Steel Dynasty - Chapter 1172

[Chapter 1159 The canal is connected]

Zou Xingwen was nervously watching the part connecting the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

Construction workers are now placing explosives at the bottom of the canal. Once the explosives explode, the remaining soil between the canal and the Mediterranean Sea will be blasted away. From then on, the Suez Canal will be officially connected, which means that the imperial warships will no longer have to go around Europe and can go directly from The Red Sea enters the Mediterranean through the canal, reducing the navigation distance by 10,000 kilometers.

Moreover, there are many European countries along the Mediterranean Sea, including Portugal, Spain, France, Austria, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire.

Once the empire controls this canal, it is equivalent to controlling the Mediterranean. European countries must look at the empire’s face if they want to pass this canal.

“Shilang Zou, all the explosives have been placed and can be exploded at any time.” While Zou Xingwen was thinking, a general in military uniform came towards him.

This time the demolition army provided a lot of explosives, and low-level construction workers also came from the army.

“Thank you, Mr. Lu, for your help this time. After the canal is completed, I will definitely ask the emperor for credit on behalf of the Ministry of Industry.” Zou Xingwen said with a smile.

“Shilang Zou is being polite now. You and I are all for the empire, so how can we say thank you? To say thank you, we should also thank you. Now that the canal is connected, the army of the empire can save a lot of distance.” Lu Jun said.

After Persia assigned the Suez Canal and a hundred miles of surrounding land to the empire, he was ordered to lead 10,000 soldiers under his command to station in Suez to protect the smooth progress of the canal construction.

After all, although the Ottomans compensated the land to Persia, there are still many people in this land who miss the Ottoman Empire.

During the implementation of the project, many bandits tried to sabotage the implementation of the project, but they were all thwarted by his soldiers.

Although the canal is about to be completed now, he understands that the tasks they will face will be more severe in the future.

Now that the order from the empire has come down, the empire will set up military bases along the Suez Canal to protect the empire’s overseas interests.

“Master Lu is really righteous.” Zou Xingwen said with a smile. He had a good sense of Lu Jun and he was a conscientious soldier.

They gave each other high hats, and Zou Xingwen said: “Now that the explosives have been planted, please give the order to Master Lu!”

Lu Jun nodded, and he immediately ordered the excavators and construction workers in the canal to evacuate. Once the blasting is carried out, the seawater in the Mediterranean Sea will It will be poured directly into the canal and meet the water of the Red Sea in the middle of the canal.

When all personnel were evacuated, Lu Jun gave the order to the soldiers. With a shocking sound, the soil was lifted into the air by the explosives, and the last barrier blocking the Mediterranean sea collapsed. At this moment, the Mediterranean sea water poured in ferociously. The Milky Way.

Zou Xingwen’s eyes were moist. He was sent here by the Ministry of Industry when the canal was being built. After more than a year of arduous construction, they spanned 175 kilometers, used thousands of excavators, and nearly 80,000 people. Workers from the empire and locals finally dug the man-made canal.

Now he finally no longer has to worry about progress or being attacked by local tribes, but a deep feeling of reluctance rises in his heart at this time.

Lu Jun was also filled with excitement. The empire continued to achieve military victories all over the world, but here, the victory of the imperial project was equally great.

For him, the completion of this canal was no less than winning a war, and even more important, because from now on the time to reach Europe from the empire would be shortened by almost half…

A month later, news of the Suez Canal arrived in Qingzhou, As soon as the news was published in the newspaper, it immediately caused shock throughout the empire.

Merchants with a keen sense of smell naturally understood the significance of the connection of this canal. Soon, there were calls from the empire to dump industrial products to Europe.

With steamships and the opening of the Suez Canal, it would only take forty days for the imperial fleet to reach Europe.

For merchants in the empire, such a short voyage meant huge business opportunities.

“Your Majesty, the merchants are very excited. It is urgent to open the European market. After all, Europe is the largest market in the world for the empire.”

After the Suez Canal was opened, the first person who came to him was not Pang Yukun or Cui Shangan but Li Kaiyuan.

Merchants had crowded his office, all asking about trade with Europe.

“Why are you so anxious? Now is not the time. Europe is in a fierce war. It is not the time to intervene yet.” Xiao Ming said calmly.

He naturally knows that Europe is the largest market today. After all, European countries have colonized the world for more than two hundred years and plundered a large amount of wealth from all over the world.

This wealth has greatly improved the living standards of Europeans, which is not comparable to countries such as Japan and Goryeo.

Because of this, Europe and the West have been able to recover quickly no matter how tragic the war they have experienced in contemporary history.

Because no matter how hard they fight, the wealth they robbed is still in Europe.

Therefore, now he is trying his best to transfer gold, silver and all kinds of valuable wealth from Europe to the empire.

The agreement he asked the British to sign was to extract wealth from Europe.

“Still waiting?” Li Kaiyuan was a little disappointed, “How long do we have to wait?”

Xiao Ming pondered for a moment. In three months, he inspected important military industrial bases across the country and had detailed information on the construction progress of each base. learn.

He said: “In three years, as long as three years, I will be able to establish a European expeditionary force. This expeditionary force can conquer the Europeans just like Europe once conquered South America.”

Li Kaiyuan nodded, ” With the emperor’s words, everyone in the empire feels at ease and is just waiting for this day to come.”

Xiao Ming said with a smile: “Even if you are not in a hurry, I am in a hurry. Otherwise, what if the empire’s high welfare benefits are just waiting to rob Europe? Where is the money to provide universal education and free medical care?”

Li Kaiyuan was even more excited after hearing this. He said sincerely: “It is a blessing for the empire to have an emperor, and it is also a blessing for the people. The emperor’s name will go down in history forever.”

Xiao Ming shook his head gently, he didn’t care what the name was. To leave a mark in history, as the owner of the technology crystal, his ultimate goal is to make the empire achieve eternity with the help of technology.

“Okay, after so many years, you still can’t change your flattery. Go back and send those businessmen away. Tell them that if the empire has food, they will have food to eat. If the empire doesn’t give it to them, they will do whatever they want to do to seek death!” When he said the last sentence, Xiao Ming’s tone became stern.

His meaning is very clear. If anyone dares to smuggle, sell materials, and resell technology to Europe during this period, don’t blame him for being rude.

(End of chapter)