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Chapter 1175 Madan’s Son-in-Law
There is a saying that a weasel pays New Year's greetings to a chicken, but he has no good intentions. Hong Tao is not a weasel, but he is worse than a weasel. A weasel only cares about the chicken itself, but he cares about the chicken and its entire family.

The idea proposed by Settle is very much in line with the interests of the Ming Empire and is also in line with the current reality. The Portuguese certainly cannot fully trust it, and the Bayi masters are even more fence-sitters. It is wishful thinking to expect them to be wholehearted.

The Advisory Office has won over several Kurdish groups in recent years, and at a critical moment, as long as they are given enough weapons and equipment, they can play a restraining role. However, their activities are in the northern part of the Iranian Plateau and the southern part of the Caucasus, which is a bit out of reach.

How to find a suitable agent in the Mesopotamia region was a big problem. Wang Datou had almost done it. As long as the Mamluk nobles in the port of Suez succeeded in their autonomy, he would have been in a dead end. Apart from the Ming Empire, he could not find any support in a short period of time. Unfortunately, he failed at the last minute.

Now the opportunity has come again. If we can get closer to the Madan people, we can at least add a pro-Ming force near the city of Basra, and control the eastern end of this passage.

But before making any statement, we must first understand the details of the Madan people and feel their strength. Those who are too small, too extreme in religion, or too unpopular do not meet the requirements and cannot be accepted even if they are given for free.

If they want to know these situations, it is useless to just ask through an interpreter. They must use some tricks, such as setting a large table of dishes they have never seen before, and then having an emperor to entertain them. The atmosphere will be much more relaxed while they eat and chat. If they can also drink and chat, the effect will be even better, but unfortunately Islam does not allow drinking.

But the reaction of the Madan people was completely beyond Hong Tao's expectations. They not only drank alcohol, but also brewed their own wine, and the alcohol content was not low, much like the rice wine in southern China. Since they had broken the rules, they started drinking. As they drank, the strong sugarcane wine came up, and then they started to call each other brothers on the deck.

Facts have proven that the method of speaking the truth after drinking is not only effective for Chinese people, but also for anyone else. The three Madan leaders simply couldn't speak Chinese, otherwise they would have sworn brotherhood with Hong Tao on the spot. They must have been drunk to speak the truth.

The Madan people have a long history, dating back to the ancient Babylonian period, but their most glorious moment was during the Byzantine Empire. At that time, the Madan people mainly lived in the mountainous areas of Syria and Lebanon, believed in Christianity, were good at fighting, and allied with the Byzantine Empire, which was a headache for the Arab Empire.

Later, the Byzantines negotiated peace with the Arab Empire and sold out the Madans as a condition. Most of the Madans moved north to Asia Minor, gradually merged with other ethnic groups, and disappeared in history.

But some people did not migrate northward, but instead moved eastward into the Mesopotamian region, settled down around Lake Hamar, converted to Islam, and became Marsh Arabs, now known as the Madans.

However, despite the changes, the Madan people are extremely disrespectful of Islam and are completely fooling around, even violating the teachings of Islam by adding animals such as wild boars to their diet. They also drink alcohol openly, and not only do they drink, but some nearby ethnic groups that have contact with them will also secretly exchange some rice wine with them for consumption.

There are now 21 Madan tribes living in Lake Hamar and its surrounding marshland, or 21 large Madan villages, with a total population of more than 2 people. Each village has a surname, and they intermarry with each other. Basically, there are no major conflicts and they can face the outside world in unison.

The three chiefs, or village heads, who came to present gifts were jointly elected by eight villages, and the pearls were also collected by these eight families. The two chiefs' children who were kidnapped by the Sipahi cavalry were all related to the eight villages, so they had to fight together if there was any problem.

More than 2 people, including men, women, old and young, are not a lot, but they have to be divided into different places. In the Ming Dynasty, they are indeed a little alone, but in the Mesopotamian region, they are considered a large tribe, unless they encounter a country like the Ottoman Empire or Persia.

If the numbers and religions meet the requirements, will the Madan people embrace the Ming Empire? That is impossible. Hong Tao never mentioned this matter from beginning to end, but by the end of the banquet, he had already done it. This is called being cunning and treacherous. He never takes the initiative to say what he wants, but instead lays out plans around him to slowly make the other party realize it. When he realizes it, it is probably too late to change his mind.

This time, too, he decided to marry the daughter of a leader of the Madan people. Once the wedding was over, the Madan people would have a son-in-law from the Ming Dynasty, and it would be natural for them to visit each other frequently.

When a son-in-law comes to visit, it is not easy to bring food and drink from so far away, so it is better to bring some hard goods, such as bows and crossbows and armor, or muskets and cannons. Outsiders cannot say that the son-in-law is not allowed to give gifts to his father-in-law.

However, if too many of these gifts are given, the Madan people will become more confident, which will lead to changes in some of their living habits, and in turn affect the distribution of power among various ethnic groups in the surrounding areas.

The specific impact depends on the attitude of each ethnic group towards the opening of the trade route. The Madan people will rely on this trade route for their livelihood in the future. If you insist on stopping them from doing so, it would not be too much for the son-in-law to give him more gifts and cheer for his father-in-law.

When the emperor gets married, does he need the court's consent to bring back a concubine? He really can't, but this time it's not Hong Tao who is getting married, but Setel who is being granted marriage, and he can't refuse it.

Of course, it was wartime now, and state affairs were the most important thing, so love had to take a back seat. When the army returned victorious, it would be time for the wedding. At that time, the emperor would come to the Madan village and personally preside over the ceremony of marrying the bride.

"It's a long journey to Damascus, and it will take quite a while. Take this opportunity to pay close attention to the situation here. When the war is over, I will nominate you to the Navy General Staff and you will be the commander-in-chief of the Arab fleet."

Is it enough to just give a bride? Obviously not. Hong Tao has always had the tradition of squeezing the piss out of frogs. Since Settle caught up with him, he would definitely not let him go easily, so the young captain had more expectations.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. As long as we are on board, our students will make the Persian Gulf region the safest overseas territory of the empire!"

Setel was opposed to this marriage. He did not like the dark-skinned girl with two red cheeks. Even if he did not have to marry a Mongolian woman, he had to be in love with her. Now they could not even communicate with each other. How could they live as husband and wife?

For this reason, he even used his brother as a shield, saying that since his father was gone, his brother had to decide his marriage. This excuse was reasonable and sufficient for others, but it could not stop the marriage. The emperor said that your brother also had to obey the imperial edict!
But when he heard that he could become the commander of the Arab fleet, all his dissatisfaction immediately disappeared without a trace. A real man should make achievements in life, and if he does not take it now, it will be too late to regret it.

Compared with his daughter's love, he values ​​career development more. If he doesn't seize this promotion opportunity, if he wants to get the position of the commander-in-chief, he not only needs qualifications and ability, but also luck, which may not be possible even after retirement.

(End of this chapter)