In the ninth year of the Ming Dynasty, at the beginning of November.

Four Arabian dhows, loaded with Persian wheat and Persian coal, sailed into the port of Muscat, which was full of steam warships, and on the masts of these four Arab-style galleons loaded with Persian wheat and coal were the Great Golden Dragon Banner and the envoy flag of "Great Golden Envoy Plenipotentiary".

And the one who got off one of the Arabian dhows transporting wheat under a group of yellow coats turned out to be the foreman of the Dajin Kingdom, the minister of Tianji, the scholar of Taiji Pavilion and the old Zhongtang.

He Shen was born in 1750 in the Western calendar, and he is 80 years old this year. However, his old man's body is still strong, and he can still roam the world for Dajin Guoman. This time, he flew to Tehran on an airship of Dajin Sea Airlines, and then took a horse-drawn carriage to Ahvaz in southern Persia, which is close to the Persian Gulf, where he bought two ships of coal and two ships of wheat, and then went to sea to Muscat to help Zhuge Weidao.

Yes, I'm here to help. Colonists are warm-hearted people, and if they don't stay at home, they like to travel thousands of miles to help people.

After the old man was invited by Zhuge Weidao to his residence in the East Cross Courtyard of the Black King's Mansion, he tasted the Arabic coffee brewed by Ah Li himself, and at the same time showed his intention: "Brother Daozi, the old man is here for you this time to help the Ming Dynasty!" No, I heard that you are short of coal and grain here in Muscat, so I sent you 1,000 tons of Persian wheat and Persian coal. Let's use it first, if it's okay, the old man will arrange for someone to send it to you again! ”

When Zhuge Weidao heard this, he burst out laughing, looked up at Hezhongtang, who had cultivated immortals with a childish face, and asked with a smile: "Hezhongtang, has the king of Persia agreed to let you help?" ”

He Shen shook his head and said with a smile: "It's not a secret, that Fath Alisha is a little ignorant, and thinks that my Dajin Kingdom wants to try his poor mountains and bad waters, and he is not willing to let my Dajin Heavenly Soldiers enter the field with dignity." ”

"Haha," Zhuge smiled for the road, "Then this is a faint king!" ”

He Shen nodded approvingly: "That's right, it's a faint king!" His uncle, who had been a father-in-law, left him a lot of belongings and tossed him to this point. My emperor really couldn't look past it, so he wanted to help him in brotherhood, but he didn't expect him to know what to do. That's a real embarrassment! ”

"It's really embarrassing, so what can I do?" Zhuge asked with a smile.

He Shen frowned, "That's right, he doesn't know decency for this faint gentleman, so someone has to help him be decent!" ”

Zhuge asked again: "Who is this person?" ”

He Shen stretched out his finger and pointed at Zhuge Weidao, then pointed at himself again, and said with a smile: "Of course, you Daming and our Dajin are together with Daming Dajin to serve him, if he doesn't know decency, then he can't ask for it." ”

"This is reasonable," Zhuge nodded for the Dao, "Then I don't know how the two of us can help Persia together?" ”

He Shen said: "There must be a division of labor and cooperation in this matter, some people are evildoers, and some people are good people." He glanced at Zhuge Weidao, "Brother Daozi, do you think the old man's appearance can pretend to be a wicked person?" ”

"It's a little worse," Zhuge Weidao said with a smile, "You are always kind and kind, and you don't look like a wicked person, or I will pretend to be a wicked person!" ”

He Shen stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Then the old man will come and pretend to be a good man!" Brother Daozi, do you know how this wicked man pretends to be? ”

"Yes, yes," Zhuge nodded for the road, "I will send two Arab galleons to Gesham Island to buy salted fish, maybe someone will be lost on the island, and then I will send a few marine battalions and a few armored cruisers to find it!" Finding and finding it, I drove away all the Persian defenders on the island of Qeshm! Do you think that's going to work? ”

"Okay, okay, okay." He Shen nodded again and again, "After my Dajin soldiers enter Persia, I will persuade the Persian king to sell this Gesham Island to the Ming garrison!" With this island, the Strait of Hormuz is easily blocked. If the big fleet of the British comes, you can lead the fleet to hide in the Persian Gulf, and then block the Strait of Hormuz with mines, and you will be able to sit back and relax. ”

Hearing what He Shen said, Zhuge Weidao nodded heavily and said, "Okay, this matter is settled, we will immediately send someone to Gesham Island to buy salted fish!" ”

The entrance to the Strait of Hormuz is very narrow, more than 50 kilometers at its narrowest point between Ras Al Khaimah and the island of Qeshm. If you build batteries at both ends and deploy cannons with a range of more than 20 kilometers, you can almost blockade it.

Of course, the current artillery technology is still a little bit less interesting, but as long as mines are laid in the middle of the more than 50 kilometers of water, 25 kilometers will be blocked, and the remaining 20 kilometers will be divided by 2, that is, more than 10 kilometers of water surface. For shore-based large-caliber cannons, this is not a problem at all.

Therefore, after entering Muscat, Zhuge Weidao was not only worried about the demolition and construction of the pirate beach in Ras Al Khaimah, but also discussed with his staff how to get hold of Gersham Island. The island is actually a disputed island between Oman and Persia. Support for the Sultanate of Oman to seize it seems to be more defensible in legal terms.

But what about after snatching it?

If the sovereignty of the island belongs to Oman, how will Daming take it? Concession land? Or is it a territorial sale? The former has a big trouble, and as soon as the lease expires, people may have to take it back! The latter is also troublesome, and the sale of the disputed island to a third party must be agreed by both parties to the dispute, otherwise what if the party who does not agree to it will take it back in the future?

And this Qeshm island is comparable in importance to Temasek and Batam, the Suez Canal, Gibraltar, and is the most important shipping node in the world in the future. It must be controlled by the Ming Empire itself as much as possible, and it is not safe to be controlled by a vassal state or in the form of a concession.

Alexandria, Egypt.

On the day after He Shen's visit to Muscat, Zhuge Weidao's elder brother, the consul general of the Ming Dynasty in Alexandria, once again sent Ali Pasha the astonishing news that the Jin Kingdom was about to send troops to Persia!

"What? Jin wants to enter Persia? Ali Pasha, who was wearing a cool Arab robe and pinching the same goose feather fan in the wind of Zhuge Military, was stunned when he heard this, "What does Daoguang want to do?" ”

"Daoguang wants to go to the sea...... That is the dream of the Golden Kingdom for more than 100 years! "Pasha, don't hesitate to wait, if you wait, Baghdad and the Holy Land will either be occupied by Oman or fall into the hands of Persia." What should you do then? Are you willing to be a governor of Egypt for the rest of your life? ”

"But......" Ali Pasha frowned, as if he was still hesitating, "the British Consul General has made it clear that he will preside over the territorial and sovereign integrity of the Ottoman Empire, except for Greece!" ”

"Pasha," said Zhuge Weidao, "the British are powerless to interfere...... As long as you succeed in seizing Damascus, Baghdad and the Holy Land, and then the Hashemite family who supports the Holy Land becomes caliph, you have the right to rebuild the Arab Empire.

What will the British do with you then? Sending troops to Baghdad? None of their fleets could enter the Persian Gulf.

It is impossible to send troops to Damascus, the large fleet of the Rakshasas is still in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the British will not want to clash with the Rakshasas there.

As for Egypt, it is impossible for Britain to attack, because when the Suez Canal was built, the Ming Dynasty, France, Britain, Rakshasas, Austria, and Prussia all guaranteed that Egypt would always belong to you and your descendants. ”

Ali Pasha glanced at Zhuge Weixue, and finally unfolded his hole cards: "Consul General, the Arab Empire must have a navy to protect itself, we can't rely on the guarantee of security to the powers, we must become the powers!" Are you willing to help us build our navy? But we can't afford to raise battleships now, can you give us a cheap, but effective coastal defense ship? I need them to hold the Red Sea. ”

(End of chapter)