1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 952 Visiting the European Fleet ([-])

The Benguela cold current is a low-pressure cold current that presses the sea surface, causing the sea water to evaporate very slowly, and also makes the moisture in the air flow extremely slowly, so it cannot be blown to the land.Under the influence of this climate, a phenomenon unique to Namibia has formed, with sea water on one side and desert (west coast of Africa) on the other.

It is also because of the extremely rare precipitation that the coast of Namibia is often densely fogged, so that the Qi State Visiting Task Force to Europe had to stay away from the coast a little to avoid this annoying sea of ​​​​fog.

On February 2, the fleet arrived in Luanda, the stronghold of Portuguese Angola, and took a short rest to replenish fresh water and fresh fruits and vegetables. The accompanying merchant ships also conducted simple commodity transactions with the Portuguese.

In 1482, the Portuguese Diogo Caio first arrived on the coast of Angola.From then on, the Portuguese colonists began to invade the coastal areas of Angola, and traded gold, ivory and slaves in Luanda, and then gradually expanded to the interior.

In 1576, the Portuguese Dias presided over the establishment of the Luanda Castle and opened a port to build a city. It was one of the earliest colonial strongholds in southern Africa, and it was also an export port for European colonists to trade slaves.

Fifty years ago (50), Luanda became the capital of the Portuguese Angola colony.At the same time, it is also the main port for the Portuguese to sell slaves to Brazil.

For the large number of native slaves, the accompanying merchants from the Qi State lacked interest and just looked at the gold and ivory in the hands of the Portuguese.As the hard currency of the world, gold is the goal pursued by merchants everywhere; and those crystal clear ivory, after being transported to Europe, should be able to sell for a high price.

On February 2, the task force to visit Europe left Luanda and continued northward.

After entering the Gulf of Guinea, it entered the tropics, and the rainfall increased sharply, with continuous torrential rain for several days.Although a large amount of rainwater provided fresh fresh water for the entire fleet, it made all ships appear extremely damp and stuffy, which would be a major cause of various diseases.

Fleet Commander Cao Tong took various preventive measures to ensure the health of all personnel: During the rain break, a fire was lit in the middle of the deck to keep the ship dry at all times; the bedding was ventilated as much as possible; Keep dry.

On March 3, the fleet arrived at Fort Elmina on the Dutch Gold Coast (part of present-day Ghana), and was warmly welcomed by the local Dutch.

The fleet stopped here for four days to rest and get a lot of fresh water here, and also bought a lot of livestock, such as pigs, goats and poultry.

On March 3, the fleet again weighed anchor and set sail, continuing its march to Europe.The accompanying two warships belonging to the South African Squadron and two armed merchant ships under the African Trading Company separated from the fleet, turned around, and headed west to America, preparing to rush to rescue His Royal Highness King Qing who was in a very bad situation.

On March 3, the fleet broke down at Praia on the island of Santiago, which immediately caused a great shock to the Portuguese.

Santiago Island, also known as St. James Island, is the most fertile island in the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands.The most important town on the island, also called Santiago (now the town of San Felipe in Cape Verde), is located on the slopes of the mountains.Praia is a larger town and the political and economic center of the entire archipelago.

Praia has an excellent port where passing ships often moor, especially in times of peace when countless ships come and go here.Merchant ships traveling from Europe to the East will stop at this port to replenish fresh water and food.However, when they return to Europe, they rarely stop here, eagerly sailing back to the European continent.

Praia has no large buildings except for a fortress built on top of a hill, which controls the entire port.Not far from the fortress is a fort with several cannons mounted on it, facing the direction of the port.

The Portuguese were very surprised and shocked by the arrival of Qi's fleet visiting Europe.Perhaps out of caution, they did not allow all the ships of the fleet to enter the port, but entered in batches under the guidance of the navigator.At the same time, the number of crew members who landed and disembarked was also limited to less than 500, and they were not allowed to carry any weapons.

The officers and soldiers of the Qi State felt both depressed and angry about the Portuguese's cautiousness and even a little wariness.In other words, your colonial strongholds such as Portuguese India and Mozambique have always been very respectful to our navy, and they are all in an infinitely open state. Even several colonial strongholds such as Angola and Brazil are not as defensive as Cape Verde. Like a thief, he is so wary of Qi.

In the morning of the next day, after summarizing the information collected from many sources, the people of Qi probably knew why the Portuguese had such an attitude.

"British?" Ji Changrong, the special envoy appointed by Da Qiqin to visit Europe, and Zuoqing of Honglu Temple, frowned, obviously worried, "I never thought that the Portuguese would be so deeply influenced by Britain!"

"It's not surprising." Cao Tong, commander of the escort fleet, sneered and said, "The British are regarded as the saviors of the Portuguese and their protectors after independence. Naturally, they must follow the principles of the British in all aspects. Three years A few days ago, our navy sank a British merchant ship in the waters of India, causing more than 60 British sailors to drown. Although, our country of Qi gave the British some compensation afterwards, and ended the matter hastily. But I think the British must be concerned about it I have a grudge. But because of our weak power in the Indian Ocean region, I can only hold grudges. Therefore, at this time, the Portuguese dare not get too close to us, lest they offend the British."

"The Portuguese dare to treat our country of Qi poorly for the sake of the British, so they are not afraid that we will impose severe sanctions on several of their colonial strongholds in the Indian Ocean?" Wang Zhenqing, deputy envoy to Europe and doctor of the European Trade Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, was a little bit aggrieved.

"Overseas colonies are just a small detail of the Portuguese, and their importance is far less than that of the European mainland." Ji Changrong was also dissatisfied with the Portuguese style in his heart, but he fully understood their small thoughts, "In order to continue to maintain Portugal The legal rule of the royal family, and in order to avoid another invasion by Spain, they naturally want to hold on to the thighs of the British. No matter how strong our country is in the Indian Ocean region, can it still threaten their European mainland?"

In 1640, Portugal launched the War of Independence, and Joao, the descendant of the Portuguese royal family and Duke of Bragança, was crowned King João IV.Although the newly independent Portugal relied on the assistance of France to fight against Spain, it has been struggling and has not been recognized by European countries for a long time. Spain and France made peace in 1659, leaving Portugal in a situation of isolation and helplessness, and the situation was once precarious.

When Portugal was in desperation, it could only turn to Britain, which was still a republic at that time, in order to obtain the necessary foreign assistance.In 1660, King Charles II, who was restored in 1661, continued the previous policy of uniting France against the West, and concluded an alliance with Portugal in [-].

Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine and promised to send troops to help. Portugal ceded Mumbai in India and Tangier in Morocco to Britain, and gave Britain the privilege of trading with Portuguese colonies, and paid 200 million gold coins as a dowry. In 1662, 1668 veterans of the original "New Model Army" went to Portugal to join the war, and defeated the Spanish army several times, eventually forcing Spain to renounce the Portuguese throne in [-].

Cao Tong said just now that Britain is the savior of the Portuguese and its protector in Europe, which is basically in line with Portugal's history and current situation.After the restoration of Portugal, the United Kingdom took advantage of Portugal's relatively weak position and obtained many trade privileges. For example, English merchant ships could stay in Portuguese ports for three months, waiting for the most favorable price. Portugal's colonies such as Brazil, West Africa, and Mozambique carried out trade activities, not to mention.

With the low tariffs stipulated in the trade treaty between the two countries, British manufactured goods flooded into Portugal and its overseas colonies, almost destroying Portugal's local manufacturing industry.In order to produce the wine favored by the British, Portugal’s agricultural development was deformed, and it had to import food from the UK; and in order to buy British textiles and food, a large amount of gold plundered from Portuguese Brazil flowed into the UK, further promoting the development of British industry and commerce.

It can be said that Portugal has become an economic colony of Britain.And all of this is the price Portugal paid for its "independence" from the United Kingdom.

Of course, if Portugal accepted the rule of Spain, it would probably become its vassal, and life might not be much better.For small and weak countries in the cracks between the great powers, real "independence" may be just a luxury, and "the lesser of two evils" and avoiding "driving the wolf to win the tiger" are the best choices most of the time.

On March 3, under the complicated eyes of many Portuguese at the pier, the fleet sailed out of the harbor one by one, and then continued on its journey to Europe.

On March 3, the fleet crossed the Tropic of Cancer.

On March 3, the fleet approached the Spanish Canary Islands.

At [-] o'clock in the afternoon that day, two Spanish merchant ships appeared in the northwest of the fleet.Suddenly seeing a huge fleet coming from the south, and there were several warships in it, this made the Spaniards a little flustered, and eagerly adjusted the sails, trying to stay away from the fleet and flee back to the nearby Canary Island.

Considering that the dispute in the Americas may have affected normal diplomatic relations with Spain, in order to avoid further intensifying the conflict between the two countries and leaving an aggressive impression in front of European countries, Ji Changrong vetoed the navy's command to capture the two Spanish merchant ships.

Watching the Qi Kingdom fleet meandering past the Canary Island and heading northwest, the Spaniards on the island were astonished, and many of them turned pale.

The State of Qi even organized an expeditionary fleet, which is about to invade the mainland of Spain!
After some intense discussions, two liaison clippers were immediately dispatched, leaving the port of Las Palmas and heading towards the Spanish mainland at high speed.

On April 4, the fleet stopped for half a day while passing through the port of Ribat, Morocco (now Rabat, the capital of Morocco), and then continued along the coastline and sailed towards the Strait (Strait of Gibraltar).

Not long after the fleet left, a Qi State delegation composed of dozens of personnel from diplomacy, military, intelligence, trade, etc., escorted by more than 500 Moroccan Janissaries, headed for Fez, the capital of the Alawite Dynasty.

As early as the beginning of the 13th century, the Arab Alawi began to immigrate to the Tafilal Oasis in Morocco one after another. From nomadic to settled, they engaged in animal husbandry, agriculture and commerce, established true temples and religious schools, and spread true God culture. At the beginning of the 17th century, taking advantage of the internal strife and decline of the Saad dynasty, it began to slowly rise, form an army, and expand its sphere of influence.

In 1666, Sharif Rashid, the leader of the Alawites, called for overthrowing the rule of the Saad dynasty and defending the True God religion. He led the army to launch a "jihad" and captured Fez. Allawi dynasty. In 1668, he captured Marrakech, finally destroyed the remnants of the Saad dynasty, and unified Morocco.

In 1672, Mulla Ismail succeeded to the throne of Sultan.He made great efforts to govern, tried his best to strengthen the centralization of power, internally quelled the turmoil caused by the royal family's struggle for power, and externally resisted the invasion of European colonists and the control of the Ottoman Empire.

For Mamula, Melilla, and Ceuta occupied by the Spanish (in 1668, Portugal ceded to Spain), Fort Segil occupied by the Portuguese, and Tangier occupied by the British, Mulla Ismail Sultan It's like a stick in the throat. I have used troops several times to recover the above-mentioned areas, but due to the backwardness of the army's weapons, they were all defeated. Instead, they lost troops and lost countless gold and silver.

When the visiting Qi State mission stated that in order to support the anti-colonial war of the Alawite Dynasty and expel European foreign invasion forces, it would provide them with a large number of advanced firearms and send several military instructors to guide and train the Moroccan army to improve their military strength. military power.

As for the return, the people of Qi only asked for exclusive trade rights throughout Morocco, and hoped to lease a port along the coast of North Africa in order to better promote trade and military exchanges between the two sides.

The people of Qi even promised that they would help the Alavi dynasty build a modern navy to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts and to safeguard their territorial waters.

Mulla Ismail Sultan had already received a report from the local officials in Ribat. It is said that the visiting Qi fleet is very powerful, with heavy artillery on both sides of the ship, and its force is no less than that of the British and A warship owned by the Spaniards.

In fact, before Mulla Ismaili Sultan took the throne, he learned some information about Qi from merchants in Egypt and Venice.This country in the New World in the far south has developed industries and strong military strength. Almost the entire East Indies have been conquered by them and brought into their absolute sphere of influence.

More than ten years ago, the State of Qi had traveled tens of thousands of miles to expedition to Egypt, defeating Suez Pasha with only a few thousand people, severely injuring the two Pashas of Obo and Kuiren, and shocked the entire Arab world.

Three years ago, the Qi State made another expedition across the sea to attack the huge and wealthy Mughal Empire. In a very short period of time, they defeated and destroyed more than [-] Mughal troops and killed the Mughal Emperor. This huge empire is still in civil strife (war for the throne).

When the Qi State Mission arrived in Fez, they brought a 12-pounder gun and fifty flintlock guns, and dedicated them to His Majesty Mulla Ismail Sultan.After the Praetorian Guards used these firearms to demonstrate on the spot, it was agreed that these firearms had superior performance and greater power than second-hand weapons obtained from Europe and the Ottomans.However, their quotations have a price advantage over the firearms purchased before.

In the following ten days, the Allawi Dynasty and the Qi State successively signed a series of diplomatic, military, economic and trade, and maritime cooperation agreements to deepen mutual exchanges and promote friendly relations between the two sides.

In addition, the two sides also signed a secret agreement against Spain, agreeing to give each other maximum support and assistance in the military operations against Spain. During the war, Qi can also use any coastal port in the Alawi Dynasty to obtain necessary supplies.
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(End of this chapter)