Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 583 "Private Trade"

Muhammad was called to the Honglu Temple. Facing the very serious Jia Lian, he was a little scared.

Having stayed in the capital for a long time, he heard a lot about Jia Lian. To use Western introduction, it is probably like this.

A noble imperial duke, an invincible general, cabinet foreign minister, minister of industry and commerce, president of the Royal Industrial Group, after a series of prefixes, there is Jia Lian.

"Is this how the Ottoman Empire treats its friends?" Jia Lian started to say something unkind. Muhammad didn't react: "What?"

"Our fleet has returned from Arabia. In that place, not only did they not get a port for supplies, but they also fought a battle with the local camel cavalry."

Jia Lian said grimly, and Muhammad understood. There were a bunch of tribes of all sizes over there, and there were several Pashas whose names Muhammad even knew. He felt that he was unreliable at the beginning, but he did not stop Ibrahim just for the mission. Now he was being questioned, so he was embarrassed and did not dare to look up.

"That place has always been like this. It was infested with bandits hundreds of years ago. Your people should talk to their Pasha."

Jia Lian looked at him in silence, his eyes becoming colder. Muhammad knew he couldn't fool him anymore, so he quickly made amends: "Next time your people go there, I can write a letter and ask Istanbul to send a minister to help deal with this matter."

Jia Lian interrupted him coldly: "No need, since they dared to attack us, they must bear the consequences. I asked you to come here just to inform you of two things, one is the suspension of arms trade, and the other is the battle we launched against the local tribes. I want to inform your country that we have no tradition of invading friendly countries."

Muhammad was dumbfounded when he heard this. A place so far away, just for a small conflict, you want to send troops to fight?

"If our people conquer that place, please do not misunderstand your country."

How could there not be a misunderstanding? The local chiefs and kings all accepted the title from Osman Pasha and worshipped him as their master, and even paid some local products as protection fees every year.

Conflicts between local large tribes required the mediation of Osman Pasha.

"Calm down, please calm down. That place is full of sand. It is not a good deal for your country to send troops thousands of miles to conquer it."

Jia Lian waved his hand: "I am not discussing this with you, I am just informing you. Report to the country as soon as possible."

Without giving him a chance to continue speaking, two guards came in, ready to see him off.

Muhammad had no idea what to do and hurried back to find a solution.

This incident cannot be simply seen as an act of revenge against the local indigenous people. What is more worrying is whether the Eastern Empire has adjusted its foreign policy toward Tsarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire, which was already unable to defeat Tsarist Russia, had to face the powerful Eastern Empire as its opponent. Not only could it not send troops, but it could also sell weapons to the enemy. This was too much for the Ottoman Empire to bear.

The Ottoman Empire is still a great empire, and Jia Lian’s move is not to start a war, but a tactic.

As long as you don't dare to officially declare war on me, the territories occupied and tribes conquered in all operations in the southern part of the peninsula will lay the foundation for subsequent overseas territories.

As for whether the Ottoman Empire would send troops, Jia Lian was not worried. If pressed to the limit, he could in turn assist the Russian Empire and let them attack Constantinople.

If he could legally acquire the sovereignty of that piece of land through negotiation, that would be the best. As long as it became Jia Lian's private territory, it would be legally included in the vassalage of the Eastern Empire.

As long as the Eastern Empire remains strong, no one will dare to take it lightly, and at most they will make some small moves.

Speaking of it, there are intrigues among the various countries in that area. Don’t you think a mere squid, occupying only a small area, can defeat them?

We still have to talk, but that will be later. Let’s not talk about it for now, and wait until we have achieved some results. It will be a year later, and by then the Russo-Turkish war will break out again, so it’s a good time to raise the price!
The world in the eighteen years of Chenghui was destined to be a turbulent time. Thousands of miles away in France, Paris was a huge powder keg and any spark could blow up the country.

At the same time, the Ottoman Empire issued an ultimatum to Tsarist Russia in order to regain Crimea and establish its rule over Georgia.

After being rejected, the Ottoman army of 200,000 launched an offensive.

It can only be said that the Ottoman Empire's diplomatic level was very poor. Last time it had the support of France and Russia, but this time Austria defected and sent troops to help Russia.

It is said that there were no wars of justice in the Spring and Autumn Period. In Europe during this period, there was really no loyalty or trust at all. Yesterday’s ally was today’s enemy.

When Jia Lian received the news, it was already the 19th year of Chenghui.

In the past year's war, the arms sold by Jia Lian played a huge role. In the Battle of Kimbu in October, Suvorov commanded the assault and defeated the Ottoman army for a time. At the critical moment, an elite force of only 3,000 people blocked the assault of the Tsarist Russian army. The fierce artillery fire and precise shooting became a nightmare for the Tsarist Russian army.

The Russian army, which should have been destined for a great victory, ended up in a stalemate because of the appearance of this army.

Another point is that the power of the new field artillery has been tested on the battlefield. Its lightness, speed, flexibility, and high rate of fire have been fully demonstrated on the battlefield.

This was also the key reason why the Ottoman army did not suffer repeated setbacks during this war, as the two countries fought back and forth, and artillery fire suppressed the Russian army at critical moments many times and saved the situation.

Another thing is that the revolver played a role in cavalry combat. The ability to fire continuously caused the Cossack cavalry to suffer a lot during reconnaissance.

In view of these reasons, and seeing that there was no sign of an end to the war, Ibrahim was once again sent to Da Zhou to purchase a large batch of arms.

It’s not that the Ottoman Empire couldn’t make weapons, but that locally made ones were not only more expensive, but also less useful.

There is nothing strange about this. Just look at Ah San and you will know.

It can only be said that Osman Pasha, who saw the hope of victory in the war, now regrets why he did not buy more weapons at the beginning, but instead relied on the unsatisfactory domestic production.

Ibrahim set out at the end of the eighteenth year of Chenghui, and arrived in Da Zhou in June of the nineteenth year.

At this time, the European continent also entered a critical period. The British had been secretly fanning the flames, hoping that France would have civil unrest. If they knew that a Napoleon would appear, they probably would not change their usual style of stirring up trouble. In the past year, the East India Company colluded with the Royal Navy to sell people crazily. According to Xue Pan's statistics, more than 5,000 women were sold to the Xue Family Business Company.

The Xue family business brought them to various colonies in Southeast Asia and sold them to the local Chinese colonists as wives. A woman bought for fifty yuan was sold for a hundred yuan with tears in her eyes. Some outstanding ones that met the aesthetic standards could be sold at a high price.

Of course, Xue's company would never admit to being a human trafficker, they were introducing wives, but they were foreign wives.

It’s not that there are no wives in China, but there was no disaster last year, so it was difficult to save those women who had no food to eat at a low price.

When Ibrahim landed in Guangzhou, the ten armed merchant ships of Xue's company arrived at the settlement on the Arabian Peninsula. How to describe this place? Looking at the map, it should be the UAE.

It’s hard to tell where exactly, but the 200 people who stayed behind almost went crazy when they saw the fleet appear.

Do you know how we survived the past year? Only 200 people guarded a camp, and no one dared to be careless. During this period, we repelled three robbery tribes.

Fortunately, we had enough ammunition and ten cannons left, otherwise we would have been destroyed long ago.

The ten ships brought not many immigrants from China, only 200 people, all of whom were bold and adventurous. Quite a few of them had criminal records in China and should have been exiled to Southeast Asia, but were brought here by Xue Pan. Anyway, they were all exiled, so where was not exile?
Five hundred Koreans, five hundred Japanese, and five hundred Burmese were all very obedient and lined up to come down carrying their flintlock rifles.

As for the natives of Nanyang, Xue Pan really looked down on them. In terms of fighting ability, the impression scores of the natives of Nanyang were too low.

Nearly 2,000 people were added at one time, and the camp was not big enough, so it had to be expanded. There were not even a few trees in this place. The previous camp was rented from the locals, and they hired locals to reinforce it. The advantage was that there was a water source, but the disadvantage was that it was too simple.

With more people, more supplies are needed, so the shopkeepers will naturally have to continue doing business with the locals. They are very skilled at bribing some and then attacking others.

Bribing the weak and attacking the strong, this tactic has been practiced very skillfully in Southeast Asia.

No matter where they were from, they had all gone through the military training of the Xue Family Firm, and their formation shooting was mediocre. These people were not here for nothing, and although they were paid to be hired, in reality, once they arrived in this area, it was impossible to escape. If they wanted to survive, they could only accept orders obediently.

Xue's business was not in a hurry. They would adapt first, do business for a while, and wait until the weather was cooler before doing anything else. Besides, doing business could also make the locals relax their vigilance.

I can only say that emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce makes sense. These people who came out to do colonial work really have no bottom line.

When Ibrahim arrived in Tianjin, it was already July of the 19th year.

When he saw the train while standing on the dock, the train whistle sounded, which scared Ibrahim to death.

[Is this a demon that escaped from hell? ]

Obviously, it is not. Not only that, you have to pay a high price to buy a ticket and take a bus to the capital.

When Ibrahim was actually sitting on the train, he realized how terrible it was. If there was a railway that led to all parts of the empire, what would the war against Tsarist Russia be like?

Ibrahim came to the embassy excitedly, but was thrown a bucket of cold water on his head. Muhammad said to him angrily: "It seems that you have not received the letter I wrote to the country. If the supply point issue is not handled well, the Eastern Empire may turn around and support Tsarist Russia."

Ibrahim was so frightened that he let out a sharp scream: "No...!"

A group of pigeons were startled by the screams and flew all over the sky. When they passed through the yard, a drop of bird droppings unfortunately fell into the mouth of the pigeon that was facing up and screaming.

An hour later, Ibrahim, who was almost dehydrated by vomiting, finally regained some energy. He leaned on the kang and said weakly: "No matter what, even if I have to sacrifice my wife, I have to convince His Excellency Duke Jia to give up his attitude against the empire."

"You think too much. He is not targeting the Empire. He is waiting for you to give him an explanation. Moreover, he has sent troops to fight against the natives who dared to attack his private soldiers."

Ibrahim heard something about Muhammad's words and sat up straight: "Private soldiers?"

"Yes, it is his personal private army and the caravan under his family that contracted the business of supplying the Imperial Navy. Whether in Southeast Asia or in Arabia. According to my understanding, if he can be persuaded to change his attitude privately, even if the Eastern Empire cannot officially sell arms, His Excellency Duke Jia's private caravan can still meet the Empire's arms procurement needs. This is the result of my hard work over the past six months."

Muhammad was not idle either. Over the past six months, he visited Jia Lian frequently. Not to mention giving his wife away, he was even willing to sell chrysanthemums.

After giving three expensive gifts, I finally got a vague explanation.

In order to demonstrate neutrality and avoid protests from the Tsarist Russian envoy, the government could no longer sell arms and could only go through civilian channels.

In fact, it was just a disguise. The Zhou Empire was so big, and the Russian envoy had no idea where to go to deliver the goods in Guangzhou. Of course, the Russian envoy did protest.

Jia Lian was very rude at the time and replied in a bad manner: "The foreign policy of the Zhou Empire does not need your country to make decisions. You just need to be a mouthpiece. Our country and the Ottoman Empire are friendly countries. We have signed a peace treaty. The relationship between us and your country is just normal diplomatic relations, not friendly countries. We are not strategic partners like Britain and France."

The Russian envoy was very angry, but he could do nothing. If he angered Jia Lian and caused Dongda to attack from Central Asia, he would be guilty of a great crime.

Although the King of Xining did not launch an attack at this stage, due to the blurred border line, the Cossack cavalry often encountered cavalry with oriental faces. The two sides fought dozens of times, and the Cossacks lost more than they won.

The main reason was that the weapons were too different. The opponent's revolver was a nightmare for the cavalry. Not to mention the rifled guns at long range.

It can only be said that the King of Xining was not honest either. After learning that the relations between Russia and Turkey were tense, he began to constantly encroach on the surrounding areas and expand his territory bit by bit.

Especially in the local river valley areas, as long as the land is suitable for farming, they will grab it first.

Because of the frequent border frictions, Jia Lian was not wrong. The relationship between the two sides was indeed not good, but Tsarist Russia did not know whether the King of Xining wanted to go to war or not, and the central government had no say.

Those bastards are actually warlord separatist forces!

Now that the Russo-Turkish war has started again, the Russian envoy has become even more cowardly. It is useless to criticize him.

In other words, the core development direction of the Zhou Empire is currently in Southeast Asia, otherwise Jia Lian would have turned against him long ago.

Ibrahim did not dare to take any risks, so he followed the local custom and sent a generous gift first, along with a visiting card, which he paid a local old man to write letters for him.

It's quite sad to say that it is very difficult for these ministers to hire people in the capital. They have to pay high prices to get people willing to work.

The people in the capital were very arrogant and thought that these foreign devils were no good and looked like ghosts. They could only send some high-priced hired workers through the Honglu Temple.

The Honglu Temple really earned the agency fee with tears in its eyes.

After waiting for three days, Ibrahim was finally able to meet Jia Lian, and it was in his office, not a private visit.

"I treat you as a friend, but you treat me as a fool. How dare you come to see me?" Jia Lian said very impolitely, completely forgetting the smile on Wang Xifeng's face when she counted the gold coins last night.

Ibrahim, who had given him five thousand gold coins, naturally did not take his expression to heart. As long as he was willing to accept the money, everything would be easy.

"Wasn't the situation urgent at the time? The Pasha was waiting for the arms to return to start a war against Tsarist Russia. Wasn't the border relationship between your country and Tsarist Russia also very tense? My friend, we can discuss any issues."

"What the hell are you talking about? Go back and tell your Pasha to wait for the Russian army to rush into Istanbul. Well, you and Muhammad are both accomplices of the Russian army."

"Okay, okay, don't be angry, buddy. I miss your tea."

Jia Lian put on a frown and asked someone to serve tea, but he continued to look at Ibrahim in silence.

This guy was thick-skinned and didn't care at all. He leaned in and whispered, "There were many Pashas of that generation. If you kill a few of your people and the territory they occupied, I will let them transfer the title of Pasha to you. From now on, you will be one of the Pashas of that generation."

Jia Lian was so angry that he laughed, raised his finger and pointed at his face: "Do I care about the sand in that place? What I care about is my face, and your deception to me."

"Add another 5,000 gold coins as compensation for your feelings." Ibrahim was rich and he really made a lot of money. Although he felt pained, he couldn't catch the wolf without sacrificing the child. The key point was that his child was not worth much and could not be sold for 5,000 gold coins. There was another thing that Ibrahim didn't dare to say, that is, through land channels, trade with the Zhou Empire, the goods brought back could be sold to Europe. Tea, silk, porcelain and many other Ottoman dignitaries were tied to his ship.

If this trade route is cut off now, those powerful people will tear him to pieces, and even Osman Pasha will not be able to protect him.

"Five thousand gold coins can only allow our country to remain neutral." Jia Lian said arrogantly, "I'm very kind to take five thousand gold coins from you."

"What about the arms trade?" Ibrahim asked immediately. This is the most crucial issue.

"What arms trade? Do you want me to be annoyed to death by Tsarist Russian affairs?" Jia Lian's face changed immediately. It didn't exist.

"The price is negotiable." Ibrahim had no choice. If he couldn't bring the arms back, he would have to go into self-exile. By then, his wife and children would definitely belong to someone else.

It doesn’t matter about the wife, but the child is his, he can’t give it up.

"There is only private trade, no official arms trade. You can do business or not. Turn left when you go out and go back." Jia Lian angrily drove Ibrahim away.

After going out, this guy decisively turned left and was stopped in front of an inconspicuous courtyard.

A middle-aged man greeted him with a smile: "Dear guest from afar, please come in and have a cup of tea."

Ibrahim sneered secretly, "What do you mean by no official trade? Isn't it just to make money for yourself? I have seen many people like you."

(End of this chapter)