In March 1777, the third year of Chen Han Chengtian, a team carrying the Chinese mission crossed the narrow Red Sea and arrived at Suez, an ancient military port. As early as 1,000 years ago in the 7th century, it was the terminus of the canal connecting the Nile River and the Red Sea, and the port www.biquge.info of Suez was the most important military port and commercial port in the Red Sea region during the Ottoman Empire.

Egypt was not yet an independent country at this time, and since its conquest by the Ottomans more than 200 years ago, it has become part of the vast territory of the Ottoman Empire, the province of Egypt. This is a great sorrow for an ancient civilized country.

As the chief envoy of the Chinese mission, Gao Yanming, while studying the history and current situation of the Ottomans, was shocked by the rich record of the kingdom founded by Turkic descendants in the history of the heavenly world and the West, but to be honest, he could not help but despise the various institutions of this country.

In the eyes of all the Chinese personnel represented by Gao Yanming, the loose relationship between the core areas of the empire and the frontier provinces, and the unlimited expansion of the power of the governors of the frontier provinces, in the eyes of all the Chinese personnel represented by Gao Yanming, is simply digging a hole for themselves. This is like Emperor Tang Ming in the Tang Dynasty, once there is an An Lushan in the border provinces, it will shake the entire empire. What is even more terrifying is the chain reaction caused by An Lushan, and sooner or later the Ottomans will have to reap the consequences of their own evil.

And their means of domination are too low.

More than 300 years ago, when the Ottoman Empire captured the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, it inherited only his land, not his culture. After the fall of Bulgaria by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, every effort was made to assimilate the Bulgarians in order to secure their rule. But their means were only to massacre the rebellious Bulgarians, and to make a large number of Turkmen from Asia Minor settle to reclaim the fertile land of Bulgaria in an attempt to gradually assimilate, but this was to no avail.

Because of the matter of faith!

Bulgaria, as a variant of monotheism, is different from the countries of the Celestial World conquered by the Ottomans, who believe in the Celestial Religion and have an innate premise, while the Bulgarians believe in monotheism. This is not eradicated, and this whole set of ways and methods of the Ottomans completely failed to assimilate Bulgaria.

Newton's assessment of this was that the main reason was that the Ottomans did not have any ideological and spiritual life in which they could assimilate others. The Ottomans, unlike China, were almost a people who "did not contribute in the slightest to art, music, education, science, technology, or anything good in human life." It is precisely because of this general backwardness that they can only resign themselves to the national cultural life of the conquered people and let them retain the true spiritual wealth of their own nation.

But Gao Yanming does not agree with this. He believed that as long as he held a knife in his hand, three hundred years was enough time to turn any nation into a dog. The reason why the Ottomans did not do it is only to say that they were too influenced by the sect.

Tianfangjiao is a sect with strong vitality, and in the Middle Ages, it was more advanced than Europe in many aspects. But the iron hooves of the Mongols distorted the course of civilization in the celestial world, and perhaps changed the fate of the Ottomans.

Gao Yanming has not yet thoroughly understood the history of Tianfang, but he has a feeling that the Tianfang Sect, which was pushed to the ground by the Mongols and rubbed and rubbed again, abandoned most of his achievements in science, or that their development in science was faulty, and was killed by the Mongols. The rest is entirely doctrinal and spiritual. 【Family's Words】

During the two or three hundred years of Ottoman expansion and wars with the Western world, monotheistic states were conquered by the Ottomans, and their agriculture was declining, and the development of handicrafts became slow and even decayed. The feudal system practiced by the Ottomans was similar to that of Western Europe, but because of its barbarism, it completely snuffed out the vigorous economic life of the past. Trade stagnation, barren towns, and lack of material livelihood meant that the Ottomans had hardly intervened in any kind of commercial activity, but because of their policy of "everything military", the already developed monetary economy was brought back to the era of the exchange economy, which naturally hindered the increase in commodity production. Even though the Greeks, Venetians, and Genoese acted as merchants, the latter's main goal was to turn the area into a food base, while other high-end products were made locally in Italy.

What's more, militarily, the Ottoman Empire has also fallen into a situation of backwardness and being beaten. The Ottoman Empire, which rubbed the power of one country against the Western world, and the Ottoman Forbidden Army, which was regarded by Westerners as an example of the army, was now pushed to the ground by the Russians, one of the great powers in the Western world, and beaten for a while, which is really embarrassing and sad for the Ottomans.

The decline of the state represented the weakening of the central government's control over the local areas, and how long would the Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, a large and somewhat loose capital, remain loyal to Istanbul in the border provinces with heavy armies?

But the Ottomans of this era still have a strength to be reckoned with, they may be hostile to China on the issue of Central Asia, but on the issue of the Russians, the Ottomans are definitely the best and most staunch allies of China.

The Ottoman Empire in the 18th century was not simply in a period of stagnation of expansion and development, but also in a period of adaptation to new things and new systems, as a stage of transition from military expansion to modern reform of the Ottoman Empire. But Chen Ming, who came from later generations, knew very well that the Ottomans would lose a mess in the great changes in the future.

And a large and powerful Ottoman Empire, whether in the near term or in the long term, is not in China's interests. Chen Ming hopes that the future Ottomans will be Turkey, a regional power, rather than a regional hegemon.

For Egypt and the Persian Gulf, Chen Ming is salivating.

It may take many years for China to cross its tentacles beyond the Indian Ocean, but preparing for a rainy day has always been what Chinese love to do.

Gao Yanming, who was standing on the deck of the ship, seemed to be able to smell the smell of the desert. He knew that the land on the left and right sides of the Red Sea was a vast desert, especially on that huge peninsula. Such a huge piece of land did not even have much interest in the Ottomans, except for the 'holy land' above.

With four medium-sized clippers as the main escort force and three large Western-style sailing ships that were launched just last year as the ships of the mission, the displacement of about 1,500 tons can barely be hung on the 'large' side of the West.

From far and near, a group of seven large ships could already see the red flag fluttering on the mast and the red flag in the blue sky and the ground in Ilambay in the port of Suez. He had received the letter before, and now he had gathered all the forces at his disposal and lined up in the harbor to welcome him. At the same time, he also sent people to quickly deliver the news to Cairo.

This was really an unexpected event that he couldn't imagine. Far east, the mission of that vast kingdom came suddenly. Ilambayi was overwhelmed for a moment. There was a deep sense of unreality, until now seven ships were in sight.

Ilambeyi wore his most splendid garments today, intricate filigree embroidery that glittered in the sun. The belt made of gold is inlaid with gemstones, and a short knife is inserted on it, and the dazzling gems on the short knife are also exuding a charming light.

Behind him was a serious line of Ottoman soldiers, and Ottoman sailors standing solemnly on battleships.

After the communication between the two sides of the "boom, boom, boom ......" had a tacit understanding, and the salute was fired almost at the same time.

Under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes in the port of Suez, the Chinese officials and their entourage dressed in black civilian robes, and dressed in large red military uniforms, as if they were the escorts of the British Army, left an interesting conversation for the Ottomans.

Everyone watching at the port thought that the Chinese official robes would be more ornate, because as we all know, the far east is the homeland of silk. But they didn't expect that China's black civil official robes were so simple and concise, and the eyes of the peripheral people could not see that the collar and sleeves of the Han official robes were decorated with lace, and the hem was also lined with a row of dense pleats, and some were cut into crescent curves. There is no gold and silver thread, no gemstone after another, but people feel a solemnity and majesty from the bottom of their hearts.

Seven warships docked at the port of Suez, and the sailors' uniforms worn by the officers and men of the naval division on board were like a beautiful scenery, which blinded everyone in the port.

This sailor suit, which appeared decades earlier, is still very attractive.

No matter what nationality or culture, it conforms to people's aesthetics. Although this sailor suit appeared in the UK as early as thirty years ago, Chen Ming came up with the final version.

White shirts, blue and white striped sweetheart necklines, accompanied by blue 'bloomers', the neat Chinese sailors lined up on the deck virtually overwhelmed the brilliance of the entire Ottoman sailors in the port of Suez.

At the same time, as an Ottoman admiral, Ilam was very interested in the dress of the Fu Han army.

"This is the final attire of our sailors after many experiments. Sailors often have to go in and out of narrow cabins, and they should try to be neat and convenient for clothing, so the jacket is a pullover. The pullover jacket is tucked into the waistband of the trousers to avoid hanging up and down the ramp and in and out of the hatch. The side of the trousers is open for convenience when climbing the mast. There are three main considerations for hypertrophy of the trousers: first, it can cover the boots and prevent water splashing; Second, it is easy to scratch up when washing the deck; The third is to go to the sea to save life and retreat quickly, take off the pants and tie the trousers tightly, and fill the air with an emergency floating air bag. ”

Although it was impossible to generate profits in the area of clothing, it was impossible for the Ottoman Empire to go to China to buy clothes. But this piece of land not only brought Gao Yanming closer to Ilambey, but also invisibly raised Huaxia's compulsion, which can leave a good impression.

The current sultan of the Ottoman Empire is forty-six-year-old Abdul Hamid I, the son of Sultan Ahmet III, who spent the first forty-three years of his life imprisoned in the harem by his brother and predecessor, Mustafa III, in accordance with imperial tradition, a 'unique' system that began with Sultan Selim II. The court battles of the Ottoman Empire were far more fruity and bloody than those in China.

When Mustafa III died, Abdul Hamid was pulled out of his prison by officials and inherited the titles of Sultan and Caliph. It's only been three years now!

Chen Ming didn't know anything about the sultan, and Abdul Hamid I, who had just succeeded to the throne for a few years, had been consolidating his foundation and had not made any big moves. He was acquiesced in the reforms that had taken place during the lifetime of his brother Mustafa III.

Although Mustafa III was called "fat and ignorant" by Catherine the Great, he was not without 'ideas'. He hired foreign officers to reform infantry and artillery, and opened academies of mathematics, navigation, and science. However, the Ottoman Empire was already quite weak by this time, and his plans for institutional reform were opposed by conservative Janissaries and sectarian forces. So his reform measures have no benefit.

Mustafa III did not have no sons, his son was a little younger, only thirteen years old, but it was not that he could not inherit the throne of the Sultan. Abdul Hamid was overturned and propelled from prison to the supremacy of the Sultan by Istanbul officials, and it is impossible to say that there was no reason for Mustafa III's intention to reform.

Just two days after the letter from the Egyptian Pasha in Cairo to Istanbul was delivered to Abdul Hamid, another letter was quickly delivered by the Egyptian Pasha.

The former was just a sudden news. The fact that China, a distant eastern empire, had sent envoys to the Ottoman Empire was a real surprise for the Ottoman Empire.

As if their brains were suddenly moistened with lubricant, Istanbul's ministers thought of the ongoing war between China and Russia. Although the scale of this war is small, the significance is very significant. The Slavs are likely to suffer the most painful defeat in a hundred years.

"The Chinese can cheaply sell large quantities of artillery and muskets to the empire, and even the matching production technology. Their demand was to trade with the Empire. And in the event of a future war between China and Russia in Central Asia, the Sultan can remain correspondingly silent. ”

Such a request is almost a clear indication that China is interested in Central Asia, and that China has already included Central Asia in its sphere of influence.

The nimble Istanbul ministers all thought of the great war between the Arab Empire and the Tang Empire in China a thousand years ago that decided the fate of Central Asia. Because of the betrayal of a Turkic group, the Tang Empire was defeated in that war, and some of the craftsmen who accompanied the army were captured, and paper was introduced to the heavenly world.

"What do the Chinese think of Persia?"

The Chinese want to eat the steppes of Central Asia shrouded in true gods, and the Ottoman sultan, who is the caliph, shut up, which makes Abdul Hamid's face more embarrassed, but this is only a sweep of face, and the actual benefits of the Ottomans have no loss.

They were separated from Central Asia by a Persian kingdom, whether it was the Safavid Empire 200 years ago or the Zander dynasty now, which was a serious threat to the Ottoman Empire.

The boss always sees the second child as a thorn in the flesh. What's more, there are sectarian strife here. What is the saying?

- Heretics are always more hateful than heretics! The two major sects of the Heavenly Sect hold one end each, and everyone understands it.

In the entire celestial world, if Osman is the undoubted boss, then Persia is the absolute second. Karim Khan, who now rules most of Persia, was no easy man. He rose to prominence in chaos and occupied all the lands of the Afshar dynasty except Khorasan and the east of it, and both Mustafa III and now Abdul Hamid I were wary of Persia. Even if Karim Khan is over seventy years old, no matter how old a lion is, it is still a lion.

"The Chinese believe that the Ottoman Empire is the leader of the heavenly world."

This very beautiful compliment made the Istanbul monarchs and ministers in the entire hall laugh happily.

"Your Majesty the Sultan, the Ottomans are now facing a serious threat from the Slavs. The Chinese are our much-needed friends. As long as we officially join forces with the Chinese, we will cast the strongest cage in the world, and the greedy polar bear of Russia will be firmly locked in an iron cage. "The two countries face a common enemy, and this is simply a natural ally.

The Russo-Turkish war a few years ago had brought the Ottoman Empire a heavy setback and humiliated the entire celestial world. The war has been dormant for several years now, but both the Russians and the Ottomans know that the war between the two behemoths will continue for years to come.

Maybe a few years, maybe a dozen years, when the next generation grows up, will the Ottomans be the opponent of the Slavs?

"Your Majesty the Sultan, the Ottomans really need China."

In close proximity to these European powers, the Ottoman crisis was much worse than it was now. If Russia and Turkey fought again, the Ottomans suffered heavy losses again, and it was not only the Slavs who pounced on the Ottomans at that time.

Britain and France, two countries that are more powerful than Russia, are also a heavy threat. Then there are the Austrians, the old enemies who have been entangled with the empire for two hundred years in the past.

"Although the Chinese mission did not come specifically to visit the empire, their initiative and goodwill were very obvious." Grand Vizier Alemdar Mustafa Pasha was sure of this, and the Ottomans had never thought of reaching out to China before. "The British colonies of North America have set off an independence movement, the emissaries of the thirteen states have entered Paris, the French are obsessed with the defeat of the Seven Years' War, and there is a strong hatred of Britain at home. Once the French decided to support them, much of Europe would be plunged into war. "The Chinese have a good opportunity to choose and intervene at the most contradictory time in Western Europe, which will inevitably make them treated as guests of honor by both Britain and France." But this was not a chance for the Ottoman Empire.

"Last year the empire signed the Kuchuk-Kenaji Treaty with the Russians. The last war was completely over. But we have to see that Catherine's slut has completely suppressed the Pugachev uprising, and the turmoil in Russia has subsided. Thousands of captured rebels were thrown into Siberia by them, which became the basis for Russia's war with China. ”

"China has already gained a big advantage on the battlefield, and they are joining forces with us to force the Russians out of the war with China earlier. I am confident that these two countries will reach a peace agreement in the near future, even without our presence. At that point, that slut will be able to push her southward policy ...... again" (To be continued.) )