Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1090 Two tigers compete for food?

Alfaro's Chinese is indeed not very good, especially since he learned Chinese from a Cantonese businessman, while Jinghua's interpreter and Huang Zhiting communicate in Mandarin, which makes it even more difficult for him to understand.

It wasn't until Huang Zhiting said coldly, "I'd rather go to war," that he realized something was wrong from her tone and the sudden murderous atmosphere in the arena.

He didn't get up, but quickly turned to the interpreter and asked, "Mr. Zhou, is there something wrong? I feel like there is some misunderstanding?"

Of course "Mr. Zhou" didn't dare to repeat it lightly, he could only cough dryly, and said: "Deputy Huang doesn't accept your Castilian etiquette, you must follow Daming's custom to kneel and salute, otherwise... there will be war."

The muscles on Alfaro's face twitched, but he didn't hesitate for a long time. He quickly asked, "Is it just in my own name?"

Zhou Tongyi obviously didn't understand the difference, and asked inexplicably, "What else?"

"Oh, that's easy, that's easy." Alfaro obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and asked, "What is Daming's kneeling ceremony like? Get down on your knees and crawl over to kiss her instep?"

"No, no, no!" Zhou Tongyi was taken aback, his face turned pale with fright, and he quickly said, "Kneel down at a distance, knock your head on the ground and don't move, if you are not told to get up, just keep crawling, and you must not treat her Any reckless intimacy!"

Alfaro was indeed a devout missionary. In order to successfully preach, he was willing to sacrifice not only his own life, but also things like honor, and immediately said: "No problem, Mr. Zhou, please convey my sincere apologies, I don't mean to offend, and I will immediately act in accordance with Daming's etiquette."

After finishing speaking, he didn't talk too much, and turned into a kneeling appearance very simply, and knocked his head on the ground, and said something in a very respectful tone.

Huang Zhiting's expression remained unmoved, and she looked at Tongyi. Zhou Tongyi had already explained, saying that this missionary didn't understand the etiquette of Ming Dynasty very well, but he had already corrected him. He was willing to do it all over again according to the etiquette of Ming Dynasty, and sincerely apologized to Dutong .

"It's common sense that the country is far away and etiquette is incomprehensible. I don't have to pursue it this time." Huang Zhiting's face softened, and she glanced at Alfaro who was kneeling obediently in front of her, and said indifferently: "Since he is here as an envoy, and Let him get up and answer."

Zhou Tongyi personally "directed" Alfaro to act this time, asking him to kowtow again before standing up.

After Alfaro got up, the expression on his face was quite calm, and he didn't seem to feel insulted.Be it the people from the Jinghua Fleet present or Huang Zhiting's cronies, now they have a better impression of this "Fan Monk", and secretly said: Although these people don't know etiquette, they seem to be able to teach.

In fact they don't know, there is a misunderstanding here.

Alfaro is not the ambassador of Spain. Although he has a high social status even in Spain, in his philosophy, as long as he does not kneel on behalf of the kingdom, there is no problem.Because from the previous introduction, he subconsciously regarded Huang Zhiting's status in Daming as high.

In Europe, a person with a personal territory of more than [-] square kilometers and an army of more than [-] is definitely not a count, and almost all of them are above the level of a duke.In particular, the "[-] standing army" is too amazing. Many monarchs of principalities do not have such a strong force, so in his opinion, Huang Zhiting should be at least equivalent to a duchess.

A personal tribute to a powerful Duchess is a matter of course, is there a problem?No.

So that's how the misunderstanding came about.

Then he discovered that although this "His Excellency the Duchess" had strict requirements on etiquette and had to follow her rules, she herself was still very polite—because she immediately got herself up.

The people in Daming also felt that Alfaro's performance was okay, because not only did he strictly follow Zhou Tongyi's instructions, kowtow in return before getting up, and even bowed slightly after getting up.

Now, the issue of etiquette is resolved, and it's time to get down to business.

"Ask him why he came here." Huang Zhiting didn't know "diplomacy" very well, so she followed the standard for receiving enemy envoys in the army.

Zhou Tongyi then relayed Huang Zhiting's words and asked, "I'm asking you why you came to see her."

Alfaro said: "Your Excellency the Countess..."

Zhou Tongyi interrupted: "It's Dutong!"

Alfaro was a little puzzled, but he still followed the reminder of the first batch of missionaries who came to China to "do as the Romans do", nodded and said: "Okay, okay, as you wish."

He paused for a moment and continued: "Dear Your Majesty, although you should already know my identity, out of courtesy, I still need to introduce myself: My name is Pedro de Alfaro , my father and elder brother are the Count of Rioja in the Kingdom of Castile. I am the second son in the family, so I have served God since I was a child and joined the Franciscan order.

With the gift of the Holy See and the permission of the King, I was first made the priest of the province of San Jose (Note: San Jose here is not San Jose in California, but the San Jose in Costa Rica, the capital of later Central America), and then the acting governor of Manila. .

The reason why I came here today is that I originally set out from Manila with the treasure fleet of the Kingdom of Castile, and I was going to Malacca to discuss with the bishop there about the missionary matters of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal in the East. However, I met your fleet on the way.

Duchess...Your Excellency the Duchess, please understand that I am here to convey goodwill to you and your fleet in order to avoid misunderstanding between two powerful fleets that meet at sea for the first time. "

Zhou Tongyi managed to translate such a long speech to Huang Zhiting, but Huang Zhiting didn't answer much after listening to it, she just asked indifferently: "The way you express your kindness is to attack the rearguard formation of my fleet?"

"Ah, that was a misunderstanding, Your Majesty the Metropolitan Commander." Alfaro immediately defended after listening to the translation: "The thing was originally like this: the Jumbo Fleet discovered that part of your fleet has been following us, and the fleet commander thinks that this approach It is contrary to international practice, so a formation equivalent to your fleet's rearguard formation was sent to inquire, but the two sides seem to have misunderstood due to different sea etiquette, resulting in an unnecessary and sad engagement.

In this battle, our fleet has a tonnage advantage, while your fleet has a firepower advantage, but in the end it was our fleet that first realized that this was a war that could have been avoided, so it was the first to withdraw from the engagement area and return to the large fleet. in until your arrival. "

"The report I heard is somewhat different from what you said, but I don't want to worry about why the war started now." Huang Zhiting asked indifferently: "I just want to know whether you will choose war or peace next."

Alfaro was taken aback when he heard this, and thought to himself: Father Luo Mingjian and others said that the Chinese are cautious in their actions and tactful in their language. Why is this His Excellency the Countess so straightforward and even aggressive?It seems that she is extremely confident in the force she possesses.

But now the form is stronger than others, Alfaro must have a clear reply, so he had to say: "Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Castile and I have a clear understanding of the strength of the Ming Empire, and we have nothing to do with the Ming Empire." Malicious, and equally harmless to you and your fleet.

I have just said that the previous battle was a misunderstanding... Besides, judging from the results of the battle, our side may have suffered more losses.I personally went to Jingang with Father Luo Mingjian, and had the honor to meet the local governor (translation problem) Mr. Gao Mengnan and the deputy governor Mr. Gao Wuqin. They are real gentlemen, and our communication was very pleasant.

At that time, on behalf of the Kingdom of Castile and the Governor's Office of the Philippines, I reached a number of verbal agreements with them, including that the Kingdom of Castile will send a fleet to visit Golden Port after the Philippine territory is stabilized, and will also send more merchant ships Go to Golden Port to carry out trade and so on.I believe this is something that will help both sides understand and cooperate with each other.

In view of the bright future of cooperation between the two sides, Sir Diego, Commander of the Jumbo Fleet and I believe that today's engagement should not be complicated and politicized. We sincerely hope that this accident can be resolved peacefully and amicably, and for the future of both parties. Cooperation lays the foundation of friendship. "

After hearing this, Huang Zhiting didn't answer right away, and said after a while: "You just said that this time you were going to Malacca to discuss some missionary matters with the local bishop?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Very well, since you always talk about cooperation, now I happen to have a cooperation that I can talk to you about. I hope you can show the goodwill you mentioned."

"I am very honored, Your Excellency." Alfaro said happily: "I don't know what kind of cooperation? Oh, please allow me to explain in advance: when the Jumbo Fleet was in Manila, it had already carried out a huge battle with the Quanzhou Squadron of the Nanyang Fleet of the Jinghua Company. For commercial cooperation, our ships are now almost full of all kinds of goods from your country, and it is no longer possible to trade."

Huang Zhiting shook her head slightly, and said, "I'm not in charge of the trade, what I want to talk about is another matter."

"I will listen with all my ears, Your Excellency."

"This fleet is about to pass through the Strait of Malacca. I heard that the king of your country is also the king of Portugal...so I hope you or your fleet commander can persuade the local Portuguese officials in Malacca not to hinder our actions. It’s good to let us stop in Malacca City and do resupply, can you do it?”

Alfaro had already thought about why such a large fleet of Jinghua appeared here before, so he was not very surprised now, so he just asked: "Your Excellency, excuse me, can you ask about the destination of your fleet?" ?”

Huang Zhiting was silent for a while, nodded and said, "Yes, we are going to Myanmar."

Alfaro was a little surprised. He didn't know about the Ming-Myanmar War, so he couldn't help but frowned, hesitated, and asked, "This... I don't know if your fleet is going to bring trade or war to Burma?"

"Does this have anything to do with you?"

"It really has nothing to do with me." Alfaro smiled bitterly: "But it may have something to do with the Portuguese—to be exact, Portugal has great interests in Myanmar."

Gao Wushi once mentioned this to her briefly, but Gao Wushi did not pay special attention to the specific situation of Portugal in Myanmar in his previous life. He only knew that there seemed to be Portuguese mercenaries in Myanmar, so he only mentioned a few words, Huang Zhiting knew Of course, it is very limited, so I asked: "What's the relationship?"

Alfaro then told what he knew.

It turned out that as early as the sixth year of Hongzhi (1493), shortly after Columbus discovered the New World, Pope Alexander VI drew the dividing line for the two powers in the sea, Castile and Portugal, to divide the world. Pope's Meridian".So the Spaniards went west to America, and the Portuguese went east around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, all the way to Asia.

Portugal moved very quickly. In 1510, the Portuguese occupied the Indian port of Goa; in 1511, they captured Malacca, an important maritime trading city, and thus occupied the main maritime route leading to Ming Dynasty.

In 1513, the first Portuguese to reach Ming Dynasty landed in Guangzhou.Afterwards, his compatriots flocked in large numbers, and then stayed in Macau and did not want to leave. Finally, after a tentative war, Portugal realized that it was impossible to force Daming, so it had to use another roundabout method to request a "temporary residence" there. Trade considerations - and of course bribery considerations - allowed it.

The Portuguese entered Burma earlier than they entered Ming Dynasty.In the Arakan Kingdom on the west coast of Myanmar and the Mon Kingdom on the east coast, there were Portuguese merchants and soldiers very early.

During the process of the Toungoo Dynasty’s unification of Myanmar, the Burmese army was surprised to find that there were soldiers of different races wearing bloomers and beards in the Mon soldiers when they confronted the Mon soldiers. They used advanced weapons to help the Mon soldiers. The clansmen guarded the city to the death.

However, the large Burmese army finally broke through the enemy's defenses, and learned from the Mon captives that these aliens were Portuguese mercenaries.At that time, King Toungoo treated these foreigners with courtesy and persuaded them to join his army, and even Portuguese became his military advisers.

The Portuguese not only brought military knowledge to the Taungoo court, but also brought something that the Burmese had never enjoyed-wine.Soon, the king was indulging in debauchery, and his behavior became grotesque.He molested the minister's wife, told dirty jokes in the court hall, and if he didn't like it, he would be executed and beheaded.His actions aroused more and more people's resentment, and soon on a journey to find the white elephant, the king was killed by his guards - this king was Mang Yinglong's wife-in-law Mang Ruiti.

Mang Yinglong who succeeds to the throne is the first "Mang Chieftain" in Daming's mouth.He is completely different from the previous kings. Although he also admires the Portuguese, he only needs their military ability and stays away from their wine.

Mang Yinglong selected a group of warriors he liked from among the Portuguese captives, and "distributed" each of them a Burmese wife, forming a team of foreign guns "upside down".Under his command, this team was fierce and good at fighting, invincible, and made great contributions in the subsequent unification and expansion.

And Arakan in the west (later Rakhine State of Myanmar) also made good use of the Portuguese and became a wealthy kingdom. It not only resisted the annexation of the Toungoo Dynasty, but also expanded its territory outward, from the Ganges to the The Irrawaddy River includes the entire southwestern coastal area of ​​Myanmar and part of present-day Bangladesh.

Arakan's wealth came primarily from sea robbery and trading the looted goods with the interior.The king of Arakan opened up trade to the Portuguese fleet, set up treaty ports, and used the ports as a transit point for Europeans to sell slaves; he recruited Portuguese free gunmen, established a rather powerful naval fleet, and ravaged the Straits of Malacca. Loot foreign ships.

And among the plundering troops of the king of Arakan was an adventurer from Lisbon named Filipe de Brito e Nicote.This person was born in a poor family, and at a young age he jumped on a sea ship bound for South Africa, dreaming of getting rid of poverty.

However, he did not find any good opportunities in South Africa. Instead, he came to Arakan and finally joined the navy of the kingdom. At that time, he had grown from a small crew member to a very experienced sailor and soldier.Soon, he was promoted by the king to be the captain, and led the soldiers of Arakan across the Indian Ocean.

And because of his experience in Arakan, he has always coveted Burma, hoping that one day he can find an opportunity to go to Burma to establish his own colonial territory and gain domestic recognition, and appoint him as the local governor.

Portugal or the Goa Governor's Office is very supportive of his adventurous move and has provided him with a lot of resources.

In other words, Portugal has now regarded Myanmar as its own dish, and is only waiting for an opportunity to eat it.

After hearing this, Huang Zhiting understood what Alfaro's wry smile meant.

If Jinghua's expedition was to conquer Burma, it would be equivalent to robbing Portugal's fancy prey, and in fact it became a situation of two tigers competing for food.
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(End of this chapter)