The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 99 The Portuguese assess the situation

November 1724, 11, Luanda, Portuguese Angola.

After Oscar Monteiro Torres, the governor of Angola, led a group of colonial officials to put the envoy from the Kingdom of England on the ship, he waved goodbye to him very warmly. It was not until the ship set sail and gradually disappeared on the sea that the Portuguese heaved a sigh of relief. , ended this hypocritical performance.

"His Majesty the King's decision is likely to plunge our entire Kingdom of Portugal into a huge disaster!" After sitting in the carriage, the smile on Governor Torres' face immediately disappeared, replaced by a look of worry and solemnity.

"Your Excellency, the Governor, thinks that the Qi Congress will directly attack our Portuguese mainland and overseas colonial territories?" Ilidio Machado, the senator of Portuguese Angola and the mayor of Luanda, looked at Governor Torres in astonishment.

"So far, Qi and England are at a tense situation, and neither side has shown any signs of making concessions. On the contrary, both of them are making full diplomatic and military preparations for the upcoming war at this time." Governor Torres sighed and said: "It is foreseeable that this war will break out at any time, it only needs a trigger. The battlefield may not be limited to the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. England's commercial strongholds in the Indian Ocean and the East Indies It is a high probability that they will be wiped out by the Qi people. They will even fight in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even the North Sea. And the pro-English stance held by the Portuguese may also be attacked by the Qi people. Indiscriminate attacks by states.”

"However, we are not substantially on England's side, and the Qi people have no reason to attack us!" Ilidio Machado exclaimed: "If they rashly launch a war against us, aren't they afraid that we, Portugal, will completely destroy us?" Turn to England and unite with them to fight against Qi?"

"Of course, we in Portugal are not substantively on England's side. But our behavior will definitely be recognized by the people of Qi as a military alliance with England." Governor Torres said with a hint of helplessness in his tone, "As we all know, for more than 300 years, Previously, our Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of England signed a permanent treaty - the "Anglo-Portuguese Treaty". According to the treaty, during wartime, our Kingdom of Portugal will unconditionally support England in all aspects. Due to the fear of being attacked by Qi Due to the threat of war, His Majesty the King refused to send troops and warships to join England in the war against the United States, but he allowed the English navy to use the ports of overseas territories such as Mozambique, Angola, Guinea, and Cape Verde. Do you think, in During the war, will the people of Qi be afraid of our Portuguese reaction and watch helplessly as English naval warships freely enter and leave the above-mentioned ports and strongholds?"

"Not to mention, we have just leased the port of Bengora in the south to England." Ilidio Machado was stunned, and after a while, he said quietly: "Based on the judgment of the Governor, once an outbreak breaks out between Qi and Britain, War, we Portugal will definitely be involved in it! Oh, God, we should have abolished that ridiculous "Anglo-Portuguese Treaty" long ago. We were simply kidnapped by the English! We Portuguese should not be involved in this senseless war, We were attacked by Qi for no reason."

As a Portuguese, it is a bit shameless to completely deny the "Anglo-Portuguese Treaty" more than 300 years ago and believe that England kidnapped Portugal. It is obviously a sign of gratitude without repayment.

As early as 1373, which was the sixth year after King Ferdinand I of Portugal took office, it was the Hundred Years War between England and France. Castile was an ally of France and provided France with a fleet to raid the southern coast of England.John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who was regent in England at the time, also had a claim to the Castilian throne and needed to find allies in the Iberian Peninsula.As a result, Ferdinand I signed a document with King Edward III of England: the "Anglo-Portuguese Treaty".

The "Treaty" was written in Latin on parchment. The most important sentence in it is: "I firmly believe that if one of the two kings or his heirs is in urgent need of support from the other, in accordance with the provisions of this agreement, he will be able to assist him to the best of his ability." It is a festival to ensure that its borders and property are safe, so that this alliance will remain intact.Thus began a centuries-old alliance between the two countries.

In 1383, Ferdinand I died without an heir, and his next-door neighbor Castile took the opportunity to lay claim to the Portuguese throne.England supported Ferdinand I's half-brother John I and sent troops to help him resist the invasion of Castile.Although the number of English reinforcements was small, they were all elites who had been on the battlefield for many years in the Hundred Years War.Finally, in the Battle of Arjubarota in 1385, more than 6 Portuguese troops, assisted by hundreds of English longbowmen, defeated the 3 coalition troops of Castile and France, safeguarding Portugal's independent status.After the war, England and Portugal formally concluded the 1386 "Supplementary Treaty of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance" (also known as the "Treaty of Windsor"). Joao I married Philippa, the daughter of John of Gaunt, which was also considered the beginning of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance. beginning.

There are 12 articles in the "Convention of Windsor", among which the following three articles are of great significance: 1. The convention is a permanent treaty, and the rulers of the two countries and their heirs must abide by it and shall not violate it; 2. Citizens of the two countries can freely enter and leave the other country, You can travel, trade and live in another country at will; 3. Give equal protection and treatment to citizens of the other country, that is, citizens of the United Kingdom and Portugal automatically obtain the right of permanent residence in the other country, in terms of work, education, medical care, etc. Both enjoy the same treatment as citizens of the other country.

Later, during Portugal's war of independence from the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, King Joao IV relied on French assistance to fight against Spain, but he had been struggling and could not be recognized by European countries for a long time. Spain and France in 1659 The peace agreement immediately left Portugal in an isolated and helpless situation.

In desperation, Portugal could only turn to England, which was still a republic at the time, to seek military assistance from the "regicide".The British King Charles II, who was restored in 1660, continued his previous policy of allying with France to fight against Spain. The two countries signed a treaty again in 1661 to reaffirm their alliance.Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine and promised to send troops to assist. Portugal ceded Bombay in India and Tangier in Morocco to England, and gave England the privilege of trading with the Portuguese colonies, while paying 200 million gold coins as a dowry. In 1662, three thousand former veterans of the "New Model Army" went to Portugal to participate in the war, eventually forcing Spain to renounce the Portuguese throne in 1668, allowing the Portuguese to gain complete independence.

England has saved Portugal from the brink of national subjugation several times in hundreds of years of history. It can be said that England has "re-creation grace" for Portugal, just like their reborn parents.

Of course, England "cared" for Portugal so much and received a lot of rewards.After the restoration of Portugal, England took advantage of Portugal's relatively weak position and obtained many trade privileges. For example, the 1642 trade treaty stipulated that English merchant ships could stay in Portuguese ports with cargo for three months, waiting for the most favorable price. ; For example, you can be allowed to trade directly with the Portuguese Brazilian colonial territory and sell black slaves.

At the beginning of this century, in order to expand its own textile market, England used extremely low tariff preferences to dump English textiles and other industrial products in Portugal based on the Methuen Treaty signed by the two countries in 1703, almost destroying Portugal. of local manufacturing.

In order to produce the wine that the English loved, Portugal's agriculture developed abnormally and had to import grain from England. In order to purchase England's textiles and grain, a large amount of gold from Portuguese Brazil flowed into England, which to a certain extent promoted the development of England's industry and commerce.

Some Qi merchants said with envy that Portugal had always been in the position of a "servant" in the trading system built by the English. On the one hand, they carried out crazy plundering of colonies such as Brazil, and at the same time suffered from the cruelty of the English. Exploitation.

An English businessman in Lisbon also commented triumphantly that Portugal had done all the "dirty work" such as slavery, resource grabbing and colonial rule, but except for a few big nobles and big businessmen with ties to England, it basically received no benefits. , the domestic economy and society have become increasingly backward, becoming one of the poorest countries in Western Europe.

And all this was the price Portugal paid for relying on Britain to gain "independence".French Foreign Minister Duke Choiseul bluntly called Portugal a "semi-colony" of Britain.

However, if Portugal accepted Spanish rule, it would probably become a vassal of France, and its life would not necessarily be much better.For small and weak countries caught between the great powers, true "independence" is often just a luxury. "Choose the lesser of two evils" and avoid "driving the wolf to win the tiger" is the best choice most of the time.

And now, facing the two fierce tigers of England and Qi, the poor Portuguese are caught in the cracks again, and it is very likely that they will be involuntarily involved in the conflict between the two sides.

Because after the war breaks out, Qi's warships will sail north along the west coast of Africa, heading to the Mediterranean, the English Channel, and the North Sea to engage in a series of naval battles with the English navy. How can they be assured that there is an ambiguous attitude on their side and a contract with England? What about the existence of Portugal after the Treaty of Alliance?Not to mention, the strategic positions of colonial strongholds such as Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese Mozambique, and Portuguese Cape Verde can not only cut off the retreat of the Qi expedition fleet at any time, but also threaten the Qi Empire. South Africa and Qi belong to overseas territories such as the Canary Islands.What's even more deadly is that England can also take advantage of the favorable geographical situation of Portuguese Brazil to blockade and attack Qi's vassal state, Qing State, and spread the war to the South American continent.

England is located in the Atlantic Ocean and enjoys a convenient geographical location. However, the Qi Kingdom spans two oceans and has tens of thousands of journeys. It has the disadvantage of laboring for expeditions. However, its maritime strength is strong, and it also has strong financial resources and huge industrial productivity. This may not necessarily be the case. Lost its edge.If the two sides engage in a major war, the scale and spatial span of the battle will inevitably be far greater than before.

In this upcoming war, the weak and helpless Portuguese will inevitably be affected, which will be the heaviest blow to their already declining overseas colonial territories.

It is said that the Qi people are constantly mobilizing armed ships and landing troops from the mainland, the East Indies and India, and deploying them in South Africa, Hailing Island (today's Madagascar), Silver Moon Island (today's Grand Comoros) Island) and other places.

The Portuguese had reason to believe that the military deployment of the Qi people was not necessarily an invasion of England, but was prepared against them.Once the war breaks out, in order to ensure the safety of their retreat, the Qi people will inevitably attack the Portuguese colonial territories on a large scale, disarm the Portuguese, and not give the English any opportunities to take advantage of them.

"So, Your Majesty the Governor, do we need further military mobilization to strengthen the defense of Angola?" After a moment of silence, Ilidio Machado asked softly.

"A few months ago, the Qi people sent an envoy to warn us that any increase in military armaments would be a threat of war to their South African territories." Governor Torres said with a wry smile: "If we further mobilize our military, there is no guarantee that we will not irritate the Qi people." The fragile nerves of the Chinese people were struck first by them. They sent warships from Cape Town, and in less than half a month, they were able to reach Luanda and launch an attack on us."

"However, if we do not carry out military mobilization, recruit and train more armed soldiers and indigenous servants, and actively prepare for war, when war really comes to our Angola, won't all the people of the Lord be allowed to be ravaged by the Qi people?"

“Machado, how many people are there in Angola as a whole?”

"About 4 to [-] people." Ilidio Machado automatically ignored the countless local indigenous populations.

"Do you know how many people live in the South African Territory?"

"There must be more than 20 people."

"No, there are far more than 20 Qi people." Governor Torres shook his head and said: "Since the Qi people discovered gold in South Africa, in less than two years, there has been an influx of [-] to [-] gold prospectors. Do you think that during the war? , How many troops will the people of Qi arm?"

"What your Excellency the Governor means is..."

“Dear Machado, I hope you can go to Changning (now Durban, South Africa) and tell the people of Qi that our Governor-General of Angola does not want to cause a meaningless war, let alone the Lord’s people. to any loss of life or property. After the war breaks out, we will declare the entire Angola as a defenseless zone in exchange for their security guarantees for us."

"Declare the entire Angola as an undefended zone?" Ilidio Machado stared at Governor Torres in disbelief.

In other words, when a war breaks out between Qi and Britain, our Governor-General of Angola will take the initiative to hand over our "security" to the people of Qi in exchange for their tolerance and protection from military attacks and armed robberies.

Well, to put it bluntly, we voluntarily surrendered and lay down, so you Qi people should not carry out military attacks on us, let alone harm our lives or seize our property.

In other words, none of the officials and military generals who served in the colonies had accumulated a net worth of tens of millions, or those merchants and planters who were engaged in African trade made a lot of money by mining gold, selling black slaves, and doing re-export trade of Qi's goods. earned a lot.If the Qi people invaded Angola, wouldn't all the wealth be destroyed in one day?

So, in the face of Qi's military attack, can we muster the courage to resist to the death?

Don't be ridiculous, with Angola's small population, weak military strength, and outdated weapons, do you still want to compete with Qi's soldiers who are armed to the teeth?The armed forces of South Africa alone can completely defeat them.

Well, it is much more cost-effective to negotiate a "decent" result with the people of Qi than to spend a lot of money and materials to arm a group of colonial troops and indigenous servants with low combat effectiveness, and maybe even spend all of their own wealth. , and precious lives.

Under the irreversible trend, we Portuguese should really assess the situation and make the wisest choice.

if not?
(End of this chapter)