Chapter 742: Good Friends Treaty

Ji Kun thought it over and also felt the "Good Friends Trade" approach was acceptable. Although it was a "sima friend" (not a fair-weather friend — the Sultan did not drink), in the end it was one more friend, and they would also get horses.

Seeing Ji Kun nod, Mehmed Köprülü spoke again: "The ships and sailors transporting the horses, silk, and porcelain should be provided by the Great Ming side."

That was necessary — if Ottoman ships loaded with 1,000 Arabian horses tried to pass Malacca, how could they possibly get through?

Ming ships were different. Neither Portugal nor Holland would go so far as to fall out with the Great Ming over 1,000 horses.

Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou consulted with each other and felt the matter was somewhat improper — not because of the cost of the ships; as long as they carried a bit more cargo, the expenses could be earned back.

But having Ming ships haul silk and porcelain to the Ottoman Empire as gifts for the Sultan looked rather like "tribute" no matter how one saw it!

And the Sultan then sending horses to the Ming Emperor looked like a return gift!

Köprülü saw the two Chinese men discussing and had no idea what was going on. The Chinese did not seem short of ships, and when they had come to Basra they had even had Dutchmen guiding them, so there should be no problem!

The old man could not figure it out, and his expression slowly darkened, looking quite frightening — the fellow had come out of the Janissary boy-soldier corps, and his features were especially imposing. In his early years, it was precisely because of his imposing looks that he had become a cook in the Janissary corps, which was also the beginning of Köprülü's rise.

So when his face darkened, it was murderous, quite befitting the Ottoman Empire's status as the strongest in the world.

Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou were both startled by him. Their mission in Europe had not even begun yet — they could not afford to come to grief here in the Ottoman Empire.

"Fine! We will provide the sailing ships!" Ji Kun nodded. "However, to cover the expenses of the sailing ships, we will need to carry some additional goods to sell within the Ottoman Empire, and we hope your country can grant a tax exemption."

The old man held up one finger. "Out of every five ships, only one ship's cargo may be tax-exempt!"

The old man was shrewd indeed!

"One ship it is!" Ji Kun's business sense was still somewhat lacking, and he agreed all too readily.

Köprülü spoke again: "Gifts between friends should be equal in value."

"That is only natural." Ji Kun nodded.

"Then let us discuss how to determine the value of the Arabian horses and the Chinese silk and porcelain!" At this moment Köprülü did not act like a Pasha at all, but rather had the air of a crafty merchant.

Now he was even talking business.

Ji Kun thought to himself: If only I had known, I would have brought Van Diemen along!

"Pasha, how would you like to convert the values?" Ji Kun asked.

Köprülü said, "We can first determine the total value of the gifts each side sends, priced in silver, using the prices in the sending side's capital as the standard, and the total value of the gifts each side sends should be equal. To better determine the value of the gifts, the Ottoman Empire and the Great Ming Empire should exchange envoys, stationed long-term in each other's capitals."

"Furthermore, maritime transport always carries risks. If events such as shipwreck or a vessel going missing occur, the loss should also be borne jointly by both sides. But this is limited only to the loss of the gifts themselves, not including the loss of ships and crew."

He spoke slowly, and after each sentence he had the interpreter present translate it.

After finishing this passage, he was silent for a while, then added: "If the two envoys have no objections, we can sign a treaty immediately and turn the points of agreement into written clauses."

They even had to sign a treaty?

Ji Kun and Li Shaoyou both found it somewhat laughable and frustrating. So in this day and age, making a friend required signing a treaty first.

A treaty that had to be signed still had to be signed!

Whether it was the "Good Friends Treaty" or the "Ming-Ottoman Friendship and Mutual Assistance Treaty," either way it was a rather enormous diplomatic achievement.

Once the treaty was signed, the Great Ming Empire and the Ottoman Empire could be considered friends for the time being!

With the Ottoman Empire's help, the Ming mission could continue on its way. But this time they could no longer travel by ship; instead they would continue westward overland.

First they would go to the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, where Ji Kun, Li Shaoyou, and Van Diemen would have an audience with the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

After meeting the Sultan, the Ottoman foreign minister Gürcü would escort the Ming mission overland, together with the Dutch ambassador Van Diemen, to the Holy Roman Empire and France.

The reason for going overland to France was that the Ottoman Empire was at that time fighting the Fifth Ottoman-Venetian War against Venice, with both sides locked in fierce battle in the Aegean Sea and on Crete. The sea lanes in the Aegean were frequently blockaded by the Venetian fleet, and there were also many privateers from both sides prowling about.

By comparison, although the overland route required passing through the Holy Roman Empire, another "brainless" member of the Catholic camp, the Holy Roman Emperor and his princes were somewhat more reasonable than the pirates of the Mediterranean.

Emperors had to maintain their dignity, so they would never detain the Ming mission. And the Holy Roman princes merely wanted a little money; they would not kill people or plunder goods — these people were not only envoys of China, but also guests of the Jesuits, the King of France, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Stadtholder of Holland. It was not worth offending so many people!

Meanwhile, the mission's deputy envoy Johann Adam Schall von Bell (he and Li Shaoyou were both deputy envoys; he had been translating the Zilun Gewu Pian the whole journey and had not participated much in diplomatic activities) would take the newly translated Zilun Gewu Pian directly overland to Rome, to have an audience with Pope Innocent X.

As a Jesuit missionary and an outstanding graduate of the Roman College, Schall was very familiar with the city of Rome. Between the ages of 21 and 25, he had studied at the Roman College for four years, and then in 1618 he left Rome and set out on the long journey to China.

And in the autumn of 1650 AD, after thirty-two years away from Rome, he returned once more to the city where he had spent the finest years of his life.

Rome was almost entirely unchanged from thirty-two years before, except for a few more palaces and churches built at the orders of Urban VIII and Innocent X. But most of the buildings and streets remained just as they were, all relics left over from ancient and distant times, merely growing slowly older.

The Jesuit headquarters was located in Rome, within the Roman College itself. This college had been founded by the Jesuits' founder, Father Loyola, specifically to train missionaries for the Society of Jesus. But Schall, returning here, also sensed an air of gradual decline.

The person assigned to receive Schall was a Jesuit from Belgium named Ferdinand Verbiest, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, currently a teacher of literature and rhetoric at the college.

"Brother Adam Schall, you seem somewhat uneasy."

In a dimly lit church, two priests in black robes sat on a bench, speaking in low voices. They were waiting for the ailing Superior General of the Jesuits to appear. After learning of Schall's return, the latter had gone to the Vatican Palace to see the Pope, and no one knew when he would be back.

"Brother Verbiest," Schall said in somewhat rusty Latin, "in fact I am quite uneasy."

"Why?" Verbiest asked. "Your missionary work in China seems quite successful. Have you not become the most trusted advisor to the Chinese Emperor?"

"The most trusted advisor?" Schall smiled bitterly. "I never said that. In fact, our Jesuit mission in China is facing an enormous challenge!"

"An enormous challenge?" Verbiest was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Tianli!" Schall said a phrase in Chinese, then continued in Latin, "It is the Chinese lord of creation, the lord their Confucianism believes in."

"I know of it," Verbiest said. "Brothers returning from the East have spoken of this. There seems to have been a dispute over translation."

"No, no, the problem is far more serious than that!" Schall said. "Truly — far more serious! I think I need to see the Pope immediately and report this matter to him."

(End of Chapter)