Portugal was the first country to usher in the Age of Discovery in Europe, and it was also the first Western country to arrive in the Ming Dynasty from the sea. According to the third year of Shenwu, it has been several decades.
Among the Three Kingdoms, he was the one who understood the situation of the Ming Dynasty best. When the Portuguese came to the Ming Dynasty, they were shocked by the wealth of the Ming Dynasty. They also had delusional plans to conquer the Ming Dynasty like they did in America.
Fortunately, the Portuguese were self-aware. After learning about the territory and population of the Ming Dynasty, they immediately killed this crazy idea and instead made good friends with the Ming Dynasty and started trade.
Since the Jiajing period, the Portuguese have been implementing this concept. They not only presented many weird gadgets to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but also helped the Ming Dynasty build artillery and firearms.
Later, the Spanish and the Dutch also came to the Ming Dynasty. However, under the instigation of the Portuguese, the two countries had conflicts and misunderstandings with the Ming Dynasty from the beginning, and the Ming Dynasty also refused to trade with the two countries.
In addition, Spain's national power is much stronger than Portugal, and it once made a plan to conquer the Ming Dynasty. The Netherlands also had such thoughts, but later they were ridiculed by Portugal, and the two countries also gradually learned some of the situation of the Ming Dynasty.
, and then the activity ceased.
Although over the years, maritime merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been secretly smuggling large quantities of silk porcelain to Southeast Asia to trade with the Spanish and Dutch, but the price is twice as high as the porcelain and silk purchased by the Portuguese.
This resulted in the Portuguese porcelain and silk always occupying a price advantage in the European market. Therefore, the two countries have always been resentful about not being able to directly trade with the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the Portuguese were indispensable during this period.
There was no way, the Portuguese came first and took the upper hand. Not only did many people learn Chinese, but they also became familiar with Chinese rules and were able to get to know a large number of high-ranking Han officials and wealthy businessmen.
However, since the Spanish and Dutch had no direct residence in the Ming Dynasty, they were never able to have direct contact with the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Almost all the envoys they sent were driven away, and it was even more impossible to go to the capital.
The two countries naturally knew that all this was done by the Portuguese, so they have always been angry with Portugal and coveted the Macau occupied by Portugal.
At this moment, in the Governor's Palace of Macau, the Governor of Portugal, Omes, had a gloomy look on his face.
The Spanish envoys and the Dutch envoys opposite him had expressions of gloating on their faces. They had obviously found out clearly about Portugal's current predicament, and then came to Macau from Dongfan Island.
"Governor Omes, my Lord Governor has deep sympathy for the predicament you are facing. As long as the Governor is willing to form an alliance, our country and the Netherlands can immediately send a fleet to Macau to help you resist the invasion of the Ming Dynasty."
The Spanish envoy said slowly, and the Dutch envoy nodded.
"I think you two have misunderstood. There will be no war between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Ming Dynasty. At present, there are only some disputes over the contract. The relationship between our country and the Ming Dynasty will be resolved soon. Otherwise, I will not be able to receive the two countries now.
It’s in place.”
Omes said coldly, the two of them didn't know what happened to Daming in the past two years, but he knew everything.
Unless he had a brain cramp, he would form an alliance with the Spanish Governor and the Dutch Governor to fight against the Ming Dynasty. However, he did not intend to remind the two of them, and even wished that the Netherlands and Spain would die.
The two of them were fully prepared this time. They knew that the southern part of the Ming Dynasty was now implementing the New Deal and wanted to take back the Macau leased by the Portuguese. Seeing what Ormes said, the Spanish envoy continued: "Your Excellency, please stop deceiving yourself. It is said that this time
The highest official of Guangdong has personally written to the capital of the Ming Dynasty about Macao. I am afraid that it will be difficult for your country to directly start trade with the Ming Dynasty in the leased Macao, and your country's strength in the Far East alone cannot guarantee its own interests in any case.
, so only the three countries unite to force Ming to compromise!"
"Oh, is it possible that the Netherlands and Spain still want to conquer the Ming Dynasty?"
Ormes sneered, but was shocked in his heart. He did not expect that the two of them had even inquired about the letter personally sent by the governor of Guangdong. If this continues, Portugal's advantages will become less and less.
"No, no, no, you have misunderstood. The Ming Dynasty is too big. It is so big that it makes people despair. It is impossible to conquer. But we don't need to conquer it. We just need to ensure our own interests. If our three countries are in the Far East,
If we unite our fleets, we can still achieve this."
The Spanish envoy quickly shook his head, and then explained that the plan they made to conquer the Ming Dynasty was now regarded as a joke throughout Europe, and Spain would naturally not humiliate itself by bringing up this topic again.
"Let's talk about your plan first."
Omes thought about it and asked calmly.
He naturally knew that the reason why the Dutch Governor and the Spanish Governor wanted to unite with Portugal to force the Ming Dynasty to compromise was because the prices of silk and porcelain in the Ming Dynasty had been increasing since this year, especially silk, which had tripled.
The prices of the porcelain and silk they purchased in Macao have tripled, and the prices of the silk and porcelain purchased by the Dutch and Spanish in Nanyang can be imagined.
As for why the prices of silk and porcelain in Ming Dynasty increased, he also knew some reasons, so if the two countries could force Ming Dynasty to lower the prices, he would be very happy, but it would be impossible for the Portuguese to participate together.
"Your Excellency, although the army of the Ming Dynasty is very powerful and numerous, their navy is very weak. If the fleets of our three countries can unite and go directly to the waters outside the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas of the Ming Dynasty, and then follow their Yangtze River, they can arrive directly
In their capital city, I believe that no matter how arrogant the emperor of Ming Dynasty is, he will sit down and have a good negotiation with us, right?"
The Spanish envoy hesitated, but in order to get Portugal to participate, he still revealed the plan.
"That's right! We have already learned about the situation of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty. It can completely accommodate our largest warships. Except for the Zheng family in Fujian, there are almost no naval warships in the Ming Dynasty!"
The Dutch envoy also said confidently.
Obviously, the two countries also spent a lot of money this time.
There was no other way. Zhu Cihong established the Royal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions last year, which split the maritime merchants in the two places and the big landowners who controlled the mulberry fields, causing the price of raw silk to skyrocket.
In addition, five more shipping companies were established to collect customs duties. In the end, all the additional burdens were borne by Spain and the Netherlands, and the price of a piece of silk rose to two hundred taels.
Even though both countries had a large number of colonies and silver mines in the Americas, as well as countless black slaves who mined, the silver shipped to the Far East was still somewhat insufficient.
This made the Dutch Governor and the Spanish Governor intolerable, but they did not dare to make things difficult for those businessmen, so they decided to join forces and go to Nanjing to show force to stop the greedy Ming Dynasty.
"Two of you, regarding your suggestions and plans, I need to carefully evaluate the feasibility of your suggestions and plans before giving a response. It just so happens that it will take time for you to assemble the fleet."
Seeing that both of them were waiting for his response, Omes said slowly, neither agreeing nor rejecting.
The two looked at each other and said, "Okay, let's go back now and let the fleet come to Macau to assemble."
"No, no, no, your fleet cannot come directly to Macau, otherwise it will arouse the suspicion of local officials."
Omes was startled and said quickly.
The two thought it was right. Fortunately, both countries had ports on Dongfan Island, so they didn't say anything.