Chapter 3706
Chapter 3706
Chapter 3706
The expedition team continued to travel northwards. The closer they got to the Mediterranean Sea, the more caravans they encountered on the road. It was normal for a caravan to have more than ten carriages. Many caravans were even much larger than the expedition team's carriage team.
Although these caravans came from Greece, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt, they were basically from the Ottoman Empire. Traditional maritime powers such as Spain and Portugal were nowhere to be seen.
It can be seen that the rumors are true. The Ottoman Empire was indeed quite wary of European countries and did not allow competitor caravans to enter the region to engage in trade activities.
Murat also explained this, saying that it was not that no European goods were allowed to enter, but that merchant caravans from certain countries were not allowed to enter.
As for the goods produced in these countries, they have to be transshipped in Crete, Sicily, Malta and other places in the Mediterranean before they can be transported to the port of Suez in the south through the land channel here. The goods shipped from the East to the Mediterranean countries through this place also follow the reverse operation of this procedure.
Qian Tiandun said: "It seems that your country is very tolerant towards us and allows us to enter here to engage in trade activities."
Murat said proudly: "The things you transport are less than one ten-thousandth of the goods transported through this passage. The impact on this place is minimal, so it's okay to let you in."
Qian Tiandun shook his head slightly and said, "This shouldn't be the real reason, right?"
Murat said: "Oh? Then tell me, what is the real reason?"
Qian Tiandun said, "The real reason is that our Hai Han country is thousands of miles away, and we have no territory in the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea. We will not pose a threat to your rule here, so we are allowed to enter here to engage in trade activities."
Murat did not intend to deny this and responded frankly: "It's good that you understand this. As long as you abide by the laws of our country, doing business here is not a problem."
Three days after leaving Lake Timsach, the expedition team finally saw the coastline and the Mediterranean Sea was ahead.
For most people, the coastline here is not much different from the coastline they have seen in the past, but just another new mark left on the journey.
But for Qian Tiandun, this moment had extraordinary significance. It meant that he became the first and only person among the time travelers to enter the Mediterranean region. This was a major breakthrough worth remembering for both the country of Hai Han and himself.
There is a small port called Port Said on the seashore, and the dock is crowded with sailboats of various types and sizes.
There is no outstanding natural harbor here, so the port conditions are not very good. The reason why so many merchant ships gather here is purely because it is the shortest place to the southern port of Suez by land.
Goods from the Mediterranean are landed here and transferred to the Port of Suez, which has the shortest distance and naturally reduces freight costs to the lowest.
What surprised the inspection team a little was that such an important port had no decent coastal defense fortifications, and it was said that there were only less than a thousand troops stationed here, whose main task was to maintain daily order.
The one who could answer this question for everyone was, of course, Murat, who was traveling as the leader of the carriage and horse troupe.
"The only function of Port Said is to serve as a connecting point for sea-land transport. Seizing this place does not achieve control over this land route. At least 80% of the value of this land route lies in Port Suez." "But if you want to land at Port Said and then cross 300 miles to attack Port Suez, you need to organize a very large army. There are really not many countries that have the ability and courage to do this, and they must also have the willingness and determination to go to war with our country."
"In addition, if this land route is interrupted due to war, it will not only be our country that suffers. There are goods from many countries in the East and the West here, and the financiers behind them are either rich or noble. Whoever wants to start a war here will have to bear the consequences of offending multiple countries!"
"My dear Hai Han lords, you probably don't want the goods you want to sell to Europe to have to go around the entire African continent because of a war started by an ambitious person, right?"
After listening to Murat's explanation, Qian Tiandun and others had to admit that he had some truth in his words. The value of the Suez Channel lies mainly in the Port of Suez, not the obscure Port of Said.
Its special value in the international trade system is actually the best amulet, which prevents outsiders from touching this tempting cake.
Of course, Murat obviously didn't understand the actual situation regarding Hai Han. Most of the goods Hai Han sold to Europe were handled by Portugal and the Netherlands, and the merchant ships of these two countries rarely took this route. They always went around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, so there was no risk as Murat said.
However, the situation described by Murat sounded a wake-up call to Qian Tiandun.
If the Suez Canal project is to be implemented, the 300-mile area between Port Said and Port Suez must be controlled. However, if military means are adopted and this trade route is interrupted due to war, it will offend not only the Ottoman Empire, but all countries that benefit from this trade route.
To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to seize control of the area and ensure that the original trade routes are unobstructed during the implementation of the canal project.
This adds another level of difficulty to a goal that was already difficult to achieve.
The Ottoman Empire did not deploy heavy troops in Port Said, which shows that it was quite confident in this special defense measure.
Qian Tiandun frowned and thought for a long time, but he could not come up with a perfect solution. If Hai Han wanted to defeat the enemy with force, it could do it, but it would require heavy troops to be drawn from the country to go on an expedition to Suez. The special warfare division alone was far from enough.
The resources consumed in this process are probably not much less than those required to dig the Suez Canal itself.
However, these specific situations can only be learned through such field visits, which can at least avoid the omission of information that may occur during the preparation process, and thus avoid serious misjudgments of changes in the situation.
Due to the frequent comings and goings of merchant caravans, the area has gradually developed into a town with cross-border trade as its main industry. There are more than a dozen hotels of all sizes, including some high-end places that specialize in serving wealthy businessmen.
Qian Tiandun wanted to inspect the operation of Port Said, so he directly booked two hotels with decent environments and let the entire team settle down and rest here for three days.
I tried Doubao's AI drawing and felt that it was a little better than the drawing function in Yuewen's backend and more in line with my personal preferences.
In addition, I have been fighting against influenza A these days after the holiday, and the process has been very painful. I believe that readers who have been infected can understand what I mean. Friends who have not been infected must take good protection and try to avoid it. It feels really bad.