At the West Pole Port in Nanyun Province of the Ming Empire, three ships flying the green crescent flag of the Ottoman Empire slowly sailed into this increasingly busy port.
On the deck of one of the large ships, the Grand Vizier Ali Pasha of the Ottoman Empire was looking at the port in front of him, lost in thought.
The West Pole Port in front of us is divided into two parts. One part is a military port belonging to the Ming Dynasty's Black Sea Fleet. There are large warships parked inside, and you can also see the Ming Dynasty Navy training on the playground.
The other part is a commercial port that belongs to free trade. Ships from any country can come here to berth, supply and trade freely. They only need to pay a certain amount of tax.
This area is really lively. The port has been expanded repeatedly and is huge in scale. The piers are very spacious and flat, filled with cargo waiting to be loaded and unloaded. There are huge ships with flags of various countries flying in the wind.
The sound of hunting.
From Romania and the Crimean Khanate in Eastern Europe, you can even see ships from the Poles and the Holy Roman Empire. You can also see ships from Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and other countries in Western Europe. You can also see ships from
Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt, ships of the Arabs in the Middle East.
There has never been such liveliness and hustle and bustle here, with ships and merchants from almost all countries in Europe gathered, as well as Persians from the east, Kazakh Khanates, Mongolian Tatars from the north of the Caucasus Mountains, etc.
It is very lively, even standing on the boat you can see businessmen from various countries constantly bargaining at the port.
Silk, porcelain, tea, ironware, glass products, sugar, cloth, etc. from the Eastern Ming Empire are the most popular items here, and almost everyone comes here for these items.
In the past, it was very difficult to obtain these things. You had to travel across the ocean to the far east to obtain them. Now this place belongs to the Ming Empire. The Ming merchants themselves transported these goods to the farthest west.
Businessmen naturally flocked here.
The Persians brought blankets, lapis lazuli, precious medicinal materials, spices from India, and gems from Ceylon; the Arabs and Egyptians brought ivory, diamonds, myrrh, and frankincense from the African continent; the Mongolian Tartars from the north
The Tartars brought furs from Siberia; the Kazakhs of the Kazakh Khanate brought their BMWs; the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate brought their Slavic slaves; the Europeans brought their wine…
….
Here you can buy almost all the goods you want to buy, and the tall buildings surrounding the harbor have the logos of Ming Dynasty trading houses hanging on them, and all the people coming in and out are businessmen from all over the world.
"In just a few years, it feels like the world has changed here."
Looking at everything in front of him, Ali~Pasha couldn't help but sigh.
He had been here before, as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, and he came here to demand tribute from the former Kingdom of Georgia.
The most comfortable way to come to the South Caucasus from Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, is by boat, so he still clearly remembers that when he came here before, it was just a very backward small fishing port, and there was no bustling scene in front of him at all.
.
"Yes, it's like magic. The world has changed in the blink of an eye."
Next to Ali~Pasha, Moses, the Finance Minister of the Ottoman Empire, also nodded and said, he is a Jew. He used to be responsible for helping the Ottoman Empire deal with captives and slaves, specializing in selling captives and slaves to the Ming Dynasty. He also often came here, which was considered a visit.
As this West Pole Port rapidly undergoes earth-shaking changes day by day.
"Daming people~"
Ali Pasha said softly.
Looking at the Ming Dynasty dragon flag flying high at the Ming Nanyun Province garrison camp halfway up the mountain, his eyes were filled with many emotions, including hatred, fear, anger, helplessness, and envy.
In the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire was severely weakened. Almost all the cities in the easternmost provinces were captured by the Ming Dynasty, and they were killed and looted.
More importantly, the "Erzincan Agreement" signed was an extremely humiliating agreement for the Ottoman Empire. Not only did it cede the huge territory south of the Caucasus to the Ming Empire, it also required compensation of hundreds of millions to the Ming Empire.
Huge war reparations of two taels of silver.
At the same time, the number of troops directly wiped out by the Ming Empire was as high as 600,000, which directly caused the Ottomans' vitality to be severely damaged. Now it is difficult to regain the powerful posture of dominating Europe, Asia and Africa.
If it hadn't been for the past few years of conquering Europe through the West, constantly plundering people and wealth from Europe, and recovering some of its strength by selling slaves to the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid the Ottoman Empire would have fallen apart by now.
You must know that the Persians in the east have a feud with them. The tribal leaders in the Middle East have always refused to submit to the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt also has enmity with the Ottoman Empire. As for the Christian world in the west, not to mention the Christian world in the north.
The Crimean Khanate, a former vassal state, is now free from the control of the Ottoman Empire, and even wants to bite the Ottoman Empire back.
The past few years have been really sad. The hair of Sultan Bayezid of the Ottoman Empire has turned gray. The previously luxurious palaces have been almost demolished, and all the gold and silver jewelry from his concubines have been taken away.
It was taken out and sent to the people of Ming Dynasty as compensation.
It can be said that the people of the Ottoman Empire hate the Ming people very much. They have blood feuds. They slaughtered and sold a large number of people to the Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the huge war compensation and the huge land that was cut off, how can they not hate them?
But what about hate?
The Ottoman Empire cannot even have any garrison within a hundred miles of Erzinjan City, while the Ming Empire has stationed 200,000 troops here, and coupled with the powerful Black Sea Fleet, it can attack again at any time.
, and directly attacked the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
Even if his teeth were knocked out, he could only swallow it in his stomach. Who said that he was greedy and coveted the Hezhong area of the Ming Empire?
The Ottoman Empire was also severely beaten by the Ming Empire.
Now I don't dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty people at all, and I don't even dare to cause any trouble.
In addition, the people of the Ottoman Empire were extremely envious of the Ming Dynasty.
I envy the Ming Dynasty for their vast territory, huge population, and powerful army. I envy the Ming Dynasty for their wealth and power, because the Ottoman Empire used to be the same, confident and powerful, but in that battle, the Ming Dynasty almost lost its spine.
was interrupted.
It was always difficult for them to raise their heads in front of the people of Ming Dynasty.
Under the guidance of the pilot, the ship slowly anchored at a pier in West Pole Port. With extremely complicated emotions, Ali Pasha got off the ship and stepped onto the cement-paved pier.
He came to the Ming Dynasty this time not for tourism, but to purchase arms and weapons from the Ming Empire and to see if he could obtain loan support from the Ming Empire.
Recently, the Ottoman Empire's army has captured Vienna and is moving towards the Vatican, the core of Christendom. This has greatly shocked the entire Christian world in Europe.
Under the call of the Pope of Rome, the four European countries that were originally fighting a truce ceased the war, and instead formed a huge coalition, claiming to carry out the Crusade in the new century and completely drive the Ottoman Empire out of Europe.
Facing the huge armies composed of France, Spain, Portugal, England, the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, the Holy See, Poland and other Christian countries, the Ottoman Empire also panicked.
Although the Ottoman Empire was powerful, Europeans were not vegetarians. Especially the Spanish Empire was extremely powerful and had a large number of advanced muskets and cannons purchased from the Ming Empire. How could the Ottoman Empire not be afraid of it?
But the Ottoman Empire also knows clearly that the main reason why the Ottoman Empire can persist now is to use war to plunder people from Europe and sell them as slaves to the Ming Dynasty.
Otherwise, the Ming Empire's war reparations alone would overwhelm the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the war with the Europeans cannot be stopped, and it cannot be stopped just by saying it stops. It must win in order to plunder more people.
, please pay war reparations as soon as possible and restore your own strength.
Originally, the Ottoman Empire would not have thought of purchasing weapons and equipment from the Ming Empire, but the Ming Empire seemed to be interested in maintaining the current situation in Europe.
They did not want to see the Ottoman Empire defeated again. Of course, in the eyes of the Ottoman Empire, perhaps the Ming Empire could not lack slaves from the Ottoman Empire.
Therefore, the Ming Empire also sent a friendly message to the Ottoman Empire, expressing its willingness to support the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Europeans.
This made the Ottoman Sultan, who was originally extremely sad, overjoyed.
As long as the people of Ming Dynasty are willing to support themselves, it will be easy to say.
First of all, there is no need to worry about the land in the east. If the Ming Empire opens its mouth, the Persian Empire will definitely be honest and not mess around. The army stationed in the east can be transferred to the European battlefield.
Secondly, the Ottoman Empire was given a hard lesson by the Ming Dynasty. It became clear that the weapons and equipment of the Ming Dynasty were the absolute best. If they could purchase some weapons and equipment of the Ming Empire, the Ottoman Empire would be even stronger and win the battle.
The war with the Europeans will be more confident.
So Bayezid, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, immediately sent Ali Pasha and Moses to lead a huge envoy to the Ming Empire, preparing to go to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to ask for an audience with the Ming Emperor and negotiate these matters with the Ming Empire.