These Persians are not good, and Li Zicheng is aware of it.

So he had not agreed to let the Persians into Kabul until now.

But he never imagined that Manig would choose to forcibly occupy Kabul at this time, regardless of the overall situation.

Although he has 15,000 men in the city, there are less than 800 people left in his core Dashun army.

The most important thing at the moment is to hold the Doge's Palace, and then let the British intermediate!

Li Zicheng knew that he belonged to the "foreign monk", so he attached great importance to the defense of the Governor's Palace!

The 300 people in the Doge's Palace were all his cronies.

Sure enough, under their desperate resistance, the Persian attack did not go well.

Although the Governor's Palace was not a fortress, the Dashun army still used the high walls of the deep courtyard of the Governor's Palace to form a fire blockade through muskets.

Although the Persian army was numerous, they could not use this terrain at all.

The siege lasted for a long time, but instead of storming the garden of the governor's palace, more than two hundred corpses were left behind.

But there is good news elsewhere.

The Afghan military camp in the city quickly gave up resistance after being attacked by the Persian army.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have surrendered to the Persians.

In addition, the south gate and the east gate controlled by the Dashun army were also conquered by the Persian new army under the attack of artillery, and all 500 Dashun troops were killed.

The Persian army has managed to take control of the four gates of Kabul.

As Manig had predicted, the Western mercenaries he led did not do anything but fire a few shots into the sky, despite Walkin's strong protest against them.

They did not force a breakthrough of the Persian blockade to relieve Li Zicheng.

After all, the British needed the Safavid dynasty to resist the Ottoman Empire in the west and the Chinese Empire in the east, and he was sure that the British would not dare to really turn against him.

Now as long as the governor's palace is taken, Kabul belongs to the Persian Empire.

Manig shouted to his men: "Bring the artillery to the Governor's Palace!" ”

For these stubborn Dashun troops, he didn't expect them to obediently lay down their arms and surrender.

Since they are looking for their own death, then he doesn't have to show mercy to his subordinates.

With the roar of artillery, the courtyard wall of the Governor's Palace collapsed in an instant.

A large number of Persian soldiers rushed into the governor's palace shouting slogans.

Although the remaining Dashun army still resisted desperately, they were still constantly slaughtered by the Persians despite their numerical disadvantage.

After a stick of incense, the Persians seized the Doge's Palace, which was in ruins.

But no matter how they searched for it, they still couldn't find Li Zicheng's body.

Not only Li Zicheng, but even the bodies of his military advisor Niu Jinxing and his wife Amita were not found.

At this time, Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing and others had already passed through the secret passage of the Governor's Mansion and ran outside Kabul.

Li Zicheng said: "Fortunately, Master Niu reminded me to build this secret passage in advance, otherwise we would have been prisoners of the Persians now." ”

At this time, Niu Jinxing could only say embarrassedly: "This is all a matter of subordinates!" ”

They fled Kabul, but where do they go from here?

To the west was the territory of the Persians, and it was almost impossible for a few dozen of them to do something great in Persia.

Kandahar in the south has been captured by Huaxia, and the main force of the Huaxia army is heading north, and they are throwing themselves into the net when they go south.

Entering the Mughal Empire eastward is a way out, but although the current Mughal surname is Li, it has nothing to do with him Li Zicheng.

It was only a matter of time before they went to the Mughal Empire and were captured by the Chinese.

The only way to think about it is to go north, and although the Khanate of Bukhara to the north is now attached to the Persian Safavids, it is not the direct territory of the Persians.

Even if there is no chance to turn around in the Bukhara Khanate, continuing north through the Bukhara Khanate is the Kazakh Khanate, and the Jangil of the Kazakh Khanate was previously his ally.

Now that the Mongolian Dzungar Department has moved westward, China is eyeing Kazakhstan, and I believe that Yanggil will not hand himself over to the Chinese.

In the end, Li Zicheng and others plunged all the way north into the mountains of Afghanistan.

On the other side, Manig, who has occupied Kabul, is worried.

Although he received more than 10,000 Afghan soldiers here, his men and horses expanded to 35,000, but he let Li Zicheng run away.

At this time, the 50,000 Chinese reinforcements led by Li Shizu had already arrived near Kabul and joined forces with the remnants of Li Yan.

Li Shizu did not expect the situation in Kabul to change so much.

However, he still affirmed Zheng Sen's behavior.

I didn't expect Li Zicheng to have so many helpers, it seems that the British and Persians have regarded Huaxia as their number one enemy.

If it weren't for Zheng Sen's timely division of the enemy and the Persians joining forces with Li, I am afraid that the current situation would have been even more critical.

In particular, Li Yan's men and horses killed as many as 7,000 people in the front and back battles, which is already the largest casualty in the Chinese army this year.

The Safavid dynasty of Persia was a centralized empire, with a military strength of no less than 200,000 men, and a modern new army, which should not be underestimated.

Not counting the low-performance soldiers of the Mughal Empire, the total number of troops that China could use in this region did not exceed 100,000.

It is also necessary to protect such a vast area as the Western Regions and India.

Of course, with the current national strength of China, if war is declared on the Persians with all its might, it will be easy to mobilize another 100,000 troops from China, Southeast Asia, and the Japanese State.

But in this way, it seems that he is a little incompetent, and he has to ask his father Li Xianzhong for help.

Sending 70,000 troops can't make a Kabul, how can Li Shizu be embarrassed? At this time, Zheng Sen said: "Don't worry, the second prince, as far as the minister knows, the current situation of the Persian Empire is not good, and the Ottoman Empire is eyeing Baghdad. ”

"If we can say that the Turks will join us in sending troops to dismember the Persian Safavid dynasty, then not only the problem of Kabul has been solved. Even the Chinese Empire can continue to expand our influence westward into the Persian Gulf! ”

Zheng Sen's words moved Li Shizu, but although Li Xianzhong took command of the Western Regions and South Asia into his own hands.

But the union of the Ottoman Empire was, after all, a major matter involving national affairs.

Originally, Daddy handed over the military command of such a large area to himself, which had already made the "princelings" in China quite complaining.

If he again advocated an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, it was likely to arouse the jealousy of his prince's brother and his father Li Xianzhong.

Zheng Sen also saw Li Shizu's worries, and he said, "The second prince is worried about those ministers in the court? ”

Although Li Shizu is young, the two brothers have been trained as the next emperor since they were young, and they have been exposed to a lot of cases in various history.

If Li Shizu can't even think of this, it can only mean that Mao Yuanyi, the crown prince, has failed too much.

The father really favored himself, not only allowing himself to marry the Mughal emperor, but also handing over the military command of a large area to himself.

Even if he is the emperor of the Chinese Empire, I am afraid that it will arouse the criticism of the ministers of the court.

Especially those ministers in Jingshi are mostly on the side of the eldest brother Li Shengzu, and they can't make it too difficult for their father.

After hesitating for a moment, he said: "It is definitely not possible to cut first and then play, and the official alliance with the Ottoman Empire must have an edict from the emperor. ”

"However, we can sign a commercial agreement with the Ottoman Empire in the name of the East Ryukyu Company, and by the way, the partition of Persia."

"The Ottomans and the Persians had been fighting repeatedly over the two rivers and Transcaucasia, and the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV would not have missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"Long-distance friendship and close attack" is an old Chinese tradition, and the enemy of the enemy is a friend.

At this time, the interests of China and the Ottoman Empire were highly aligned, and it was easy for the two sides to agree on the partition of the Persian Empire.

"The East Ryukyu Company has a base in Mumbai, India, and I can use the funds of the East Ryukyu Company in India in my father's name. ”

Li Shizu nodded and said, "Good brother, you just let it go." If you don't have enough money, the Mughal treasury still has a lot of gold, you can use it. ”

Nowadays, the territory of China is too vast.

The distance from the easternmost part of the empire to the west is close to 20,000 li, and it will take half a year to go back and forth on the road at the earliest.

If you have to ask for instructions on everything, I'm afraid the daylily will be cold.

It is precisely for this reason that Li Xianzhong gave great power to the governors of various places.

Zheng Sen waved his hand and said, "That's not necessary, Your Highness don't underestimate the financial resources of the Eastern Ryukyu Company." The next time I go to Istanbul, I will make money, and I will not lose money. ”

After Li Shizu's army arrived, there were already 63,000 Chinese troops around Kabul.

Soon they surrounded Kabul and left it in the air.

Manig soon sent an envoy, and the Persian envoy asked: "Previously, Zheng Sen reached an agreement with Governor Manig, and Huaxia agreed to hand over Kabul to the Persian Empire, how can you go back on your word?" ”

Li Shizu laughed and said: "The result agreed before is that the Persians will transfer Li Zicheng to Huaxia, and Huaxia will allow them to occupy Kabul. ”

"Now that Li Zicheng is alive and dead, he can't see his body, you broke the contract first, and you still have the face to ask Huaxia why he went back on his word?"

After sending away the disgraced Persian envoy, Li Yan said: "My army of more than 60,000 troops is concentrated in the Kabul area, and the food supply consumption is very great, why is the second prince besieging and not attacking? ”

Li Shizu said: "The terrain near Kabul is very complicated, which is conducive to our ambush of Persian reinforcements. The Safin Dynasty was, after all, a huge empire with an army of 200,000, and eating the 30,000 men they had marched east would not break their bones. ”

"If we can 'encircle the point and send reinforcements' and further wipe out their living forces in the mountains near Kabul, the situation will be even more favorable!"

"As for food, Mr. Li doesn't have to worry. The Mughal Emperor has mobilized 300,000 laborers to repair the road from Delhi to Green Ridge, and although it has not yet been fully completed, the efficiency of transporting grain has been greatly improved, and we will not be short of food here. ”

Although the second prince in front of him is young, he is thoughtful and calculated, and it seems that he has obtained the true inheritance of His Majesty!

On the other hand, Zheng Sen relied on the relationship of his father Zheng Zhilong, and soon mobilized a large number of materials and funds from the East Ryukyu Company in the port of Mumbai.

With Li Shizu's order, he mobilized two sail warships of the Chinese Indian Ocean Fleet to join the escort fleet.

And so they set sail for the Ottoman Empire.

Since the Persians had complete control of the Persian Gulf, they could not land from the port of Basra and then rush to Istanbul by land.

The only option is to bypass the Persian Gulf and follow the Arabian Sea all the way to the Gulf of Aden and then into the Red Sea.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire was almost at its peak, and it was a huge empire spanning three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.

In Asia, the Ottoman Empire controlled the entire peninsula of Asia Minor, as well as large swaths of the eastern Mediterranean coast, including Yemen's borders with the Red Sea.

In Africa, they controlled almost all of North Africa, including Egypt, and it can be said that the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea was completely under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

In Europe, they occupied Constantinople, the former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It also occupied the entire Balkan Peninsula, and the troops were directed at Vienna, the capital of Austria.

In addition to the Balkans, they also controlled Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Crimean Khanate in present-day Ukraine.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Black Sea was the inland sea of the Ottoman Empire.

It has a land area of more than 5 million square kilometers and a population of more than 35 million.

It can be said that it was the second largest empire in the world at this time, almost after China.

The Ottoman Empire has always maintained trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the earliest Lumi gun used by the Huaxia army was an imitation of the Ottoman musket.

The East Ryukyu Company has long since expanded its trade here.

So when Zheng Sen led the huge caravan of China to the Red Sea, the Ottoman officials did not appear to be overly nervous.

Today, the Suez Canal has not been excavated, so there is no connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

Circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope in Africa was too much of a waste of time, so Zheng Sen and others chose to unload supplies near Cairo in Egypt and transport them overland to Istanbul.

This time they brought with them a large amount of porcelain, silk and tea from China, which are "in high demand" in Istanbul.

This is not the first time that the Ryukyu Company has delivered goods to Istanbul, and a large number of camel caravans have long been assembled near the port.

After paying the taxes, the huge caravan set off from near Cairo in Egypt, passing through the historic cities of Jerusalem and Damascus.

After more than a month of trekking, they finally crossed the Dardanelles.

Came to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, his predecessor name is even better, he is Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

In 395 A.D., the Roman Emperor Theodosius I died, inheriting the eastern and western parts of the empire with his two sons.

Most of the "Western Romans" were quickly wiped out by the Ostrogoths.

However, the Eastern Roman Empire, with Constantinople as its capital, lasted for more than a thousand years, and it was not until May 29, 1453, when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II led an army into Constantinople, and the Eastern Roman Empire officially ended.

It was precisely because of the fall of Constantinople that the overland Silk Road was cut off, and Europeans had to go to Asia by sea.

Huaxia was one of the largest trading partners of the Ottoman Empire, and when the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV heard that Zheng Sen was leading a huge delegation to visit, he also took it very seriously, and soon introduced them to Istanbul!

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(End of chapter)

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