The Red Sea region in late May is already a bit hot. After leaving the coast of Djibouti, the exploration fleet made its way north along the Red Sea.

On June 5, the two ships arrived just a few dozen nautical miles from the Ottoman port of Suez. At this time, four Ottoman naval ships flying the Star and Moon flags surrounded them. The four vessels were all small, two of them were traditional small Arab schooners, and two of them appeared to be in the style of European Galen ships. The largest tonnage did not appear to be more than two hundred tons, and the ship's firearms were even weaker, with only a few 6-pounder and 8-pounder bronze cannons.

Compared with the 925-ton standard displacement of the battleship "Free Trade" and the huge combat power of 66 all-steel guns, these ships of the Ottoman Navy are really weak, even the "Galician Exocet" used as a transport ship is larger than their ships. However, Guo Zili and the others did not dare to slack off, they did not come to fight the Ottoman navy, on the contrary, they came to discuss business with the sincerity of friendship.

Therefore, Guo Zili quickly sent his adjutant to sail in a small boat to the Ottoman warship, waving a white flag, and handed over the permission to enter the port, which had been handed over to them by the Admiralty before departure, and the letter of state from the chairman of the Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic of China to the Ottoman Sultan.

The Ottomans had apparently been told in advance, and after Ensign Givin had negotiated with them with a Turkish-speaking Tatar sailor and presented them with a generous greeting gift, the Ottomans finally recognized the status of the Naval Exploration Fleet of the Republic of China on the East Coast of China and formally accepted their application for entry into the port.

In the afternoon of the same day, the fleet was moored in the port of Suez. At this time, the port of Suez was far less prosperous than after the opening of the canal. Scattered shore defense batteries on the docks. Three-three-two And the seemingly small population reminds outsiders that this is still just a small town and a small port.

In addition to the two dozen or so Ottoman naval vessels in the harbor, only a few fishing boats of the local population remained. Most of these ships of the Ottoman Navy, to the discerning eyes of the sailors of the Eastern Republics, were not qualified to go to the battle line to fight a decisive battle with the enemy ships, and could only serve as coastal patrol ships, even if they were a little choking on some powerful pirate ships - of course, maybe even worse for the ships of the Red Sea pirates.

Frankly speaking, although the port of Suez at this time was a military port of the Ottoman Empire, it was far less valued than those ports on the Black Sea and Aegean coasts of the Ottoman Empire, and even the ports of North Africa such as Tripoli and Algiers were more valued than the port of Suez because they faced the threat of pagan states. Perhaps only when the Sultan decided to wage war against the Persians. I would have thought that he had a military port in the Gulf of Suez on the coast of the Red Sea.

In fact, the main targets of the Ottoman navy stationed in the port of Suez were the heretical Persians who believed in Shiism, in addition to pirates. Of course, they were only subordinate to the Persians in the Indian Ocean, where the Ottomans had the port of Basra, a more powerful naval base. Only when His Majesty the Sultan needed to send envoys to India, Abyssinia, Somalia, etc., did they have the opportunity to go to sea to declare the glory of the empire.

After arranging everything and telling the officers in all positions not to take it lightly, Guo Zili took some retinues and interpreters and landed with the naval officers of the Ottoman Empire and entered the small city of Suez. In the city. The representatives of the Hornesian family, the envoys of the Egyptian Pasha, had been waiting here for nearly two months, and they were eager to consult carefully with the visiting representatives of the East coasters. Of course. Also interested in meeting the people of the East Coast were the chiefs of the local Mamluk feudal lords.

Since the Turks defeated the once formidable Mamluk army in the last century and ended their rule over Egypt, the Mamluk military group has not disappeared from Egypt's pyramid of power. In fact, the Turks did not rule Egypt very tightly, except for Cairo, Alexandria, and other cities, they did not rule directly over other places. To be precise, for the vast area of Egypt, the Ottomans were only concerned with slaves and taxes. The vast countryside remained in the hands of the Mamluk feudal lords, except that they had now changed their allegiance to the Ottoman Turkish sultans.

It can be seen that the Ottomans still attached great importance to the visit of the navy of the Eastern Republic of China, which can be seen from the dinner they arranged. Although the Port of Suez is only a small harbor that is not wealthy, the local hosts still try their best to prepare a sumptuous dinner: sea bream, grouper, tuna, mackerel and other seafood; Roasted camel meat coated with honey, and roasted whole lamb stuffed with various dried fruits in the belly.

The fragrant dinner was a delight for both the guests and the hosts. After the dinner was removed, the slaves brought some tea drinks from the East, and this was usually the time for the official negotiations.

In the presence of Antony, the Egyptian envoy to the Pashas, there was no room for the local Mamluk chieftains and naval officers to interject, except for the representative of the Hornisian family, Viktor, a young man also from Armenia, who could occasionally say a few words.

Antony, the Egyptian envoy to the Pasha, was a Greek who spoke fluent Spanish and French, so there was no language barrier between the two sides.

"Distinguished guests from the East Coast, after a period of frank conversation, I think we can get to the point." Anthony put down the teacup in his hand and spoke first: "Frankly speaking, you East Coasters did well in Smyrna in the second half of last year. The cotton, woollen and leather goods you have brought with you have been flowing into our country in large quantities in recent years, and I think you will soon receive a large number of orders. Of course, you and I both understand that this is not the point of our discussion today. There is only one point that we want to negotiate, and that is military cooperation, or more precisely, that we need a lot of army and naval equipment. ”

"Wait, you just mentioned naval equipment?" Guo Zili asked with some confusion, "I beg my pardon, I was not told in advance that your country needs our naval equipment. ”

"Now you know the truth." Anthony accentuated his tone and said unquestionably: "Naval equipment is also important. Not only the Pasha of Egypt, but even in Istanbul, there are many people who are silently watching the negotiations between us. The Ottoman Empire needed a strong navy, and the basis of a strong navy was advanced warships. Listen to me, the Spaniards, Venetians, Dutch, and English have now taken an unfriendly attitude towards us, and they have forbidden any advanced shipbuilding techniques to enter the Islamic world. While our valiant navy is not inferior to the enemy in the Mediterranean, anyone who is not blind can tell that the ships of the Ottoman navy are beginning to fall far behind those of the Western infidels. Our naval Pasha (Captampasha) reported to His Majesty the Sultan that the ships departing from Algiers were completely downwind when they encountered the British ships in the North Atlantic, and our ships were completely downwind in terms of resistance to wind and waves, maneuverability, speed, armor, firepower, etc. Therefore, we need more advanced warships! And this is also what Lord Pasha of the Navy means! Now you can tell me, East Coasters, can you meet our request? ”

"I'm sorry I wasn't authorized to answer such a sensitive question." Guo Zili was a little caught off guard, so he replied noncommittally, but he quickly asked again: "Is this an additional agreement?" If we don't agree on a naval agreement, will it affect what we have reached in business? ”

"Of course not." Anthony said as a matter of course, and then he blinked, looked at Guo Zili and said, "But I am sure that this will affect our friendship, especially the opinion of Lord Pasha of Egypt and Lord Pasha of the Navy will drop sharply towards your country, and maybe this will cause something unforeseeable." ”

Guo Zili was a little speechless for a while. The meaning of this envoy is already very clear, even if you on the east coast can get some of the upper echelons of the empire and be able to squeeze goods into this supermarket with a population of more than 30 million, if you can't meet the requirements of the navy and the Egyptian governor, things may still change, at least the route of Egypt's port of Suez may not be so smooth.

What a headache! Guo Zili was a little depressed, so he had to reply perfunctorily: "Okay, I will truthfully report this news to my government." Of course, from a private point of view, I think that the Ottoman Empire, as a regional power, had good reason to have a warship commensurate with your status. ”

"Good." Anthony grinned, "Hassan, you'll be returning to their country with the East Coast guests in a few days. If their government approves the naval agreement between us, you will live there and supervise the construction of new warships. East Coasters, now we can fulfill our commercial agreements. On behalf of Lord Pasha, I promise to your Government that the Suez port trade route will be open for at least one year. ”

"Yes." Naval Officer Hassan stood up and nodded at Envoy Anthony.

Guo Zili held his forehead and sighed secretly, according to the words of later generations, "I feel a little bad all over my body" - this Ottoman is not a fuel-efficient lamp! (To be continued......)