I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 886: You will die wherever you go. It’s a bit mysterious!
The envoys of Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji stayed in Istanbul until March of the seventh year of Wanli, and negotiated and signed the "Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation between Ming and Austria on the Black Sea Region" and the "Agreement between Ming and Austria on Mutual Granting of the Most Favorable Nation Treatment in Trade" which was most anticipated by Ottoman merchants.

Venice also shamelessly followed suit and hoped to sign a most-favored-nation trade agreement with the Ottoman Empire, but was immediately rejected by the central bureaucratic power represented by Sokollu and the local aristocratic power represented by Lalapasi.

Are you kidding? We Ottomans are just middlemen. We make money from the price difference and give you the most favored nation treatment. You think we only earn the hard-earned money by running errands, and you take all the big share?
Who are you!
You in Venice rely on us, the Ottomans, to provide you with supplies, and then sell them all over Europe, making a lot of money.

You made a lot of gold coins, so you feel proud, right?

I wonder who is the breadwinner who controls the supply of goods?

After dealing with Ming Dynasty merchants, Arab merchants learned a lot of "advanced" business awareness and their horizons were suddenly broadened.

At present, I have a monopoly on the supply of oriental goods, so of course I have to reap the huge profits. You, Venice, should do your job as a downstream distributor honestly, and don't let your imagination run wild!
If you don't want to do it, then you, Venice, have the ability to fly over from my Ottoman territory and directly purchase goods from Ming merchants.

Now the trade strategy of the Ming Dynasty is very clear. A large amount of goods are shipped to Gaolang Port in the South Seas, which is used as one of the transit ports for transportation to various places.

Arab merchants shipped the goods to the port of Basra, transported them to ports on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean by camel caravans, then transshipped them by sea to Istanbul, where they were wholesaled.

You, Venice, are just one of the downstream channel merchants of my Ottoman Empire. In addition to you, there are also merchants from Genoa, Sicily, France, and even ports such as Naples controlled by the Holy See and Spain, who will also purchase goods under the banner of city autonomy.

Make money, not shabby.

In this case, tell me, why should I, the Ottoman Empire, sign the most-favored-nation treatment agreement with you, Venice, and give you so many benefits?

The Ottoman Queen Mother, Sultan Nurbanu, who had always supported the Venetian forces, unexpectedly remained silent and did not speak for Venice.

Nurbanu understood clearly that she was a Venetian and had close ties with the Venetian nobles and tycoons, but she was now the Queen Mother of the Ottoman Empire and the Ottoman Sultan was her own son!
Many things cannot be overdone.

East-West trade was not only related to the Ottoman royal family's treasury, but also closely related to the interests of many nobles and local powerful groups.

If most of the benefits are given to Venice and the royal income is reduced, how can the army be supported?

Without troops, how can we suppress the various forces in the country?

This trade route, which transports Ming Dynasty goods from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean, concerns the interests of many nobles and families in Oman, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Istanbul.

Giving the lion's share to Venice is just stealing money from their pockets.

This aroused public anger. These people even dared to touch the Sultan, not to mention that Nurbanu was just the queen mother in the harem.

However, Nurbanu's silence aroused the anger of Venetian nobles and tycoons, who felt that Nurbanu had betrayed them.

Sultan Nurbanu still maintained a balance between the Ottomans and Venice. Most people were inclined to Venice, but at the critical moment, he still stood on the side of the Ottomans.

This made the greedy Venetian nobles and tycoons even more angry!
ungrateful!

treachery!

Two years later, the "frustrated" Venetian nobles and wealthy businessmen bribed the maid and poisoned Nurbanu.

The Ming Dynasty's representative office in Istanbul "accidentally" discovered the conspiracy and reported it to the Ottoman court.

The Ottomans and Venice completely fell out.

Venice was also very tough and announced that it would sever ties with the Ottoman Empire and return to the arms of the Lord.

However, the Holy See, Spain and other countries are not at all confident about this fence-sitter.

Having lost the New World completely, Spain, which wanted to seize it but was powerless, simply focused all its attention on the Mediterranean and Atlantic trade and became a middleman. It then cooperated tacitly with the Ottomans to block Venice's power in the Adriatic Sea region and jointly divided up the Mediterranean trade circle.
Venice has since gone downhill, from being the general agent in the Mediterranean to a secondary regional distributor.
In short, the signing of multiple agreements between the Ming Dynasty, Portugal and the Ottoman Empire had a huge impact on European countries.

On the morning of May 16, the seventh year of the Wanli reign, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji saw off the escort fleet led by Wu Guanhai and Zhu Jingfa, and the scientific expedition team headed by Zhao Shizhen at the port of Istanbul.

"Commander Wu, Captain Zhu, Chang Ji, you have a safe journey to Xunzhou, and take care."

Wu Guanhai smiled and said, "Envoy Shen, Deputy Envoy Wang, you too should take care of yourselves!
You go east by land, and we go west by sea. We will go our separate ways, and we will surely meet in the capital in two or three years."

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji smiled confidently.

One is east and the other is west, whether by land or sea, the journey is long and full of dangers.

Whether it is good or bad is difficult to predict.

But the two are full of confidence. No matter how difficult and unpredictable the road ahead is, they are confident that they can complete it.

Because the destiny of the Ming Dynasty is as bright as the sun and the moon!

Even if I fall on the road, someone will continue to move forward. And my name will be engraved on the stone tablet of history as a pioneer, and will be recorded in history forever!

Zhao Shizhen said excitedly, "We will go back to Lisbon first. The Hibiscus Flower and Tanghu will carry the books and artworks collected by our scientific expedition team, as well as some European scholars. We will go directly south along the way we came, back to the Cape of Good Hope and Suzaku Port, take a short rest, then cross the South China Sea diagonally and return to Liyang Port (Jakarta).

Commander Wu and Captain Zhu led our expedition team and sailed directly to the Ruoshou Sea area. I guess Chunmu Port in the east of Jumang County has been built.

We rested there, and then, led by our colleagues from the Qinglong Fleet, we went along the east coast of Xunzhou, around Cape Ping'an to the Port of Jumang, and then crossed the Pacific Ocean back to the Port of Zhigu.

Envoy Shen, Deputy Envoy Wang, when we meet again, we will be the first fleet in the Ming Dynasty to complete a circumnavigation of the world!"

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji laughed loudly: "Well, then, we will celebrate your success! The Western barbarians can sail around the world, and my Ming Dynasty can also sail around the world."

Zhao Shizhen said, "Speaking of circumnavigation, I suddenly remembered that the territory of our Great Ming Dynasty spreads all over the world. According to geography and astronomy, at 24 hours a day, the territory of our Great Ming Dynasty is either brightly lit by the sun or brightly lit by the moon. It is truly a glorious Great Ming Dynasty that will shine forever!"

Everyone looked at each other, their faces filled with joy and excitement.

Yes, Zhao Shizhen is right!

The territory of our Ming Dynasty covers the entire world, and the sun and the moon will shine forever!

Shen Wanxiang was filled with emotion: "How lucky we are! How lucky we are! We are born in the great new era created by the Holy Emperor! We are just a small wave in the rolling tide." Wang Yongji's eyes were filled with tears, and he shouted loudly: "How lucky we are! The Ming Dynasty is lucky! China is lucky!"

A group of people were on the shore, and a row of people were on the side of the boat, they crossed their hands and bowed to each other.

The morning sun shines on Istanbul behind, giving this ancient and majestic city a golden hue.

The sounds of prayers from the mosque and the bells of the Orthodox church in the distance came slowly through the morning mist of history.
"There will be times when strong winds break through the waves, and you can hang your sails directly across the sea."

"One day the roc rises with the wind and soars ninety thousand miles away!"

Li Bai's poems are particularly loud amid the sound of bells and worship, blending into the rising sun and turning into countless sparkling golden lights, jumping and sparkling on the boundless sea.

In July of the seventh year of the Wanli reign, after stopping and walking along the way, Shen Wanxiang and his party finally arrived at Qazvin, the capital of the Safavid dynasty of Persia, located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, very close to the Caucasus and the Mesopotamian front.

Unfortunately, when the delegation arrived in Qazvin, Shah Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty of Persia had just passed away less than two months ago.

Kodaban and Ostagu, the Persian envoys who had been to the Ming Dynasty, came to greet them. At this time, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji learned that Kodaban's real name was Muhammad Kodabanda, and he was the eldest son of Tahmasp I. However, because of his congenital myopia and his mother being a Turkmen, he was despised by his father Tahmasp I since he was a child.

After Tahmasp I died, the court and ministers supported his second son Ismail II to ascend the throne.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji were shocked and curious. Why did this happen?
After so long on the mission, they knew very well that Ottomanism, like Persia, did not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate sons. The strength of the monarch depended on the will of the son who succeeded to the throne. If the monarch was not strong, it depended on who had the most powerful army and horses.

Kodaban smiled awkwardly while Ostagu explained on the side.

The military pillar of the Safavid dynasty in Persia was the Kizilbash, a Turkmen tribal military group scattered throughout Persia. In order to suppress the overly powerful Kizilbash and balance the court and local power of the Safavid dynasty, Tahmasp I deliberately despised his eldest son Kodaban, whose mother was a Turkmen, and supported the second son Ismail II.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked at each other, feeling helpless.

Why is it that wherever our diplomatic delegation goes, something bad happens to the monarch of that country?
wrong!

King Sebastian I of Portugal is fine and alive and well.

He also understood the meaning of Osgutta's words.

The situation in Persia is now turbulent.

Like the Ottoman Empire, the Safavid dynasty of Persia had a centralized court with its own group of bureaucrats and aristocrats who were subordinate to it and competed with the Kizilbash group that controlled the local areas.

Now that the Persian court has nominated Ismail II to succeed the throne of Shah, the Kizilbash group must be dissatisfied and is preparing to nominate Kodaban to seize the throne of Shah.

Now they came here in the hope of getting support from the Ming Dynasty.

Now the Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, one in the east and the other in the west, have become the two biggest stones weighing on Persia's heart.

However, the eastern front where the Ming Dynasty was located was far away from the heart of Persia and posed little threat.

The Ottoman Empire's western front is close to the heartland of Persia, posing a great threat.

This is also one of the reasons why Kodaban hopes to get support from the Ming Dynasty.

What do you mean? We are sent as envoys to your country and are supposed to help you seize the throne?
This is a bit too much to ask!
Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked strictly neutral, saying words of refusal, but they were eager to try in their hearts.

You can find similar scenes at any page of Chinese history.

We have read a lot of history books and have memorized all these power struggles by heart. We never thought that when we came to Persia, we would have the opportunity to put our knowledge into practice.

Thinking more deeply, if the Ming Dynasty could influence the dethronement and enthronement of the Persian Shah and support a Shah who was on its side, its diplomatic work would be much easier.

When Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji were sent as envoys to the Three Kingdoms, the Ministry of Public Administration specially invited them to a meeting of the Zizheng Bureau to inform them of the Ming Dynasty's foreign direction for the next five to ten years.

The Ming Dynasty's strategy on the western front in the next five to ten years is to hold the central river line and digest the entire Western Regions and the Kipchak Steppe region. There is no interest in going any further.

The Ming Dynasty owns Ceylon Island, the Anman Islands, Yanzhou West Island and Central Island in the South China Sea, as well as islands in the central part of the South China Sea that are being planned to be occupied. It has enough strongholds and passages and does not need to find a sea outlet in Afghanistan and Punjab. Therefore, there is no need to join in the fun in the two big hornets of Afghanistan and Persia.

The Ming Dynasty's strategy on the western front focused on continuing to advance westward.

The Principality of Moscow was circled by the Emperor of Xiyuan.

A unified and powerful country, such a powerful person is not allowed to exist around the Ming Dynasty!

Even those with potential are not acceptable.

In recent years, the Principality of Moscow has been committed to destroying the Golden Horde, driving out the Tatars, seizing large tracts of land, and gathering a large number of East Slavs, and there are no powerful countries around it.

Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Sweden and other countries were either short-lived or had great war potential. The only country that could defeat them, the Ottoman Empire, was separated from them by the Black Sea. The main force could not directly go to war with the Principality of Moscow by land, and could only support the Crimea and other Khanates to fight proxy wars with it. As a result, the wars became worse and worse over the years.

On the contrary, the Principality of Moscow became stronger and stronger, and had more and more potential to become a powerful land power.

In that case, let’s kill it in its cradle!
The focus of the Ming Dynasty's western front is in the north, so it would be best if the south could be safe and sound and less military force was invested.

Persia is the old overlord of Central Asia. Its ancestors were very wealthy and its actual influence was greater than that of the Ming Dynasty.

If we could join hands with the Ming, we would definitely be able to suppress the Uzbeks, Kyrgyz and Turkmen in Central Asia and stop them from causing trouble.

If you really want to stay idle, you can go east to play with the Indians.

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked at each other. This matter would be good for the Ming Dynasty, so they could lend a helping hand.

But how to help?

Shen Wanxiang thought for a while and said, "Haven't you heard that Shen Sheng was in danger while Chong Er was outside and safe?"

Kodaban and Ostagu, who know some Chinese, were confused. What did you say?
The interpreter also looked constipated. How do you want me to translate? Where should I start translating?
(End of this chapter)