At the beginning of the civil castle, the Ming God of War was a little panicked

Chapter 549 Tehran

Because it is located at the junction of the Ottoman Empire and the Timur Khanate, the ownership of the city of Hedland has always been vague. Anyway, whoever brings the troops and horses will obey their orders.

Faced with the sudden arrival of the Ming army, the people in the city were immediately terrified, and they all returned home as if fleeing, with their doors and windows closed.

The street was so quiet that not even the dogs dared to bark.

Looking at the surrounding environment, Zhu Qizhen was quite puzzled.

Hedland of later generations is one of the most prosperous cities in Central Asia. How could it be the scene before us?
Most of the shops on both sides of the street have been closed, the doors and windows are broken, and the walls are covered with mud and dust.

The residential houses in the distance are even more appalling, even simpler than the slums of a certain oriental country in later generations, and you can even see many thatched houses.

This kind of house doesn't even have walls. The walls are surrounded by tree branches and the roof is covered with thatch, so it is considered a house.

To be precise, it should be called a shed.

It's hard to imagine how this kind of house can keep out the wind and rain, it seems that it can't stop at all...

"Yuan Bin!"

"Chen is here!"

Zhu Qizhen took a deep breath and ordered: "Go and see who is in charge here, it's best to find someone who can speak Chinese."

Yuan Bin led the people away from the large army, and returned after only a quarter of an hour.

Behind him, there are two people following, one is wearing a white robe, but the whole body is covered with patches, and the other is wearing a linen garment.

From the clothes of these two people, it can be seen that the identity of the white-robed man should be a nobleman or a local official, while the linen-clothed man is just a commoner.

It's just... that person dressed as a civilian doesn't seem to be from the local area.

Because his eye sockets are deeper, his nose is stronger, and his eyes are blue, he looks like a European or a mixed race.

The two knelt tremblingly, the man in the white robe murmured something, but the other man said in broken Chinese: "Kowtow to His Majesty the Emperor of Ming!"

Zhu Qizhen's eyes lit up, and he asked, "What's your name, and why can you speak Chinese?"

"My name is Rui Clavijo, and I went to Daming about 20 years ago."

"What to do?"

"For trade, sell gold and silverware, sesame oil, perfume, etc. from Jerusalem to Daming, and then buy silk, porcelain, tea, etc. from Daming, and sell them back."

Zhu Qizhen suddenly became interested, and asked, "How about the profit from trading?"

"It's very impressive, and the trip is very profitable."

"In that case, why didn't you do it later?"

Rui Yi showed a look of regret: "The goods were robbed, and the money lost..."

Zhu Qizhen thought about it, 20 years ago was when he had just succeeded to the throne. At that time, the late emperor passed away, and the forces such as Oala in the north began to expand.

The Wala people have a characteristic, that is, they are poor, very poor.

Even the iron pots for cooking are extremely scarce. It's no wonder that they are not robbery when they meet a caravan at this time!

"Tell me about the situation here again, why is it so dilapidated?"

Rui nodded, pointed to the man in white robe beside him and said, "This is Pope Moravi, the leader of Tehran."

Zhu Qizhen took a closer look, and found that the Pope was a bit shabby, although his temperament was acceptable, but this patched clothes... For some reason, it reminded people of Kong Yiji in Mr. Lu Xun's works.

"Can he speak Chinese?"

Rui shook his head, "No."

"You tell him that I am the Son of Heaven, passing through Tehran today, and may stay for a while."

Rui turned his head to translate, Moravey looked at Zhu Qizhen suspiciously, his eyes were full of surprise, and then murmured back.

Zhu Qizhen waited impatiently, and asked, "What did he say?"

"He said...he didn't know about Daming, and he didn't believe in your identity, His Majesty the Emperor."

Zhu Qizhen smiled, pointed at the soldiers and horses behind him, and said, "Ask him, do you believe these soldiers and horses?"

Sure enough, Moravey looked at the [-] murderous soldiers and nodded vigorously.

Rui said again: "Pope Moravi has invited His Majesty the Emperor to enter the city."

The city was so small that Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to order the troops to set up camp outside the city, and he brought Li Zhen, Yuan Bin, Beilin and others to the city along with Rui and Moravi.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived."

Zhu Qizhen looked up and saw a cathedral in front of him.

However, this church has been in disrepair for a long time, the outer wall is peeling off, the bricks are mottled, and the inside is the same, making people feel that it may collapse at any time.

Moravi first knelt in front of the statue and prayed, chanting words.

Zhu Qizhen looked around, then found a place to sit down, and called Rui over.

"I see you look more like a Franji."

Rui Yi's eyes lit up, and he said, "The emperor has been to Franji?"

Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said, "I just heard about it."

"Oh……"

Rui nodded and said, "Actually, my father is from the Netherlands, and later he came to Jerusalem to do business."

The Netherlands is the Netherlands of later generations, a typical European.

Zhu Qizhen continued to ask: "Then why didn't you stay in Jerusalem, but came here?"

"Ugh……"

Rui first sighed, and then said: "20 years ago, on my way back from Daming, I was looted by the Mongols, lost all my goods, begged all the way back, and when I passed Tehran, it was the gentle Masha who took me in. ..."

"Martha...who is it?"

"She is a singing girl. Every time I pass by Tehran, I will stay at her home."

Zhu Qizhen secretly thought, probably not some serious singing girl...

"Since then, I have stayed in Tehran and lived with Martha. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. Ten years ago, Martha suffered from the terrible Black Death. In order to treat her, I spent all my money. Savings, in the end still failed to keep her..."

Seeing Rui Yi's sad face, Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to say: "Please be sorry, that... let's talk about the current situation. I have seen from history books that Tehran is a very prosperous city. What is it? The reason is that it’s broken down to this point?”

"It's all caused by years of fighting!"

Rui shook his head again, sighed again, and said: "A long time ago, Tehran was indeed an important city on the Silk Road, but with the war between the Timur Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, the trade route has long since ceased to exist. Now, adult men were arrested and sent to join the army, and even the food grown in the land was looted by the armies of both sides in turn, and now Tehran has long lost its life.”

Zhu Qizhen was silent for a moment, then waved and ordered someone to take out the map.

Belin unfolded the map, and there was a circle drawn in charcoal on it, and there was a place marked in red with the word Herat written, which was the capital of the Timur Khanate.

"This is the general map of the Timur Khanate based on the information circled by my people. Come and see, is there any mistake?"

Rui stared at the map for a while, and then said: "The part of the border near Tehran is very accurate, and the location of Herat is also fine. I don't know the rest."

At this time, after Moravi finished praying, he stepped forward and said: #￥%*&...

Zhu Qizhen looked at Rui, and Rui hurriedly translated: "Pope Moravi asked where His Majesty came from, because he had never heard of the Ming Empire. We have many troops here, except for Ottoman and Timur. There are other forces that claim to be the spokesperson of God."

"Anyone?"

"There are Mongols, Romans, and Raksha people in the north. This place belongs to the Three Controls. Anyone who comes can search it. The local people are miserable."

Zhu Qizhen glanced at Moravi beside him, and said, "Where is your god? His people are suffering, why don't you come out and take care of them?"

Rui Yi was stunned when he heard this, as if he hadn't thought about this question.

Moravey looked at the conversation between the two and was also full of doubts, so Rui had no choice but to relay the question.

After a brief conversation between the two, Rui said: "The Pope said that suffering is a part of life."

This time it was Zhu Qizhen's turn to be speechless, and said: "I have never seen your gods, but I understand a truth, gods are afraid of wicked people, and wicked people are most afraid of the spears and cannons in my hands, tell this Mo..."

"Morawy."

"Well, you tell him that I come from the far east. From now on, the Ottoman Empire has officially been included in the territory of Ming Dynasty. As for the Timur Khanate, if they are sensible and willing to give up the Western Regions, I will not lose him. Everyone earns money, and mutual benefit can lead to a win-win situation. On the contrary, my army will deploy and beat Timur into a pancake!"

After listening to Rui Rui, he was shocked. Communication in this era is not well developed, and the news of Ming's conquest of Ottoman has not yet come.

Moreover, the tone of the other party is really too big, just a few thousand of you, you have to make them into pancakes. You know, the Timur Empire is a product left over from the Mongol Empire. Expand the territory to the borders of the Ottoman Empire, occupying the entire Central Asia region.

When Oala was strong, the two sides fought in the area from Hami to Shanshan. In the end, Oirat actually controlled Hamiwei, and the west became the sphere of influence of the Timurid Empire. After the Ming Dynasty took over Hamiwei, it did not expand westward. It is safe and sound.

Except for the Western Regions, the territory of the Timurid Empire has extended to more than half of India. In terms of territory alone, it is not smaller than Ming and Ottomans, or even larger.

Rui had been to Ming Dynasty and knew Ottoman's strength. He didn't think the difference in strength between the two sides was that big. It would not happen overnight if one big country wanted to destroy another big country. Win or lose.

"Why, don't you believe it?"

Zhu Qizhen saw the doubt on the other party's face, and turned to greet Bei Lin.

Belin circled the area under Daming's actual control on the map, and then explained it to Rui.

The current situation is that the mainland of Ming Dynasty, Ceylon Island, Ottomans, and the Yenisei River area just captured by Tuotuobuhua surrounded the Timur Khanate in all directions.

In other words, the Timur Khanate has become a nail house embedded in the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty.

Rui Yi was already speechless in shock. In just a few years, the situation in the world has changed drastically.

"Your Majesty, since the sea route has been established, why do you still have to compete with the Timur Khanate for the Western Regions?"

Zhu Qizhen smiled faintly, and said: "The Western Region has been the inherent territory of Ming Dynasty since ancient times. It has been stolen by Xiaoxiao people for many years. It should have been returned long ago. I have given them enough face by coming to pick it up myself!"

The 36 countries in the Western Regions in history have undergone changes, and now there are only a dozen left. However, all of them are located in the sphere of influence of the Timur Khanate and have no autonomy at all.

If this problem is not solved, the Silk Road will never be able to penetrate.

Rui Yi was still in a dazed state at this time. Is this young general in front of him really a bright future?

Even if you are a son of heaven, but you only bring 3000 people with you. Although they look well-equipped and the soldiers have high combat literacy, are you sure you want to go to war with the Timur Khanate?
This place is more than 1000 miles away from Herat, the capital of the Timur Khanate, and tens of thousands of people can be mobilized casually. Moreover, this is their territory, and wars pay attention to the right time, place and people. ah!

Moravey looked at Zhu Qizhen and then at Rui, with question marks all over his face.

What are they talking about?
Where the hell is this guy from?
Where is Daming?
Why didn't those soldiers and horses outside start looting?
Two nuns stood in the distance, holding jugs and cups in their hands. Although their faces were covered, the fear in their eyes was clearly visible.

Moravi greeted the two of them and offered tea.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the cup for drinking tea. It seemed to be made of silver, but it was pitch black. I don't know if the smelting process is not good, or it has been worn for a long time.

The tea is also the most inferior brick tea. The advantage of this kind of tea is that it is easy to store and transport. However, looking at the tea stems like branches, it is enough to show its inferior quality. In the mainland of Daming, even ordinary people do not drink it. This kind of brick tea is only possible for the free tea prepared for guests in the restaurant.

Li Zhen picked up the cup and sniffed it, with a look of disgust on her face.

Yuan Bin looked cautious, because he was not sure if this tea would become thinner after drinking...

However, Rui's eyes lit up, he took a sip from the teacup, and then said: "Your Majesty, this is the oriental tea treasured by Pope Moravi. It may be very common in Ming Dynasty, but it is very precious here, and it is usually not part of it." take it out."

Zhu Qizhen took a sip cautiously, with a complicated expression on his face.

"Beilen, fetch our own tea."

Bei Lin got up and walked out of the church. Not long after, she came back with a bag of tea, followed by Tong Xuan and others, holding a kettle and a cup.

"Excuse me, where is the kitchen?"

Rui talked to Moravey for a few words, and then took people to boil water. Soon, the tea was overflowing.

Moravey looked at the exquisite ceramic teacup and the clear and bright tea soup in the cup, his eyes were straight.

Zhu Qizhen smiled lightly and said, "Try it!"

Moravei hurriedly reached out to take it, but was stopped by Rui. The two talked and gestured again. Moravei finally understood that this was a reward from the emperor, and he had to thank him first.

I saw him leaning over and bowing his head, chanting words, although he couldn't understand, but he could imagine that it was nothing more than polite words like the Lord will bless you.

Rui Yi also bowed to salute, and said respectfully, "Thank you, His Majesty, for the reward."

(End of this chapter)