For a whole week, Jiang Tian led a group of foreign ministry officials with half a bucket of water and the Spaniards quarreled for a week, and the two sides seemed to be evenly matched, but in fact, everyone knew that Jiang Tian himself was "fighting the Confucianism" himself. In order to succeed in the negotiations, the Spaniards pulled in Portugal, which was still their own subject country, and the missionaries who supported them with ironclad, and after repeated debates, they were stunned that they did not get any advantage from Jiang Tiankou.

Originally, these Confucian scholars in China still felt that it was really unseemly for the dignified Chinese prince and prince to quarrel with a small country for a little profit. But after listening to it for a while, they understood what it meant to be a frog at the bottom of the well and a night lang who was arrogant. I didn't expect that this noble-born Lord Jiang was so knowledgeable, and he actually knew the bottom of this Spain clearly, and what was even more surprising was that the silver that the Spaniards grabbed from the New World was enough to buy this world.

So Jiang Tian argued with reason, and explained in detail that most of your silver has flowed into the Chinese market in the past few decades, and China is equivalent to two Europeans in terms of precious metal reserves! Do you think I'm going to sell you when I bring the money? These colonial countries have a group of low-class laborers, and their own monopoly of the colonial market, but they only know how to open estates, dig for gold and silver, and the wool textile industry that flourishes in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean cotton fabrics are of a quality compared to the workshops of the Songjiang generation in China, and they are not even worthy of carrying shoes. The quality and price of Chinese cotton cloth were completely beyond the imagination of these Spanish aristocrats, so much so that the Portuguese were embarrassed to whisper to Fernando that the cotton cloth bought from Songjiang was shipped to Europe, even if the price was doubled, it was cheaper than the European self-produced cloth and the quality was still one grade higher......

In order to prove the advanced degree of China's textile technology, Jiang Tian also ordered people to take various grades of cloth samples from the silk village in the capital, even if it was regarded as a high-end goods by the Spanish aristocracy, there are silk versions in China, not to mention the embroidery of those major schools. Seeing these Fernando really understood, even if the silver mines of the New World were emptied, it was impossible to eat so many expensive goods, and he came to China to know that the Chinese, that is, the Jiang Lord in front of him, had actually done the prevention and control of smallpox, and if this vicious infectious disease ravaging Europe could really be cured, then the European nobles would not have to hold a large amount of gold and silver to seek medicine. Thinking of this, he himself was a little relieved, if Spain is not able to buy out China's goods, then few countries in the world have the ability to do it, as long as it can ensure that Spain can give priority to buying these hard-to-find things.

Therefore, after another week of bargaining, the Chinese and Spanish envoys initially reached a commercial and trade intention, that is, the Spanish have the right of first refusal to purchase some goods in demand, and at the same time open Macao, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Songjiang, and Tianjin priority customs clearance, but correspondingly, the trade rights of the Spanish colonies are also opened to Chinese merchants, especially Luzon, which has a large number of Chinese, Jiang Tian emphasized that the Chinese living on the island must enjoy the same rights as the Spaniards, In exchange for China's support for Spain in Asian waters.

In fact, these quid pro quo conditions are not something that Fernando can decide, but the viscount, who is eager to get results, has to agree to some seemingly excessive demands behind the king's back, he thinks that Chinese merchants will not go to the New World to do business with India anyway, just in the waters of Southeast Asia, Spain is about to be squeezed by the Netherlands and has no room to live, so it is better to find a close ally. From this point of view, Fernando is still a sane person, but Jiang Tian also guessed his thoughts.

"Dear Viscount, allow me to remind you that if your country is unable to deliver on its promises, then our country has more than enough means to make you fulfill its contract. Especially if I hear once again that the governor of Luzon in your country is inciting a band of natives to slaughter our immigrants, I think our warlike generals would not mind driving them all into the sea to feed the sharks! Jiang Tian still had a polite smile on his face when he said these words, but the words he said made others shudder a little when they heard it.

Fernando smiled awkwardly, in fact, he really thought so, anyway, China does not have a decent fleet, he casually promised them some terms, and when the time comes, as long as the money is in his pocket, then he will have to repay the debts when he should be repaid. I have to say that if it is really pure business, Jiang Tian would prefer to deal with the Dutch who are flexible and have a certain reputation, but unfortunately he has to win over Spain for political reasons, so Jiang Tian feels that it is necessary for this guy to have a clear understanding of China's military strength.

"Speaking of which, Lord Viscount seems to be only interested in those luxuries, but as far as I know, your country has been in a disadvantageous position in the war in Europe, and this is not counting the fact that the Dutch lend to you on the one hand, and on the other hand use the interest on your repayment to support the Protestants to fight you." Jiang Tian ignored what the Spaniards, whose faces were becoming increasingly ugly, and continued softly: "Of course, I personally believe that the warriors of your country are very brave, but I think that the weapons in the hands of the warriors are so tattered that even if they are braver than the enemy, they still cannot defeat the cunning enemy. ”

Hearing this, Fernando knew the meaning of the other party's words even if he was stupid, but imported weapons were different from imported luxury goods, and the nobles didn't care how much money he spent on those exquisite goods, but the army might not be grateful to him for getting a large number of weapons from other countries, especially those nobles who had deep-rooted power in the military.

Jiang Tian found that the other party seemed to not know how to interface for a while, because Garcia, the bearded man, was not here today, and the viscount didn't know anything about military affairs, so he took the initiative to propose: "In a few days, in order to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor of our country, and at the same time, to prepare for the expedition against those traitors and pirates who despise our country, a newly formed crusade fleet is ready to officially set sail, I wonder if you are interested in bringing one or two retinues with me to watch the sea parade?" ”

On the surface, China provided a batch of goods at preferential prices, and gave some preferential treatment in customs clearance procedures and tariffs, in exchange for Spain's agreement in principle to the right of Chinese ships to berth and trade in its colony, on the surface, China suffered a loss, but when Zhang Tao got the results of the first phase of negotiations, he laughed, and even said that Jiang Tian really eats people and does not spit out bones, and sooner or later the Spanish colony will become a Chinese colony. The Manchu civil and military looked at the emperor who was overjoyed, and they couldn't figure out why the Spaniards' territory would become their own. But since the emperor has approved of this result, they will not say more, these guys have long understood a truth, as long as it is the decision of the two brothers, even if you don't understand and strongly oppose it, in the end, you can only follow this choice.

As for the question of how to support Spain to expand the war in Europe by force, these two people were locked in the imperial study for a long time, but there was another prince in the meeting of only two people before, and after Zhang Huan listened to the strategy formulated by the two of them, even the elegant prince walked out of the imperial study with a strange expression, and even Hu Fang knew what it was to go to the army! Zhuge Liang, who has not yet come out of the fledgling and has already decided to divide the world, is nothing more than that.

The prince bragged about his father and teacher, of course, no one would take it seriously. But when Garcia heard that he had the opportunity to meet China's latest fleet, he scratched his ears and cheeks again, and he wanted to run to Tianjin to see why China was capable of attacking Luzon. From the lips of the missionary, he had long known that the Chinese army was very strong, and it may have brought great pressure to the Habsburgs, and the Swedish army led by Gustav did not have the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army. But the strength of the Chinese navy is really not worth mentioning, not to mention the invincible armada, which has shown its defeat, that is, the armed merchant ships of Europe can sometimes act as pirates on the coastline of China, but since the arrival of this Lord Jiang, the Chinese navy has acquired a new kind of warship, and two such warships have not long ago broken through the siege of Asian pirates composed of hundreds of ships. You must know that even if the Japanese ships are at most large sampans, they can't hold up a large number of them, and even if the Invincible Armada comes, it will be difficult to retreat in the narrow strait when they encounter this kind of fire attack team composed of small boats, so how did the Chinese warships do it?

Because this invitation was very unexpected and no longer in the original plan, Jiang Tian could only pull the two Spaniards into the carriage, and the light car Jane rushed all the way to Tianjin, and changed the horses at the post station one after another on the way, which ensured the speed of progress. Then Garcia, who was well versed in military affairs, had to bow his head and ponder after inquiring about the function of the post station, a network of post stations all over the country can not only transmit military information in a timely and effective manner, but also be an excellent source of intelligence. Although China is vast, as long as the post station is operating normally, then the emergency military situation can ensure that it can be deported to the central government as quickly as possible. In other words, even if Spain really sent troops to conquer China and landed in Guangzhou, far away from the capital, then with such an efficient post transmission, the information could be sent to Beijing in less than ten days.

Garcia was a sharp-eyed soldier, and he immediately thought that if the Spanish Empire had such a post system, the war on the continent might not have come to this point. So along the way, in addition to lamenting the fate of Spain, he was repeatedly thinking about how to let the motherland that had fallen into the abyss get life from this ancient Eastern empire. It wasn't until the sound of the waves reached his ears that he realized that he had come to the beach.

This is not a commercial port where they disembarked, and judging by the soldiers standing guard and the orderly layout of the port, it is clear that this is a military port. For the Spaniards, this is the first time that they can have the opportunity to observe the Chinese soldiers in detail, although they are a little-known navy, not the most effective army, but the spirit of an army can still be seen from walking, sitting and lying. As for Garcia, a veteran who has been immersed in war for decades, it can be seen at first glance that the mental state of these soldiers is indeed extraordinary. However, high morale and strict discipline did not mean that the combat effectiveness was high, and the Spanish phalanx was able to maintain a strict formation in the face of heavy cavalry charges. But such an army was crushed by more and more firearms.

Without waiting for him to think more, he followed Fernando to board a very ordinary Chinese fortune ship, this ship is no different from other Chinese ships on this sea from any angle, is this what the Chinese call a cutting-edge warship? According to the contact during this time, he believes that the young official with great power will not use this ordinary goods to perfunctory them, and besides, it was the other party who invited him, which contains the content of the show of force, he believes that this young official's understanding of the navy is definitely more than his own, and there is no need to deceive himself, so it means that there must be something here that he cannot understand. He was not qualified to speak on such an occasion, so Garcia did not show his mental activity, pretending to observe the ship casually, but in fact, he was carefully calculating in his heart what was unexpected.

Before he could find anything strange on the ship, he was attracted by some facilities in the port, only to see that there were still some large and small ships on the dock for loading operations, but the common civilian coolies all over the world disappeared here, replaced by a tall wooden shelf, a kind of human-powered crane composed of trusses and pulley blocks, which was constantly hoisting standard pallets onto the ship, of course Garcia did not know the principle of pulley blocks, But he understood that such a heavy pallet could be hoisted almost easily onto a transport ship that he had never seen before, and the sailors on board only needed to arrange the hoisting position, and then place the layers of cargo, and finally complete the loading operation as long as the hatch was closed. It's much faster than a sweaty slave!

This is Jiang Tian using this operation to enforce the standard pallet and the world's first container cargo ship, although from the appearance is still very primitive and simple, but its principle is copied from the container freighter of later generations, the ship uses a relatively simple structure but uses steel to strengthen the keel, it is not expensive and troublesome to manufacture, but the loading capacity is far from comparable to traditional cargo ships, it is with 3 such container ships, in the recent Jeju Island supply and transportation efficiency has been doubled compared with the beginning. However, like the freighters of later generations, this kind of ship also has the problem of too deep draft and slow speed, and if this kind of transport ship is really used in a state of war, it is necessary for the navy to send frigates to escort the whole process.

Just when the bearded man was still shocked by the efficiency of the dock, his master Fernando was politely invited by Jiang Tian to the cabin, where there were several muskets and guns that were not the military standard, which were all products to be displayed and sold to the Spaniards. For Jiang Tian, no amount of silk and porcelain sold was better than asking the Spaniards to buy back a boatload of muskets and artillery, and the added value of arms was by no means comparable to civilian goods. Fernando, who is not too knowledgeable, is also from an aristocratic background, so it is natural to see that these weapons are considered first-class products in Europe, and some of them even surpass European muskets. But it was unknown whether the Spanish army would buy such weapons, and he was not sure what kind of weapons the army of his homeland needed, so he had to ask for the bearded man who was still staring at the manpower crane.

"These ......" Garcia reached out and picked up a front-loading smoothbore gun, the only difference between it and the European flintlock pistol was that it was fired with a **fire cap: "Can you sell it to us?" ”

"Of course!" Jiang Tian waved his hand unhurriedly: "These are all samples, we will sell whichever one you like!" ”

Since the interpreter was not the Italian priest they were familiar with, the Spaniard muttered a little, so it was better to be cautious: "But my lord, I find that there is no musket in this place that we saw that day." ”

The corners of Jiang Tian's mouth turned up slightly: "That's our army's latest rifle, we haven't fully assembled it ourselves, of course it won't be among the exports, but I can guarantee that these weapons in front of me are enough to defeat any elite musket team outside the firing range in Europe!" ”

Garcia knew that the Chinese musket had a long range, but that was the standard equipment of the Chinese military, and these things similar to the European musket would have such a long range? But before he could ask, he felt the floor shake slightly under his feet. After being adrift at sea for almost a year, he immediately reacted that this was a boat.

Jiang Tian saw that the other party didn't believe his words very much, so he said very casually: "Wait a minute, when you get to the uninhabited sea, you can test these weapons, whether they are so good or not, you will know if they are so good." ”

The speed of the Fu ship was not fast, and the Spaniards thought that it was just to drive to an open place to test weapons, so they didn't care about its slowness, but as a Spanish viscount, Fernando was still worried about the true strength of the Chinese Navy, so he asked out loud: "You said that you invited us to watch the upcoming fleet, I don't know where your fleet is?" ”

Jiang Tian thought to himself that there was no radio in this era, how would I know where they were. However, seeing that the accompanying naval liaison officer was not in a hurry, he replied to him: "We are on the route of departure of the fleet, and in a moment they will catch up with us and let us review." ”

As he spoke, the ship's lookout post spotted that a fleet was heading in his direction on the horizon in the distance, so Jiang Tian and the others came to the deck and raised their binoculars to observe the fleets that were about to converge. Garcia, who had just put down his musket, had not yet seen the shadow of the warship, and was attracted by the telescope in Jiang Tian's hand.

Jiang Tian saw him staring at his telescope, so he asked the guests to prepare two telescopes to watch together, and when the two Spaniards followed Jiang Tian's example and held the telescope in front of their eyes to look at the fleet in the distance, whether it was the rude bearded Garcia or the aristocratic and reserved Fernando, their eyes widened in surprise, and they opened their big mouths and almost let out a snort.