"Your Excellency, this is an urgent official letter sent by the Northwest Expeditionary Yuan, and there is also a joint official letter signed by the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army." In the palace of the political envoy of Xiliu Prefecture, Song Lingxun hurriedly came over from outside and handed the official document received outside to Sima Daoxin and said: "The northwest travel yuan has received an order from the cabinet to officially start the canal project. Song Lingxun's words made Sima Daoxin's frowning brows stretch suddenly, and after reading the two official documents in a hurry, he said with a smile: "Song Tingshi, although this canal plan involves all the provinces under the jurisdiction of the entire Northwest Governorship, but after all, my Persian Province is the leader, and the Persian Governor's Mansion in charge of you is the top priority, and almost all the major projects arranged by the cabinet are related to the Persian Governor's Office, so you must muster up the spirit to do this well." Although there are very few Han people in Persian Province, relying on the descendants of the Tang people of the Song family in those years, they quickly stabilized their positions, and most of the soldiers of the Anxi Corps stationed here are almost all descendants of the Tang people of Anxi, and no matter how bad it is, it is also after the nine surnames of Zhaowu, so these troops stationed in Persia and Kangju have played a very good role in promoting the local people's hearts and feelings. Thanks to the strong economic development of the mainland, a large number of native products and mineral resources produced in Persia and other places have been sold to the mainland of the Tang Dynasty in recent years, which has also greatly promoted the development of Persia and other places. After the establishment of the Northwest Expedition, it increased its support for Persia, and the entry and exit of the southern railway brought a lot of wealth and completely stabilized the local situation. All this gave Sima Daoxin greater confidence in the prospects of Persia and his own progress.

"Rest assured, the Persian Governorate is fully prepared. Moreover, the shipyard has already started to build new warships, and according to the report of the person in charge of the Ma family, they have adopted the latest shipbuilding methods, which can build all kinds of parts in batches and then assemble them in a unified manner, so there will be no problem with the progress. Song Lingxun's Tang Yan was still very neat, with a thick local accent, but with a hint of confidence and smiled: "At present, according to the assistance of the Zhang family, our port has been re-excavated in the same way as the Tang Dynasty, and the military and civilian wharves and warehouses have also been re-planned, and the Persian Governor's Mansion will definitely be built into a very large Western port." "Song Lingxun has no reason not to be confident, as the only seaport in Persian Province at present, the Persian Governorate has unique conditions, and the location is also very good, the construction of the new city and the port also avoided the old city site, and directly moved to a natural harbor by the sea, so the re-planned Persian Governor's Mansion is larger than the original city and the old land of the city alone. Now that the canal project is launched, a huge amount of supplies and personnel from the interior of the Tang Dynasty will inevitably enter and leave the port of the Persian Governorate. Therefore, these days, there are at least three ocean-going fleets docking at the newly built civilian dock area, and such cargo throughput will inevitably bring about the rapid development of the economy of the Persian Governorate and even the Persian Province.

The two of them set off by train from Xiliuzhou almost overnight to the Persian Governor's Mansion for on-site supervision, and implemented the various landing industries assigned by the cabinet and the Northwest Xingyuan. Large-scale mining in Persia, along with ancillary industries, had already begun to be built, relying on the transportation of the southern railway, and once established, these industries either transported huge quantities of raw materials to the Central Plains or directly to the big food for sale. Therefore, although the end of the year is coming soon, all parts of Persian Province are basically in full swing, and there is no trace of cold winter at all.

However, on the second day after the two arrived at the Persian Governorship, a Shandong-class giant ship of the Navy's Western Fleet set off from the port of the Persian Governor's Palace, which was the flagship of the Western Fleet and the ship of Qu Chengxing's trip. He began to leave the westernmost port of the Tang Dynasty with a supply fleet, heading westward, preparing to join the detachment that was exploring the route in front of him, and go to the two locations that were claimed to be able to choke the throat of the Red Sea. The Phoenician Canal was about to be built, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not have control of the ports at either end of the canal, so his Western fleet had to seize those two places before the big cannibals could react. Although Qu Chengxing didn't know why the emperor knew that there were such two places, and even the Admiralty sent a map of the Red Sea region, although it was written that it was drawn by Xuan Yingwei, but Qu Chengxing always felt a little suspicious. If it was drawn by Xuan Yingwei, then there was no need to let yourself personally lead the team to explore the precise sea and land routes. Could it be that the Dark Guard has already found these two places from land? There is also an island among them.

"Li Guixin, which way are you going? We're going to turn here this time. Qu Chengxing found Li Guixin, the captain of the ship, and said: "Don't enter this Gulf of Oman, just go straight across the Gulf of Oman in front of Gawat and then walk along this coastline of the Great Cannibal, and dock at Saidh for replenishment." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has negotiated that this Saidh will be used as a supply base for my Datang to go out of the Red Sea. Qu Chengxing negotiated a new route with the other party according to the map in his hand, and then instructed the ships to change course, no longer continuing in the direction of Baghdad, into the narrow strait, but turning directly in the Gulf of Oman, and then traveling west along the coastline of the Tianfang Peninsula, resupplying at the stronghold of Saidh, and then washing to the southwest. After Qu Chengxing asked Li Guixin to command the ship and the accompanying fleet behind him, he took a few accompanying staff officers to combine the map in his hand with the original nautical chart to draw the latest Western Ocean and the latest nautical chart. This is not only a requirement of the navy, but also an order issued by Li Xuanqing to all fleets sailing at sea, all fleets that arrive at the latest sea areas must draw charts and record hydrographic data along the way, and then hand them over to the Admiralty after returning to China, and the Admiralty will regularly update the latest civil nautical charts, so as to facilitate all Datang ships to have the latest and most accurate nautical charts available.

Qu Chengxing and his entourage arrived at Saidh after a few days of sailing, and the Great Food Empire had already relocated most of the aborigines as a whole, and in order to connect the two countries, a liaison officer and the personnel of the pre-detachment were dispatched to co-locate and establish a state-of-the-art naval supply base. Because it was necessary to provide supplies for passing civilian ships in the later stage, the liaison officials of Dashi had urgently contacted the rear to transfer Minfu to expand the port and establish a simple wharf and port, so as to facilitate the entry of large quantities of materials on the Datang side. Since the supply of ships on the Tang side needs more coal fuel in addition to water and grain, this not only requires a large number of freighters to be transported from the Persian Governorship, but Dashi has also promised to try to collect charcoal in the country and transport it here. However, it is obvious that whether it is Li Guixin or Qu Chengxing, they don't care about Dashi's commitment to this aspect, not to mention how high the level of coal mining is and how much it can be mined, let's just say that the power of the steam engine of the internal power equipment of Datang ships has been innovated to the latest three-rise steam engine, and the quality requirements for charcoal are getting higher and higher.

After docking at Saidh for three days, Qu Chengxing ignored the construction of the stronghold and led the team to leave, and after three days of sailing, he finally saw the island marked on the chart that held the choke point of the Red Sea.

"This is what the emperor called Barracuda Island?" Qu Chengxing naturally didn't know that Li Xuanqing had changed the name of Socotra Island in later generations to Barracuda Island, so the command ship found a place to dock and led the team ashore to take a look. This small island is long and narrow in an east-west direction at the mouth of the Red Sea, and its location is indeed as Li Xuanqing said, and it can control the entire Red Sea shipping lane. But this is just a small island, Qu Chengxing sent someone to investigate, there is a water source on the island, and there is a lot of local vegetation, but most of the island is boulders, I am afraid that even if the army is stationed, there will not be many people left.

"Plant the Tang Emperor flag, let's leave here first to find Wolong Port, and then find a way to arrange manpower on this island." Qu Chengxing had a plan in his heart, but at this time, he didn't say much to lead the team out of here and head in the direction of the Red Sea. Go to that harbor on the continent of Africa. The forward detachment, judging by its formation, should have docked there.

This Wolong Port is actually Djibouti in later generations, but in this life, the original colonists here have been tossed and are about to flee to the island of England, so it is natural that the name can be changed to Datang. So Li Xuanqing straightforwardly changed this place to Wolong Port on the map. Naturally, Qu Chengxing also marked it on his own chart.

However, although the name has been changed, its geographical location has not changed at all, and by the time Qu Chengxing arrived, the three warships of the Western Fleet and nearly 20 freighters behind him had docked in this trumpet-shaped harbor, and the engineering team that came with the ship had already landed and started intense construction. A large amount of material was also removed from the various freighters, and in the hands of the engineering team, it was quickly turned into a building facility and then landed. Because this place is related to the overall situation, it will inevitably become the most important stronghold of Datang in Africa for a long time in the future, so the entire port construction is built in accordance with domestic standards. Even if it was a simple dock in the early stage, these engineering teams were not sloppy in the slightest.

"Did you find fresh water? Are there any indigenous people in this place? After Qu Chengxing arrived, he immediately led people ashore to meet Li Shaozhou, the top general of the Marine Corps stationed here. This place was built and garrisoned by his two guards of marines.

"Fresh water has been found, there is groundwater in this place, we have dug up a few places and dug up the groundwater vein, which can be used with confidence. As for the indigenous people, there was an indigenous dynasty on the plateau hundreds of miles east of this place, but we did not look at it when the time was urgent. But the Dark Guard has already sent someone to go, and if the general's estimate is good, there has been news recently. "Li Shaozhou is a member of the Marine Corps, but Qu Chengxing is indeed the commander-in-chief of the Western Fleet, and according to the regulations of the Navy, the commander-in-chief of the fleet can control the Marines in its own jurisdiction under normal circumstances, and can have command when necessary. And the location of Wolong Port is too important, so although Li Shaozhou has long heard of his reputation in the Marine Corps, a few years ago near the Tianzhu Peninsula he led the team to be responsible for the construction of the Lion Country Navy Advance Base, this time he was transferred to see that the Marine Corps attaches great importance to Wolong Port, if Qu Chengxing's estimate is good, Li Shaozhou will inevitably be appointed by Chen Mingzheng as the person in charge of the canal garrison force in the future, so he also intends to test him, and continued: "Shao Zhou, How do you think our navy should build Wolong Port and Barracuda Island? ”

"Wolong Port and Barracuda Island are one main and one auxiliary, with Barracuda Island as the outer defense outpost and Wolong Port as the base of the garrison. The last general thought that the future status of Wolong Port should need to be included in the overseas territory of the empire, so it was necessary for the general system to report to the Admiralty in advance, and the general staff liaison cabinet would make a decision as soon as possible. Li Shaozhou said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Therefore, the last general thinks that the Marine Corps should maintain a scale of no less than 5,000 people in Wolong Port, and also expand the land depth to about 100 miles." ”

"That's right, you should first make every effort to build Wolong Port, and you want to build this place into the largest advance base of my Datang in Africa. You are the person in charge of this place and you have full discretion. Qu Chengxing nodded and was very satisfied with his answer and attitude, and continued: "I will communicate with your general system, and when the time comes, I will send you additional manpower, not only to reach 5,000 people, but also to ensure that Wolong Port can be stationed at the same time with a scale of more than 10,000 people." ”

"I was going to take a team to the northern tip of the Red Sea to see where the construction was started, but now it seems that it is not necessary. There is just one thing you have to keep in mind, one step ahead of the construction of Wolong Port, and you must also do a good job of leading the team to escort the engineering team to start construction smoothly. I will leave the detachment at your disposal, and you alone will be responsible for everything in these two places, and you may be able to afford such a heavy responsibility? Qu Chengxing got up and walked a few steps before suddenly speaking.

"The last general will swear to complete the mission." Li Shaozhou stood up and saluted, his face solemn. He naturally understood the meaning of Qu Chengxing's words, these two places are connected as one, and in the future, it will inevitably be the biggest means for Datang to clamp down on Dashi and control this canal, and it is also the forefront of the confrontation between Datang and Dashi. Qu Chengxing's words indicate that unless there is a special event, all the Tang troops in the entire Red Sea region will be at his disposal, and naturally all the interests of the Tang Dynasty in this place will be in his hands.

"You don't have to be so serious, you can plan slowly." Qu Chengxing smiled: "It just so happens that I also have time to help you plan a thing or two." You go and bring your construction drawings, and I'll help you look at them. ”

Qu Chengxing came up with his own plan this time, and the two of them continued to point out the construction drawings, and the engineering team outside the camp began to speed up after the addition of the backup personnel brought by Qu Chengxing, and the port wharf was constantly excavated and sorted, and then the trestle and deep-water berths were also formed little by little, gradually overlapping with the marks on the construction drawings.

On the Western side, the navy is working hard to build various bases along the way, but Li Xuanqing, who is far away in Chang'an, is a little stunned when he looks at the other report in his hand at this time.