golden scales

As Zhu Cihong knows, Portugal is now in a difficult situation of internal diplomacy.

In terms of national power, after the rule of Spain, the overseas territories suffered heavy losses, and both the nobles and the common people suffered terribly from the economic recession.The country that once became a world empire is now only a second-rate small country, which makes the Portuguese even more unwilling.

Diplomatically, they rebelled against the rule of the Spanish Habsburg family, hoping to join the anti-Habsburg camp, that is, the Protestant camp.However, the Protestant camp prefers Portugal as an enemy country, so it is natural to plunder it through war.

This dilemma will haunt Portugal until next year, [-], when the Peace of Westphalia is finally signed, establishing a new European order.

The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty could not keep up with the end of the Thirty Years War anyway, and the reason for throwing out this "good faith" invitation was purely to send the first comprehensive investigation mission as a matter of course to understand the trend in Europe.

Compared with the Netherlands, which is about to win but is about to turn against it, and Spain, which has no faith and blood feud, Portugal is Zhu Cihong's best choice.

Similarly, Portugal, which is now isolated and helpless, will never reject a friendly ally like the Ming Empire.At least the two countries can launch an offensive against the West and the Netherlands in Nanyang and regain the golden route to Japan.

The day after Lorensu accepted the banquet, he received the Ming Empire's mission agreement and a memorandum to jointly develop the Nanyang market.

The agreement has the effect of a treaty, and a breach of the agreement will face tension between the two countries. The Ming Empire may take back Macau at any time, and will no longer guarantee the safety of the lives and property of Macau residents.

The Memorandum of Understanding on the Development of the Nanyang Market is a redistribution plan for the East Indies.The Portuguese can open commercial offices within the Nanyang sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty, trade legally, pay commercial taxes, and be protected by the Ming Empire.

The former is a stick, the latter a carrot. This trick is old-fashioned, but it always works.

It is impossible for Lorenzo to bear the responsibility of betraying the Ming Empire.He also believed that all members of the Loyalty Council would not choose to stand against the Ming Empire.In particular, the Crown Prince of the Empire clearly expressed his goodwill. The Macau authorities only need to cooperate with the arrangement of ships and provide certain technical personnel, and do not need to invest too much manpower and financial resources.

"The Ming Empire is a civilized country that respects rules. It is different from those barbarians who can only talk with weapons. They value promises and credibility, and we can fully trust their commitment to the development of East India." Lorenzo wrote at the end of the letter Arrived, after reading it once, ask the servant to send it back to Macau as soon as possible.

Returning to Macau from Xiamen can take the sea route downwind, which can save nearly half of the time.After discussions between the members of the Macau Loyalty Council and the Jesuit priests, they decided to send a larger team to Xiamen.Among them are a large number of technical personnel needed by the crown prince. They will receive a high salary of 150 taels a year and a living allowance of 35 taels a month. They will go to Beijing, Shandong, Zhejiang and other places to exchange drawing and navigation skills.

The other part is Tang Ruowang's colleagues - Jesuit priests.They hope to obtain the right to preach in Daming.Of course, Zhu Cihong is full of vigilance against Catholicism, a religion that subverts the foundation of Ming Dynasty society, because not all the gentlemen who serve the religion are people with a clear mind like Wang Zheng, and some even accept the most extreme and ignorant contents of Catholicism.

But Zhu Cihong is a person with the art of speaking.On the grounds that missionaries must first transmit texts, they recruited several erudite and well-versed priests who are proficient in multiple languages, and set up Siyi halls in Zhangzhou, Fujian and Guangzhou, Guangdong, respectively, to translate European academic works and train translators.

With the efforts of the Portuguese, the number of Ming's first batch of envoys to Europe was determined to be 300.Zheng Zhilong set aside a western-style warship as the ship of the Ming Mission.The sailors were cross-staffed by Ming and Portuguese countries, aiming to train Ming sailors to master ocean-going navigation skills.

The mission will depart from Xiamen, Quanzhou, join the Portuguese fleet in Macau, and then pass through Melaka with the east wind and cross the Indian Ocean. After eight to nine months of sailing.Arrive in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

The 21 years of Chongzhen is destined to leave a strong mark in the history of the world.

……

"Today is the first day of the 21st year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty calendar, and it is also the second day they counted the arrival of spring. I arrived at Xiamen Port today, February [-]. I saw two old Portuguese lock boats. Ming The Chinese made no secret of their hostile attitude towards our company and did not allow any crew member to leave the ship until their so-called plague inspection was completed."

Kornrad sat in the cabin, looked out the window at the newly built port, dipped his ink, and continued to write: "The Chinese are obviously more friendly to the Portuguese. Their ships are unloading every day. Even so, they still have a deep draft. God knows How much cargo did they load. Xiamen port officials will arrange unloading tomorrow, but all commodities must be checked according to the list, and even open the box for inspection..."

"Mr. Solomonsong." The captain knocked on Cornrad Solomonsong's cabin door: "A Chinese official has asked to see you."

Cornrad nodded, checked his clothes, and walked out of the cabin.

With his rank and status as High Commissioner of Commerce, he qualifies as commander of a squadron.However, he was very self-aware of his tactical ability, so he only brought two sailing ships-the Luce Dunant and the Egret.Even so, in order to reduce the risk of the Ming Empire's treachery, Kornrad only took the Luce Dunan to Xiamen, and stopped the Egret on an offshore island for support.

"Nicolas, I didn't expect you to come in person." Kornrad walked to the deck and saw Zheng Zhilong, an old acquaintance standing on the pier.

Nicholas is Zheng Zhilong's Christian name.

Zheng Zhilong smiled at Kernrad, and replied in Dutch: "Is the trip going well?"

"It depends on the terms of trade that your country finally reached." Kornrad laughed: "Can I come down?"

Zheng Zhilong nodded.

The guards guarding the ships only let Kornrad through, but not even his servants were allowed to go ashore.

Kornrad looked at Nikolai, believing that this was not something he could decide, so he had no choice but to bury his displeasure in his heart.He walked towards Zheng Zhilong and said, "Is there a plague here? The investigation is very strict."

Zheng Zhilong didn't reply, but just asked his subordinates to hand over a letter of credence: "This is the latest "Complete Map of the World of Kunyu" issued by the cabinet of our country."

Kornrad took the map in doubt, and after opening it, he found that the map was a rare color printing, among which the territory of Ming Dynasty was printed in pale yellow on the upper right of the map.Other countries are colored in different shades to distinguish approximate boundaries.

"Thank you for the gift." Kornrad put away the map, and was about to take out the return gift he had prepared for Zheng Zhilong, but Zheng Zhilong raised his hand to stop him.

"Please take a closer look at the territory of Ming Dynasty." Zheng Zhilong reminded.

Kornrad unfolded the map again, and couldn't help but focus on the place he was in—Fujian. He soon discovered that Formosa was also dyed the same color as Daming: light yellow.

"What does that mean?" Kornrad fought back his anger.

"It means that the Dutch should withdraw from Zeelandia and Fort Antony, and return Taiwan to Ming officials." Zheng Zhilong said simply and clearly.

"It's impossible, sir." Kornrad said, "It's impossible for the governor-general to agree to such an excessive request."

"If you voluntarily leave, you can still obtain equal trading rights with the Portuguese." Zheng Zhilong raised his head slightly: "Otherwise, we may have to fight another battle to decide who obeys whom."

Kornrad felt a deep chill.In the Battle of Liuluowan in [-], it was the Ming fleet led by this man who defeated the Dutch fleet, making the "expedition to China" a joke.

Zheng Zhilong will not forget the confrontation in the sixth year of Chongzhen. Although the Dutch sailing ship showed accurate bombardment capabilities, he finally defeated the European fleet, which is known as the most powerful in the East Indian Ocean.Thinking about it now, it seems that there is still room for it, and it is entirely possible to fight again in front of the crown prince to add weight to himself.

"You're blackmailing, officer." Kornrad glared at Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong raised his hand and flicked him lightly: "Take him away."

The guards on the side stepped forward and grabbed Kornrad, almost kicking him up.

"United will not let you kidnap this!" Kornrad yelled.

"No, I just invite you to be a guest." Zheng Zhilong squeezed out a smile.

Kornrad did not put up unnecessary resistance. He hoped that someone on the ship would send a boat back to Batavia to report after seeing him being taken away.However, reason told him that the Chinese would certainly not let any Dutch ship leave the port.What worries him even more is that if it turns out that the Ming army's attack on Formosa that Offwart is worried about is not wrong, then General Lane will face charges of dereliction of duty.

The dream of becoming a local governor, or even the governor, naturally became nonsense.

——If the Formosa war can be avoided, there may be room for maneuver.

After Kornrad was placed under house arrest, he thought hard, hoping to find a way out of a desperate situation.

……

"There is no possibility of peace between us and the Netherlands." Zhu Cihuang never thought of forcing the Dutch to submit through negotiation and coercion: "Even if they are willing to give up Taiwan, they cannot give up Japan. Even if they give up the east of Batavia It is impossible to give up Batavia for all routes. However, Ming’s navy must occupy Luzon, Java, and finally control Melaka. This is an unshakable national policy.”

Looking at the area marked on the map, Zheng Zhilong suddenly felt that if this area was all in Daming's territory, it would be a very good deal.

Ps:

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