choke element

Chapter 1048: Mission (Part )

Yuan Haowen smiled all the way, looking at the large farms and pastures around him.

Although this Hanlin scholar of the Great Zhou Dynasty was already in his early forties, he looked young and capable. In fact, he was indeed an experienced and reliable person.

Fifteen years ago, when the Emperor of Zhou was still the Marshal of Jin, he became the clerk of the Marshal's Office. Later, because Zhao Bingwen, the master of the Central Capital, retired, Yuan Haowen also left Zhongdu and worked as a county magistrate for a while. It was not until the fourth prince of Mongolia, Tolui, led his army to attack the Central Plains that Yuan Haowen, who was on his way to be transferred, gathered the people and made great achievements, that he was promoted again.

In the next ten years, he served in the Xuanhui and Hanlin academies, from editor to waiting official, participated in the debate between Confucian scholars in the north and south, and also went deep into the grassland to promote Han etiquette. The year before last, he went on a diplomatic mission to Japan and successfully won the mining rights of two large silver mines. He was promoted to the fifth rank of Hanlin direct scholar for his merits.

Because of his contribution to the trip to Japan, the emperor immediately issued an edict, ordering him to lead a diplomatic mission to Arabia and to pacify the Han military and civilians along the sea route.

Although the Great Zhou's knowledge of foreign lands far surpassed any dynasty in ancient times, such a journey of tens of thousands of miles was still quite daunting. Fortunately, Yuan Haowen's delegation was very large and had many capable colleagues, so they were able to arrive on time in less than a year without delay.

Even so, the entire fleet consisted of eight 5,000-ton sea ships when it set out, and now two of them were damaged and difficult to repair. Fortunately, they were replaced in time with Arabian sea ships using triangular sails, so the impact was not great.

Yuan Haowen was in a huge swamp called Hamar Lake. This swamp was located where two large rivers from the northwest converged into the sea. After hundreds of years of reclamation and utilization, it became a natural reservoir to irrigate the fertile land where the rivers flowed into the sea. In just this half-day trip, Yuan Haowen saw no less than 20 manors, which planted a large number of date palms, rice and cotton.

An Arab cavalry captain who followed Yuan Haowen was very proud of this. He raised his hand from time to time and explained to Yuan Haowen that this dam was the work of the 21st Caliph, and that irrigation ditch originated from the previous grand vizier, who mobilized 20,000 slaves.

This cavalry captain was sent to the delegation by an emir stationed here.

In recent years, Arabs have been increasingly exposed to the Eastern Empire thousands of miles away. Especially in the east of Serendipity, which is what the Han Chinese call the Lion Country, the competition between the Han Chinese merchants from the East and the Arab merchants has become increasingly fierce. Because the Han Chinese are extremely numerous and have expertise in construction and farming, ports and bases are scattered across the vast ocean. Arab merchants have suffered a lot in both commercial competition and armed confrontation.

However, despite the competition, the revenue from maritime trade has been increasing. For the Abbasid Dynasty, which was full of warlords and various separatist regimes, the taxes and contributions from this area accounted for most of the dynasty's actual income.

Therefore, in addition to competition, the two countries also had close cooperation, such as jointly suppressing foreign merchants from Srivijaya, Florian and other countries, and exchanging maritime laws and coordinating on ship supplies and handling of maritime disasters.

In recent years, several Arab tycoons have obtained official positions in the Han dynasty through their achievements in these cooperations. In contrast, many Han merchants have settled in Baghdad to do business, and because of their status above the internal politics of the Abbasid dynasty, they often make good profits.

Because of the close cooperation between the two countries, the names "China" and "Arab" replaced "Taohuashi" and "Dashi" and gradually became common names.

Yuan Haowen and his entourage came here as distinguished envoys sent by the Chinese emperor to discuss further cooperation between the two great powers. This matter had been reported to the Caliph of Baghdad half a year ago, and they received a warm invitation from the Caliph.

According to the original agreement, the Caliph would send his court ministers to solemnly welcome the Chinese envoys at the port of Hormuz, and then lead the delegation up the Fulila River to the capital Baghdad.

But when the delegation arrived at Hormuz Port, they saw that the people were in a state of panic and there was chaos everywhere. The delegation sent capable personnel ashore to inquire and heard that a war had broken out nearby, so that the local officials had fled, not to mention any ministers or welcoming ceremonies.

The delegation had already come, so even if the situation was unclear, they didn't have to turn back. So they took out some of the porcelain and tea they had brought with them, recruited some sailors and guides locally, and the fleet continued to sail west, directly arriving at the mouth of the Friula River.

The so-called Flira River is formed by the confluence of two large rivers that flow through Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Empire. It is also called the Shatt al-Arab River. At the mouth of the river there is a large city called Ula and a large port called Malā.

Fortunately, this area was not as chaotic as Hormuz Port, and there was an emir stationed there with his troops, governing the city and port. When the emir suddenly saw the arrival of a large fleet, he immediately beat gongs and blew trumpets, gathered thousands of infantry and cavalry to investigate, and found that it was a delegation from a great power, so he dismissed his men.

The so-called Emir refers to the official in charge of port security and fleet command. He has close relations with merchants and has heard about the upcoming Chinese delegation. Since it is a delegation, the Emir is relieved and sends one of his captains with 100 camels and corresponding herders to serve the delegation along the way.

In order to thank the Emir, the delegation had to present some gifts of oriental specialties.

The emir was in a strategic position at the river mouth, had a lot of money, and had seen many fine products. But the things the delegation brought were magnificent, and any one of them had an official identification document, which was different from those brought here by the people. Yuan Haowen, who was in charge of the handover, also hinted that when they arrived in Baghdad, he would definitely praise your loyalty and diligence in front of the Caliph.

The Emir was overjoyed and sent an additional 200 elite cavalry to escort the delegation along the way.

How many troops can an emir have? Sending out two hundred elite soldiers is almost more than one-third of his main force. Yuan Haowen felt that this was a bit too grand, but he immediately knew that these two hundred cavalrymen were very useful.

Just as the cavalry captain was explaining to Yuan Haowen, a hail of arrows suddenly erupted from the date palm plantation across the ditch. The arrows were not dense and weak, and only a few Arab shepherds in robes at the front of the delegation were unlucky enough to be shot and fell off their horses screaming in pain.

"Enemy attack! Be alert!"

The soldiers of the Great Zhou in the envoys' team immediately rushed to the ditch. The swordsmen set up a shield wall, and the crossbowmen took out their bows and arrows and pointed them in the direction of the rain of arrows from the other side. The rest of the envoys urged the herdsmen and porters to form a circle around the vehicles and camels and prepare for defense.

At this time, the subordinates of the Arab cavalry captain drew their scimitars, shouted loudly, and approached the ditch, pretending to swim over to fight.

A number of men in long robes and holding scimitars jumped out of the plantation and responded with the same loud roar.

An interpreter squatted beside Yuan Haowen and whispered to him what the two sides were shouting at each other.

"You bastards, get out of the Madan territory! You are not allowed to plunder the Madan people's wealth!"

"No one wants to see your stinking buffaloes, and no one wants to eat your disgusting, rotten fish! We are ordered to escort the Chinese emperor's envoy to Baghdad to meet the Caliph! Get out of the way and don't cause any trouble!"

After saying a few words, the interpreter couldn't help shaking his head: "The Madan people are the indigenous people around Lake Hamar. They are good at raising buffaloes, riding reed canoes to travel on the water, hunting wild birds and fish, and usually living in huts made of reeds... In the past, they were all humble people, doing odd jobs for the sea merchants in the port, and dared not resist even if they were whipped. But now they are so bold that they dare to occupy the manor in the face of the Emir's cavalry?"

According to the Zhou Dynasty's understanding of Arabia, the fertile land between the city of Ula and the capital Baghdad can be equated to the imperial capital of China. However, a group that was originally regarded as untouchables occupied the manor in the imperial capital and blocked the road, and the court officials and soldiers could only shout and threaten... It can be seen that the Abbasid Dynasty was indeed as the sea merchants said, and the country was in turmoil.