On July 31, 1651, a flute-shaped ship flying the flag of the Republic of China on the east coast of China slowly sailed into the port of Smyrna, dropped its head and tail anchors, and began to beckon the dock coolies on the shore to come and unload their cargo. At this time, Gao Wengang, who had just changed into a new set of clothes, carried a small suitcase, surrounded by his entourage, and walked towards the East Bank Commercial House in the city under the scorching summer sun of the northern hemisphere.

The port of Smyrna has now been expanded (designed and serviced by the East Coast, and vital construction materials and machinery are sold by the East Coast), and the port conditions have been greatly improved. Coupled with the fact that commerce was already thriving, the port was full of vibrancy, even in the midst of a chaotic period rarely seen in the history of the Ottoman Empire: Ottoman merchants from non-Muslim groups such as Greeks, Jews, and Armenians spread all over the port area, and ships and sailors from West France, the Netherlands, England, and some Italian states were also abounding.

However, businessmen from all over the world who have been doing business in the Ottoman Empire for a long time also know very well what is happening in this Islamic Empire, because there are some things that cannot be hidden. For example, in the first half of the year, the navy of the Republic of Venesia again routed an Ottoman fleet carrying supplies to Crete near the island of Naxos. The flotilla was loaded with guns and ammunition - more than half of which had been purchased from the east coast - and supplies, and attempted to bypass the Dardanelles, which was blockaded by the Venetian fleet. However, they were soon spotted by cruising Venetian ships, and then besieged by the Christian fleet that followed them, and a great battle ensued.

The outcome of the battle ended in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. When the news reached Istanbul that the Ottoman army had collapsed, many people were furious, and Pasha, an old friend of the people on the east coast, had to be resigned, but what did it do to the tens of thousands of Ottoman troops stranded on the island?

And just as the Ottoman convoy in the south was on its way to Crete, near the Dardanelles in the north. An Ottoman detachment from the Black Sea also launched a diversionary attack. As a result, the last remaining east-coast fast-cruising building in the Ottoman Empire was burned down, and the battleship Bayezid was once again damaged and returned to its home port for repairs. The rest of the warships were also damaged by Cheng Dù, and the losses were quite significant. Although they also sank and damaged several Venetian galleys and won the tactical victory, they were still strategically besieged and blocked. The reactive situation has not been able to be improved, which has further deepened the collective attack on the Agars in the Istanbul court against the monopoly of power.

In fact, today's Crete has almost become an ulcer on the Ottoman Empire's body that is difficult to heal. Swallowed, for a while and then unable to swallow - because of the incompetence of their navy, the Ottoman army that landed on the island was always supplied intermittently, while the Venetians were able to constantly send supplies and mercenaries to the island. Coupled with factional strife within the army, the generals in charge of the front line were often imprisoned or dismissed for no apparent reason, which further lowered the morale of the soldiers. It is therefore not surprising that the war has dragged on for several years.

But you have to say give up the island where the Ottomans continued to bleed. But it's a decision that no one wants to make. The entire empire has already paid thousands of military lives, untold supplies and money for this island that is so close at hand, how can it be so easy to give up? Besides, the "pirate ships" from Christendom often used the island's harbor as a departure base to constantly harass the Ottoman coast in the north. And how can the fleet to Egypt and Syria be safe?

So. This island must be taken, even if this war is fought to the ground. Difficult for the Ottoman Empire. Isn't it difficult for the Republic of Venexia? Even if this country has the blood transfusion support of the Pope, Spain, Austria and some Italian city-states, she only has a population of more than 2 million after all, which is not at the same level as the population of more than 30 million in the Ottoman Empire.

However, although it was the consensus of the upper echelons that the war should continue, it was a very sensitive question of who would lead the war, who would give credit to whom, and who should control the direction of the empire. And if this problem is not solved, it will be very difficult for the war on the front line to make any substantive progress, and anyone who goes to lead the army and command the battle will be quite constrained, and will eventually end up in disgrace -- the tens of thousands of generals of the Ottoman army on the island of Crete have changed one after another in the past few years, some have been imprisoned, some have been beheaded for their crimes, some have been dismissed and returned home, and the war has been deadlocked. In fact, according to the true strength of the Ottoman Empire, if the whole country was united, the Venetian mercenaries who were stuck in the eastern part of the island would have been driven out to sea ten times or eight times. It's a pity that when doing things, there are always people who drag their feet and make a black hand, and in the end, the interests of the country are damaged, making the heroes useless, which is really in vain.

"Sir, Shang Station has arrived." In the midst of his reverie, a reminder from his entourage made Gawain realize that his destination was just around the corner. Several agents from the General Bureau of National Intelligence guarding the trading station carefully checked the identification documents and letters of introduction handed over by Gao Wengang and others, and after sending someone to contact the internal office, they were finally allowed to enter the trading station.

Gao Wengang, under the guidance of a receptionist, came to an office on the second floor of the merchant house, only to see that there, a middle-aged man in his forties was already waiting for him with a smile.

"Xiao Gao, I have already received a letter from your father before, I thought you would be here in two or three months, but I didn't expect this to come." Mo San said with a smile while motioning for Gao Wengang to enter the office with him.

"It's okay to be idle at home, and I want to get familiar with my future work as soon as possible, so I came." Gao Wen just put away the somewhat arrogant face he had before. Chao Mo San smiled shyly and said.

"With this kind of drive, it is much stronger than some second ancestors in China who only know how to hunt on horseback." Mo San praised it. Then beckoned Gao Wengang to sit on a wooden chair in his office, and said: "Since you are so energetic, let's talk about what you have seen and heard along the way, so that I, a person who sits in the office all day long, and works behind closed doors, can open my eyes." ”

"Uncle Mo laughed." Gao Wengang smiled embarrassedly, and then it was a newborn calf, full of sharpness. I heard him clear his throat and say bluntly: "Along the way, I made a short stop in Bahia, Tobago, Jamestown, Livorno and other places. During this period, Tong Guò communicated with the locals Cheng Dù in different ways, but also gained some useful information. The Dutch in Brazil have been somewhat relieved in recent years, and they have made a lot of profits by selling goods from the east coast through guò. This slowed down their decline under the blow of the Portuguese. When I stayed in Bahia, we were greeted by Dutch merchants who praised the good prices of the East Coast goods, which enabled them to sell them to Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, Florida, Virginia, New Amsterdam, New Sweden, New England, etc. ”

"Of course, the Dutch's gains were based on the losses of others, and this attracted a lot of hostility for them, and the most hostile to them was undoubtedly the English. By the time I docked at Jamestown Harbour, I had already felt strongly the discontent of the British colonies against the Dutch, who monopolized their foreign trade. To put it mildly, I don't think there will be a war between these two countries. This war has nothing to do with justice, no faith, no competition for colonies, but simply industrial and commercial disputes. ”

"The Dutch may not have been keenly aware of how dangerous the situation is right now. In other words, although they realized it, they were unwilling to give up the fat in their mouths, and the British wanted to regain their long-lost trade, fishing, and industrial sovereignty (British wool had to be exported to the Netherlands for reprocessing and then returned to England), and they had to use the guò war to regain this qiē. They were convinced that it was impossible to bring the Dutch to their knees through negotiation and diplomacy, and that only a war of iron and blood could break the shackles imposed on England by the Dutch. This opened up room for England to rise. ”

"That's a good point." After digesting the other party's words for a while, Mo San, who was a little surprised, smiled. In an encouraging tone, he said to Gao Wengang: "So, how do you think our country should respond to this possible dispute?" ”

"It's simple, strictly neutral, and at the same time ready to knock something out of the Dutch." Gawain just blurted out, obviously he had also thought about this question, so he quickly said his conclusion: "Although the Netherlands have relatively strong maritime power, the problem is that they are all businessmen, and their government is scattered and has no prestige at all. In this way, if the war reached a prolonged stalemate, that is, the English would not talk about peace, and would not give up until they reached their goal, the Dutch would be very uncomfortable. They will carefully weigh the gains and losses, and weigh every gain and loss, which will severely shake their resolve to war. The British, on the other hand, were very simple, fighting for the sovereignty of their own country, and with their relatively strong central government, it is reasonable to believe that the British were better able to endure the pain of war than the Dutch, and that they were likely to be the victors, because the Dutch merchants were likely to compromise for the sake of business. ”

"You haven't said what we're going to do?" Mo San lit his pipe, then looked at Gao Wengang and said with interest.

"Well, there's only so much we can do." Speaking of this, Gao Wengang was also a little embarrassed, obviously he did not think about this very thoroughly, and only listened to him say: "What we can do is nothing more than to see if there is an opportunity to sign some commercial treaties with the Dutch, and exchange some interests for them to act as our goods; In addition, the Dutch colonies in South Africa, New China and other places can also see if there is any possibility of negotiation, I personally estimate that the problem of New China is not big, but South Africa is unlikely; Finally, the question of allowing ships from the East Coast to go to the Far East via the East Indies could also be touched, but I don't think it makes much sense. Because China's existing immigration routes are very mature, and the routes to New China through the Strait of Malacca are only navigable in the northern hemisphere in winter and spring, their value to us is very limited. However, sooner or later, we will have to intervene in India and even Southeast Asia, and it will not hurt to seize the opportunity to exchange some interests with the Dutch at this time, for fear that the Dutch will still not look down on us......"

"Hehe......" looked at Gao Wengang for a long time, Mo San smiled suddenly, then got up and patted him on the shoulder, and said: "I can rest assured that you can think so, there is a successor to the country." Okay, I'll have someone take you to your room in a moment, and get some rest for the next few days. Come with me to Istanbul in two days, Adrian to Plovdiv has not given us the balance of more than 90,000 yuan, this time I will be a debt collector. Alas, now that the Ottoman political situation is chaotic and financially difficult, it is really difficult to get some money, and if you can get back a third of the more than 90,000 yuan of project money, even if you give face, the rest is still the old way to keep it - use slaves to offset the account! (To be continued)