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Chapter 1588 Portuguese Request

Portuguese diplomatic envoys came to the Thames in small boats, and they found that there were many ships from the East staying here.

"It is the ship of the Chinese who took away our Portuguese strongholds in Malacca, Macau, Goa, and Mumbai!"

"I heard that their queen was forced by the power of the consul in the east to give birth to a crown prince. I don't know if the English are still as reliable as before."

Portugal has a small population. Many of them are navigators or sailors. Some of them have been to the East and seen the unique dragon-shaped flag of the Eastern Empire.

Except for the Portuguese colonies in Africa and South America, the other colonies were taken away by this group of Orientals!

They dare not speak out about the Orientals taking away their Asian colonies.For them, the colony is a land of no man, whoever has a big fist can easily take it away.They really couldn't compete with the rising Eastern Empire, and they were at a disadvantage in terms of distance.

At this time, in order to avoid the panic of the citizens of London, the two steam ironclad ships were transferred to the port of Portsmouth, so the Portuguese diplomatic envoys did not see the steam ironclad Huo Qubing.

When they came to England, they couldn't help a little envious of the peace here.

Portugal, as one of the territories of the Habsburg dynasty, was squeezed a lot of manpower and material resources by Madrid, and Portugal's already insufficient population, especially the adult men who served in the military, suffered heavy losses. Now the proportion of young women in Portugal is higher than that of young women. male.Portugal, which was afraid of exhausting young men, finally chose to break away from Spanish control and restore the independent status of the Kingdom of Portugal.

This time they came to seek the protection of their kingdom from England, which has always had a good relationship with Portugal, to avoid being annexed by Spain again.They no longer want to continue to be involved in the hegemony wars between Spain, France, and the Netherlands. If they continue to fight, Portugal will only be left with the old, the weak, the sick, and women.

Queen Sofia meets Portuguese diplomatic envoys who have sought asylum in Whitehall.

"Your Majesty Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, We are envoys to England by João IV, Duke of Bragança, King of Portugal, and I beg Your Majesty to spare us generously when our kingdom is attacked by the Spaniards. Help us resist the Spanish revenge." The Portuguese envoy saluted Sophia.

They secretly looked at the young and beautiful queen from the corner of their eyes. It is said that she is already the wife of the Eastern Consul, and according to the marriage system of the church here, unless the two divorce, Sophia cannot remarry, even if the two are separated. The distance of tens of thousands of miles will not work.

"Welcome, friends from Portugal. I have already learned about your experience from the Prime Minister, and I sympathize with your experience." After months of hard work, Sofia has been able to speak well among ministers, MPs, nobles, sons and daughters. In front of Min and others, she put on an appearance that a queen should have.

"Yes, the king of Spain has been exploiting us Portugal for the past few decades, squandering the wealth accumulated by our ancestors, and constantly requiring our males to perform military service. We have changed from a rich kingdom to a poor kingdom. In More than 200 years ago, Portugal and England signed a permanent contract - the "Treaty of Windsor". This contract stipulates that the two countries are allies, and citizens of England and Portugal can freely enter and leave the other country and can stay in the other country. Free travel, trade and residence. I wonder if Her Majesty still remembers this treaty?" asked the Portuguese envoy.

Sophia thought for a while: "When I was very young, I occasionally heard my father mention this matter. But when Portugal was annexed by Spain, you participated in the war between Spain and England. Many of Spain's Armada are your ships."

"The Spanish royal family annexed us Portugal. At that time, the Spanish king was also our Portuguese king. We had no way to disobey the king's orders, so we had to work for the Spaniards. But now, Your Majesty, we are out of the control of the Spanish royal family. We I sincerely hope that you can help us and send an army to Portugal to help us guard the capital Lisbon. The English once helped the Netherlands to become independent. Some nobles and soldiers have combat experience with the Spaniards. Please help us Portuguese Independence." The Portuguese envoy said.

Sophia looked at several ministers in the cabinet.

The Prime Minister was hinted by the Queen and took the initiative to stand up: "We in England have experienced a fierce civil war not long ago and lost tens of thousands of men. We are temporarily unable to support your independence. The fate of Portugal should be in the hands of your Portuguese. God Will look after you Portugal."

The heart of the Portuguese world is a little broken. If God's favor is useful, they won't be looking for allies everywhere!

"We have heard that England has retained many elite officers and soldiers after the Civil War, and has not disbanded them, forming a Royal Army of more than ten regiments. We implore England to send two regiments of cavalry and two regiments of infantry to Lisbon Help us defend our homeland and provide us with fleet support when necessary," said the Portuguese envoy.

It seems that people from various kingdoms have set up a lot of eyes and ears in the city of London!

Sophia exchanged glances with a group of cabinet ministers. England is now in a state of waste, and it really doesn't have the energy to participate in the European war.They also wanted to find a vague excuse to fool the Portuguese, but the other party had better eyes and ears and already knew the fact that England had begun to set up a standing army.

"Although the Royal Army is loyal to me, I need to discuss with the cabinet after deciding to send troops, and then submit to Congress for approval before launching a war. We will carefully consider the interests of the people of England." Sophia's words are still full of It means to shirk.

Long before meeting the Portuguese diplomatic envoys, she had made sure with several cabinet ministers that she should focus on domestic construction rather than foreign wars.

"Our King Joao IV has a newborn daughter, Princess Catherine, who is willing to marry Your Majesty the Queen, your son, the Prince of Wales, and become a country of marriage. We can use some overseas colonies as a dowry." The Portuguese envoy proposed a marriage ask.

Sofia was somewhat uncomfortable when she heard that the Portuguese royal family planned to marry the English royal family. After all, she used to dislike this kind of political marriage, especially the hasty marriage of the little prince before his first birthday?
"Let's not talk about the marriage of the royal family, we only talk about aiding Lisbon, Portugal." Sofia declined the decision of the Portuguese royal family.

(End of this chapter)