On the railway from the river to the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the envoys sent by the Ottoman Empire to the Ming Empire to congratulate the Emperor of Ming Dynasty on his ascension to the throne were among them.
Ibrahim put down the book in his hand and looked outside. The vast wilderness was endless, the cold wind was howling, and the sky was vast. From time to time, he could see a large group of wild horses and wild camels foraging in the wilderness.
The vast area in front of us has not been developed since it was under the rule of the Ming Empire. However, compared to the vast land, it is still vast and sparsely populated.
Most of the population is concentrated in towns. Except for urban areas, other places are endless open fields and vast grasslands.
There are a large number of wild animals living on this vast grassland, including wild horses, wild camels, wild sheep, wolves, foxes, wild deer, etc. You can easily see these wild animals when taking the train.
Decades ago, the Ming Dynasty's army swept across the Western Regions and the Hezhong area, killing countless people wherever it went, and turned this vast land covering an area of more than two million square kilometers into a desolate no man's land.
Although millions of Ming Dynasty immigrants later migrated to the Hezhong area, most of the area here is still uninhabited and has become a paradise for wild animals. Over the past few decades, the scale and number of these wild animals have increased.
More and more, it has become a scenic spot in the Hezhong area.
"The people of Ming Dynasty are so extravagant!"
"It's such a waste that such a vast grassland with rich water and grass can be left desolate and turned into a paradise for wild animals!"
Ibrahim couldn't help but sigh.
Although he had heard countless rumors about the Ming Empire in the past, it was only when he actually set foot in the Ming Empire that he truly appreciated its vastness, wealth, and advanced power.
You can understand the vastness of the Ming Dynasty just by spreading out the world map and looking at your itinerary. Taking a train from Nanyun Province, you first pass through Nanyun Province, then arrive in Hezhong, then enter the Western Regions, then Gansu, and then enter the Ming Dynasty.
In the mainland, we had to pass through several provinces before finally reaching the Ming Empire.
With such a vast distance and journey, it is only a part of the vast territory of the Ming Empire.
However, even this part of the territory was already extremely large for the Ottoman Empire, several times larger than the Ottoman Empire.
Such a vast land is so huge that it is beyond imagination. The sun will never set on the land of the Ming people. The true sun never sets on the empire, and I have only experienced a very small part of it.
The second is the prosperity of the Ming Empire. Just passing through Nanyun Province and Hezhong Province, the prosperity of these two places left a very profound impact on Ibrahim.
Wherever the railway passed, he could see a large number of neatly built and extremely beautiful houses. These houses built of reinforced concrete were just ordinary people's houses.
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguo to read and catch up on books recently. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. www. Android and Apple are available.]
But even the houses of ordinary people are already so beautiful. What is even more incredible is that almost all villages have been connected to cement roads. Spacious cement roads connect all directions. Cars, motorcycles and various vehicles can be seen on the roads from time to time.
The trucks seemed to be showing off to Ibrahim the wealth of the Ming people.
What really shocked Ibrahim was the railway in front of him. Looking at the Ming Railway Map published by the Ming Empire, you can clearly see that the railways of the Ming Empire have crisscrossed the country and extended in all directions.
There is a large Eurasian railway that runs from east to west, from Houzhao City in the west to the port of Vladivostok in the east of the Ming Dynasty, with a total distance of tens of thousands of kilometers.
There are also railways built from Beihai City in the north to the Elephant Forest of Nanyang in the Ming Dynasty, from the coldest areas to the tropical areas, and tens of thousands of highways of railways running through the north and south.
The railway in front of us is so convenient.
It can walk day and night, cover thousands of miles in a day, and can transport a large number of people and huge cargo at one time. The transportation capacity is very terrifying.
With such railways, the Ming Empire could quickly mobilize materials and personnel from any part of the empire to another distant place.
Extremely efficient and fast!
"It would be great if our Ottoman Empire had a railway connecting the east and west!"
"It's just that the cost of building this railway is too expensive!"
Just the railway made Ibrahim truly feel the wealth and arrogance of the Ming Dynasty people.
The cost of building any of these railways is calculated in hundreds of millions of taels of silver, but the people of the Ming Dynasty built one after another. Crossing each other, the railways of the Ming Dynasty have formed a huge network that runs through the east, west, north, and south of the Ming Dynasty, connecting
Covering every province of the Ming Dynasty.
Even in the southwest region, which has the most dangerous terrain and is the most difficult to build railways, the railways have now been built. How much money has been spent is an astronomical figure that is difficult to calculate.
On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire has always said that it will build a railway from Istanbul to the Danube River. The purpose is to consolidate the Ottoman Empire's rule over the Danube River Basin and to continuously transport food from the Danube River region to the capital.
At the same time, it can also facilitate travel from the capital to the Danube region, and quickly mobilize armies to border areas.
However, the Ottoman Empire itself did not have the technology, equipment and materials to build a railway. It could only rely on the Ming Dynasty to build such a railway.
The price quoted by the Ming Dynasty to the Ottoman Empire Sultan was 300 million taels of silver. It is said that it was a friendly price. This was because the terrain here was relatively flat, so the cost would not be too high. The Ottoman Empire also needed to recruit a certain amount of silver.
When the farmer comes to help.
Building such a railway actually costs 300 million taels of silver!
300 million taels of silver. The Ottoman Empire's annual fiscal revenue was only about 30 million taels. It was only possible to build such a road without food or water for ten years.
After receiving the quotation from the Ming Dynasty, Suleiman never mentioned building the railway again. The cost was too expensive!
However, the railways were so expensive to build, but the people of the Ming Dynasty did not blink an eye when they built them. They built them as soon as they were told. One railway after another was built, running through the east, west, north and south of the Ming Dynasty.
Just by counting the railways built by the Ming Dynasty people over the years, you can know how much money the Ming Dynasty people spent on this aspect. Not to mention anything else, the money spent on building railways alone is estimated to be more than 10 billion taels of silver.
For the Ottoman Empire, such a huge wealth was truly astronomical, but for the Ming Empire, they seemed to enjoy it.
Not only the Ming court was willing to invest in the construction of railways, but the people and wealthy people of the Ming Dynasty were also very willing to invest in the construction of railways. A large number of railways were built with private funds.
The extremely wealthy Ming Empire invested huge amounts in infrastructure.
Railway construction is only one aspect of infrastructure. The Ming Empire built roads even more frantically. Looking at the highway map of the Ming Empire, the dense lines on it have spread all over the Ming Empire. In many areas, even rural areas have
The hardening of the road has been fully realized.
Railways, highways, ports, reservoirs, dams, rivers, canals, schools, etc., the people of Ming Dynasty invested crazily in infrastructure construction, and the amount was huge.
"The people of Ming Dynasty are so rich!"
The Ottoman officials who followed Ibrahim to the Ming Dynasty kept sighing all the way.
The wealth of the Ming Dynasty is not only reflected in the clothes, but also in the cars and motorcycles on the road. Cars and motorcycles were the real rich people in the Ottoman Empire, and only the nobles could afford them and use them.
thing.
However, in the Ming Empire, in the towns and roads we passed along the way, we could easily see a large number of cars and motorcycles.
Motorcycles have almost become available in every household.
"With such a Ming Empire, how can our Ottoman Empire compare with it?"
"The gap is really huge!"
Ibrahim couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Although you understand the ambitions of the three generations of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, they all want to regain their place, regain their face, and avenge their shame with the Ming Empire, but after you truly understand the Ming Empire, you will find that the power gap between the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Empire is
is constantly expanding.
It is getting bigger and bigger, and it has reached a point where it is simply unreachable.
"If our Ottoman Empire wants to become as powerful as the Ming Empire, we must fully learn from the Ming Empire."
"Otherwise we will never be able to catch up with the Ming Empire, let alone become enemies of the Ming Empire. That would be the stupidest idea!"
Ibrahim had already come to a conclusion silently in his heart.
Now many countries and regions around the world are learning from the Ming Empire. For example, the Spanish Empire is learning from the Ming Empire, and Persia, Egypt, etc. are also learning from the Ming Empire.
If the Ottoman Empire wants to be strong, it must also learn from the Ming Empire. This is also the main purpose of his visit to the Ming Dynasty this time.