Compared to the Netherlands, it was much easier for the empire to win over Portugal.
Because the Netherlands is now on the rise in national power and its situation is getting better and better. The empire must work hard and come up with convincing reasons to get the Netherlands to join the alliance.
Portugal is different.
Paradise is too far away, Spain is too close.
Portugal is not yet free from existential pressure.
Looking at the European continent, Portugal cannot find any real supporters.
Although they had a good relationship with the United Kingdom before, and the United Kingdom also provided them with some help, it was only a drop in the bucket.
Especially now that Britain is caught in a civil war and has too much time to take care of itself, Portugal immediately feels a mountain of pressure.
France originally supported Catalonia, which caused Spain's focus to shift to the other side, and Portugal became slightly more relaxed.
Once France withdraws from Catalonia and Spain quells the Catalan uprising, Portugal will have to face Spain's comeback alone.
At this time, Portugal's only choice is to firmly grasp the olive branch offered by the empire and ensure national security.
As for betraying Britain because of this...
Does this count in Europe?
It is said that there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Europe in chaos had no idea what righteousness was.
What's more, this is a place full of robbers, and "righteousness" is too extravagant.
Faced with the situation, the imperial mission did not spend much effort to convince Portugal.
Diego Carlos quickly relayed the situation back to Lisbon and received new instructions.
Portugal fully accepted the idea of the Empire and hoped that the Empire would provide certain support.
Liao Zhongjian and others discussed it and decided to visit Portugal to finalize an ally before the Netherlands made a decision.
But when the fleet sailed to the English Channel, the enemy situation appeared.
"Report, we found an unknown ship approaching us."
The report from the watchtower made everyone nervous.
Kong Zhiguang moved quickly and climbed up to the watchtower in just a few clicks to conduct reconnaissance with his telescope.
"They are British, they seem to have bad intentions."
Everyone frowned.
"Have our operations in the Netherlands been discovered by the British?"
This is a serious situation and represents a leak of information.
Only Liao Zhongjian was relatively calm.
"The Netherlands may not be monolithic, and it doesn't matter if someone leaks the secret."
The Netherlands has had good relations with the United Kingdom for a long time, and some people are close to the United Kingdom, so it is quite normal for them to disclose the situation.
"I think this is also a kind of temptation for the Dutch."
Xu Erjue thought of more.
When everyone looked over, Xu Erjue became more confident.
"Any major change in national policy cannot be implemented smoothly. To achieve consensus, there must be a strong reason. I think today's encounter is a reference for the Netherlands to decide its future direction."
When he said this, everyone understood.
Although Xu Erjue proposed a theory, it hit Holland's seven inches.
But the Netherlands could not have complete and unconditional trust in the empire.
After all, the empire is far away in Asia, and no one is sure how much power it can project in Europe.
If they cannot get much support from the empire, the Dutch will definitely not be willing to let the Netherlands rashly become hostile to the British.
The situation in Europe has always affected the whole body.
Once the Netherlands begins to restrict Britain, Britain will inevitably look for allies to break the balance.
The Netherlands' national strength determines that it cannot cope with more complex situations.
At this time, how strong the empire is is the Netherlands' reference answer.
If the empire is really powerful, the Netherlands will have the confidence to end it. Otherwise, they would rather maintain the status quo and delay it until the day when the conflict with Britain has to be resolved.
"In that case, let's have a good fight and let Europeans see what an empire is like."
After figuring it out, Liao Zhongjian was very high-spirited and gave orders to Kong Zhiguang.
In the rough English Channel, the Chinese and British fleets quickly exchanged fire.
The seven third-level battleships dispatched to Europe are all equipped with bronze artillery. Although they cannot be compared with standard artillery, they are far more advanced than the artillery of the same era.
In addition, the third-level battleships are the best-performing battleships of this era.
Therefore, even though the British had more warships, after a fight, the imperial fleet was still unstoppable.
An encounter lasted from noon to evening, and only stopped when the sunset gradually turned red.
The British had fifteen battleships sunk, twenty-one battleships injured, and more than 130 casualties, and they retreated hastily.
On the Imperial fleet side, only two battleships were slightly damaged, and three sailors were killed.
This contrast is really too strong.
When the imperial mission arrived in Lisbon, the results of the naval battle quickly spread across the European continent.
The imperial mission was warmly welcomed in Portugal, and John IV readily agreed to the empire's proposition and firmly stood in the camp against the British.
After winning over his first ally, Liao Zhongjian returned the favor.
He announced in a high-profile manner that he would cooperate with businessmen in Portugal to build a new weapons factory in Lisbon.
The Empire will transfer the manufacturing technology of Miné rifles and bronze artillery to Portugal to help Portugal increase its military strength.
As soon as the news came out, the whole country in Portugal cheered.
After seeing the weapons of the empire, no one would be jealous.
Now, with the support of the empire, the Portuguese were more confident in resisting Spain.
Not only that, Liao Zhongjian also agreed with King John IV to ask Portugal to send people to contact the Catalans and provide support.
In a word, it is to use the Catalan uprising to continue to involve Spain's energy.
As long as Spain is in dire straits at home, it will definitely not be able to run its various colonies properly.
At that time, the empire and its allies can launch a full-scale attack and eat away at Spain's huge overseas colonies bit by bit.
Ten days later, Liao Zhongjian and others returned to Rotterdam with fruitful results.
This time, the attitude of the Dutch was different.
"Minister Liao, I would like to solemnly introduce to you that this is Prince Charlie who came from far away from the UK. He has heard about your deeds and hopes to get inspiration from the far east."
Anthony Van Diemen leads a down-and-out young man to appear.
When Liao Zhongjian heard the introduction, he was stunned for a moment at first, but then he realized that this down-and-out young man was actually the eldest son of the British King and the heir to the throne.
There is no doubt that he is a very important figure.
I was worried about how to establish contact with the British royal party. Unexpectedly, I fell asleep and came to the pillow.
"Your Highness the Prince, we deeply sympathize with the situation of the king and the royal family. The rebel party's subversion of dignity is a shocking evil act, whether in the East or the West. We sincerely hope that we can help the British