The embroidered spring knife was unsheathed, showing a biting chill.
A trace of despair flashed in Muhad's eyes, and he suddenly shouted: "Don't kill me, I'll give you money!"
Kalai hurriedly translated. When Zhu Qizhen heard the money was given, he immediately said: "Wait a minute!"
Yuan Bin put down the knife, and Muhad breathed a sigh of relief and said: "I have a lot of gold, hidden in a secret place, only I know it!"
Zhu Qizhen asked: "Isn't your gold in the palace?"
"This gold was obtained from the Eastern Romans. If it is placed in the palace, it belongs to the empire. If it is hidden, it belongs to me!"
Kalai translated in both directions, using words very carefully for fear of making mistakes and missing important matters.
Zhu Qizhen immediately understood. This is the same as the difference between the national treasury and internal funds. Although the emperor nominally controls the world, the money from the treasury cannot only go in and out, such as building water conservancy projects, providing disaster relief, fighting wars... everything requires money.
If it is not managed well, there may even be a situation where you cannot make ends meet.
Internal funds are different. This is the emperor's private treasury. It is purely the emperor's own private money.
In the same way, when Muhad conquered the Eastern Roman Empire, he seized a sum of gold from the Eastern Roman royal family and then secretly hid it.
When death was imminent, this was his only life-saving straw.
He didn't know whether he could like the great emperor in front of him, but this was his only bargaining chip.
Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment and asked: "How much gold is there?"
"A lot, as many as a mountain!"
"How much is that?"
Muhad pointed to the palace behind him and said: "It can fill this house!"
Zhu Qizhen looked in the direction Muhad pointed, with a flash of light in his eyes.
The palace houses are much larger than ordinary houses. If they could be filled, they would weigh at least hundreds of tons!
"How could the Eastern Romans have so much gold?"
"They also robbed them. They robbed a lot from India, Golden Continent and other places..."
Kalai translated hard, but the Ottomans' names for India, Golden Continent and other places were different from those of the Ming Dynasty. He changed the names several times before Zhu Qizhen understood.
"I will give you all the gold, I just ask you not to kill me..."
Zhu Qizhen closed his eyes slightly, pondered for a long time, and then said: "As you said, handing over the gold will spare your life, but you can't stay here."
Muhad nodded repeatedly and said: "As long as you don't kill me, I can go anywhere."
Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said: "King Muhad of the Ottomans was persecuted by traitors and died in the palace last night. When he was dying, he left a letter asking the Ming Dynasty to help him eliminate the traitors, take over the empire, and unite the country.
The army and the people are happy to welcome Master Wang!"
After Karai heard this, he fell silent.
So shameless!
Muhad looked at Kalai coldly and said to him, hurry up and read it!
Kale had no choice but to recount it.
Muhad also fell silent after listening.
It turns out that there are such people in the world who have no moral ethics!
However, with the knife on my neck, I have no choice...
"I promise!"
"Well, now tell me the whereabouts of the gold, and then go and write the letter of credence. You write it yourself. I warn you, hurry up, because I may regret it at any time!"
Muhad just breathed a sigh of relief, but after hearing this, he immediately became nervous again.
Aren’t Orientals the most honest people? How come...they still have regrets?
"I will write now, I will write now..."
“Let’s talk about where the gold is hidden first!”
"Okay, okay, I have a map with the location marked."
"Where's the map?"
"In my chamber."
Zhu Qizhen immediately ordered Yuan Bin to follow Muhad to get the map, and then Li Zhen dispatched a team of troops from the Three Thousand Battalion to go to the treasure location.
Muhad took out the royal parchment and chicken quill pen and wrote an edict.
Zhu Qizhen asked Kalai to read it carefully. He felt that it was a bit perfunctory. After all, it was a certificate of credence that was to be passed down to future generations. If it was seen as too fake, wouldn't it be like my reputation as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
At that moment, Beilin, Tong Xuan, Xu Pu and others were summoned. After some discussion, they first made a draft, then asked Kalai to translate it, and then Muhad copied it himself.
This time, Zhu Qizhen felt more satisfied.
The king was persecuted by traitors and on his deathbed, he entrusted his country to his friends from the east. This was very reasonable.
After Muhad finished writing with tears in his eyes, he put the parchment paper into an envelope, poured molten wax on the seal, and after it solidified slightly, put his own seal on it.
Looking at the seal on the wax clay, he felt in a trance.
The mighty Ottoman Empire was surrendered to others.
Thinking back on what happened during this period, it was like a dream.
Didn't I just rob you of a few ships of gold and silver? Why did you turn around and lose your country...
Two hours later, Li Zhen sent someone back with news. Sure enough, a large amount of gold was found deep in the mountains. Due to the huge amount and the rugged mountain roads, a large number of manpower and mule carts were needed to transport it.
Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but laugh and asked: "How did you think of hiding gold in the mountains?"
Muhad replied truthfully: "It was hidden by the Eastern Romans. After I got the gold, I didn't dare to spend a single gold coin. I also hid a lot of gold coins in it..."
At the end of the story, the big man burst into tears.
It's so miserable...
However, the world is fair and happiness will not disappear out of thin air, it will just be transferred from one person to another.
Looking at the map, Zhu Qizhen was already grinning from ear to ear. The Ottoman Empire occupied the entire Arabian Peninsula and controlled important seaports such as the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Moreover, it could border the Ming Dynasty on land. It was perfect!
Thinking about the rich oil and gas resources buried under this land, when you sleep in the future, you will wake up from your dreams with laughter.
Kalai observed his words and bowed down: "Congratulations to His Majesty the Ming Emperor!"
"You did a great job!"
Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but praise: "I have always rewarded you for your merits, and punished you for your mistakes. I will make you a teaching officer, responsible for promoting classics. If you do well, I will also give you rewards!"
Kalai was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor, for your grace!"
Although I don't know what grade the teaching officer is, as a subject of the Ottomans, it is a great blessing to not only escape disaster on the day of the destruction of the country, but also to be promoted to an official position.
That night, a small boat set off from Constantinople, rowed across the calm Mediterranean Sea, and headed south.
Muhad sat in the cabin, in a trance.
The empire is gone, the gold is gone, the only thing to be thankful for is that my life is still there.
His destination is Egypt, another ancient country.
At this moment, he thought of a saying from the East: Keep the green hills and don't worry about running out of firewood.