Zhao Jiaren suspended the meeting and read the telegram from Hebei. After Zhao Jiaren finished reading it, Xiong Shang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, sighed: "Official, if our telegram can be pulled to the ...... of Eastern Rome, no!" It would be nice to be able to pull it to where we are. ”

"Hmm. We can do it. Zhao Jiaren replied.

Wen Tianxiang couldn't help but nodded, "The telegraph is really an important weapon of the country. If there had been a telegraph before, where would there have been so many defeats. ”

Zhao Jiaren's sigh at Wen Tianxiang's illogical clarity was only two hehes, even if the Great Song Dynasty had a telegraph before, as long as the system was not changed, I am afraid that many failures may not be avoided. He said to Xiong Shang: "The purpose of the team going to East Rome this time is to figure out the situation in East Rome and lay the foundation for our future westward expansion. As I have already told them, they are credited with providing real information. Your Ministry of Rites also needs to explain to everyone how to gather information to be real. ”

"Yes." Xiong replied. At this time, Xiong Shang's heart was full of feelings for Zhao Guan's family, Xiong Sheng sent his cousin who was learning to raise horses in the Agricultural College to go home and hold a meeting in person. With the addition of transportation costs, it was a slight loss, but it was completely within the range that the Xiong family could afford. At this time, Zhao Guan's family didn't want Xiong Sheng to strengthen his own work, but let him join the fierce war, and Xiong Sheng would not feel that there was any problem.

"Hurry up on this matter. I'll send a steam car and ship for everyone to ride. I think the Mongols will probably go west as well. Zhao Jiaren said.

In Horin, the capital of Mongolia, Kublai Khan stepped on a tall Arab war horse and said to his subordinates: "To the west." ”

After speaking, Kublai Khan looked at Boyan, who was following him. There were very few Mongol nobles who knew that the Great Song Dynasty was expanding in the Tianzhu Ocean to the west at this time, but the Ilkhanate, the destination of Kublai Khan's Great Han, deeply realized how fierce the Great Song fleet was. The territory of the Ilkhanate included the former Persia, which produced a small amount of silk, and the Song fleet brought a large amount of cheap silk, which crumbling the Persian silk producers.

Kublai Khan withdrew his gaze and urged the tall Arabian horse to set off. Now Kublai Khan is already a fat old man, and it is probably not easy for Mongolian horses to carry the Great Khan on his way.

The ships on which the dispatched personnel of the Great Song Rite Department traveled by sea. First arrived in Ningbo by boat, and the steam wagons and ships sailed against the wind to replenish supplies in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other ports. Then bypass Qiongzhou, make a big supply at Cochin, and arrive in Siam. If there were only people, these people would disembark and arrive at Tianzhu Yang after a land route of 100 miles, and set off by boat on the Tianzhu Ocean.

Now the fleet of the Ministry of Rites was full of supplies for the Eastern Romans, and it was not convenient to carry them, so they continued to sail south. Follow the Indochina Peninsula to the Strait of Reisson, which enters Malacca.

Along the way, while everyone was chatting, the staff of the Maritime Safety Bureau sighed that if a canal could be opened between the Pacific Ocean and the Tianzhu Ocean south of Siam, there would be no need to run south and detour thousands of miles. Yang Congrong, the leader of the mission, asked where the difficulties in opening up the canal were. The officer of the Maritime Administration replied: "No labor." ”

Yang can understand this. The Great Song Dynasty is now building two canals, one is the Shandong Canal and the other is the Restoration Tongji Canal. There was a lot of discussion in the imperial court, believing that these two canals cost huge manpower and material resources. If the Zhao Guanjia forcibly excavated, I am afraid that it will repeat the mistakes of Emperor Yang of Sui. It is still so difficult to dig a canal in China, and in this remote new southern Xinjiang, there is really no such financial and material resources to open it up.

After crossing the Ruisong Strait, Yang calmly found that the steam car ship that had not sailed had finally hung up its sails, and saw that every sail was full of hot wind, and the front bulged as if a huge fist had been stuffed in. Even the sails were hung on the mast on the bow. Even with little sailing experience, Yang Congrong could still feel that the ship was smooth sailing, running like a fierce horse on the sea surface of the Tianzhu Ocean.

After a little consultation, I learned that in the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, where the Great Song fleet arrived, only the North Indian Ocean was different, forming a monsoon circulation under the action of the winter and summer monsoons. From October to March ~ April of the following year, the Asian continent is shrouded by the strong Mongolian Siberian high, and the northeast monsoon prevails in the northern Indian Ocean, and at this time, the sea mainly flows to the southwest. The northern branch of the South Equatorial Warm Current and the northeast monsoon current moving southward along the coast of Africa converge to turn eastward, forming an equatorial countercurrent, forming a counterclockwise circulation in the northern Indian Ocean.

From May to September, a fairly strong upwelling is formed due to the action of the southwest monsoon, forming a clockwise circulation over the northern Indian Ocean region.

In the past, the summer of the Great Song Dynasty was also a south wind, and when it encountered the south wind of the Indian Ocean, the trade was about once a year. Now with steamers and ships and coastal ports and lighthouses, the Great Song could finally get rid of these restrictions and choose the most favorable time for sailing.

In just a month, the ship arrived at the entrance to the Red Sea. The Great Song stopped at the entrance to the south of the Red Sea. There was a Great Song stronghold on the southern cape of the mainland called Nanzhan Buzhou on the western side of the Red Sea, and there was also a Great Song stronghold on the island near this stronghold. With a little rearmament, the ship continued north, and soon arrived at the northern shore of the Red Sea.

Along the way, Yang calmly noticed that the ships on these routes seemed to be afraid of the ships of the Great Song Dynasty. It is said that the fleet of the Great Song Dynasty insisted on the response of 'those who commit crimes against strong men even if they are far away'. Any ship that showed hostility to the Great Song fleet had to be sunk. Now that the Great Song ships have no friends at sea, as long as they see the huge 'Song' character on the hard sails of the sea ships, the ships of other countries should avoid them as much as possible.

Someone from the Maritime Safety Administration said that the Great Song fleet had no interest in taking the initiative to attack ships from other countries. Yang Congrong himself didn't quite believe in this kind of words, and according to the news obtained by the Ministry of Rites, the Maritime Safety Bureau had seriously discussed the implementation of the 'Route Control Law' in Tianzhuyang. The "Route Control Law" was originally a law of the Great Song Dynasty in the Pacific Ocean, which stipulated that any fleet that had not applied for and approved the Great Song Dynasty was not allowed to berth at the ports of the Great Song Dynasty for replenishment. The Great Song Navy has the right to arrest and even sink all ships not approved by the Great Song Maritime Safety Bureau on the Great Song Shipping Route.

If this law is implemented in Tianzhu Ocean, the Great Song fleet may first arrest or sink all non-Song ships in Tianzhu Ocean.

Of course, the Ministry of Rites is not qualified to make irresponsible remarks about the Maritime Safety Administration. Yang Congrong's belly slander only exists in Yang Congrong's stomach. Moreover, the Great Song Dynasty flaunted its power in Tianzhuyang, and once it landed on land, it was not so good. The delegation of the Ministry of Rites numbered 50 people, including 3,000 sets of steel armor and 150,000 pieces of silk. With fifty people to transport them, they could probably spend years of their lives on transportation.

Since you can't finish shipping it yourself, you have to cooperate with the locals. The officials of the Mamluk dynasty, who ruled Egypt, received the envoys of the Great Song with a proud expression. At first, there was some bargaining, and the officials of the Mamluk dynasty said that they had to collect 40 percent of the toll.

It was only a few years since the Great Song Dynasty canceled the tolls on the Yangtze River and the fees at sea, and when the Yang family was prosperous, because of the relationship between Yang Shufei and the government, the government arranged jobs collectively, and many of them were fat differences such as collecting taxes. Yang Congrong has heard some content related to this since he was a child, and Yang Congrong's views are more reserved about whether the forty percent of the toll tax is high or not.

But at this time, Yang Congrong's people didn't talk much. At this time, the core key has nothing to do with the toll of forty percent. The biggest question for everyone was whether the Mamluk dynasty was qualified to collect taxes from the Great Song Dynasty. Turning his head slightly, Yang Congrong looked at the young cadre of the Maritime Safety Bureau who was in charge of leading the Red Sea route, and recalled the heartfelt words of this person not long ago, "Commander Yang, we will definitely cooperate with you to figure out the details of the Mamluk Dynasty, and invite my Great Song Heavenly Soldiers to come and exterminate them as soon as possible." These birdmen dare to collect such a heavy tax from us, and everyone has long hated it. ”

Yang calmly felt that collecting taxes from the Great Song Dynasty was a capital crime, which was a bit intense. It is the Three Buddhas, and the Great Song Dynasty has not been completely slaughtered. But this feeling seems to be quite good.

After some bargaining, it was finally decided to receive 30%. When the official matter is finished, the atmosphere will be relaxed. Yang Congrong and the others took out gifts such as wine, cloth, and steel swords that had been prepared long ago and gave them to the responsible officials. The official's expression is completely different from the arrogance of the official occasion, and greed no longer needs to be suppressed, and this one directly made many demands. It's still thirty percent, but it can be transported more. One percent of it was to be owned by the noble official.

When it was time to transport, the official assigned a large number of people to come and help. The guys in charge were arrogant at first, and they wanted to make more calculations. The officials who knew how to deal with these people directly stuffed them with some benefits, so that these guys who could count into tens could be considered to be able to restore their normal counting ability.

Finally escorting the goods on the road, Yang Congrong couldn't help but wonder if his relatives had also done such a thing in the Great Song Dynasty. Such a shameless blackmail operation is really shameful in Yang Congrong's eyes, and he can only hope that his relatives have never done such a thing.

After removing these extorted things, the personnel of the Great Song Dynasty finally moved the materials onto the ship. These boats turned out to be some Japanese people, and some Song people. The Great Song Dynasty already has its own power in the Mediterranean, and if he hires local sailors in the Mediterranean, there will probably be no profit left, and he will not even be able to save his own life. Piracy is rife on this side of the Mediterranean, and whether or not the people on many ships are pirates depends only on how strong the shippers are and whether they can successfully hunt down those who have embezzled their goods.

Seeing these faces, Yang Congrong finally put his mind at ease. No matter how domineering the Great Song is, at least the domineering Great Song is trustworthy. If you say that the door will be destroyed, it will be destroyed, and if you say that the delivery will be delivered.

After two days of sailing, the ships of the Great Song Dynasty finally arrived in Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome.