Chapter 529 A dean who doesn’t want to be a king is not a good captain
The Age of Discovery was just a fig leaf for plunder. This is the conclusion of Liu Ji, a desperado. Even if it is trade, it must be done with a sword. , without sufficient firepower, no interests can be protected.
Portugal, Spain and the Ming Dynasty are all wolves. One provides weapons and ammunition, one knocks on doors with force, and one conducts smuggling trade. The division of labor is clear. The Ming Dynasty gains the market, Spain determines its dominance and gains cohesion, and Portugal gains a A generous reward will reshuffle all forces in the country.
Everyone has a bright future, except England, the sheep.
This is what this Lisbon meeting is about.
This can be used to deal with England, the Netherlands, France, and even the Holy Roman Empire or Spain.
Scale is depth in economic warfare.
The carnival in Lisbon lasted for three full days. Ships of goods were constantly being transported. All the Portuguese were extremely excited, and this excitement did not end with the celebration, because the next The busy trade that came down kept everyone in Lisbon very busy. The goods were very abundant, and Antonio had the final say on how to distribute them.
For the first time since he was crowned king, Antonio felt that he was a king. From the subjects to the nobles, everyone respected this king who was canonized by the great eastern country. Antonio not only brought independence, stability and wealth, At this point no one questions Antonio anymore.
Except himself.
While the country was rejoicing, one person was depressed instead, Duchess Catarina. Antonio was busy with various drinking parties and even had a lover. This lover was public and everyone knew about the existence of this lover, Catarina. I don't know how to face this situation.
The two people came together because of Catarina's support for Antonio. The blood relationship between the two makes whether the child in the belly can be born safely is full of variables, but the kingdom also needs a healthy child. To inherit the throne, at least not be too stupid or deformed.
The Duchess could only allow this lover to exist.
“You are finally willing to come back.” Catarina looked at the drunk Antonio and couldn’t help but feel angry.
"Wait for me." Antonio went to wash his face and wake himself up a little, then sat on the stool and took a sip of tea before he woke up.
“The businessmen are very enthusiastic. They are like sharks smelling the smell of blood in the sea. They swarm in. You don’t know how crazy they are today, just to grab a batch of cotton cloth or a piece of iron. "Pot." Antonio stretched out his hand and said, "We in Portugal can earn two million silver each year from your majesty's sailing ship trade."
"In just six years, we can pay off the loan ahead of schedule." , after that, we can talk about Portugal as our own."
Catalina restrained her emotions and shook her head and said: "Why should we rush to pay off the loan? The annual interest rate of 4% is indeed very high. High, but compared with those damn Venetian merchants, the Ming Emperor is like a philanthropist, and he has extended it for us for thirty years!"
"In fact, as long as our annual income increases by more than 4%, there is no need to be too hasty to pay off this loan, and prepare more handicraft workshops to process materials from West Africa and the New World so that more people can get jobs. This is the purpose of His Majesty's thirty-year extension. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the East was not an overly eager king. His extension of thirty years was to give us the opportunity to develop."
"Including this trade of galleons, Dongfang set the anchor point of the transaction. Lisbon, isn’t it obvious enough? ”
"Wait until I get off." Antonio ran over and washed his face vigorously, and even induced vomiting before dispelling all the drunkenness. Returning to the king's bedroom, he rubbed his brows and said, "What you said is very good. It makes sense, I never thought of it before.”
“I thought before that His Majesty was paying back the 4% interest quickly to benefit us Portugal, but when you said it, it seemed true. So, Katarina, you know, I am not suitable to be a king, I have no idea about this."
"No, you are very suitable to be a king." Katarina shook her head and said: "Being a king. In fact, you don’t need any wisdom. To be a king, you need to be able to choose. Nothing else matters. Sauron always looks down on you, saying that you are an abbot and you are a pirate. But Sauron is just a secretary. He doesn’t know that being a king is the most important thing. What is important is courage and choice."
"And you have never lacked these two qualities. This is the key to being a king."
Antonio said with some distress: "You always have. Encourage me, but in fact I have no wisdom.”
“Would you choose to return to Lisbon to succeed without Ming’s support?” Catalina thought for a while and asked.
“Yes!” Antonio said with certainty: “Even if I fail to obtain His Majesty’s holy favor, I will still return to Lisbon and fight for Portugal until the last moment until I die! Nobles and priests of the church They want to sell Portugal to Felipe II to gain a stable position and power, but Portugal will become a hell on earth!”
“The nobility and the church are already huge rocks on the civilian body, if there is another one added to it! The sovereign country will have an unaffordable boulder, and only the civilians will bear the price! "
"I will choose to come back and fight for the civilians to the end!"
Xu Fan is! Antonio talked about class theory, but Antonio, with his limited talent, really couldn't understand it. He was not even willing to admit the existence of class, so he chose another narrative, that Portugal belongs to the Portuguese.
Katarina smiled and said: "Look, this is bravery and choice. Sword Master Marcus is not a fool. He saw hope in you, so he will follow you to the death. You have done it for eleven years." , you did it.”
“Perhaps.” Antonio shook his head and said: “The courage and choice you mentioned, anyone who is a captain on the ship has such a character, otherwise it is impossible to win. Ocean.”
A dean who doesn’t want to be a king is not a good captain.
Antonio really wanted to be a king, and he tried, but he was just a captain and really had no talent. Being a king requires wisdom, and Antonio did not have such wisdom.
Catarina looked at Antonio and said with great conviction: "There is no need to be too eager to repay this loan in advance, just repay it as scheduled according to His Majesty's extension. The reason is: use the money in the manual workshop , To defeat the Netherlands and England, you don’t necessarily need to do those dirty things. Lisbon has a unique advantage. It is easier for materials from the New World and West Africa to reach Lisbon.”
“The Netherlands. There are a large number of craftsmen and workshop owners, but the Netherlands is in war. These workshop owners want to escape, but there is no place for them to escape. We have built manual workshops to attract them. "
"Work is very important to the civilians you care about, because it is their only source of life. You have found a way for them to live, and you are their only king."
Who. Whoever runs for all peoples is the king of all peoples.
Antonio nodded and said: "Okay, just do it."
The Ming Emperor never pressed for loans, because a lot of the huge loans were actually profits and interest. A five-masted ship Selling 250,000 silver, Zhu Yijun sold Antonio a total of thirty-five five-masted ocean ships at this price. The remaining part was interest. In fact, the cost of a five-masted ship, including everything, was only two Just fifteen thousand silver.
Even the greedy and stingy Emperor Ming was a little embarrassed about such huge profits, so when Antonio repaid the loan normally, Zhu Yijun did not rush him. Of course, this did not mean that this kind of debt should be exempted. Antonio really did not repay it, Zhu Yijun I still need to urge you, and I’m sorry if I’m sorry. You still have to get the money you should get, and you can’t lose a penny!
Antonio was not short of decisiveness. Seeing that Felipe II was about to attack England and the Netherlands, the benefits of the war were not only silver, but also talents.
“Our Minister of State still hasn’t sent blessings to our children?” Katarina said worriedly.
“Yes, he is always avoiding the topic.” Antonio said helplessly: “Orientals have not advocated marriage of the same clan since the Xia Dynasty. If you don’t marry with the same surname, you won’t be able to reproduce.”
“When is Xia Yin?” Katarina asked doubtfully.
Antonio leaned back in his chair, recalled it carefully and said, "It was more than 3,600 years ago."
"The Ming Dynasty really has a long history." Catarina was stunned for a moment. , the time scale of three thousand and six hundred years is a bit too long for her. This vertical scale is deeply rooted.
Antonio sighed and said: "I asked him last time. If you don't marry with the same surname, you won't be afraid of reproduction. In other words, it is difficult for children to survive if you marry with the same surname. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the law has been extremely clear. Marriage with the same surname will lead to two years of imprisonment. The same surname and the same clan will be punished by one level of adultery. The law of the Ming Dynasty is even more stringent. The law of the Ming Dynasty is more stringent. The same surname is sixty sticks, and the same clan is a hundred sticks."
"We will be far away from the Ming Dynasty, otherwise. If the censors know that they will impeach us, they will probably be beaten to death. "
It's not that Xu Fan doesn't have a flexible moral bottom line, he doesn't know how to be fawning, but he really cares about the king and the queen. There is some concern about fate.
Antonio whispered: "In fact, Minister of State Xu Fan is right. Archduke Karl II of Austria and his niece Maria Anna gave birth to fifteen children, only seven of which were healthy."
The probability of this deformity is already very high. If human reproduction had this deformity rate, it would have become extinct long ago.
“Alas.” Catarina didn’t fuss or cry. She just touched her belly. There was uncontrollable sadness on her face. She didn’t regret it. For Portugal, she faced Felipe II. She was so aggressive, and faced with the terrible situation in Portugal, she could only choose to support Antonio in this way.
Liu Ji held a volume in his hand, written by Xu Fan, about the enclosure movement in England.
Starting from the "Morton Regulations" in the second year of Duanping in the Southern Song Dynasty, England has been carrying out a land enclosure movement for more than 300 years, and this behavior is moving from the enclosure of manor owners to the enclosure of parliament. The Queen of England carried out three large-scale land enclosures. The British Parliament controlled more than 20% of the arable land. For wool, more than 50% of the land was converted into pasture.
Large-scale famine is spreading in England. Even on the streets of London, homeless people and beggars are everywhere.
“England is not only cruel to the outside world, but also tolerant at home. The Mesta Association is the largest woolen association in the entire West. The association mainly composed of shepherds is the largest association of Felipe II. Money bag, even so, less than 10% of Spain's land is pasture, while more than 50% of England's land is pasture." Xu Fan looked unbearable.
"Why didn't the English rebel?" Liu Ji's eyes darkened when he saw it. The enclosure of land was annexation, and setting up ranches after annexation was something that even Liu Ji, a Ming desperado, could not imagine. Even the captives did not do this. Anda Khan always wanted to expand the area of cultivated land and obtain more food.
Ada Khan is already very cruel.
"Who says no, but they were all suppressed, and it was the Scots and Irish who bore the price. When the famine occurred, even the Ottomans couldn't stand it anymore and sent three ships filled with food. Food, together with Felipe II’s four ships, went to provide disaster relief. As a result, seven ships with about 1,000 shi of food were allowed to enter Ireland, because the British royal family only donated 2,000 shi of food.” Xu Fan explained an anecdote.
During the time when Felipe II was seeking to marry the Queen of England, famine and plague broke out in Ireland. Felipe II prepared gifts and a ship full of food. The Ottoman Sultan was also crazy at that time and wanted to claim the title of the Roman heir. After integrating his identity into Tessie, he went with Felipe II.
These days, transporting grain without Taiyue boxes is very risky. Fortunately, the Mediterranean Sea is just a bathtub, it is quite calm, and the disaster relief grain ship arrived smoothly.
"Where is this batch of grain? What happened in the end?" Liu Ji asked curiously. Xu Fan spread his hands and said: "It was sold to the English in London. The English used this batch of grain to enclose the land."
"Huh?" Liu Ji was two-handed. During the first ocean-going trade, he asked himself how well-informed he was, and he said sincerely: "This is very English."
Pan Jixun was a good old man. When there was a locust plague in Jiangxi, he was forced to kill people. This world The nature of the carnivores is roughly the same. The merger in the disaster year can be said to be a different land with mountains and rivers, but the wind and moon are in the same sky.
"There is a golden retriever outside the door asking to see him." Chen Dazhuang walked in and whispered.
Jinmaofan is an Englishman. Obviously, the arrival of the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going merchant ships also attracted the attention of the English, because the proliferation of pirates in the Strait of Gibraltar is closely related to the Queen's privateering license. England He knew very well about the arrival of the Ming Dynasty merchant ship in the port, and even tried to rob it once, but he never fought.
"Two special envoys of the Ming Dynasty, I am Francis Drake. As a global voyager, I think we have many common topics. I think this is the case, Mr. Liu Ji, captain of the Ming Dynasty Global Fleet." Drake Ke greeted him very elegantly. Even if he didn't smile, he still had a kind of gentleness and looked quite gentlemanly.
"Pirate leader Drake?" Liu Ji answered in Latin.
It is said that the Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette and civilization. This sentence was a curse word, which made Drake look embarrassed. Although it was true, Drake was obviously the Lord of England! How can it be broken directly?
“That’s not the case, these are all lies from Felipe II.” Drake waved his hands repeatedly and said.
Liu Ji and Xu Fan were making eye contact, but Drake only felt a chill rushing from his tailbone to his forehead. His intuition was warning him of danger. The sudden silence made Drake Some inexplicable panic.
"What's wrong?" Drake asked doubtfully.
Liu Ji sat up straight and said: "We are thinking whether to kill you now, pirate captain Drake, your people attacked our fleet in the Strait of Gibraltar, killing four people. Injured."
Drake said confused: "We sank seven ships and killed more than 210 people. Didn't the Ming merchant ship win?"
"England dared to attack? Our ships of the Ming Dynasty are provoking and we need to pay a higher price!" Xu Fan said with great conviction: "Whether it is the Spanish, Portuguese, French or English, as long as they dare to provoke and attack the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, they will be punished! Pay the price!”
For the first time, Drake saw the tyranny of the Han envoys. The Ming Dynasty is still the supreme power of the Celestial Empire. The Han envoys will be extremely domineering in safeguarding the dignity and interests of the Ming Dynasty. They will never show mercy when it is time to take action. .
Obviously it was the Ming Dynasty that triumphed and sank seven of his privateers. However, the Ming Dynasty was still asking for compensation.
The victor's posture can be said to have been fully accomplished by Liu Ji.
"What price does Ming need?" Drake said with great conviction: "You can't kill me. I brought sincerity. Ming should cooperate with our England, not Felipe!"
"Why cooperate with England? How can cooperation lead to the proliferation of pirates?" Xu Fan asked with a sneer: "We, the Ming people, have suffered greatly from pirates, why should we cooperate with England?"
"Of course two "A colony of teeth!" Drake said loudly: "England is like a mosquito compared to their colonies, and their colonies are extremely rich! There are silver mines and saltpeter mines in Peru alone, and silver is currency. Saltpeter is gunpowder! The world's largest silver mine and saltpeter mine are in their hands!"
"I don't understand, Daming is always so wise, who can get the greatest benefits from cooperation? It’s such an obvious thing, but Ming still chose to be friends with Felipe and Antonio instead of us England!”
Drake was very excited because he couldn’t figure it out anyway! , the Ming Dynasty became allies with Spain and Portugal, but turned a deaf ear to England. While the envoys sent to the Ming Dynasty did not bring back good news, the Ming Dynasty merchant ships arrived at Cape Liberty and did not even have any contact with the English.
"Look, you guys only want to rob, and Ming Dynasty is just doing business." Liu Ji looked at Drake. His words seemed reasonable, but everything was established. On one basis, robbery is legal.
It is legal to rob colonies, it is legal to rob civilians of one's own country, it is legal to rob other countries' goods, and it is legal to rob other countries' merchant ships. But there is no order at all. Everything is based on bandit logic.
"So, why did the Ming Dynasty associate with bandits? Although the Ming Dynasty has declined a lot, it has not fallen to this level." Xu Fan answered Drake's words with great conviction, and he said more directly : "You don't have to think about using your usual tricks to threaten Ming Dynasty. The thing Ming Dynasty is not afraid of is threats."
"You can use such endless pirates to make unreasonable demands on small countries, but Ming Dynasty No, even if you come and grab it, you won’t be able to grab a cent of silver, and you will lose countless lives.”
“This is a warning to you from the perspective of strength, the Ming Ocean Caravan. There are only twelve five-masted transoceanic ships, and you can't plunder a piece of cotton even if you go out with all your strength."
It was good for the Ming Dynasty to do business properly and not rob them, but now it is being robbed on its own head. People can't understand what they say, so they use artillery to talk.
“This decision of Ming Dynasty is not wise.” Drake insisted: “The English never harmed Ming Dynasty, but these red-haired thieves made trouble with the Japanese pirates when Ming Dynasty was in trouble. ! They even broke through the Kingdom of Malacca and stole it for themselves, so that the caravans of the Ming Dynasty and England had to detour thousands of miles to enter the West! "
"The Kingdom of Malacca is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty!"
Drake found it difficult to understand that the Ming Dynasty, as a kingdom in China, had conflicts and cooperation with the two countries. The Ming Dynasty was attacking the Governor's Palace of Luzon and the Governor's Palace of Goa. This was what he saw with his own eyes, but the Ming Dynasty It is completely unreasonable to still choose to cooperate with the two teeth. How can there be such a deal? Hostility and friendship exist at the same time.
“So according to your logic, we should kill you now because your privateer intends to rob our merchant ship.” Liu Ji sneered and said, “Equal retaliation, isn’t it?”
Xu Fan stretched out his hand to interrupt the argument and said: "Actually, when your envoy John Harrison first went to the Ming Dynasty on a large sailing ship, I, the Ming Dynasty, warmly entertained him, even if it was Legaz. and Antonio described you as a Japanese country, but your Majesty still responded with a letter of credence from the Queen of England, expressing his willingness to do business."
"But it is a pity that you have chosen another path. Once the privateering license is issued, Ming Dynasty, as a beneficiary of the maritime order, can no longer maintain friendly relations with England."
"After you go back, you should tell the British royal family, parliament, nobles, and gentlemen that Ming Dynasty. We should reflect on the reasons for the change in the court's attitude and look for the reasons within ourselves instead of blindly asking Ming Dynasty to ask why Ming Dynasty refused to establish friendly relations with England. "
Xu Fan was speaking from his heart. In fact, the Ming Dynasty was not averse to contact with England at first. Even though the special envoy from Taipei repeatedly said that England was a troublemaker, stirring up trouble and making the whole Taipei mess, the Ming Dynasty did not care about these. Once the privateering license was issued, it could not No wonder Ming Dynasty did not maintain friendship with the English.
The stronger the national power, the greater the benefits of order.
Xu Fan and Liu Ji did not kill Drake in the end, but snatched all his body parts and threw him out of the Chinese Hall.
Obviously, Drake was able to come to the Chinese Room of the palace with Sauron’s help and Antonio’s acquiescence. Spain and Portugal must also know Ming’s attitude, and this is an excellent Liu Ji and Xu Fan have already shown their tyranny. Too much tyranny will make their allies worried.
At the beginning of the new year, Duchess Catarina gave birth successfully and the child was very healthy. This is great news for the Portuguese and can be regarded as a gift from God.
"So the Duchess has not divorced her husband, but she is with the current King of Portugal, and she has a child. Is Taixi so messed up?" Liu Ji also had a baby in Lisbon It was only in the year before I learned that the Portuguese king's queen had not divorced her ex that Liu Ji's brain almost dried up before he could understand this intricate relationship.
Yes, Duchess Catarina also has a husband named Joao.
Xu Fan said with emotion: "Felipe II used generous conditions to persuade Joao to support him, including but not limited to the position of deputy king of Brazil, the position of grand master of the Knights of Christ, and annual A license to send a private ship to India, a license to allow one ship to participate in the galleon trade to the Ming Dynasty every year, and a license for Joao's daughter to become the crown prince of the Spanish prince."
"Joao. Convinced."
"In fact, the duchess's right to the throne is superior to Antonio. Antonio is just an illegitimate son, but the duchess is not an illegitimate daughter."
"Joao is Bra. The Duke of Ganza became the most powerful nobleman in the Iberian Peninsula. However, because Joao provided his wife with all support except support in the struggle for the throne, the Duchess could only regretfully announce that she would give up the throne. This was also the reason for the Duchess and The reason why the husband parted ways.”
“Chi Qian, Bastard, stop gossiping every day.”
"We will set sail back to Daming the day after tomorrow. The return voyage will be very quick because there are not many goods on the ship. We will trade it again in the Mughal Kingdom." Liu Ji said somewhat relaxedly.
“I really want to go back and take a look.” Xu Fan looked at the boundless sea and said with a sense of loss.
The silver is only about two million silver, and there is a large amount of goods on the ship. Antonio cannot pay the price, so he replenishes it with goods. The fleet will arrive in the Mughal Kingdom within three months. Make the final deal in the Mughal Kingdom, fill up with cotton, return to Songjiang Province, and complete the global trade.
Liu Ji obtained two licenses. These two licenses were issued by the Portuguese royal family and the Spanish royal family respectively, which meant that merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty could supply supplies in the colonial ports of the two countries. It was okay without these two licenses. As long as the 18-pound artillery piece is carried out, the colonial port will naturally choose to let the Ming fleet replenish it.
Artillery is sometimes much easier to use than a license.
Liu Ji took the fleet and set sail again. The ocean-going fleet, which was inconvenient to stay for a long time, stayed in Lisbon for less than half a month and disappeared into the vast sea again.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Ming Dynasty ended its rest, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty began to work, one day earlier than the craftsmen started work on the sixth day of the lunar month.
On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, the sun was shining brightly, and the Ming Emperor's jade chariot slowly drove out of Tonghe Palace and headed towards the two woolen factories on the bank of the Yongding River.
The sixth day of the first lunar month in the eleventh year of Wanli is the day when the Ming Dynasty resumes work. It is also the day when the Ming Dynasty issues industrial and commercial banks. It is also the day when bonus silver is distributed. On this day, the Ming Dynasty will issue the Ming Technology Progress Award for the first time. Award, also known as the Chonggu Award, because the gold merit reward plate made of pure gold is engraved with the words "Wang Chonggu Respects and Presents to the Scholars".
This is something the emperor promised, so he will certainly do what he says.
Wang Chonggu grinned almost to the back of his ears. The literati could only gnash their teeth and scold Wang Chonggu for being stupid for paying for awards and still being so happy.
Wang Chonggu naturally had something to say: Is he short of money? Sprinkle water (little meaning).
(End of this chapter)