The capital of the Ottoman Empire was Constantinople in Eastern Rome, and its official name was Kostantiniye, although the Ottomans preferred to call it Istanbul.

Istanbul is located on the western shore of the Bosphorus, a narrow strait that separates Southeast Europe from Asia.

The city itself sits on a small hill bordered by the Sea of Marmara to the south, the Golden Horn to the north, the entrance to the Dardanelles to the east, and the Thracian plain to the west.

Not only that, but it was also the intersection of the Egnumdia Avenue, an important military avenue in the Roman Empire, and the military highway in Asia Minor, which was the only way to Asia and the only way from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea.

The entire city is like a fortress made in heaven, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Zheng Sen carefully surveyed the great city, and his East India Company draftsmen also relied on their memory to accurately record the location of every wall and artillery and the deployment of troops.

In order to draw up a map of the city defense here.

In the Middle Ages, such a city was easy to defend and difficult to attack, but now it is the age of sail battleships.

With its powerful naval artillery, it may not be so difficult for Huaxia to capture this place.

But at this time, he coveted the treasures of this place even more.

The Golden Horn Bay in the north of the city is a natural harbour with a total length of about 10 kilometers, a main channel of about 460 meters wide, and a number of branch waterways for boats to moor.

Since ancient times, it has been a place where merchant ships from all over the world gathered, bringing wealth to the local population, hence the name "Golden Horn" (in Greek mythology, the ram's horn is a symbol of harvest and wealth).

It was a natural commercial city, and the Ottomans had a monopoly on overland trade from Asia through Istanbul.

A large number of specialties from the Middle East, India and China are resold to all parts of Europe through here.

Due to religious factors, almost all of Europe was in a state of hostility with the Ottomans.

This also made the Ottoman Empire very isolated, so they cherished China as an important trading partner.

Sultan Murad IV of the Ottomans even invited Zheng Sen to Topkapi Palace.

Perched on a hill by the sea in Istanbul and fronted by the Bosphoru and the Golden Horn, Topkapi Palace is a beautiful place to defend.

The entire palace is surrounded by sea walls and walls, and is a city within a city in Istanbul.

The "Ambassador's Room" is arguably the most beautiful room in the entire palace.

Decorated with a gold leaf ceiling, famous ceramic vases and carpets, the whole room is gorgeous and full of European style.

Murad IV hosted a banquet for Zheng Sen's Chinese merchant group.

The resurgence of the Safavid dynasty of Persia caused the Ottoman Empire to lose the valley of the two rivers, including Baghdad.

Coupled with the advent of the Age of Discovery, Istanbul's commercial position was constantly weakened.

That's why Murad IV paid special attention.

After all, the East Ryukyu Company is now also famous, not inferior to the British and Dutch East India Companies.

Murad IV said: "Thanks to our friends from China, who have traveled thousands of miles to bring a large amount of porcelain and silk to Istanbul, you will definitely make this trip worthwhile." ”

Zheng Sen went straight to the point, saying, "The damned Persians took control of Hormuz, so we couldn't get our goods here from Basra (an important port in the Persian Gulf), so we had to go around the Red Sea, which really wasted a lot of time. ”

"However, at this time, their 30,000 elites have been besieged in Kabul by the main force of our Huaxia, and they have suffered heavy casualties, I believe that soon our Huaxia army will be able to sweep through Persia proper, and the Persians will no longer be an obstacle to trade between us!"

When the Chinese Empire conquered the Yarkand and Ili River valleys, Murad IV had heard of it.

However, he did not expect that the huge Mughal Empire would be conquered by the Chinese in such a short time, and he did not expect that the Chinese had already started a war with the Persians.

Murad IV had been plotting to recover the valley of the two rivers, including Baghdad, and he would have done it if it had not been for the British East India Company's support for the Safavid dynasty behind it.

When he heard that Persia was at war with China, he was very excited!

At this moment he no longer concealed his ambitions, and Murad IV said: "It seems that the Persians are the common enemies of both of us, and I wonder if your Chinese emperor is interested in dividing Persia together?" ”

Murad IV was not stupid, the Chinese had already begun to attack Persia, and if they were to fight into the valley of the two rivers in one fell swoop, as the Mongols did back then, then wouldn't his desire to recover Baghdad be a chicken and an egg?

He proposed to divide the Persian Empire, on the one hand, it was easier for the two companies to send troops at the same time; But more importantly, he wanted to agree on a sphere of influence and prevent the Chinese people from crossing the border.

Of course, he knew very well about the Safavid family, which was a huge empire with 50,000 new troops and more than 200,000 troops.

He didn't think the Chinese would be able to easily occupy Persia, so he believed that the Chinese needed an ally as well.

Zheng Sen said: "His Royal Highness Li Shizu, the second prince of China, is now outside the city of Kabul, and His Majesty the Sultan may wish to send an envoy to sign an alliance with His Highness, believing that the friendship between the two countries will become even deeper." ”

Murad IV also wished that, on the one hand, it would take time for his army to build.

On the other hand, he also needs to send someone to Kabul to verify the actual situation to ensure that he has not been fooled by the Chinese.

After all, declaring war on Persia would offend the British, and he had to be cautious about this matter.

Of course, another important reason that prevented him from sending troops to Baghdad was the economy, and the Ottoman Empire was currently fighting on multiple fronts.

In Europe, Vienna was almost reached, and the Mediterranean coast of North Africa and the Crimean Khanate were also fighting against European countries, so they were very financially constrained.

Zheng Sen's merchant group paid a tax of 200,000 Huaxia silver coins to Murad IV at once, which was undoubtedly a cash cow in his opinion.

With the increase of trade, Huaxia silver coins were gradually accepted by European countries due to their high silver content, easy to distinguish counterfeits, and difficult to counterfeit.

There is a great tendency to become the common currency of this era.

By this time, the Spaniards had almost exhausted Mexico's silver mines, and China had become the world's largest silver producer by virtue of its huge silver reserves.

Of course, there are also the gold mines in Manila and India, and China's gold production is also the world's first.

It can be said that Huaxia is a "gold and silver empire" in the true sense.

Not only that, Huaxia has become the world's largest trading country by virtue of the three traditional export killers of porcelain, silk and tea, as well as new glass, perfume, cement, steel and other products.

Therefore, Murad IV wanted the East Ryukyu Company to be based in Istanbul.

He said that he would open up a special unloading area for the East Ryukyu Company at the docks, and would even send troops to escort it to ensure the unimpeded passage of the East Ryukyu Company's caravans through the Ottoman Empire.

Murad IV was so sincere, and the East Ryukyu Company naturally couldn't ask for it.

Leaving aside the huge market of the Ottoman Empire itself, relations between China and European countries are now very tense.

Especially with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, it may turn around at any time.

With the Ottoman Empire, even if Western European countries boycotted the Chinese trade in the future, Chinese goods could continue to be sold throughout Europe through Istanbul.

It was also in the interests of the Chinese Empire to open up the Ottoman trade routes.

Moreover, His Majesty had spoken to his father about the idea of digging a canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

Once the canal is opened, the now humble places in Egypt will soon become important and commercially valuable places to fight.

However, with the financial resources of the Ottoman Empire, I am afraid that this cannot be done.

This canal can only be developed by Huaxia.

Now is the right time to take advantage of Murad IV's request for himself, and take the opportunity to get his hands on the land near the canal.

So Zheng Sen said: "This time, my caravan transported goods from the port of Suez on the Red Sea, and then the camel caravan traveled for a month and a half to reach Istanbul, which is really inefficient. ”

"I am interested in leasing Port Suez on the Red Sea, as well as Port Said in the Mediterranean. A road was built between the two ports so that the goods of the East Ryukyu Company could be transferred by land from the port of Suez to Port Said, and from Port Said directly by sea to Istanbul. ”

"The delivery time of goods will be shortened a lot."

Zheng Sen's words struck Murad IV that if this road was built, the cycle of transporting goods from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean would be greatly shortened.

It will surely make Istanbul more prosperous.

Moreover, those two ports are not big ports now, and it is not impossible to lease this area to the East Ryukyu Company.

After getting a rent from the East Ryukyu Company, the military expenses for sending troops to Baghdad this time will be settled.

He said: "This area is a key link between Cairo in Egypt and Damascus, and if it were all leased to the Eastern Ryukyu Company, it would probably cut off the Empire's communications." ”

Zheng Sen said: "The East Ryukyu Company will invest a lot of money to expand the two ports and complete the construction of roads, which will benefit the Ottoman Empire after completion." This will significantly enhance Istanbul's business status. ”

"As for the transportation problems that His Majesty the Sultan is worried about, our East Ryukyu Company has only leased the port and land, and this area is still owned by the Ottoman Empire, so the Ottoman caravans and the transportation of materials are naturally unimpeded."

Seeing that Murad IV was still hesitating, Zheng Sen said: "The Eastern Ryukyu Company can pay the rent of 2 million Huaxia silver coins per year, and I can give the first year's rent to His Majesty the Sultan now." ”

2 million Huaxia silver coins, which is a lot of income.

With this money, his military expenses for the expedition to Baghdad will be settled.

Chinese people are willing to pay for their own roads, so why not?

Even if this place prospers in the future, it is a big deal to take it back, and these Chinese people in their own territory can still turn the sky upside down?

In the end, Murad IV did not resist the temptation of money and leased the ports of Suez and Port Said, along with a large area of land between the two ports, to the East Ryukyu Company.

It's just that Murad IV would never have dreamed that Zheng Sen never thought about building a road at all, he just dug a canal in the name of building a road.

As soon as the canal was dug through, the Chinese sailors would be able to quickly navigate freely between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea through the canal.

The later the Ottomans found out about it, the better.

At that time, the East Ryukyu Company guarded the canal and collected "road money" from passing ships, and it did not make a lot of money.

Of course, he had to report the good news to his father Zheng Zhilong and His Majesty Li Xianzhong as soon as possible.

After all, the construction of the canal was a huge project, and a large number of fortifications needed to be built along the river to ensure Huaxia's control of the canal.

Not only did he need a huge amount of money, but he also needed a large number of troops and laborers, which he could not solve.

Murad IV, after receiving the rent from Zheng Sen, immediately issued a mobilization order, ordering the Ottoman army to assemble towards Transcaucasia and the border of the two river valleys.

Always ready for war against the Safavid dynasty of Persia.

At the same time, he sent envoys to Kabul to sign an alliance with the Chinese Empire to jointly flank Persia, and to agree on the spheres of influence of both sides.

When they returned, they chose to travel by sea from Istanbul to Alexandria, Egypt, and then by land to the port of Suez.

The fleet of the Chinese Empire is assembled there and ready to standby.

When the Ottoman mission boarded the huge sail battleship, they were also shocked by the new type of warship.

The Ottoman navy often fought against the navies of Venice and Genoa, as well as France and Spain in the Mediterranean.

He was well aware that the firepower of this new battleship was far superior to that of the traditional European galleon.

No wonder the Chinese could expel the British East India Company from India.

Fortunately, the two sides are currently in an alliance, but the power of the Chinese Empire is too large, and the Ottoman Empire must be vigilant enough.

The fleet sailed from Suez to Karachi, a port city on India's west coast.

Zheng Sen went back and forth, and it took nearly 3 months on the road.

Although three months have passed, the envoy sent to Beijing has not yet returned.

Li Shizu estimated that his father should have received the news from the envoy.

Although the envoy has not yet sent back the news of his father, the heavy artillery he was waiting for has been transported by sea to the front line in Kabul.

The Ottoman envoys were actually prepared not to sign an alliance immediately, after all, the emperor of China was not on the Kabul front.

Therefore, his main mission was to determine with the second prince of China how the territory of the Persian Empire should be divided.

As long as the two sides agree on the division of the territory, it doesn't matter if the contract is stamped slowly.

Murad IV was already eager to retake Baghdad, and he knew that the Chinese forces around Kabul should not be very large.

So his proposal was for the Ottoman Empire to annex all of Transcaucasia, the valley of the two rivers, and most of Persia proper, which was controlled by the Safavids.

The Safavid-controlled region of Afghanistan and the Khorasan region in the northeast of Persia proper, and Bandar Abbas in the southeast, were handed over to China.

However, in compensation, China could annex the Bukhara Khanate, a vassal of the Safavid dynasty, and control the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers in Central Asia.

Regarding this proposal, Li Shizu did not answer positively.

He told the Ottoman envoys that Kabul had 35,000 Persian troops and 1,200 Western mercenaries in the city.

As for the Covenant, when the Chinese army captured Kabul, they went to the city to talk.

The city of Kabul was a fortified city, with many defenders and many cannons.

Li Xianzhong asked the envoy, if it was the main force of the Ottomans, how long would it take to conquer this city?

The envoy hesitated for a moment and said, "If it is the main force of the Ottoman Star and Moon Legion, it will be able to conquer this city in a maximum of ten days regardless of casualties!" ”

Obviously, the envoy was bragging that if the defenders of such a strong city did not surrender voluntarily, it would be difficult to capture it even if the superior forces did not take it for a month.

Li Shizu said with a smile: "In half a day, if the Chinese army has not entered Kabul before three o'clock in the afternoon, then divide Persia according to your plan!" ”

The messenger said excitedly, "Then we will make up our minds!" ”

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(End of chapter)

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