Chapter 1082

“A delegation from the Eastern Empire is in Abbas?” Kambis’s expression was one of shock. He had not been able to sleep well these past few

“A delegation from the Eastern Empire is in Abbas?”

Kambis’s expression was one of shock. He had not been able to sleep well these past few days, worried about the Ottoman Empire. He never expected that he would suddenly gain this opportunity.

Al-Sassi said, “The Ottoman Empire and the Western nations have many marriage ties. They will definitely trust the West more than the Eastern Empire. Even if Suleiman insists on his own opinion, the other nobles will obstruct him, and this will become our opportunity.”

Kambis agreed deeply. Even now, he had not yet fully adapted. When did the world become a gladiatorial arena for the Eastern Empire and the European nations? What position did this leave the Central Asian nations in?

But Al-Sassi had collected some intelligence from a Persian merchant two days ago. The Eastern Empire’s power, which he spoke of, also shocked him.

Now, Pamir’s definitive account of the steel warships further proved that the merchant was not lying.

“To not be defeated in the war with the Ottoman Empire, we should seek the support of the Eastern Empire. Al-Sassi, we will set off for Abbas tomorrow. I want to see the Eastern Empire’s steel warships with my own eyes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the King.” Al-Sassi said, bowing.

The next day, Kambis and Al-Sassi officially set off. Fifteen days later, the majestic royal procession arrived in Abbas.

Tang Wenjie, who had been living on the Zhenwei-Class warship for a month, was overjoyed to learn that the King of Persia had personally arrived in Abbas.

The Persian King’s personal presence was enough to show Persia’s seriousness about the Empire, so he was very confident about this negotiation.

“Ziheng, prepare. We will go and meet the King of Persia together.” Tang Wenjie said. After the King of Persia arrived in Abbas, they received the order for an audience.

With a response, Fang Ziheng counted the gifts that would be given to the King of Persia. Only then did he and Tang Wenjie get off the warship and, under the guidance of Bohemi, enter the city of Abbas.

At this time, Kambis and Al-Sassi were already waiting in the provincial governor’s residence. The two walked through the heavily guarded roads and soon saw the King of Persia.

“Your Majesty the King, we are envoys from the Chinese Empire. The purpose of this trip is to establish a good relationship with Persia.”

With that, Tang Wenjie turned sideways. Behind him were wooden boxes, and at his signal, these boxes were opened one by one.

Tang Wenjie said, “These are gifts personally chosen by our Emperor, Xiao Ming, for Your Majesty the King. I hope Your Majesty will accept them. They are just a small gift!”

The moment the boxes were opened, the entire provincial governor’s residence seemed to light up. The Persian nobles standing on both sides of the room took a deep breath, and their hearts seemed to be squeezed.

Kambis considered himself to have seen countless jewels and gold, but after seeing the contents of the boxes, he was still unable to remain calm.

He looked at the calm-faced Tang Wenjie and exclaimed in his heart, ‘Is this a small gift?’

Al-Sassi quickly returned to his normal state after his initial shock. He nudged Kambis’s arm. It was his responsibility to prevent Kambis from making a fool of himself in front of the envoy of the Eastern Empire.

“Please convey my most sincere greetings to your Emperor. Welcome to Persia. You will have our friendship.” Kambis said with a smile.

His gaze swept over the gifts that were as dazzling as jewels. He then looked at the other strange-looking but extremely noble items and asked, “The Persian merchants said that the Eastern Empire is a magical country. In this country, there are steel monsters that do not eat grass but can transport things ten thousand times more than a camel, and many other strange but very practical goods. Is that true?”

“That merchant did not lie.”

Tang Wenjie took a beautifully crafted glass mirror from a box and faced it towards Kambis. “This is a glass mirror. I can guarantee that no country in the world has a glass mirror as clear as ours.”

Kambis could clearly see himself through the mirror in Tang Wenjie’s hand, which gave him a small surprise. He had never seen himself so clearly before.

Putting down the mirror, Tang Wenjie had someone take out a pendulum clock from a box. The numbers on this pendulum clock were all Arabic numerals.

With a slight smile, he said, “In our country, this is called a pendulum clock. We divide a day into twenty-four hours with this pendulum clock. The numbers on this clock now are the current time.”

Kambis naturally recognized the Arabic numerals on it. He once again marveled at the Eastern Empire’s skill.

Next, Tang Wenjie introduced the other gifts they had brought in detail, letting Kambis understand their uses.

After Tang Wenjie finished his introduction, the Persian nobles on both sides became even more restless. In their opinion, any one of these items on the plate was priceless in Persia. The gifts from the Eastern Empire were enough to buy ten Abbas.

Although Kambis was envious of these luxuries, he still had a glimmer of clarity in his mind, because he had always believed that no amount of wealth was real without the guarantee of a sword.

After once again expressing his gratitude to Tang Wenjie, he said, “I believe your visit this time is not just to give me gifts. I have been informed that the West is easing its relationship with the Ottoman Empire, and they will soon sign a treaty in Greece. This treaty seems to be for the purpose of opposing you.”

Tang Wenjie’s heart sank. He did not expect the West to act so quickly. He kept a calm face and said, “Your Majesty the King is mistaken. To the Empire, the European nations are nothing but clowns who are not worth mentioning. The real purpose of our visit to Persia this time is to establish a good relationship and commercial ties with Persia. At the same time, we hope that Your Majesty the King can permit us to extract the black oil from Persia.”

“Black oil.” Kambis frowned. This kind of black oil was a household name in Persia. In some areas, people would often dig up this kind of black oil when they were digging wells.

Moreover, this black oil was used in many ways in Persia. The roads of Ctesiphon were paved with this black oil. In addition, black oil was also used in construction, medicine, lighting, and warfare.

The Persian navy’s ships had a projectile weapon that fired ignited black oil.

“Is that all you want?” Kambis was a little surprised. He thought the Eastern Empire would incite them to oppose the Ottoman Empire and the European nations.

“Yes, that is the purpose of our visit. We are willing to use the Empire’s industrial products to exchange for black oil, and to purchase land to build oil mines. We hope Your Majesty the King can agree.”

“Hahahaha…” Kambis suddenly laughed heartily. “The Eastern Empire is indeed an interesting country. This kind of black oil is everywhere in my country. I can sell it to you, but you must tell me why you need black oil.”