I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 209: Let’s talk about it, let’s trade it for Macau

"What do you mean, do you want me to give Lin Jun an order not to attack you?" Zhu Yijiong asked with a playful look.

Gerst said quickly: "Exactly, His Majesty the Ming Emperor!"

No wonder Gust was so anxious.

Although the combat effectiveness of Lin Jun's army is just that, it is really not that difficult to attack Macau at this time.

Not to mention that the Portuguese population in Macau is not large, and it is not necessary to use a knife to attack Macau.

As long as Macau is blocked from land and the food supply to the Portuguese in Macau is cut off, Macau will collapse in less than a month.

He Shijin, the former governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Ming Dynasty, used this method without spending a single soldier.

In fact, Lin Jun is using this method now.Although Lin Jun is arrogant and arrogant, it does not mean that he has no capable people.

For Portugal at this time, Macau was a real enclave, and its relationship with the native Portugal was not very close.

Even if Macau is really captured by Lin Jun, Portugal will most likely not send troops and cannot afford to send troops.

Portugal is now at its weakest. It is very difficult to maintain the colonies in India. How can it manage Macau, which is not legally a colony.

Zhu Yijiong said: "Why should I agree to your request?"

Guest quickly bowed and said: "Dear His Majesty the Ming Emperor, you will gain the friendship of all Portuguese people in Haojing."

Zhu Yijiong waved his hand and said: "I don't need so-called friendship. If you want me to issue an edict, you can, but you must agree to my three requests."

"First, Macau (what the people call it) must be returned to Macao, which is Hao Jing."

“Second, the Portuguese in Macao can continue to stay if they want to, but they must register their household registration and pay taxes.”

"Third, I want a prototype steam engine and an excellent shipbuilder."

There were three requests in total, but Gust was dumbfounded.

Steam engines and shipbuilders are easy to say. Steam engines existed as early as 1606, but their practical value was not high and they were mainly used for mine drainage.

Portugal naturally has steam engines, not only in Portugal but also in almost all European countries.

As for shipbuilders, the most indispensable thing for European countries in the Age of Discovery was shipbuilders. There were even so many shipbuilders in each country that they were involuted.

But other than that, the first two are simply incomprehensible.

Return Macau, what does it mean to return Macau? Macau belongs to the Portuguese people.

Moreover, if it were returned, wouldn't it be the same as being attacked by the rebel "King of Yue"?

What do the Portuguese in Macau want?
Oh, it's not exactly the same, because Zhu Yijiong also allowed them to stay and continue to live, but they had to register their household registration and pay taxes.

But what's the difference?
Guest was angry in his heart, but he still said: "Dear Your Majesty, Macau is a legal lease for us Portuguese, how can we take it back at will?"

Zhu Yijiong asked: "Who did you rent it from?"

Gerst blurted out: "Of course it is His Majesty Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty."

Zhu Yijiong looked strange and said: "You all say that I am the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Why should I recognize that the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty rented it to you?"

yes!The man in front of me is the rebel emperor, why should he recognize the Qing's leased land?

Gerst was suddenly speechless, but he still planned to argue his case and said: "Please ask your Majesty to come up with a reasonable condition, otherwise I really can't make a decision for the Haojing Portuguese."

In fact, Guest can also move Jiajing out. After all, Macau was first leased out by Jiajing.

Of course, this is useless. As long as Zhu Yijiong makes up his mind not to admit it, there are plenty of excuses.

Zhu Yijiong sneered. He was so panicked. He was worried about these Portuguese bandits: "My conditions are just these three. Even if you rent, you have to pay money. You didn't give me half a cent of money. Why should I let you continue to rely on me?" Macao?"

"Moreover, you keep talking about leasing, so I would like to ask, why do you need to build forts and build boundary walls on the leased land?"

In the 36th year of Jiajing, Macau was officially leased to the Portuguese, and a rent of 500 taels of silver had to be paid every year.

This may seem like a small amount, but it is a serious lease. The Ming Dynasty still had an official office here and it was directly managed by Guangdong Province.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did not allow the Macau Portuguese to leave Macau without authorization, nor did they allow the illegal construction of boundary wall forts.

As early as the Zhengde period, the Portuguese had actually arrived in Macau and even sent an envoy.

However, as Zhengde dissolved in water, Jiajing, which opened the lease, immediately executed all the Portuguese envoys. The corpses after death were also dismembered, which was very miserable.

The Portuguese in Macau immediately became angry and occupied Macau.They also established military strongholds in Macau and several surrounding areas, but they were eventually cleared by the Ming Dynasty army by force.

Even if Jiajing later leased Macau, it was mostly for the convenience of management and at the same time using Macau as a port to obtain silver tariffs from the Portuguese.

At that time, Macau alone could collect a tariff of 4 taels of silver every year, which was a good deal for the Ming Dynasty.

Because there are no Portuguese, Macau cannot even collect 4000 taels.

It was during the Qing Dynasty that Macau truly became a colony in a substantial sense.

"..."

When Guest heard Zhu Yijiong's question, he fell silent for a moment.Of course, he didn't feel ashamed, but felt that the rebel emperor in front of him was simply unreasonable.

He wanted to negotiate well, even if he gave away some benefits, but the other party was planning to open his mouth.

Zhu Yijiong didn't care about this. He was just robbing these Portuguese people in Macau.

After all, this is the period when the Portuguese are at their weakest, and this period of weakness will last for up to 30 years.

Interestingly, the current king of Portugal, Joao V, is considered the leader of Portugal’s renaissance.

During his reign, the king actively made good friends with the Holy See, fought many foreign wars, and won many battles, successfully bringing Portugal's autocratic monarchy to its peak.

Not only him, but the previous two Portuguese kings also have the titles of "Recoverer" and "Victor", which sounds powerful at first sight.

However, Portugal, which has produced wise kings and kings from generation to generation, has become increasingly difficult to survive.

Just like Nanliang, under the frivolous corvee and low endowment given by Emperor Wu Xiao Yan, its life was worse than that of pigs and dogs.

The reason for this is that after Portugal became independent under the leadership of King Mingjun, it lost the tiger skin of Spain.As a result, various colonies were attacked and plundered by European countries.

Coupled with the Alliance Treaty of 1706, Portugal became an ally of France.

As a result, Portugal became the enemy of the British again.

Moreover, João V pushed the Portuguese monarchy to its peak, and also made the extravagant style of the royal family begin to prevail.

It was not until 30 years later that King Joao V died and his son José I succeeded.

José I only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, so he handed over all his power to the Marquis of Pombal.Under Pombal's active reforms, Portugal recovered slightly.

José I, who only knew how to eat, drink and have fun, was praised by the Portuguese people as a "reformer".

……

The meeting in the side hall ended on bad terms.

Guest and his entourage returned to the guest house, while Mr. Xue Yingcheng came to the Imperial Study Room to ask for an audience with the emperor. He also came to explore the emperor's tone and true attitude towards future foreign affairs.

Zhu Yijiong was not polite and said immediately: "In the future external work of Honglu Temple, we must remember to give priority to national interests in everything we do. Any betrayal of national interests must be strictly prohibited. This article must be written into the "Da Ming Code"."

Xue Yingcheng was really surprised when he said this.

This seems to be different from the past. In the past, China has always maintained the dignity of the Celestial Kingdom and adhered to the concept of giving favors to others, that is, spending money to buy face.

Zhu Yijiong's opening not only set the future working standards of Honglu Temple, but also directly broke the old Chinese tradition.

After that, he and Xue Yingcheng briefly popularized the working model of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in later generations.

Zhu Yijiong said that Xue Yingcheng listened, including the embassy and the most important consular jurisdiction.

After talking for almost a quarter of an hour, Zhu Yijiong almost exhausted all his diplomatic knowledge reserves, and then turned the topic back to Macau.

Although the meeting in front of the palace just ended on bad terms, it does not mean that we cannot talk.

This is the point of negotiation.

The Portuguese in Macau needed the Ming Dynasty's tiger skins, and the Ming Dynasty also needed their steam engines and shipbuilders.

It is necessary for the lion to speak loudly. Only by first making a request that the other party cannot agree to can the conditions for subsequent negotiations be made reasonable.

Zhu Yijiong said: "I have two bottom lines: First, Macau must be returned to Ming Dynasty, even if it is just to return to the 36-year lease status of Jiajing.

Second, you must get a steam engine and an excellent shipbuilder, one who can build Galenic ships. "

"The latter is particularly important. It depends on you how you can negotiate."

Steam engines and galenic ships?
The latter can understand that it is nothing more than a new ship that has never been seen before, but what is a steam engine?
Xue Yingcheng didn't understand, but it didn't matter. Since the emperor wanted these two things, Honglu Temple would try its best to get them.

Moreover, the last sentence seems to allow them to play freely without any pressure.

But Xue Yingcheng was not a newcomer to officialdom, so he still couldn't understand the holy meaning in these words.

　Although Galen ships have been widely used by European countries as early as the late Ming Dynasty, they have not been introduced to China.

　　This is determined by nationality.

　　Because from the perspective of freight transportation, the Galen ship is actually inferior to the Fu ship.

　　The advancement of Galen ships was mainly reflected in the military, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties were not very interested in developing military force to the outside world.

　　In addition to the language barrier, China's economy and culture have long been at the top of the world during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and China's land is large enough.

　　Therefore, the Ming and Qing courts had little desire to engage in ocean-going adventures and conquests.

　　Even in troubled times, the ancients still focused on unifying the world, and the navy had never been the focus of the dynasty.

　　The Ming and Zheng Dynasties were unable to recover, so they were forced to retreat to Taiwan and develop their naval power.

　　Speaking of which, this was actually the fault of the Tang Dynasty. The impact of the Anshi Rebellion on the Tang Dynasty not only caused the Tang Dynasty to turn from prosperity to decline, but also caused Li Tang and later Central Plains dynasties to begin to focus their strategy on developing exchanges with the outside world. Transformed into unifying the world.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)