Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 293: Spring in Europe, trade between Ming and Portugal!

Ok Hee Palace.

The memorial was placed on the imperial desk.

The Portuguese delegation was able to force Gao Gong, a conservative in the court, to become a radical. It was quite capable.

However, declaring war on Portugal was just a manifestation of Gao Gong's attitude. The Ming Dynasty and Portugal were too far away, and it would be difficult to defeat them before the treasure ship fleet was built.

The world map hurriedly produced by the Imperial Guards has been delivered to the palace. Unlike normal maps, it shows the location and size of Portugal's colonies in the world.

The Portuguese colonies were spread across South America, Africa, India and East Asia, and their tentacles once extended to the Wangxia Peninsula of the Ming Dynasty.

For the past half century, relying on the Strait of Malacca, Portugal has almost monopolized trade to the East of the world.

Portuguese merchants actively contacted the Chaozhou merchants of the Ming Dynasty and the Japanese pirates, and basically controlled the pricing power of Eastern products in the West.

The Portuguese royal family acted as both referee and player in this competition and earned countless wealth from it.

However, a small country with a small population is still a small country with a small population. The local population is only over one million, which greatly limits Portugal's plundering of the eastern part of the world.

The larger the colonies, the more prosperous Portugal became, but the greater the population losses.

According to the Jinyiwei's investigation in Portugal, Portugal could not even recruit enough sailors, and the so-called maritime overlord was more like an empty shell.

The Jinyiwei's evaluation of Portugal was that young children were walking through the streets carrying precious treasures.

This is because there are no big countries around Portugal. If its geographical location was changed and it was located in East Asia, it would have been swallowed up without leaving even a bone.

However, the situation in Portugal is not good either, especially the royal family, which may not be able to hold on for much longer.

The current King of Portugal is named Sebastiao I. Sebastiao's grandfather is King John III of Portugal, his grandmother is Catarina of Habsburg, his father is Prince Joao Manuel, the eighth son of John III, and his mother is Juana from Spain.

Sebastian was born on the patron saint's day, so he was named Sebastian.

John III, who had strong faith, had a very unfortunate family life. He and the queen had nine children in total, but none of them survived his death. The physical fitness of members of the Portuguese royal family was generally weak.

Zhu Houcong looked at the intelligence and his face looked unhappy. The physical fitness of the Portuguese royal family was very similar to that of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty in the past few decades.

Starting from Emperor Hongzhi, to Emperor Zhengde, and then to him, the throne was either passed down through only one son, or ended without an heir, or eight out of ten sons died.

Obviously, there are traitors in the Portuguese court!

Therefore, when Sebatián was still in his mother's womb, he was regarded as the hope of the Portuguese. After Sebatián was born, the Portuguese believed that this prince was obtained from God through tears, parades, prayers and alms, and they held infinite hope for him, hoping that he could bring greater prosperity to Portugal.

Since Sebastian's father died two weeks before he was born, he naturally became the successor to the throne of Portugal. He inherited the throne three years later, which was the 36th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty time.

When Sebastian was still an infant, his grandmother Catarina, who was of Spanish royal descent, served as regent.

As early as the 31st year of the Jiajing reign, the Portuguese court had his uncle, Cardinal Henry, Duke of Évora, as regent.

In other words, the current Portuguese court is controlled by the foreign royal grandmother and the clan duke.

Sebastian was eight years old, but he had never been involved in any political affairs.

Moreover, Sebastian was born with a physical defect and lacked interest in the "worldly" things.

The king was destined to be childless, which was a heavy blow to the Portuguese people, but not to the Queen Mother Catarina, and the Duke of Évora, the king's great-uncle.

Catalina was actively contacting her motherland, trying to arrange a marriage between the Spanish princess and Sebastian so that her motherland could intervene in Portuguese affairs.

The Duke of Évora is trying to kill Sebastian. Once Sebastian is dead, he will have an absolute advantage in the battle for the throne.

But little Sebastian was well protected by Catalina. He kept secret and disguised himself as a mystic in the church in the name of the Jesuits. He had to fast for a long time and did not show up, so that the Duke of Evora did not find any opportunity.

Such an offline monarchy system can only be implemented in Europe, where faith is strong. If it were the Ming Dynasty, the emperor in power would attend court, and the emperor not in power would observe court. In short, they had to be under the eyes of their ministers at all times.

Of course, there are ways to escape from the Forbidden City. Just like Zhu Houcong, you can just encounter a life-and-death attack in the Forbidden City. Few emperors are willing to bear such a huge price.

In the exchanges between countries, revealing weaknesses will undoubtedly attract the attention of "jackals". In the 38th year of Jiajing, Queen Elizabeth I of England wanted to marry her half-sister Mary with Sebastian the Younger. Her purpose was the same as that of Spain, which was to interfere in the affairs of Portugal.

After being rejected, Elizabeth I married her sister Mary to King Francis II of France.

The chaos in Europe made the Jinyiwei secret agents who liked to fish in troubled waters very excited. Then, with the help of money and assassination skills, one by one, the Jinyiwei secret agents transformed themselves into heirs to European aristocratic titles.

Relying on the "traditional skills" of flattery, their titles continued to rise, and the outstanding ones were even promoted to the level of earl, which could be called absolute aristocracy in any country.

The power of the Jinyiwei expanded rapidly in Europe, greatly accelerating the "Tulip Plan" personally formulated by Zhu Houcong to plunder the West.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard successfully introduced the tulip seeds they found in Turpan to Europe. Those seeds, whose colors and shapes were like the gorgeous sunset in the sky, immediately attracted countless European royal nobles and dignitaries, who rushed to buy those rare varieties.

With the deliberate promotion of those European lords in the Imperial Guards, the price of tulips was continuously raised, especially in Spain and Portugal, where the price gradually climbed to an astonishing level.

Spain and Portugal, through their powerful monarchies, were the first to concentrate national resources, acquire the ability to navigate, open up new shipping routes, earn huge wealth through overseas trade, and become the dominant maritime nations.

However, it was also due to the strong autocracy that countless maritime wealth was concentrated in the hands of the emperor, nobles and the church. They were addicted to luxury and longed for luxury goods from the East. Therefore, tulips gained a huge market there.

The Jinyiwei who controlled everything behind the scenes could never imagine that the strange flowers growing in some fields could be exchanged for so much real gold and silver.

Because there was too much gold and silver, Lu Bing, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even wrote a letter requesting to go to Europe in person to take charge of the situation.

At the same time, in addition to the "Tulip Plan", the Royal Guards tailored a new plan for the royal families of European countries. Looting money is not the limit of the Royal Guards. The disappearance of money and the resulting power shock in Europe are what the Royal Guards yearn for.

Zhu Houcong summoned this old brother, with whom he had been friends for decades and who had saved his life several times. At his insistence, he agreed to allow Lu Bing and Chen Ping, a prominent member of the Chen family, to go to Europe together.

"European Spring".

It is the sum of the Jinyiwei plan.

With the arrival of the Imperial Guards, spring has arrived in Europe.

Compared with Gao Gong's verbal declaration of war for the sake of momentary pleasure, the actions of the Jinyiwei on the hidden front were more important.

Because of the actions of the Jinyiwei, even if the Ming Dynasty did not show goodwill to Portugal, it could not declare war.

Except for the mutual dispatch of envoys to Beijing, all other trade requests of the Six Articles will not be allowed. Instead, the two sides will only trade at designated places and times.

Mutual trade.

Western version.

……

cabinet.

There are mistakes made by the superiors, and it is not up to me.

Gao Gong knew that his request to His Majesty to declare war on Portugal had been rejected. He sighed helplessly and sent Zhang Wei, a secretary of the Cabinet, to the Siyi Hall to announce the Portuguese envoy.

Temple of the Virtuous and Good.

Gao Gong was here to receive the Portuguese envoy on behalf of the Ming court, and at the first sight, Gao Gong couldn't hold back his excitement.

Is that a wig on her head? She is wearing white silk socks on her legs! She has straps under her knees! She is wearing high heels! And there are big laces on her sleeves and collar! Not to mention the big quilt-like cape, look at the standing posture, it is definitely to show the length of her legs, trying to look tall.

Is this the European aristocracy?
Since it was a negotiation between two countries, officials from the Ministry of Rites had to accompany him. However, after the two capitals and 14 provinces officially started the construction of 100,000 community schools, Hai Rui, as the Minister of Rites, left Beijing for the local areas. All affairs of the Ministry of Rites were temporarily decided by the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Rites. The one who accompanied Yuan Fu today was the Left Vice Minister of Rites Liu Wenzhen, and there were dozens of officials from the Ministry of Rites, both large and small, which shows how much importance they attached to it.

In the 40th and 41st years of the Jiajing reign, the court situation changed several times. Liu Wenzhen and his men had all seen the scene and had undergone training and tests. When they saw this scene, they kept taking deep breaths to suppress the muscle reactions on their faces.

The Siyi Hall was a subordinate office of the Ministry of Rites, where the Portuguese delegation was arranged. Some officials of the Ministry of Rites had seen it before, but no matter how many times they saw it, they still found such a scene a bit unbearable.

"Prince, this is the most solemn ceremonial dress for European nobles." The official in charge of foreign affairs of the Ministry of Rites reminded.

Such clothing and attire are obviously not suitable for long voyages or other affairs. This can be seen in other members of the Portuguese delegation. They are tight-fitting clothes with sleeves and a lock on the front as decoration. The clothes are longer than the knees, the sleeves are of different lengths, and there is a belt around the waist.

A long cape with gorgeous colorful flaps on the front and back, and a shawl, a long pleated piece of cloth fixed at the shoulders.

This is also a ceremonial costume, and it is complicated, but it is much simpler than the aristocratic attire of Afonso de Albuquerque, head of the Portuguese delegation.

The Jinyiwei delivered information about the Portuguese delegation before they arrived in Beijing.

The leader of the group, Afonso de Albuquerque, was the son of the loser in Portugal's power struggle.

Alfonso de Albuquerque inherited his father's noble title and also his father's name.

Afonso de Albuquerque the Elder was originally the chief servant of King John II of Portugal.

With the beginning of the Portuguese voyages of discovery, Afonso de Albuquerque the Elder led his team to explore the eastern part of the world.

Afonso de Albuquerque the Elder became the governor of the Indian colony and the conqueror of Goa and Malacca. He controlled the eastern routes, built fortresses, and settled immigrants, laying the foundation for the Portuguese kingdom's hegemony in the East. For this, he was awarded the title of "Duke of Goa" by the King of Portugal, becoming the first duke of Portugal who was not of royal origin.

However, the saying "his achievements outweigh his master" applies to any country, and arrogance is the nature of talented people. Old Alfonso de Albuquerque was eventually dismissed from the post of governor by the King of Portugal, and died after being recalled to his homeland.

His title and bounty were passed on to the incompetent Afonso de Albuquerque the Younger, who was exiled back to India by the Portuguese royal family.

The Portuguese royal family sent another candidate for the Governor-General of India. Alfonso de Albuquerque the Younger was more like a mascot in India.

All the Portuguese merchants on the Wangxia Peninsula were killed, which made the Portuguese Governor-General's Office in India feel the possibility of hostility. Negotiations between the two countries could be life-threatening. Therefore, Alfonso de Albuquerque the Younger became the Portuguese ambassador and led a team to the Ming Dynasty.

The outrageous six requests for trade were not the original intention of Alfonso de Albuquerque the Younger. No one wanted to die, but the requirements of the Governor's Office were above all else, and no one cared about the ideas of a mascot.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty did not execute him directly. Little Alfonso de Albuquerque felt very lucky. Regardless of his status and attire, he lifted his skirt with both hands and spread it to both sides, bent his knees slightly, and lowered his head with a smile.

"Prince, this is a kneeling salute," said the official from the Ministry of Rites.

“Conheci o ilustre primeiro-ministro da China.”

"Prince, the Duke of Goa sends his greetings to you." The translator from the Siyi Hall came forward and said.

Gao Gong's mouth twitched slightly, and he managed to maintain a smile, saying, "Give him my regards."

The translator from the Siyi Hall mumbled something and the translator accompanying the Portuguese delegation roughly repeated what the translator from the Siyi Hall had said.

This way of speaking immediately made Gao Gong's face darken and his breathing slow down. Communicating with the barbarians made him feel more deeply the greatness of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

In a word, there are so many ways of writing and saying things in this world, and they are not mutually recognized. It is really inconvenient.

After a simple greeting, the two countries sat down at the negotiation table. Gao Gong got straight to the point and said, "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has rejected most of your requests for trade and agreed to your sending envoys to Beijing, but rejected free trade. In order to ensure normal exchanges between the two countries, the Ming Dynasty has decided to open up mutual trade and allow the Ming Dynasty and Portugal to trade goods at the specified time and place. In addition, any Portuguese merchant ship that docks or trades with merchants or people of the Ming Dynasty will be regarded as illegal and will be struck by thunder..."

(End of this chapter)