Bring in scholars!

When Newton was surprised that this was not realistic, he did not know that at the same time, several scholars of the Ming Dynasty had arrived in Egypt at the invitation of the king of Egypt.

Egypt in 1684 was undoubtedly foreign to the world.

Although the Egyptians created a splendid civilization in ancient times, the mighty empire was nothing more than a distant legend. For the Copts of the seventeenth century, they were ruled by outsiders for the rest of their memory. Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians and then by the Persians, and finally became part of the great empire established by Alexander and lost its independent status. The short-lived Ptolemaic dynasty later became a province of the Roman Empire.

However, unlike the rule of the Greeks and Romans, which brought European civilization to Egypt. After the Arab invasion, Egypt fell into increasing poverty as the Roman-era water conservancy facilities were destroyed over the past millennium. Today's Egypt has long lost its former glory under the constant exploitation of the Turks and Arabs. But it all came to an end at the beginning of the year.

On September 3, 1683, more than 10,000 Coptic Free Army with the cooperation of the mercenary fleet captured Suez, which set off the Coptic uprising, half a year later, the Coptic King Zhu Hemo led an army of 50,000 with the cooperation of the rebels in the city, captured Cairo, and before that, the Coptic of Alexandria had launched an uprising to overthrow the rule of the local Mamluks.

Neither the Ottomans nor the local Mamluks were able to organize an effective suppression of the Copts' revolt, with the former's defeat in Vienna making it impossible to mobilize large armies to Egypt in a short period of time, while the latter's forces were mostly lost in Vienna by the Turkish Sultans who were moving to Europe.

Within a few months, the Ottoman rule in Egypt came to an end. The pagan Copts used the division of land as bait to incite the Egyptian peasants, who were already dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Turks, to see it as an opportunity. The once prominent Mamluks were slaughtered in the uprising, and their land and possessions were distributed to the Egyptian peasants.

In May 1684, in order to put out the "rebellion" of the Copts, the Ottoman Empire mobilized 100,000 troops and marched all the way south to Egypt. and fought a decisive battle with the Copts in the Sinai Peninsula. However, the war did not bring back much to the Ottoman Empire. The flat Sinai Peninsula was more conducive to the Coptic muskets and artillery.

The battle lasted for half a month, and under the blows of 100,000 Coptic troops and more than 10,000 Ming mercenaries, the Turks lost nearly 80,000 troops, and then they had to retreat all the way to Jerusalem. The long-awaited Zhu Hemo was crowned King of Egypt in Cairo a month later, Mark I. And this also means the independence of Egypt.

The year 1684 was undoubtedly a year of celebration for the Egyptian people, as Egypt finally gained its independence after Caesar's conquest.

However, as a newly independent country, Egypt still faced too many problems, and in front of Mark I, the king of Egypt, there was not only the problem of the country's clear distinction between Christians and Celestials, but also Egypt's dilapidated water facilities.

As king, Mark I did not even bother to prepare for another attack by the Turks, but devoted himself to the cause of rebuilding Egypt. At this moment, he is accompanying a guest from the East, admiring the unique scenery of the Nile.

"Mr. Song, you see, this is the Nile, unlike the Ming Dynasty, for thousands of years, the flooding of the river has been in the eyes of the Egyptians as "the gift of the Nile". The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described it this way: "

Pointing to the overflowing river, Mark I said with emotion.

"The farmers there just wait for the river to flood out on its own, to irrigate the fields, irrigate and then retreat back to the riverbed, and then each person scatters the seeds on his own land, tells the pigs to step on the seeds, and then just waits for the harvest." Every year, when the river turns green, when the Nile floods, the valley is covered with a thick layer of black silt. This not only becomes the source of irrigation water on both banks, but also brings a large amount of organic matter and minerals, which become natural fertilizers, making the land in the valley extremely fertile, and the crops can be harvested three times a year......"

In front of Song Pingtao, Zhu Hemo did not speak Chinese, but spoke Coptic, although in his heart, he preferred to speak Chinese, but now he is the king of Egypt - Mark I. Mark, is his Christian name.

"Your Majesty, this is really a real Feng Shui treasure!"

Song Pingtao couldn't help but praise that after coming to Egypt, he learned about the Nile River through various materials, which is indeed a rare treasure of feng shui, perhaps because of the superior agricultural conditions of ancient Egypt, the life of ancient Egyptians can be called relaxed and comfortable compared with surrounding countries, perhaps this is also the reason for the demise of ancient Egypt. Because their lives are too easy and comfortable. Perhaps it was the superior agricultural environment that made the Egyptians lose their martial spirit. The national army is made up of captives and mercenaries.

"However, the banks of the river are feng shui treasures, and this is not the case in other places. Or even the overflow of the Nile. It will also have different effects, by measuring the water level of the Nile, if the water level is below 27 feet, there will still be famine in Egypt; Above 27 feet, there will be floods in Egypt. It's been that way for thousands ......"

Looking at Song Pingtao, Zhu Hemo said.

"Of course, it is not always the case, as early as the time of Alexander until the Roman Empire, Egypt has been the granary of the empire, in order to ensure the food supply of Egypt to the empire, so they built a series of irrigation and water conservancy facilities in Egypt, the existence of these facilities, not only increased the amount of land in Egypt, but also allowed millions of acres of land to avoid droughts and floods. However, after the Arab invasion, those water conservancy facilities were either swallowed up by sand or long lost their function because they were in disrepair, so I hope you can work with local scholars to rebuild Egypt's water system! ”

The request of the young Egyptian king in front of him seemed to be a normal answer in Song Pingtao's ears, and even in his opinion, this was obviously what a Ming monarch should do.

"Your Royal Highness, it is a privilege for your people to have such a wise king as you......"

"That's true."

Prime Minister Alexander, who was following the king, said with a smile.

"Now, the most important thing for Egypt is to restore the battered agriculture, and when Egypt continues to export grain to Europe, Egypt will inevitably become strong again."

Listening to the words of the prime minister, Song Pingtao just nodded yes with a smile, and he noticed that the clothing in the Egyptian court was completely different from that of the Arabs, but more similar to the Ming Dynasty, but there were obvious differences. It seems to have borrowed the style of some Ming clothing.

Song Pingtao didn't find anything strange about this, after all, in Cairo, he met many Ming people, most of whom were the king's guards, and they played an extremely important role in the battle against the Turks, and the influence of the Ming on Egypt was not just one king. In addition to the king's guard, there were a large number of Ming people, and in the court of the kingdom, there were also Ming officials.

"It's inevitable, my Prime Minister."

While expressing praise, Song Pingtao said again.

"However, it all takes time, we have to understand the Nile first, and then we can build the corresponding water facilities here, and of course, in the early days, we will try to repair the abandoned and damaged water facilities......

While Song Pingtao was explaining all this, Zhu Hemo had already walked to the river, and he bent down to look at the level of greenery, according to his understanding, it was now the season of the Nile flooding. This will be the first time he has experienced the flooding of the Nile.

"Of course, Mr. Song."

Zhu Hemo said with a smile.

"But that's not the only problem, after all, Prime Minister Alexander, how are our negotiations with the Canal Company going now? I hope that the construction of the canal will not have too much impact on the maintenance of water conservancy facilities. ”

As the sponsor of Egypt's independence, the Coptic Church had already signed an agreement with the Canal Company before Zhu Hemo ascended the throne, agreeing to cede the Suez Isthmus and the Sinai Peninsula to the Canal Company for the construction of a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The current negotiations are not negotiations on the cession of land, but on the construction of the canal and other aspects of labor.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, that we have reached a consensus on the issue of labor conscription, and there are enough laborers in Egypt to levy them."

Although Egypt had a population of only three million, Alexander was confident enough to recruit enough laborers, after all, there were at least one and a half million pagans among those three million, and there was a limit to the tolerance of Copts in Egypt, which could not only take away the young and middle-aged of those people and prevent them from rioting, but also force them to convert with long-term labor.

For the Copts, the construction of the canal would not only bring Egypt a huge income, allowing Egypt to use the canal as a barrier to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty and maintain the country's independence, but also to drive the pagans to convert with heavy labor.

The group then continued their expedition along the Nile, and it was not until the afternoon that they returned to the royal palace in Cairo.

Looking at the Arabian-style palace, Zhu Hemo's brows flashed with a hint of unhappiness, and he said to Alexander.

"This Ottoman palace may not be suitable for the Copts, don't you think?"

Alexander was puzzled.

"But, Your Highness, what is Coptic architecture?"