In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 361 Looking to the Future
  In the main hall of Huangji Palace, seeing the great emperor frowning and lost in thought, Rhodes felt very nervous.

He was afraid that the emperor's condition was to let Spain send troops to capture Egypt and then dig the canal.

If this is the case, then the two countries may only be able to start direct trade after the emperor dies.

Because of the excavation of the canal, as long as His Majesty the Emperor is willing to give up money, it is still possible for Spain to bite the bullet and capture hundreds of thousands of black slaves to dig. However, it is almost impossible to defeat the Ottoman Empire and seize the Sinai Peninsula. things.

Almost every country in Europe knows how powerful the Ottoman Empire is. They have destroyed countless countries over the past hundred years, and their pace of expansion has never stopped.

European countries have organized coalition forces several times to recapture Constantinople, but they all ended in disastrous defeat.

The population of the Ottoman Empire, their Spanish secretly conducted a statistical survey, is probably more than 1500 million. It is estimated that only this ancient Eastern country in the world can truly defeat it.

At this time, Lin Rui also gave up the idea of ​​relying on the Europeans to dig the canal. It turned out that the Europeans were unreliable, so he went directly to the Ottoman Empire for cooperation.

Therefore, he planned to send two groups of envoys, one to rent Portuguese ships to go to the Ottoman Empire, and the other to rent Spanish ships and sailors to go to European countries.

Rhodes agreed without hesitation, and Lin Rui also agreed to open Ningbo Port and allow Spanish merchant ships to dock and start trade with local merchants.

Lin Rui mainly considered that after the North Korean and Japanese navies were eliminated, a large number of sea ships would definitely be mobilized from Jiangnan to transport supplies directly to the Japanese North Korea. If Spanish merchant ships were not allowed to trade directly in Jiangnan, It will definitely affect the export of silk and porcelain, and the maritime merchants in Jiangnan will probably also be in trouble.

After all, Portugal is far from satisfied with just a few broken ships.

The Dutch are very powerful and even defeated the Spanish. However, the Dutch still occupy Dongfan Island. This is a political issue. It is impossible for the two countries to start trade. Otherwise, it would be a disguised recognition of the Dutch occupation of Dongfan. Is the island legal?
  In the evening, Lin Rui personally hosted a banquet for Rhodes and allowed him to try Chinese palace delicacies. Rhodes also said that the trip was an eye-opener and it was a worthwhile trip.

After all, no matter what, it is not an exaggeration to say that someone has traveled thousands of miles to be an envoy to Dahua, and it is not an exaggeration to treat him well.

The next day, Lin Rui summoned the Portuguese envoys again and told them that Dahua would send envoys to the Ottoman Empire and asked them to help lead the way.

Naturally, the Portuguese envoys would not refuse, nor did they dare to refuse, because they had almost no colonies in Southeast Asia and could not compare with Spain and the Netherlands.

Once driven out of Macau, they would completely lose the opportunity to trade with Dahua. This was a consequence that no Portuguese could bear.

Because the reason why Portugal has not completely weakened yet is because it can directly purchase a large amount of silk and porcelain from China every year, then transport it to Europe and sell it to other countries at high prices.

Compared with Spain and the Netherlands, Portugal has the highest profits, relying on the port of Macau.

This was also the reason why Lin Rui chose to let the Portuguese help lead the way to the Ottoman Empire, because he was sure that the Portuguese would not dare to cheat.

The Spaniards are very likely to play tricks to prevent them from contacting the Ottoman Empire.

"Li Aiqing, this time you will serve as our plenipotentiary envoy to the Ottoman Empire..."

Lin Rui thought about it and finally chose Li Yan to go as envoy to the Ottoman Empire. After introducing the location and general situation of the Ottoman Empire, he explained the canal in detail.

Li Yan, on the other hand, was completely stunned.

Seeing his reaction, Lin Rui sighed, and then said with great seriousness: "Li Aiqing, maybe you still can't understand why I want to build such a canal thousands of miles away, but you will definitely understand in the future. Because this canal is very important to our country, and even the entire Chinese ethnic group, as long as you succeed in this matter, I will appoint you as the Chief of General Staff of the General Staff, Marquis, hereditary and irreplaceable!"

"I will do my best until I die!"

Li Yan's heart was beating wildly, and he quickly prostrated himself on the ground, expressing his loyalty first, and then cautiously said with a hint of worry: "It's just that your Majesty, such a huge project of a canal can only be completed with my sharp tongue." I’m afraid it will be difficult to convince the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire to dig?”

"Of course, this time I will let you bring a boatload of gold, silver, jewelry, silk and jade. As a deposit, you told the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire that as long as he digs the canal forward every ten miles according to my request, I will Send him a boatload of silk treasures.”

Lin Rui nodded, then smiled.

"what?"

"Your Majesty, this...this..." Li Yan was stunned and stunned.

"Li Aiqing, I know what you mean, but if we open up the situation, it will only mean the loss of a shipload of gold and silver treasures. Those things are dead objects. When our Chinese navy develops, we can have as much as we want."

Lin Rui waved his hand. The various gold, silver and jewelry in the palace warehouse could no longer be piled up. It was meaningless to put them there. It would be more practical to induce the Ottoman Empire to build the canal.

If the Ottoman Empire swallows the treasure and refuses to dig, the most it will lose is one ship. If the Ottoman Empire really organizes manpower to dig, then it can send one ship there every year.

Therefore, it could take anywhere from two years to five years for Li Yan to come back this time.

When Li Yan left the palace, his heart still couldn't calm down for a long time, but he also made up his mind to get this thing done no matter what.

After all, this is definitely something that will leave a name through the ages, but I don’t know if it’s an infamy or a good name.

Of course, Lin Rui could not place all his hopes on Li Yan, so he had to be prepared if the Ottomans did not agree to cooperate and refused to dig the canal.

Once this happens, the only option is to destroy the Ottoman Empire and then dig the canal himself. Lin Rui also made two plans to destroy the Ottoman Empire.

The first plan is to take the land route, learn from the Mongols of the past, unify all the tribes in the western desert within five years, and then liberate the various ethnic groups east of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, allowing them to freely establish their own countries and become vassal states of China.

Spend another five years attacking the Mediterranean and destroying the Ottoman Empire.

For Europeans, the Ottoman Empire was indeed too powerful to defeat, but for the armies composed of Mongols and Han people, the Ottoman Empire was a lamb to be slaughtered.

As long as the desert Mongolia is unified, at least 20 Mongolian cavalry can be organized, coupled with chariots and a small number of Han soldiers and firearms, they can definitely sweep across the entire Middle East. The only thing to worry about is supplies.

Therefore, the second way is to fully develop maritime power. In five years, we can take the sea route directly to the Persian Gulf for supplies. In ten years, we can directly transport [-] troops to land from the Red Sea, and then capture the Sinai Peninsula.

Therefore, within ten years, except for Dongfan Island, the Dutch and Spanish colonies in Southeast Asia will not be touched, and there will be no conflict with the two countries at sea. It is also a good time to digest the Indochina Peninsula.

(End of this chapter)