"That's good. If you need any help, please just ask. Although we in Egypt are not as good as your Ming Empire, we will do our best as long as we can. After all, after the canal is opened, we in Egypt can also lay down and harvest.
Money."
Kansu II was very polite to Tong Yuan in front of him.
In the past few years, he had been in constant contact with Tong Yuan. Even after learning the language and characters of the Ming Dynasty, he often came over to talk with Tong Yuan about the classics and Taoism, and discussed the history of China and Tang poetry and Song poetry.
Tong Yuan was a serious Jinshi, so his knowledge was certainly not bad. In addition, he was a student of Liu Jin, so his views on many things were far beyond those of most people of this era.
Kansu II benefited a lot from every conversation he had with Tong Yuan. He even often consulted Tong Yuan on many matters concerning Egypt's internal government affairs.
Therefore, he respected Tong Yuan very much. This respect came from Tong Yuan's own knowledge and ability. Of course, as an official of the Ming Empire, with the support of the powerful Ming Empire, Kansu II also had to respect him.
"If necessary, I will definitely speak to His Majesty the King."
Tong Yuan smiled and replied.
On the matter of building the canal, Egypt has indeed provided a lot of help. Of course, this is also very needed for them. They need the big project of the Egyptian canal to alleviate their internal conflicts.
After the canal is built, it is also necessary to take control of this vital canal channel to obtain a lot of benefits.
Once the Egyptian Canal is completed, it will not only be as simple as collecting navigation fees. Egypt will become the most important trade hub and transportation center in Europe, Asia and Africa, and the benefits it can bring are beyond imagination.
"I heard that in Ming Dynasty, Canal's stock price has risen to more than two hundred taels of silver per share?"
Kansu II smiled and then asked again.
"Yes, the importance of the Egyptian Canal is self-evident. There are many people who are optimistic about this canal, and there are many people who are willing to invest. The stock has been rising since its issuance, and now it has risen to more than two hundred taels of silver per share.
Already."
Tong Yuan nodded and replied.
"For more than two hundred taels of silver per share, half of your canal rights in the Ming Dynasty are now worth two billion taels of silver. It's incredible. What a huge fortune this is. Is it really worth that much?"
"I even want to sell our half of Egypt!"
Kansu II sighed while shaking his head.
"Haha, the stock market is all virtual wealth. It goes up and down. If you really sell it, you won't be able to sell it for so much money. Of course, there is no denying the value of this canal. After it is opened, it can be used all over the world.
For those who have been sitting around collecting money for generations, it would be good to invest in some stocks and keep them to pass on to future generations.”
Tong Yuan smiled. To be honest, he was shocked when he saw this report.
The stock market value of this Egyptian canal has reached two billion taels of silver. It is doubtful whether the entire Ming Dynasty can find two billion taels of silver. This small canal is worth two billion, which is incredible.
"Master Tong, when I came here this time, I actually wanted to ask you if Daming could buy me a batch of arms and weapons?"
After some small talk, Kansu II finally revealed his purpose.
The inspection of the canal was just a routine matter, the real purpose was for arms and weapons.
The Mamluk dynasty of Egypt was already in decline. Historically, it was destroyed by Silom I of the Ottoman Empire a few years later.
This is partly because of the strength of the Ottoman Empire, but more importantly because of the many internal contradictions within the Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt.
The feudal military nobles wantonly annexed and expanded land, and a large number of farmers lost the cultivated land they relied on for their livelihood, causing intense turmoil in the entire dynasty, just like the late Ming Dynasty in history, which suffered from internal and external troubles.
It was because of the construction of the Egyptian Canal that the Mamluk Kingdom breathed a sigh of relief and temporarily stabilized the current situation. However, the canal will be repaired in more than a year.
At that time, there are hundreds of thousands of landless farmers in front of us. They have no land and no jobs. How do you let them live?
The situation will return to what it was before, and the entire dynasty will also face destruction.
Kansu II knew this clearly, and he also knew that he had only two options, either to restrict land annexation, or to expand externally and acquire new land.
Restricting land annexation is obviously not an easy task. The feudal military nobles are very powerful. If you want to restrict them, they might overthrow you now.
Therefore, what Kansu II could do was to restrict internal land annexation and attack those hostile feudal military nobles, while on the other hand, prepare for external expansion.
Although Egypt has a very good geographical location, located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, its environment is really not good.
The entire country's oases and cultivated land are derived from the impact of the Nile River. Most of the country is dry desert, which is not suitable for human survival.
To the north is the vast Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptians are not yet powerful enough to cross the Mediterranean Sea and expand into Europe. To the west there is still endless desert. There are only a few oases in areas close to the Mediterranean Sea. But these places are now being watched by Spain, Portugal, and France in Europe.
, some places have already fallen into the hands of the Spanish and Portuguese.
Compared with these European powers, Egypt seems to have no competitive advantage.
To the east is the Arabian Peninsula, which is also a desert with only a few oases, but the two river basins are a fertile wilderness. It would be great if you could include this place in your territory.
But this place is a powder keg. It has always been the territory of the Ottoman Empire, but now it is targeted by the ambitious and rapidly growing Persian Empire.
Compared with these two powerful countries, Egypt seems to be a little brother with no advantages. After all, it was the target of invasion by the Ottoman Empire in the past.
The only good choice is to go south and expand upstream along the Nile River into the vast hinterland of Africa.
There are no powerful countries. The strength of Sudan in the upper reaches of the Nile River is very average. The Mamluk Kingdom of Egypt often invaded them in the past.
At the same time, if everything goes well, you can also enter the fertile hinterland of Africa, where the land is fertile and the rainfall is abundant, which is very suitable for the development of agriculture and animal husbandry.
These Kunlun slaves in Africa are very backward and are not worth worrying about at all.
If you look at the expansion of the Ming Empire in East Africa, you will know that in just a few years, most of the coastal areas in East Africa have been completely divided up by the Ming vassals and colonies, and now they have begun to move towards
Africa's interior expanded.
The year before last, the Chu State also destroyed the Kingdom of Ethiopia and began to spread its power deep into the interior of the African continent and the plateau.
These vassal states and colonies of the Ming Dynasty actually had a small population. The large ones had hundreds of thousands of people, and the small ones even had only ten or twenty thousand people. Their military strength was even smaller, with thousands or tens of thousands of troops.
However, with such a small number of troops, they are running rampant on the African continent. How can the local Kunlun slaves be the opponents of these Ming people?
Kill.
Therefore, Kansu II also wanted to go south, attack Sudan, and expand into the hinterland of the African continent, in order to divert internal conflicts.
Through the newspapers published in Ming Dynasty, he also learned that the times are undergoing great changes.
Traditional cold weapons no longer seem to be the mainstream on the battlefield. The emergence of muskets and artillery has changed the pattern of war. Whether it is the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, the Europeans, or the powerful Ming Empire, they have begun to use large-scale
of muskets and artillery.
Kansu II wanted to expand externally and build a powerful army, so he naturally had to follow the trend of the times and use a large number of muskets and artillery.
However, the quality of the muskets and artillery made by Egypt itself is extremely poor, so the best choice is naturally to purchase it from outside. Of course, if you want to buy it, buy the best, and buy the muskets and artillery from the Ming Empire.
"Arms and weapons?"
When Tong Yuan heard this, he was slightly surprised. Looking at Kansu II, and then contacting the situation in Egypt, he immediately understood.
After thinking for a while, he said: "At this time, I can't make the decision, but I can write a letter back to Ming Dynasty, and you can also express your intention to buy arms and weapons to us, Ming Dynasty, through diplomatic channels."
"Based on the relationship between our two countries, I think the higher-ups will agree to sell you some arms and weapons."
The sale of arms and weapons is a big deal, often worth millions of taels of silver, and the profits are extremely high.
Over the years, the Ming Dynasty has never heard of arms sales to foreign countries. It can make huge profits every year, support a large number of arms companies and workers, and sell all the arms and weapons that have been eliminated by the Ming army.
If Egypt wants to buy weapons, there is no reason not to sell them. Even the Ottoman Empire has sold them, and Egypt is not the only one.
Kansu II is now very young and ambitious. He has weapons and has built a powerful army. He will definitely have to go through a lot of trouble.
At that time, whether it is to compete with the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire for the Mesopotamia and the Arabian Peninsula, or to compete with the Europeans for North Africa, or to expand to the south of Sudan, everything will happen, and things will come out.
As long as something happens, Ming Dynasty can sell arms to both sides and make endless money.
"Haha, that's great."
"I'm worried that your country is unwilling to sell it to me. I know that your teacher is very influential in Ming Dynasty, so I want to ask you for help."
When Kansu II heard this, he immediately laughed happily. Looking at the busy construction site in front of him, and then at the migrant workers, it seemed as if he saw an army of hundreds of thousands.