Selim I did not keep the Scorched Men waiting too long, and after they had arrived in Damascus and rested for two days, he received the news that Selim I would receive them on the third day.

In the past two days, Jiao Huang Zhong people were not idle, but Suleiman personally took them to visit the city of Damascus, especially for the Damascus knife production workshop, it is the focus of Jiao Huang Zhong's visit, after all, for this peerless knife, they are also famous for a long time, especially those officers in the Ming cavalry, they want to have a real Damascus scimitar, Suleiman did not disappoint them, as long as they are important members of the mission, He gave him a Damascus sword as a gift.

On the morning of the third day, Jiao Huang counted the prepared gifts again, then put on his Ming official uniform and met Selim I in the temporary palace in Damascus.

After getting along with Suleiman in the past few days, coupled with conversations with other Ottoman officials, he finally figured out what kind of monarch Selim is, in fact, according to the Confucian point of view, if a monarch like Selim is placed in the Ming Dynasty, he will definitely not be able to escape a "tyrant", "reckless military", "cruel and easy to kill" and other unfavorable evaluations, not to mention anything else, just his evil deeds of killing his father, brother, son, and nephew are enough to be scolded by historians for a hundred years.

However, as the so-called local customs, Selim's actions in the Ottoman Empire, but not a big mistake at all, after all, it is a tradition inherited from their throne, and others can't blame it at all, and although Selim is belligerent, but the whole country is built extremely strong, according to the current development speed of the Ottoman Empire, I am afraid that in a few years, there will be a strong opponent in the West of the Ming Dynasty, just like the Tang Dynasty and the Arab Empire were equal opponents.

That's why. Therefore, Jiao Huangzhong also showed enough respect when he met Selim I, and after saluting Selim I according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, he presented the gifts he brought from the Ming Dynasty, most of these gifts are the products of the Ming Dynasty, such as silk, porcelain, tea must be important gifts, and there are also some handicrafts made of gold and jade. As well as pearls and corals produced in the South Seas, it can be said that each of them is priceless.

Selim was also very happy to see that Da Ming gave him such a rich gift, and after accepting it with a smile, he greeted Emperor Da Ming to Jiao Huangzhong, and then went directly to the topic: "Ambassador Jiao." I wonder if you have come all the way to Damascus to see me, but what is the important thing? ”

Selim grew up in the army since he was a child, and even after becoming an Ottoman sultan, he still had the temper of a soldier, pursuing efficiency in everything he did, and liking to go straight even if it was a conversation. I've always hated people going around the bend with him.

Jiao Huangzhong had already learned about Selim's temper from Suleiman, so he did not speak like in the Ming officialdom, and replied directly: "Dear Sultan, our Emperor and the Eunuch sent me to the West this time, at the beginning, I was going to visit the Mamluks and discuss with them to re-dredge the Suez Canal, but when I arrived in India, I heard that your country had launched the Third Crusade. And the defeat of the Mamluks, although your country has not yet been able to completely conquer Egypt, but in my opinion, it is only a matter of time, so after thinking about it, we decided to come directly to the Sultan and discuss the matter of the Suez Canal with the Sultan! ”

Jiao Huang Zhong had already figured out Selim's temper before. Knowing that the most important thing in talking with such a person of military origin is to be honest and direct, so he did not hide that he was preparing to send an envoy to the Mamluk dynasty before, after all, as long as he was a person with a little brain. The purpose of their envoy can be deduced from the time, after all, when they left the Ming Dynasty, the Ottomans and the Mamluk Dynasty were still at peace, unless the Ming Dynasty could predict the prophet, otherwise they wanted to dredge the Suez Canal, they could only go to the Mamluk Dynasty.

Sure enough, Selim couldn't help but smile a little when he saw Jiao Huangzhong being so honest, and his eyes at Jiao Huangzhong were also a little appreciative, and he smiled at the moment: "Ambassador Jiao really has a vision, the Mamluk Dynasty has long been decaying, and it is indeed not difficult to defeat them, but if you want to dredge the Suez Canal again, this is not a trivial matter, what conditions do you plan to use to persuade me?" ”

Selim's attack on the Mamluk dynasty this time, naturally also made a detailed investigation of Egypt's affairs, among which the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are the focus of his investigation, after all, this is the main road for the circulation of goods in Asia and Europe, the Mamluk dynasty controlled this line of communication, and could earn huge profits every year, which also attracted the Portuguese very jealous, for which the two countries fought a whole decade of war, until now there is no winner or loser.

In addition, Selim also knows that as early as more than a thousand years ago in the ancient Egyptian period, the Suez Canal has been opened, but later for some reasons, the canal was blocked from time to time, until the Arab Empire hundreds of years ago, the Arab Empire that had just laid down Egypt immediately ordered the ancient canal to be dredged, and as a result, the canal has been used for nearly two hundred years, but unfortunately it was still for some reasons, resulting in the canal being abandoned again, and now the Ming Dynasty hopes to re-dredge the canal. The purpose must be to facilitate their merchant ships to reach the Mediterranean, but he wants to know what conditions Da Ming will use in exchange for his consent, after all, it will also cost a lot of manpower and material resources to re-dredge this canal, and he will definitely not do anything that is not beneficial.

Jiao Huang heard that Selim did not directly refuse, but first asked himself for benefits, which made him also refreshed, sat up straight and said: "Dear Sultan, if the Suez Canal can be opened, then whether it is the East represented by our Ming Dynasty or the West represented by your country, you can communicate directly through the sea, and you no longer have to bypass the whole of Africa like the Portuguese, so that not only can you promote economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, but also your country can collect taxes on the Suez Canal, so that you can do so." , your country is equivalent to owning a golden waterway, and the annual tax revenue is a huge amount of wealth, such a huge benefit, is the Sudan not moved? ”

When he said this, Jiao Huangzhong paused for a moment and then said: "In addition, I heard that there are constant conflicts between the Portuguese and your country, although Portugal is a small country, but with the benefit of sea trade, it has become a famous power in Europe, and no one is its opponent at sea except for our Ming Dynasty, but if your country can dredge the Suez Canal, the Portuguese will definitely plummet in controlling the sea trade, and then the national strength will decline, and your country will also have one less strong enemy, which is simply a matter of killing two birds with one stone, so I can't think of any reason for the Sultan to refuse?" ”

Hearing Jiao Huangzhong's words, Selim shook his head and said: "Ambassador Jiao is right, if this canal can be repaired, then the tax alone will be a huge income in the future, and it can indeed weaken the strength of the Kingdom of Portugal, but the Suez Canal has been abandoned for hundreds of years, and some rivers have also become flat, and it is unimaginable to dredge such an ancient canal, and the cost of manpower and material resources is unimaginable. There is simply no way to spend so much money to build such a canal. ”

Seeing Selim clearly asking for benefits from himself, Jiao Huangzhong also felt quite helpless, but he also knew that if he wanted Selim to agree to this matter, he must come up with the corresponding remuneration, otherwise the other party would never agree, after all, for the Ottoman Empire, whether to build the Suez Canal or not has little impact, and repairing it is just one more financial road, and if it is not repaired, it can also make money with the help of land transportation, but for the Ming Dynasty, if there is no canal, it will never be possible to transport goods directly to Europe, and will always be exploited by the Portuguese in the middle.

Thinking of this, Jiao Huangzhong had to grit his teeth and said: "Dear Sultan, if you are willing to dredge this canal again, then our Ming Dynasty will send some technical officials to help your country explore and survey this canal, I guarantee that they are the best technical officials, and they will definitely save a lot of manpower and material resources by helping you build the canal!" ”

Daming may lack other technical talents, but for water conservancy talents will never be lacking, because the Ming Dynasty in the Yellow River led by the various river disasters, in order to control these harmful rivers, the Ming Ministry of Industry gathered a large number of water conservancy officials, let them design a canal is not too big a problem, you must know that in the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains built a Grand Canal, the length of the canal is several times the length of the Suez Canal.

However, Selim was obviously not satisfied with the chip that Jiao Huang took out, the first was because he didn't know what Daming's technical strength was, what if the officials sent were not as good as his side? Although the second Jiao Huangzhong said it soundly, he sent technical officials, and it didn't cost much money at all, and even Selim felt that it was more cost-effective to let Daming send some people than to send a few technical officials.

"Ambassador Jiao, if the Ming wants us to build the Suez Canal, then don't impress me with this condition that has no substantial benefits, there are also many scholars in the Ottoman Empire in the field of water conservancy, and the strength is no worse than that of the Great Ming, what we need now is the money to build the canal!" Selim once again went straight to the road, if Daming did not give him a satisfactory price, he would never agree to build the Suez Canal. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to m.qidian to read. )9