I'm really not doing business

Chapter 406 Give Taixi a little Ming shock

Now, as long as Xu Fan nods, he can become the king of Portugal, what he wishes for will come true, and he can get a decent status, so that his children can return to the Ming Dynasty openly.

The parchment Sauron brought was written in Felipe's handwriting, which was a promise.

Felipe had met Xu Fan and was impressed by him. As long as his envoy Solon could complete the negotiations, Felipe II did not intend to break the agreement and would really ask the pope for canonization, and all dioceses would receive this appointment. .

The King of Portugal is at hand.

It seems beautiful, but it is not.

"The king rewarded by your monarch is not a king." Xu Fan still chose to refuse. Although he had it at his fingertips, Xu Fan knew that once he agreed, he would only get further and further away from his goal.

Xu Fan is a Ming Dynasty man from the East. He has no foundation in Thailand and the West. Even if he is canonized, it is just an empty show. The Portuguese nobles, because of the emerging bourgeoisie and even the common people who are making money in the sea, will Consider him Xu Fan as an enemy because he is Felipe's tool for cruel rule.

After Antonio was dealt with and the Portuguese could no longer stand the cruelty, Felipe II could use Xu Fan's head to quell public anger.

No one will listen to Xu Fan, he just has a name. This road looks like flowers, but in fact it is full of thorns.

"Sure enough, a wise man is a very knowledgeable person. We in Thailand have a proverb: It is better to believe that my wife loves me than to believe in the king's promise. Guests from the East may have difficulty understanding this sentence. After all, in Thailand, love is just a beautiful thing. Legend." Sauron was very helpless. It was not easy to deal with smart people.

Sauron thought for a while and said: "Wise man, these two pieces of parchment are just a good start, aren't they? With your wisdom, during this period of serving the king, you can completely obtain the wealth and power that makes people surrender. As wise as you are, there is no need to worry about the future.”

It is an extremely low-level provoking method, but it is very useful for smart people. Smart people are often very conceited and cannot tolerate others questioning their decisions.

Xu Fan shook his head again and said: "You are right, but I have never underestimated anyone. Foolish people can make the right decision after repeated thinking. I always firmly believe that when everything about me comes from him, then I will I have to give everything I have to him."

"Thank you for your kind invitation."

"This is really regrettable." Sauron stood up. Felipe II was full of sincerity. As a king, as the king of an empire where the sun never sets, Felipe II would usually not break an appointment or marry. Opening up frontiers will inevitably lead to an insufficient foundation for rule. It is not a loss for Felipe to use a fiefdom with a general will to resist to win over a minister and make friends with the East.

"Oh, by the way, my dear friend, a distinguished guest from afar, you may not know our captain well enough. When Antonio was kicked out of the monastery by the Pure, he had nothing. It was my king who trained him, and everything he had came from For my king, and then use all this to make an enemy of my king, I just remind the distinguished guest to be careful about him, especially after he gets what he wants." Sauron walked to the door and said with a rather The emotional tone tells the story of the past.

Sauron rubbed his brows and said with a rather sentimental look: "He is now lying at the feet of the Emperor of the East, begging like a dog. At the beginning, Captain Antonio also begged my king like this."

This is a very simple divorce plan. Although it is simple, it really works. Solon is Felipe's secretary. He is very talented. He knows how to deal with smart people. That is, don't try to deceive wise people. Everything Solon said It's true, but it's very effective.

Antonio is not a person who repays his kindness. He has always been a gambler who uses small things to make big gains.

"Your Majesty's loan is only for interest." Xu Fan sent Suolun away.

"My king told me that the door of the summer palace is always open for distinguished guests. I left an address. If the distinguished guest changes his mind, he can come here and inform my king, and my king will send an invincible fleet to pick you up. Compared with In a territory that cannot produce stable output, the experience from the East is even more precious." When Sauron left, he left a note with an address on it. Sauron gave Xu Fan more choices, and in the same way, gave each other more Opportunity.

Xu Fan said thoughtfully: "No matter how you look at it, helping Felipe II is a better choice. Felipe II and his staff have shown the composure to achieve great things. Antonio can only yell. , Da Zhuang, what do you think?"

The purpose of Sauron's visit was successful. He never thought that the negotiation could be completed in one go. He just came to drive a wedge between Xu Fan and Antonio. As long as the two could not work together and there was a gap in their hearts, Sauron would have succeeded.

If it doesn't work once, do it twice, if it doesn't work twice, do it ten times. If the hoe dances well, the wall will surely fall.

"Those who are not from my race must have different hearts." Chen Dazhuang didn't understand these twists and turns. In his opinion, Sauron was just a relatively polite guest.

Xu Fan packed his bags. He actually had an insight into Antonio's choice.

In the early morning of the next day, Marcus came to the House of Wise Men and informed Antonio that he had asked Xu Fan to serve as a lobbyist and go to France and England. This journey lasted more than three months. Antonio hoped for a good result.

Xu Fan told Marcus about Sauron's visit. If Sauron can appear in the House of Wise Men, the assassin can also appear here. In this era of slow transmission of information, it is obvious that Sauron can find it here. There is a traitor among Antonio's men.

Xu Fan doesn't like the City of Freedom. Taixi calls this place Cape Verde. It consists of fifteen islands in total. It is the only place that Taixi must pass when going to sea. It is a transportation hub. All ships heading to the New World, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia must Passing here is the most important overseas port in the entire West of Thailand. It is an archipelago mainly focused on trading. The culture here is destined to be money-oriented.

As long as you have money, you can get everything you want in the Free City. The supremacy of money has led to a place where there are no rules or morality at all.

Here are the largest number of pirates in the world, and these pirates are usually merchants from various countries. There are many flags on their ships, such as pirate skull and crossbones flags, red crosses, clan emblems, crescents, etc. The city is full of garbage. The city hall paid no attention to this, because there was no farming here, so human and animal excrement could be seen everywhere in the city, and the whole air was filled with the smell of fermented excrement and poor quality perfume.

There are prostitutes from all over the world with different skin colors gathered here. You can see them everywhere within two steps. In addition to prostitutes, there are also some Thai and Western ladies who come here to hunt. Those black ones are their favorite. Killings can happen at any time, and the cause is not even silver coins. , just because of a verbal dispute.

Xu Fan dislikes this place very much, because Xu Fan is afraid, and he occasionally worries that his hometown, Songjiang Mansion, will become like this.

With the continuous advancement of sea opening, Songjiang Prefecture is developing at a rapid pace. With nine provinces as the main thoroughfare and the distribution of department stores all over the world, Songjiang Prefecture is destined to become the richest place. Money, the whisper of the devil, will tempt everyone to become a slave to money.

Xu Fan didn't want to see Songjiang Mansion slipping towards the abyss.

Xu Fan set off, with Antonio's expectations, his own entourage, Marcus, and 3,000 sailors on five five-masted transoceanic ships, headed for Taisi, their first The station is none other than Lisbon.

At this time, Lisbon was already in chaos. The sudden death of the Pure One caught everyone off guard. At this time, Portugal was jointly managed by five people. Before the new king was born, these five people jointly performed the responsibilities of the king temporarily.

Xu Fan's first stop was to announce that Antonio would inherit the throne as the heir.

The five members of the town hall are all nobles, and they all support Felipe II to obtain the throne, such as the Duke of Braganza, the Farnese family, etc. The Farnese have great influence in Portugal, such as the Archbishop It was Ranuccio Farnese, and Ranuccio's father was a fervent admirer of Felipe II. Ranuccio's brother joined the army in the Armada.

When Xu Fan and the others arrived in Lisbon, no one came to greet them. What was more interesting was that no one came to stop them.

Xu Fan arrived at the King of Portugal's Sintra Palace with about 300 people. The body of Enrique I had begun to stink, but no one cared about it.

The architectural style is white walls and red roofs. The style is a fusion of Gothic and Moorish. The two unique conical chimneys are particularly eye-catching and stand tall like ox horns, so this place is also called the Ox Horn Palace.

The palace was in a mess. After Enrique died and the center of power shifted to the Five, the maids in the palace took away everything they could in the palace, including the porcelain and furniture in the Chinese Hall. There were even There were many corpses, apparently from a conflict over property.

The palace is in a mess, just like this country.

After more than 300 people cleaned up the inside and outside of the palace, they buried Enrique I, and then summoned some officials to announce Antonio's succession to the throne.

"Interesting, what do these five people mean?" Xu Fan sat in the Swan Hall of the palace, curiously looking at the swans of different shapes on the dome, and asked Marcus for his opinion.

The five people in the city hall neither supported Antonio's return to inherit the throne nor refused to stop them. They just watched them come to the palace to clean up the mess.

"I thought there would be a bloody battle, but it didn't seem to happen. I don't know what they wanted to do." Marcus looked confused. He didn't expect this to happen at all.

"They don't care who becomes the king, as long as their status is guaranteed." Xu Fan said with a strange expression: "If Felipe II becomes the king, and their interests cannot be damaged, then who will satisfy Felipe?" What about the interests of the second generation?”

The answer is obvious, civilians.

The lower class people firmly advocate the maintenance of the country's complete independence, not because they like Antonio much, but to fight for their own interests. After being annexed by Felipe II, it is already extremely difficult to support meat eaters, and adding an apex predator, The burden on civilians will only become heavier.

"The situation is much better than I expected." Xu Fan looked at Marcus and said with a smile: "Pack up your things, we are going to France."

"Advisor, are you just going to set off like this? You and His Highness did not discuss what conditions you would give to France and England in exchange for their support. When you were in Free City, I thought you wanted to see the situation in Lisbon before making any decisions. Decision, then what price do we have to pay?" Marcus did not choose to agree, but asked about the price.

Without gratuitous support, there is no difference between France and England. Without enough benefits, they will definitely not provide substantial help.

Xu Fan asked in surprise: "I never planned to pay these kings any benefits, because I never asked them for any substantial help. Could it be that if we need it, will they provide us with help? No, Antonio Are you prepared to pay the price for this?"

"Naturally." Marcus's face immediately turned red. He was a little ashamed, because Antonio promised many conditions.

Xu Fan looked at the document in his hand and his face turned dark. Felipe II said that Antonio had no wisdom. This evaluation was very pertinent.

Antonio promised: The Portuguese royal family will marry members of the Bourbon family, so that Portugal will officially join the Bourbon family group and become enemies of the Habsburg family headed by Felipe II (from a strength perspective);

"I can understand that this is a cultural difference. I don't agree with what you may value. Can this also be one of the conditions?" Xu Fan was a little confused about this. The feudal system of the Ming Dynasty and the feudal system of Western Europe are completely different. The difference is that the recognition of blood here far exceeds that of the Ming Dynasty. The Habsburg family is a huge force in the West, including the Holy Roman Emperor, the Archduke of Austria, the King of Hungary, the King of Bohemia, the King of Spain, etc.

The Bourbon family is also a large family in Thailand, and has successively ruled France, Naples, Sicily, Luxembourg, the Italian Principality, etc. The Bourbon family originated from the Bourbon region of France.

Marcus thought for a moment and said, "Yes, as long as you marry a woman from the Bourbon family, your children will have inheritance rights."

"I kind of understand, are you going to marry me?" Xu Fan finally understood this condition. This is a cultural difference. Don't blame Xu Fan. The inheritance law of the Ming Dynasty is completely different from that of Taixi. The inheritance law of the Ming Dynasty mainly depends on the eldest son, and If the legitimate son is long, it is naturally very good. If there is an eldest son, there will usually be no legitimate son to prevent things that violate the ancestral laws from happening.

The inheritance in Taixi is quite chaotic. Xu Fan has not yet figured it out. The blood relationship between the King, Grand Duke and Marquis of Taixi is much more complicated than the official positions in the two Song Dynasties. The inheritance in Taixi is very messy. For example, illegitimate children can After inheriting the family property, Antonio is an illegitimate child.

"Well, it probably means something similar." Marcus nodded. He was somewhat similar to Ming Dynasty's wife, but not exactly the same. It was not impossible for Xu Fan to insist on understanding it this way.

In the Ming Dynasty, in the early Wanli period, the social status of a son-in-law was the same as that of a criminal, and they both had a low status.

"Portugal and England signed a permanent alliance agreement two hundred years ago. In order for England to fulfill this alliance agreement, Antonio can agree to transfer twelve commercial ports and fortresses including Lisbon, Caminha, Porto, etc. Unconditionally transfer it to the Queen of England, and allow them to station fleets in these places?" Xu Fan looked at the decree signed by Antonio in front of him in disbelief, and looked at Marcus blankly.

Marcus lowered his head in shame.

Xu Fan pointed to one of them and said in surprise: "In order to gain support from the Holy See, Antonio promised to allow the archbishop to interfere in state affairs, fully respect the archbishop's opinions, allow the establishment of tribunals, and support the effectiveness of religious law in the diocese. Sex, in the central square of Lisbon, a stake should be set up to confirm the authority of the Holy See?!"

"It even has to cede three colonies in the New World, including Brazil, to England, and recognize the ownership rights of some of the colonies occupied by England and the Netherlands."

Xu Fan holding his forehead, in his opinion, is so absurd, that is, it happened in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. This is equivalent to erecting a statue of Sakyamuni in the Temple of Heaven and the Altar of Earth in the Ming Dynasty, where heaven and earth are worshiped, and then If the Ming Emperor was willing to burn all those who violated the rules and precepts to death in front of the Buddha, would the Buddhists dare to agree? If you dare to agree today, you will have to destroy the Buddha tomorrow.

I ceded Luzon, Ryukyu, and Nagasaki to the Japanese pirates. If the Japanese pirates dared to ask for it, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty would probably say this. I have long known the ambition of the thieves. Today, destroy the Japanese!

Portugal is indeed not the Ming Dynasty, but Xu Fan, as an envoy to the Han Dynasty, felt embarrassed even reading about such a treaty that was so humiliating and humiliating to the country.

Marcus often travels to and from the Ming Dynasty, and he has also read the travel notes written by Legas. He whispered: "That's why Your Highness and I feel that the Ming Dynasty is a civilized country, and the glazed pagoda of the Dabaoen Temple built in Nanjing is the civilized country. Tower, so His Highness begged to be canonized by His Majesty."

"Counsellor, is there a possibility that all of us, Tessie, are like this?"

"I think it's dirty even if you use it to wipe your butt! It's simply unreasonable! Just ask Felipe II to be the king!" Xu Fan returned the document signed by Antonio to Marcus.

Xu Fan looked at Marcus and said very solemnly: "Don't let others know about his things. Since Antonio trusts me and appoints me as an envoy to visit, then do as I say, Marcus, Tessie's Sword Master, Your Majesty once told the courtiers, today, I tell you, dignity cannot be obtained by kneeling on the ground, dignity only lies on the edge of the sword!"

"Five five-masted transoceanic ships, all set sail for France! Find the five most important ports. If the King of France does not agree to support the new king's ascension to the throne! Block them at their door and destroy all their ships that dare to go to sea! Kill them Until supported.”

Marcus was stunned for a moment and asked blankly: "Is this really what you want?"

"Do you have a better way?" Xu Fan asked.

"It seems not." Marcus shook his head.

Xu Fan took a five-masted transoceanic ship from the Ming Dynasty and went to France in great glory. In just one month, French King Henry III signed the "Franco-Portuguese Contract", recognizing Antonio's ascension to the Portuguese throne, and sincerely Hope Xu Fan withdraws the blockade.

Henry III was very absurd. He ignored state affairs and dated his mistresses every day. During Xu Fan's peace talks and blockade, most of the time he communicated with the Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici. As the third French The king's mother, the slightly obese Catherine, knew very well that France was falling into internal and external troubles. Religious wars, an empty treasury, and a huge war deficit all made France in danger.

Therefore, after a simple negotiation, Henry III's male favorite handed Xu Fan the French-Portuguese contract, a contract recognizing and supporting Antonio's ascension to the throne.

Yes, the absurdity of Henry III was not only that he liked mistresses, but also liked male favors. In the palace, Xu Fan saw many gorgeous male favors and controlled great power.

France is in danger, this was Xu Fan's only feeling when he left France.

After three days of sailing, Xu Fan took five five-masted ships, which were like giant ocean beasts. Without any official documents, he broke into the wide Thames River and arbitrarily and unreasonably moved the coal ships. Squeezed to both sides and going upstream, England is easier to deal with than France, because as long as the Thames Estuary is blocked, the entire England is blocked.

Xu Fan's presumption did not arouse strong resistance. England, which could not even build a three-masted plywood ship, was really unable to deal with such a behemoth as a five-masted ocean crossing ship.

At this time, the whole of England had only ninety-three firearms that could be called cannons, less than 5108 matchlocks, and less than kilograms of gunpowder. The firepower of just three five-masted transoceanic ships was completely exceeded. England's total.

Therefore, the Queen of England did not hesitate and chose to warmly welcome Xu Fan, who was not particularly bellicose. After a friendly exchange with Elizabeth I, England recognized and supported Antonio's accession to the throne, and the succession was in line with Duchess Catarina. After announcing his withdrawal from the succession race, Antonio was the first in line.

Elizabeth I euphemistically expressed her hope to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty. The goods from the Ming Dynasty were also urgently needed by England. Even though England and the Ming Dynasty did not have trade routes at this time, Elizabeth I looked at the five-masted ocean-going ships and believed that the Ming Dynasty could definitely do it. Conquer the oceans and storms and come to Taisi.

Xu Fan readily agreed and asked the envoy to follow him to the Free City, waiting for the caravan to leave for Daming.

In April of the eighth year of Wanli, Antonio completed his mission and returned to Lisbon. Marcus took two five-masted ocean ships to the Free City to pick up the King of Portugal back to Lisbon, while Xu Fan stayed in Lisbon to serve as Final preparations for Antonio's return.

Catarina and Ranuccio Farnese, the two most important people in the five-member coalition who acted as kings, came to the Palace of the Oxhorn.

"Look what you have done? Oh, may God forgive your sins. You are so arrogant and rude that we have offended France and England at the same time." Ranuccio rushed into the palace angrily and said, Seeing Xu Fan, he started to accuse loudly. When Chen Dazhuang slowly drew out his weapon, Ranuccio's attitude immediately improved a lot. At least he no longer dared to point at Xu Fan and his attitude became gentle.

Ranuccio had no doubt that he continued to point at Xu Fan. This sturdy guard would chop off his palm with one knife.

When Xu Fan saw this scene, he felt a little amused. He looked at Archbishop Ranuccio, spread his hands and said, "That's what I did. Neither the King of France nor the King of England expressed excessive anger. On the contrary, they were very polite. , just like you now."

Ranuccio was afraid of the knife in Chen Dazhuang's hand, just like the king of France and the king of England were afraid of the five-masted ocean ship.

It is true that Antonio was weak compared to Felipe II, but with the investment of the Ming Emperor, Antonio was already very powerful.

"Damn it! I swear, if this is not the palace, I will definitely use my sword to pierce your heart! Purify this dirty world!" Ranuccio's tone became calmer, but his words were not at all You're welcome, Ranuccio was sure, this honest guard couldn't understand Latin.

In the West, except for the nobles who had big travel needs and needed to learn Latin, most of them were illiterate, especially these warriors, who used the common language of various places.

Under normal circumstances, a big shot like Xu Fan would not translate the words he was scolding to the guards, as this would be detrimental to his face.

Chen Dazhuang's Latin literature is not good, but when he understands the words "pierce your heart", he knows that this guy who stinks all over is not holding back anything good!

"Apologise, or die." Chen Dazhuang pulled out the knife and pointed it at Ranuccio.

"Oh my god! You actually know Latin?" Ranuccio said dully.

"Forget it, let's throw this rude guy out. In the future, our conference hall must have a correction officer, otherwise the conference hall will be as noisy as the wet market." Xu Fan gave instructions and signaled to Chen Dazhuang Send this impolite archbishop out of the palace.

Two coastal defense patrols lifted Ranuccio up and threw him outside regardless of how he struggled.

"Antonio's advisor, this is the archbishop. Throwing him out like this will probably cause the dissatisfaction of the Holy See." Duchess Catarina reminded Xu Fan that this is Thailand. Portugal and Spain are both Catholic countries and dioceses. Being so rude to the Archbishop might lead to some bad consequences.

Xu Fan shook his head and said: "You should call His Highness the King instead of calling him by name directly. I will only warn you this time. What I have to remind you is that His Highness owns seventeen five-masted ocean-going ships, and our fleet has six hundred Indeed, this firepower may not be a match for Felipe II, but it is more than enough to deal with you."

"Compared to throwing the Archbishop out of the castle, what I will do next will be even more extreme."

The Duchess was choked. The five people assumed the royal power and all supported Felipe II to win the throne. The reason why they did not stop Xu Fan and others was not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't dare. All kinds of news about the fight for the Strait of Gibraltar had already been sent back. In Lisbon, Antonio is by no means Felipe's opponent, but he is not something they can fight against either.

It can only be said that Antonio is indeed a lucky man. He received canonization and investment from Ming Dynasty.

"Then, distinguished advisor to the king, what are you going to do next?" The duchess was a little curious as to what this domineering orientalist would do.

Xu Fan slammed the table, stood up suddenly, and said loudly: "This dirty, smelly Lisbon should be completely changed! As the capital of a country, it is so smelly, don't you feel ashamed? ?!"

"Do you want to use such a dirty royal city to welcome his king?!"

　Note 1: The number of firearms in England mentioned in this article is the number obtained by counting the number of firearms after King Charles I of England was defeated by Scotland in 1637. Note 2: Although Felipe II had a lot of troubles, he was still the undisputed overlord in Europe at that time. Felipe II lost many times, but his opponents could only lose once. Note 3: At this time in France, France was very weak, with a dim-witted monarch, nobles with their own thoughts, and the whole country was moved by people's thoughts. In 1589, the absurd Henry III was assassinated, the French Valois dynasty perished, and the French Bourbon dynasty Establish. Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

　　

　

(End of this chapter)