"Yes, yes." Pedro quickly took over the words and took advantage of the donkey path down the slope. "Portugal has always been very friendly to Britain and has never wanted to change this harmonious relationship."
"Alan is a bit young and is not yet able to objectively understand the relationship between countries." John suppressed his smile and said softly, "I personally believe in Portugal's friendly stance. In fact, there are still many differences between our two countries.
It is of common interest, otherwise we would not invite you, sir, to such an informal and important private gathering today."
He used several modifiers in succession to indicate the purpose of today's meeting, and the subtext was to tell Pedro that after today the two of them might not admit to having such a gathering.
Obviously Pedro understood, he nodded solemnly and said, "I can't ask for anything more than to be able to establish a precious friendship with you two."
Portugal is also a dictator-like leader? It has ambiguous relations with Italy and Germany? So what?
As we all know, the British Empire never distinguished between friends and foes based on moral standards. It united with the Dutch to fight the Spanish, united with Germany to check France, and united France to check Germany. This was the tradition of the British Empire.
Portugal is not strong enough to be valued by Britain. Just because Salazar is a dictator? Will Britain find trouble with Portugal? Those old men in London do not have such high moral standards.
So after a brief attack, John felt that the atmosphere was about the same and went straight to the topic, expressing his willingness to maintain the current relationship with the Portuguese, especially on issues in the subcontinent.
"Here in South Asia, we, Britain and Portugal, actually have common interests. After all, we are European countries. The British Empire is not the only colonial empire in the world. More or less, in addition to Germany and Italy, many countries
There are still many colonies, where will these colonies be in the future!" Alan Wilson tilted his head and looked at John, nodded, "This is a very important issue, and we also hope to maintain the current harmonious relationship."
"The British Empire has always adopted a tacit attitude towards Portuguese Goa and has not paid any attention to Goa, but if it were an Indian politician, it would not think so." John shrugged and spread his hands helplessly, "National University
The party’s intention is to seek suzerainty over the entire British India, which is a well-known fact.”
"Another fact is that Portuguese Goa also seems to have grassroots organizations of the Congress Party." Alan Wilson said with a wry smile, "This is more difficult to handle. In short, in the near future, the Portuguese Governor's Palace in Goa will face
The problem seems to be quite big."
"Goa is a part of Portugal. This is a well-known fact." Pedro's expression became solemn and he frowned, "It has been nearly five hundred years since Goa became a Portuguese territory. At that time, British India did not even know that it was a part of Portugal.
where?"
Alan Wilson stretched out his hand and shook it, indicating to be calm, and said with regret, "This kind of rhetoric is useful for us gentlemen, but it has limited effect on nationalists. What is really known is that nationalism
Activists are usually unreasonable. They only believe in rhetoric that is beneficial to them and turn a deaf ear to objective and neutral facts. According to my many years of work experience in India, this is especially true for Indian nationalists."
While the two princely state commissioners were chatting and laughing with the representatives of the Portuguese Governor-General, representatives from another princely state were also chatting happily.
For the big princely states in the subcontinent, the promises of the Congress Party are not very attractive. These big princely states will not be attracted by petty profits. No matter how nice the Congress Party's words are, it will not be attractive.
Is it true that the monarchs of these feudal states keep their word?
There has always been an alliance between feudal states, which is like the relationship between a suzerain state and a vassal state. The situation in the South Asian subcontinent is very similar to the Spring and Autumn Period of China, where the overlord country led the small countries to jointly deal with everyone's problems.
These alliances are usually carried out in private, but it is extremely rare for most of the big kingdoms to appear this time.
This time, the situation was different from the past, because representatives from the Portuguese Government House appeared.
"Actually, I'm a little confused. How can Goa help Britain?" Pedro said with some confusion, "With the capabilities of the British Empire, it doesn't need our help."
"Some things may not be easy for us to do in the future." Alan Wilson said with a stylized smile, "If there is Goa in Portugal's hands, things may be much easier. This will not only help us
, which is also good for Portugal."
The glory of the Portuguese Age of Discovery has completely become history, replaced by backwardness and poverty. Although centuries of overseas trade and colonization have brought countless wealth to Portugal, it has not been transformed into real development in the end.
This wealth is concentrated in the hands of the royal family, nobility and clergy, similar to Spain, another neighboring country where a civil war broke out and brought Franco to power.
Most of it was used for luxury consumption rather than production, so the actual living standards of the people did not improve much. To make matters worse, the inflow of wealth also led to inflation, making Portuguese products uncompetitive in the European market, resulting in
With a serious trade deficit, Portugal has become the most backward country in Europe.
The coming to power of the Republicans did not change this situation. Salazar took advantage of the situation and entered the historical stage, carrying out difficult reforms through dictatorship. Portugal made a slight improvement, but it is still the most backward country in Europe.
But it depends on who compares. Portugal’s backwardness refers to its backwardness in Europe. How about British India? The level is not as good as Portugal. British India is defined as a dumping ground for British industrial products. The first step is to get rid of it.
In India's traditional textile industry, most of the South Asian market is occupied by the British, but Portugal can always get some benefits because of its relationship with Goa.
At present, Portugal also has vested interests in the South Asian subcontinent. This is what Alan Wilson said, Portugal and the United Kingdom have common interests.
Promoting some degree of cooperation between Portugal and England is not a bad thing no matter how you think about it.
"To be honest, do you value the Portuguese very much? How much can Portugal's national strength help us?" John didn't ask his question until Pedro went to the representative of the country. Obviously, he was not as calm as he seemed.
"Portugal is a country with strongman politics, but we are a British-style democracy. Democracy is discussed and discussed, and it is too late to come up with any opinions." Alan Wilson pursed his lips and asked with a smile, "Do you think this is true? If so,
In our hands, Britain is in the position of the Portuguese, what should we do if the Indians attack us?"