In the Alexandria, Egypt, Venetian galleys and merchant ships are moored here.

Two steamships sailed into Alexandria, attracting the attention of the Venetians and Egyptians in the port. Most of them had never seen the steam ironclad ship.

The opening of the new route and the rule of the Ottoman Empire put Alexandria into decline, but it was taken over by the shrewd Venetian merchants, and the Suez Canal was finally about to be opened, Alexandria could once again become the largest port in North Africa.

"Alexandria is also a base of our Fifth Fleet. The Fifth Fleet is located in Athens, but it has its own docks on the Island of Malta, Alexandria and other places. Now the Fifth Fleet already has 1 armored cruiser, 3 steam wooden sailboats, and several ordinary sailboats and galleys." Zheng Chenggong introduced to Chu Lingyun and his officials from the Ministry of Rites on the deck.

The Navy Department of the Kyushu Army now has five fleets, and the Fifth Fleet in the Mediterranean is quite large. With an iron-armored cruiser with a displacement of 3,000 tons, it can tremble the entire Mediterranean.

Neither Venetian nor Ottoman fleets pose an effective threat to the armored cruiser.

"All the Venetian-ruled Alexandria is forced to allow our fleet to be stationed. It is true that weak countries have no diplomacy. As long as we do not touch their core interests, they will allow us to send troops."

The diplomatic ambassadors of the Ministry of Rites are no longer surprised by garrisoning troops in other countries' territories or colonies.

The Venetian Egyptian colonies were taken down by the Chinese for them, and they demanded that Alexandria be opened as a common military port, and the Venetians had no way to refuse.

"Mist", "Moon" two steam ironclad ships came to Alexandria for resupply, and coal, fresh food and fresh water were transported to the ship.

When they entered Alexandria, employees of Suez Canal Company in Alexandria contacted them.

The Suez Canal Company is a company specially established by the Chinese government to dig the Suez Canal. The government controls the company and uses special funds. The specific operation is some businessmen. To be precise, they should be professional managers. They do not invest their own funds in the vast Suez Canal project, but provide their own management skills, complete the project in a timely and efficient manner, and reduce the cost of the project.

After the Suez Canal is opened, the Suez Canal Company will also be responsible for the operation, charge for passing ships and repair the canal.

"The northern section of the Suez Canal was originally a village, but now it has been built into a port, called the Port of Said by the locals. Unlike Alexandria, for the purpose of protecting the Suez Canal, the Port of Said is completely ruled by us. We have a cavalry regiment of about 500 people maintain order locally," said the people from the Suez Canal Company to them.

"How long has the Suez Canal been opened?" Chu Lingyun asked.

"In two months, in the past two months, a total of 57 large ships of more than 100 tons passed the Suez Canal. There is no need to detour the Storm Point for a long sailing. The Suez Canal can save thousands of nautical miles of itinerary. Unless it is necessary to develop Africa, there is no need to use the Storm Point route." said the Suez Canal Company. "The opening of the Suez Canal is definitely a great project."

Great project?

Chu Lingyun cannot deny it. But he also knows one thing.

It took about 11 years to go from exploration routes, groundbreaking to completion of the Suez Canal, and the cost of building the Suez Canal is amazing. As for how amazing it is, only the head of the Suez Canal Company and the Ministry of Works’ Department’s official who is responsible for connecting with the Suez Canal Company.

Two steam ironclad ships stayed in Alexandria for only one day.

The Venetian officials who managed Alexandria learned that the envoys had passed by, and the city officials boarded the ship to visit.

"Dear envoys from China, it is our honor to stay in our Alexandria for a while. Can this trip be smooth? Please come to the city hall with us. We have prepared a lot of dishes, which will definitely make you feel at home!" The city officials of Alexandria warmly invited Chu Lingyun and other envoys to get off the ship.

"Let's experience the customs and cultures here in Egypt seem to be good, and it may be helpful for dealing with them in the future."

After a brief discussion, the envoy decided to go to the city hall in Alexandria for tea.

As diplomatic ambassadors, they also need to have the most basic understanding of the customs and cultures of various places, and only when formulating diplomatic strategies will they be at ease. Different civilizations have different characteristics.

Chu Lingyun and his group walked on the streets of Alexandria, where Venetians, Egyptians, Arabs and Berbers were active.

Each region has its own regional center, and Alexandria is the central port along the Mediterranean North Africa.

No matter who was on the street, they all showed a look of awe when they saw the envoys wearing Chinese costumes.

An Egyptian powerful man was bargaining with a vendor who set up a stall on the street. He found that someone bumped into him and was about to scold the man in anger, he found that it was a group of people from China, and they seemed to have a low status. He quickly begged for mercy: "Master, I'm sorry, sorry, please forgive me..."

The person who accidentally bumped into the Egyptian powerful was the envoy of the envoy. After he found that the other party was hit, he even begged for mercy. Now he didn't even need to apologize, but directly glanced at the Egyptian powerful and continued to move forward with the envoy.

"Luckily I didn't blame me." The Egyptian powerful men breathed a sigh of relief.

In the Lower Egypt area, which was turned into a colony by the Venetians, the people were divided into different levels. The Chinese and Venetians had the most privileges, while the local Mamluk nobles and other landlords in Egypt were followed by civilians, and the lowest was homeless men and slaves. Even local powerful people, when they encountered Chinese, the Venetian civilians should be treated with caution, otherwise it would be easy to sue.

Chu Lingyun noticed such a small thing that happened to his companions, but he had a deeper understanding of the situation in Egypt.

With its strong national strength, the Chinese became upper-class people in other people's colonies. Local people regard people who wear Chinese clothes and have oriental appearances as "high-ranking people". This concept is deeply rooted in people's hearts, and even the local nobles in Egypt are no exception.

The native Egyptian nobles did not dare to provoke Chinese civilians easily, and they even nodded and bowed to some Chinese people who looked more particular in dressing. So it seems that such a scene just now appeared, which is not surprising.
Chapter completed!