Zou Xingwen was nervously watching the part where the Suez Canal connected to the Red Sea. The construction workers were now placing explosives at the bottom of the canal. Once the explosives detonated, the last remaining soil between the canal and the Mediterranean Sea would be blown open.
From then on, the Suez Canal would be officially opened, which meant that the Chinese Empire’s warships would no longer have to sail around Europe, but could enter the Mediterranean Sea directly from the Red Sea through the canal, shortening the voyage by 10,000 kilometers.
Moreover, there were many European countries along the Mediterranean coast: Portugal, Spain, France, Austria, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire. Once the Chinese Empire controlled this canal, it would be equivalent to controlling the Mediterranean Sea, and the European countries would have to rely on the Chinese Empire to pass through this canal.
“Vice Minister Zou, all the explosives have been placed. We can detonate at any time.” While Zou Xingwen was pondering, a general in a military uniform walked up to him. The army provided a lot of explosives for this demolition, and the construction workers were also from the army.
“Thank you, Division mander Lu, for your help this time. After the canal is opened, I will definitely remend you for a mendation from the Emperor on behalf of the Ministry of Works.” Zou Xingwen said with a smile.
“Vice Minister Zou, you’re being too polite. We are both doing this for the Empire. There’s no need for thanks. If anyone should be thanked, it’s us. Now that the canal is open, the Empire’s army can save a lot of travel time.” Lu Jun said.
After Persia ceded the Suez Canal and the surrounding 100 li of land to the Empire, he was ordered to lead his 10,000 soldiers to Suez to protect the smooth progress of the canal’s construction. After all, although the Ottoman Empire had paid for the land to Persia, there were still many people on this land who missed the Ottoman Empire very much. During the implementation of the project, many roving bandits tried to disrupt the project, but they were all thwarted by his soldiers.
Although the canal was about to be pleted now, he knew that the tasks they would face in the future would be even more severe. Now, the order from the Chinese Empire had e down. The Chinese Empire would set up a military base along the Suez Canal to protect the Empire’s overseas interests.
“Division mander Lu is truly a righteous man.” Zou Xingwen said with a smile. He had a very good impression of Lu Jun, as he was a dedicated soldier.
After exchanging pliments, Zou Xingwen said, “Since the explosives have been placed, please give the order, Division mander Lu!” Lu Jun nodded.
He immediately had the excavators and construction workers in the canal evacuate. Once the demolition was carried out, the seawater from the Mediterranean Sea would pour directly into the canal, and the canal’s waters would converge with the waters of the Red Sea. After all the personnel had evacuated, Lu Jun gave the order to the soldiers.
With a world-shaking sound, the layer of earth was blown into the air by the explosives, and the last barrier blocking the Mediterranean Sea collapsed. At this moment, the Mediterranean Sea’s seawater rushed fiercely into the canal.
Zou Xingwen’s eyes were wet. He had been sent here by the Ministry of Works when the canal was being built.
After more than a year of hard construction, they had spanned 175 kilometers and used thousands of excavators and nearly 80,000 workers from the Chinese Empire and the local area to finally dig this artificial canal.
Now he no longer had to worry about the progress, nor did he have to worry about being attacked by local tribes, but a strong sense of reluctance rose in his heart at this moment.
Lu Jun was also excited. The Chinese Empire was continuously winning military victories all over the world, but here, the victory of the Chinese Empire’s engineering was equally great.
For him, the opening of this canal was no less than winning a war, and it was even more important, because from now on, the time it took to travel from the Chinese Empire to Europe would be shortened by almost half…
A month later, the news of the Suez Canal reached Qingzhou. When the news was published in the newspaper, it immediately caused a stir throughout the Chinese Empire. Shrewd merchants naturally understood the significance of this canal’s opening. Soon, there were calls to dump industrial goods into Europe. With the steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal, it would only take forty days for the Chinese Empire’s fleet to reach Europe. For the Chinese Empire’s merchants, such a short voyage meant a huge business opportunity.
“Your Majesty, the merchants are all very excited. Opening up the European market is imminent, after all, Europe is currently the largest market in the world for the Empire.” The first person to e to him after the Suez Canal was opened was not Pang Yukun or Cui Shang’an, but Li Kaiyuan. Merchants had crowded his office, and everyone was asking about trade with Europe.
“What’s the hurry? It’s not the right time yet. Europe is in the middle of a hot war, and now is not the time to intervene.” Xiao Ming said lightly. He naturally knew that Europe was the largest market in the world today.
After all, the European countries had been colonizing the world for more than two hundred years and had plundered a large amount of wealth from all over the world. This wealth had greatly improved the living standards of Europeans, and was inparable to countries like Japan and Goryeo.
It was for this reason that in the history of the contemporary era, no matter how tragic a war Europe and the West experienced, they were able to recover quickly. Because no matter how much they fought, the wealth they had plundered was still in Europe.
So, now he had to find ways to transfer the gold, silver, and various valuable assets from Europe to the Chinese Empire. The agreement he had the British people sign was to plunder wealth from Europe.
“Do we have to wait?” Li Kaiyuan was a little disappointed. “How much longer do we have to wait?”
Xiao Ming pondered for a moment. He had spent three months inspecting the country’s major military industrial bases and had a detailed understanding of the construction progress of each base.
He said, “Three years. In just three years, I will be able to build a European expeditionary force. This expeditionary force will be able to beat the Europeans so badly that they won’t know which way is north, just like Europe once conquered North America.”
Li Kaiyuan nodded. “With Your Majesty’s words, everyone in the Chinese Empire will be at ease and just wait for this day to e.”
Xiao Ming smiled. “Even if you are not in a hurry, I am. The Empire’s high welfare benefits are just waiting to be funded by robbing Europe. Otherwise, where would I get the money to provide free education and medical care for everyone?”
Li Kaiyuan was even more excited when he heard this. He said sincerely, “It is the good fortune of your officials and the mon people to have Your Majesty in the Chinese Empire. Your Majesty’s name will be remembered in history forever.”
Xiao Ming shook his head slightly. He did not care about being remembered in history. As the owner of the technology crystal, his ultimate goal was to make the Empire eternal with the help of technology.
“That’s enough. You haven’t changed your flattery in all these years. Go back and send those merchants away. Tell them that if the Empire has food, they will naturally have food. If the Empire does not give it to them, they will be courting death if they mess around!” Xiao Ming’s tone became serious in the last sentence.
His meaning was clear: if anyone dared to smuggle goods, sell supplies, or sell technology to Europe during this period, they should not blame him for being ruthless.
User Comments
0 comments from readers