There is a big difference in domestic authority between most European monarchs and Chinese emperors, and missionaries have a high social status in the Spanish Empire (not an empire, but a kingdom-level federation of co-monarchs) where the Catholic faith is very strong. Luo Mingjian can give Philip
The second letter was written, which was not surprising to Gao Pragmatic.
However, Gao Pangshi had read several books, including "Spain and Portugal: The Rise and Fall of the Empire", "The Grand Strategy of Philip II", "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Era of Philip II", etc. He knew that Philip
The efficiency of Emperor II's rule was actually quite low, because many European court administrative systems at this time were actually very backward compared to China's Three Provinces and Six Ministries system (or its evolved version).
For example, Philip II was actually a very diligent monarch, but his work style was actually very similar to that of Emperor Wanli who "did not go to court for decades" in history. He tried not to meet with his ministers, but selected them through a team of secretaries.
Give him important letters and approval to manage the country.
As for the reason for doing this, Philip II felt that it was a waste of time to meet with ministers, and it was much more efficient to approve letters and documents. He emphasized on many occasions and in the approval of documents that he was very busy. Some historical facts
Records also say that except for sleeping and eating, he spent most of his time approving documents.
But it is obvious that his secretary team is not very good, or lacks a Ming-style cabinet and ministries, so that the Kingdom of Castile, Aragon, Naples and the Netherlands ruled by Philip II
, and the Kingdom of Portugal, which he forcibly merged with last year, have very low administrative efficiency.
Therefore, if Luo Mingjian's letter is sent, theoretically speaking, it will eventually be seen by Philip II, but... I don't know what year or month it will be.
Moreover, despite the fact that Philip II's Spain is currently at its peak, apart from the benefits of merging Portugal, he has been recruiting troops everywhere without achieving any decent results. Even if his government has the support of huge amounts of gold and silver from the Americas,
Still bankrupt twice and heavily in debt.
At this time, the relationship between Spain and England has also dropped to a freezing point. In the near future, the Armada will launch an expedition to England. If nothing else, it will be a big defeat, although Spain still has the ability at this time.
In just one or two years, he will rebuild a larger armada, but he will eventually fall into multiple quagmires and be unable to extricate himself.
At this time, it is unrealistic to expect him to pay much attention to the trivial matters raised by a Far Eastern missionary.
If this matter must be made realistic, unless Gao Pragmatic gives Luo Mingjian more weight.
Gao Pragmatic himself might not be able to attract Philip II's attention by adding more weight to Luo Mingjian, but as long as he adds two words, this kind of attention will definitely be obtained immediately - these two words are: Ming Dynasty.
At this time, Europeans’ impression of China was still that extremely powerful, wealthy, and vast invincible empire mentioned by Marco Polo, where there was “gold everywhere.” Europeans were cut off from trade ties with the East because of the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and even
Launched a great voyage...
Therefore, as long as Gao Pragmatic expresses to Philip II that the Ming Dynasty is willing to trade with the Spanish-Portuguese Empire (which shares the same monarch), Philip II will never ignore it. You know, the Portuguese are now shamelessly thinking of various ways to do it.
They didn't want to stay in Macau with the intention of invading the Ming Dynasty - in fact, they had tried it before, but were defeated by the Guangdong local army one after another, so they have basically become honest now.
The reason why the Portuguese now want to stay in Macau even through bribery is to have a close base for trade with the Ming Dynasty. However, with Gao Gong's sea-opening reforms and the high pragmatism of the Guangzhou private port,
With a higher degree of openness, Macao's status has now declined slightly.
The reason why it has not been completely replaced is because of the Ming Dynasty's trade system - in theory, foreign merchant ships cannot directly enter the Ming Dynasty's ports for transactions, and they have to find Ming merchants to do this last step for them.
As for the Ming Dynasty, they sometimes went to Macau to discuss business, both public and private. This made Macau still very valuable to the Portuguese until now.
Those who are close to the water first get the moon. Isn't it because this priest Luo Mingjian lives in Macau that he met Gao Mengnan and was introduced to Gao pragmatically by him?
Gao Pragmatic smiled and said with a relaxed expression: "In order to thank the priest for his kindness, and to make your letter more important to His Majesty Philip II, I have two pieces of good news to tell you."
"First, Jinghua Group, the largest commercial company in the Ming Empire, is willing to conduct the most direct trade with the Kingdom of Castile and Portugal. If His Majesty Philip II allows it, Jinghua Group is also willing to trade with the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Naples.
and the Dutch for direct trade.”
The reason why Highly Pragmatic added an "if" is because under the rule of Philip II, the Treaty of Tordesillas arbitrated by Pope Alexander VI was strictly followed - dividing the world outside Europe between Spain and Spain according to the meridian.
Portugal is a colonial territory. The Spain here is not "Greater Spain", but just one of its main bodies, the Kingdom of Castile.
As soon as these words were spoken, Luo Mingjian was shocked and praised loudly and loudly. He knew how powerful Jinghua Group was, and he had no doubt at all about Gao Pragmatic's claim that Jinghua Group was "the largest commercial company in the Ming Empire".
Gao Pragmatic continued: "Secondly, although Ming Dynasty's business rules do not allow you to directly enter Ming Dynasty for trade, Jinghua Group can fully undertake this huge and immeasurable business. At the same time, Jinghua Group will open two projects in Annan
It is a free commercial port that allows you—I mean any merchants from all countries who are willing to come here to engage in peaceful and fair trade—to conduct legal trade activities.”
"Ah, Your Excellency Gao Qiuzhen, you are really an extremely great politician and business leader. My admiration for you is as much as the water of the Atlantic Ocean!" Luo Mingjian was extremely excited. With these two promises, his letter will definitely be able to
Obtaining the highest attention from His Majesty Philip II for the first time may even make him the pride of the whole of Europe! Although he still insists that spreading the gospel of the Lord is his greatest cause, if he can achieve so much in this matter
With such a huge achievement, the support of the Holy See and the Kingdom of Spain will inevitably be much stronger than it is now.
However, being pragmatic is not just about giving benefits. When the carrot is released, the stick also appears.
"However, what I would like to remind the priest in particular is that I hope that all of you - including His Majesty Philip II - can truly understand the power of the Ming Empire and do not try to use some dishonorable means and those who deal with it.
To deal with the Ming Empire with a barbarian mentality. I hope you will convey some data to His Majesty Philip II and ask the priest to remember it."
Father Luo Mingjian said seriously: "Don't worry, Your Excellency, no knowledgeable European dares to underestimate the Ming Empire. We know that the Ming Empire is the most prosperous and powerful empire in the world. Even the glorious Ottoman Turks cannot compete with it."
Comparable to the Ming Empire."
Gao Pangshi did not answer him directly, but said to himself: "Please tell His Majesty Philip II: Spain has a population of about five million, and our country, the Ming Dynasty, has a population of 200 million; the land you are standing on now also has a population of 200 million.
Even Annan has a population of five million, but it was conquered by me not long ago with only my private army. In this battle, the Ming Empire did not even need to send out a single regular army... Father Luo Mingjian, I can tell you
Your point is: Ming Dynasty now has 1.6 million troops, and if Ming Dynasty’s entire military establishment reaches full strength, it will be 3.4 million men.”
When the Europeans go to war now, ten thousand people are dispatched, which is a large army. If there are tens of thousands of people, it must be a battle of great power. But... the Ming Dynasty's army is actually in the millions?
Although Father Luo Mingjian occasionally heard officials from the Ming Dynasty boasting about themselves, saying that the Ming Dynasty "wears millions of armors," he always thought this was an exaggeration. However, today, His Excellency Gao Qiuzhen, who is as knowledgeable as the Atlantic Ocean,
Tell him that the Ming Dynasty's standing troops are as high as 1.6 million, and if the national military establishment is full, it can even be as high as 3.4 million... This is more than the population of the Kingdom of Castile! (Not counting the Kingdom of Aragon)
)
Who can afford to offend this? No wonder that after the Portuguese invaded Southeast Asia from the Indian Ocean, they suddenly begged the Ming Dynasty to grant them a small island to live in. At first, they only heard that it was "unfavorable to open up", but now I think about it, they must have
The previous "experience" was applied to this huge Ming Empire, and then it was taught a lesson!
"This... this is really a shocking amount. I don't think anyone dares to say no to His Majesty the Ming Emperor who has such a powerful power."
Gao Pragmatic smiled again and said: "I haven't finished speaking yet... I heard that in addition to the Spanish Grand Formation built by Mr. Gonzalo de Cordoba, Spain also has a navy that spans all over the world?"
"Yes, His Majesty Philip II's fleet is the most powerful fleet in the world... er, in Europe."
Gao pragmatic nodded and said: "I believe his fleet is second to none in Europe, but... you came here on my Jinghua armed transport ship this time, right?"
"Yes, this is a quite superior ship, with a perfect harmony of carrying capacity and combat capabilities, and the sails it uses seem to be... not only the hard horizontal sails common in the Ming Empire, but also refer to our European
Sail technology for seagoing ships?”
"The Jinghua Group alone has hundreds of such ships." Gao pragmatically boasted without blushing. In fact, including the armed transport ships on the slipway, Jinghua now only has more than 90 ships.
Sixty of them have been concentrated on this Battle of Annan.
Luo Mingjian was completely shocked and asked numbly: "If you don't... don't think I'm presumptuous, I, I would like to ask about the cost of this class of ships."
"The cost of a single ship is about fifty-five thousand taels of silver."
"Lord, forgive my ignorance... Your Excellency, you are saying that you alone own a fleet with a total cost of more than six million taels of silver!"
Gao Pangshi smiled happily and said: "Yes, this does not include the regular navy of the Ming Empire, and according to our laws of the Ming Dynasty, if His Majesty the Emperor is willing, he can unconditionally recruit any maritime power within the Ming Empire for his use at any time. .”
Blow, blow as much as you want.
The Ming Emperor couldn't even collect taxes from officials and scholars, so why did he expect him to unconditionally recruit any maritime power within the empire for his own use?
But Luo Mingjian doesn’t know!
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