Chapter 333 Do you want to be the governor?
April 24, 1842 may be a day that will go down in history for Omanis.
On this day, on the burning coast of Zanzibar, the East African overlord Oman admitted defeat for the first time in the past century aboard the super-class battleship "Venecia".
In this battle, their proud navy paid a heavy price with nineteen battleships, fifteen frigates, thirty-eight galleys, and a large number of arson ships and self-destructing ships.
Not only that, a total of more than 18,000 Omani people, including Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Mayed Pasha, were killed or missing.
More than 2,000 houses were destroyed in the entire Zanzibar Port, and civilian ships were insignificant losses. Two of Sultan Said the Great's eight sons were killed in the battle.
Although there was resentment from the country, the monarch did not seem to have any intention of retaliating against the other party; on the contrary, he was very optimistic about the trade between Ao and Ao. Said's son Majid strongly expressed his gratitude to Franz and Friedrich. Promote their cloves.
The clove tree produces fine spices and oils. Clove oil is a yellow oil with a strong fragrance. It can be used to make various high-grade spices, perfumes and cigarettes. It is even used as medicine in parts of Asia and Africa.
However, the origin of this spice is not Zanzibar and Pemba. They used to be the flagship product of Indians, but now the clove production in Sanben and Beng has exceeded 60% of the world's production, almost monopolizing the global trade of similar commodities, and becoming a veritable country of cloves.
This is where Arab businessmen are powerful. They are flexible and have extremely flexible moral limits. Even their mortal enemies can do business without any scruples.
In fact, the half-million pound war indemnity and the loss of land south of Bagamoyo did not hurt the Said dynasty. What really made them unacceptable was the loss of the powerful fleet they relied on for survival and the money they had accumulated over hundreds of years. of confidence.
Once upon a time, the majestic Oman Empire punched Portugal, kicked the Netherlands, invited Arab heroes to fight, passed through East Africa, and spanned the Indian Ocean. They dare to attack the Zawasan pirates that the British dare not attack, and Mombasa, which the British dare not take, has long been their colony.
Oman has been the overlord of the Western Indian Ocean since the Age of Discovery, but Said knows that past glory does not represent everything.
He was not an incompetent monarch, but on the contrary, he was very business-minded and strategic, so the East African overlord immediately thought of forming an alliance with the Austrians.
In order to maintain its influence in the Persian Gulf and the Western Indian Ocean, this is an inevitable choice, just like the treaty signed with the British.
In addition, the Sultan also strives to actively expand business relations with Austria and strengthen the ties between the two countries.
At the same time, he also needs to rebuild a more powerful fleet and a more detailed and reliable intelligence network to ensure that this humiliation never happens again.
On the Austrian side, it was not until the end of the war that Franz and Friedrich understood why the Omani navy could respond so quickly.
The reason is that the opponent's capital has moved from Muscat in the Persian Gulf to Zanzibar, and their naval headquarters has naturally come to this small East African island.
But because it only happened in recent years, there are no markings on the charts on our own warships. This made Franz feel shivers down his spine. Before, he only knew that a certain unscrupulous navigation system often led people into dead ends, leek fields and the like.
But compared with our own overseas intelligence agencies, they are simply weak! The chart, which had not been updated for several years, directly sent the voyage fleet into the enemy's lair.
Bagamoyo is across the sea from Zanzibar, less than a day's flight away. The behavior of the Imperial Navy at Bagamoyo (unloading and transporting troops) was undoubtedly a serious provocation to the Sayyid dynasty.
Of course, the proud Omanis also overestimated their own strength. They thought they could directly destroy the invading enemy fleet through undeclared war.
After all, the victors are not condemned. As long as they can annihilate the maritime forces of the great powers, then naturally no one will dare to come out and make irresponsible remarks against them.
It's a pity that dreams are beautiful, but reality is cruel.
The nearly century-old strength gap between the two sides cannot be easily smoothed out. In addition, their stupid strategy angered their opponents. The Austrian Imperial Navy perfectly executed the policy of "beating the drowned dog", causing the number of Arab casualties to reach as high as one. Incredible degree.
And the culprits of all this are still at large in Bagamoyo, so how could Franz and Friedrich let them go.
The next day, the ocean-going fleet visited this ancient port again.
Although the welcoming crowd was obviously smaller this time, their enthusiasm became stronger. After all, the Austrians defeated their old enemies - those once arrogant Arabs, those demons who collected blood taxes from them, those who banned They were scumbags involved in the slave trade.
Now those damn heretics have finally been punished, and their time is coming...
But the first thing Franz did when he came to Bagamoyo was to ban the slave trade, which surprised many people. After all, the slave trade is one of the most profitable businesses in Bagamoyo at this time.
"Listen, I only came here to do three things, no slaves! No slaves! And fucking no slaves!"
His brief and even slightly crude off-the-cuff remarks had the assembled audience buzzing.
"Your Highness the Grand Duke, you wrongly blamed us. We are not the culprits who are teasing you and your country. This is all the fault of that damn Benny Erbin! Just punish him alone!"
The very smart businessmen in the audience chose to abandon their cars to save their commander, and began to accuse Erbin and his team. After all, sacrificing others to fulfill themselves is a required course for every ocean-going businessman in this era.
They had already thought of a way out, which was to arrest Benny Erbin and his associates to bear the wrath of Austria. In this way, not only can they keep their property, they may even become the new owners of the city.
Of course, it was obviously impossible to hide this trick from Franz, so he was not prepared to let these villains succeed.
Although Benny Urbin was a shameful liar, he was at least a capable and courageous man. Perhaps there is another possibility. He did not want to deceive the Austrian guests, but there was some misunderstanding between the two parties. The very deceptive chart may be just a momentary oversight.
"Send him here."
Franz gave an order, and two Austrian Marines stepped forward to hold Benny Erbin's arms.
Seeing this, the businessmen couldn't help but cheered from the bottom of their hearts, and threw eggs, tomatoes and other debris to express their "indignation" at being deceived and their "loyalty" to their new masters.
In fact, he had sent people to conduct an investigation before, which proved that Erbin was indeed a mixed race, but he was not an illegitimate son as he said, but a legitimate heir apparent.
His father even exiled all his brothers and uncles from the Kingdom of Weijin so that he could successfully inherit the throne.
Benny Erbin was brought in front of the young archduke opposite. At this moment, the former's mentality is as if he is in a state of chaos, and he does not dare to look at the other party, especially after knowing his identity and witnessing this miraculous battle.
An unprecedented emotion enveloped Erbin's heart, a combination of awe and awe, a little admiration and guilt.
"Do you want to be the governor of Tanzania?" There were no false polite words, no detours and circles, but straight to the point.