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Text Chapter 518 The Ming Dynasty Mission

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    Zhuang Zhong rode a tall war horse, wearing the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty. Behind him were a thousand sturdy Ming Dynasty cavalry. This cavalry was specially allocated by Zhou Zhong from the border army to serve as his guard.  Among them were not only Han Chinese, but also many Mongolians, all of whom were top masters in the army. Thanks to these thousand elite cavalry, Jiaohuangzhong was able to pass through the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula and reach Damascus safely.  Jiao Huangzhong is also in his fifties this year. His father is Jiao Fang, who is highly valued in the cabinet. Moreover, Jiao Huangzhong himself is also very talented. When he was in the Sihai Governor's Mansion, he was promoted to an official position. He is very important to Nanyang.  He is very familiar with overseas affairs. With his background and qualifications, he could have been transferred to the capital as a capital official. However, because of his father Jiao Fang, it was impossible for him to hold an important position even if he was transferred back to the capital. Because this is  It is an unwritten rule in the officialdom that when close relatives such as father, son and brothers serve as officials in the same court, one party will be favored and the other party will be suppressed.  Jiao Huangzhong also relied on his own strength to pass the Jinshi examination. Although he was taken care of by his father after becoming an official, most of it was due to his own efforts. Moreover, he was an extremely ambitious person and was not willing to return to the capital to work.  He is a sinecure, so he has been serving as an official abroad. This time, the imperial court needs to send an official who is familiar with overseas affairs to meet the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. This empire is powerful and not much weaker than the Ming Dynasty, so the selection of this official needs to be extremely careful.  .  Jiao Fang also knew what her son was thinking, so after hearing the news, she immediately recommended Jiao Huangzhong to be the envoy of the mission.  Zhou Zhong can be regarded as Jiaohuangzhong's old boss, so he naturally knows the abilities of his subordinates. Moreover, the Palembang area in Nanyang has also developed extremely rapidly under Jiaohuangzhong's governance. Coupled with his familiarity with overseas, it can be said that he is the best  candidate.  So under this circumstance, he was urgently recalled to the central court while serving as an official abroad, and then was entrusted with an important task by Zhou Zhong, becoming the envoy of the Ming Dynasty's mission to West Asia and Europe.  He is burdened with an important task, which is to reopen the Suez Canal. However, the Ming Dynasty is too far away from the Red Sea. Even if the Ming Dynasty's navy has occupied the west coast of India, it is impossible to send troops to occupy Egypt, let alone now.  It was a period of full expansion of the Ottoman Empire, and the strength of this empire should not be underestimated.  So the best way is to cooperate with the other party, and Jiaohuangzhong's task is to meet Selim I and then convince the other party to rebuild the Suez Canal.  Originally, Jiao Huangzhong was very excited after taking over the mission of envoy, because as long as this was done, even his father would still be in the cabinet.  He can also rely on this merit to return to the capital and hold an important position. Even after his father retires, it is not impossible for him to join the cabinet. Thinking that their Jiao family can actually have two cabinet bachelors in succession, such an honor  But it is very rare, which is enough for the Jiao family to become the top official family of the Ming Dynasty. In the future, the children of the family will also enjoy a lot of preferential treatment in the officialdom.  But wait until the burnt yellow leaves the capital.  Riding the Ming Dynasty's warships all the way to India, and then from India to the Red Sea, and finally landing on the Arabian Peninsula, I couldn't help but feel a little regretful.  When we were on the boat, everything was going well. Except that most of the thousand elite cavalry were seasick and ended up vomiting, there were no other problems.  After all, from the Ming Dynasty to India, it is the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty Navy, and no pirate, no matter how brave, dares to provoke them.  But when Jiao Huangzhong got off the boat from the coast of the Red Sea, he found that he had arrived in a world of barbarians. Although the Arabian Peninsula was the birthplace of the Arab Empire, since the Arab Empire was wiped out by the Mongols, it has fallen into chaos again.  Amid the chaos, they landed in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.  This place used to be under the rule of the Mamluks, but the corrupt Mamluk dynasty did not pay attention to the rule here at all. The result was chaos in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In addition, the Mamluks were defeated by the Ottoman Empire some time ago.  All the armies retreated to Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire had no time to take over, making the place even more chaotic.  On the first day when Jiaohuangzhong and his cavalry came ashore, they encountered a group of thousands of Arab bandits. It seemed that this group of bandits had been staring at them for a long time. After all, Jiaohuangzhong had brought a lot of valuables with him in the delegation.  Gifts, these gifts are enough to arouse the greed of countless robbers. In addition, these robbers also have many informants in the ports on the coast, so as soon as Jiaohuang Zhong landed, he immediately attracted a group of the most powerful robbers.  However, this bandit group obviously did not inquire about the situation clearly. They had no idea what kind of people they were facing. Although their number was larger than that of Jiao Huangzhong, the ones led by Jiao Huangzhong were all among the Ming Dynasty cavalry.  Elites, including many Mongolian cavalry. Hundreds of years ago, the Mongols could wipe out the huge Arab Empire. Now these Mongols are naturally not afraid of a mere group of bandits.  So when this robberAs soon as they appeared, before they could take action, a thousand cavalrymen under Jiao Huangzhong took the initiative to charge. They had been holding back on the ship for several months, especially in the first few days, they were vomiting so hard that the sky was dark and the earth was dark.  Holding their breath, they wanted to show off in front of the envoy. Moreover, their equipment was extremely sophisticated. Not to mention a mere group of bandits, even if they faced a regular Arab cavalry that was several times their size, they still had the ability to do so.  The certainty of victory.  In just one charge, a thousand elite cavalry defeated thousands of Arab bandits. What followed was a bloody massacre. These cavalry were very experienced. They knew that although their combat power was strong, but after all, here  The place is unfamiliar and the number of people is limited, so they must use bloody methods to let the local bandits know how powerful they are. When others want to provoke them again, they must weigh their own strength.  It has to be said that the general who led this Ming cavalry was indeed very visionary. He ordered to kill all the nearly 3,000 people in the bandit group who had no time to escape. Such a bloody and cruel method did have a deterrent effect, but this deterrence was not  It is only useful for some small bandit groups. Stronger bandit groups will only be more interested in missions that can be guarded by an elite force, because they believe that the mission must contain extremely valuable gifts.  It is precisely because of this that during the next trip, the Ming Dynasty mission led by Jiao Huangzhong was constantly attacked by bandit groups. The size of these bandit groups was generally more than a thousand people, and the attack methods varied from bright to dark.  Naturally, there are Ming cavalry to deal with it, and the secret methods are a bit troublesome. Fortunately, Zhuohuangzhong has found several trustworthy guides when he came. These guides are very familiar with the bandits' methods and can help them in time.  The group provides help.  But even so, their journey in Jiaohuang Zhong was full of dangers. Once they even encountered a team of several bandit groups, with a total of more than 8,000 people. Although the Ming cavalry was elite, they were unable to face eight thousand people.  Even though the enemy was twice as big as the enemy, it was impossible to be sure of victory. Fortunately, these bandits who had joined forces were not united with each other. In the end, the Ming envoys found a loophole, and then used a thousand fine cavalry as arrows to finally charge through.  Passed the blockade of the bandits.  Thinking of the dangers encountered along the way, and looking at the peaceful Damascus city in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. In the past, he had only heard that the Damascus sword was the most precious sword in the world, produced in the far west, but he had never heard of it.  I had thought that one day I would come to the place where this kind of sword was produced, and I would also meet the sultan of the most powerful empire in the west, the ruthless King Selim I.  It's a coincidence that originally the Ming Dynasty sent Jiao Huangzhong to contact the Mamluk dynasty. After all, the land transportation from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean had always been controlled by this dynasty. Although the Portuguese had always wanted to get involved in this transportation line, they still wanted to contact the Mamluk dynasty.  They fought with the Mamluks for ten years, but failed. Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty wanted to dredge the Suez Canal, it was natural for the Ming Dynasty to discuss with the Mamluk dynasty.  But when Jiao Huangzhong arrived in India, he heard that the Ottoman Empire had launched an Eastern Campaign and had defeated the Mamluk dynasty and occupied the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In this way, the communication line from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean became the Ottoman Empire's  No one can tell who wins and who loses the dividing line with the Mamluk dynasty.  Jiao Huangzhong also did not expect that he would encounter such a situation. If he went to see the Mamluks according to his original plan, but if the Ottoman Empire won this war, then the transportation from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean would be provided by the Ottoman Empire in the future.  By then, all his previous efforts will have been wasted.  Just when Jiao Huangzhong was in a dilemma, he suddenly remembered that before he came, His Royal Highness King Zhao had personally summoned him and asked him to pay attention to collecting some intelligence from Western countries. He also specifically named the Ottoman Empire, and Zhou Chong also told him  He must pay special attention to this empire, because this empire is in a period of expansion and is likely to become a powerful empire not weaker than the Ming Dynasty in the future.  Thinking of Zhou Zhong's previous confession, Jiao Huangzhong felt as if he had encountered a bright light in the darkness, so he immediately mobilized the Ming Dynasty's power in India and tried his best to collect intelligence about the Mamluk Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire. As a result, he soon  It was discovered that the Mamluk Dynasty is now simply an old and decaying empire, but the Ottoman Empire is in the golden age of expansion. Therefore, for this war, the Ottoman Empire obviously has an incomparable advantage, and this is what makes it possible for the Ottoman Empire to  The main reason why Jiao Huangzhong made up his mind to abandon the Mamluk dynasty and come directly to see the Ottoman Sultan.
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