Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 299: Hundreds of millions in compensation, sweet potatoes!
What God does not take, is to be blamed.

There was no reason for the Ming court to refuse Portugal, which had come to its doorstep, no matter what its position was.

Gao Gong nodded and said, "Our dynasty is willing to take over Portugal's defense and lead Portugal's political affairs, but the prerequisite is that Portugal welcomes our dynasty's arrival."

up until now.

The global strategy formulated by the cabinet and the military was still only in East Asia and South Asia, controlling the Strait of Malacca and seizing Portugal's ports in India. The Ming Dynasty had completed the first step of the established strategy.

As for the second strategy, the Deputy Prime Minister Hu Zongxian is still studying and judging that the Ming Dynasty will not allow Portugal, which is thousands of miles away, to affect its own pace of progress.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Gao Gong always had a feeling that the Jinyiwei were "playing tricks" in the West behind the back of the court.

In the three previous battles between the Ming Navy and the Portuguese Navy, the Jinyiwei showed unusual concern for the wars.

The Jinyiwei seemed to be worried about something and did not want the imperial court to interfere in Western affairs now.

But the court and the cabinet had no way of knowing what the details were. In the whole world, the Jinyiwei was only responsible to the emperor, and only the emperor knew the details.

Gao Gong had tried to find out a few things during his daily reports, but was ignored by the emperor. It was obvious that the emperor supported the secret actions of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

In view of all the circumstances, Gao Gong could be sure of one thing, that is, the Ming Dynasty currently had no intention of declaring war on Portugal.

If Portugal wanted the Ming Dynasty to govern it, the Ming Dynasty would only accept the invitation if Portugal showed welcome.

As Alfonso the Younger said, there are many divisions within Portugal, and the idea of ​​the Ming Dynasty taking over Portugal is currently just Alfonso the Younger's idea.

Young Alfonso had to return to Portugal to persuade or resolve several major forces in Portugal, including the young King Sebastian I, his grandmother Catarina, his great uncle the Duke of Évora, Cardinal Encre, in addition to the parliament, the Vatican, the nobility, and so on.

During this process, the Ming court found it difficult to provide support for all the difficulties faced by Alfonso the Younger.

Moreover, the cabinet and the court did not know whether the tricks played by the Royal Guards would conflict with Alfonso the Younger’s ideas.

If there is a conflict between the two, Alfonso Jr. will most likely not be a human being in either country.

"I understand the Prime Minister's concerns."

Little Alfonso thought Gao Gong was worried that inviting the Ming Dynasty to take over Portugal was a trap, so he said seriously: "I will show my sincerity to the Prime Minister, and at the same time, I also ask for your cooperation."

"Oh?"

"In the three battles of Lion City, Diu and Goa, your navy captured more than 15,000 of our people. I would like to ask your country to hand them over to me. I don't mean to release them, but to redeem them with money."

After Alfonso Sr. died.

When Afonso the Younger took over the throne of Duke, the Afonso family was already on the decline in Portugal and its influence was constantly being lost.

Young Alfonso wanted Portugal to belong to the Ming Dynasty, not only to stop the decline of his family, but also to make the Alfonso family once again the first noble family under the royal family and restore its influence to its peak.

To achieve this, Alfonso the Younger had to do something that was the most important, even fatal, thing for Portugal at the moment, something that no one else could do but he could, to announce to the entire nation the return of the Alfonso family.

That was to redeem the Portuguese captives.

The total population of Portugal is just over one million, and these 15,000 people account for almost 1% of the total population of Portugal.

This one percent are not ordinary citizens, but warriors who have made countless contributions to the Portuguese Empire.

Whether considering the national conditions or the people's hearts, the Portuguese royal family had to redeem these captives.

Even at a heavy price.

But now, Portugal's hypocritical strength has been fully exposed in front of the Ming Dynasty. Whether the Ming court will give face to the Portuguese royal family is a question worth discussing.

After all, in Portugal and on the European continent, the legends about the East still remain at the peak of the Han and Tang Dynasties, with the supreme majesty of "do not move, or the country will be destroyed."

Gold and silver redemption?

Haven’t you heard of the Western legend that the East is full of gold?

Portugal’s previous actions were an absolute provocation to the Ming Dynasty, and not just once. The royal family, the Vatican, and the parliament all believed that it was unlikely that the soldiers would return.

If at this time, the Alfonso family became a heroic family that rescued tens of thousands of soldiers, the family's status and influence would instantly return to its peak.

Moreover, the fathers and grandfathers of these Portuguese warriors who came to the East might have been under the command of Alfonso the Elder. Alfonso the Younger might be able to transform these more than 10,000 soldiers into swords to "break through" those stubborn old guys in the royal family, the Church, and the parliament through some means.

He spent Portugal's money to handle his own and his family's affairs and complete the cooperation with the Ming court. The whole plan was so closely linked that even Gao Gong couldn't help but admire it.

Gao Gong felt a little thirsty for a rare occasion. He picked up the tea that his heir had just poured and blew away the floating leaves on the water. He did not open his mouth to tell the cabinet the price of the prisoners. He asked, "What was that price?"

Once Alfonso the Younger's plan succeeds, all of Portugal's wealth will belong to the Ming Dynasty. Gao Gong, who is known as a "miser" in the court, is also willing to make an investment.

Let Alfonso the Younger offer the ransom price in his mind. Even if it is lower than expected, Gao Gong will persuade the court officials, cabinet members, and the emperor.

"What do you think, Prime Minister, of an equal amount of silver?" Alfonso Junior asked.

Gao Gong still hadn't drunk the tea. His hand shook and the tea spilled onto his robe. Fortunately, the water was not very hot, otherwise he would have gotten another burn on his leg.

Gao Fusi hurriedly tried to wipe it for his father. Even little Alfonso stood up and showed concern. Gao Gong gritted his teeth and waved his hand to refuse. He looked at little Alfonso and said, "Nothing. What's the meaning of that heavy silver?"

"In reply to Prime Minister, I am willing to redeem those prisoners of war with an amount of silver on behalf of Portugal, no matter how heavy they are. However, the silver in Portugal is not minted into silver ingots and gold nuggets like your country, but into silver coins. I hope your country can accept it." Alfonso Jr. replied.

Gao Gong was silent.

My mind was frantically calculating the weight of the prisoners.

Assuming that each person weighs 120 kilograms, for 15,000 people, the total weight is 1.8 million kilograms.

One catty is sixteen taels, which means twenty-eight million eight hundred thousand taels.

Gao Gong had seen Portuguese silver coins before. One coin weighed roughly one cent.

One tael is equal to ten coins, which means 288 million silver coins.

At this moment, Gao Gong wanted the naval warships in India to continue advancing westward. The port was not important. He just wanted to capture the soldiers of Western countries as prisoners and then demand ransom from their countries.

The old saying “kill people and set fires for the golden belt” is really true!
Gao Gong basically agreed with little Alfonso's idea. As it was getting late, he asked Gao Youshi to send little Alfonso back to Siyi Pavilion, and then immediately went to Yuxi Palace.

...Okhee Palace.

Zhu Qi, the acting commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was also there.

The Portuguese gold, silver, spices and other valuables obtained by the navy in Malacca and India have been shipped back to the country in batches.

However, the Holy Order specifically instructed that the first batch of items to be shipped back to the country was not gold and silver, but various crops from all over the world.

There were seeds and fruits in strange shapes. In short, the Jinyiwei selected and obtained some of them, as long as they were not available in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houcong stood in front of these packaged crops and seeds, and the first thing he saw was corn.

In his two lives, Zhu Houcong rarely ate cornmeal, but he ate a lot of cooked young corn and many foods made from corn.

In the fields in the north, corn is often planted in the summer, and Zhu Houcong has seen it grow and mature.

This is not only the world's largest grain variety in later generations, but also the largest grain variety in China. Its importance to China is self-evident.

Although the appearance of corn at that time was not exactly the same as that of corn in later generations, and was translated as "grass from South America", Zhu Houcong still recognized it.

Zhu Houcong took out the corn cobs first and handed them to Zhu Qi, saying, "We will harvest as many of these crops as we can and cultivate them. We will plant them in the north of our dynasty in late May or early June next year, with the Yangtze River as the boundary.

From now on, in the north of our Ming Dynasty, wheat will be planted in winter and corn will be planted in summer, two crops a year."

Zhu Qi did not question it, but carefully put it away and asked his subordinates to record the holy words truthfully and keep them for later use.

At the second glance, Zhu Houcong saw potatoes, a food that can be used as a dish and as a staple food.

Also from South America, it likes cold and is afraid of heat. It entered Europe through Spain. The colder it gets as you go north in Europe, the more it is suitable for the European continent. It has a high yield per mu and can fill the stomach.

But Europeans don't like eating potatoes very much. Potatoes must be cooked to be delicious. If they are only steamed or baked, they will lose their taste in their mouths after two days.

In addition, potatoes at that time were difficult to eat, so European nobles never ate potatoes.

The potatoes produced in Europe were either eaten by those who were struggling to make ends meet, or sent to the colonies to be eaten by the colonial people.

Zhu Houcong took out the potatoes and told Zhu Qi, "This crop should be cultivated and improved in the northeast, northwest, southwest, plateaus, and sandy soils."

Zhu Qi's lips moved slightly. Many people in the Jinyiwei had eaten or tasted this primitive potato, and Zhu Qi was one of them. The numb and tasteless feeling was like chewing mud. Could it really be delicious?
However, Zhu Qi always kept in mind the advice given by Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing before he left for the West, that he should not question the emperor's will, and he silently memorized the potatoes.

Next is the sweet potato.

Like potatoes, it comes from South America, but its characteristics are almost opposite to those of potatoes.

It likes heat but is afraid of cold. In terms of taste and flavor, just from the perspective of steaming or baking, it is far inferior to potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are in the sky, potatoes are underground.

Europeans, from nobles to commoners, are not averse to sweet potatoes and like to eat them very much.

However, due to geographical reasons, potatoes are the most suitable crop for Europe, and sweet potatoes are naturally the least suitable crop for Europe, so they cannot be grown on a large scale in Europe.

In the Ming Dynasty, except for the fjord landform, all other landforms existed. Sweet potatoes, a crop with low planting requirements and high yield, certainly had places to be grown.

Zhu Houcong carefully recalled several major sweet potato producing areas in later generations, including Liuao Peninsula in Zhangzhou, Fujian, Yantai in Shandong, Chengmai in Hainan, Lin'an in Zhejiang, Maoming in Guangdong, Lintong in Shaanxi, Wagang in Henan... The sweet potatoes were taken out and cultivated, improved and planted in these provinces and places.

Afterwards, Zhu Houcong picked out crops such as peanuts, tobacco, pumpkins, peppers, papayas, tomatoes, etc., most of which came from America.

Zhu Houcong was very interested in that piece of land full of vitality and where all things were growing. That natural plantation was suitable for farming.

As for lighthouses, there is only one Ming Dynasty in the world, and that is enough.

However, it is not easy to get there. Although the Ming Dynasty is not very far from America, and is even not far from Europe, the upstream and vast Pacific Ocean hide too many dangers, and it is not something that ordinary ships can cross.

The current navy warships are not good enough, and the Zheng He treasure ship that is about to be successfully reproduced is also in trouble. It is too difficult to determine the direction in the vast ocean.

Wait a little longer, until you have dealt with the European countries, and then unlock America.

In addition to these common crops, there were also some miscellaneous crops and strange fruits. Zhu Houcong could not recognize them or did not understand them, so he asked the Jinyiwei to go down and study them casually.

After Zhu Qi left, the hall became empty again, with candles hanging high, and the entire Yuxi Palace seemed as bright as day.

The palace doors and windows were wide open, and snow and wind occasionally blew into the palace, but wherever Zhu Houcong was, it was as warm as spring.

Huang Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot, reminded him, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has been waiting in the court room for a while."

Huang Jin had only seen the emperor's seriousness in matters concerning people's livelihood. After asking Gao Gong if it was not a military or national issue that needed to be resolved urgently, he asked him to wait for a while.

Before I knew it, it was already three o'clock in the morning.

"Xuan!"

The holy sound descended.

Huang Jin hurried to the court room and asked Gao Gong, who was drowsy, to come and see him.

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Gao Gong eulogized the emperor, and Zhu Houcong nodded. He then asked Huang Jin to bring an embroidered cushion, helped him sit up, and asked, "Is there something important that you are meeting with me so late at night?"

"Your Majesty, at dinner time, Duke Alfonso, the Portuguese ambassador, came to my house secretly to meet me and told me a grand idea..."

Gao Gong elaborated in detail on the conversation between him and Alfonso the Younger in the Prime Minister's Residence. Even Zhu Houcong was impressed by the excellent matching mechanism of different regions.

I've long known that the royal families, nobles, and clergy of European countries are a bunch of weirdos, but I never thought they could be this weird.

In response to Gao Gong's veiled inquiry into whether Alfonso Jr.'s "return plan" conflicted with the Tulip Plan being implemented by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zhu Houcong shook his head and clearly denied it.

Not only is there no conflict, but there is a certain linkage. Nearly 300 million silver coins will first plunder the Portuguese treasury, and the Tulip Project will drain the money of the royal family, nobles, and clergy of Portugal and the entire European continent, complementing each other.

"I agree with Alfonso's idea and will ask someone to help him. After the success, Alfonso will become the first governor of Portugal of the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)