Chapter 124: The Takeover of Damascus The Question of Jerusalem

The Ottoman envoy saw that Sun Chuanting didn't look angry when he heard his words, and said that he knew what to do, but he still looked relaxed, and was a little puzzled, "What good idea does Lord Sun have?" ”

"Huh! After listening to your introduction, I know that on the Egyptian side, according to our Mr. Zhang, the class division is very serious. It was a small number of people who controlled a large amount of land, and a large number of serfs lived at the bottom. The Mamluk feudal lords also led an army of slaves. Knowing this, we have a way to deal with them! In fact, these places we accept are also of different importances! Sun Chuanting said.

"Master Sun, you still haven't said what to do?" The Ottoman envoy did not understand what Sun Chuanting meant.

"Quite simply, we will take back the land and divide it equally among the farmers. All slavery was abolished, and all were citizens of equal status. Sun Chuanting said firmly.

"No, no, no! Those Mamluk lords have very strong armed forces at their disposal, and they will not agree to such conditions! The envoy said, waving his hand.

"Then we will destroy them, I don't believe it, we give the slaves the status of free men, and the slaves will fight for them?" Sun Chuanting said.

"Master Sun, what you think is too simple! Those feudal lords would not let the slaves know about the outside situation. The slaves were the same as the animals in the pen, and they didn't know anything outside. They just know that if they work the battlefield, they can win favor and get some rewards! The Ottoman envoy explained.

Li Kui smiled beside him and said, "Let's talk about it in the past, there will always be a way!" At this time, Li Kui already had an idea that a person like Sun Chuanting would not have thought of.

When the envoy was away, Li Kui said to Sun Chuanting: "Lord Sun, you don't have to talk too much to that envoy. When we arrive in Egypt, listen to me, and let us give the Egyptian Pasha a little more money, and ask him to gather all the lords of Mamluk from all the lands to a meeting, and declare that those places are ours. I took someone to solve them all so that there would be no trouble! ”

"Oops! General Li can't do this, we will have to govern these places for a long time in the future, we can't do this. If we do so, we will lose our trust, and who will believe us in the future? Sun Chuanting couldn't accept this.

"These Mamluk lords will not allow us to carry out such a policy, and we will destroy them if we do not destroy them immediately, and we will destroy them in the future. But in the future, it will be difficult to catch them one by one! Li Kui said, "After these lords are destroyed, we will let the local civilians elect their local leaders to cooperate with us in managing the place." Those civilians would prefer to see the rich unlucky! What's more, they will all get a lot of benefits? Especially the slaves, if we let them share the same land with the commoners, I don't believe that they can still come out and avenge their masters? ”

This time, Sun Chuanting did not deny Li Kui's opinion, but said: "You have also seen along the way, there is a big gap in the lives of the people here. The rich are very rich, and the poor are really poor. I have an idea to improve the lives of the people here. This matter needs to be cooperated by the family! ”

"If you have a good idea, speak it up and listen to it!"

"I looked at the area I walked, there was a lot of cotton, and the price was just so cheap! Cotton is a scarce thing in our kilns. These cotton are transported to the kiln and then woven out, and transported back here, I don't know how many times it will be multiplied? Therefore, while we purchase cotton at market prices, we can greatly increase their incomes by giving them some subsidies, and in addition, we will no longer charge such high taxes and fees, and the peasants' living standards can be greatly improved. Can the people live such a good life? So, as long as we keep an eye on those who want to make trouble, and encourage the people to monitor and report them, we can stabilize this place! ”

"Oops! Master Sun, I obeyed you! Li Kui arched his hand and said.

"But it's going to bleed a little at first! You can't do it without bloodshed! Sun Chuanting said again.

"I never wanted to take over such a big place in a safe place!" Li Kui waved the horsewhip in his hand and said, "Don't worry! Our army is not vegetarian! And those Mongol soldiers who saw those guys holding turbans and wanted to cut off their heads! ”

"It's not to blame the Mongolian brothers! They all know that many Mongols who believe in Buddhism have been killed by their *** people, and they are eager for revenge! Sun Chuanting said.

Leaving Tripoli to the south, Sun Chuanting and the others came to Damascus, the capital of Damascus province. It is an ancient city with a history of more than 4,000 years.

Here the Ottoman envoy read the order of the Ottoman Sultan to the Governor of Damascus, who cried out about his unwillingness to accept such a fact. The officials below also wiped their tears and were unwilling to accept it. However, the Ming officials brought by the Ottoman envoys, as well as the majestic army, were outside the city.

The governor controlled his emotions for a moment, knowing that the Sultan's orders must be carried out, and together with the imperial envoys, he opened the city gates to welcome Sun Chuanting and Li Kui into Damascus with the army of officials.

Sun Chuanting and Li Kui, as well as all the officers and soldiers, were shocked by this majestic ancient city.

Li Kui whispered to Sun Chuanting: "Lord Sun, I never dreamed that we would take over such a city without bloodshed. When it is stable, I must ask Mr. Zhang to come and have a look! ”

"Yes! The city is too big, and we're probably not enough to keep a thousand people. Sun Chuanting said.

"Just leave a thousand of our troops, and another two thousand Mongolian cavalry!" Li Kui said, "We should ask our family to send more troops over as soon as possible." Now we're just taking over the coast, and it's still early inland! More troops are needed! ”

"I think we really need to send more troops from home, give us a year, and we can get here on our own. Send the army to take over the place first, give us some time to govern! Sun Chuanting said.

Due to the foreshadowing of the envoy, the governor of Damascus was still very polite to Sun Chuanting, and the handover began on the same day.

The governor offered to take all the gold and silver from Damascus.

Sun Chuanting said: "As long as it is the personal property of the governor and your subordinates, you can take it away. But the public property belongs to Damascus and must be kept! ”

"Those are the property of our Ottoman Empire, and we must call our Sultan!" The Governor still wanted to insist.

"From the time your Sultan signed it, everything here is from the Ming Dynasty. The reason why you are allowed to take away your personal property is to take care of you! Sun Chuanting's words were peaceful, but they were very firm.

The Ottoman envoy immediately lifted the siege and said, "Your Excellency, don't make any more unrealistic demands!" He said in his heart, His Majesty the Sultan has handed this place over to others, so don't do anything about it.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Sun Chuanting said: "Your Excellency, if there is nothing else, come with us to Beirut the day after tomorrow!" I know it's a deep-water port where our big ships at sea can come in, and I've brought you some gifts! ”

It just so happened that the Governor didn't want to stay in Damascus for a day, and when he heard that Sun Chuanting still had a gift for himself, he knew that the gift would not be too light, so he immediately said: "Okay, I will accompany you to take over Beirut the day after tomorrow!" Beirut is a natural deep-water port that has been a hub for goods moving between East and West since ancient times. You've taken over here, it's hard not to get rich! ”

The governor's face became so fast, and there was still some flattery in his words, that the Ottoman envoy felt a little unbearable on his face, and coughed dryly: "Okay! Tomorrow we'll go together! ”

He knew that to get the position of the governor of Damascus, not only must you have a prominent family background, but also need to spend a lot of money to do it, so the first thing they did after they arrived was to make money by unscrupulous means, and now the position of the governor is gone, and there is no chance to make money.

Although the people of Beirut know that the owner of this place will change immediately, they still have to live and do business. The handover here was very peaceful, and there was no change on the surface, except that the soldiers standing guard had changed. As soon as the ship came to shore, the merchants from Damascus and the merchants from Beirut surrounded them. It turns out that Beirut is an end point of the Silk Road, and now someone has sent the goods of the Ming Dynasty here, especially since there have been no merchant ships here for a long time, how can shrewd businessmen let go of such a good opportunity. Beirut suddenly became as lively as a festival. In addition to merchants, many people get stuck on the wharf every day on these large ships that emit black smoke. Especially at night, the lights on all the big ships are lit up, illuminating the pier, and people are reluctant to leave the pier for a long time. Many of the goods brought by the Yaogang ship this time were not seen by the well-known merchants here, and they far exceeded their psychological preparations, especially the merchants who came from Damascus, and the silver they brought was not enough at all, and they all regretted not bringing more silver. The merchants of Beirut were eager to exchange all their silver for the goods of the kilnmen.

Sun Chuanting really gave the Governor a VCR, as well as a few wide cloths of different kinds of fabrics, and some silver-like aluminum products. The Governor's mouth could not be closed with joy.

It's a pity that there is a language barrier, but even so, the Governor still told Sun Chuanting through his colleagues that in that place in Damascus Province, who is influential, how to deal with it, and which tribe is difficult to deal with, pay attention. And how many weapons are there in that tribe, and what is their weakness! Wait, these are all news that Sun Chuanting needs very much. This made Sun Chuanting feel that this governor was really not a fool, and the situation he understood was very critical and very useful.

When the Governor's family boarded the ship and left Beirut, Sun Chuanting also gave his wife some silk and cosmetics.

Seeing this, Li Kui smiled and asked, "Is he still of any use?" ”

"I gave it to him, not because he was of any use, but because he was of any use to us!"

"Master Sun, I have made up your mind, you are a true gentleman!" Li Kui arched his hand and said.

On the boat, Mu Yi watched the people sent by Lu Chengxiang doing business, and said to Zheng Zhilong: "Old Zheng! I think there are still many untapped markets for us, and there are really a lot of things to do! ”

"Hehe, Commander Mu, you don't want to do all the business in the world, do you!" Zheng Zhilong asked.

"That's not it, but I heard Mr. Zhang say that with the development of our production capacity, we need to open up more markets, I think the market is inexhaustible for a period of time!"

"Yes! That's right, at least for a short time, we don't have to worry too much about not finding the market! Zheng Zhilong said.

"However, I'm worried that Master Sun and Li Kui will be able to manage such a big place. Isn't that the place you see on the map? Let's just say that these ports on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea are next to each other! People in such a place can't be too simple! Mu Yi said.

"You're right!" Zheng Zhilong said, "The people here are born businessmen! However, they also have a common weakness, which is mercenary. It's easy to buy! Lord Sun also understands this, so Lord Sun should have a way to clean them up! ”

Sun Chuanting had letters from the Ottoman envoys and the governor of Damascus, and when Sun Chuanting took over Sur, Haifa, Irbid, Amman, Tel Aviv, the West Bank and other places, it was very smooth. However, because the officials in these places had received the news in advance, when Sun Chuanting and the others arrived, these people had already cleaned up the gold and silver of the official mansion. Sun Chuanting and Li Kui didn't feel too sorry, because they never took this seriously.

When Sun Chuanting and his party came to Jerusalem, they encountered problems that they had never encountered before.

This ancient city located on Mount Yudia is a religious center, and Judaism, Christianity, and *** religion, according to their own religious legends, all worship the city as a holy place.

Sun Chuanting had to admit that dealing with religious issues would be a very important issue for them in the future.

Li Kui said to Sun Chuanting: "Damn, let Commander Li Wei send some sappers to blow up this place with **, and then build a temple, and we will invite some monks to come over." This can't be left behind! ”

"We can't drive all the people out of here, or kill them all! Then, we must give these religious people the freedom to believe in religion and practice their religion. However, there is still one thing to insist on, that is, it is forbidden to participate in politics, and all activities unrelated to religious activities are prohibited, and violators will be severely punished! And the means must be resolute. After we have stabilized this matter, we have to make it clear to their religious leaders, and we must put it into writing and post it. Sun Chuanting said.

"! It's such a mess that I don't know what to do. I think it's better to come simply, it's all fucking like those Mongol khans forced their subjects to convert to *** religion, and they forced them to convert! Kill it if you don't change it, it's much easier! Li Kui said indignantly.

"This can't be done!" Sun Chuanting said, "Christianity and Christianity have been fighting for so many years, but they have not come up with a result. In this area, the faith of the people is so deep-rooted that trying to keep them out of their religion is like killing them. I don't think we have that much power to do that. It's better to keep this within our control! ”

"What about this Jerusalem? Isn't it a matter for all religions to fight over each other? It's also a problem later! Li Kui said.

"I'll take care of this when we're stable. I will invite all their religious leaders to come to the meeting and let them share Jerusalem. It is also necessary to formulate some rules that everyone to abide by as laws, and violators will be severely punished! Sun Chuanting said.

While Sun Chuanting took over all the places along the way, they also kept reporting the situation to their families.

The kiln gang year was almost over, and Zhang Zhimu came to the command center to learn about these situations.

Ouyang He handed Zhang Zhimu a telegram and said, "This is a telegram sent by Lord Sun from Latakia, where a large asphalt mine has been discovered. How about Mr. Zhang, this is good news! ”

After receiving the telegram, Zhang Zhimu looked at it, his mouth was already a little closed, "Great!" The next very important task on our Western Front is to build roads! With asphalt, we can build high-grade roads with asphalt pavement. Whether we can manage the new area well or not, this traffic is also a very important factor. ”

Chen Yufeng said: "Sun Chuanting asked to send more troops over to help them take over those places. I don't think the situation is very complicated, Sun Chuanting will not ask us for more troops. ”

"The strange thing is that Sun Chuanting and they have not been at war since they left, what do you want so many troops for?" Ouyang He said.

"Huh! The situation of the people there is very complicated, and there is a need for troops everywhere, so once dispersed, many troops will be needed. In addition, the cadres they brought with them were also insufficient, and they were all transferred from the cadres of the two river basins. It's scary to think about. There were completely people of different ethnicities and different faiths, and as soon as our people entered, it was like sinking to the bottom of the river. If it weren't for the abundant oil fields there, I really shouldn't have to bear this burden! Now I'm wondering if we're getting some impulsiveness! Zhang Zhimu said.

"And yes! Li Kui sent a telegram in his personal name, saying that he believed that we should send more troops to kill them, so that everyone there would follow us to Buddhism! That's easy to manage! Chen Yufeng said.

"Huh! General Li Kui's opinion looks a little rough, but I think it makes sense. What we want is the underground oil fields there, and we don't have to worry about the lack of people. Ouyang He said.

Obviously, Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He both agreed with Li Kui's opinion.

"You can't do that!" Zhang Zhimu objected, "It's not that I'm too kind, it's that we can't do it." It's a very large area, many of which are remote and mountainous, and we can't completely wipe them out! I think Master Sun Chuanting can have an objective understanding of the situation there! That place, unlike Mongolia, is vast and sparsely populated. There are many densely populated areas in the Middle East, and they have a history of civilization dating back thousands of years. You can't conquer them by brute force alone. Where you conquer by force, you can only wait for a while. If we want to make it our territory for a long time, we must assimilate them culturally. With this realization, we should know what to do! ”

"Yes! Mr. Zhang's opinion should be sent to Sun Chuanting and them! Ouyang He said, "I still have a way to effectively support them!" ”