Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 406: Xingang Xuanwei Division

Edgar had come from the Old Port and was now kneeling in front of Zhu Changluo.

Although he had to bow his head under the eaves now, Edgar was still a little indignant at the Eastern Emperor's insistence on having an audience with him based on Eastern interests.

After being allowed to stand up, he looked at the other two Europeans on one side of the emperor's throne.

He did not recognize these two people.

Zhu Changluo saw where his gaze was, so he started talking from there.

"I know more about your place than you think. Portugal has been annexed by Spain. How are you going to maintain your share of trade in what you call the East Indies?"

Edgar was startled and looked at the Eastern Emperor.

His face had a calm expression and his eyes were filled with indifferent scrutiny.

His envoys could speak a little of the language spoken by the Portuguese, and there were people from Europe around the Eastern emperor, so it is not surprising that he knew Europe well.

After waiting for a few days in Guangzhou, he finally had the chance to meet the Eastern Emperor. When faced with this question, Edgar was more surprised by his directness.

"Your Majesty, although the Kingdom of Portugal lost the war with Spain, the Spanish royal family did not overly affect Portugal's interests in the East Indies. Although the Dutch and the English also began to try to trade in the Spice Islands, Portugal's position in India and the Spice Islands remains solid..."

Edgar did not forget his mission. He bowed and said, "We have handed over Macau in compliance with the order of His Majesty the Emperor. Although our houses and other properties there have been confiscated, Portugal still hopes to express our friendly attitude and hopes to have the opportunity to obtain stable trade in your powerful empire."

"Opportunities always exist." Zhu Changluo looked at him, "But you are not qualified enough to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty. You are a messenger. Now listen to me."

Of course opportunities will always exist. Why is the Ming Dynasty afraid of free trade?
Even in the period of history that he was familiar with, the Ming Dynasty saw a steady flow of silver earned by these Westerners from global colonization, and it can be said that it was always in a state of trade surplus.

Now, under his leadership, the New Ming Dynasty is systematically developing science and technology, industry, and armaments.

Since Nandu was established, of course it was necessary to open up trade. Even if they couldn't bear it in the future, they could still knock on the door for free trade.

But Edgar is not qualified to discuss this matter with the Ming Dynasty.

Edgar didn't say much, he knew his own limitations.

He was not even as good as the big shots in Malacca, let alone the Indian Governor of Goa. As for the remaining Portuguese royal family and nobles, he could not even get in touch with them.

So this might be an opportunity for him.

"Whether you are from Portugal, Spain, or the English and Dutch who are coming here, you must first understand that the East Indies and Spice Islands, including Luzon, Ryukyu and Japan, have been vassal states of China for thousands of years. Now that my order has arrived, all the countries have come to pay homage. You have already seen the situation in Guangzhou."

Zhu Changluo stared at him and said, "If you want to trade with the Ming Dynasty, you must be clear-headed. It was a joke that you and Spain divided the world to determine the sphere of colonial influence. With new opponents, it is just a matter of who has stronger military power and skills. In short, you must clearly recognize the existence of the Ming Dynasty in the East and understand that your colonization of Malacca and the Spice Islands is an infringement on the Ming Dynasty. This is the premise for signing a trade treaty."

Edgar stared at him in a daze, then noticed the sharpness in his eyes. He lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, do you want Portugal to give up its rule in the Spice Islands? Please forgive my frankness, this is not realistic..."

"You are only responsible for delivering the message. Later, the diplomatic department of the Ming Dynasty will formally deliver letters of credence to the royal families of various countries." Zhu Changluo said calmly, "Respecting the influence of the Ming Dynasty is the basic premise. The door to trade is open, but the colonial rule of the Ming Dynasty's vassal states is intolerable. If you can't clearly understand this, then naturally we can only use military confrontations to make you all more aware of this."

After that, he paused and said lightly: "There are also America and Africa, right?"

Edgar stopped talking. The Eastern Emperor was much more powerful than he had imagined.

Although he knew that the Ming Dynasty had not directly projected its military force to the Spice Islands and the Strait of Malacca for a long time, there was indeed a basic reality: it was closer to the Ming Dynasty.

"During this long period of time, you can still come to the Ming Dynasty in the name of private merchant ships and trade with merchants with foreign trade qualifications in the Ming Dynasty, but you will not enjoy the preferential tariff treatment of a country that has formally signed a commercial trade treaty." Zhu Changluo continued, "Before the Ming Dynasty re-establishes the order in the South Seas, you can and will definitely colonize there, but the Ming Dynasty's army may appear there at any time. This is of course a gamble."

Staring into his eyes, Zhu Changluo said slowly: "The immediate benefits are still there, but when the war comes, you may be treated as a loser and surrender your property and life. If you use the military only as an escort force for the trade fleet and end the colonial rule over the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, you can safely and stably obtain profits from the Eastern trade. How to choose depends on the wisdom of Portugal. In short, the extremely favorable tariffs will be temporarily closed, at least your trade profits from the Ming Dynasty will be temporarily reduced."

Edgar hesitated to speak, this was certainly not good news.

But the powerful emperor had emphasized twice that he was only responsible for delivering the message.

And such news was not only directed at Portugal, but also at every royal family that was planning to send fleets and soldiers here to colonize.

Portugal was the first to obtain this information. If it were to take such a gamble, the trade profit rate from the Eastern Empire would inevitably decline. What would be the benefit?
Fortunately, Zhu Changluo then mentioned the third point, which shocked Edgar.

"The Ming Dynasty will build a huge port city at the mouth of the Pearl River. You are aware of the trade potential with the Ming Dynasty. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Portugal to maintain its current trade share. I believe the Portuguese royal family, nobles and big merchants are also aware of this. Negotiate with the Ming Dynasty and become the first European trading partner of the Ming Dynasty. This is your hope for restoration and for becoming strong again. Colonization is also for profit, and trade can also bring profit. Let them consider the choice carefully."

After a pause, he added: "This port city will have special land allocated and the right to use it will be sold, or you can rent houses built by the Ming Dynasty. The entire city will of course be managed by the Ming Dynasty, but it will be a window for trade and communication between the East and you in the West. You know, this is equivalent to establishing a formal trading post in the East, which will be the first to accumulate enough trading partners and obtain priority supply of goods."

Zhu Changluo looked at Edgar deeply: "Don't exhaust the last of Portugal's strength in Malacca, shrink and gather in India, you can still get a steady stream of benefits from the Spice Islands and the Ming Dynasty, and look for opportunities to restore the country after you have recovered enough strength. As a help, the Ming Dynasty can first target the Spaniards entrenched in Luzon to create that opportunity for you, understand?"

After hearing this, Edgar took a deep breath, then bent down and said, "Your Majesty, I have remembered your request and advice. I will be a good messenger and bring this message back. Thank you for your honesty, I will definitely give you my sincere suggestions and hope that everything will be better."

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "Officer Jie, take him to Duke Jingguo again and let him see the Nine Thunder Gun. Let him know that their achievements in Southeast Asia are only because the Ming Dynasty did not care about ocean affairs before." Xie Jingfu took the order and took the confused Edgar to find Yu Zigao.

Just letting him see the power, that's fine.

And these guys who relied on the power of firearms to beat up the cold weapon tribe, of course, knew very well what the Nine Thunder Gun meant.

After watching the drill, Edgar, looking pale and dazed, followed the interpreter out to the gate.

"From your expression, I know what's going on." The Scripture Explanation Master said calmly, "You can also take this message back. Nanyang is Ming's Nanyang. Your Majesty is determined to govern Nanyang. If you can also send a million troops here, Ming will not mind. The descendants of the Malacca royal family that you expelled have now established several new countries and have sent envoys to pay homage. Your Majesty is kind and benevolent. Since the foreign vassal states have requested it, the royal army will go. Whether they are the enemy or the friend of Ming is up to you, Portugal."

There was a look of suppressed fear in Edgar's eyes, and he looked at the interpreter without saying a word.

Of course he understands.

Have the weapons of the Ming Dynasty reached this level?

This was just the standard equipment for ordinary soldiers, so what about the new artillery that used a principle he didn't understand at all? What about the new warships?
During the years in Macau, he had heard that there was a shipyard on the other side of the bay. There were many craftsmen gathered there, and a lot of wood and materials were consumed. But the Portuguese traveled between Ming and Malacca, but they had never seen many new warships in Ming.

Of course, it is impossible that there are only those modified Ming Dynasty coastal defense warships, which cannot consume so much supplies and manpower.

Now, it doesn’t matter whether there are new artillery and new warships.

The important thing is that the Ming Dynasty is much closer to Malacca than Portugal, and this kind of unheard-of musket... Whether it is Portugal, Spain or the Netherlands, if they can only send a maximum of a few thousand people to the East at a time, how can they be the opponent of the Eastern army equipped with such muskets on a large scale?
After all, an army is needed to occupy the colonial port cities.

The Portuguese had suffered losses at the hands of the Ming Dynasty, but they never considered themselves weak.

After all, at that time, the weapons and tactics of the Eastern Empire were relatively backward in their eyes, and their bureaucrats were very easy to bribe.

But now it seems to be really different, and Portugal is no longer what it used to be.

Edgar returned to the inn where he was staying in a daze.

He was not qualified to participate in the subsequent ceremony, but he still had the opportunity to attend the maritime trade expo.

It is said that future trade treaties can be negotiated.

The merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty will go to further places, and the power of the Spice Islands will soon have a huge empire. The Portuguese have been operating here for many years, and their trade share is struggling to maintain. Now the new rival is not the Dutch and the Spanish.

How to face this Eastern empire that is about to pour its mighty power into the Eastern Ocean?

Edgar began to write letters with mixed feelings. He wanted to ask his former familiar partners to take the letters to Tokyo first... no, to what the Ming Dynasty called Annan.

Afterwards, he hoped to negotiate a big deal at the Maritime Trade Expo, and first expressed his personal willingness to follow the requirements of the Ming Dynasty to promote this matter, so as to use the Ming Dynasty's merchant ships and the support represented by this form to go to Malacca.

The royal nobles and big businessmen certainly hope to restore their country, break away from Spanish control, and obtain all the benefits.

With the help of this new type of musket, even more can be imagined!

Edgar is not a politician, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own judgment.

In the Admiral's Mansion in Guangzhou, Zhu Changluo smiled and said after listening to the report of the Confucian Master: "Of course, it's not just bluffing. The Nine Thunder Gun is the Nine Thunder Gun, and the old-fashioned matchlock army can't resist it. As for artillery, the Ming Dynasty will also be completely superior. After the new warships are launched, the Nanyang Fleet will be formed, and of course the doorstep must be cleaned up. If they just come to do business, then treat them and let them bring silver and raw materials needed by the Ming Dynasty. If they still want to occupy a piece of land at the doorstep of the Ming Dynasty, then fight them out."

"I think he has already surrendered."

"He is useless. After all, his status is too low. I'm afraid the powerful people in Portugal think he is bragging on purpose to seek personal gain." Zhu Changluo shook his head. "It's just a courtesy before force. They have Malacca, which is well occupied. How can they give it up like this? Without another defeat, there will be no next step."

Looking at the congratulatory letter from the King of Johor in his hand, Zhu Changluo thought for a moment and said, "Let's write to the Privy Council to the Beiyang Fleet. Only a part of them can be left in Korea. The elite backbones who have been trained should be promoted and rewarded, and they will be added to the Nanyang Fleet as the backbone, and let Shen Yourong lead them. We can build a batch of new warships next year, and we can set sail for Nanyang the year after."

He smiled and said, "I guess by then, the Portuguese envoys will have brought their reply to the Ming Dynasty. They must have wanted to retain their colonial presence in Southeast Asia and at the same time try to persuade the Ming Dynasty to sign a formal trade treaty with them first."

He handed the congratulatory letter to Fang Congzhe and said, "We should fight and talk at the same time. As time goes by, they will know how to talk. Malacca has been destroyed and became Johor, Aceh and other countries. Naturally, we don't need to give them the old capital of Malacca. It is enough to help the descendants of Malacca to unify. As for Malacca, it will be the location of the new port Xuanwei Division in the future, controlling the entire strait. In the future, it will be the maritime border of the Ming Dynasty, and a prince must be stationed there forever!"

The commentator said he understood.

Pick the soft persimmon first. The Portuguese and the Ming Dynasty also had a blood feud, so how could they not seek revenge? First they were frightened and then they were recruited as a helping hand. In the future, they would be the Ming Dynasty's helper in exerting influence on those Western countries.

Isn't it for profit that they cross the ocean? If they can't take it by force, but can take it by trickery, they will naturally make a wise choice.

However, since the Old Port Xuanwei Envoy Shi Erjie surrendered to Majapahit in the fifth year of Zhengtong, the Old Port Xuanwei Office disappeared. In the present Ming Dynasty, the New Port Xuanwei Office has been established.

This time, the approach is different.

(End of this chapter)