Jingming

Chapter 422 Loyal Minister Alfonso of the Two Countries

Aveiro, a minister of the King of Portugal who arrived at the port, met Alfonso in the lobby of a hotel where merchants liked to stay when trading.

There were two generals from the expedition fleet in the room, but they were not the senior generals sent.

In addition, there were three big businessmen who went to sea with them.

Aveiro has seen all these people.When the expeditionary fleet set off, he accompanied John III to see him off in person.

Among this group of people, Alfonso was the only one he had never seen, because Alfonso had been away for too many years.

"Diego! You are all trusted friends of His Majesty the King, and have been allied with the royal family for many years. Your betrayal makes His Majesty the King very sad!"

As soon as Aveiro arrived, he said to one of the three big businessmen.

"Oh, my God." The man named Diego's eyes showed impatience, "In the Kingdom of Portugal, in the whole of Europe, when did the masters of the kingdom regard us merchants as true friends? We are only crossing dangerous land. and the sea, bringing all kinds of exquisite goods to the royal family, paying a lot of taxes, but still no territory, no title. The king's ally? Please don't make me laugh, Baron Aveiro. You are so trusted that you have yourself Territory? Oh, I remembered, the baron has no territory and cannot inherit it!"

Those words made Aveiro's face turn green and red.

"Everything is changing, isn't it? At least now, there is a parliament, the nobles' power is being lifted bit by bit, and their castles are also..."

"Stop talking nonsense." Alfonso interrupted lazily, "No one here doesn't know anything about Portugal. Does João send you here to persuade us to repent with your mouth? I, the noble Nan'ao of the Ming Empire Count, I came back to my hometown to bring a brighter path to Portugal. Everyone here has seen the wider world and knows how backward and fragile the current Portuguese Kingdom is."

During the long Middle Ages, all European kingdoms followed a more primitive and pure feudal fief system.

Alfonso, who once held the title of Viscount, knew this very well.

Dukes, marquises, uncles, and sons could own territories, have their own armies, and be the kings of their territories.The so-called kingdom only has the support and support of many princes, princes, uncles, and sons, and has been recognized by the Holy See and other kingdoms.The king of the kingdom himself may have been just an earl.Other feudal lords, who were loyal to the king, received special privileges.

Today, changes are indeed happening in Europe, such as Henry VII of England and his son, who are disarming the nobles and strengthening the power of the king.In exchange, of course, the nobles must be given other things, such as material enjoyment that is becoming more and more luxurious.

A real businessman?If they had held high status, there wouldn't have been as many struggles to overthrow or limit royal power later on.

Now Alfonso just talked about the "backwardness" of the Kingdom of Portugal casually and contemptuously, which made Aveiro blush.

"You may not know that Spain has brought back ship after ship of gold from the New World, and Portugal has given many people land in the redwood land of the New World. Since the year before last, nearly a hundred ships have set out to Over there, nearly [-] slaves were transported from the south of the Mediterranean." Aveiro argued, "The great Portugal is constantly opening up new colonies. As long as you are loyal to His Majesty the King, you will all have a bright future!"

"To be loyal, we are here to be loyal." Alfonso smiled, "So, what can His Majesty the King give us?"

Aveiro was about to speak when Alfonso interrupted again and reminded him: "This is my last repayment to my hometown. I hope His Majesty the King will consider it carefully. The route to the east is completely in our hands, noble and tolerant His Majesty the Ming Emperor gave me all the privileges of trading with the West. Malacca is now a government of the Ming Empire. As for the Indian colonies, dear Viscount Aveiro, you need to remind His Majesty the King that in fact, Goa has become independent. .”

"What?" Aveiro was shocked.

Alfonso laughed: "Portugal is just a small country and has no experience in ruling a huge territory. What's more, those colonies are so far away from Portugal? If His Majesty the King decides to rely on me to enjoy the benefits from the East or even get more, then Agree to my conditions. If not, then unfortunately, I believe we are waiting in Goa, Ottoman, Spanish... there will always be someone begging to cooperate with us."

Aveiro was speechless for a long time.

Although the Governor-General of India held a high position of power, he did have to hand over a portion of the colonial revenue to Portugal.What they got in exchange was the protection of the fleet in the hands of the king, and they would not become the target of a crusade.

But now, Portugal has extended its colonial tentacles to the New World.Mahogany, the pronunciation in Portuguese, which was later called Brazil.

As a small country, to maintain the stability of so many overseas colonies, Portugal is so short of people that it often recruits foreign sailors and mercenaries, and kidnaps a large number of slaves from Africa to work as laborers.

The cost of maintaining this system is very high for the royal family. It must not only meet the needs of other feudal nobles internally and gain their support, but also maintain suppression of overseas colonies and replace a governor every two or three years by dispatch.

John III actually had no choice.

Just like Goa, Portugal has cut down many of the giant trees used for shipbuilding over the years, and there are fewer and fewer of them.The construction of ships is increasingly dependent on Goa's shipyards.Logs have begun to rely on imports. Fortunately, large areas of virgin forest have been discovered in Brazil.

But if Goa becomes independent, what will happen to the Kingdom of Portugal in building warships and merchant ships in the future?
Now it has lost nearly half of its naval power, but the opponent wants too much.Aveiro was just a messenger. He first reconfirmed what Alfonso wanted.

"The surrender and compensation to the Ming Empire are the price for provoking the dignity of His Majesty the Ming Emperor. They are the exchange for allowing trade between Portugal and the Ming Empire. They cannot be less."

Alfonso emphasized, and then said the benefits: "The primitive New World does not have the exquisite items of the ancient and rich countries in the East, which are the favorite goods of the nobles in Europe. By doing this, goods from Europe can be sold in large quantities. It was sold throughout the Ming Dynasty, and we were able to traffic a steady stream of porcelain, silk, and tea from the Ming Dynasty. Believe me, the scale was more than ten times what it is now. If the Spaniards got so much gold, they would always exchange it for goods. "

"... Are there really so many goods?" Aveiro confirmed excitedly and looked for steps.

The man named Diego spoke: "Wait a minute, you can come to our ship to have a better look. Masterpieces from the East, the finest goods of the Ming Dynasty, are produced by various enterprises established by His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire and are supplied to the Ming Palace. Good stuff. Compared with these, the goods brought by private merchants who took the risk of smuggling in the past, which His Majesty the King regarded as treasures, are simply like inferior garbage."

Alfonso nodded too.

Porcelain, silk, tea, etc. from the East are very popular here.However, the Ming Dynasty had banned the sea for many years, and the Ming Dynasty goods that could reach Europe were indeed filled with a large number of inferior goods from private workshops.

Despite this, they still sell well in Europe.

Now that there are so many companies in Ming Dynasty supplying the highest quality goods, how much benefit is there?Diego and the others sided with Alfonso without hesitation, because he was the only one recognized by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and had the official title of nobility of the Ming Dynasty, with the title of count!
"As for us..." Alfonso pointed at everyone, "With the same feelings as Portuguese people, we hope that Portugal will get this precious opportunity to fully trade with the Ming Empire, instead of letting Spain annex Portugal while Portugal is weak. However, on behalf of His Majesty the Ming Emperor, Portugal is required to pay the price for invading the territory of the Ming Empire, and we find it difficult to believe that His Majesty the King trusts us."

"For the sake of our security, as well as to manage trade with the Ming Empire and help Portugal regain its strength as soon as possible, we hope that His Majesty the King will think carefully about changing the backward palace bureaucracy. I need the status of a Duke to obtain Goa That territory. In addition, I learned a more efficient system from the Ming Empire, and I suggested that His Majesty the King set up a State Council with me as the Prime Minister and Minister of State."

Alfonso waved his hand, and his secretary, his daughter who had stayed in Goa with Diego on the cruise, took out a book.

"After the navy of the Ming Empire recaptured Malacca, I asked Juan to persuade His Majesty the King and also sent Ming Pao. It seems that His Majesty the King did not understand how huge the Ming Empire was. His Majesty the Great Emperor could conquer an area larger than the entire Europe. A large empire is governed in an orderly manner, but what does it mean behind it? My opinions on how the Portuguese Empire should be reformed and what systems should be implemented were written down on the way back. Please consider it carefully, His Majesty the King."

Aveiro took the booklet in confusion and looked at Alfonso in astonishment.

He actually wants to carry out reforms in Portugal?Can the royal family and other nobles agree?What would the Holy See and other kingdoms think?
This was Alfonso's own ambition.

Zhu Houcong only suggested that he rely on the power he now has to establish a foothold in Portugal.

But Alfonso, who "returned to his country after studying in the Ming Dynasty", had indeed sincerely despised the systems implemented by these European kingdoms.

Feudal fiefdom... During those days at Huangming University, while drinking and bragging with Wen Zhengming and others, he had already learned that this was an Eastern practice more than 2000 years ago.

Speaking of which, at that time, the empire in the East did not control a large area, so there was feudalism.Since the Warring States Period, especially after the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the monarch has held great power and been assisted by hundreds of officials. How can there be many feudal territories left?
Although there were still fiefs and food towns in the Qin and Han Dynasties, counties and counties were established in parallel.What Henry VII is doing now has been done by the East for I don’t know how many years.

The East was already far ahead in expanding the power of the monarch and realizing direct rule over local areas.

Alfonso felt that if he had enough opportunities, he might not be able to control at least three or five kingdoms and become the most powerful person in Europe.

You know, he can still have a steady stream of financial support from trade with the Ming Dynasty.

And the Portuguese royal family?Why can't he marry another princess from the royal family and leave this inheritance to his son?

Here at the port, Alfonso confidently led Aveiro to confirm the loyalty and trust of the remaining officers of the expedition fleet to him.This is the loyalty after meeting the new Ming Dynasty Navy and confirming the benefits that Alfonso can bring to them.

The warships of the Ming Dynasty were bigger and more numerous, the cannons and muskets of the Ming Dynasty were already better than theirs, and the Ming Dynasty was also much vaster and richer than Portugal.

This force was not enough to completely overthrow the Portuguese royal family, but it was still a decisive force.

Aveiro looked silent.What happened in the far east that made them willing to support Alfonso at the risk of being driven out of their homeland and losing their loved ones?
But after seeing the cargo in Diego's merchant ship, Aveiro also figured something out.

As long as Alfonso is not determined to start a war with the royal family, what choice does His Majesty have?
"Twenty million Cruzado...how is this possible?" Aveiro gritted his teeth, "You know, all the debts of His Majesty the King are only 2000 million Cruzado now."

What he was talking about was the gold coins that Portugal minted itself after it became prosperous.

Today's gold coins throughout Europe are probably based on the Venetian Ducat.Cruzado, slightly heavier than Ducat.In terms of weight, ten Cruzado gold coins are roughly equivalent to one tael of gold in the Ming Dynasty.

A pound of gold in the Ming Dynasty is about 590 grams.But in the Ming Dynasty, one pound was 16 taels, so one tael of gold was about 37 grams.The Cruzado gold coin is about [-] grams.

In the Ming Dynasty, the exchange ratio of gold and silver was usually about one for five or one for six, which was called "five exchanges" and "six exchanges" among the people.The compensation Zhu Houcong demanded was 1000 million taels of silver. According to the "six payment", it was more than 160 million taels of gold.

Alfonso chipped in and asked for 2000 million Cruzado.

This is indeed a lot, and Joao cannot take it out.Didn’t you hear what Aveiro said?Joao is still in debt.

"Gold and silver are all fine, and they can be converted into goods needed by the Ming Dynasty." Alfonso smiled. "If it's not enough, you can also raise funds in the name of going to the East to buy goods, and you can pay on an annual basis. The Spaniards don't get Did you bring a lot of gold? The goods you brought this time can be sold at a high price. Of course, we brought the goods. We are helping His Majesty the King to first overcome the difficulties caused by being punished for invading the Ming Dynasty. This time we The profits can be deducted from future taxes."

Alfonso knew very well that he had to gain something and send it back to the Ming Dynasty, so that he could still get support from the Ming Dynasty in the future.

In a word, the compensation cannot be less, but Alfonso will do his best to help Joao find a way to compensate.

"Sending an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, submitting a letter of surrender, signing a peace and trade agreement, there was still enough time to raise compensation. During this period, Diego and the others continued to bring back goods from Malacca in exchange for the Spanish's continuous shipment from the New World. The gold and silver that comes back. In addition, if His Majesty the King chooses to believe me, then there will definitely be opposition from other nobles, and I can help His Majesty the King eradicate them and recover their property."

Alfonso said this again, and Aveiro looked at him as if he were a demon.

"His Majesty the King should come." Alfonso looked at him proudly, "Although the news I brought back made him painful and angry, it was the price of his previous arrogant desire to carve up the remaining undiscovered colonies in the world with Spain. There is a huge empire in the far east, but defeating the Persian and Indian fleets makes us all too proud. I first became a prisoner of the Ming Dynasty, then realized the power of the Ming Dynasty, and felt the tolerance of His Majesty the Emperor."

He performed an elegant etiquette: "Now, His Majesty the King should wake up and calm down, wake up from his dream. 2000 million Cruzado, believe me, this is only Daming's financial income for two or three months, let alone The annual trade amount of the Ming Dynasty. His Majesty the Emperor does not want much, but what I bring to His Majesty the King is the most advanced and efficient system, endless wealth, and the opportunity to become the king of the entire Europe!"

The decision needed to be made by Joao III himself. Alfonso clearly stated his needs and analyzed the pros and cons for Joao III.

As the first requirement for negotiations to truly begin, he asked for the entire port area as a temporary territory, blocking the port while other warships had no time to arrive.

You can enter and exit, but the trade and taxation of the port will be temporarily taken over by him.

After all, he had already expressed goodwill: the goods he brought back and the wealth gained after selling them could be lent to Joao III to repay the compensation to Daming.

That night in the Portuguese palace, João III needed to make a decision that would be insulting to his ancestors.

Alfonso only gave him one day to decide whether to negotiate and whether to hand over the port area to him as a temporary territory.

This was the first step that Alfonso believed Joao III needed to build trust in him.

The second step is that João III should go to the port area in person to "welcome and reward" the expedition soldiers and dispose of the "trophies" brought back this time.

João III has read the booklet Aveiro brought back twice.

He could not imagine a country where the lords and nobles only received salaries and had no fiefdoms, nor could he imagine a country where there was a powerful prime minister but supreme monarchy.

In his opinion, if this prime minister is established, he will first need to rely on Alfonso to suppress other lords in a short period of time, and he will also have to face the troubles caused by their marriage relationships with many royal families and lords.

This is impossible.

John III thought Alfonso was lying to him. How could the huge Eastern Empire be like this?

Unless he can really have an extremely powerful army and be absolutely loyal to him.

Now, the strongest military force in Lisbon is in the hands of Alfonso. Is Alfonso absolutely loyal to him?
This is impossible.

But if a decision is not made today, who knows what Alfonso will do?Portugal is about to lose its interests from the East forever, and will also face a new European situation because of its weakness.

John III closed his eyes for a while in despair, then opened them and spoke softly: "Where is my dear sister Maria?"

……

Externally, there is a version of the story.

Viscount Alfonso, who once set out for the East, experienced initial friction with the Ming Empire in the East. It took him ten years to finally gain the recognition and trust of the Ming Dynasty.

This was the inevitable friction that arose after Portugal expanded its sphere of influence at sea and touched the territory of the Eastern Empire.

Although the two sides were initially unhappy, they eventually improved their understanding. Viscount Alfonso, as Count of the Ming Dynasty, brought back even more exciting news to Europe: trade, larger-scale trade!

The brave and talented Alfonso was made a duke by John III and received Goa and other newly opened colonies in India as territories.

At the same time, in order to cope with the opportunities and challenges brought by this completely opened Eastern trade route, João III will also appoint Alfonso as Prime Minister and Minister of State to carry out reforms.

The first stage of reform is to establish the State Council.This is different from the current Parliament, which only serves as an advisory body to the king and is filled with nobles. The ministers of this State Council will take care of many administrative affairs, including civil affairs, finance, commerce, etc., in the Kingdom of Portugal, which has more and more colonies.

Since the Ming Empire currently only has trust in the heroic Duke Alfonso, trade with Europe is only conducted by Portuguese caravans in Malacca and Ming caravans.

Vast quantities of fine Oriental silks, porcelain, tea, and spices were there, but this required sufficient funds.

Taking the Daming Commodity Expo held in Lisbon as an opportunity, the Portuguese royal family will raise a special treasury bond fund to build a larger merchant fleet and purchase more goods from the East. The interest returns are very touching.

For this huge Ming Dynasty trade route development plan, Duke Alfonso also brought the Ming Dynasty's more advanced joint-stock company system and financial management methods. It was established by the Portuguese royal family and welcomed nobles and wealthy businessmen from all over Europe as shareholders.Duke Alfonso will serve as the president of this Bright Road company, with Diego as the general manager.

At the same time, Duke Alfonso also brought the goods needed by the Ming Emperor.

Including a stone that is said to be widely used in the magical alchemy of the East, a sacred tree seed and their products that the Eastern emperor has been looking for.

For the hundreds of millions of potential believers there, although the Eastern emperor did not want missionaries to disturb the order there, he welcomed Western scholars to bring European books and knowledge to communicate.

How to use future benefits to persuade the nobles in the Kingdom of Portugal and raise funds from some people was a joint effort between João III and Alfonso.There are naturally dissatisfied people, but their actions have just begun to brew.

At least for now, in the port area of ​​Lisbon, at the Ming Dynasty Commodity Expo, Duke Alfonso displayed the iron certificate he received for the title of Count of the Ming Dynasty and his Ming Dynasty official uniform made of silk and exquisite embroidery.

Fluent in oriental languages, novel and elegant oriental ritual movements, the prosperous and prosperous capital of the oriental empire with a population of more than one million, and Duke Alfonso's unique experience exudes unimaginable charm.

In his story, his wife had died of illness and his daughter was the concubine of the Ming Emperor, so he quickly won the hearts of many ladies and girls.

Of course, he and his wife, who once caused him a lot of trouble, went their separate ways from then on.

Speaking of which, Alfonso was very happy.Because the daughter is the emperor's woman, in the Ming Dynasty, even if his wife is still not reserved, no one dares to do anything to the mother of the emperor's woman.

She missed Portugal very much, but Alfonso was the only one who came back.

Wonderful!

There is even a noble Princess Maria who is only 13 years old waiting for her.

As long as he proves that he does not intend to threaten the status of John III, he has achieved what he said is the loyalty.

What is Alfonso anxious about?I have survived all these years in Ming Dynasty.

João III's half-brother, Louis, Duke of Beja, had already set off on a sea ship to the distant capital of the Ming Empire to formally establish diplomatic relations and sign a trade treaty with the Ming Empire.

The ship sailed on the west coast of Africa, and Louis felt very heavy.

The 2000 million Cruzado is a new yoke on his brother.

But if we don’t bear this yoke, the royal family’s debt of more than 150 million Cruzado and Portugal’s current weak situation will completely explode.

Is the empire in the East really as powerful as Alfonso said?
Is the Emperor of the East really as omniscient and heroic as he said, like a god?

(End of this chapter)