"It's not just here!"

Yuan Xiao said in a deep voice, "When Qin Mufeng set out on the expedition, did you know why I had told me to take control of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea by Qin Mufeng? ”

Xu Yifan's eyes flashed to the far left side of the map and looked at the Caribbean Sea.

Xu Yifan understood when he boarded, the geography of the Americas and Africa is too similar, they are a narrow land that separates the two oceans, if it is said that from the South Ocean to the Western Ocean, through the Strait of Good Hope, it will take more than 20,000 miles, then the detours in the Americas will go more, to bypass the entire southern part of the Americas, from the Strait of Magellan into the Atlantic, the whole of South America from the Caribbean Sea to the vicinity of the Strait of Magellan, the distance is far away, I am afraid that it will take more than 30,000 miles......

"Your Majesty, do you mean to dig a canal in this narrow strip at the same time? Connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean? ”

Xu Yifan asked.

"Of course!"

Zhu Jie smiled, "If we can dig a canal in this position and allow giant warships to pass through, then we will go east from the Pacific Ocean to the Western Ocean, then it will save too much trouble, no need to bypass the Strait of Magellan, it can save 30,000 miles, especially from the east coast of the Americas to the west coast, the fleet can save too much time, as long as we open this canal, then the colonies of the Americas will be controlled by our grandma, and no one can take it away, Because we can send our navy to the east coast of the Americas at any time, and from the east coast to the west coast, all the cargo transportation, by sea, can also save too much cost, after all, it is too inconvenient to transport it by land. ”

Xu Yifan and Cha Xuan smiled bitterly and shook their heads, the gap between their two brothers and the emperor is still very big, they can't catch up, they just can't catch up, every time they do things, they look at the world, go a hundred years away, and build canals, this is definitely a meritorious work, once the two canals are opened, it will bring huge benefits to world trade and the political control of the empire!

"Just ......"

Xu Yifan smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, these are two bottomless pits, digging two canals, how much manpower does it have to be requisitioned, and the excavated earthwork alone can directly pile up two Mount Tai, right?" How much silver do we have to invest? Did the imperial court bear it? ”

Cha Xuan echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty, you have to think twice before acting, the minister said something that should not be said, didn't Emperor Yang of Sui back then lead to the fall of the Great Sui Dynasty because of the digging of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?" Labor and money, such a huge engineer is the most expensive to consume the vitality of the empire......"

"No, it won't!"

Zhu Jie sneered: "You have to be clear, how many miles is the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal? That's more than 3,000 miles, these two, together, I estimate that it will not exceed 600 miles, which also has ready-made rivers or lakes to borrow, even if the width and depth of these two canals are wider and deeper than the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but compared to the amount of work in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, they are still a lot smaller, the most important thing, we now have money, we now have a lot of silver, idle is also idle, we must invest them out, in order to be able to make them valuable, otherwise, Then the silver lying in the treasury is rotten bricks. Once the two canals are completed, we are on the canal, set up checkpoints, all the merchant ships that pass through, need to pay navigation fees, the annual income generated, will be very considerable, it will not take more than ten years, we will be able to earn back the silver we invested, and finally get the two canals in vain, not to mention as a strategic point in the future, their military status and political status will be unique, how to calculate, are a good deal! ”

The two of them nodded again and again, admiring the emperor's analysis.

"Actually, there is another reason why I want to occupy these two places......

Zhu Jie said.

"And why?"

The two of them looked at each other blankly, except for the value of the two canals, they really didn't find any higher value in these two places......

Zhu Jie smiled: "You can't think of this if you want to think of it for a lifetime, in the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of North America, there is a huge amount of oil, which is the most precious strategic resource in the world in the future, which is why I must build a canal, extract the crude oil near the Gulf of Mexico, and then through this canal, it will be continuously transported back to the Ming Empire, our Ming Empire lacks nothing, the only thing missing is crude oil resources, the oil exploitation of the Tyumen oil field is easy, but if you want to transport it, it is too difficult, cattle and horses." , the cost is too high, if it is transported by merchant ship, it is a lot more cost-effective; Not only the Gulf of Mexico, but also the area controlled by the Ottoman Empire, which is here, the Persian Gulf, which has much higher oil than the Gulf of Mexico, and is closer to us, we don't care about other regions, what Mediterranean, what is beneficial to others, it has nothing to do with us, Black Africa, it has nothing to do with us, what we want to control is this area, and grandma's control is in our hands! ”

Xu Yifan and Cha Bolt are all circled, there is oil in this place? Has he ever been to any of these places, and how do you know that? And I haven't heard that these places produce oil, is the emperor really a living Buddha and Bodhisattva who can predict the prophet? But it's really a slanted door, what is he based on to make a judgment? I haven't seen the emperor clearly over the years, unfathomable, absolutely unfathomable......

"Your Majesty, since the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are already our territory, there is no need to think about it, wait until Mu Feng returns; Now we have to focus on the area you mentioned, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, which are now in the hands of the Ottoman Empire! ”

Xu Yifan said: "The Ottoman Empire is somewhat similar to the original Manchuria, they do not have a large-scale navy, and the equipment must be given to the West, but they have a huge army, and the strength is even above the Rakshasa country, and they want to grab these territories, but it is not so easy, fighting on other people's territory, and there is a strong army as a backing, unless we come out of the Tianwei Army and the Tianxiong Army, otherwise, there is really no certainty of victory......

Zhu Jie glanced at Xu Yifan lightly and said, "Attacking the Ottoman Empire alone is naturally not a good chance of victory, but what if it involves Westerners?" Why did the Westerners open up the sea route in the first place? It is because the Ottoman Empire controlled the land trade routes from the West to Black Africa, India, the South Seas and the Ming Empire, forcing the Westerners to find another way to open up sea routes, and there was a huge hatred between the two, but the Ottoman Army was too strong to be defeated by a Western country, so now, we unite the Westerners and besiege the Ottomans, hehe, you say, can they still support it? ”

(End of chapter)