Smuggling Daming

The Portuguese sent envoys.When Zhou Zhong on the ship received the news, he was also very surprised. He thought that after he defeated the Portuguese, the other party would soon send people to discuss the issue of prisoners of war, but he didn't expect that he had been waiting for a year, and he didn't even have a little information. nor.

I heard from those Muslim businessmen in India that after the Portuguese lost most of their troops in Malacca, they immediately shrank their troops in the Indian Ocean, and they were no longer as arrogant as before. At first, Zhou Zhong thought that the Portuguese had given up on Alfonso. Prisoners of war, but I didn't expect that a year had passed, and the other side actually sent envoys, and they were in Malacca now. After Zhou Zhong agreed, they would come to discuss with Zhou Zhong the issue of prisoners of war and war compensation.

After receiving this news, Zhou Zhong stood on the deck and considered for a while, finally decided to agree to meet the Portuguese envoys. After all, he now also needs to know what kind of attitude the Portuguese have towards Daming after their defeat.In addition, with the end of the last war, there is no direct trade between Ming Dynasty and the Portuguese. The merchants of Ming Dynasty are worried about being retaliated by the Portuguese, so all the goods of Ming Dynasty need to be transshipped by Muslim merchants to India and then sold to the Portuguese. A lot of profits were made by Muslim businessmen in the middle, which was a bit of a disadvantage. In addition, there were other issues that needed to be resolved through negotiation.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong immediately sent someone to send a message to Malacca, asking them to send a boat to escort the Portuguese mission to Malacca. As for whether these missions will enter Beijing, it depends on the sincerity of the other party and Zhengde's mood.

In a house not far from the military camp at the port of Malacca, the Portuguese mission was arranged here.Since they came to Malacca, they have been subjected to more than a dozen waves of conflicts at different levels. After all, the Portuguese killed the natives of Malacca too hard last time. Almost every household died at the hands of the Portuguese, so these days there are often natives People ran to the place where the Portuguese lived to make trouble, and some even stabbed the Portuguese who went out. Thanks to the military camp next to the place where they lived, the natives did not dare to make too much trouble, otherwise these Portuguese envoys would have It was torn up by the local natives.

In the hall of the mission station.A Portuguese man with a big gray beard was sitting there, discussing matters with two people around him. He frowned and said, "Father Dias, do you think the young governor of Ming Dynasty will be so happy after seeing us?" , Will you agree to our request?"

The priest wearing a priest's robe sitting in front of the bearded Portuguese heard the other person's words, and immediately bowed his body and said, "Your Excellency, don't worry. I received a letter from Father John some time ago. In the letter In the previous article, he introduced the situation of Daming and how he met the Governor Zhou. In my opinion, the young Governor Zhou is a wise and very rational person. He certainly does not want to have a long war with us. .So as long as we express enough sincerity this time, and Ming’s goods also need to be shipped to Europe through us. So I believe that Governor Zhou will make the right choice.”

This priest named Dias is actually not a Portuguese, but an Italian. The reason why he came to Malacca with Portugal was mainly because he was invited by Father John to preach in Daming. He happened to meet on the way The Portuguese mission, so they went together.By the way, tell the other party something about Daming that I learned from Father John.

"Father Dias is right. In the past, there were merchants from Ming Dynasty who went directly to the west coast of India to trade with us. But now they are all gone. The goods of Ming Dynasty need to be transshipped by those greedy Muslim merchants, and the price has also increased several times. This kind of The situation is not normal, so I also believe that Daming also hopes that the relationship with us can return to the normal track!" At this time, a Portuguese officer in his 30s who was sitting on the other side also said.

The bearded Portuguese, known as the Governor, heard what Father Dias and his subordinates said, and finally nodded in relief: "I hope so, Alfonso is the person I value most. He lost the battle this time." I am also very saddened by the loss, but fortunately he is still alive, as long as we can save him, then we all still have the ability to start from scratch!"

This white-bearded Portuguese is not simple. He is the famous Vasco da Gama in the history of navigation in later generations. More than ten years ago, he led a fleet that was the first to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and open the The route from Europe to the Indian Ocean was established, and through war and other means, Portuguese trade points were opened up along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

It is also this series of deeds above Da Gama that made the Kingdom of Portugal and his private individuals earn huge wealth. In recognition of his achievements, the King of Portugal bestowed on him the title of "Admiral of the Indian Ocean", and he also used The wealth acquired by sea trade bought a large amount of land and became the real power figure in Portugal second only to the royal family. Alfonso, who was captured alive by Zhou Zhong last time, is actually Da Gama’s successor in India, and he led In the fleet, Da Gama also invested a lot of sponsorship, but unfortunately all of them were lost in the end because of defeat.

Originally, da Gama withdrew from the fleet after two voyages from Europe to India, bought a large tract of land in Lisbon and lived a life of a rich man. Only then did he go to India for the third time, and finally died there. Unfortunately, because of Alfonso's defeat this time, the Portuguese's strength in the Indian Ocean was greatly damaged. He had to come to India again to serve as the governor of India, and at the same time he was also responsible for going to Ming Dynasty, redeeming prisoners of war and resuming the deal with Ming Dynasty.

"Ferdinand, when we came here, we saw those warships captured by Da Ming. I heard that there are still our Portuguese prisoners of war on board. Da Ming wants them to teach the Ming army how to operate these warships. Is there any way for you to get them from those warships? They have been with Ming's army for so long, so they should know many things that we don't know." Da Gama said to the Portuguese officer again at this time, this officer was found in the Portuguese army after he came to India Talent, now he has promoted him to be his adjutant to help him deal with some very difficult matters.

"I'm afraid this is very difficult. I tried it last time, but General Qu of Daming strictly forbids our mission to approach those warships. As for the prisoners of war on it, they are also prohibited from contacting outsiders. Before the Ming Dynasty officials agree, it may be difficult for us to contact the captured soldiers." The officer named Ferdinand replied.

Ferdinand Magellan is the full name of this young officer. Yes, he is the Magellan who sailed around the world for the first time, but he is still serving in the Portuguese army, and he has been in the Indian Ocean before, and he personally participated in the There were many cases of suppression and massacre of the local natives. When Da Gama came to the Indian Ocean this time, he met Magellan by chance and admired his talent very much, so he promoted him to be his assistant.

Hearing Magellan's answer, Vasco da Gama couldn't help sighing. Originally, he was very optimistic about Alfonso, and even agreed with Alfonso's attack on Malacca, but he never expected that Daming would actually Intervening without warning is completely different from their previous investigation conclusions, so he still can't figure it out until now.

In addition, Alfonso's defeat also dealt a big blow to Da Gama's reputation. Many people have already questioned his previous Nanyang strategy, and it is precisely because of this huge pressure that they are also trying to cleanse their bodies. Shame, that's why da Gama agreed to serve as the governor of India, but when he arrived in India, he found out that Ming had completely controlled the Strait of Malacca, and the army's combat effectiveness was very strong, not inferior to their European army, so he had to give up Previously, he planned to use force to resolve the dispute with Daming, so he came to Daming himself to resolve the dispute with Daming through negotiation.

Soon Da Gama received the news that Zhou Zhong was willing to meet them, which made the entire Portuguese mission overjoyed. After packing up, Da Gama led the whole mission and finally left Malacca, which made the entire Portuguese mission leave Malacca. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, staying in a place full of hostility to them like Malacca is really not an easy task.

Da Gama brought a total of two warships this time, accompanied by more than 200 missionaries and soldiers. In order to protect Da Gama and others, Qu Lie, the guard of Malacca, sent four warships to escort them. There are also two Portuguese warships that were seized before, which made the people in Vasco da Gama's mission feel very uncomfortable, but they dared not say anything. After all, they are in a weak position now, and they dare not raise any excessive questions against Daming at all. requirements.

Under the guidance of the Ming warship, Da Gama and his warships traveled all the way north. During the period, they did not stop except for replenishing fresh water in Champa and other places. When they arrived at Guangzhou Port, Da Gama and the others Landing on land again, this was the first time they landed on the territory of Ming Dynasty, but when they saw the incomparably bustling city of Guangzhou, they were immediately shocked beyond words.

As a thousand-year-old port, Guangzhou is still extremely prosperous even after the sea ban, especially after the establishment of Zhou Zhong, the Governor of the Four Seas, has actually broken the sea ban, so the fleet in Guangzhou Port, except for the tribute ships, It is also full of ordinary merchant ships, and the daily cargo throughput is also amazing, even stronger than Shuangyu Port. After all, Shuangyu Port is just a new port, and it is still incomparable with a thousand-year-old port like Guangzhou.

The first stop of the Portuguese mission was arranged in Guangzhou. At this time, Zhou Zhong made a special confession, in order to shock the Portuguese with the prosperity of Guangzhou and let them understand what a prosperous and huge empire they were facing. It will play a head start and facilitate future negotiations. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)