New World 1620

A few days later, a small dinner was held at the Governor's residence.

After seeing the unreasonable "cleanliness" style of the Yankees, Governor Garcia mobilized all the servants and slaves to clean the inside and outside of the mansion several days in advance.

The weeds around the mansion were imitated by Garcia, who asked the slaves to build them to the same length, and then dug a lot of small trees from the nearby hillsides to create the "natural freshness" that Americans call.

Then he bought perfume at a high price from a passing local businessman, and sprinkled it all from the gate of the official residence to the banquet hall regardless of the three or seven.Such a prodigal behavior made the governor's wife twitch.

Governor Garcia, who owns several plantation properties in Brazil, earns only a few thousand Spanish silver dollars a year, but this time the one-night banquet preparation cost 1500 Spanish silver dollars!

Just as Governor Garcia was doing the final inspection before the dinner, on the other side of the port, in the "Huamei Business Club", several young people were also making preparations before going out.

It's okay for men to say that there are ready-made formal clothes for several seasons, but it's more troublesome for three ladies.

That Baron Lopez of Moreira immediately collected a lot of gifts from local businessmen after a certain afternoon tea, and then sent them to the American business hall, and gave them to the "respected Vice President of the Ministry of Commerce of the United States of America" ​​by name. Ms. Yang Wenwen, Minister," and said that there will be more thoughtful gifts that will be delivered in person in Lisbon.

With a few small bottles of perfume, English velvet, Dutch woolen printed waistcoats, and a large pile of fine silk from Lyon, France, Baron Moreira Lopez spent almost an afternoon on the money he brought from Lisbon. The few valuable goods in our hands were all taken away.

Seeing this, Yuan Xinyi and Xia Qiuyu yelled that it was unfair, especially when Yang Wenwen complacently added fuel to the idiot's behavior of the hillbilly baron, the three women unanimously decided to give these Portuguese some more good looks.

Regardless of how much insincere this slogan contains, but from the night of receiving the gift, the Grass Team with Yang Wenwen as the chief tailor, Yuan Xinyi as the fashion designer, and Xia Qiuyu as the art director announced the establishment of the grass-stage team, and then sent servants to take care of it. The best tailors in Porto de Heroes were brought in, some of whom were said to have made gowns for the nobles of Lisbon.

The three of them confused the poor Portuguese tailors with their unprofessional ways of slurring words and the extremely abstract clothing design drafts. Later, Yang Wenwen had to cut the main clothing parts according to the drawings before letting the Portuguese tailors to deal with other details.

The reward of 100 Spanish silver coins per person made those Portuguese tailors go crazy. In just two days, several sets of Victorian court dresses with many artistic details in the 21st century that are incomparable in this era were released.

After finishing their work, the tailors took a breath in unison, and they even worried whether such a work of art would bring them disaster in the future.Because they can hardly understand and apply these oriental design concepts by themselves.

Looking at the entire European aristocratic class, the aesthetics of clothing derived from the Renaissance is still at a very low level, and the understanding of tailoring levels, color matching, decorative parts, body curve proportions, etc. is completely messed up.The clothes worn by those noble nobles basically aimed to show off their wealth.All the things they think are beautiful are stacked on top of a body-constricting suit.

Among the three ladies, Yang Wenwen, the oldest, is of course dressed in a head-to-toe noble lady style, Yuan Xinyi, who is in the middle age, chooses the elegant and quiet ladylike demeanor, and Xia Qiuyu, the youngest, wears a delicate and elegant princess dress.To put it bluntly, even in the 21st century, the three of them dressed like this would definitely end up attracting bees and attracting butterflies, let alone those Portuguese men who were boring in the 17th century?

The high existence of European church power made women in the 17th century dare not go beyond the threshold of clothing. Of course, why such ancient aesthetics as showing their breasts became so popular is another matter.In order not to be caught by others, the costumes of the three were conservatively designed at least on the shoulders.

Dressing and trimming of details, from 3 pm to 6 pm, the three ladies finished the final headgear, and the six men were already sitting in the living room drowsy.

……

……

In the spacious Azores Governor's Mansion, candlelight was flickering, and there were many people. The long banquet table was full of local high-class people except for the empty seats on both sides near the main seat.

Of course, the Azores under the rule of the Governor of Azores will not have any real big-faced people. In order to make up for the number, small officials including the dock tax officer brought their family members to the scene, including several people in the Azores. A Portuguese businessman with a background of local nobles who has been staying in Sole for a long time.

The servant entered the banquet hall and whispered a few times into the governor's ear with a strange expression, and then the governor quickly raised his hand to stop the impatient whispers waiting at the banquet table.

Not long after, the steward led a group of nine people from the "American Mission" into the banquet hall.

"Oh, my god……"

"Are they the Americans the Governor said?"

"Jesus... the Virgin Mary... this is incredible!"

"This is the most luxurious person I have ever seen!"

All kinds of amazed and greedy eyes appeared on the faces of every Portuguese man, while the ladies and ladies remained silent with uncertain expressions.

The American VIPs in front of them are all tall (at least in their eyes), dressed in elegant, luxurious or stable, the men are handsome and the women are even more charming.

"I'm really sorry, everyone, the driver is not familiar with the streets, so..." Su Zining walked up to Governor Garcia, apologized, and then nodded slightly to everyone present as a salute.

"Miss Yang Wenwen!" Baron Moreira Lopez, who had applied countless hair oils, almost rushed to Yang Wenwen's side in a few steps, and then opened a chair for her, with a happy smile on his pale face, "Your today You are beautiful, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!"

"Oh, thank you, Baron Moreira is also very energetic today." Yang Wenwen was not humble, and sat down gently against the jealous eyes of all the Portuguese women.

After everyone was seated, Governor Garcia began to introduce the American guests that even he himself did not fully recognize, because these distinguished guests with oriental faces made him unable to find the most suitable way to remember them.

"Member Su."

"Mr. Yan."

Su Zining and Yan Xiaosong's pretentiousness is the best, and they should be recognized by all the Portuguese as the highest figures of the mission.

"Lieutenant Zhou."

Seeing everyone's eyes turned over, I knew I had been introduced.Zhou Kemin, who was dressed in a neat military uniform, stood up, closed his heels with a "click", and then nodded slightly in salute. The Portuguese ladies at the scene were all fascinated by how handsome his posture was.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant."

There was another "click", and the maids who were peeking in the corridor let out small screams of excitement.

After introducing the male guests, when introducing the female guests, out of politeness, Su Zining or Yan Xiaosong should introduce them. During this process, the eyes of the young and old Portuguese were all straight.

"Miss Yuan, the interpreter for this delegation is proficient in European languages, um... Miss Yuan's father is a senior member of the National Congress of his country..."

Except for Yang Wenwen who had already been introduced by Yan Xiaosong once, the young man's mouthful of running the train was even more uncontrollable at this time, and the Portuguese on the scene all exclaimed in low voices.

"Miss Xia, the health expert of this delegation, she will provide valuable advice on the health of all members of the delegation... Miss Xia's father is the Speaker of the National Assembly of this country!"

Well, this time it's even more scary. If Yuan Xinyi's father-fighting is just Yan Xiaosong's random nonsense and it doesn't hurt the elegance, then the chairman Mr. Liu directly became the cheap father of nurse Xia Qiuyu this time!

Louder exclamations broke out in the banquet hall than before, and many Portuguese had to stand up and bow to the bewildered nurse.Even Governor Garcia and his wife couldn't help standing up.

You must know that in the 17th century, even if there was a so-called non-monarchy country such as a parliament or a parliament, members of parliament were definitely qualified to be members of traditional aristocratic families. Except for the Netherlands and England, the Republic of Venice with a more standardized parliamentary system, its members of parliament They are all composed of powerful and powerful nobles in the history of Venice.

"Your sister... Now I finally know how thick-skinned you are. You can't even penetrate a 50-pound shell at a distance of 24 yards..." After Yan Xiaosong sat down, Zhu Xiaoli, a retired special soldier, finally couldn't help muttering.

"If Su Zining were to introduce him, he wouldn't rank lower than me..." Yan Xiaosong didn't change his expression, his typical attitude of fooling around.

……

……

A "Parade of American Noble Members" that short-circuited everyone's thinking lasted until after 21 o'clock in the evening.After the banquet, Governor Garcia, Baron Moreira Peroz, and Su Zining and Yan Xiaosong secretly talked for more than an hour in a small living room.

When we got back to the villa, it was almost 23 o'clock in the evening.Once through the gate, the three ladies rushed straight to their respective rooms impatiently.The smell of the Portuguese men at the banquet, combined with the smell of strong spices in the dishes, made them lose their appetite for food at all, and the three of them almost ended the dinner with an empty stomach and a strange smell.

The men were called together by Su Zining to sort out all the gains or problems since arriving at Hero Port.

"French and Dutch merchants have almost negotiated. They will return to their country immediately to contact their respective chambers of commerce and gather supplies for us. The French hope that all transactions can be carried out in Nantes Port, and the Dutchman insists that he wants to get the entire Monopoly trading rights in the North Netherlands. For the French, I gave them a 5.00% price concession to let them put the trading center in the Azores Heroes Port, but we still have the priority to adjust the annual price agreement; the Dutch I didn’t agree to the request, I don’t think the Chamber of Commerce behind this person is very reliable, I only agreed to give them the Chamber of Commerce’s monopoly trading rights for three years for fur products.”

Ren Changle took out his notebook and described his work progress page by page.

"It's easy for local Portuguese merchants. But many of their goods channels are not very stable, and they may need to contact more suppliers or chambers of commerce to join. In this way, they hope that we can guarantee that the annual price agreement will not fluctuate by more than 5.00%. Make sure their long-term suppliers don't drop out. I've agreed to the terms and paid the deposit up front, hehe."

Huo Qian, who was Ren Changle's deputy, also quickly took out a few pieces of paper. The progress was good, even the contract was settled, and the guarantor of the contract was Governor Garcia.

"We recruited 12 people from the vicinity of the port, including 6 free sailors, all Portuguese, and 4 indentured slaves, but they were all apprentice-level carpenters or blacksmiths, and finally 2 women, one 18 years old, A 21-year-old dancer in a bar, a Spaniard, a local bankrupt farmer, can also be considered a contract slave. I have checked my body and there is no malignant infectious disease."

The ship doctor Lao Zhao smiled and pointed to Xia Qiuyu's room with his fingers, and lowered his voice: "The child is still very shy about this matter. I have said a lot of truths, but she just doesn't accept it."

"It can't be helped. There are too many single men in the settlements of Manhattan, and certain industries are necessary..." Su Zi was silent for a while, then nodded understandingly.

"Okay, let me finally talk about the progress of Yan Xiaosong and I." Su Zining made a gesture, and then lowered his voice, "Governor Garcia is still unclear about our real strength, and we are limited to discussing trade-related matters, but we emphasize The great influence of the Spaniards in Portugal, I hope we can come up with something more convincing in exchange, so that he can guarantee that the Duke of Braganza can use the strength of the entire old Portuguese aristocracy to help us."

"Something more convincing?" Ren Changle was a little confused, "Since they don't agree with us very much, why are they so anxious to win us over?"

"They want to prevent the Spaniards from cutting in, and they want to get all the external forces they can use. But our needs are much more than what they want, so they need us to come up with something equivalent. For example..." Yan Xiaosong laughed Pointing to Zhou Kemin, "For example, military support, they now think that we must be a country with a strong military. Although Portugal has many overseas colonies, the country is small and the population is small. Penetration control is quick."

"Not only that... Although the current Duke of Braganza, Theodosio II, is respected by the Portuguese Federation of Nobles as the leader of the restoration of the Kingdom of Portugal, he is not a courageous leader himself. Not only the Spaniards see It's very tight, even he himself is always worried and suspicious all day long, because his wife is Spanish." Su Zining hurriedly added, "Governor Garcia was seduced by us this time and then killed before playing, so Theodosio who didn't understand the situation The Second King will definitely not rush to accept our request. For this reason, I played a special role as a magic stick. I said that King Philip of Spain will probably die in a short time because of his corrupt life, and Spain will fall into a long-term downturn. , Theodosio II can boldly make some preparations in advance. Historically, this king will die on the 31st of this month, if no other traversers come over."

"Is it true? When did Portugal succeed in restoring its country in history?" Zhu Xiaoli asked suddenly.

"1640, 19 years later." Su Zining spread his hands, with a helpless expression, "And it was not achieved by Theodosio II, but by his son Joao IV. In theory, even if we don't cut in, the Portuguese There will still be opportunities.”

"Then since it's so troublesome... Aren't we just looking for raw material suppliers and product dumping markets? We can use the French, the Dutch, the English, and even the Swedes. Why do we just stare at them? You said just now that you want to persuade They exchanged with us? What do you mean?" Lao Zhao stroked his chin, very puzzled that Su Zining and Yan Xiaosong had been working hard on the Portuguese these days.

Not only Lao Zhao, but everyone else turned their attention to the two "foxes" - Su Zining and Yan Xiaosong.After the latter looked at each other, their expressions became extremely serious at the same time.

After staying for a while, Yan Xiaosong made a gesture of invitation and left the right to speak to Su Zining.

"For the Portuguese colonies! Or to be more precise, using their colonies in South America, West Africa, East Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as their strong ocean transportation capacity, as a springboard for our immigration from the Ming Dynasty, this is an unprecedented thing in this era. Alternative convenience!"

Su Zining stood up, opened the window, and quietly looked at the eastern night sky with a smile on his lips.

Except for Yan Xiaosong's calm expression, almost everyone present was taken aback.From their point of view, everything in Manhattan is currently running well. As long as there are sufficient raw material import channels and product dumping markets, and with the human resources of Indians, they can live extremely well in North America.

"How long can we keep this safe? Ten years? 20 years? Or 100 years?" Yan Xiaosong said solemnly, his expression becoming more and more serious, "When Europeans pass through the most difficult decades, they will be like locusts. The same flooded into North America. There are only a few people in Manhattan, excluding the old and the young, less than 20 people, and ten or twenty years later, when we are all old, how can we protect ourselves and our future generations? Do we expect those cars with wheels Indians who can't even make one?"

The crowd was silent, not because they hadn't thought about these problems, but because they subconsciously believed that these problems would naturally be solved by someone, and they just had to do it.

In their whole life, they have never been so serious about being responsible for a team of more than 10 people. Even this trip to Europe, it is estimated that their mentality is far more lively than fulfilling their duties.

Now, they are actually participating in a major event for the future of the entire Manhattan group, and even the lives of their descendants, and such a major event is decided in such a small room.

In the past, they thought that Su Zining was erudite but had a poisonous tongue, and Yan Xiaosong was optimistic and enthusiastic but also cunning, but it was at this moment that they discovered the difference between themselves and others.

"Brother Su, did you and Brother Yan discuss it a long time ago..." Zhou Kemin stood up suddenly, his eyes glowing, "Do Mr. Liu and the chief know?"

The head of Zhou Kemin's mouth refers to Zheng Quan.

"No, they don't know now. But they will think about it sooner or later." Su Zining turned around with a mysterious smile, "Don't worry, this is just Yan Xiaosong and I's preliminary plan, if it doesn't work, we'd better take a step forward step."

"Starting tomorrow, things will become more and more difficult to do, and even unexpected things will happen... Now we have purchased the first batch of supplies in Azores that can fill the Mayflower and Santa Maria, you guys You can go back to Manhattan with the boat at any time." Yan Xiaosong looked down at the map on the desktop with a calm expression.

Several people looked at each other with different expressions.

……

……

When Yan Xiaosong returned to the room, his watch was past 1:[-] in the morning.

The meeting just now ended in silence. Except for Su Zining, no one gave a positive answer, and Yan Xiaosong was the first to leave the room as if he had known the result.

The room was bright, and a few candles were still struggling to shake their flames, and more candle remnants had piled up on the candlesticks.

The Spanish lieutenant, Caterina, was waiting in the room.The girl did not attend the banquet at the Governor's Mansion last night, but stayed in the shop under the surveillance of three "German devils".

Katerina, who was dressed in a maid dress, seemed to have been sitting there for a long time, but when she saw Yan Xiaosong coming in, she hurried up to meet him, carefully unbuttoned his suit jacket, checked his shoulders under his shirt, and then took it from the outside. There is hot water.

"It's almost ready, don't worry." Yan Xiaosong made a smiling face, thinking that the other party has been taking good care of him during this time, and he was a little moved.

"You swear to God, everything you do is fair!" Katerina changed Yan Xiaosong's medicine, suddenly raised her head, and stared into the eyes of the young man in the east, as if trying to catch something out of it .

"I don't have any thoughts of blaspheming the God in your mind, but I can swear with my heart that I am selfless and for my fellow citizens." Yan Xiaosong thought for a while, and said slowly.

"But this place belongs to the king of Spain!" Caterina jumped up like a young lioness who was suddenly stimulated, clasped her hands, and became the Spanish lieutenant on the battleship again, "I know you are fighting with Those daring Portuguese touch, this is desecrating the sacred crown of His Majesty King Philip of Spain! The Portuguese will not succeed, they will be hanged, and you will too!"

"But the Portuguese don't think that way... The game of succession among the kings and nobles has always been ruled by the strong, the English, the French, and the Austrians, without exception." Yan Xiaosong gestured and put his palm on the On the neck, "England and France have fought for the crown of the French king for more than 100 years. They have always enjoyed the matter of losing their heads but not losing the crown. Why are the Portuguese afraid of death?"

"So you plan to join in, just to take away the dignity of the Kingdom of Spain!" The Spanish female lieutenant's literary and artistic youth reached its peak, and the aura of defenders covered her whole body.

"No, we just want to live a stable and happy life, and we need the Portuguese to serve us." Yan Xiaosong stood up, hesitated, but still put his hands on the shoulders of the Spanish girl, "As for whether the Portuguese can get their In the future, I actually don’t care.”

"Really... you're just taking advantage of their ambitions, right?" Catalina looked at the tall young man with tears in her eyes, her shoulders were trembling, "Then you swear to God, if the Kingdom of Spain doesn't do anything against you Don't get your country involved!"

"Good! I swear!"

Yan Xiaosong's mind turned slightly, and he smiled, but his tone was very serious.

"You are the bravest man I have ever met...a brave man keeps his word..."

Katerina blushed suddenly, threw herself into Yan Xiaosong's arms, soaked tears into the shirt on the young man's chest, and then smiled.

Yan Xiaosong was taken aback for a moment, his body was stiff and he did not dare to move, and his heart felt bitter.