Chapter 4004
Chapter 4004
Chapter 4004
"The news was just spread this morning, and the governor's invitation arrived this afternoon. It seems the Ottomans are really nervous about this!"
Qian Tiandun placed the invitation on the table and instructed with a smile, "Go and tell them that I will be attending the banquet at the Governor's Mansion on time."
Takahashi Minami said, "If we had known this tactic would be so effective, we should have used it as soon as we arrived in Basra, instead of wasting so much breath in the negotiations these past few days."
Qian Tiandun shook his head and said, "If we use this trick right from the start, the effect might not be as good!"
After pondering for a moment, Takahashi Minami nodded and said, "That's right, sir. You're right."
If they release this false information as soon as they arrive in Basra, Galer might subconsciously believe that the simultaneous arrival of the Haihan and the appearance of Persian armed cavalry on the border is no coincidence. Once they become wary of the Haihan, subsequent negotiations will not go smoothly.
Now that Galer's negotiations on the exclusive arms supply have stalled, releasing the rumors of Persian armed cavalry is the perfect timing, leaving the other side with no choice but to be nervous.
That afternoon, Qian Tiandun and Gao Qiaonan returned to the Governor's Mansion. Although they had visited several times in the past few days, they had not yet met the powerful figure behind the scenes. This time, the invitation from the Governor's Mansion was very clear: it was a banquet hosted by the Imperial Envoy, Arif, which was presumably the result of Galler's persuasion.
Sure enough, they soon discovered that the dinner party did not invite many guests; it was actually a small meeting with only representatives from the Ottoman and Haihan sides.
Although Arif may not be a diligent and good official, he is a high-ranking figure who has been pampered and has seen a lot. He was not nervous when he met Qian Tiandun and Gao Qiaonan. He only said that he had been inspecting local government affairs in the Basra area a few days ago and had not yet had time to meet the two distinguished guests.
Galler secretly grumbled to himself, thinking to himself, "You haven't even left the governor's mansion these past few days, just holed up in your room drinking and living a life of debauchery, not even asking a few questions about government affairs. Now you're putting on airs like a respectable person."
However, in front of outsiders, Galar naturally dared not expose their shortcomings. Instead, he smiled and explained on behalf of Arif: "As soon as the Imperial Envoy returned to the city, he heard that the two distinguished guests from Haihan had visited Basra, and immediately asked me to invite them to a meeting."
After listening to the translation, Qian Tiandun first thanked Arif for the invitation, and then said that he had originally planned to leave Basrata Road and return home. If Arif had returned two days later, the two of them would probably have missed this opportunity to meet.
Arif glared at Galer, implying that while Qian Tiandun's tone suggested the Haihan were staying with conditions for negotiation, it was clearly not the case. Even without meeting today, they were already planning to leave Basra.
Gallerton sensed something was amiss. This was supposed to be a meeting between the two sides to discuss serious matters, but if Qian Tiandun continued down this path, it would turn into a farewell banquet. He immediately interjected, "I wonder if General Qian has heard any rumors today?"
Qian Tiandun understood what Galler was referring to in the rumors, but pretended not to know.
Galler then told Qian Tiandun about the rumors circulating about the Persian armed cavalry's activities on the border, and directly asked him what his opinion was.
Qian Tiandun naturally distanced himself from the matter, saying, "This is a matter between the Ottomans and Persia. As an unrelated third party, I have no comment." Galler immediately seized on the key point in Qian Tiandun's words: "Is your country really unrelated to this matter? Did the Persian cavalry purchase their firearms from your country?"
Qian Tiandun smiled and said, "This involves state secrets, and I have no comment."
Neither admitting nor denying, Galar realized that the other party was clearly trying to manipulate him on purpose.
Arif, as the representative of the Ottoman side, finally spoke up with a weighty statement: "General Qian, Lord Galar has already discussed the arms trade with you several times. In order to save everyone's time, please name your price and tell us what it would take for you to agree to our demands."
Galler nodded in agreement, indicating his absolute support for his superior. As long as Qian Tiandun was willing to name a price, it meant there was still room for negotiation, and ultimately, there was still a chance for a positive turn of events.
Over the past year, Galar has also purchased some weapons from Fubo Port, especially large-caliber city defense artillery. After learning about their combat performance, Galar gritted his teeth and bought a lot more, all for the sake of ensuring the safety of the strategically important city of Basra.
It's no exaggeration to say that with Basra's current defensive strength, as long as Persia doesn't acquire a large quantity of Haihan weapons, Galar is confident he can repel even a large army besieging the city. If Qian Tiandun promises not to sell weapons to Persia in the future, then Galar can rest easy.
Seeing that the other party had finally spoken, Qian Tiandun thought to himself that now they were getting down to business, and he could take the opportunity to state his own conditions.
However, Qian Tiandun did not directly mention Suez, but instead turned to talk about the origin of Fubo Port: "Two years ago, when I led a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf, I found an unclaimed piece of land in the Strait of Hormuz and established a port named 'Fubo.' I'm sure you two know about this. The purpose of establishing this port was, of course, not to seize the Persian Gulf, but to enable our country's maritime trade routes to reach more countries, allowing countries to exchange goods and promote development through trade."
"After sailing west to the Red Sea, I established a port on its western coast called 'Zhenhai'. I hope that with these two ports, I can build a direct shipping route to the European continent, and at the same time benefit the countries along the way and share this maritime trade route."
"Of course, even if I don't tell you what happened later, I believe you two have already guessed it. The northern end of the Red Sea does not lead directly to the Mediterranean Sea. A mere two or three hundred miles becomes an insurmountable barrier, requiring one to detour around an entire continent, adding a full ten thousand miles to the journey, which is truly regrettable."
It took the translator a long time to convey Qian Tiandun's words to the two Ottoman officials. After listening, the two looked at each other, not understanding what Qian Tiandun meant.
To be honest, Fubo Port was actually within the Ottoman Empire's sphere of influence, but it was located on the outer periphery, not directly controlled by them. It wasn't a big deal for the Haihan people to occupy a piece of land and build a port there. As long as it didn't endanger Ottoman ships' passage through the Strait of Hormuz, they wouldn't cause trouble for the Haihan people.
As for the Red Sea, there's even less to worry about. There isn't a decent country on either side of the Red Sea, and more than 80% of the area is deserted, with only the port of Jeddah in the central region having some activity.
The port of Haihan, located in the Red Sea, was thousands of miles away from the Suez region and was no longer within the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire. In their view, a small port was not enough to threaten the security of Suez.
Despite Qian Tiandun's explanation, they still didn't understand what direct relationship existed between the commercial shipping routes Haihan wanted to establish and the arms trade they were currently discussing.