Chapter 382 His Excellency Wang Zhi, a large businessman
"No! On the contrary, if we want to obtain a steady stream of wealth from East India, we must face up to this huge opponent and let this opponent know how powerful Portugal is!"
To Juan's surprise, Alfonso said this firmly.
"Please continue to explain your point of view, Mr. Alfonso." Juan was more respectful.
Alfonso suddenly had a feeling. In these years in Beijing, when he was bored and watched "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he remembered a scene: Zhuge Liang's verbal battle with the Confucian scholars.
Now, he is doing the same thing.
"It seems like twenty years have passed since we occupied this place, but Ming Dynasty has never made any move to protect their territory. That's just because Ming Dynasty has experienced the change of emperors in these twenty years."
Alfonso guided them to think: "Imagine that in a country that is wider than the entire Europe, the new emperor has to spend time confirming the allegiance of more than one million people, as well as confirming the allegiance of the surrounding vassal states closest to the Ming Dynasty.
and the fear of hostile countries. Believe me, this is not an easy task."
"But now, the Mongols, who pose the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty, have their king killed. This year's conquest is a confirmation of the surrender of the surrounding vassal states." Alfonso said, "Although Malacca is far away from the Ming Dynasty's territory,
It’s far away, but it’s only a matter of time before the Ming Dynasty’s troops and warships arrive here. Sir Juan, can Your Majesty Joao surrender to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty?”
Juan sneered.
"I am very ashamed. With only those warships and soldiers, Pillai and I failed. We pretended to surrender and spent so long making friends with their courtiers, so that we could return to Malacca." Alfonso
Recalling so many years sadly, "Since it is impossible to surrender and abandon this place, the only way is through war. But please forgive my honesty, a war in the Ming Dynasty was fought in units of one hundred thousand soldiers. Their muskets
, artillery, and armor are no worse than us."
Alfonso looked around: "Don't forget that gunpowder was originally brought to Europe by the Mongols. The Mongols at that time were expelled back to the extremely cold north by the Ming Dynasty."
The scale of a war involving hundreds of thousands of troops does sound terrifying.
Regarding the origin of gunpowder, it is also an indisputable fact in their minds.
It has been so long since we have been here, and there is still a story circulating in the Indo-China Peninsula to the north that their most powerful elephant soldiers were defeated by the Ming muskets a hundred years ago.
What Alfonso said was not false. Thanks to him and Pillai, the level of firearms in the Ming Dynasty has indeed not lagged behind that of Europe in the past ten years, and has even surpassed it due to the emperor's high attention.
"To gain a foothold here, at least three things must be done! First, His Majesty Joao should send more warships and soldiers. How come the garrison in the Malacca Fortress can only have five hundred, when under normal circumstances there are only one or two hundred or even
How about less than a hundred?"
This is the speechless place Alfonso found after he came back. When he set out, this place had just been conquered, and the situation was excusable. But after so many years, Portugal is still controlled by thousands of regular troops.
A vast area stretching from Goa, India in the west to Malacca in the east.
Although there are still a mixed fleet of warships and merchant ships, based on Alfonso's understanding of the current Ming Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor is really determined to conquer this place quickly. The biggest resistance is probably the opposition of the courtiers.
Of course, there are also possible obstacles from countries such as Jiaozhi along the way, so the absolute influence of the Ming Dynasty cannot reach here smoothly.
"Please continue."
Alfonso nodded: "Second, we must support some kingdoms around Malacca and let them stand on our side. From Portugal, it is impossible to send so many troops here anyway. We can only rely on the barbarian tribes here.
Man. You are right to help Ayutthaya, but now there is a better goal. Cochin along the coastline is in the midst of possible division. If Cochin can be controlled, then the Ming army and warships want to attack
Malacca must first attack Cochin, which is under our control."
Juan did not comment: "There is one more thing, what is it?"
"Trade with the Ming Dynasty! Isn't that our purpose in itself? Now, I have been able to achieve this. It's just that Portugal's capture of Malacca made the emperor of the Ming Dynasty want to let other vassal countries continue to maintain their status by fulfilling the responsibilities of the suzerain country.
Surrender. But if the difference between the cost of attacking Malacca and the benefits obtained is too big, Ming Dynasty will also make a choice. Now, we must form a defense line in the north before Ming Dynasty takes real action against Malacca. At the same time, I can bring a huge
The profits again go to the ports they open."
Alfonso explained his idea and said decisively: "For the sake of gold and silver, if we support a puppet King of Malacca to submit to the Ming Dynasty and ask for canonization, they will turn a blind eye to this distant Malacca."
Eye. We gained actual benefits and rule, and the Ming Dynasty also received a steady stream of goods from Europe and the New World."
"His Excellency Alfonso is indeed a pioneer in coming to the East." Juan laughed, "How to decide, we have to wait for the orders of His Majesty the King and the Governor of India."
He was not easily impressed by Alfonso, but at this time, Pillaizi walked in from outside the banquet hall.
"Your Excellency Alfonso, following your guidance, the fleet from the Xu family of the Ming Dynasty and three other families have arrived at the port. There are seven large ships in total. They have brought a lot of goods!"
This sentence aroused the interest of others in the banquet hall more than Alfonso's previous words.
"What kind of goods? How many are there?"
"Is there any fine china?"
"Is there any silk?"
Alfonso stood up eagerly and said solemnly: "Dear Governor, this is the route and trade route that I finally opened up. Although there has been a war with the Ming Dynasty before, please ensure that their safety is not threatened.
Otherwise, this trade route will be interrupted again!"
"Oh, dear Alfonso, don't worry, no one will not welcome merchants from the rich East. Damn it, I just spent most of my money on purchasing a lot of spices to ship back to Europe!"
"Seven ships? My God!"
"Your Excellency, Governor, there have not been so many merchant ships from the Qin people coming here since ten years ago. Viscount Alfonso has created a precious opportunity. Please be sure to treat them as distinguished guests!"
Juan's eyes were uncertain, but he smiled: "Of course, of course."
The bustle in the banquet hall ended, and many people flocked to the port, and Juan wanted to have a look.
Since Pillaizi and the others were defeated in the Ming Dynasty, in the past ten years, only occasional people have come here, and they are all very cautious smugglers. There are fewer and fewer such people.
Seven large ships arrived at the same time, making it the largest Ming merchant fleet in recent years.
As for Portugal, although it is still dominated by the royal family's fleet, the royal family's fleet also has investors from private aristocrats. At the same time, there are also many private merchant ships invested by private aristocrats. Their gathering together cannot be underestimated.
The power of contemplation.
Alfonso brought the hope of reconnecting the trade route with that big country in the east. Juan wanted to control this trade route, and these private merchant ships also wanted to participate.
When he arrived at the port, Juan saw merchant ships flying flags he had never seen before, but his eyes were fixed on the shape and size of those merchant ships.
His eyes were a little frozen.
Alfonso has sent his "servant", Wang Zhi's second brother, to contact him. Now he walked next to Juan: "These three big ships are not their biggest ships. Sir Juan, you know
Goa and the Ming Dynasty treasure ship circulated here?”
Juan nodded solemnly.
If what is being circulated is true, it is incredible.
The largest treasure ship, if converted into length units that would later be known to people, was more than 140 meters long and more than 50 meters wide. It was undoubtedly the largest wooden sailing ship in the world at that time.
Juan was skeptical about this, after all, it was just a local rumor.
The Portuguese large three-masted carrack is generally about 25 meters in length, which is already a full-scale ship. The largest ship that participated in the attack on Malacca, the "Flower of the Sea", was 36 meters long.
Nowadays, ships from Europe are still getting bigger and bigger. But in the legends spread from the coast of India, the treasure ships of the great Eastern countries and the crazy fleets of the past are really unimaginable.
Now, three merchant ships no longer much smaller than the Flower of the Sea appeared in front of Juan.
The most important thing is that among the seven ships, there is also a smaller one, which can be seen as an escort warship.
"Have you ever stayed in the Qin people's port? How many ships like this do they have?" Huan first pointed to the three big ones.
Alfonso replied: "In the Ming Dynasty, they had many different kinds of ships, which were used for ocean voyages. For many years, the Ming Dynasty did not encourage ocean trade. Only the current emperor became interested in ocean trade.
.Although this kind of boat was newly built in the past few years, there are already more than two hundred of them, which they call wave-cutting boats. There is also a type that is half larger than this, called wave-cutting boats."
In fact, Alfonso didn't know how many new large ships the Maritime Bureau, Coast Defense Road, and Marine Division had in total since the establishment of the Treasure Ship Supervision, but this did not prevent him from boasting.
The treasure ship of that year no longer exists. Although His Majesty has ordered it to be rebuilt, and Alfonso has participated in many related matters, a treasure ship of that level has not yet been rebuilt.
Pilbo and Zhanlang is already the largest ship that the Ming Dynasty can handle. Although the number and scale are not satisfactory to the emperor, and its seaworthiness needs to be continuously verified and accumulated experience, the two names of Pipbo and Zhanlang have been adopted by Alfonso
After explaining it, what Juan got was a sense of conquest of the vast ocean.
The ship is as big as 20 meters in length and has a displacement of 100 tons.
In the Ming Dynasty, units such as ten materials, one hundred materials, and one thousand materials were used to measure the size of ships. This unit of calculation has its historical reasons, but now the Ming Dynasty is preparing a new set of measurements with the efforts of the School of Calculation.
standard.
Generally speaking, one piece of material is equivalent to about one-third of a ton of displacement. When Zhu Houcong came to the throne, there were only a few large ships with thousands of materials left in the Ming Dynasty, such as Fengzhou, which was specially used for envoys to Goryeo, Ryukyu and other places. This Fengzhou
, fifteen feet long and two feet six wide, about 4,000 tons, which is the largest ship with a displacement of 1,000 tons.
As for the treasure ships of the past, there are actually relatively reliable records that they should be the largest class of five thousand materials, with a total length of more than 70 meters. Although it is not as exaggerated as a total length of more than 140 meters, it was indeed the best in the world at that time.
.
Judging from the secret files, not all the treasure ships at that time have actually disappeared. There is a high probability that Fengzhou today is the treasure ship of the past.
"Are these warships they use to protect the shipping lanes?" Juan asked Alfonso again.
"This kind is not even a battleship." Alfonso opened his eyes and lied. "This is a private company that has obtained the Ming Dynasty's charter to go to sea. It is only allowed to allocate one escort ship. It is not allowed to exceed 300 ships."
After explaining the difference between the units, Alfonso continued: "From what I saw at the time of the battle, the capital ship was made of five hundred materials, and the flagship was made of thousand materials. They call it a ship, and it is the commander of the fleet.
The flagship where it is located.”
He completely ignored the fact that the flagship ship at that time only cost 400 yuan, and he blew it.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty Navy is indeed being built according to this standard, but it will take time to form combat effectiveness, and the number can only be assembled into a fleet of about ten ships. If combined with some two hundred or three hundred
, a four-hundred-year-old ship can be considered huge in scale.
Juan heard this, but was frightened.
Although this escort warship is smaller than the Karak-type warship, the difference is not huge. Is this actually just a private escort ship that is restricted for use?
He has no idea that civilian fleets are not allowed to have escort warships equipped with artillery. They can only carry some cold weapons to prevent others from plundering. If you really want to have an escort warship, you will need to spend a lot of money.
Hire it from the shipping bureau or shipping company.
Apart from the Haiphong Road and the newly-established Marine Division, only these two are allowed to deploy this kind of escort warship worth 300 materials.
This time, it was naturally Shi Bao's work to build momentum.
After listening to Alfonso's bragging and seeing with his own eyes a "civilian escort warship" that was no less inferior to the Karak warship, Juan was beating his drum in his heart and became afraid of Alfonso's reminder that the Ming fleet might come to take back Malacca.
.
What would happen if there really was a fleet composed of flagships and battleships like the one he mentioned? Pilezi and Alfonso brought the Portuguese fleet to the Ming Dynasty to try to open up trade routes and establish strongholds, but they all failed.
As for the first group of people who went to the Ming Dynasty with Pillaizi and others and escaped after being defeated by Wang Hong, they said that the Ming Dynasty was not a powerful warship. In Alfonso's words, the Ming Dynasty's coastline was longer than the entire Europe.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty's navy was near Nanjing in their empire. What Pillaizi and his friends initially encountered were regular local guards who maintained inland waterways and guarded the coastline.
This is indeed the case. At that time, it was just Guangdong Haiphong Road.
While waiting for Alfonso to go, he ran into a main force of the Ming Navy that had crossed almost half the Indian Ocean to support the south.
The result was touching: Alfonso's army was wiped out, and he was held captive for many years.
At that time, three clippers under Alfonso's command actually escaped. After returning to Malacca, Alfonso was relatively lucky that he didn't hear any news about them from here.
It seems that he was injured himself and was eventually buried in the sea.
"Your Excellency Governor, wait a moment, the person in charge of the Ming Dynasty fleet will come to see me." Alfonso said respectfully, "Your Excellency the Governor, you can pretend to be my friend without revealing your identity. To this Wang Zhi
Your Excellency, please give me your respect first, Your Majesty the Governor. His family is good friends with the British Duke Zhang Lun, who manages the royal family's huge assets, and is also a close business partner with Cui Yuan, the Marquis of Jingshan, the husband of Da Mingzi's aunt. These two people are both
He is now a minister trusted by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Thanks to the help of His Excellencies Zhang Lun and Cui Yuan, I can finally regain my freedom."
Juan nodded solemnly.
A duke and a marquis. Even in Europe, this is the top noble after the king. If one takes into account the undoubted vastness and hugeness of the Ming Dynasty, their power is comparable to that of the kings of major European countries, or even greater.
What the truth is, Juan has no idea.
But amid the crowds of Malacca businessmen and people watching, young Wang Zhi walked over without fear.
Before he even got close, he opened his arms and said the Portuguese greeting that Alfonso taught him. Then he smiled heartily: "Dear Alfonso, long time no see. What you said is right.
I went to the tavern for a drink first, and it was indeed a bit lively here. However, the taste of the wine you mentioned cannot be compared to the wine shipped from the desert oasis in the Western Region of Ming Dynasty."
"Mr. Wang, you came so quickly." Alfonso hugged him, "Last time in Ningbo, I heard you say that there is a place in Japan that is rich in beauties. I must bring one with me when I come to Malacca. Is it possible that I have brought you here now?
?”
"Of course."
After Wang Zhi stepped aside, a woman wearing silk clothes and a hat with a gauze scarf hanging on her head appeared behind her.
Alfonso's eyes lit up: "What a waste of time!"
After saying something that made Juan confused, he lifted up the gauze scarf, looked at the beauty with her head lowered, and hugged her again: "Why didn't I meet such a beautiful woman when I went there before?
woman?"
Wang Zhi chuckled: "How many times have you been there? So where is the fine Western wine you promised? As for the Duke and the Marquis, I am anxious to bring some back before the Spring Festival for my father to give them.
Where’s the mirror?”
"Don't worry, my dear brother."
The two of them spoke Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese in the blink of an eye. Their familiar expressions and the content of their words were explained by Alfonso in a giggling voice, and Juan's eyes were filled with brilliance.
"This Mr. Juan is my good friend for many years. Mr. Wang, no matter what good things you want from Europe, Juan has it here! Let's go, let you try the wine collected by Juan first!"
The intention of introducing this trade route to Juan Lai was very obvious. Alfonso hugged the Japanese beauty who was "returned to his original owner", and walked straight to the higher ground of Malacca City with Wang, who had changed into a set of gorgeous silk clothes.
.
After leaving the wife who cuckolded him, Alfonso was in Ningbo on "official business" and enjoying this Japanese beauty.
She was first taken as a plaything by a wealthy smuggler on the coast, and was eventually confiscated and entered into the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau Jiaofang Department during an anti-smuggling case. Now she was "assigned" to Alfonso.
But in Juan's eyes, Alfonso has really traveled a lot.
When they arrived at Alfonso's new house here, Juan's butler brought fine wine from the Governor's Palace. Juan had just heard Alfonso translate how much goods Wang Zhi had brought.