When the train got off at Xinjingcheng South Station, there was still a car waiting outside the station.
Apart from the fact that Bao Ling's trip was not received by a big shot, the itinerary was very well and thoughtfully arranged.
Although Zhu Jianwen didn't say anything of value to him, he treated him with very thoughtful and impeccable courtesy.
As an old diplomat, Bao Ling also knew that the losing side would receive a cold reception.
Isolating the losing party's envoy is also a method often used in diplomatic situations.
The purpose is to make the other party anxious and think that oneself can gain more initiative at the negotiation table.
After thinking about this, Bao Ling stopped being anxious. He knew it was better to accept things that he couldn't change.
Especially at Bao Ling's age, many things have already been thought through.
Anyway, the situation is bad enough now, and it can't get worse.
Bao Ling did not complain to Xiao Zhu who smiled at him.
Instead, like an overseas tourist, patiently follow tour guide Xiao Zhu to tour the Forbidden City.
Summer Palace, Office of the President.
Dong Shuheng is actually working here these days, and the news on all fronts is being summarized to him.
Good news comes almost every day.
"President, the latest news is that the city of Zanzibar was jointly captured by the main fleet of the Second Fleet and the Sultanate of Muscat. Sultan Suwini captured his brother Majid Sultan."
"Several governors of Zanzibar on the African continent have also expressed their allegiance to Suwini Sultan."
"By the way, President, Suwini's army also captured some Koreans on the island, and they were helping Majid train the army. But in the end, Sultan Suwini released those Koreans."
Jiang Yuqin seemed a little dissatisfied when he said this, and deliberately emphasized his tone.
"This Suvini is a smart man. I heard Bao Youzhi introduce him to him as a king who looks carefree but is very delicate on the inside. He is very good at winning people's hearts." Dong Shuheng said, he also had a good impression of this Suvini Sultan.
People are actually great to be partners with.
"President, does Suvini want to take sides by doing this?" Jiang Yuqin said in a questioning tone.
Dong Shuheng shook his head and said: "No, Suwini is a smart man. His core area is in Muscat, and Muscat is in the Persian Gulf. It is already our sphere of influence, and the Chinese people
It's good to deal with smart people, because smart people can accurately judge the situation around them and make decisions that are best for themselves.
Suwini should be very aware of the situation created by the Renaissance Army.
He can only cooperate with the Ba'ath Army so that he can gain a foothold in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
"Let me guess, Suwini must have kept several governors who were originally in Zanzibar East Africa." Dong Shuheng asked.
"That's right, President, all those governors have stayed in office, Suvini has not made any changes, and each of them has donated a tax to Suvini, and this Suvini changed hands and gave half of it as a reward to Suvini
Every one of them." Jiang Yuqin said.
He also felt that Su Weni was very scheming and that he was very skillful in winning people's hearts, especially the trick of using a chicken to lay eggs.
"As expected, what Bao Youzhi said, fortunately, this time you are dealing with him. If it were Du Hang, he might not be able to defeat this person."
"President, do you want to use some means to suppress this person? Is there something wrong with our only partner in East Africa?"
"No, no, no, this man is very useful. I plan to use him to contain the Ottomans. The Ottomans are already close to the West from the bottom of their hearts. Since they don't think they are oriental, then they have no reason to guard the border between Asia and Europe.
The gateway between.”
"President, do you mean to support the Suvini Sultan to become bigger and then let them replace the Ottoman Empire?"
"It can't be said to be a replacement. I think the Ottoman Empire will be dismembered soon. Instead of letting the powerful countries in Europe carve up the Ottoman Empire, it is better for us to support a country to replace the Ottoman Empire. Of course, I don't think the Ottoman Empire will be
Disappeared. This country will continue to exist, but it will no longer be the great empire it is now. It has no right to guard the continental bridge. Our train track must be able to go to Europa. Who gives us the power to build the railway?
Just support whoever you want." Dong Shuheng said decisively.
He actually intends to support Muscat in unifying the Arabian Peninsula so that the Baath Army's railways can at least extend to the Mediterranean.
Only in this way can we lay the foundation for Dong Shuheng to establish land hegemony.
"I understand what you mean. You want to support Suvini and the Ottoman Empire in their struggle for the Middle East. In this way, even if the Europeans carve up the Balkan part of the Ottoman Empire, we will also be able to divide the Mesopotamia and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
"
"And it is not convenient for us, the Renaissance Army, to control the area ourselves, so we need Suwini, a local native, to be our spokesperson or collaborator."
Dong Shuheng nodded, and Jiang Yuqin's awareness of the overall situation became stronger and stronger: "That's pretty much what it means, but it will be determined based on the final situation."
"By the way, has the construction corps sent to Tajura been formed?" At this point, Dong Shuheng suddenly thought of something.
"The assembly has been completed, mainly manpower transferred from the south. They have assembled at Yangcheng Port and are ready to board the ship. The supplies and military headquarters accompanying them are also ready." Jiang Yuqin reported.
"That's good, I'm a little rushed this time. Alas, sometimes the plan can't be too full." Dong Shuheng sighed.
In recent years, several things planned by Dong Shuheng have been changed midway.
This time the competition with the Chinese in the Indian Ocean was originally just about penetrating power into the Persian Gulf, but now it has to establish a foothold in East Africa.
Of course, this is mainly because the Koreans are accelerating the opening of the Suez Canal. This will weaken the strategic advantage established by the Baath Army in the Indian Ocean.
…
At this time, the Horn of Africa was the location of Djibouti.
The 112th Division of the Renaissance Army is already in Taju Continent.
The whole process went without any decent resistance.
The local Sultanate of Tajoura was only a very small sultanate.
It has been surviving in the cracks between the Sultanate of Osa established by the Abyssinian Afar people in the south, and the Sultanate of Lah Ayitu controlled by the Egyptians in the northeast.
The Ba'ath Army did not just use force to subdue the opponent. The Ba'ath Army brought Muscat's special envoy with them when they came this time.
Because the Tajoura area was originally a territory of the Oman Empire.
It's just that the Oman Empire has weakened and has long since ignored this place.
The influence of the Chinese people penetrated from the Upper Egypt area and gradually affected this place.
After the Renaissance Army came, the Sudanese nobles here all ran to the north of the Lakh Ayitu Sultanate without any resistance.
Some also went to the Osa Sultanate in the west.
The Renaissance Army directly took over the royal city.
In fact, this Sudanese capital is just a small coastal town.
After all, the Tadjoura Sultanate can only be regarded as a pocket country, with a total population of less than 50,000.
Mainly make a living by grazing and fishing.
The 112th Division is a newly formed division. The division commander is named Zhao Dazhi. This is a rigorous and conscientious officer who usually doesn't talk much. He was already in his thirties when he joined the army and is now nearly forty years old. He has finally made it through.
He became a major general and division commander.
This is also considered a veteran within the Renaissance Army.
Mr. Zhao is a very hard-working person, and he is also impatient. As long as it is something assigned to him by the superior, he will rack his brains and do it well.
He was also impatient and righteous towards his subordinates, and even used his own military salary to help some soldiers in need.
While his own family still lives in the countryside, other officers have long since settled in the city and sent their children to school in the city.
His home is still in the countryside, and his wife even cultivates the public land allocated to him by the government. That was what he got when he first joined the army.
This division was newly formed when the Army marching south was formed, and most of the soldiers came from western Guangdong and Jiaozhou areas.
These soldiers are generally not tall in stature, but their fighting ability is very good, and they are not afraid of death when fighting.
The 112th Division made great achievements during the attack on the Straits Settlements. At that time, they followed Li Xiucheng to attack Malacca City and quickly penetrated through the jungle to block the enemy's retreat.
The soldiers who were killed were frightened by the news.
When Zhao Dazhi led people into Tadjoura City, the local area was already in a state of anarchy.
Zhao Dazhi could only ask the Omanis to help find a few highly respected people in the city to stabilize the situation in the city first.
But before they took action, locals came to their door.
The face of the visitor looked like that of a local aborigine. His skin was dark and his nose was flat and wide.
But the person who came here spoke Chinese, with an accent from around Jiangning.
The visitor claimed that his name was Zhong Siming and that he was a descendant of the Ming Dynasty.
As soon as Zhong Siming came up, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed with tears streaming down his face.
After being asked by Commander Zhao, he narrated: "General, my ancestor was a sailor who followed the Ming Dynasty fleet to the Western Ocean. The fleet came here for the last time and stopped at the bay for supplies. My ancestor contracted an illness at sea and was taken to the ship.
The team stayed in Tadjoura, and there were 53 people left in total, 11 of whom did not make it through and were soon buried in a foreign land."
"My ancestors and the remaining people built a village on the land purchased by Mr. Zheng locally. They live here temporarily and make a living by fishing and handicrafts."
"Then the fleet never came again, so my ancestors married some young men in the village and married local people. It has been passed down to me for eighteen generations. My ancestors discovered that if they married local women, all the children born to them would remain locals.
With his appearance and characteristics, I’m afraid that in a few generations, no one will know that he is the queen of Ming Dynasty.”
"So everyone began to compile family trees, and asked literate people to teach children to read and write Chinese characters, and all children were required to learn. The village that was originally established was called Mingcun."
"The locals are also used to calling us Mingren."
Zhao Dazhi took the genealogy from the man's hand, and there were records of generations on the yellowed pages.
It contains not only the names of generations of people, but also some important events.
"Then where is your village?" Zhao Dazhi asked.
The man cried even more sadly when he heard Zhao Dazhi's question: "General, our Mingcun was attacked and destroyed by the locals more than a hundred years ago."
"We and other Ming people have all fled to various places along the coast, but everyone has kept their genealogy and remembered the religious teachings of their ancestors."
"Our Zhong family has settled in the city of Tadjola, and now there are 145 people in total. The Zhong family is willing to obey the general's orders, and they only hope that one day they can return to the country to recognize their ancestors." said the Ming man named Zhong Siming.
In fact, if Zhong Siming didn't speak, it would be difficult for Zhao Dazhi to see the difference between him and the locals.
But it sounds like what Zhong Siming said is not a lie.
A native cannot make up such a perfect story, and Chinese is not easy to learn.
It is also difficult to fake the ancestral genealogy.
Zhao Dazhi's hometown is near Jiangyin. He has heard the legendary story of Zheng He's voyages to the West since he was a child.
I didn't expect to encounter local survivors in this remote small East African state.
"Let's do this, Mr. Zhong, you find a few people from the tribe, and I will send a company of soldiers to cooperate with you. Are you sure you can stabilize this small town?"
Zhong Siming was so excited that his heart was beating fast. When the Renaissance Army entered the city, he saw the golden dragon flag with a red background. This kind of dragon shape is only used by Orientals, so he took the initiative to come out to inquire. Unexpectedly, it was really
People from the motherland.
This is just a small place in the Gulf of Aden, and no Chinese have ever been here.
Zhao Dazhi and his soldiers may have been the first Chinese to come here.
Zhong Siming was extremely excited. He knew that the tragic fate of people like him living in the cracks was about to end.
Each of these soldiers carried rifles on their backs, had stern faces, and was in good order. You could tell at a glance that they were elite soldiers.
Otherwise, those princes and nobles would not have run away without even trying to resist.
"General, I will definitely get things done. General, I know the properties of those nobles in the city. Let's take over these properties first and use them as military resources for the army."
"Okay, you can just take care of these things yourself." Zhao Dazhi waved his hand. He didn't really want to care about these things. The 112th Division in his hands was able to stabilize this place.
But he didn't want to stay stuck in this place.
There are Somalis and Afar people around, so the situation is very complicated.
If the Renaissance Army wants to gain a foothold here, it must conquer the people around it.
"General, I'm going to find someone right now," Zhong Siming said.
He is a smart man, and he understands that he must show enough value in front of this Eastern general.
"Wait a minute, where is your original Mingcun?" Zhao Dazhi asked.
This Ming Village should have belonged to Ming Dynasty, and now it should also belong to them.
"Ah?" Zhong Siming didn't react for a moment, and he didn't expect Zhao Dazhi to ask him this question.
"General, our Mingcun is on the south bank of the bay, but it is now under the rule of the Osa Sultanate. Those Afar people are very tough. They came down from the plateau in the west. They rode horses and held their hands in their hands.
Armed with spears, they come and go like the wind, and the entire southern bay is under their control."
"Okay, I understand. Do you know how many troops the Osa Sultanate has?" Zhao Dazhi asked again.
"I don't know much about this, but they can usually organize thousands of cavalry." Zhong Siming obviously has never seen the big scene of the Afar people.