprising at all, and not anxious at all. He even explained it to Wang Chengen, just like he taught the Cuju team in the North School Field.

When mentioning the West Asia region, most people's minds will immediately come up with vast deserts and yellow sand. Even if there is water, there are only a few rivers that barely maintain a few small oases.

This is indeed the case in most areas, such as the Arabian Peninsula, the Sinai Peninsula and parts of the Iranian Plateau. However, this is not the case in the Mesopotamian Basin, especially in the middle and lower reaches, where the dense water network is like a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

The largest swamp area is on both sides of the Euphrates River west of Basra City, with a total area comparable to Dongting Lake. Looking around, the lake is rippling with clear water and lush reeds, which are green all year round.

(End of this chapter)