I'm really not doing business

Chapter 407: Love my home, clean it first

No matter from which angle you look at it, Felipe II is a better choice than Antonio. In terms of power, status, strength, wisdom, and even personal accomplishment, etc., in a comprehensive comparison, Felipe II is a complete victory. .

But Xu Fan still did not choose Felipe II, but chose Antonio, which made Felipe II sad. He was so serious, and Xu Fan made him lose so completely.

It's very simple. Antonio has the canonization of the Ming Emperor, but Felipe II does not. This is the fundamental reason.

An imperial edict of canonization, a crown of imperial robes, and a golden seal representing the king's title may not seem that important, but to Xu Fan, this was the basis for him to bring the new Ming Dynasty to the West.

What Xu Fan wants to welcome is never the king, but the power from the east, Wang Hua.

There are so many things and it’s very complicated to do.

The first thing Xu Fan did was to make Lisbon, a coastal city, clean and hygienic. Under the threat of force, the nobles in the city had to acquiesce to this action, and Xu Fan had no intention of using their people. , but spent 10,000 silver coins and hired a thousand homeless people in the city to clean up the feces.

Ten thousand Wanli silver coins still have enough purchasing power in the faraway West. These thousand homeless people were so grateful that they even washed the streets inside and outside with clean water and used a hard brush to clean away the old dirt. , cleared the blocked underground pipes.

The tramps were prepared, and they would not hesitate once Xu Fan, the Minister of State, ordered the killing of the new king.

Xu Fan was very satisfied and promised these thousand homeless people that if they collected the dung cans placed in the streets and alleys every day, they would be rewarded with ten silver coins every year, and all of the dung would be used by Xu Fan for composting and then for farming.

These thousand homeless people play more than that. Each person is responsible for a fixed street. If he sees an unfamiliar face, he will take a second look, and he will become Xu Fan's spy. Soon, in the city hall Under the call of the Communist Party of China, general cleaning began inside and outside Lisbon.

The campaign 'Love My Home, Clean First' has begun.

In less than half a month, more than 600,000 kilograms of garbage piled up on the outskirts of Lisbon. Scavengers appeared immediately, without Xu Fan even having to hire them. In the vast and sparsely populated West End, in prosperous Lisbon, There are still a large number of wandering people.

These scavengers classify the garbage and put the rotten ones into the septic tank. The recyclable ones are put in place according to the type. Some really useless things will also break the pavement. Regarding the collection, classification and arrangement of garbage, or in other words, , for urban management, Daming has its own mature experience.

As early as the Shang Dynasty, those who piled up rubbish in front of the door would have their hands chopped off; in the Zhou Dynasty, those who urinate in the open would have their tools confiscated, and there were special public toilets; the Qin law was even more stringent, and on the main roads of the city Those who litter will have their faces tattooed.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Pei Mingli who was good at dealing with biology. He collected discarded things from the world and accumulated them. With his fortune of tens of millions, he made a huge fortune by specializing in garbage recycling business. He was recommended as the censor of the palace. Official to Taichangqing.

In the Song Dynasty, with the increase in population, the emergence of large and super large cities, there were no streets and lanes, and the city was inaccessible. The "Song Xingtong" stipulated: Anyone who invades the streets and lanes will be punished with a staff of seventy.

The street department, which was specifically responsible for cleanliness and sanitation, appeared in the organizational structure of the yamen, and was responsible for road construction, greening, cleaning, and cleaning up illegal road occupations. In the Ming Dynasty, the profession of scavenger appeared.

The Ming Dynasty has rich experience in the management of large-scale cities. In the northern and southern capitals, the inner city and the outer city alone are home to more than one million people. Moreover, the population of Guocao City attached to the city is not included, and the entire Ming Dynasty has more than a hundred people. There are more than thirty-two cities in Wandingkou.

In Xu Fan's view, Lisbon, a small town in Zuoer, counts only the thieves and vagrants who are not registered in the city, and there are only 150,000 people. In the Ming Dynasty, this is the size of a county town in the Susong area. Xu Fan is the Ming Dynasty. Jinshi, he even supervised the construction of the royal palace and managed a small Lisbon, holding everything in his hands.

Soon, Lisbon underwent earth-shaking changes. Coupled with the warm spring and the blooming of flowers, this earth-gray city even had scenes of flowers, and then bathhouses were set up in the streets and alleys.

These bathhouses were originally churches.

Xu Fan is really persistent about bathing. He doesn't like Ranuccio, a missionary, because Ranuccio doesn't take baths.

The homeless people rushed into the church, smashed and looted it, took away their belongings, and forced the pastor here to leave. Then the city hall took over the churches and turned them into bathhouses.

Everyone is saying that the new Minister of State, Plenipotentiary Advisor, the despicable and insidious Eastern guest Xu Fan, commanded these tramps to rush into the church and snatch away all the wealth accumulated over thousands of years, because there are always some of these tramps. He didn't look like a homeless man, he was tall and strong, and his voice was loud.

But everyone can only say this, but there is no way to accuse. They really dare to be angry and dare not speak out. They can only bury their anger in their hearts, mainly because there is no evidence, and secondly because the palace guards are always carrying blunderbuss, pulling Swaggering through the city with artillery fire.

Tramps are scattered. It is easy to gather them together, but it is difficult to get them to do something. The well-trained pirates become the organizers, and these pirates are greedy for the wealth of these churches. After a long time, I would not let go of this good opportunity.

These pirates and tramps contributed the wealth they robbed to gambling houses and brothels. There is no doubt that Xu Fan spent half a month to snatch all these gambling houses and brothels into his own hands. , which is part of the military pay recovery program.

Antonio came to Lisbon in May of the eighth year of Wanli. The five-masted ocean ship stopped in the port, and Antonio fell into hesitation. One was the five chapters of gun uniforms conferred by the Ming Emperor, and the other was It is a coronation dress, from the Holy See.

After much hesitation, Antonio put on the Wu Zhang Gun uniform. As Marcus said, he had already made his choice. The hesitation at this moment was somewhat artificial. Once he lost Ming's investment, he would face the powerful Felipe. II, he has no chance of winning.

The King of Portugal finally returned to the King's territory. As soon as he got off the boat, Antonio almost didn't recognize it. Is this Lisbon? !

He actually didn't smell the familiar stench, but instead smelled the fragrance of flowers! Lisbon has a new look, and even the people of Lisbon have changed.

Clean and hygienic!

The citizens of Lisbon enthusiastically welcomed their new king. The enthronement ceremony had some regrets, that is, usually, the Holy See would send a cardinal to the palace to confer the crown and put the crown, symbolizing royal power, on the head of the new king. , and this time, the cart was pulled by Chen Dazhuang, and the crown symbolizing royal power was replaced by a crown, which was worn by Xu Fan for Antonio.

The common people in Lisbon don't know much about Xu Fan, and they don't know much about the Eastern world. In their view, Xu Fan, a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty, is equivalent to the bishop of Taixi. This understanding cannot be wrong, it is completely wrong. Horse's mouth.

Amid the sounds of horns, drums, musical instruments and carnival, the first decision the new king made was to expel Ranuccio Farnese, the archbishop of the Portuguese diocese. This decision made Xu Fan frown. It was obviously Antonio's own decision, and it was very sudden.

The expulsion of Ranuccio Farnese was Antonio's revenge. When he was the abbot of the monastery, he could occasionally discuss life with the nuns. It was this Ranuccio who encouraged the old king Enrique to drive him away. On the boundless sea, now that he has returned as the king, the first one to deal with is Ranuccio.

Xu Fan did not interrupt Antonio's revenge and presided over the grand ceremony until the end.

"This is a map of Portugal. Although it is very simple, it is completely useful now." Xu Fan stood in front of a simple map and said with a smile. He has said congratulations many times. Now that he has sat on the throne , there is no need to continue congratulations.

"Being on the throne is not the end, but the beginning of the war. Those neatly dressed and polite nobles are still waiting to see who will win in this battle for the throne. As long as their status and interests are guaranteed , it doesn’t matter who will be the king." Xu Fan pointed the long wooden pole in his hand at the Strait of Gibraltar and said: "The key point is here."

"Felipe's army is very powerful. The number of musketeers in the large square formation exceeds 75%, and it is equipped with chariots, shield soldiers, and spearmen for close combat. To deal with this kind of square formation, it is very difficult for the weak Portugal. It is too difficult to say, but fortunately, due to the mountains and other reasons, Felipe only has four attack routes on land, and all of them require long distances and laborious expeditions."

"So, sea route became Felipe's only choice."

Marcus admired Xu Fan's profound knowledge and rich management experience, but from a military perspective, he felt that what Xu Fan said was wrong. After thinking about it, he interrupted Xu Fan's words and said: "Attack from the land. It’s not impossible and we can’t stop it.”

Xu Fan said with a smile: "I'm not good at military affairs, but a land expedition requires countless manpower, material and financial resources, and the price is too high. Didn't I say it before? We always have only one goal, then It just makes Felipe feel like it’s not worth it.”

"If he attacks from land, we won't be able to resist it. We might as well just admit defeat and return to the sea to continue being pirates. This is a huge gamble."

He was willing to attack from land and pay such a high price, so why not choose to obey?

The cost of attacking from land is extremely high. In addition to the trouble of marching, towns and fortresses must be conquered along the way. In a country with a general sense of resistance, conquering from land is a protracted war, and it also has to face endless attacks. The rebels, this is why Portugal has not been annexed yet, and Felipe chose to marry and open up the border.

Felipe did not want to pay too heavy a price to gain governance.

In comparison, choosing the navy to go straight to Huanglong, attack Lisbon, and force Antonio to abdicate is undoubtedly a cheaper option.

Antonio looked at the map, thought for a moment, nodded and said: "It can't be stopped anyway, so just leave it undefended and use all its strength to defend against sea attacks. I very much agree with this direction."

Xu Fan pointed his long pole in the direction of the City of Liberty and said: "The City of Liberty also has ten five-masted transoceanic ships. Once Felipe II's invincible fleet passes through the Strait of Gibraltar, the fleet of the City of Liberty will not be the front fleet." Instead of coming to Lisbon for reinforcements, they entered the Mediterranean, destroyed coastal ports, and forced Felipe II’s navy to return to the Mediterranean.”

A replica of the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, if you attack the enemy, you must save it.

"Once Felipe II's navy returns to the Mediterranean, how will the Free City fleet retreat?" Marcus asked with a frown. This plan sounded fine, but there was a big problem. The Free City fleet did not exist at all. retreat.

Xu Fan exhaled and said: "They have completed the task, which means they have completed the mission."

"This..." Marcus understood. In fact, he was sacrificing this fleet. This Easterner was as cruel as ever. In doing so, he could destroy Spain's coastal ports to the greatest extent and make Felipe II pay a heavy price.

Marcus said doubtfully: "But after the Liberty City fleet was gloriously sacrificed, how to deal with Felipe II's next attack? With such a loss, Felipe II will definitely become angry and will definitely attack with all his strength."

Xu Fan very much recognized Marcus's concerns, and he replied calmly: "This year's caravans and envoys have set off for the Ming Dynasty, begging for the mercy of the Ming Emperor, granting more fleets, and reorganizing the Free City fleet, which can still form The power of holding the corner."

"If there is enough time, when Felipe II becomes angry and launches another attack, we can restore the scale and destructive power of the Free Fleet, and then His Highness can secure the throne. If it is not in time, then the bet is lost." , itself is a huge gamble, and nine times out of ten you lose.

Antonio finally approved Xu Fan's plan because he had no better way. Similarly, such an operation required smooth and fast information flow, and the ten three-masted hydrofoil sailing ships from Daming Dynasty became an indispensable tool to ensure information communication. Two sharp weapons, this is a war with asymmetrical strength. The chance of survival lies in the word intelligence.

Xu Fan soon discovered that Antonio was not a qualified king because he was very lazy. There were two reasons for this laziness. On the one hand, it was due to his character. The long sea voyage made him quite impatient with government affairs. I always feel that killing him is clean; the second reason is that Antonio is not good at government affairs. Those complicated and unclear government affairs made Antonio even more irritated, and in the end they were all delegated to the Minister of State.

Felipe II was a tyrant, but he was really very diligent. He wrote more than 4,000 letters to officials in various places a year. Antonio could only read them twice. Antonio was not very interested in bureaucratic construction.

In May of the eighth year of Wanli, the envoy from Spain arrived in Lisbon. The envoy was still the palace secretary and pharmacist Solon. Solon was surprised by the changes in Lisbon and recognized Xu Fan's abilities even more.

At the palace of Sintra, Sauron met Antonio, who had become king.

Sauron stood on the stall in the Swan Hall, looking around. Occasionally he would pick up a piece of porcelain and examine it carefully. He half-raised his head to look at Antonio and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, the captain is wearing gorgeous clothes." , seems to have become the noble King, but in my opinion, like a monkey in a street circus, I come here this time to convey his will on behalf of my king. My king does not recognize the legitimacy of your throne. Likewise, the Holy See expresses its dissatisfaction with Your Excellency’s expulsion of the Archbishop.”

"Oh, I know that you have the recognition and support of the King of France and the King of England, but my king does not care about their support."

Marcus drew his sword. Sauron insulted his king, and Marcus wanted to protect the king's face.

"Your Excellency Sword Master, please put away your sword. I am not your opponent. I am a priest. I don't have to accept your duel. Please be patient and listen to me explain my purpose." Sauron didn't care at all. He walked around the Swan Hall, saying as he walked: "If I want my king to recognize your throne, and if you want the Holy See to canonize you, it is actually very simple."

"My king and the Holy See, I hope that your Excellency can send a mission to Rome to explain the details of the expulsion to the Pope, and in the witness of the Lord, the verdict will be fair."

"As for this mission, we hope to be led by Xu Fan, your Minister of State and Plenipotentiary Advisor. I am not humiliating Your Excellency. Your group of pirates may cause even greater trouble when they arrive in Rome. I am considering it for Your Excellency."

"My king gave me a letter. This is a promise to you. As long as you send Xu Fan to Rome, after Xu Fan leaves Portugal, my king will immediately declare through the Holy See to renounce his right to inherit the throne of Portugal. Spain and the Holy See will recognize His Highness’s throne at the same time, and His Highness will be the king of Portugal worthy of the name.”

"Don't worry that the king's promise is invalid. The king's face is more valuable than the position of the King of Portugal. The things you cherish are just dispensable in the eyes of the king."

After saying this, Sauron sat down and looked at Antonio curiously, wondering how Antonio would choose.

Felipe II wrote a personal letter, which was guaranteed by the reputation of the King of Spain. As long as Antonio gave Xu Fan to Felipe II, the throne and recognition that he longed for would be within reach.

This is not deception.

Sauron still used the old-fashioned alienation strategy to alienate Antonio and Xu Fan. As long as he stated these conditions, the alienation plan was completely successful. Once the seeds of doubt were planted, they would inevitably bear fruit.

Even if Antonio chooses Xu Fan to stay in Lisbon, Antonio will blame Xu Fan for any setbacks in the future.

Felipe II didn't even need to use force to deal with Antonio. This was due to his strength.

"Xu Fan is so important, is it so important that the tyrant wants to exchange his inheritance rights?" Antonio frowned.

Sauron smiled, and there was a flash of disdain and narrowness in his eyes. Antonio, who had no wisdom, did not understand the value of Xu Fan at all. He was not alone. He was sent to Taixi by the Ming Dynasty. The value of Xu Fan , not only himself, but also the crystallization of wisdom that has been passed down for thousands of years.

Antonio never thought that he would not be able to cope with the disintegrated Portugal after leaving Xu Fan. From the fact that he expelled the archbishop just after he took the throne, it can be seen that he has neither the city nor the mind. This corrupt person Portugal, Antonio was simply incapable of ruling.

The death of Enrique the Pure was indeed committed by Felipe II, but without the cooperation of the Portuguese nobles, Felipe could not have done it. Corrupt Portugal was rotten to the core.

Sauron said helplessly: "This is a long story. Legas was sent to the Far East as a special envoy, but he broke his promise not to marry and serve God for the rest of his life, and married Anna in the Ming Dynasty. Later, , Anna returned to Tessie with her child, and my king naturally did not allow such blasphemers to return and burned them at the stake."

"From this mother and son, my king got a travel book, but without the Eastern interpretation, it is difficult to understand. The king is a stubborn person. Understanding the travel book is the king's insistence, so he is willing to exchange like this. After all, Legasi has almost become a minister of the Ming Emperor. Only by becoming a minister of the emperor can Xu Fan eliminate the anger and persistence in the emperor's heart."

Sauron's words may seem unreasonable, but they are actually very inadequate.

Just wanting to understand a travelogue, just to avenge the betrayal of Special Envoy Legaz, is like child's play, exchanging the right to inherit the throne of Portugal, this is really willful.

Antonio was not a wise man, so Sauron did not tell the truth.

The feudal system in the West, the feudal system in which my vassals are not my vassals, has come to an end. As the feudal king, Felipe II was very anxious, and the Ming Dynasty's regulations made Felipe The second generation was heartbroken. Similarly, although Spain is strong, it lacks cohesion and is like a piece of loose sand. Religion is one of the centripetal forces, and money is also a centripetal force. However, the interference of religion in state affairs has made King Felipe increasingly dissatisfied. Likewise, The role of money is also decreasing.

To be more clear, Felipe II's real intention was to learn from the Eastern experience and improve the construction of the Spanish dynasty. This was a more urgent matter than the annexation of Portugal.

"What decision will your Excellency make?" Sauron stood up, put on his round pointed hat, and then said with a smile: "I'm not in a hurry. I will stay in Lisbon for seven days. I hope you can figure it out in these seven days." , give me an answer."

"The king comes with full sincerity. If there is no need for war, it is the best result. My king does not like war."

Sauron left the Swan Hall, but did not leave the palace, but went to the China Hall. He wanted to see Xu Fan again.

"Dear distinguished guest from the East, I see you again. You have become the Minister of State of Portugal. I see the light of wisdom shining in you, illuminating the inside and outside of Lisbon. If I am lucky, I hope you can illuminate the whole of Spain. , those damn big rats that are longer than arms, and fleas that are bigger than fingers, I really have had enough!" With full enthusiasm, Soran took off his hat and greeted him as if he were seeing an old friend.

The changes in Lisbon made Sauron's breathing quicken. In this city, he actually smelled the fragrance of blooming flowers, and the clean and tidy streets gave him the illusion of traveling in the Kingdom of God on earth.

Xu Fan must be brought back to Spain.

Portugal is a mere place. Even if it gets the throne with force, it can only contribute 500,000 silver in tax revenue a year. It still needs to pay expensive costs for repairs. It is better to just take Xu Fan away.

Xu Fan smiled. This Sauron was so exaggerated every time we met. He shook his head and said, "I actually didn't do anything. If Sauron had come to Lisbon seven days ago, he would still have seen the streets full of big rats. In the past seven days, we have just cleaned up the sludge in the underground drainage and eliminated all the rats hiding underground."

Sauron looked embarrassed and said: "Dear distinguished guest from the East, I have an inappropriate request. Although it is very rude, I still hope to get your permission. I can see your official documents governing Lisbon. Take a look?"

"This is not an embarrassing request." Xu Fan thought it was a big deal and stammered for a long time. It was just a trivial matter. He handed a stack of compiled official documents to Sauron.

After Soran thanked him, he immediately began to read it carefully. He really read every one carefully and said in awe: "You are really a genius. You are so generous. I will definitely repay you."

Sauron told Xu Fan in detail what he had just done in the Swan Hall, and then explained: "Actually, I shouldn't have told you this. Your light makes me ashamed, even though my methods are very despicable. , but I have no regrets. As a minister of the king, I will definitely use all the means at my disposal to bring the distinguished guests back to the summer palace."

"My king needs your help and the wisdom from the east. After reading this, I am even more convinced of this fact."

How can such a plan to alienate someone be directly stated in front of the person being alienated? But Sauron did this because he knew that nothing could be hidden from the wise Xu Fan.

"Sauron, you are really insidious and cunning." After hearing Sauron's statement, Xu Fan was really filled with hatred! This guy's strategy isn't brilliant, but it works.

Soran said nonchalantly: "Thank you for your compliment. Antonio is not a smart person. In this huge gamble, he only needs to make one wrong choice and he will lose completely."

Xu Fan asked doubtfully: "My Majesty once defined classes, hereditary princes and nobles, elected civil and military officials, famous families that have lasted for thousands of years, rural gentry who are peaceful herdsmen, self-cultivated farmers who have enough food and clothing, and farmers who lack food and clothing. Long-term tenant farmers, homeless poor coolies, and lowly slaves who live in poverty."

"His Majesty said that what determines class is the amount of social resources at one's disposal."

"I came from the Ming Dynasty. After migrating, my ability to control social resources will inevitably decline. I really don't understand why your monarch is so determined to win."

Solon didn't know enough about this set of class theory. In fact, not only Solon didn't know enough about it, but even Xu Fan had a partial understanding of it. This is the masterpiece that Zhang Juzheng is writing since the discussion of public and private affairs, with the intention of explaining social common issues and trying to Find a solution.

Soren understood the question and said with a smile: "Your talent should not be buried in Lisbon, but should shine in the sky."

"Let's make a bet. If Antonio chooses to let me stay, how about Sauron not bothering with this anymore?" Xu Fan tentatively suggested that Sauron give up.

　Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

　　

　

(End of this chapter)