Chapter 560 We Taixi should join forces to fight against Ming!
Zhu Yijun, the weightlifting champion of the Ming Dynasty, carried the giant thunder of the silver dam. According to the degree of accumulation of silver by internal funds, tens of millions of taels of silver piled up every year. To dismantle this giant thunder, we must use military force. The craftsmen in the battle were loyal to the emperor and the country and rapidly increased the number of silver coins printed, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would be blocked and crushed.
This was also the reason for the economic collapse in the late Yongle period. Silver flowed in, but a large amount was concentrated in internal funds. The people did not benefit from the inflow of silver, but were harmed, and eventually official ships and official trade were stopped.
The suspension of official ships and official trade was the best solution that could be found at the time amid many contradictions. Now the Ming Dynasty has once again opened official ships and official trade, including global caravans, galleons trade, Japanese silver, and Wo Ma. Gangyin Mine, these all caused a large inflow of white silver. Through various channels, nearly half of the silver eventually flowed into the internal funds of the Ming Emperor. If it could not be dredged, there would be no currency to use downstream.
But it doesn’t matter. As long as the emperor is willing to allocate it, there will be no problem with the craftsmen. The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty can be relied on. Zhu Yijun chose to trust the craftsmen.
Felipe II's special envoy Solon finally gave up his plan under the persuasion of another special envoy Legas.
The price to pay for being against the Ming Dynasty is too high. If the Ming Dynasty really hates the Ming Emperor, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will spare no effort to arm Antonio and be on good terms with England. If the Ming, Portuguese and British families join forces, even if they cannot destroy Spain, they can The local fleet of the arrogant empire on which the sun never sets is blocked in the Strait of Gibraltar, making it difficult to move forward.
The narrowest part of the Strait of Gibraltar is only twenty-eight miles. It is the only passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. At sea, only a few small boats are needed to complete surveillance here. Heavy artillery is set up on both sides, plus five The firepower of the over-masted ships completely blocked the Invincible Fleet in the bathtub of the Mediterranean Sea. It was not Sauron's unfounded worries.
Once the Strait of Gibraltar is controlled by others, Spain will only be able to control it like a giant dragon.
The Ming Dynasty is certainly beyond its reach now, but England and Portugal certainly hope to have one less diner on the table, and even bring Spain to the table.
Sauron really went to see Rui De's grave. Originally, Sauron wanted to make up for his life, but finally gave up. Rui De's past was actually very boring. A very ordinary illegitimate son of a nobleman was sent to The seminary, with the idea of spreading divine grace, went to India.
John Harrison was in great pain. He hoped to communicate with the officials of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites, but the Ming Dynasty sent two people who did not understand Latin to contact John. This was equivalent to turning off the microphone and refusing to communicate. John I'm having a huge headache with those square characters, I can't understand them at all.
John's relationship with Spain was not good, and his relationship with Portugal was also very poor, but the only people who were good at Chinese were the envoys from these two countries.
The Ming Dynasty's cotton business had a huge impact on the whole of England. Coupled with Felipe II's constant temptations, the British Parliament was overwhelmed and hoped that diplomacy would bring some relief to the precarious situation. Things are turning around, but the hope is very slim.
John made various efforts to finally get Ming's intention from the Dutch envoys. Before revoking the privateering license, Ming refused to have any contact with the English envoys. Ming hated the pirates deeply and deeply hated them. The Ming Dynasty, which suffered from the Japanese invasion, had a consensus that they refused to associate with pirates.
With the strength of the Ming Navy and the production capacity of the Ming Dynasty, if pirates were allowed to exist, the pirates of the Ming Dynasty would spread throughout the South and West Oceans.
This is not a choice of moral integrity, but Ming Dynasty needs a stable sea territory to protect the safety of coastal people and allow the goods produced by Ming Dynasty's powerful productivity to circulate smoothly.
John found Sauron.
Yes, John, an English pirate, found the Spanish envoy Sauron. Since the privateering license was issued, Spain has closed all channels of communication with England. Before, he was proposing to marry the Queen of England. Felipe, now severed diplomatic relations with England.
If England wants to have an official dialogue with Spain, it needs to find an envoy in the Ming Dynasty. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, the envoys of both countries have to give face to the Ming Dynasty.
"We should unite and fight against the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is really too powerful." When John saw Sauron and saw that Li Yashi was not there, he was immediately overjoyed and without hesitation, he went straight to the point and explained his purpose. .
In John's heart, Legas was already an official of the Ming Dynasty. This recognition was not only felt by him, but also by Felipe.
England, Portugal, and Spain join forces, and the West will have a bright future!
The Ming Dynasty is so powerful, the West and the West should unite!
“Are you telling some weird joke?” Sauron looked at John and said blankly: “We in Spain are cooperating with you group of pirates to fight against the Ming Dynasty? Is there something wrong with my ears? , Did you hear it wrong, or is there something wrong with your head?”
“I want England to die immediately. If I can’t defeat the Ming Dynasty, I can’t defeat you English people!”
“ Being with pirates is a shame!”
John slapped the table, took two steps forward, and shouted loudly: “Don’t you do enough bad things in Spain?” There is an old Chinese saying. Fifty steps make you laugh at a hundred steps. When running away, those who run fifty steps laugh at those who run a hundred steps. We are pirates. Are you not pirates? The whole new world is your pirate. ! "
"We are forced! No one is born to be a pirate! After our merchant ship was robbed, weren't those goods also traded in our Cape Verde? No more slave hunting? The miners in the Rich Silver Mountain and the Peruvian Saltpeter Mountain are all voluntary, right?"
Solan also slammed the table and took two steps forward, and said sternly: " They have converted! They are all believers in God. They have contributed their efforts to God and will eventually be saved! They will go to the Kingdom of God after death.”
John and Sauron were already touching the tips of their noses, spitting everywhere. John sneered and said with great disdain: "Hypocritical, more shameless than us English people! At least we admit our banditry, and you, tsk tsk, Put the blame on God, and then continue to do those evil things after repenting devoutly before God!”
“At least we are not as hypocritical as you!”
“ You have blasphemed God! I want to duel with you!" Sauron is very good at debating, but no one can be convinced by this kind of argument. He is obviously an even more hateful troublemaker. This righteous look is really too much. I hate it!
John is an adventurer and has been fighting with people at sea all year round. Of course he is not afraid of the requirements of this kind of duel. Sauron is already very old. He picked up the gloves on the table and threw them on Sauron's In front of him, he half-raised his head and said, "Come on then! You don't have a clear understanding of your own strength. Let me help you sober up."
"Use this." Sauron took out A firecracker.
A very exquisite handgun, a flintlock handgun. This was a gift given to Felipe II by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty last time. It was used to demonstrate the technology of the Ming Dynasty fire gun. It is not removable. Zhu Yijun once After it was dismantled once, he couldn't put it back together. The fire gun was specially made, and the structure of the Ming Dynasty fire gun would be simpler. Simplicity means reliability.
"You!" John looked at the musket in Sauron's hand blankly, and immediately regretted agreeing to the duel.
"What are you! Are you still dueling?" Sauron took out the medicine bag and prepared to fill it. Of course, John also had a blunderbuss, but the activation speed of the matchlock gun was far slower than that of the flintlock gun. He would definitely be more capable. Shoot quickly and let the opponent die in front.
John said with a red face: "Huh! Even if you win, you won't win with courage, wisdom or your own strength, but with unfair means. This is not honorable!"
Sauron shook the fire gun in his hand and said: "Coward, why don't you go to Marcus for a duel? He is a sword master, so if you don't go to him, go to my secretary who has no force, you will be very glorious. ”
Marcus's sword is faster and his spear is faster. If there is a swordsmanship competition, he is very powerful. If there is a fire blunderbuss competition, Marcus is invincible with the flintlock blunderbuss given by the Ming Emperor.
John would not challenge Marcus to a duel because he couldn't beat him.
The young ministers Gao Qiyu and Xu Jiugao outside the door were filled with emotion when they heard the movement inside the door. Your Majesty deliberately made John and Sauron neighbors. It turned out that he was here to watch a good show!
It's like the Ryukyu King Naohisa and the Japanese King Ashikaga Yoshiaki are next to each other. They throw excrement at each other all day long, so much so that the emperor issued an order not to let them do it. The stench was so bad.
John and Sauron were neighbors. They didn't talk much about it, but after a few quarrels, they were about to use firearms.
Xu Jiugao thought for a moment and whispered: "Actually, we are going in now to give them a step down. After all, it is a bit embarrassing now. John said he is an adventurer, but in fact he is also a pirate. He does not cherish his reputation at all. , but he cherishes his life, and Sauron doesn’t want to really kill John. After all, he is the envoy sent by England to the Ming Dynasty. If he kills John, where will the Ming Dynasty be placed?”
“Do you want to go in? "Gao Qiyu also hesitated.
The two young ministers were in front of the door, neither going in nor leaving. There were people all over the Ming Dynasty who wanted to have fun and see how the two people who had quarreled about a duel would end.
In the end, John got discouraged and chose to apologize and let Sauron calm down.
"Are you really not going to consider my proposal? Let's join forces in Taixi to fight against the Ming Dynasty." After John apologized, his tone became gentler.
Sauron asked in reply: "The Ming Dynasty can give us goods like the Pacific Ocean, but what can England give us? Apart from being scolded, what else can we get by cooperating with England?"
"Nothing can be gained. , even if we annex you, countless homeless people need to be resettled. Ireland, Scotland and you all have different ideas and actions, and we still need to spend a lot of money to solve these problems."
"So, it's a matter of life and death. It's the only fate between our two countries."
"Humph, we English are not easy to bully! You will regret it!" John stood up.
In fact, John knew very well that Sauron was right. England could not provide enough benefits to Spain. Things like diplomatic relations only depended on benefits. The little woolen business England had was with Spain's Mesta. The association has a conflict of interest. Ming Dynasty does not export woolen cloth to the outside world because it is working on the side and there is not enough woolen cloth itself, let alone selling it out.
Last time Sauron wanted woolen cloth, but the Ming Emperor decisively rejected it and gave him cotton cloth as a cheap substitute.
John left angrily. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the two young ministers who had not left. They were people that John had never wanted to see before. This chance encounter made John overjoyed. ban.
"You two young gentlemen, I finally see you!" John immediately greeted him in Latin.
"Do you know Latin?" Xu Jiugao looked at Gao Qiyu and asked in Latin.
Gao Qiyu also said in Latin: "I can't, can you? Do you understand what he said?"
"It seems that we need to find a general manager, otherwise we can't understand what he says, how can we communicate?" Xu Jiugao ignored John, and the two young men just left the slightly embarrassed John and walked in inside the room.
Of course they did it on purpose. Emperor Ming said that Ming would not have contact with England until the British royal family withdrew the privateering license.
Xu Jiugao and Gao Qiyu came to Suolun to confirm the list of goods. Bulk commodities such as silk, cotton, ships, etc. need to be confirmed in the Jingtang in order to buy enough goods. Of course, private purchases will be cheaper. , but it will take a long, long time. Only the imperial court can satisfy such a large order.
"The five-masted ocean-going ship has been reduced from 250,000 silver to 180,000 silver. This year, it has been reduced to 50,000 silver. So what did Spain buy?!" Sauron looked at the trade list. The price of the ship, he said with great horror.
It’s simply unbelievable that the price has dropped so drastically.
Gao Qiyu said with a smile: "Thanks to the ability of vertical integration, production costs have dropped rapidly. This is natural. Of course, this price reduction is only achieved by Daming merchants. Any five-masted ship The ships that cross the ocean must be piloted one by one and inspected every two years. Even if they are reported as damaged, they will be seen alive or dead. ""If Taixi wants to buy a five-masted ship, the price will be 180,000 silver. ”
If a merchant from the Ming Dynasty bought and sold a five-masted ocean-going ship and could not provide documentary evidence, such as a customs clearance document from the Municipal Shipping Department, to prove that the loss was indeed caused by maritime trade, then this merchant and His relatives and friends were no longer allowed to buy new five-masted ocean ships.
This is a combination of melons and vines. As long as one person violates the imperial ban, he and his relatives and friends will suffer together.
"It only costs 50,000 silver to sell it to the Ming Dynasty, and 180,000 silver to sell it to us? Isn't this bullying!" Sauron clenched his fists, the price difference was more than three times!
"You think it's expensive but I don't think it's expensive either. Do you think you can buy as much as you want? It depends on how much the craftsmen in the shipyard can make. Ming Dynasty merchants don't have enough, so you don't have to buy it. Look at cotton cloth. The price of cotton cloth has increased again this year. It's a price of one silver per piece, how about it? Isn't that very kind?" Xu Jiugao chose to change the topic. If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it. Folk merchants in the Ming Dynasty were very enthusiastic about five-masted ships!
Whether love comes, love buys or not.
If Taishi doesn't buy it, His Majesty will be scolded a few less times. He would rather stay with friends than domestic slaves. This is already a very severe accusation.
“A piece of cloth among the people is only one cent and three cents. The Emperor of Ming Dynasty sold us one piece of cloth for one piece. This is too black. How kind?” Sauron said with a painful expression: “Me too. I can understand some miscellaneous newspapers!"
"Well, you can raise your own money, there are many business gangs in Songjiang Prefecture." Xu Jiugao still smiled and was polite.
The reason why Sauron chose to buy the expensive ones from the Ming Emperor instead of buying the cheap ones was because in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty Merchant Gang, the merchants in the West were all taken advantage of and fat sheep.
The private prices are a little lower than the court prices. The main reason is that the Ming Dynasty also has merchant ships. The merchant ships can bring the goods to Nagasaki and the Mughal Kingdom and sell them at high prices.
The problem caused by being a little cheaper is to pass off inferior products as good ones. The businessmen of the Celestial Kingdom did not give up the pursuit of profit just because they were the Celestial Kingdom.
The quality of goods in Minfang varies greatly. When buying goods from Minfang, you need to test your eyesight. This is true even for cotton, tea, porcelain, and iron pots. If you have this skill, it is better to buy from the imperial court. Purchase, which also involves a judicial issue.
If a trade dispute occurs, the Ming court will be more inclined to local merchants rather than the foreigners like them. Therefore, it is safer to do business with the Ming Dynasty, it is safer to do business with the emperor, although it is a bit more expensive. But the things are really good and very reliable, such as silk and satin. Over the years, the quality has never declined, but the variety has become more diverse.
Moreover, the bulk of the transaction was still silk, which was an extremely expensive luxury product and could only be purchased from the imperial court.
While Sauron was discussing business with Ming Dynasty, Zhao Zhenyuan, the Ming Emperor’s sparring partner and son of Tishuai Zhao Mengyou, brought Tiqi to Legashi’s mansion. He moved out of Siyi Hall in three years. As the general manager of Honglu Temple in Ming Dynasty, he received two salaries from Ming Dynasty and Spain.
This time, Zhao Zhenyuan led a team not to arrest Legas, but to 'ransom the house'.
"Special Envoy Li, don't make your Majesty feel embarrassed." Zhao Zhenyuan looked at Legas in front of the door and said: "You can translate the content that the court allows for translation, but your Majesty does not allow the discussions related to the iron horse. You If you don’t want to hand it over, then I’ll have to dig deep.”
“I don’t have a translator.” Ligasi shook his head and said, “If you don’t believe it, just go check it out.”
Ligas did not seem to be lying, but Zhao Zhenyuan did not hesitate at all. With a wave of his hand, the Tiqiu people scattered out, entered Ligasi's house, and began to rummage through the boxes and cabinets. The Tiqiu people were very professional. After all, they were not guilty of any crime. Make a mess at home.
Tiqi, a professional, did not find any documents that should not be translated.
Legas sighed and said: "I really don't have a translator, because it is useless if I translate it. Instead of translating, it is better to let Taixi send some smart people to learn from it, but judging from my personal example , I’m afraid I won’t be willing to go back.”
The content of Legas’ translation mainly focused on the theory of contradiction and class. The problem in Spain is not productivity, but that the vassal feudal system has come to an end. A way out needs to be found as soon as possible. The steam engine is of course important, but without a stable country, no matter how powerful the machine is, it will not be applied.
Legasi has been in the Ming Dynasty for ten years. He knows where the emperor's boundaries are. Legasi can also clearly distinguish what is diplomatic activity and what is spying.
Ming Dynasty has very strict technical precautions. Any people and goods leaving must be carefully inspected to prevent entrainment.
Zhu Yijun received the memorial from the Ministry of Rites. Regarding the issues that the special envoys from various countries were more concerned about, Zhu Yijun gave a reply. He held a memorial in front of him, paused for a moment and said: "Although selling arms is very profitable, it still counts. Come on, let’s save some face for Felipe.”
The special envoy of the Northern League of the Netherlands, that is, the Utrecht League (Netherlands), is named Iron Mullen, and the Northern League is. Composed of civilians, Ain came here this time to purchase arms from the Ming Emperor for use in the resistance movement.
Al Ain hopes to get help from the Ming Dynasty, which can indeed sell some arms, but this will undoubtedly add obstacles to Felipe II and affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Even if the Ming Dynasty does not participate in this kick, the Netherlands will The north and south regions of China have become de facto independent.
“If Sauron insists on expressing Felipe II’s anger, it’s not impossible to sell. Tell Sauron the news. Felipe II had better make a wise choice, otherwise don’t blame him. Daming added salt to his wound," Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao.
If Sauron roars at the Wenhua Palace, Zhu Yijun can only take it down.
Saulun is different from Ruid. The Ming Dynasty and the Governor-General of Goa are in a hostile state. As an envoy of the enemy country, Ruid's dissatisfaction and his roar are more of a kind of courage. The courage of the Ming Dynasty Emperor to see death as if he were going home and sink the boat, but if the Emperor of Ming Dynasty was in trouble, he would appear to be harsh, and the two soldiers would not be killed when the two armies were handed over.
But the relationship between Ming Dynasty and Spain has not yet fallen to the stage of hostility.
“This Iron Mullen can be considered a figure.” Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand. Iron Mullen’s superficial identity was that of a miller and a member of Parliament of the Northern Alliance, but in fact, secretly, Iron Mullen is a sea captain, a pirate captain.
This is not surprising. The Netherlands is located at the mouth of the Rhine River. Because of its low terrain, it is also called the lowlands. The Dutch themselves are very good at shipbuilding. In the Netherlands, swimming and maneuvering a boat are like innate instincts.
Although Spain's ocean-going fleet needed goods from the Netherlands' handicraft workshops and Dutch people to become sailors, the Spanish still scorned them as sea beggars.
The heavy taxes eventually broke out into fierce resistance. Since the second year of Longqing, a vigorous resistance movement began in the Netherlands, and ultimately succeeded.
Ion Mullen is one of the people who emerged in the resistance movement. He is a resister and a pirate captain. His father was burned at the stake because of illegal activities. He hid Protestant books, and his mother was regarded as a witch, but she avoided the fate of being burned because his mother died in the inquisition under unknown circumstances.
When Iron Mullen was thirteen years old, he turned from a miller's son into a pirate, and then began his brave life, defeating the Spanish army many times, even the famous The Spanish Grand Formation was defeated by Al Ain.
Sauron all knows Iron Mullen. Iron Mullen’s head is worth fifty thousand hot florins. Hot florins are a standard unit of mint, each made of 3.5g of pure gold. To build, that is to say, Iron Mullen's head is worth five thousand taels of gold.
Felipe II was never able to give out the bounty, and Iron Mullen remained alive.
Ion Mullen's growth experience is actually a microcosm of the life of the Dutch. Under the high-pressure rule of the inhumane Inquisition, the Dutch had no choice but to go to sea and become bandits.
In other words, Felipe II is now having such a headache that these pirates who are even unable to recruit are all reaping the consequences.
The Spanish royal family has an annual tax of 5 million florins. More than half of these revenues come from the Netherlands. Felipe implemented high-pressure rule in the Netherlands in exchange for wealth. Now all About to spit it out.
Except for the English envoy John, all the envoys were arranged to meet, and the most special one was the Portuguese envoy Marcus.
Marcus met Marcus alone. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty received Marcus at the Guanlong Pavilion next to the Dragon Pond in Tonghe Palace. This was a distinction between closeness and distance. No matter what, the Portuguese king wore the Ming Dynasty's five-piece robe and received extra preferential treatment. It is also a gesture.
"Last time, the French envoy Gillian was executed by Queen Mother Catherine. France did not send another envoy this year." Marcus talked about the last time the French envoy came to Ming Dynasty with a special mission. As an envoy, Jillian wanted to use a honey trap, but in the end, His Majesty just wanted to sell cotton cloth.
“I have nothing to do with their family affairs, right?” Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: “The problem with their family is that they have no heirs, so they were replaced by the Bourbon family. This is basically the consensus of France. The Queen Mother’s Struggle in vain. "
That ridiculous Henry III has no heirs. This is an unsolvable problem. If there is an heir, Zhu Yijun doesn't mind playing a game of chess.
"How is Antonio's life?" Zhu Yijun asked about the Portuguese King whom he canonized, whom he had not seen for several years.
Marchus said with a smile on his face: "Thanks to His Majesty, Your Highness lives a very comfortable life. Now he has a son. Although he still has conflicts with the nobles in the country, overall, this is In these years, His Highness has had the most peace of mind."
Zhu Yijun rubbed his eyebrows and said with some worry: "What I am saying may not sound good, but I hope Antonio can listen to it."< br>
“What I want to remind him is to be careful of a small group of careerists, especially his soldiers. I know that his soldiers are all former sailors who fought for their lives on the sea with the Portuguese King. They shared life and death and established a deep friendship with Antonio. But people's hearts will change. When Felipe II pays a high enough price, these soldiers will inevitably be affected."
"More straightforward. Speaking of things, be careful of assassinations and armed coups. If he doesn't pay attention now, there is still the possibility of trouble. Of course, I also hope that all Antonio's soldiers will be loyal to Antonio and Portugal. "
Marcu. After Si heard this, he scratched his head and said: "Minister of State Xu Fan reminded His Highness about this issue. After Xu Fan's warning, His Highness is only protected by the coastal defense inspection team Haifei."
"Ah? To be the King of Portugal with him, all depends on my people?" Zhu Yijun sat up straight, looked at Marcus and said in disbelief: "Does the security also have to be handed over to the coastal defense inspection? Are you afraid that I will issue a decree? Let Dazhuang kill him? "
Chen Dazhuang, formerly known as Chen Zhu, was the victim of the Yanzhou Kongfu Grave Case. Ling Yunyi's former guest soldier chose to believe in the emperor again. Coastal defense inspection, now the special envoy to Thailand and the West.
Zhu Yijun called him Da Zhuang, and Ling Yunyi also called him the same. The biggest characteristic of Da Zhuang is that he is very strong.
"His Royal Highness is the King of Portugal canonized by His Majesty. If you don't rely on Your Majesty, what can you rely on..." Marcus said matter-of-factly.
"Antonio wants to default on his debt?" Zhu Yijun frowned and felt that the matter was not simple, and he immediately thought of a possibility.
Marchus looked at His Majesty blankly. He looked at Zhang Hong and Feng Bao for help. He couldn't understand why His Majesty's thinking was so out of the ordinary. Why did he jump to the level where His Majesty wanted to default on the debt?
"I am stupid." Marcus admitted that he was stupid and could not keep up with His Majesty's thinking.
(End of this chapter)