As the defenders of Zgat surrendered, the Ottoman Empire was completely fallen.

Only five years have passed since the conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Since then, the land has been given a new name, called Daming.

Constantinople to the Ming Dynasty is separated by 18,000 miles, traversing the entire Asian continent, and guarding the important outlet of the Mediterranean Sea.

Zhu Qiyu first ordered Fan Mingchen to take over the city of Zgart, and then instructed Zhang Mao to take Duke Daman to find the hidden gold and silver.

This old boy was extremely cunning, and he had long been prepared for the fall of Constantinople.

It's just that he didn't have much loyalty to protect the Lord, but wanted to divide one side, so he hid a lot of possessions while he was in power.

Although it is not as good as the gold mountain hidden by King Muhad, after being excavated, it can also be called magnificent.

Ten carts of gold and silver were transported, including a half-foot-high golden Buddha with a jade seat, which is said to have come from an oriental smuggler, and said that it was the property of a royal family member who had spent a lot of money to get it.

The only regret is that the Duke of Daman accidentally fell into the humus and mud of the swamp while leading people to excavate and died unexpectedly.

This kind of swamp has been formed over thousands of years, and once people and animals fall into it, there is no possibility of survival.

Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but sigh, it should be the Duke of Daman who had such a catastrophe in his life.

Providence cannot be violated, so I can only accept my fate.

The defenders of Zgat all surrendered without a fight, and naturally avoided a single killing.

According to the corresponding regulations, they can receive a large amount of severance pay, be demobilized and returned to the field, or do some small business, at least for the rest of their lives.

If they wished to stay, they would be dispersed and reassigned to the various guards.

Zhu Qiyu, as the king of the Ming Dynasty, was the supreme commander of Constantinople, followed by Zhang Mao and other meritorious services, and firmly held the military and political power.

As it stands, the Ottomans could only take on the role of soldiers, and those who performed well could be promoted to rank and file officers.

However, there are exceptions, such as Alejandro being appointed as a hundred households, which is very high-spirited.

Fan Mingchen returned to Ceylon, because he still had a task to go north from Ceylon, take over the lands of the Tyre Kingdom, and continue to expand northward on this basis.

Liang Guogong Fan Zhong was seriously injured and did not recover, Tang Xinggu was in charge of civil affairs, and the burden of going north fell on Fan Mingchen.

The island of Ceylon has become an important transit point from the Ming mainland to the Western Ocean, a steady stream of supplies are transported from Nanhaiwei, and the Strait of Malacca is becoming more and more prosperous, with ships coming and going every day, and it is very lively.

The surrounding small countries in the South Seas are even more scrambling to seek trade with the Ming Dynasty, even if the pricing power is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, they are also happy to do so.

Of course, although the Ming Dynasty is strong, it does not engage in any hegemonism, and the tariffs that should be paid can be paid, and the safety of the crew and materials is absolutely guaranteed.

The world is very big, and it is a win-win situation for everyone to earn money.

It's just that when it comes to distribution, I take nine, and you take one, which is very reasonable, right?

What, you say it's unreasonable?

Look at my ironclad and artillery again, is it reasonable now?

While sea routes prospered, pirates and rogues who were active in the past gradually disappeared.

The main reason for this is the gap in firepower.

Because even if it is an ordinary merchant ship, the frigate behind it is enough to annihilate these thieves, because the difference in firearms technology is too great, just like an adult beating a child, there is no power to fight back.

These pirates aren't stupid, since they can't be beaten, then join in!

I have a ship anyway, so I'll trade with you too.

Raiding at sea is not only risky, but also extremely unstable income, doing trade is completely different, take a shipload to the Ming Dynasty, make more money than a pirate earns in a year, there is such a trade, why do you have to use knives and guns, is there a hole in the brain?

This route actually originally had a name, called the Maritime Silk Road.

Since the name has the word "sea", it is naturally because of the once glorious Silk Road on land.

More than 1,000 years ago, the Silk Road was as glorious as the sea routes, and during the Han Dynasty, it ran through the entire Western Regions and played a vital role in cultural exchanges between the East and the West.

It's a pity that over time, it has gradually declined.

Today, it has almost disappeared into the long river of history.

As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the west of Yangguan and Yumen Pass, that is, Xinjiang in later generations, and even beyond, was called the Western Regions.

The Western Regions were originally thirty-six countries, and later divided into more than fifty, all of which were located in the west of the Xiongnu and the south of Wusun.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once sent Zhang Qian out of the Sai, opened up the passage between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, after Huo Quai's great defeat of the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian sent an envoy to the Western Regions again, and the Silk Road began to pass.

However, the countries of the Western Regions were still not completely free from the control of the Xiongnu, and often plundered the envoys and caravans sent to the Western Regions by the Western Han Dynasty, until the general Li Guangli sent troops to break through the capital of Dawan, and the name of the Han Dynasty resounded throughout the Western Regions, and the Silk Road was unimpeded.

Since then, until the Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road has been an important channel for exchanges between the East and the West, and extended a number of branches, Dashi and the Eastern Roman Empire also continued to send envoys to visit Chang'an, and Dunhuang, Yangguan, Yumen and other places were prosperous for a while.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the drastic reduction of the actual control territory, the Central Plains court failed to control the Hexi Corridor, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, it completely lost control of the northwest region, and the rise of maritime transportation began to show signs of decline.

During the Mongol and Yuan dynasties, the Mongols continued to launch westward expeditions and established the Mongol Empire, which spanned the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, and the Silk Road began to recover.

Then to the Ming Dynasty, the Mongol Empire has been divided, and Emperor Yuan Shun, who occupied the Central Plains Dynasty, was driven back to Mobei, and Moxi Mongolia, that is, Warat, took advantage of the situation to rise and controlled most of the Western Regions.

Zhu Qizhen decided to go through it himself, just to open up the light of this road and rejuvenate it.

Since the fall of Warat, the Ming Dynasty has controlled Hamiwei, and the countries of the Western Regions have also gotten rid of the control of Warat, but the prosperity of the thirty-six countries has long been gone, and there are only a dozen left.

For example, Jingjue, Loulan and other countries have completely disappeared and only remain in the history books.

After two months of marching, the troops had already crossed the Black Sea and arrived on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, about to leave the Ottoman sphere of control.

Judging from the map, there is a small border town called Tehran.

For the sake of safety, Zhu Qizhen ordered the troops to be stationed in Tehran City to rest.

The city is not bustling, not even a city wall, more like a village.

(End of chapter)