What defines civilization?

Civilization is, of course, defined by the state, and by the powerful state.

As the most powerful country in the world.

Of course, the Ming is civilized!

It can even be said that it is the most civilized country in the world.

After all, being strong equals being civilized. Of course, this strength is not just military power. It's the strength of the whole.

In this regard, no one will doubt that in any way, the Ming Dynasty is a civilized country, and it can even be said that it is the only civilized country in this world.

The newly civilized countries of Europe are too weak in power. As for the Ottoman Empire, although powerful, they were barbaric and ignorant. None of them are civilized.

Only the Ming Dynasty is still a unique civilized country.

This is certainly not self-appointed by the big celebrities themselves. It is many people's impression of Daming. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, Alexander and his party from Egypt even felt that they were barbarians at all.

This kind of barbarism is not only ceremonial, but also includes the perception of the world and various things.

Unlike the Arabs, who only knew the scriptures, the Copts were studious, because of history, they were extremely good at accounting and taxation, and in the past few decades, unlike the conservative Arabs who finally only knew the scriptures, many Coptic scholars would go to Europe, but their learning did not change their fate. After all, in Egypt they were in a low position.

They're not conservative, though.

Because of this, after witnessing the modernity of the Ming Kingdom, many people will feel their own barbarism, and even feel that they are too ignorant. As a priest, Adam took off his Arabic clothes for the first time and put on a Confucian robe of the Ming Kingdom.

In his opinion, this symbolizes civilization! As for the arabesque robes, they became a symbol of barbarism and ignorance in his eyes.

The will of civilization has always been so, not imposed by others, but a fact. A fact that others are willing to believe from the bottom of their hearts.

"Egypt in the future should be used as a feudal state of the Ming Dynasty, which is undoubtedly the best choice for all Copts!"

Again, in the presence of Alexander, Adam once again made his attitude known, although he was also a secret envoy, but the real secret envoys were Alexander and Father Amparly, the former was a friend of Archbishop Alexander, the latter was a student of the archbishop, the Coptic religious institution under the leadership of the Church of Alexandria, the basis of the Coptic. Only by enlisting their support can Egypt become a "feudal country" of the Ming Dynasty.

"I don't know of a better option than that, my friends. For us, this is an opportunity! We should not only seize this opportunity to make our request, but also seize this opportunity. Only in this way can the future of the Copts be bright. Only in this way can the Copts be able to win their freedom, and not only the freedom they have now. Rather, the future is the future, and it is eternal freedom. ”

For the Coptics, who had already lost their freedom in Roman times, the meaning of the word freedom was too heavy.

But when he said that, no one would compare the feudal kingdom to the rule of Rome. After all. They had already seen those "feudal states" and knew that they were just accepting the canonization of the Ming Dynasty.

"Father, you must know that the emperor of the Ming Kingdom followed a different religion from ours."

Alexander pointed to one of the most critical issues,

"The king of Gui also believes in Catholicism, which does not prevent Gui from being a feudal state of the Ming State, and the Ming State is extremely tolerant of religion, of course, under the premise that this religion is tolerant. In my opinion, the question of religion does not prevent Egypt from being a feudal state of the Ming kingdom, as long as the future king is baptized. ”

Is it that simple?

Looking at Adam, Alexander couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He didn't know the answer.

But deep down, he agreed with Adam's choice, indeed, for Egypt, becoming the feudal state of the Ming Dynasty is undoubtedly the most suitable choice.

At least for the Copts, it is indeed the most advantageous choice, because in this way that in the future, Egypt, which belongs to the Copts, will be protected by one of the most powerful countries in the world, rather than relying solely on its own strength to protect itself.

Copts were never capable of truly protecting themselves. It doesn't matter if they're Romans, or Arabs, or Turks. They all once ruled over the Copts.

Will the Copts of the future be able to protect themselves? He didn't have much confidence in that.

Knowing the Turks, he believed that even if the Turks withdrew from Egypt now and the Coptics won their freedom, the Turks would invade Egypt again in the future.

It's better to have an umbrella than not to have one. It is precisely because of this that he will agree to cede the land to the Ming Kingdom. We build, operate and send troops there, which can always serve as an umbrella for Egypt. But this umbrella could disappear at any time because of the recognition of the Turks, if the Turks recognized their occupation of that area. In exchange for their non-interference in the Turkish invasion of Egypt, what should Egypt do at that time?

"However, Ampari believed that the crown of Egypt should be conferred by the Church, not by the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom."

Although understand the importance of that umbrella to Egypt. But the reality of the Copts made Alexander say helplessly.

"And, I believe, all Copts would identify with a king who was crowned by the Church, and not a king canonized by the Ming Emperor, if there was no Church grant. Will this king still be our king? ”

Alexander's rhetorical question silenced Adam.

"This is really a problem, after all, the basis of the Copts is religion, it is the church that unites us, if there is no church, there are no Copts, the crown must be granted by the church, otherwise the Copts will not agree, and they will not agree with this king, without their identity, then this king is still a king? ……”

Even though he advocated Egypt as a feudal state of the Ming Dynasty, Adam had to face the inescapable reality that the church was the foundation of the Coptics.

Granted by the emperor on one side and by the church on the other, the reality of the Coptic makes them have to choose the latter. For people who popularize science, this may also be the helplessness of reality.

Despite their desperation, in the end, they had to maintain their original decision to ask the Ming to give a prince, rather than asking the Ming to canonize the prince as the king of Egypt.

Even if they reached a consensus, they still had to wait for the emperor's edict.

In the end, the emperor did not fail to meet them in Zhongdu, but invited them as guests to visit the launch of the navy's ironclad ships.

Ironclad!

When Alexander, Ampari, Adam, David and others came to the naval shipyard in Haizhou, among the many onlookers, their very different appearance from the Ming people attracted everyone's attention, but at this time, more attention was paid to the ironclad ship.

Can steel float on water?

This completely turned everyone's perception upside down, and even Alexander couldn't help but worry in his heart, worried that the battleship would sink into the sea.

"They must be crazy!"

Ampari had a sense of foreboding.

"Steel can't float on water! It's bound to sink! ”

Fearing that others would know what he was talking about, he deliberately switched to Arabic.

"God forbid!"

Adam prayed in his heart. When he prays, his eyes are always on the emperor. Although he had never met the Turkish Sultan, he felt that perhaps, when the Turkish Sultan saw the Ming Emperor, he would also be willing to submit to him as he did before God......

When this thought came to him, he suddenly felt that it seemed to be blaspheming God.

"God, forgive me for my ignorance......"

Silently drawing a cross, Adam refocused his chaotic thoughts on the ironclad ship.

Finally, in the midst of all the attention, the "Victory", a warship with a displacement of only 4,100 tons, was slowly towed out of the dock by a tugboat. Although the spectacle was not spectacular, it did not affect the surprise in the slightest. There is no doubt that when the "Victory" floated steadily on the surface of the sea, everyone was stunned.

Steel can float on the water!

This realization, security subverts people's perception of things!

It really floats on the surface of the sea!

Alexander's eyes widened as he looked at the ironclad floating on the sea, the most perfect weapon he had ever seen.

Even if it was far away, but with its thick iron armor alone, Alexander was convinced that this warship would be invincible on the sea, and even if the Turks were strong at sea, they would be vulnerable in front of it. And Ampari, who had visited various European countries, was also stunned, and he could see that on this warship, Ming Guo used the world's most superb shipbuilding technology on this warship.

They built a warship out of steel!

O my God!

Is this true?

"My God, it's a miracle."

After stopping to look up at the "Victory" for a long time, Alexander finally couldn't help but praise from the bottom of his heart.

Zhu Yunhe, who was on the side, said proudly:

"Your Excellency, this ironclad ship was not conjured by your God. It was built by the engineers and skilled craftsmen of our Celestial Empire. This is the world's first, the first warship built of steel! ”

"Ah, of course." Alexander looked at the battleship with a longing gaze, and then turned to a respectful compliment to His Majesty the Emperor.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, you possess the most advanced technology in the world, and your engineers and craftsmen have built the world's most advanced warships while the world is still in obscurity. Maybe one day, the whole world will be amazed by the science of the Celestial Empire, and everyone will admire everything here. ”

"I don't doubt that!"

Zhu Mingzhong said.

"In fact, I have been famous for Egypt for a long time, the pyramids, the Sphinx, Egypt was also the oldest ancient country in the world, and China, it is an ancient civilization, as early as thousands of years ago, a huge pyramid was built, and a developed civilization was established, but the civilization of Egypt has not been inherited, especially thousands of years ago, the barbaric invasion completely destroyed the inheritance of civilization, barbarism destroyed civilization, and civilization regressed......"

"Your Majesty the Emperor, just as you said, barbarism destroys civilization, but the Copts have never forgotten everything, just as China has never forgotten its own civilization, no matter how brutal the barbarism is, Huaxia can always drive away the barbarians and reproduce their own civilization, whether it is the ancestors of His Majesty the Emperor or His Majesty the Emperor himself, they are all real heroes."

Following the emperor's words, Alexander said unabashedly.

"And we, the Copts, in spite of our numerous uprisings, our attempts to fight for freedom and re-establish the civilization of Egypt, have always lacked one thing compared to the great China - we do not have a wise king! Lead us to overthrow the rule of the enemy, so ......"

Facing His Majesty the Emperor, in full view of everyone, Alexander put forward the purpose of his trip.

"I have been commissioned by the Coptic Church of Egypt to come to the Celestial Empire to make a request to His Majesty the Honorable Emperor, and as a humble visitor, we hope that His Majesty the Emperor will be able to send your child to Egypt as the King of Egypt and the Coptics!"

Moment!

When the interpreter said Alexander's request, everyone was stunned, and even Zhu Mingzhong himself was frightened by Alexander's request.

What the!

What is he saying?

Let me send a child to Egypt? As their king?

What the? What do these people want? Want a prince to be their king?

While everyone looked at Alexander in amazement, Ampari stepped forward and complimented.

In the Bible, God sent His Son, Jesus, to the world to save the suffering world. And now, the Copts, who have been enslaved for millennia, make a plea to you, the Venerable Son of the Celestial Empire, to send your son to Egypt and save the people there! ”

Although Ampari compared the emperor to God, his metaphor and this flattery sounded extremely useful to the Ming officials present, though some of them were explicitly flattering. But who doesn't want to hear good things.

Isn't he saying that the Son of Heaven is God? The prince of the Ming Dynasty is Jesus?

However, in these flattering words, the meaning revealed made Zhu Mingzhong unable to believe what he heard for a while, although he had been planning to give his son a crown before, but now the Egyptian who took the initiative to come to the door gave the crown over.

Although only the crown of Egypt.

However, this is too unbelievable. Is there still such an operation?