As for whether there can be found shallow oil on the land of Yemen, Hong Tao is not sure, but he knows that many places on the Arabian Peninsula have their own oil, and some places can dig out oil when digging a tomb pit for dead people. ≤≤Xiao≤It doesn’t matter if Yemen doesn’t have it. Didn’t this Emil know the Bedouin people? They are the owners of the peninsula and run around, so he will definitely know this kind of black thing. As long as he can get the goods they want to exchange, he will not worry about no oil.

After leaving the Port of Aden, except for two merchant ships anchored here to unload the goods, the remaining twenty-seven ships formed a three-row column again, and explored the way ahead from two Seawolf-class warships, slowly turning north along the coastline, and drilled into the Mande Strait.

"Old Sai, is this island also under the jurisdiction of Emir of Bin Laden?" Looking at the lonely extinct volcano on the right, Hong Tao's little eyes began to shine again. He knew this island, called Pilin Island, and later it was a naval base in the Republic of Yemen. Boats coming from the Suez Canal had to pass through the narrow waterway in front of it and enter the Gulf of Aden. If he could lay an egg here, the entire Red Sea would be placed under his control. He would block it whenever he wanted, and there would be no need to work too much. The most important thing was that there was a natural harbor on the south side of the island, which was a good place to build a port.

"This is a deserted island with very little fresh water on it and almost no grass grows. Emir did not send anyone to station." Said is worthy of being a scholar. When he was young, he must have traveled a lot on the Arabian Peninsula. Chinese people pay attention to reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles. The same is true for Arabs. Whoever reads more scriptures and travels more countries, whoever is the wise!

"If I exchanged sugar and emir for the right to use here, do you think he would agree?" Hong Tao began to test his words.

"If you change this... what's here?" Sayed was a scholar, but not a strategist, and he had never read Hong Tao's theory of sea power. He could not think of any use for such a deserted island.

"That's it..." Hong Tao used a few seconds of lighting a cigarette to delay it.

"My merchant fleet is very large. If I dock at the Port of Aden every time, it will be very troublesome. You also know that the living habits of the Song people are very different from those here. They like to drink, beauties, and eat some food that people here cannot accept. If they live together frequently, it will definitely cause ethnic and religious conflicts, and even conflicts. In that case, it will be difficult for Emir and me to deal with. If I could build a small port here, specifically to dock cargo ships from the Song Dynasty and the Jin River Kingdom. Wouldn't this problem be solved? It's deserted and an island. Both sides will not have much contact with each other. They are very comfortable, what do you think?"

This power is really tight and tight, and Hong Tao seems to be for the sake of Arabs and then paying for it himself. This is what an understanding and broad-minded emperor can only say.

"Your Majesty is the emperor I have ever seen the longest and broadest mind! All praise belongs to Allah! If Your Majesty agrees, I can convey His Majesty's meaning to Emil. I think Emil will be convinced by His Majesty's sincerity." Said was really blocked by Hong Tao's power. In his opinion, as the emperor of an empire, Hong Tao can respect the customs and habits of the Arabs in this way, which is full of kindness and sincerity. Who would not want to be respected by other nations?

"Hehe... no hurry, it's not too late to discuss this with Emir when we return to the flight." Hong Tao did not want to rent Pilin Island immediately. The empire does not have the energy to lay out too many places. It is not as ready-made cities as Kalamba Port, nor is it like Cape Town that can develop at will. Once occupied, a squadron has to be stationed to deal with the harassment of the Arabs at all times. In addition, supplies have also become a problem, and the loss is not worth the cost.

The Red Sea is actually not red for most of the time, and the name is translated from Persian. Since this narrow and long sea area does not have rivers that are injected all year round, the outlets connected to the ocean are very narrow. The water exchange is very slow, and the local temperature is dry and hot, so the sea water evaporates very quickly and the salt content is very high. At some point, a kind of halophilic algae will erupt in the Red Sea, which is red. The ancients may have called this sea area a red ocean.

Due to climate and natural environment, both sides of the Red Sea are desolate. On the left is the Gobi Desert in North Africa. On the continuous brown hills, there are no people or animals except for some low small plants. On the right is the Sijaz Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula. Cliffs and volcanoes are the main theme and nothing lasts. Later generations called this landform a flow-free area, which means there is no surface water, no rivers, streams, and lakes.

Although the Red Sea is not big, the widest place is only 300 kilometers, but it is narrow and long and has a length of more than 2,000 kilometers. In this era, sailboats in addition to the mixed sailboats of Jinhe Country, sailing along the coast must be sailed from a long distance, mainly for navigation. Small and medium-sized ships are difficult to navigate in the Red Sea because there are too few urban ports on both sides of the strait and cannot be recharged at any time. Moreover, there are many coral reefs in the offshore of the Red Sea, and driving offshore is a very dangerous thing. Only those large fleets can provide supplies and run to Jeddah Port in one breath.

Hongtao's second port of call is Jeddah Port located at the waist of the Red Sea. This port is an exception. It can be regarded as one of the most prosperous ports on the Arabian Peninsula, not only because its geographical location is very important, but the main reason is that a city not far from the north of it is called Mecca.

Mecca, the most important holy place in Islam, is the forbidden temple in the city. It is also the place where the five major dictates say that you should go to the holy place to worship once in your life. All Muslims have to come here to worship, and it is strange that they can be not prosperous. The port of Jeddah is the waterway of Mecca. Muslims from North Africa and Egypt will travel a long distance to Aidhab port (Sultan Port), opposite Jeddah port, taking a boat to cross the Red Sea, get ashore from Jeddah port, and then ride a camel to Mecca city dozens of kilometers away.

Hong Tao really wanted to go to Mecca to see, but he was not a Muslim and could not enter Mecca City. Non-Muslims were allowed to enter. In Said's words, Kafir was not allowed to step into the Holy City. Kafir is the name of Muslims for all non-Muslims. More than ten kilometers away from Mecca City, there are many checkpoints to identify whether the people who come to pilgrimage are Muslims. It is not easy to know anyone.

Although pilgrimage is a religious activity, it greatly promoted the circulation of goods throughout the Arab world. In order to make pilgrimage, the Abbasid Caliph specially built a simple highway of 1,500 kilometers from Baghdad, crossing the Iraqi desert and Nevde desert, and directly to the Holy City of Mecca. On this road, every other day, a kanil is built for pilgrimage to use fresh water. It is called Zubaida Avenue, which is the name of the Caliph's wife.

From this point of view, the religious atmosphere here is indeed very strong. For the sake of life and trade, no one supports the construction of roads. As long as it is said to be for pilgrimage, even the poorest people are willing to work and work when they are hungry.

These Muslims who came to pilgrimage from all directions not only heard the voice of Allah, but also used their legs to wove a huge trade network throughout the Islamic world. Starting from the Indian Peninsula, Central Asia, Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Europe, and finally gathered in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, religion at this time promoted the Arabs to make trade all over the world at that time. They even went north by land in the Middle Ages across the Baltic Sea.

When Hong Tao's fleet suddenly emerged from the deep sea and appeared in front of Jeddah Port, the whole city was stunned. The roof like a small box was full of people, the dock was full of people, and even the boats in the port were full of people. Everyone was stunned at the huge body of the King of the Sea. If it weren't for the flag of Bin Ladan Emir, they would have worshiped as miracles. Even when they saw the flag of Emir, many people were kneeling on the ground, holding their hands high, and looking at the sky, not knowing what they were talking about.

"This is an unguarded city!" Hong Tao's perspective is always different from others. He is not interested in the crowd or the teams of camels. Instead, he uses a telescope to observe the terrain here. Without city walls, towers, and no defensive facilities, such a city is very easy to attack.

"It does not need to be defended, and no one will come to blaspheme the holy land of Allah. This is the hinterland of Arabia, and pagans cannot reach it at all." Said felt that Hong Tao's words were very poor.

"Hehehe... that's not necessarily. Are there so many people here every day?" Hong Tao did not argue with Sayed. No city could block bullets or shells. This is blind optimism and the poor understanding of the times, so there is no need to explain it clearly.

"Tomorrow is the day of a big holiday. There will be a big market in the temple. Many merchants are here." Alin pointed to the crowd on the shore and reported good news to Hong Tao. According to the Arab calendar, today is Thursday, and a big market will be held next to the temple every Friday. The fleet is right.

With the experience of Aden Port, Hong Tao still took medicine according to the prescription and first carried Sayed into the port with a small boat to discuss with the managers here. At that time, whether it was an English and French businessman or a Japanese businessman, he would find a local merchant as a comprador when entering China. This makes sense. It is really easy to do with acquaintances in the local area. Although Sayed did not know the Emir here, his identity and name played a role. After more than half a day of negotiations, two merchant ships in Hong Tao's fleet were allowed to sell goods at Jeddah Port, but they had to pay taxes as usual.
Chapter completed!