open sea

Chapter 445

Chen Mu didn't prepare seven kinds of wine, he just said it casually.

But the biggest benefit that power brings to people is that it can turn the lies that people can easily come true. When the banquet began, seven famous wines, from rice wine to shochu, were placed on the table in front of every banqueter in Manila King City.

They are all experts in war. When talking about the battle of Lepanto, Chen Mu was using clichés; when talking about the siege of Manila, Don Juan was using clichés;

Seems to be equal to each other, but Chen Mu thinks he has made money, because what he wants to know is not the tactics and intelligence of the Spaniards, but the Ottoman Empire.

Regarding the Ottoman Empire, Don Juan had no sense of secrecy and almost knew everything.

Chen Mu was curious about what Spain had, and he basically knew everything he needed to know during the battle.

He was only surprised by Ottoman's shipbuilding capabilities, because in terms of land, population, and bureaucratic system, these two behemoths have a lot in common with Western countries. On the other hand, in Chen Mu's eyes, Ming is an enhanced version of the Ottoman Empire.

More than twice the land, more than three times the population, and a more advanced bureaucratic system are the advantages of Ming Dynasty, but it is also more self-confident. The main wars are within the Greater China Circle, making wars extremely scarce for military improvement.

Changing places, Ming replaced Ottoman ten years ago to fight the Lepanto naval battle with the Holy Alliance. It would only use more than three times the book force to fight a disastrous defeat or victory, and there would be no better result.

But the same situation is that after Ottoman was defeated in the Lepanto sea battle and destroyed 230 galleys, he only used one winter to launch more ships than before the war to rebuild the fleet.

Don Juan drank two bowls of shochu, smoked a pipe, and said with bitterness on his face, "I won the battle, but the Holy Alliance lost the war. Only half a year later, Osman still signed a treaty with Venice. That is a meaningless war."

Then he said to Chen Mu: "General, just like the war between the Philippines and Guam, it is meaningless. This war could have been avoided."

"Oh, yes, in Luzon and Linlai, we have lost too many masters of tigers and wolves. If your king had sent you here earlier." Chen Mu picked up the bowl full of rice wine and drank it down. It’s useless, at that time it was impossible to negotiate a peace, Luzon, Sulu, and Borneo are all tributary states of the Ming Dynasty, do you know what a tributary state is?”

"Like the Netherlands and Milan in Spain, this is different from America. If my army sets foot in Mexico, your king will be very angry, but is this the same as when I send troops to the Netherlands? "

"The war in Luzon is inevitable, but we can avoid the war in Mexico, the second Luzon or the war in Seville." Chen Mu raised his hand and nodded on the wine case: "If we want to Now is the time to stop this fight."

Chen Mu said as he pulled the silk towel and wiped it around his mouth, clapped his hands happily to stop the drum music, and said, "Now let's talk about the compensation, 700 million taels of silver, Salcedo should Have you sent the news to Madrid?"

700 million taels of silver, Tang Juan had a headache when he heard this quantifier, but he had long been prepared for embarrassment. He apologized to Chen Mu, and then said: "General Chen, Spain is indeed unable to pay the 700 million taels of silver you asked for." , Let alone to avoid a war in the Netherlands, even if you can really send troops to the Netherlands, His Majesty the King may have no objection."

"The Manila route was cut off due to the war, the royal fleet could not deliver goods, the king could not borrow money to pay for the huge amount of silver, if there were other parties..."

Before Libera finished translating the first paragraph, she was interrupted by Chen Mu: "Do you think I look like a poor person? Don't mention money, if you don't have silver, you can use other methods to pay, barter, or even intangible It’s all right, put your heart back in your stomach.”

Chen Mu smiled kindly and said: "Chen is not a strict person. The people and officials of Ming Dynasty are extremely magnanimous and industrious. If it is not possible, I can also send people to Spain to open customs. The world is so big, how can it not tolerate Spain and other countries?" Where's Daming?"

"Hey, I really think it's good for Daming to go to Spain to open customs. Your finances are so messed up. You actually asked the king to borrow money during the war. Why don't you give me the customs and turn your losses into profits within five years. The officials of the Ming Dynasty have jurisdiction over three Spanish countries. For the experience of such a large land, look at Luzon.”

"What were the Spaniards like when they were here? They are well-organized now, times have changed, and you are still using the management methods of ancient times." Chen Mu said in a persuasive manner like a prince's wife selling melons: "Have you heard of modernization? Daming has already Modernized."

People in the sixteenth century talked about the modernization of the sixteenth century, which seems to be fine.

sea, customs?

The word modernization, not to mention that Father Libera, who was the translator, couldn’t translate it. Gao Gong, Xu Wei and others who sat upright and listened to Chen Mu’s boastful speech during the banquet could only look at each other, who knew what he was talking about.

Father Libera half-understood the translation, and Don Juan was also ignorant, and said in a daze: "It is possible to barter, and the pricing can be renegotiated. It is difficult to pay the arrears in one year. Can you A few years of grace, the king's request is that from the date of peace negotiation, Manila and Spain resume trade, and only with trade can there be money to repay the indemnity."

"The resumption of trade and payment in installments depends on the conditions of the peace negotiation. In fact, I think that there is not only war and trade between Ming and West. One war wins and the other loses, and trade has gains and losses, but cooperation is a win-win situation." Chen Mu spread his hands. Said: "The two countries are too far away. We have a lot of things we can cooperate with, such as jointly opening mines and establishing customs. For example, in the Seville you just mentioned, the king leased a piece of land to our merchants."

"Not only the western boats come to Manila, but also the bright boats go to Seville. We make this trade route more prosperous." Chen Mu thought about this for a long time, and he said: "I heard that the king of Spain often sends taxes, mines, etc. How much can you borrow even if you borrow all the merchants in your country? You have a small population, and naturally you don’t produce many utensils. Why don’t you come to me?”

"Let's set up a treaty port in Spain and lease me a piece of coastal wasteland. That piece of land belongs to Spain. Daming just leased it. Ming people will be responsible for building houses, land, and shops in the local area. For example, if you rent it for 100 years, what will happen after 100 years?" Prosperity still belongs to Spain."

"Of course this is also beneficial to me. My merchants can earn more profits when they go to Spain, but unlike your merchants, our merchants borrow your land and don't pay local taxes, so the profit of each store, Twenty percent goes directly to the King of Spain."

"At the same time, if the king agrees, I can lease this land for 100 years at the price of 100 million taels of silver in the arrears."

(End of this chapter)