Chapter 1116

Istanbul.

Sultan Suleiman was reviewing his massive army. Ever since reaching an agreement with Britain and France, the Ottoman Empire had not only regained the Greek region but had also received a large number of advanced firearms from Europe. Britain had even secretly dispatched officers to help the Ottoman Empire train its army.

“Salid, we have the strongest army in Central Asia.” Suleiman said proudly. The soldiers marching past him carried smoothbore guns, and horses pulled field cannons from Europe. The Ottoman Empire’s arsenal was now filled with ammunition.

“That’s right, Great Sultan. But our enemy, Persia, is receiving support from the Eastern Empire. Before they can become strong, we must completely defeat them and seize our position as the hegemon of Central Asia.” Salid was extremely fanatical.

A few years ago, the declining Ottoman Empire was retreating in Africa, Europe, and Central Asia, which made them feel extremely humiliated. But things took a turn. The emergence of the Eastern Empire made the Ottoman Empire’s position in the eyes of the Europeans irreplaceable. It was precisely for this reason that they received a large amount of supplies from Europe over the past few years, and Europe also made concessions on many issues, which suddenly made the declining Ottoman Empire feel like a fish in water and regain its vitality. However, Suleiman understood his current value. Europe’s purpose in treating him this way was to contend with the Eastern Empire. So now he had to take some action to prove his value, and this action was to attack Persia, which was supported by the Eastern Empire, and destroy the Eastern Empire’s oil fields.

“Then what are we waiting for, soldiers? March towards Persia! We will capture Kambis alive.” Suleiman shouted loudly.

The soldiers immediately let out a loud cheer of “Long live the Sultan” upon hearing Suleiman’s words.

Salid excitedly saluted Suleiman. He then walked down the review stand. He would represent Suleiman and lead this fully-armed army to flatten Persia.

…

Qingzhou.

The worsening situation in Central Asia arrived here with the Persian envoy.

To ask for the Empire’s help, Kambis personally sent Al-Sassi to see Xiao Ming this time.

“Your Majesty the Emperor, Persia is in danger now. The Ottoman Empire, a running dog of the West, is using an army equipped with Western firearms to attack us. If we do not get the Empire’s assistance, the Persian Empire will be in peril.” Al-Sassi said with great concern.

Before he came to the Eastern Empire, the war between Persia and the Ottoman Empire had escalated. For more than a month, he had been worrying about Persia’s safety every day.

Xiao Ming looked at the second most powerful person in the Persian Empire. Before choosing Persia, Xiao Ming had specifically looked at the resource distribution map.

It could be said that the current Persia included the contemporary regions of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, which could be said to contain most of the world’s petroleum reserves.

It was precisely for this reason that he had Tang Wenjie prioritize negotiations with Persia. The Ottoman Empire was nothing more than a non-essential backup.

And after reaching an agreement with the Persian Empire, the Persian Empire’s position became even more important, because controlling Persia was tantamount to controlling petroleum exports, which also laid a solid foundation for him to internationalize the Empire’s dragon coin.

Therefore, even if it was for the sake of protecting the interests of his oil fields, he could not stand by and watch the Ottoman Empire leave Persia in a mess.

But just as Pang Yukun had said, the help he would give Persia would only be enough to maintain an even footing with the Ottoman Empire.

“Persia is an important friend to the Empire. The Empire will naturally not allow its friends to be bullied by its enemies. Rest assured, I will provide you with powerful weapons to defeat the Ottoman Empire’s invasion,” Xiao Ming said.

Al-Sassi was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He naturally could not stall on this issue, after all, with the petrochemical industry established, the Empire now desperately needed Persia’s free petroleum.

“Thank you for Your Majesty the Emperor’s kindness. If Your Majesty can help Persia defeat the Ottoman Empire, my king promises to continue to allow the Empire to extract petroleum for free,” Al-Sassi said cautiously.

Xiao Ming showed a strange smile at this time. In fact, the Empire had already obtained some intelligence in advance by bribing the Persian nobles.

After learning how valuable petroleum was to the Empire, Kambis already had some ideas. Xiao Ming expressed his understanding of this issue.

Anyone would be unhappy after learning that the trash in their house, which was dug up by others, had become priceless.

But since Kambis had agreed to the free extraction from the beginning, he could not go back on his word. He did not want to be a fool who nurtured a thankless wretch.

So he said, “In that case, to avoid future misunderstandings between our two countries, I believe it is necessary to sign a separate petroleum extraction agreement.”

With that, Xiao Ming motioned to Qian Dafu. Qian Dafu then presented an agreement to Al-Sassi.

Al-Sassi’s eyes lit up slightly after he scanned the Persian text on the agreement. This agreement clearly required Persia to allow the Empire to extract petroleum in Persia for free for sixty years.

After sixty years, the Empire would buy petroleum from Persia at half the market price, and no matter who Persia sold its petroleum to, it would have to use the Empire’s currency for settlement.

“Your Majesty, this…” Al-Sassi had originally thought that Xiao Ming would demand the right to permanently extract petroleum, but he only asked for sixty years. After sixty years, he would have to pay for it.

“You did not read it wrong. This is my intention.” Xiao Ming smiled cunningly, because he was very clear that a permanent agreement was a very unreliable one.

As time passed, the world would also change drastically. One hundred years, two hundred years, who knew if the Empire would still exist at that time?

And now, once Kambis, the king of Persia, died, the Persian Empire would change hands. No one knew what the relationship between the Empire and Persia would be at that time.

So instead of signing such a useless agreement, it was better to have Persia serve the Empire wholeheartedly now. After all, policies were only effective for the present.

“Your Majesty, you are truly a good person. It is an honor for Persia to have a friend like the Empire,” Al-Sassi said.

“There is no need to thank me. I only hope that you will abide by the agreement,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.

“Of course, we will abide by the agreement,” Al-Sassi said. They were naturally not happy with a permanent free arrangement, but now they at least had something to look forward to.

After the agreement was signed, Xiao Ming made a telephone call to have Cui Shang’an come to the Imperial Study.

The weapons and ammunition to assist Persia were already prepared. They were all the Empire’s retired Conqueror rifles. The Conqueror rifle was a whole generation more advanced than the smoothbore guns that Europe gave to the Ottoman Empire.

In addition to the Conqueror rifles, the Empire also provided Persia with five hundred field cannons. These field cannons were first-generation field cannons, but they were also much more powerful than the ones the West gave to the Ottoman Empire.