Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Solovyov hasn't explicitly emphasized it, but he has already illustrated the arrogance of the British.

Although the British side is likely unable to accept it psychologically, they still have to accept it.

However, Zhao Lian still had a great interest in foreigners, and Solovyov really broadened his horizons.

It wasn't even Solovyov's interest in Sinology, but rather the current state of various European countries that he mentioned.

As for India, it was also an eye-opening experience for Zhaolian.

Solovyov confirmed a rumor with Nguyen Nguyen about Wu Bingjian's relationship with the East India Company.

The Pan family, as the head of the business, had some reservations about this line of work, mainly because foreigners always wanted to do things outside the rules.

Although opium was introduced from the southeastern coast, most of the raw materials came from India.

As for the British planting poppies in Bengal, it damaged the local ecological environment and led to a single-structured economy.

The once fertile and rich land can no longer grow crops; instead, it's been used to grow other things.

These things are used to poison the people of the world.

The British will get to eat boomerangs eventually; they haven't realized the seriousness of the situation yet.

The reception then came to an end. Solovyov and his party only made a brief stop in Calcutta to resupply before continuing their journey.

The environment in India was just like that, but Zhaolian learned quite a bit about the specifics while on Solovyov's ship.

Examples include the past rivalry between France and Britain in India, the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire, and the current war between the Maratha and Britain.

But what shocked Zhaolian the most was the British policy of rule in India.

"The British won't provide disaster relief?"

"No help."

"Would people like this starve to death on the road?"

"That's it."

"How can someone so immoral rule a region?"

"Even Ireland is like this. Your Highness can imagine that the British are so brutal that even if Jie and Zhou were resurrected, King You were alive, or the First Emperor were to return to power, they would all be benevolent rulers in comparison."

That's a very low rating.

Even more importantly, Solovyov said this before the event of Queen Victoria.

A terrible era, a man-made famine, this KPI couldn't be met even if you brought in kimchi.

However, the British, apart from their colonies being shattered, did not face any due punishment for these heinous acts.

The fleet continued its journey, making a brief stop in French territory before heading toward Ceylon.

Zhaolian did have some recollection of this place.

Because the monk Faxian once wrote a book called "A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms," which provided a considerable description of India before the monk Xuanzang's "Great Tang Records on the Western Regions."

When Faxian set out, it was still the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period. When he returned to the East, it was the Northern and Southern Dynasties period of confrontation. The changes that occurred during this time are truly remarkable.

Of the places described by Faxian, only Ceylon still retains Buddhist temples and monasteries. In the South Asian subcontinent, only Ceylon, with its Theravada Buddhism, can be considered a Buddhist country.

However, this area was once a Dutch colony and is now a British colony.

Ceylon was fortunate that its local soil was well-suited for tea cultivation, thus escaping disaster.

Solovyov himself is very fond of Ceylon tea, though its main production area...
Everything was under British control, which gave him a major headache.

His personal favorite is black tea.

Zhao Lian said he didn't need to worry; if Ceylon black tea was gone, there was still Pu'er tea.

What worried him more was why there were British barbarians everywhere.

"Your Highness, do you know that the British, the Dutch and other countries have established their businesses at sea? They travel thousands of miles and stop at various places along the way. Without a base, it is difficult to succeed."

As for the specifics, Solovyov would also like to give a detailed account of what happened during this Age of Exploration.

As for the Qing Dynasty, things were as they always were.

Many things can't be explained clearly unless you're there in person.

As they spoke, they passed through the narrowest part of the strait, sailing towards the southernmost tip of the South Asian subcontinent.

In his "Notes on the Sea", Zhaolian himself also mentioned the conditions at various places along the way.

He would also raise doubts about his knowledge.

After all, even the Qing Dynasty knew how to provide disaster relief, and previous dynasties used both suppression and appeasement. It is unlikely that the British, who ruled a place in this way, could last long.

The mentality of some people in the Qing Dynasty was to make a quick buck and leave, which is quite apt for explaining the British mentality.

The rest of the voyage took place in the Arabian Sea.

Solovyov also plans to go to the Arabian Peninsula, but it depends on the wind direction.

He sent a fast boat to the Cape of Good Hope, following the same route it had taken to get there.

The main fleet operated along the edge of the Arabian Sea, which was also the main route of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean.

However, this group will not travel to Mecca to pay respects to the Sheriff's family; instead, they will randomly select a lucky player.

Solovyov also considered the important position of the Arabian Peninsula, so he intended to contact the Sultan of Oman.

The Sultan of Oman also has some ties with Britain.

This kingdom at that time was vast, encompassing not only Oman itself but also many parts of East Africa.

The Sultanate of Oman is also very wealthy, and the current Sultan, Said ibn Sultan, has been in the position of monarch of the Sultanate of Oman for more than a decade.

He had closer ties with Britain, and also had diplomatic relations with France and the Netherlands.

By 1840, the Sultanate of Oman was also to establish diplomatic relations with the United States.

In the past, Oman had even defeated Portugal, driving them out of their East African colonial outposts.

This country, in its capital Muscat, showed no surprise when it saw a large number of Russian warships on the sea.

The only thing to be amazed about is how large the Russians' three warships are.

When Solovyov arrived, he saw a scene he hadn't seen in a long time.

Goodness, there are so many people with cloth covering their heads in this place. It's just a pity that they haven't mined any oil yet.

The hot climate here also forced the group to change their attire.

There were also colonial uniforms among the Russian army, because Russia had also acquired a few African islands at the Vienna Peace Conference, and this was always a factor to consider.

As for the Middle East and India, these will also be strategic targets to consider in the future. Besides these regions, conflicts with the Ottoman Empire are also inevitable.

In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire still appeared to be the dominant power, but it was beginning to decline.

The Russians were a powerful nation that had repeatedly defeated this elder brother, and the Sultan himself knew he could not afford to be complacent.

Even the Russian envoy brought with him a Chinese envoy.

The last time we saw Chinese people in this sea area was four hundred years ago when Zheng He (Zhang Ziyi) went on his voyages to the Western Ocean.

Then, the Sultan was also surprised that these Chinese people had Tatar hairstyles and topknots on their heads.

But this official's attire still bears some resemblance to the Chinese people of the distant East in Omani legends, except for the slightly different colors.

Solovyov hadn't expected that the Sultan would be so hospitable.

Arabs have always been like that, and their food is also quite hearty.

However, there were indeed no drinks served at these banquets.

Ancheng, sitting to the side, grew somewhat impatient.

After all, without wine, it felt like something was missing for this general who was chasing and hacking at the rebels.

"General An, do not worry. The local beliefs are similar to those of the Hui people in the Northwest, so they will not provide alcohol. Once we reach the Dutch territory, everything will be the same."

He didn't bring any orange juice, but the Sultan of Oman did have some grape juice, which was very fresh and unfermented.

The taste is good, but it feels like something for the kids' table.

Upon learning that the Chinese envoy was a distinguished Emir, the Sultan of Oman became even more eager to establish trade relations with China.

Zhaolian was also somewhat confused, but Solovyov's explanation was the best.

"Your Highness may not know this, but Eunuch Sanbao is quite prestigious here. And there is a saying in the Hadith of a branch of Islam that 'knowledge is sought even in China,' so they naturally have great respect for the envoy from the Celestial Empire. Moreover, your status here is equivalent to that of an Emir, the ruler of a small country, second only to the Sultan among secular rulers. Hence, they ask this question."

"I see. But the imperial decree orders me to travel west. How should I respond to His Highness the Sultan?"

"It's quite simple. Although Oman is also Muslim, they make their living by sea and through maritime trade. We can simply ask them to go to Guangzhou to pay tribute."

The Chinese emperor's status was indeed very prestigious in the Asian region. Zhaolian came of age early and knew that the Celestial Empire's prestige was still intact. He had even heard about the things that the Gurkhas had done by Fukang'an and Hailancha after crossing the Himalayas.

Since Arabs also do business, they inevitably go to India.

I heard that the Gurkhas, who were rapidly rising in power at the time, were beaten by the Chinese who crossed the snow-capped mountains, which was quite a big news story in the Middle East.

Delin and Ancheng were Fukang'an's eldest son and Hailancha's second son, respectively.

Although their status was not prestigious enough, it was very useful to the Sultan.

The Sultan himself even came over with a golden cup to offer grape juice.

"They are also descendants of noble warriors, and it is a blessing from God that we can see them here today."

However, the Sultan himself was born in 1791 and is still very young.

He had only heard about those things before. After all, Oman is so close to India and is located on a maritime trade route that has a history of 4000 years, so it is very easy for him to obtain all kinds of information.

But Solovyov is a different case.

He had just defeated the Ottoman Empire a few years ago and was quite famous in Europe.

So the Sultan also came over to have a couple of drinks with him, and these grape juices were even replaced with fermented ones.

Solovyov could also taste it, and he even mentioned it casually.

“Your Majesty the Sultan, you should know that even the ‘Sword of Allah,’ Caliph Umar would tolerate his fondness for some fermented grape juice.”

"This is natural, and we also honor the brave, wise, and noble warriors and sages. May God bless you."

"As fellow believers, this is a wonderful blessing. In your faith, Jesus is just a prophet."

"Indeed, you also study the Hadith?"

"Sometimes, however, when some Orthodox Christians arrived in China, they left behind the scriptures left by the prophets in the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou. There must have been many hadiths in them. It's just a pity that my main task was to meet the great emperor of China, so I never had the chance. Moreover, Orthodox Christians in China also studied Chinese classics and gained a lot of wisdom from them. Therefore, those who studied in China, regardless of their faith, were regarded as having knowledge of the scriptures."

"Is that really the case?"

Then, Long Ruyan, who was the top scholar in the imperial examination during the Jiaqing reign, explained the situation through a translator.

Among his contemporaries, there were also Hui Muslims who passed the imperial examinations and were successful in the provincial and metropolitan examinations, which was not surprising.

Moreover, that goat Muhammad Sultan of Khwarazm, who loved sweets, provoked Genghis Khan, who then sent him an army of 120,000 to show him what the consequences would be for killing a Mongol envoy.

After that, as the Mongol Empire expanded in all directions, quite a few Muslims did settle in China, and many of the Semu people were also believers in Allah.

After Long Ruyan explained it this way, the Sultan burst into laughter.

"In that case, the esteemed Emperor of China has sent an Emir, the descendants of two legendary warriors, and these young scholars. Although they are only staying with me, this is still a blessing from God."

He had to thank God first, but his attitude was indeed very good.

For the Sultan of Oman, the most important thing is probably to do business and make a fortune.

In Zanzibar, East Africa, which is also Omani territory, cloves are grown there, providing a large quantity of spices.

In addition, there is frankincense and myrrh from Somalia, and Omani merchants still have a high reputation throughout East Africa.

Even the British advisors didn't seem as prestigious as the Marshal of the French Empire or the General of the Russian Infantry.

The Sultan of Oman is not yet thirty years old, still at an age where he is warm and hospitable. If he has some connections with other powerful countries, it could enhance his own status.

Furthermore, the Omani Navy possesses fourth-class warships, making it arguably the strongest local navy in the Arab world.

Solovyov made an unexpected discovery upon arriving in Oman.

If a future expedition to Persia were to take place, this young sultan might very well be an asset.

Because there are still quite a few Orthodox Christians in Russia, Russia's ability to assimilate religion fluctuates.

As a result, the Tatars within Russia, especially the Crimean Tatars, have no difference in their beliefs from those in the Middle East.

Everything is actually normal here.

Oman's Sultan Said ibn Sultan himself, who also frequently commanded naval vessels, made Oman a powerful nation in the northwestern Indian Ocean during his lifetime.

He was also very hospitable, and even personally acted as a tour guide, leading the delegation members on a tour of Muscat before nightfall.

At least it's not the hottest time of day, so it's still bearable for outsiders.

If it were just shopping, that would be fine. The problem was that when they arrived at the dock, the Sultan asked a question that all the wealthy people in the Arab world would ask.

"Hey friend, is this warship for sale?" (End of Chapter)