Chapter 495 Diplomatic Confrontation

"Our doctor is really good."

"This is a tough battle for our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Old Ma, please stay alert and don't lose your place."

"Don't worry, they Seljuks are rude and rude, but our envoys from the Song Dynasty will never let them despise us, even if we die, we will have no regrets."

At this moment, on the pier, everyone in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said goodbye to many colleagues, and the faces of those who went there showed determination.

Wherever they passed along the way, they were treated with courtesy by the local authorities. Even the Chola Kingdom and the Chalukya Kingdom did not dare to look down upon them, and the kings came to pick them up personally.

Unexpectedly, when they arrived in the Seljuk Kingdom, they not only encountered contempt and were not received for nine days, but were also ordered around by a local governor, asking them to go to the city lord's palace to have an audience with them.

Do you really think that a mere district governor is a Seljuk king?

Therefore, facing the rudeness of the Seljuks, everyone was very angry. They would definitely argue with each other, even if they angered the other party, it would be enough to die.

When the Song Empire heard that the envoy had been killed, they would not let the Seljuqs have an easy time because of their vengeful character. In addition, their territory was approaching the Seljuqs, and a war was inevitable.

And they believe that the Song Dynasty will definitely win. Even if they die here today, they will become the bridgehead of the Song Dynasty in the Middle East. They will leave a name in history and future generations can also enjoy the shadow of their family. Why not?

So everyone stepped off the ship with determination and heads held high. The Guangzhou's guns were aimed at the city, and thousands of soldiers lined up in formation, with an extremely heroic momentum.

Naturally, the Lord of Glen City did not know what muskets and artillery were. When they saw that the Song soldiers were not even covered with armor, they said something to the people around them contemptuously. The translator told Zhang Youwei that what he said was that the Song people were really weak. .

Zhang Youwei chuckled lightly, and did not let the translator refute the other party, but said proudly: "Let him lead the way."

"The Messenger shows you the way."

Naturally, the translator had seen the power of firearms demonstrated in the Chola and Chalukya dynasties, and was emboldened by the Song army. Faced with the mighty Persian compatriots, he shouted sternly: "The envoy is very angry now. I advise you not to know what is good and what is evil."

"snort."

Although the city lord was disdainful, he felt that there were many people on the other side. Even though they were not wearing armor and only held strange long sticks in their hands, they also had swords on their waists. He would bear the brunt of the conflict, so he did not dare to say anything.

He snorted coldly at first, then murmured something softly, and then he was afraid that the Song people would cause trouble for him, so he immediately said: "Come with me."

As he said that, he led everyone in front and walked towards the city.

Zhang Youwei followed him with striding steps, followed by dozens of officials and two hundred guards, walking with great force, not like he was on an envoy, but like he was attacking.

Soon everyone entered the city.

The streets in the city are already quite depressed, with few people and the doors and windows of every house are closed. Occasionally, someone opens a slit in the window, revealing a disheveled and frightened face.

The Seljuk Empire captured Isfahan in the second half of last year, and then captured Fars in the south at the end of the year. It was only just over half a year ago.

A large number of merchants no longer docked here, but diverted to Julfa Port in Oman in the south.

Julfa Port is Ras Al Khaimah, one of the later emirates of the United Arab Emirates.

There have been human activities here since very early times, and a port was built. According to later archeology, a large number of porcelain from the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty was found in the port ruins.

It can be seen that throughout the Middle Ages, whether it was the Lenger Port opposite or the Julfa Port in Oman, they had always run through the entire Arab commercial empire after the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the Seljuks are attacking, the business of Lenger Port has come to a standstill. A large number of Persian and Arab merchants have fled, and the pearl divers have lost their livelihood. Lenger Port has lost its source of income, and the development of the city has naturally declined sharply.

Zhang Youwei glanced around and kept these situations in mind.

In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the City Lord's Mansion. All industries in the city were in depression, but the City Lord's Mansion was quite luxurious. There were a large number of troops surrounding it outside and a military restricted area was set up.

The city lord trotted all the way to the door and flattered the general guarding the door and said in Turkic: "General, I have brought the Song envoy here for the governor."

The general glanced at Zhang Youwei sideways and shouted: "Keep them outside and not allowed in until the governor summons them."

"yes."

The city lord turned around and shouted a few words.

The translator said to Zhang Youwei: "They asked us to wait for their governor to summon us."

"Mr. Langzhong!"

The promising people with protective seals on one side said angrily: "These people don't take us seriously at all. If you go in and you don't know what humiliation you will face, blow the horn! Although we are small, it is enough to slaughter this city." !”

"Not urgent!"

Zhang Youwei said in a deep voice: "The so-called divisions are famous, but Da Shi is still too far away from the Song Dynasty. The naval expedition will take several months, and there is still a lack of supplies along the way. The army will also take many years to go to the Western Regions, let alone fight from the Western Regions. Coming here is a bad idea. Once the war starts, if the Seljuk Kingdom cannot be destroyed, they will inevitably interrupt the entire trade between Da Shi and Da Song. The stakes here are too high to act rashly. "

"Um yes"

Everyone hesitated, but finally swallowed this breath.

He didn't know the situation inside. As a carefully selected elite of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhang Youwei naturally knew the key.

The military force of the Song Dynasty is indeed powerful. It is so powerful that even if all the countries in the world are combined, even if they have armies close to tens of millions, they may no longer be the opponent of the Song Dynasty.

After all, the Song Dynasty now has 600,000 troops, and they are all equipped with nitrocellulose smokeless gunpowder rifles, which have a higher firing rate and power than the previous black powder guns.

It is even said that the Zhiyuan has ordered the School of Physics to conduct research on guns that can fire continuously. For example, the thrust caused by firing is used as energy to complete the design of unlocking, ejecting, feeding, and relocking.

Tens of millions of cold weapon soldiers fighting against 600,000 hot weapon soldiers with a large number of rifles and cannons, the result can be imagined, a dead end.

But there is still the same problem.

The Song Dynasty is too far away from the Middle East, and the long journey cannot guarantee supplies and logistics along the way.

Perhaps learn from the Eight-Nation Alliance, send tens of thousands of spearmen to harass remotely, or even rush into the capital of the Seljuk Empire, and it is not a big problem to break the capital.

But what about later?

Without food and grass guarantee, they can't station troops there, nor can they chase the Seljuks, and can only watch them escape on horseback.

In the end, the Song army had to go back.

Then the Seljuks came back and cut off the trade between China and the West, and the Song Dynasty was still hurt.

Therefore, fighting is indeed a bad idea, unless the Song Dynasty can build good relations with other local countries and form a local coalition, and the Song army will send some people to help them destroy the Seljuk Empire and support local forces.

Otherwise, it is best not to start the war easily.

And this is what Zhang Youwei has to do now. If the Seljuks can talk, it will be the best. Continue to maintain trade, and the Song Dynasty will not need to waste manpower and material resources on some thankless things.

Zhiyuan said.

The Song Dynasty now only loves money.

"The governor wants to see you, who is the envoy?"

After a while, the person who went in to report came out and told the general guarding the gate, and the general shouted and asked.

The city lord spoke to the translator in Persian, and the translator told Zhang Youwei.

It was too difficult to communicate with the other party.

The Seljuks spoke Turkic, and the places they conquered were later Iran and Afghanistan, speaking Persian and Arabic.

The city lord is familiar with Persian and Arabic, and has learned Turkish, so he can be supported to become the city lord.

Now he can only rely on the translator to communicate with the city lord, and then communicate with the other party.

There is an extra layer in the middle, and it is unknown whether there will be any changes.

For example, when the city lord translates Turkish, he can talk nonsense, anyway, even his Persian compatriots don’t know what he is talking about.

"I am."

Zhang Youwei stood up after hearing the translator's words.

"You come with me, your people can only stay outside, you go with me alone."

The general said.

"They are also messengers."

Zhang Youwei struggled to communicate with the other party.

Every word he said had to go through the translator and the city lord.

"No, you can only go alone, the city lord only allows you to bring one translator."

The general insisted.

"Doctor."

The captain said, "You can't go."

"It's okay."

Zhang Youwei waved his hand and said, "You wait outside. If something goes wrong and the other side wants to attack you, you can resist, but don't come to save me. Just go out of the city and follow the orders of Doctor Tan and General Wang."

"Okay."

The captain had no choice but to agree.

Then Zhang Youwei took a deep breath and stepped into the city lord's mansion.

The mansion was magnificent and had a Middle Eastern style.

Fully armed guards stood outside the hall, staring at Zhang Youwei fiercely.

Zhang Youwei was confident and walked in calmly.

If it were decades ago, perhaps even if he was not afraid of death, he would probably be nervous.

Because for some people, they never think that death is terrible. What is terrible is that their death has no value.

Just like the Liao and Song dynasties in the past.

If he was killed by the Liao people for the honor and disgrace of the country when he was on a diplomatic mission to the Liao Kingdom, he would be strong and unyielding.

Then the result was that the Song Dynasty issued a statement to condemn it, and the Liao Dynasty responded with a "manslaughter by mistake" or something like that, which had no consequences at all.

But now is different from the past.

The Song Dynasty is strong, just like the Han Dynasty in the past. Those who offend the powerful Han Dynasty will be punished even if they are far away.

Therefore, even if the Seljuk Kingdom is in the far west, Zhang Youwei is very clear that even if he dies, the Song Dynasty will definitely send a large army to avenge him.

Even if he cannot occupy this place, it is still no problem to unite with the local Khorasan people or the Buyid people to eliminate the Seljuks together.

Therefore, Zhang Youwei was not afraid.

He raised his head and chest and walked into the hall proudly. He saw Talib Ruber sitting on a gorgeous wooden chair and looking him up and down.

Zhang Youwei glanced around the room with the corner of his eyes, and finally fixed his eyes on the chair where Talib Ruber was sitting.

The chair is not a traditional Chinese furniture, but a product of the northern nomadic people. It was originally called a Hu bed, and it did not have a backrest in the early days, nor was it made of wood. It was a small cloth stool similar to a Maza.

After thousands of years of evolution, chairs have gradually become a part of Chinese civilization, and have evolved into a variety of styles, such as cross-legged chairs, reclining chairs, armchairs, round chairs, etc.

The Seljuks were Turks. During the Tang Dynasty, the Turks were driven from the Mongolian grasslands to Central Asia by the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, chairs took root here, and incorporated a lot of characteristics of the Arab Empire and the Persian Dynasty, and the shape was equally exquisite.

However, the reason why Zhang Youwei pays attention to chairs is not how beautiful the chairs are.

But.

In the whole room, only Talib Rube had a chair to sit on, and there were no chairs for guests on either side.

This means that the other party has no intention of asking Zhang Youwei to sit down. Regardless of diplomatic etiquette, even if there are guests at home, it is very rude to act like this.

So Zhang Youwei didn't even salute. After walking in, he stared at Talib Ruber with a very serious look in his eyes and said nothing.

The two sides were in a stalemate for about ten days.

Talib Rube frowned slightly, naturally he wanted to give the other party a blow.

But it was obvious that the Song envoy did not follow this pattern. He did not take the initiative to speak or salute, but just looked at each other, as if to see who could not hold back.

The one who obviously couldn't stand it was Talib Rube. He didn't get angry, but pretended not to know and said: "I heard that people in Song Dynasty are very polite. Why don't you be polite when you see me?"

After the translator told Zhang Youwei, Zhang Youwei sneered and put his hands behind his back: "I heard that people in the northern grasslands have an old saying, which is that when friends come, there is good wine, and when enemies come, there are swords and guns. Naturally in the Song Dynasty, It is a country of etiquette, but etiquette is mutual. The Song Dynasty should treat polite and civilized people with courtesy. However, if the other party is barbaric, vulgar and rude, the Song Dynasty will naturally not warm up to the cold butt. ”

"I just don't know, does the governor regard our Song Dynasty as a friend or an enemy?"

Zhang Youwei said with a somewhat cold face.

"Forehead"

Talib Rube was at a loss for words.

His attitude towards the envoys was because he heard that his uncle was worried that the Song Dynasty would expand its borders to their borders.

But this does not mean that he can influence the diplomatic direction of the entire Seljuk Empire.

If the uncle is just worried, but does not dare to be an enemy of Song Dynasty, but is secretly wary of the fact that he still needs to have a good relationship with Song Dynasty, then he is equivalent to ruining a big thing.

Therefore, it is impossible for Talib Lube to fall out with the Song envoy before he understands his uncle's attitude and the direction of the Seljuk Empire's diplomacy.

“We Seljuks are hospitable and naturally want to be friends with anyone.”

Seeing that the other party's attitude was not easy to deal with, Talib Ruber had no choice but to go down the steps and said: "Come here, bring chairs for our guests."

"It seems that the Governor is sensible."

Zhang Youwei chuckled lightly, but still did not salute the other party, and sat down loudly.

Talib Rube then said: "I wonder what the envoy came to Seljuk for?"

"It has been ninety-three years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. We will hold a grand celebration ceremony early next year. We specially invite countries from all over the world to come to our Song Dynasty to participate in the grand event."

Zhang Youwei stopped being polite to the other party and went straight to the point: "The purpose of our trip is to negotiate with many countries, and we also invite all countries to do more business with us, the Song Dynasty, so that we can prosper."

"oh?"

Talib Rube looked surprised.

Zhang Youwei remembered what he had seen when he entered the city, so he continued: "With all due respect, although the Seljuqs conquered the Ghaznavid Kingdom and occupied Khorasan, the originally prosperous Renge Port became increasingly withered and sparsely populated. This is because this place is no longer open to trade. Business is based on each other's needs and complementing each other. If you, the Seljuk Kingdom, want to govern the country well and make the country strong, you should do more business with us, the Song Dynasty, instead of doing business with us. Work behind closed doors and don’t care about worldly affairs.”

This is also another purpose of Zhang Youwei, which is to deepen trade with various countries in the Middle East.

Industrial countries sell cheap commodities to agricultural countries and seize large amounts of raw materials and other mineral resources. This behavior is called dumping and is exploitative.

However, the Song Dynasty has not actually completed industrialization. The current industrial products are mainly steel, and other types of light industrial products are still in the development stage, and even the domestic market is not satisfied, let alone foreign countries.

Therefore, the main products exported by the Song Dynasty are still tea, porcelain, silk and other agricultural products and handmade manufacturing products, which are far from reaching the point where industrial countries in later generations would dump them on agricultural countries.

The Song Dynasty sold these products and then purchased various medicinal materials, spices, ivory, minerals and other items needed by the Song Dynasty. This was commercial complementarity and everyone benefited together.

At present, the Song Dynasty needs to increase such trade to further enhance its industrial capabilities, so it needs to conduct more commercial activities with the Middle East.

Now that the Middle East is affected by the war in the Seljuk Empire, trade volume has dropped significantly. This is obviously something the Song Dynasty did not want to see.

Therefore, if the Seljuk Empire is willing to restore commercial prosperity, and even a war will not affect commercial development, then the Song Dynasty will not care about them, and it will not be the Song Dynasty's business even if the countries in the Middle East are crazy.

To put it simply, if you fight a war, it’s a war, and don’t interfere with me making a small amount of money.

However, Talib Rube did not fully agree. He just said with a displeased expression on his face: "This is our Seljuk matter, so I don't need to worry about the envoy of the Song Dynasty."

"Why, isn't it good for everyone to benefit from each other? I remember that Turks also know how to do business."

Zhang Youwei was puzzled.

Talib Lube said expressionlessly: "This has nothing to do with the Song people."

joke.

They Turks naturally know the importance of business.

But the problem is that the number of Seljuk Turks is very small, they have to rule a huge territory, and they have to prepare to continue to invade the Baiyi Dynasty.

If commercial development is handed over to the Arabs and Persians, who can guarantee that this will not create enemies for the Buyi Dynasty?

Therefore, the Seljuk domestic business environment is currently undergoing internal circulation for the time being, and maintaining basic business operations is the Seljuk Empire's pursuit.

As for the future expansion of commerce, we have to destroy the Buyi Dynasty, Azerbaijan, the Eastern Roman Empire and other countries, and let the entire Middle East become the territory of the Seljuk Empire.

"Since the Governor is unwilling to accept my kindness, it doesn't matter. My mission is to invite you to the Song Dynasty to participate in next year's grand ceremony. I have already conveyed my request to the Governor, and my mission has been completed."

Zhang Youwei naturally didn't know the Seljuk people's plans. Seeing that they had no intention of doing business, he stopped trying to persuade them and spoke expressionlessly.

Talib Rube said: "I will report this matter to the Great Khan. You can stay here and wait for the Great Khan's instructions."

"No, we still have to go to Bai Yi Country."

Zhang Youwei said: "All Western countries must be notified of this trip. Except for Baiyi State, the other Western countries such as Tomb State (Eastern Rome), Asoghar (Azerbaijan), and Luyi Dashi (Fatimid Dynasty) Everyone must inform us that when we return, we will pass by Lunge Port, and then the Governor can inform us of the instructions of your Great Khan. "

"Hahahahahaha."

Talib Rube laughed and said: "The messenger does not need to go far."

"Why?"

"Because they will eventually become the place for us Seljuks."

"hehe."

Zhang Youwei smiled and said: "It's a good thing that the Governor is ambitious, but I have a mission, so I have to go. We have been delayed for too long on this trip. Now we are ready to leave for Baghdad and say goodbye."

After saying that, he stood up and slightly bowed his hands to Talib Ruber, but did not bow. He just held his fists as a gift.

Talib Ruber's eyes darkened, and he said with a hint of sadness: "We will attack Baghdad soon. The battlefield is blind, so the envoys should be careful."

"Then without worrying about the Governor, I hope that the Great Khan of your country can send an envoy to our Song Dynasty and establish early trade with our Song Dynasty."

Zhang Youwei smiled, turned around and left after speaking.

After the translator told the city lord who was part-time translator, he hurriedly followed Zhang Youwei.

Watching their departure, the Persian city lord, who was eager to show his loyalty, immediately said: "Governor, are you just going to let them go?"

"What about that?"

"It's better to kill them."

"snort."

Talib Rube snorted coldly: "If I can kill him, I will definitely kill him, but this matter is of great importance and we cannot be reckless. We still need to wait for the Khan's order."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The city lord nodded repeatedly.

Talib Rube said: "Just wait a little longer. The Song people have now expanded the border to the river and are already bordering us. The Great Khan will make a decision."

After speaking, his eyes became even colder.

There seems to be no conflict between the Song Dynasty and the Seljuk Empire, but the biggest conflict is the bordering of territories.

What's more, the Black Khan Kingdom that was destroyed by the Song Dynasty was also a branch of the Turks. As members of the same clan, the Seljuk Turks were naturally very afraid of the Song Dynasty, which wiped out their own clan.

Therefore, the current attitude of the Seljuk Khan Tugril Beg towards the Song Dynasty is naturally not good. Although he has not started a war, he is already on guard.

As for whether it was a lie or a declaration of war against Song Dynasty, that is another matter.

At least for now, all Talib Rube has to do is to maintain superficial relations for the time being and wait until Tugrile Beg gives instructions.

"Anyway, these Song people will come back, and then it will be the time to decide whether these arrogant Song people will die."

Talib Rube looked at Zhang Youwei's leaving figure and said calmly.