It has to be said that Li Huan's world map really made everyone present have different reactions. However, after everyone adapted to the impact, Li Huan reached out and pointed to a location on the map and said: "Just now, Mr. Yang Ge asked
Which country is Li's Portugal? Look, everyone, this is where Portugal is."
After listening to Li Huan's words, everyone couldn't help but look where Li Huan was pointing. They saw that in the area above the Ming Dynasty, there were dozens of countries, large and small, densely distributed. These large and small countries looked so big.
It is as big as a province in the Ming Dynasty, and the small one may not even be as big as a prefecture or county in the Ming Dynasty.
So many countries are so densely gathered in a small area, and among the countries marked in the area that Li Huan pointed to, there is a country called Portugal.
The country of Portugal does not seem to have a large territory, at most it is about the same size as an ordinary province of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that the territory of the Ming Dynasty is at least ten times as vast as the country called Portugal.
So when they saw Portugal, some people couldn't help but exclaimed: "This... is this the Portuguese national territory map mentioned by Qin Guogong? Such a small country dares to disrespect me, the Ming Dynasty.
, I really don’t know what my great power is!”
After all, anyone who sees Portugal's national territory map and compares it with Ming Dynasty's territory map will instinctively have the same idea.
Li Huan's eyes swept across the crowd. It can be said that everyone present, including the emperor, had the same expression. Even Zhu Houzhao said with an angry face: "It's so funny. For such a small country,
How dare you disrespect me, Ming Dynasty."
Li Huan was not surprised at all by everyone's reaction. After all, everyone in the Ming Dynasty did not know how powerful such a small Portuguese power was. Why did the high-level officials of the Ming Dynasty never turn their attention to overseas places? They have been staring at them for thousands of years.
With this piece of land.
With a slight cough, Li Huan said with a somewhat indifferent look on his face: "You don't think that Portugal is a small country, do you?"
As if they heard the different meaning hidden in Li Huan's words, everyone present was an official in the officialdom. Even if their faces straightened, some even stared at the Portuguese territory map and pondered.
Judging from what Li Huan meant, it was obvious that the country called Portugal was not as simple as they thought.
】
At this moment, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan and said, "I wonder how powerful Portugal is. Compared with our Ming Dynasty, which one is stronger and which one is weaker?"
For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Li Huan. They didn't know much about Portugal, but Li Huan obviously did. They were also very curious about what there was about Portugal that deserved to be treated so seriously by Li Huan.
Li Huan spoke slowly and said solemnly: "Everyone, if Li said that among the dozens and hundreds of countries in the world, in terms of strength, Portugal can at least be among the top three, I don't know.
Can you trust me?"
As soon as Li Huan said this, everyone suddenly showed expressions of astonishment and shock, and their eyes once again fell on the large map of the world on the ground.
On that map of the world, there are at least dozens or hundreds of countries, big and small, marked by Li Huan. Among so many big and small countries, the territory of some countries is almost as large as that of the Ming Dynasty, such as Portugal.
There are no less than dozens of countries.
Just looking at the territory map, in their opinion, it is difficult for Portugal's national power to be among the top ten. But now Li Huan actually told them that Portugal's national power is so strong that it can be among the top three in the world. This
How not to shock them.
Li Huan ignored everyone's reaction and continued: "Now the Western countries of our Ming Dynasty are expanding crazily towards the ocean, and among them, the strongest ones on the ocean are Portugal and Spain. It can be said that these two countries
The power at sea is so strong that even the Ming Dynasty could not compare with it before. To say that these two countries are almost unrivaled at sea, the two countries even signed a treaty a few years ago.
Divided the whole world..."
"Arrogant, really extremely arrogant. A small barbarian country actually dares to carve up the world. Have you ever asked me if the Ming Dynasty would agree?"
Zhu Houzhao showed disdain almost immediately and said with a bit of ridicule.
When Zhu Houzhao reacted like this, Li Huan just smiled slightly, bowed his hands to the emperor and said: "What your majesty said is true, but there is one thing I have to admit, that is, in terms of maritime strength alone, Portugal can indeed rival our Ming Dynasty."
Let’s compete.”
Since ancient times, the Central Plains Dynasty has prided itself on being the center of the world and the country above the Celestial Empire. In the eyes of the Central Plains Dynasty, except for the Central Plains, everyone outside the Central Plains is barbarian.
Now that he suddenly learned from Li Huan that the world was huge and that there were even countries whose strength was not weaker than that of the Ming Dynasty, at least the minds of the important ministers present were greatly impacted.
As the chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Yangming looked at Li Huan with a somewhat solemn look on his face and said: "Qin Guogong, now that our Ming Dynasty has opened the sea, maritime trade is becoming more and more prosperous, and the Portuguese are expanding crazily on the sea. If you look at it this way, I
Ming Dynasty will inevitably conflict with it!"
Li Huan nodded and said: "What the chief assistant said is true. As long as the Ming Dynasty opens the sea, then sooner or later we will have conflicts with these Western barbarians, just like what happened to the Ming Dynasty royal caravan in Nanyang this time.
Likewise, those Western barbarians will not do business with us honestly. As long as there is an opportunity, they will never mind using force to deal with my Ming caravan."
"Then let's fight him, completely defeat these barbarians, and let them know that my power is inviolable."
Zhu Houzhao said decisively.
Some people couldn't help but open their mouths after listening to Zhu Houzhao's words, subconsciously wanting to remonstrate with the emperor. After all, when it comes to war, it is necessary to mobilize troops, waste people and money, and now the Xungui Group has gradually regained its former power through several wars. If it continues
If this continues, won't these civil servants like them be overpowered by nobles and nobles?
But when he saw the cold light shining in the emperor's eyes and Li Huan's indifferent expression, he couldn't help but swallow the words that came to his lips.
Especially at this moment, Wang Yangming, who is the chief minister of the cabinet, just pondered for a moment and then nodded without hesitation: "What your Majesty said is true. I, the Ming Dynasty, must teach these barbarians a lesson."
After Wang Yangming became the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhu Houzhao felt that his life as emperor had suddenly become much easier. Seeing Wang Yangming's extreme support, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile a little.
When Zhu Houzhao's eyes fell on Li Huan, Zhu Houzhao said: "Li Qing, since the Portuguese is so powerful, in your opinion, is the naval power of the Ming Dynasty his rival?"
Li Huan said without hesitation: "If the Portuguese use all their strength, they can build a fleet of more than a thousand ships. Our Ming Dynasty may not be able to defeat the opponent steadily, but the Portuguese occupy too much power in the world."
If there are too many places, the power cannot be concentrated at all. In this case, the opponent is really no match for my Ming Dynasty."
As he spoke, Li Huan chuckled and said: "Not to mention other things, just the newly formed navy of our Ming Dynasty that is now assembled at Tianjin Wei Port, if they all go to war, their strength will no longer be weaker than that of the Portuguese."
When everyone heard what Li Huan said, they knew that the Portuguese were so powerful, and all the worries they had in their hearts disappeared. After all, according to what Li Huan said, although the Portuguese were very strong, the Ming Dynasty had built so many ships.
It's not weak at all.
If it comes to fighting, the Ming Dynasty is really not afraid of any barbarians.
Li Huan suddenly saluted the emperor and said: "I sincerely request your majesty to review our fleet of the Ming Navy in person to boost the morale of our officers and men."
Everyone was discussing this matter before, but most of the people present at the time were opposed. In the opinion of these people, the emperor should stay in the imperial city instead of going to Tianjin Guard to review.
Naval fleet, this is not what an emperor should do.
If they had reasons to object before, now that they learned that there were countries as powerful as Portugal and Spain in the world, at least they felt a sense of crisis in their hearts.
Zhu Houzhao looked down at the reactions of everyone. Seeing that many of the ministers who had previously objected lowered their heads, Zhu Houzhao nodded with a smile on his face and said: "Okay, in that case, I will come in person on the third day of the visit."
Tianjin Guard, personally review the Ming Dynasty Navy fleet."
From Tianjin Wei to the capital, it would only be half a day's journey if we were to go at a fast pace.
When Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and the others arrived at the capital with their memorials, Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and the others were actually already halfway there. By the evening, the group had already arrived at the capital.
In the imperial city, Zhu Houzhao immediately learned the news that Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others had entered the capital. Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others were also brought to the imperial city. At the same time, they got the emperor's will to arrange for the emperor to arrive in the capital in three days.
Li Huan, who had travel matters, was also summoned into the palace by the emperor.
In a palace, Zhu Houzhao was sitting upright, while Li Huan sat down at the head of the emperor's palace. His eyes fell on Luo Xiang and Jiang Bin who were walking into the palace.
Luo Xiang's eyes were a little red, and he trotted into the palace, bowed down at the emperor's feet, and said with a trembling voice: "I pay my respects to Your Majesty, wuwuwu, I thought I would never see Your Majesty again..."
Looking at Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others, Zhu Houzhao coughed lightly, waved his hands and said: "My dear friends went to Nanyang and came back after all the hardships. I am very relieved. Please get up quickly without courtesy."
After Zhu Houzhao ordered them to get up, Luo Xiang and others slowly got up.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao said slowly: "Luo Daban, you and Qin Guogong, please tell me what you saw and experienced during your trip to Nanyang."
Zhu Houzhao obviously did not forget to summon several cabinet ministers.
So Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others told each other in detail what they experienced when they went to Nanyang. It can be said that it was really ups and downs and full of dangers.
After all, sea navigation in this era is really full of dangers. If you don't take it easy, the ship may be silent and the body will be left dead. A storm can destroy a caravan, and they have experienced such dangers more than once.
When it comes to their attack on the Portuguese fleet in Sumatra, their lucky escape after paying a heavy price, and their embarrassing return all the way, Luo Xiang, Jiang Bin and others still think about those Portuguese who chased them for thousands of miles.
The killing was done with gnashing of teeth.
At the end, Luo Xiang almost cried: "Your Majesty, the old slave and others are incompetent. Originally, there were more than a dozen large ships and four to five million taels of gold and silver. In the end, because of the Portuguese, they only brought back less than ten ships.
, even the gold and silver have been lost as much as one million taels, please forgive me!"
"What, you said that during your trip to Nanyang, you actually earned millions of taels of gold and silver, only to be robbed of millions of taels by the Portuguese?"
Liu Yu, one of the cabinet ministers, couldn't help but exclaimed. His eyes were wide open and his face was full of disbelief. Looking at his reaction, it was obvious that he was shocked by Luo Xiang's words.
Not only Liu Yu, but almost everyone present except Li Huan looked shocked after hearing Luo Xiang's words.
Zhu Houzhao knew that the goods carried by the Ming royal caravan that went to Nanyang with Luo Xiang were only worth hundreds of thousands of taels. However, when they arrived in Nanyang, the value of the goods increased more than ten times when they changed hands. How crazy is this?
benefits.
Four to five million taels of gold and silver, before tax reform was implemented, was comparable to the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty in one year. This was earned from just a trip to Nanyang.
Suddenly, Zhu Houzhao understood why Emperor Taizongwen was able to conquer Mobei several times during his reign and used troops abroad for many years, but he never worried about the shortage of money and food.
It could be said that this was because Emperor Renzong managed the affairs of the court and provided logistical support to Emperor Taizong Wen. But if Zheng He went to the West several times and did not bring back huge benefits, Zhu Houzhao would not believe it anyway.
However, when Zhu Houzhao thought that the millions of taels of gold and silver that should have belonged to him had been robbed by the Portuguese, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but said angrily: "Damn the Portuguese, I must make them pay."
cost."
Zhu Houzhao glanced at Luo Xiang and others, then cast his eyes on Wang Yangming and others: "Do you have anything else to ask?"
Several people looked at each other, and when Wang Yangming saw that Li Huan had no intention of asking, he said: "Superintendent Luo, Jiang Qianhu, Wang, let me ask you, what is the strength of those barbarians? In your opinion, is it necessary for Ming Dynasty to mobilize troops for an expedition?"
Thousands of miles away?"
[It’s the end of the month, so you guys have monthly tickets for me to buy]