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When the Ming Dynasty was prospering and developing rapidly, here in Egypt, thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty.
In the hot desert, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian migrant workers are working hard in the hot desert. A wide river is like a scar on the earth, dividing the earth into two sides.
Egyptian migrant workers work very seriously, full of passion and energy.
They were originally the lowest farmers in Egypt, the kind of farmers who had lost their land. In the past, even eating was a problem, so there were frequent peasant riots in Egypt.
The hungry farmers were almost overthrowing the Mamluk kingdom.
Fortunately, the excavation of the Egyptian canal was like rain falling on the heads of the Egyptians, and huge funds from the Ming Dynasty were continuously poured into this dry land.
Hundreds of thousands of people are employed, with food and accommodation included, and they can receive dozens of wages per day. Working for a month can earn almost one tael of silver.
Such a good thing suddenly made the whole of Egypt excited. Countless farmers who had lost their land and had no support for their livelihood came to the canal construction site and became part of the army digging the canal.
The Ming Dynasty's capital, technology, and the steady flow of grain transported from East Africa, Tianzhu, Nanyang and other places in the Ming Dynasty gave the Mamluk Kingdom, which was originally on the verge of destruction, a new lease of life.
At this moment, Kansu II of the Mamluk Kingdom was leading a group of Egyptian officials to inspect the Egyptian canal. The general person in charge of the canal, Tong Yuan from the Ming Empire and the chief technical engineer, Zhan Qi, who graduated from the Ming Dynasty Engineering College, were also accompanied.
Beside.
Kansu II looked at the huge scene of hundreds of thousands of people in front of him, with a smile on his face. After several years of excavation, the Egyptian canal is getting closer to being officially opened to navigation. When the time comes, he can sit down and collect money.
Of course, for Kansu II, he hoped that the canal could be dug for a longer period of time, so that he could have time to clean up the Mamluk feudal nobles in Egypt.
In recent years, by supporting the large-scale project of the Egyptian Canal, Kansu II has gradually begun to gain the right to speak. Coupled with the use of some other means, he has also gradually gained control of all power in Egypt.
However, he still does not intend to let go of the feudal nobles in Duer, not only because these people controlled power and emptied themselves out at first, but more importantly, he is now studying books and knowledge from the Ming Dynasty every day, and has a deep understanding of the problems that exist in Egypt.
.
That means there is no land for the tiller!
To put it simply, land annexation is too serious.
Egypt itself has very little land, and even less cultivated land, which is distributed on both sides of the Nile Basin and in the delta area downstream.
There is very little land that can be cultivated, but the internal land annexation is extremely serious. The Mamluks were the military feudal aristocracy when the country was founded. After years of aggressive expansion and land annexation, they have annexed almost all of Egypt's arable land to themselves.
in hands.
A large number of farmers lost their land and had no support for their lives. Naturally, various peasant uprisings would arise one after another. If there was a slight disaster, a raging fire would immediately burst into flames and the dynasty would be completely destroyed.
Kansu II was not aware of this problem at first, but the newspapers and books from the Ming Dynasty, as well as his frequent chats with Tong Yuan, a Ming Dynasty official, about the governance of the country, also gave him a comprehensive understanding of this aspect.
understanding.
Therefore, Kansu II now knew very well that there were only two roads before him.
One is to attack the Mamluk feudal military aristocracy, crack down on land annexation, and return the fields to farmers in urgent need of land for cultivation.
The other is, like the Ming Dynasty, to embark on the path of external expansion, acquire land from the outside, and then relocate the population.
The first way is to attack the Mamluk feudal military aristocracy. Naturally, we have to attack it, but the foundation of the Mamluk kingdom itself is built on these feudal military aristocrats.
Originally, the Mamluks were slave soldiers of the medieval caliphate, and then gradually developed into a powerful military ruling group. The Mamluk dynasty of Egypt was established on this basis.
The purpose of attacking the Mamluk feudal military aristocracy is not to destroy it, but to attack those hostile forces that do not listen to them. The ultimate goal is to bring these feudal military aristocrats under their control.
It is impossible to say that we can really dig out the foundation and foundation of the dynasty. Of course, land annexation must be restricted, and these feudal nobles cannot be allowed to annex land endlessly.
The second path is the path that Kansu II really wants to take. Internal land annexation has become extremely serious, and a large amount of land has been concentrated in the hands of a small number of feudal nobles.
Farmers have lost their land and no longer rely on them for survival, so these farmers must be given land so that they can stabilize.
External expansion is obviously a good choice.
Through external expansion, internal conflicts can be passed on, and at the same time, it can also take the opportunity to integrate the forces within the dynasty and consolidate its own rule, which can be said to have many benefits.
Of course, the premise is that you can win the battle. If you are defeated every time you expand externally, it will not only be unable to transfer internal conflicts and consolidate your rule.
It may even explode one's own internal conflicts and shake one's rule at the same time.
"Sir Tong, how long will it take for the Egyptian canal to be completely dug?"
Kansu II came to inspect the canal this time, mainly because he wanted to find Tong Yuan to see if he could obtain powerful arms and weapons from the Ming Empire, so that he would be more confident when expanding externally.
"Your Majesty the King, it will probably take more than a year to dig them all out."
Tong Yuan took out a map, pointed to the location on it and said: "We have now dug through the section from the Red Sea to the Bitter Lake. This is the most difficult section and the longest section. The next step is to dig
It is estimated that more than a year will be enough to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Bitter Lake."
"Navigation will be available in the 23rd year of Hongzhi!"
Tong Yuan looked at the prosperous construction site in front of him and sighed.
It was originally planned to take seven or eight years to dig the Egyptian canal, but who knew that these Egyptians would be so active in the work, and it was very easy to recruit manpower. Hundreds of thousands of people were digging the canal here, and the time could be exceeded.
Nearly two years ago, it will take less than five years to dig the canal.
Hundreds of thousands of people were busy at the huge construction site in front of them. On both sides of the canal, there were also a large number of family members following them, so that an extremely spectacular shanty town was formed in this hot desert.
There are a large number of women, children, and elderly people in the shantytowns. These are the family members of these Egyptian workers and farmers who have lost their land. Without the land to survive, they can only wander around.
The backbone of the family came here, and they followed.
The wages of these Egyptian workers can be paid in two ways, one is to give money directly, the other is to convert grain according to the grain price and pay with grain.
For these Egyptian workers, many people will choose the second way. They have food in their hands and are not worried. Their families can also eat and drink when they come with them, so they will not starve to death.
At the same time, more than 100,000 people are here, and they are all workers with stable incomes. This is also an extremely huge market.
There are many people doing business here.
There are restaurants in the shantytowns. When these workers are tired of the food at the construction site, or on their days off, they can invite a few friends to go to a restaurant for a luxurious meal.
There are also a large number of brothels and brothels here, which are dedicated to serving these workers, and there are also a large number of women who work freely to help these hard-working migrant workers relax and unwind.
In addition, there are more various shops. As long as you have money, you can buy anything here. There is a huge market of hundreds of thousands of people, and no profitable businessman will let it go.
Historically, when the French were digging the Egyptian canal, they paid very low wages and even defaulted on wages for no reason. In addition, they did not dig canals to divert fresh water in advance, resulting in a lack of drinking water, resulting in a large number of deaths.
, various diseases break out frequently.
Therefore, the excavation of the Egyptian Canal was strongly opposed by Egypt. It has always been very difficult. Not enough people could not be found, and various problems always occurred. The speed was very slow, and it took more than ten years to dig.
Pass.
Things are different now. If you need money, you need money, and if you need food, you need food. There is so much food in Tianzhu, East Africa, and Nanyang that we can't eat it all. The price of food is super cheap. Even if it is shipped here, the price is still not expensive.
In addition, Liu Jin had warned beforehand that large-scale fresh water diversion canals should be dug first. A large amount of fresh water was diverted from the Nile River, which not only met the huge needs of the construction site, but even had excess, so that it surrounded the diversion canals.
Some villages have also been formed, and some people are actually farming.
The Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt was very cooperative, and the canal was dug much more smoothly. Not only was it fast, but it also boosted Egypt's economy and saved the endangered Mamluk Kingdom.
"It will take more than a year~"
After listening to this, Kansu II pondered for a moment and began to calculate silently.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Master Tong, dig slowly and don't be too hasty. The channel of this canal can be dug wider and deeper so that larger ships can pass."
"If I remember correctly, your Ming Dynasty Morning Post reported that there is a new type of steamship here in Ming Dynasty. The scale of these steamers is getting bigger and bigger. We have to take this into consideration. The ships in the future may be larger than the current ones.
The ships are much, much bigger."
"That's true. I also took this into consideration, so I also widened and deepened the canal channel. It was completed at one time to save the need for expansion later."
Tong Yuan looked at Kansu II and did not expect that he would be so understanding and concerned about the affairs of the Ming Dynasty. He even knew about the steamship.
