I also know that I have taken it for granted. Since Selim dared to send his son to the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely prevent the Ming Dynasty from using this son to disrupt the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, I am afraid that the little guy named Murad can only be an ordinary person in the Ming Dynasty. People. A few days later, Zhou Zhong convened the cabinet again in Wenyuan Pavilion to discuss the construction of the Suez Canal with the Ottoman Empire. From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, in order to build this canal, the Ming Dynasty not only provided technical officials, but also paid Half of the construction cost, in exchange for Ming merchant ships only having to pay 70% of the tax when passing through the canal. On the surface, this condition seems to be a loss for Ming Dynasty, but in fact this is not the case. The Suez Canal is related to whether the Ming Dynasty can trade directly with Europe, so the economic benefits represented by this canal can be said to be very huge. As long as the canal is successfully constructed, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can directly reach Europe. At that time, not only can it break the Portuguese's control of the East and West The monopoly of Fang trade can also elevate the maritime trade of Ming Dynasty to a higher level, and the huge profits this represents are simply unimaginable. It is precisely because of the above reasons that the opening of the Suez Canal meant another huge financial avenue for the Ming Dynasty. It also broke the Portuguese maritime blockade. When the Portuguese could no longer benefit from east-west trade, When huge profits are made, the national power will definitely plummet, and it will become very difficult to maintain a large-scale navy, and it will even force the other party to lay off some of the navy. This is naturally a huge problem for Ming Dynasty. good news. It can be said that the Suez Canal represents huge economic benefits and military significance to the Ming Dynasty, so Zhou Zhong would not hesitate to spend money to help the Ottoman Empire build this canal. This also received unanimous support from the cabinet. After all, in the past few years, the Ming Dynasty had The expansion of maritime power not only made Ming's maritime trade more prosperous, but domestic industry and commerce also relied on the support of maritime trade. Otherwise, Ming's domestic and surrounding countries alone would not be able to digest so many goods produced by Ming. After Zhou Zhong reached an agreement with the cabinet. Immediately began to prepare water conservancy officials and the cost of building the canal. The cost was not very urgent, because the Ming Dynasty needed to send its own water conservancy officials to inspect and measure the entire canal together with officials from the Ottoman Empire, and finally estimated an approximate It will take at least one or two years before the two countries start to allocate manpower and property. Carry out the actual construction of the canal, and this canal is not expected to be repaired in one or two years, so the construction costs are also allocated year by year. Calculated in this way, the annual cost is nothing to Daming. A month later, the Ming Dynasty mission led by Jiao Huangzhong finally arrived at the port of Guangzhou in the south of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, all the water conservancy officials of the Ming Dynasty were in place. These people went to Egypt voluntarily. Of course, this does not mean that these people are of high quality, but because Zhou Zhong gave extremely high remuneration, as long as these people can preside over the construction By completing the Suez Canal, the imperial court will not only give them generous salaries every year. At the same time, he will be awarded a knighthood afterwards. This is an irresistible request for an official. Therefore, many water conservancy officials from the Ministry of Industry are rushing to go to Egypt. At worst, they will have to pay for it even if they risk their lives. The wife and children at home earned a title and a title passed down from generation to generation. There were a total of thirty technical officials sent by Ming Dynasty this time, most of whom were experienced water conservancy officials. The leading official was named Zou Tong. He had presided over the cleanup of the Yellow Sea and the Huaihe River before, but Zou Tong was almost sixty this year, and he had already arranged his funeral arrangements in advance. After all, it would take at least seven or eight years to build a canal, or even longer. With his age and the long journey, who knows if he will ever come back one day? Some time passed. The fleet led by Jiao Huangzhong finally arrived at Tianjin Port. This time, in order to express his gratitude, Zhou Zhong went to Tianjin Port to greet them personally. In addition, he came back with Jiao Huangzhong this time. There was also a small envoy from the Ottoman Empire. Firstly, this envoy wanted to visit the Ming Empire. Secondly, it also wanted to ask the Ming Dynasty to stamp the Suez Canal Treaty with the emperor¡¯s seal. In addition, when they left, Zou The same water conservancy officials who led them will also go to Egypt with them. For these envoys who came from afar, Zhou Zhong, on behalf of Zhengde, also expressed a warm welcome to them, and he also secretly contacted the child Murad. Although it was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to use him to disrupt the Ottoman political situation, he could use him to disrupt the Ottoman political situation. He had established a good relationship with Selim, so Zhou Zhong also made corresponding arrangements for Murad's future arrangements. Originally, according to Zhou Zhong's plan, Murad would be arranged to live in Beijing and be taken care of by the servants he brought. If the other party was interested, Zhou Zhong would even arrange for him to study in the Imperial College, but Zhou Zhong did not expect that. Unfortunately, Jiao Huangzhong actually established a deep relationship with Murad, but this is just right. If Jiao Huangzhong takes such a disciple to learn, the effect should be?The Imperial College is even stronger. In the end, Zhou Zhong arranged Murad's residence next to the Jiao Mansion, which made it easier for the two masters and apprentices to move around. In addition, after Jiao Huangzhong had made such a great contribution, Zhou Zhong finally had a reason to promote him, so after cabinet deliberations, Temporarily promoted Jiao Huangzhong to the position of Minister of Rites. Although the position in the Ministry of Rites is relatively idle, Jiao Huangzhong is in charge of diplomacy. With the expansion of the Ming Dynasty in recent years, there have been more exchanges with the outside world. Diplomacy is the function of the Ministry of Rites. One, so the position of Jiao Huangzhong is also very important, and his status is similar to that of the foreign minister in later generations. The Ottoman Empire's mission was not large in number. After all, Selim did not expect to encounter the Ming Dynasty's mission in Damascus, so he only sent a few people in a hurry and some guards. However, he brought very generous gifts. For example, a hundred Damascus knives were given away at once, which was a huge fortune in the Ming Dynasty. This Ottoman mission did not stay in Beijing for long. Firstly, Zhengde was not here, and they could not rush to Liaodong to see Zhengde. Secondly, Zhou Chong could replace Zhengde and put the jade seal on the treaty. In this way, This treaty has officially come into effect, and the Ming Dynasty's technical officials are ready and can set off at any time. So under this circumstance, the Ottoman mission stayed in Beijing for about half a month, and then set off on the road with the technical officials led by Zou Tong, rushed to Tianjin Port and left Daming by boat again. Although the Ottoman Empire's mission did not stay in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, they finally had an intuitive understanding of the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the Ottoman Empire¡¯s envoys, the Ming Dynasty was indeed one of the most powerful countries in the world. Not only was its territory so vast that it took nearly a month to travel by boat from south to north, but all its ports were also very prosperous. , industry and commerce are also extremely developed, which are stronger than their Ottoman Empire. When they saw the capital of the Ming Dynasty, they were also amazed by this huge city. Even Istanbul, I am afraid, cannot compare with this city. Of course, these are the economic strength of the Ming Dynasty. As for the military aspect, it cannot be seen from the surface for the time being. However, they also know that the Ming Dynasty is at war with the Tatars of Mongolian descent, and His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty personally led the troops and successively Having defeated the Mongols, it can be seen that the Ming Dynasty will definitely not be weaker than them in military terms. After all, the Ming Dynasty also has an emperor who values ??military affairs. Compared with the Ottoman envoys who only observed the Ming Dynasty from the economic and military aspects, Murad, a child who was only ten years old and a person who lived in the Ming Dynasty, had a more comprehensive observation of the Ming Dynasty, even from the moment he entered the Ming Dynasty. Since then, Murad has been very interested in the Ming Dynasty. Everything here is completely different from the Ottoman Empire where he grew up, especially in terms of religion. It is very free, coupled with delicious food and exquisite clothes, All these fascinated Murad at a young age. After Murad entered the capital, he had his own mansion. When he was at home, he was the master. No one had the right to control him, especially the servants who came with him from Ottoman, and they would no longer prohibit him as before. He did something that made Murad feel a sense of freedom. However, Murad did not lose himself in this kind of freedom. The harsh education he received before made him unwilling to spend time in this comfortable life, so he would learn from Jiaohuangzhong every day. Although Jiaohuangzhong is now busy with government affairs, Murad Murad has already laid the foundation and knows a lot of Chinese characters. As long as he is assigned some tasks every day, Murad can complete them by himself. Only when he encounters something he doesn't understand, he will wait until Jiaohuangzhong comes back to ask him. consult. Jiao Huangzhong is also very interested in Murad, a disciple. This is not only because of his identity, but also because this child is smart and hardworking. Such a disciple is very rare for every teacher. , so Jiao Huangzhong also tried his best to teach, and he also knew that Murad had no one to care about him since he was a child, so while he acted as a teacher, he did not forget to care about Murad's life. Others say that once a teacher, always a father , and Jiaohuangzhong is both a teacher and a father to Murad. Time passed very quickly. After Murad stayed in the Ming Dynasty for half a year, he was already very familiar with the Ming Dynasty. Not only did he speak Chinese very well, but he was also familiar with many Confucian classics. He was considered pretty good among scholars of his age. This not only made Jiao Huangzhong very happy, he had even prepared for his disciple to take part in the imperial examination when he grew up, and maybe he could become the first Ottoman Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. However, at this moment, Murad suddenly made a decision Let brown in the unexpected decision.