Chapter Seventy-Four: Ming Dynasty Merchant Mo Ming Imprisoned Ottoman Sultan Want***

The Ottoman sultan acted suddenly, throwing all the Ming merchants in the territory of the Ottoman Empire into prison at once.

The shopkeeper of the caravan in Yaogang didn't understand what was going on, let alone why they, who had always been guests, suddenly became prisoners.

The shopkeeper was taken out without staying in the prison for long, and blindfolded, he stumbled after the soldier who escorted him, and felt that he had been walking for a long time, and the soldier ordered him to stop, and then pressed his head again and made him kneel. Only then did he take off his blindfold.

The eyes of the big shopkeeper adjusted to the light, and slowly saw clearly, and in front of him was the Sultan of the Empire. The big shopkeeper hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Meet Your Majesty!" ”

It's a small room, and a few fish oil lamps illuminate the room very brightly. There were only a few people sitting around the Sultan in front.

The Sultan stared at the treasurer and asked, "We have always treated you as guests, but why do you want to cooperate with the Russians against us?" ”

The chief treasurer understood that something must have happened to make the Sultan blame himself for the defeat.

The big shopkeeper immediately said, "Your Majesty must have misunderstood!" Your envoys and caravans have always been accompanied by me when they arrived at our kiln, and we also treat the guests of the Ottoman Empire as honored guests, whether it is our emperor or our president Zhang of the kiln, they all want to be friendly with the great Ottoman Empire forever. Our Emperor really wants to be good friends with the great Sultan. Besides, when we set off from the Ming Dynasty, we were still at war with the Russians, so how could we help the Russians against the Ottoman Empire? Your Majesty the Sultan must be discerning! ”

The Sultan and the two accompanying ministers also felt that the great treasurer's statement made sense. They also know that with this person's position, even if something really happens, he will not know.

After thinking for a while, he asked: "The Russians fought against our Ottoman Empire this time, using your Ming Dynasty muskets, and we have learned that there are also your officers who do training for the Russians." I'll also tell you that we know exactly what you're trading at a price. These are no longer a secret in Russia! How do you explain this? ”

"Oops! Your Majesty the Sultan, I really don't know what's going on, but I know that our emperor and Mr. Zhang are not fools, they will not help our enemies and oppose our friends! "The big shopkeeper actually heard that the Russians used a kind of musket in the war with the Ottoman Empire this time, and he understood that it must be the musket used by the kiln gang people before, but he didn't know how the family would sell muskets to the Russians, "Your Majesty the Sultan, I take the liberty of asking, how do you know that these muskets are what we sold to the Russians?" ”

"The Russians are saying everywhere that you have drawn a new border with them and have sold them muskets. They exchanged large swathes of land in the Ural Mountains for muskets. What else is there to say about this? ”

"Your Majesty, this is even more wrong, if we were really so confused as to sell weapons to our enemies and friends, we would not say it publicly. The Russians let out the wind like this, I think there is a sense of discord between us, Your Majesty must be aware of it! ”

"But in any case, your muskets are in the hands of the Russians, and they have killed many of our soldiers with your muskets. How do you explain this? The Sultan's voice changed a little when he said this, because the tragedy on the battlefield was once again in front of him.

The treasurer said, "Your Majesty, I guess so." I've heard about that musket, but it's no longer used by our main army. It is likely that some businessmen, who bought some of us, quietly bought the weapons and sold them to the Russians. The Russians are afraid of the friendship between our two countries, and even more afraid that you will get this kind of musket from our country, and you will deliberately use a divisive plan to sow discord between us. ”

The Sultan's phrase "I'm afraid you will get this musket from our country" reminded the Sultan. The Sultan said, "Yes! We should find a way to buy more muskets from the Ming Dynasty! ”

In fact, the clever treasurer deliberately mentioned this sentence in order to attract the Sultan's interest in this matter, and only in this way could the Sultan let his own people go.

The Sultan thought for a moment and asked, "You have indeed caused us a great loss, and if you can sell us some of these firearms, or better ones, I will spare you from death!" ”

As soon as the shopkeeper saw that there was a door, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty the Sultan, I will definitely take our emperor, but Your Majesty, I am a merchant in the Ming Dynasty, and I can't decide on such a musket business." The musket is strictly controlled, and we can't make one ourselves. ”

"Then you don't want to live?"

"No, no!" The chief treasurer hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I think this can be done." Since, the Russians are indeed using our muskets, and our two countries are friendly countries. If the Sultan really wants to get the muskets, why don't His Majesty the Sultans send an envoy with us to the Ming Dynasty to meet our emperor and tell us that our muskets have reached the Russians and caused you great losses. Then, ask to buy some muskets. In this way, perhaps our emperor, taking into account the friendly relations between our two countries, in order to compensate for the losses of the Ottoman Empire, can agree to your request. ”

The Sultan whispered to several ministers, looked up and said to the chief treasurer: "I think you will do as you say, but only one of you will be allowed to return to your Ming Dynasty with our envoys, and the others will remain in the Ottoman Empire as hostages." If you don't agree to sell us firearms, then these people will be put to death! ”

"Huh!" The shopkeeper smiled and said, "If His Majesty the Sultan really wants to buy muskets, I don't think he can do that!" ”

"Huh? Tell me about it? The Sultan asked, glancing at the ministers.

"If you threaten our emperor with hostage-taking, the emperor will feel insulted. The Emperor would rather sacrifice us than sell you a musket. And the consequences will be severe! ”

"Huh!" The Sultan sneered and asked, "I'd love to hear about this serious consequence?" ”

"What Your Majesty thinks, I dare not guess." The big treasurer said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "In my humble opinion, we can further support the Russians, or it is not impossible to send troops directly." Our emperor will not be insulted for no reason! ”

What the big treasurer said, the Sultan was really afraid, because he had just been defeated by the Russians, and his vitality had not recovered, if he really angered the Ming Dynasty, with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, he was supporting the Russians with some muskets, then the Ottoman Empire would face a great threat. If the powerful Ming Dynasty really sent troops to take revenge, it would not be impossible. Since they can drive to the Ural Mountains to fight the Russians, they can also drive over and fight with our Ottoman Empire.

However, the dignified Sultan must not be intimidated by a merchant, and must fight his majesty, "Bold, dare to threaten me!" Come on, put him in prison! ”

The chief treasurer knew in his heart that he could not die, and the Sultan locked himself up for the sake of face. It's really not okay if you don't threaten him, otherwise the Sultan will really keep his own people here as hostages, in that case, the family will be passive. He doesn't know what's going on at home lately, and secret radio stations are generally not easy to use if they are not in a hurry. Because the high-power radio is very battery-intensive, and it cannot generate electricity to charge the pool battery here. Now in prison, I can't use it. However, the big shopkeeper knew that the secret radio station set up in the kiln outside would definitely send home the information that they had been arrested.

After the Sultan returned, he agreed with the civil and military that he must buy *** from the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome for the Russians to attack again. They are more worried that the Russians are going to *** again. Because of the intelligence officers, the news came back that the tsar shouted on the battlefield that he wanted to *** again. The matter of the Ming Dynasty musket weighed on the Sultan's heart like a stone.

After careful study, the Sultan sent an able envoy and gave him the right to decide on the matter of purchasing *** on the spot.

When the Ming Dynasty caravan walked back, the envoy and the Ming Dynasty caravan shopkeeper rode a fast horse first, otherwise the speed of following the slow camel caravan was too slow. When the road is good, equip the envoys with good cars, as long as they can reach the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible, no matter what.

After being locked up for a few days, the big shopkeeper was released, because the Ming Dynasty caravan was going back, and the caravans that were sent to various places also gathered in Istanbul. The big shopkeeper has to organize a caravan to go back, and there is too much work.

Of course, the Sultan could not apologize to the big shopkeeper, but the minister who was going to follow the big shopkeeper back to the Ming Dynasty invited him to have a meal, which was considered a face for the big shopkeeper. Although the big shopkeeper was very aggrieved, he knew that this bit of face was still rewarded to him, and he still understood it in moderation.

After the big shopkeeper was released from prison, he contacted his home through a secret radio station. I didn't say much at home, and told him to come back safely.

When the big shopkeeper dined with this minister, his heart was already very down-to-earth. He knew that everything would be arranged at home. That's why it's so comfortable to work in Yaogang. Everyone has a different division of labor, but everyone will handle their own things very well. There's no need to worry about anything at all.

The minister knew that along the way, he had to share hardships with the big shopkeeper, and when he arrived in the Ming Dynasty, he had to rely on the help of the big shopkeeper for many things, and he inevitably continued to be courteous. The big shopkeeper also wanted to have a good relationship with him, and the two made them look like brothers.

After a few days of preparation, the huge caravan back to the Ming Dynasty set off. Almost the entire city of Istanbul came out to see them off. However, the caravan back was followed by a caravan from a much larger Western Regions nation, not just the Ottoman caravan. Because many merchants from various countries in the Western Regions knew that the caravans of the Ming Dynasty had arrived in Istanbul, many merchants from the Western Regions who had returned with the Ming Dynasty had brought back a lot of sought-after goods from the East. Merchants from all over the world came to Istanbul and asked when the Ming caravan would return, and they were going to go with them.

Therefore, the caravan that followed the Ming Dynasty caravan this time was extraordinarily large.

The Sultan had great hopes for the envoys sent to the Ming Dynasty this time. Because they didn't buy muskets from the Ming Dynasty, the Russians in the north, whom they had never paid attention to, posed a very big threat to the whole.

When the blood of the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire was spilled like a river, the Yaogang side couldn't feel it at all, it was too far away.

The young people of Yaogang are now crazy about a new electronic product.

Yaogang's new cassette recorders were on the market, and the sound that these recorders produced through the tape was much better than that of a turntable. Not only can you play the sound, but you can also sing and record the voice by yourself and listen to it yourself. As soon as this thing hit the market, it caused a sensation. Before the product went on the market, the radio newspaper introduced this thing, and on the first day that the VCR began to sell, the Yaogang shopping mall was not opened, and the front was full of people who wanted to buy the VCR.

For this matter, several princes actually mobilized the emperor to tell Zhang Zhimu that they wanted to record and play the machine.

The emperor's temper is also very good now, if the princes dared to mention this matter to him in the past, they would have been scolded by him a long time ago. But after the emperor asked what was going on, he really called Zhang Zhimu directly. Of course, Zhang Zhimu immediately sent someone to the emperor's family, each of whom got a VCR, and at the same time gave them all the tapes.

As a result, in the afternoon of the same day, you could see the boy's buddies wandering around the street with a video recorder all over the street.

The next day, someone wrote an article in the newspaper saying that the streets of Yaogang were full of wolf howls.

Because, many people use the VCR to play the song "I Am a Wolf from the North" sung by Zhang Zhimu.

When the emperor saw Zhang Zhimu, he asked him: "I said Zhang Dongjia, your newspaper actually reported such a thing, and you are not angry?" ”

"Why am I angry?" Zhang Zhimu asked rhetorically, "The old gentlemen's articles are very vivid and appropriate, and everyone is willing to read them." Isn't that great? Actually, they don't necessarily oppose me, they oppose me, and I'm not angry. I can't guarantee that everybody likes me, or everything I do. Everyone has the freedom to express their opinions! ”

"Oops! Is this also democracy? "The emperor thinks it's interesting.

"It's part of democracy, too!" Zhang Zhimu said.

The weather was already warm, but the emperor had no intention of returning to Beijing. The emperor also said to Zhang Zhimu, "It's nothing to do when I go back to Beijing, I listen to your news broadcasts every day and wait to read your newspapers." It is better to hear and see new things directly in the kiln as soon as possible. ”

This time, many adults took their families to Yaogang, and they were not used to going back to Beijing.

After the command center received the telegram sent to the imperial caravan, Chen Yufeng invited Zhang Zhimu over and studied the matter together.

In fact, since the caravan keeper was arrested by the Ottoman Sultan, the family received a telegram from Li Zhi to arrange a telegram at the Ottoman intelligence station. Some Persians living in Xi'an, Hou Yi, who were similar to the Ottoman race, arranged for them to follow the caravan to the Ottoman Empire, bought a real estate shop, and settled down. Fortunately, Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire was a very international business center, with many merchants from all over the world doing business here. They also did not attract the attention of the Ottoman intelligence services. The intelligence agencies are still too busy to keep track of the open business activities of the kiln workers.

Chen Yufeng, Ouyang He, and Li Zhi studied this matter together, and they all felt that it was related to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the Russians, and the discovery of the Russians' use of muskets.

Li Zhi's suggestion is that we can't do anything now, so we might as well wait and see what happens. If nothing else, the Ottoman Empire will buy *** from us. If this were the case, there would be no danger to our people. Because our businessmen really don't understand these things.

Sure enough, a few days later, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were released again, and after the big shopkeeper of the Yaogang caravan came out, he sent back the news that the Ottoman Empire wanted to buy the wall and was going to send someone to follow them to the Ming Dynasty.

Although it is still a long time before they arrive, this matter still needs to be studied, because this matter also involves the relationship between Jiang and the Russians.

In the end, it was decided that it could not be openly spent** to the Ottoman Empire, but it was still possible to sell muskets to them in the form of private trade. This is also a counterweight to the Russians, otherwise the Russians will become bigger on their side, and they will in turn deal with us.

This matter was also sent to Jiang Jian by telegram.

Jiang agreed to this approach, but he suggested that the weapons should be shipped to the Ottoman Empire as soon as possible, because the Russians were now asking for the muskets in Hami, and when the Russians got them, they would soon launch an attack on the Ottoman Empire.

Ouyang He sent a telegram to Jiang Zhu, asking them to find a reason to give these muskets to the Russians later, and at the same time to transport 5,000 muskets to Hami, as well as a large amount of ammunition. If the Ottomans needed muskets, they could be shipped to them as soon as possible. If Ningde they had taken down Tashkent, even muskets could be transported directly to Tashkent, which would have been closer to the Ottoman Empire.

A serial trap was thus laid for the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.

Ningde and they fought smoothly, Jiang Zhu surveyed the border, set up boundary pillars to do business, and built castles, and they were also very busy. But Fan Chengkun and their navy were very depressed.

When they passed through the Strait of Malacca, they encountered two ships of the Red Hairy Fan, and the Yaogang Navy sent a signal ordering them to surrender, but the two ships did not listen, turned around and ran. There was no way, Xiurong opened fire and sank them.

When they arrived at the Andaman Sea, they encountered a British ship, and the Yaogang Navy still hung a signal to order them to stop the ship for inspection, but they still kept trying to run, and the Yaogang Navy had to sink them.

But if they went to the Western Ocean (Indian Ocean), it turned out that Qin Peng had been harassing Qin Peng like a devil, and their British ship was gone.

The blazing sun of the Indian Ocean made the officers and men of the water in a bad mood, but fortunately there was a cold wind on all the ships, otherwise life would have been even worse.

When the fleet approached the mouth of the Dajinsha River (Irrawaddy River), the Yaogang fleet expanded the scope of the search, and even the radio detectors on the Guangzhou and Fuzhou were used, but no Yaogang human ships were found. Fan Chengkun asked people to contact Qin Peng, and the message sent back by Qin Peng made Fan Chengkun and them even more angry. Because the day before yesterday, they were also harassed by the artillery fire of the British ships. But why is there not a single kiln ship on the sea today?

The flotilla docked at the dock to rest probably exposed the news of the arrival of the Yaogang fleet, and the officers and men who did not dock were also a little tired at sea and also needed to rest.

In the end, Fan Chengkun and Qin Peng discussed it and decided that it would be better for the fleet to dock. I really couldn't find the British ship anymore, so I went directly to the Wolmore Empire to find them.

Unexpectedly, this decision almost caused a catastrophe.