After several days of sailing in Zuffar on the Arabian Peninsula, Tong Yuan arrived at Zuffar very smoothly and prepared to pass through here to Egypt.
"We finally arrived at Zuffar. Once we reach Zuffar, we can sail to Egypt in about half a month."
Looking at the Zufar Port in front of him, Tong Yuan couldn't help but sigh.
This walk was indeed too tiring and long, and the bumps on the sea were too uncomfortable.
It was still the first half of the seventeenth year of Hongzhi's reign when we set out. It was already the second half of the seventeenth year of Hongzhi's reign before we arrived in Egypt. At this time, the wind on the sea was slightly cooler.
Then look at the Zufar Port in front of you, and begin to appreciate this exotic customs with great interest.
Along the way, you can only see a little bit of foreign scenery from now on. Every place you pass along the way is the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Almost everything is similar to the Ming Dynasty, except for a few.
Exotic architecture and customs.
But it's different now. Zulfar was not a colony of the Ming Dynasty, nor was it occupied by a vassal king, so it always maintained everything as it was before.
Almost all the buildings you see are white, with domes above their heads. People in the port are also wearing robes. If they are women, they are all shrouded in robes, with only a pair of eyes exposed.
This made Tong Yuan watch it with gusto.
"Haha, the newspaper really didn't lie. When I saw it in the newspaper, I didn't believe it. But now I see it with my own eyes, it's true."
Tong Yuan remembered the reports about Arabs that he had seen in newspapers before. After a closer look, he found that they were almost the same as those reported in newspapers, and there was not much difference.
"Sir, when you get here, you are in the Middle East. You should be more careful."
Beside Tong Yuan, Nan Li reminded him loudly.
Nanli is the core of the Shimadzu family. He has superb swordsmanship and is mainly responsible for the Shimadzu family's escort business. This time the Shimadzu family took the initiative to escort Tong Yuan to Egypt, and it was Nanli who personally led a team of thirty people to escort him.
Of course, escorting Tong Yuan is an important task, but at the same time Nanli is also responsible for developing the Shimadzu family's escort business. He must figure out the situation here along the way. After arriving in Egypt, he must open a Shimadzu trading company in Egypt.
Branches to carry out various businesses.
Beforehand, he had already had a detailed understanding of the situation in the Middle East, East Africa, Egypt and even the Mediterranean. He knew that this area was very chaotic, but chaos also meant a market. Many of the Ming Dynasty's escort agencies had branches here.
You can earn a lot of money every year.
This made the Shimadzu family very jealous and wanted to enter this area.
"oh?"
Hearing Nan Li's words, Tong Yuan was slightly disbelieving.
"Sir, there are many tribes in the Middle East, East Africa, Egypt and other places. There are many bandits, horse bandits, pirates, etc. The disputes between tribes are very frequent. There are too many, too many desperadoes."
"Sir, please be more careful and you will never go wrong."
Nan Li quickly explained.
"Well, thank you for your trouble."
Tong Yuan nodded slightly after hearing this. He had read some reports about the Middle East in newspapers before.
This ancient land once gave birth to extremely glorious civilizations and some powerful empires. However, over the long years, the tribes here have been riddled with conflicts. In the absence of a powerful empire, the tribes were basically torn apart.
The constant conquests between them have led to a very turbulent situation here.
"This is what I should do~"
When Nan Li heard this, he quickly bent down and bowed and said.
The ship slowly moored in the Zufar Port. This port is small and simple, but there are many ships moored in the port. Look at the flags hanging on the ships, many of them are ships of the Ming Dynasty.
The ship docked, and Tong Yuan was going to replenish fresh water and food here, and rest here for a day before moving on.
As soon as Tong Yuan's boat docked, many people gathered around it.
"Sir, would you like to hire our Wang family bodyguard agency?"
"Our Wangjia Escort Bureau has branches in the ports in this area. We are familiar with all places. We have friends in both black and white circles in the local area. We can definitely guarantee your safety."
A middle-aged man with leggings and wristbands, a shaved head, a clean shave, and a scar on his face. He is wearing a short coat with the word "王" embroidered on it, and a red belt around his waist.
He came up and said with a smile on his face.
Next to him, there were several people dressed like him, but if you look closely, you can see that one of them is not a Ming Dynasty man, but a white slave with blond hair and blue eyes.
"Sir, hire our Dongxing Escort Agency!"
"Our Dongxing Escort Bureau has many branches not only in the Middle East but also in East Africa. We have branches in the Mediterranean, even in Spain and Hong Kong. We can escort you to any place."
At this time, several more people came up. Their clothes were similar to those of the Wang's Escort Agency, except that the colors of their clothes were different. The logo of the Dongxing Escort Agency was embroidered on them, plus the word "Dongxing".
"Sir, hire our Sanhe Escort Agency. Our Sanhe Escort Agency has branches in all major ports-->>
We have 3,000 escorts. Even if you go to Europe, we can protect you.
."
"Sir, we are from the Zhenbei Escort Agency. Please hire our Zhenbei Escort Agency..."
Tong Yuan was a little dumbfounded by the scene in front of him.
Along the way, there were many ports of call, but very few escort agencies took the initiative to look for me. When I arrived at Zufar, so many escort agencies suddenly came to my door.
"This is Mr. Tong Yuantong, a fifth-rank official of the Ming Dynasty. He is going to Egypt on the order of the emperor. Currently, our Shimadzu Trading Company is responsible for escorting him."
Seeing that Yu Ru was robbing his own business, Nan Li took the initiative to stand up and said.
"Master Tong?"
Many bodyguards couldn't help but look at Tong Yuan carefully, and then noticed that the official uniforms Tong Yuan was wearing were somewhat different from the official uniforms and hats of many vassal states.
This guarded the official uniforms of many vassal officials. When I saw the official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty, I didn't recognize them at all.
"It turns out to be Mr. Tong~"
"I am Wang Dongsheng, from the Nanyang Wang Family Escort Agency."
Wang Dongsheng quickly and respectfully saluted Tong Yuan.
For those who run the escort business, their reputation accounts for 20%, their skills account for 20%, and the 60% they save depends on the favor of their black and white friends. For the Ming Empire, which is at its peak, people from this government are even more important.
The person you have made friends with must not be easily offended.
"Mr. Wang~"
Tong Yuan smiled and saluted the other party.
"Master Tong, you're welcome~"
Wang Dongsheng quickly smiled and returned the greeting again.
Then several other people also took the initiative to come forward and get to know Tong Yuan.
Chen Qing from the Dongxing Escort Bureau and Dong Yidao from the Sanhe Escort Bureau are the heads of the branches of each escort bureau set up in Zufaer. Almost every time a ship arrives, they will solicit business here.
"Is the Middle East and East Africa so chaotic?"
Looking at the people in the escort agency in front of him, Tong Yuan thought for a while and asked.
"Master Tong doesn't know something~"
"In our Ming Dynasty, everything is still very safe, especially after the last severe crackdown on gangs and evil, the number of ruffians, bandit bullies, road bandits, horse thieves, etc. in the Ming Dynasty has been reduced a lot. Many
, the universe will be made clear."
"But it's different except after the Ming Dynasty. There are so many bandits, bullies, horse bandits, and pirates. Some small kingdoms or tribal leaders sometimes want to make money."
"So the companies and merchants who come here to do business will hire bodyguards like us to protect them."
Wang Dongsheng, Chen Qing, and Dong Yidao looked at each other, smiled and explained.
In fact, the main business of their escort agencies now comes from overseas. It is difficult to do business in Daming because the environment in Daming is better and fewer and fewer people need escorts from their escort agencies.
On the contrary, overseas, everywhere is unsafe, and the business of their escort agencies is getting bigger and bigger, and they even start to attract local people to join. For example, the Wang's Escort Agency purchased many white slaves and trained these slaves to become escorts.
Because these slaves came from far away Eastern Europe, they were helpless here. After being bought by them, they trained them and gave them some promises, and they became the most loyal subordinates, which allowed these escort agencies to develop rapidly.
"That's it~"
After Tong Yuan listened carefully, he couldn't help but frown.
The Egyptian canal is of great importance. If there are too many bandits in the Middle East and East Africa, it will be extremely unsafe for the Ming Dynasty ships traveling between them.
After the canal is opened, this line will become a golden line, and I am afraid that more people will be eyeing it by then.
"This matter is very important. I must write it down. I will write a letter to my mentor later and explain all this to my mentor."
Tong Yuan silently wrote down that Liu Jin's decision to come to Egypt was not just as simple as negotiating with Kansu II. He also needed to consider and be responsible for many things about the canal.
The bad environment here also made him worried.
"Master Tong, please forgive me for speaking frankly."
"Although Mr. Tong hired a Japanese bodyguard to escort him, this place is different from the Ming Dynasty. The Japanese bodyguards are not familiar with this area. For the sake of safety, it is best to hire our Wangjia Bodyguard Agency to escort him together. This way we can
Double insurance.”
Wang Dongsheng looked at the Japanese warriors beside Tong Yuan, thought about it and started selling again.
After hearing Wang Dongsheng's words, Nan Li and other Japanese warriors were obviously very angry. This was because they looked down on them and did not believe in the credibility of our Shimazu family.
"Even if all of our Shimazu family bodyguards are dead, we will never let Master Tong suffer any harm, and we will definitely escort Master Tong to Egypt smoothly."
Nan Li said very unhappy.
"Haha, I also believe in Shimadzu Corporation."
Tong Yuan smiled and expressed his trust in Nan Li and others.
