Approaching July, the scorching heat is gradually coming, Goa does not have the kind of ice-cube-like air conditioning in the capital, which is simply a kind of torture for Zhu Cijiong, who is used to a refreshing summer, at this time, he just wants to deal with everything in South Asia and return to the capital as soon as possible.

At this time, almost a month had passed since the war, and the situation in South Asia was becoming more and more stable:

The First Expeditionary Force, the Second Expeditionary Force, and the Guanning Army had taken over the entire Mughal Empire;

The three reserve corps are also being transported to Dhaka and Delhi by rail, and as for Kandahar, it has only passed, and the Yunnan Reserve Corps is on its way to Kandahar;

The local officials dispatched by the Ministry of Ming Officials are also gradually in place, and the various plans he has set are also being implemented gradually;

Everything is about to get on the right track, Zhu Cijiong thought about it, or left the First Army of the Expeditionary Force in Kandahar to prevent a sudden attack by the Persian Empire, and the Second Army of the Expeditionary Force was transferred to Xingcheng Port to maintain stability in the South Seas, and as for the other legions, they all returned to Daming to rest.

Just as he was about to gather all the armies to return to Daming, an unexpected person came to Goa.

This person is Wang Zhengnan's right-hand man, and the current Jinyi Wei envoy Xiao Jiucheng, Zhu Cijiong sent him to the Ottoman Empire to spy on intelligence, why did he come over?

As for why he was sent to the Ottoman Empire to spy on intelligence, it has to start with the canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

As early as the first time he went to Europe, Zhu Cijiong had the idea of building a canal, but at that time, Spain was too busy to take care of itself, Portugal had not yet recovered, and no one cooperated with him at all.

By the time he went to Europe last year, Spain had gradually recovered, Portugal had successfully become independent, and the three countries had signed a treaty of alliance, and the conditions for building the canal were ripe.

As a result, the situation was not optimistic, and the entire canal planning area turned out to be under the rule of the Ottoman Empire!

To be honest, Zhu Cijiong was not very familiar with the Ottoman Empire at that time, only knew that it was a relatively powerful empire, and he really didn't know how powerful it was.

But it doesn't matter if he doesn't know, naturally someone knows, he asked Xiao Jiucheng to inquire, and immediately knew that it was a big trouble, and I was afraid that this canal would be difficult to build!

The Ottoman Empire of this period was simply ridiculously strong, they defeated the Holy Roman Empire, defeated Spain, defeated Portugal, defeated Tsarist Russia, defeated the Persian Empire;

They spanned the Eurasian continent and was even larger than the Holy Roman Empire;

They had muskets, artillery and battleships, and even their navy had repeatedly defeated the navies of the European continent powers and dominated the Mediterranean!

In the face of such an Ultraman-like monster, Zhu Cijiong's depression can be imagined, and he immediately signaled to Xiao Jiucheng to find a way to break into the Ottoman Empire to see if there is a possibility of peaceful development of the Grand Canal.

As for starting a war with the Ottoman Empire, Zhu Cijiong has never had this idea, what kind of international joke, to go to war with such a powerful empire across the ocean, the transfer of grain and grass alone can make people squirt blood, not to mention that people are not vegetarians, and they don't know if they have done it or not!

It's a pity that Xiao Jiucheng came back with the news at that time is desperate, the current Ottoman Emperor Murad IV is an extremely strong and cruel person, bent on outward expansion, never thought of compromising with the surrounding countries, and more importantly, he is also an extremely outstanding military strategist, rarely loses battles, and even he is a fierce man with strong martial arts and amazing strength, and a dozen strong men can't get close to him, and he can't assassinate him.

In the face of such a monster-level empire, in the face of such a monster-level emperor, Zhu Cijiong had to put the plan to build a canal on hold indefinitely, just let Xiao Jiucheng always pay attention to the situation of the Ottoman Empire, and once he had the opportunity, he would report immediately.

Now, Xiao Jiucheng actually came over in person, could it be that there have been some huge changes in the Ottoman Empire?

Zhu Cijiong immediately summoned him to the study and asked eagerly: "Jiucheng, is there any good news?" “

Xiao Jiucheng excitedly arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, great news, Murad IV died of a sudden illness, and his younger brother Ibrahim I succeeded to the throne. “

What kind of good news is this, brother and brother, normal, Zhu Cijiong asked puzzledly: "Is this Ibrahim I very good at talking?" “

When Xiao Jiucheng heard this, his face was strange, and he replied embarrassedly: "Back to the emperor, this Ibrahim I is not easy to talk about, he is a little abnormal, he basically doesn't ask about state affairs, and now the power of the Ottoman Empire is in the hands of a few cronies who coaxed him." “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, his eyes lit up, and he said with interest: "Then you mean, someone among his cronies can buy it?" “

Xiao Jiucheng nodded and said: "According to Weichen's investigation, his cronies are all greedy and lustful, as long as they give money, they can do anything!" “

That's easy to do, Zhu Cijiong said excitedly: "Very good, immediately send someone to contact his cronies to see if there is any hope of buying that piece of land with money." “

Xiao Jiucheng replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty, you don't need to ask about this, you can, they even dare to sell the fiefs of the nobles, and they don't dare to do anything in such a small area as the canal." “

It's corrupted to this extent, okay, Zhu Cijiong asked eagerly, "Then how much do you estimate to be able to buy that place?" “

Xiao Jiucheng said cautiously: "This Weichen has also considered buying off a nobleman of the Ottoman Empire first, and then buying Ibrahim I's cronies through this nobleman, and buying this place as the nobleman's fief, in this case, it will cost about two million taels." “

Zhu Cijiong heard this, thought about it, shook his head and said: "This can't be done, they are not blind, once the canal is excavated, someone will definitely find out what is greasy, not to mention, after the canal is dug up, it will have to send troops to garrison, how can a powerful empire tolerate other countries stationing troops on their own territory, they must buy that piece of land completely, in the name of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise, I am afraid that the canal will cause disputes before it is dug well." “

When Xiao Jiucheng heard this, he said embarrassedly: "This, it's not impossible, but I'm afraid the money spent is more than two million taels." “

Zhu Cijiong said indifferently: "How much, you can roughly estimate it." “

Xiao Jiucheng thought about it carefully and said cautiously: "In this case, you must buy all the cronies of Ibrahim I, at least seven or eight million taels!" “

It's only seven or eight million taels, what is it, if you are forced to go to war with the Ottoman Empire, I am afraid that it will be more than seventy or eighty million taels, Zhu Cijiong directly clapped his hand and said: "I will prepare ten million taels for you first, you just have to talk, it doesn't matter if you have more!" “