Smuggling Daming

After witnessing the prosperity and long history of Guangzhou, Da Gama and his party set off again and finally arrived at Shuangyu Port. Although Shuangyu Island is somewhat different from Guangzhou in terms of scale and prosperity, it is an emerging port. , but here is full of vigorous vitality, which is far from comparable to Guangzhou and other places.

In the hall of the Governor’s Mansion, Zhou Zhong received Vasco da Gama and his party here, and he knew beforehand that besides Vasco da Gama, the famous Magellan was also in the mission this time, and it was da Gama. Gamma's deputy, Zhou Zhong couldn't help but feel the wonder of the world.

"Governor Vasco came from afar, and Zhou couldn't meet him from afar. It's really rude." Zhou Zhong looked Da Gama up and down a few times, and said with a smile, Vasco is Da Gama's name, so Zhou Zhong Call him so.

Because of the language barrier, Zhou Zhong invited Priest Nader to act as an interpreter. As for Father John, he stayed in the church to entertain Father Dias and his party who had just arrived in Malacca.Speaking of which, although Father John’s church has been established, there are still very few people who are willing to believe in it. Father John felt that there were only himself and Pastor Nader in the church, and the power of preaching was too weak, so he wrote a letter to send his My friend Father Dias called and asked him to help me complete this great cause.

Although Priest Nader is Spanish, he is proficient in Portuguese, so he quickly translated Zhou Zhong's words. Da Gama also bowed and saluted immediately: "Your Excellency, you are too polite. As a defeated country, we I’m just here to beg Da Ming’s forgiveness. At the same time, I hope Da Ming can let those poor captured soldiers go home, their gray-haired parents and young children are still waiting for them to go home!”

Da Gama was very aware of his situation, and through this period of understanding, he found that the Ming people had a natural sense of superiority over foreigners, especially those officials in the ruling class, and they regarded themselves as the kingdom of heaven everywhere. , He looked down on these small overseas countries like himself at all, so Da Gama had already made a decision before meeting Zhou Zhong.That is to position yourself as an envoy of a small country, and try to lower your posture as much as possible. As long as you make those Ming officials happy, then you will have to pay some price in exchange for the freedom of Alfonso and others. It should not be particularly difficult thing.

It has to be said that Da Gama has not been in Daming for a long time.There are not many Ming officials in contact, but they have a very accurate grasp of the mentality of the scholars at the top of the Ming Dynasty. If it were another traditional official of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that he would really be fooled by him. It is a pity that he met Zhou Zhong , Talking about the understanding of the world situation.I'm afraid no one is more profound than Zhou Zhong, so naturally he won't be easily deceived by da Gama's pitiful words.

After hearing this, Zhou Zhong smiled lightly and said: "Governor Vasco is right. The families of those soldiers are indeed very sorry, but you have stayed in Malacca for a while, and tens of thousands of people died there because of you. In the hands of the Portuguese army, in your eyes, are those Melaka people whose relatives died in the war also pitiful?"

Da Gama did not expect Zhou Zhong's words to be so sharp, but he is a person who has experienced big storms after all, and his skin is not usually thick.So I saw him immediately replied: "Dear Governor, for the last war. Our Kingdom of Portugal is also very regretful. That war was a mistake. Our kingdom has realized its mistake. Now we are willing to fight Five thousand pounds of silver is used as compensation, and there is another ten thousand pounds of silver in exchange for the Portuguese soldiers captured last time."

Although this is not the first time Zhou Zhong has seen the shamelessness of the Portuguese, but this time he was very angry again when he heard Da Gama's words. A war that almost slaughtered the city was caught by a fluffy "mistake" in Da Gama's mouth. To cover up the past, in the end they only paid 5 pounds of silver, that is, less than 6 taels of silver. But they are willing to pay twice the price. Calculated, each Portuguese is nearly a hundred times more expensive than a Malaccan. It seems that in the eyes of these Portuguese, the lives of foreigners are not worth much at all.

Although he was very angry at da Gama's shamelessness in his heart, Zhou Zhong didn't show it on his face, but smiled lightly and said: "The silver of 10,000 pounds is only [-]+ taels of silver. , It’s not enough for the military expenses we sent troops last time, this little money is just for forgiveness from our Daming, and the request to release the prisoners of war, your calculations are too shrewd.”

Hearing that Zhou Zhong did not refuse his request to pay for the ransom of the prisoners, Da Gama was delighted. As for Zhou Zhong's thought that the price he paid was too low, it was not a big deal. After all, Da Gama It was just a tentative price, and even he himself knew that the price he offered was too low.

"I don't know how much silver the Governor thinks we should pay in order for Daming to calm down his anger and be willing to release our captured soldiers?" Vasco da Gama then asked.

"It's very simple to appease our Daming's anger. You only need to pay 200 million taels of silver. As for the release of prisoners of war, we need to discuss it separately, because we still need these prisoners of war now, but that Alfonso and a few others A high-ranking officer can give it back to you, and everyone only needs 5 taels of silver!" Zhou Zhong said with a smile on the surface, but his eyes were very cold. Committing countless crimes, now I am just collecting some compensation for future generations.

"Two... two million taels of silver?" Hearing Zhou Zhong's price, Da Gama and Magellan behind him all opened their mouths in shock. They really didn't expect Zhou Zhong to raise the price just by opening his mouth More than ten times, and if you want to redeem the prisoners of war, you need to add more money.

"Your Excellency, this price is too high. Two million taels of silver is enough to buy a small country in Europe and become a king. We really cannot agree to your condition!" Before Da Gama could speak, Magellan next to him was very angry. He said impatiently, in his opinion, Zhou Zhong was nothing but blackmail.

"Hahahaha, since you don't accept my kindness, please go back, anyway, now I still need some Portuguese prisoners of war to work, and in order to make up for the loss of the last war, our Ming's goods will increase on the original basis I will sell [-]% to those Muslim merchants, as to whether they will sell it to you at the original price, then I have no control over it!" Zhou Zhong laughed a few times, and suddenly threatened.He knew that the Portuguese needed goods from Ming Dynasty and spices from Nanyang most. As Malacca fell into the hands of Ming Dynasty, these two transactions were also controlled by Zhou Zhong. It can be said that the lifeline of the Portuguese has been grasped by Zhou Zhong now, so he There is no fear that the Portuguese will not surrender.

"you……"

Hearing Zhou Zhong's threat, Magellan stood up in a fit of anger. He was about to argue with Zhou Zhong again, but was stopped by Da Gama next to him. Then he saw the new Indian Governor smiled at Zhou Zhong and said: " Your Excellency, although we were at fault for the last war, isn’t the compensation of 200 million taels too much? Besides, as a custom in wars, we have the right to pay for the redemption of prisoners of war, but now you are only willing to hand over Albania Just wait for a few people, this kind of behavior is against morality!"

Speaking of this, Da Gama took a long breath and continued: "When I was in Europe, I heard that Daming is a civilized country. When I really came to Daming, I also found that Daming is indeed a state of etiquette. I believe the governor Your Excellency must be a kind person, so our Kingdom of Portugal is willing to offer 50 taels of silver, and I hope that the Governor-General will forgive us for our previous war behavior!"

"Hmph, don't play tricks on me. I know that Spain has discovered a large number of silver mines in America. Now the silver production there is extremely high, and countless amounts of silver are transported to Europe every year, so for you, silver is not very valuable. , 200 million taels of silver is not much, and this condition will never be changed!" Zhou Zhong snorted coldly, there is too much gold and silver in America, and it has already begun to be produced, even causing silver in Europe. The price fell, so silver is not very valuable in Europe, which is why Zhou Zhong dared to speak up.

Da Gama did not expect Zhou Zhong to know so much about the situation in Europe, and even the situation in America. This made him know that he might not be able to play tricks in front of the young Governor of Ming Dynasty, so he sighed and said: "Okay , we can compensate Daming with 200 million taels of silver, but Daming must promise us a few conditions!"

"Oh? Tell me!" Zhou Zhong smiled with his arms around his shoulders. He was not surprised by the terms Vasco da Gama agreed to. After all, the most important goods of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean were spices and Ming's goods, and every year Bringing them huge profits, these two transactions now require frequent exploitation by Muslim businessmen, which has seriously affected their profits, so Zhou Zhong is not afraid that they will not agree.

"Your Excellency Governor, we cannot pay the 200 million taels of silver in one go. We need to divide it into two years. In the first year, we will first deliver 100 million taels of silver. At that time, Ming must agree to our ship entering Nanyang through Malacca to purchase spices and goods from Ming. In addition, you have to ensure the personal safety of our captured soldiers, and the last thing is the redemption of the prisoners of war. I hope you can agree that after we hand over 200 million taels of silver, you agree that we can redeem all the prisoners of war!" Dajia Ma said with piercing eyes, these are also his bottom line, if Zhou Zhong disagrees, then he can only go back to prepare for the battle. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)