"Also, we've been hearing a little bit of wind lately," said Bruce. Dimon blinked and smiled, "It's just a little wind...... After the marriage between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of France, the main focus will be devoted to the New World!

You should know that today the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of New Spain, Don Brown. Huang. José is the illegitimate son of King Philip and his most important subordinate! ”

Li Shaoyou narrowed his eyes, looked at the "special envoy of the profiteer country" in front of him, and said in his heart: It's weird! Dutch profiteers are so kind? Reveal the secret information of the Spaniards to the Ming Dynasty? Who doesn't know that you and the Spaniards have turned enemies into friends? If it weren't for you behind the scenes, how could the British have lost so many ships in the war with the Spaniards?

"Mr. Dimmen," Li Shaoyou asked, "are you reminding our country that the Kingdom of New Spain will soon launch an attack on the United States of New Continent?" ”

"Yes!" Bruce. Dimon nodded, "Actually, King Philip has wanted to do this for a long time, but his power is contained by France, Britain and Portugal, and he has no spare strength for the New World for a while, so he can only watch the United States of New Zealand grow bigger."

Now, Cromwell Jr. only wanted to consolidate his power in Britain, and his external goal was only to expand his colonies on the east coast of North America, and there would be no more conflict with Spain for the time being. ”

Li Shaoyou nodded slightly, he knew that what Bruce said was right. England is still the second Lord of the Protectorate, Charles. Cromwell's republic, but Cromwell's authority still cannot be compared with that of his deceased father, so he can only devote his main energy to domestic affairs, and will not be as keen on European affairs as his father.

Bruce added: "Louis XIV was ambitious, but his country did not have a strong navy, and at the same time had many overseas interests, such as colonies in New France, such as the 'gift trade' with your country and the Ottoman Empire. This determined that Louis could not attack Spain without the support of Britain or our country. ”

No matter how sluggish the Spanish Navy is, it is also a global navy, and it is not something that the weak French Navy can challenge!

So without the support of England and the Netherlands, Louis could only be Philip's good son-in-law.

"And we in the Netherlands," Bruce said, "we don't want the Spanish Netherlands to be part of France, and therefore we don't want to continue to weaken Spain." He smiled wryly, "This is Europe...... There are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends! ”

"It's the same everywhere!" Li Shao lobbied, "Where in Nanyang, there are also people who don't want to be neighbors with Daming!" ”

Bruce was expressionless, and then said: "As for Portugal...... That is a tragedy, anyone can take advantage of this country, and no one is willing to really pay for Portugal, so it is impossible for this country to contain the power of Spain. ”

The Ming Dynasty also took advantage of the Kingdom of Portugal to a greater or lesser extent.

Because the Ming Dynasty had tried to facilitate the anti-Spanish alliance of the Ming, British, French, and Portuguese powers, the Kingdom of Portugal had lost all its privileges in Macao two years earlier. It also opened the colony of Timor Island to the Ming Dynasty - Timor Island is very close to Australia, just over 1,000 miles, and can be used as a starting point for exploring Australia.

Of course, Chu did not expel the Portuguese residents of Macau, did not even revoke Macau's autonomy, nor did he close the Catholic churches there. Instead, let the Portuguese in Macau choose between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Ming Dynasty.

Either be loyal to Portugal and become a Portuguese expatriate in the Ming Dynasty. Either be loyal to the Ming Dynasty and become a subject of the Great Tomorrow.

The difference between Portuguese expatriates and Portuguese subjects of the Ming Dynasty is that the former has no political rights in Macao – they cannot participate in self-government (there is a certain degree of autonomy at the county and city levels and below in the Ming Dynasty), they cannot hold official positions in the Macao municipal government and its subordinate institutions (but they can serve as officials in the provincial court), and they cannot participate in the imperial examinations (including official examinations and entrance examinations for government-run universities).

And the latter are subjects of the Celestial Empire, under the Son of Heaven, they are basically equal!

Li Shaoyou didn't want to mention Portugal, so he turned the topic to the New World War. He asked: "Mr. Dimmen, I think you can reveal the position of the Dutch Republic on the question of the war on the New World that is about to begin?" ”

Bruce. Dimon nodded and said, "We in the Netherlands are a commercial country, and we will not directly join a war unless we have to. And we have no interests on the west coast of the New World, so we just want to remain neutral...... At the same time, we want to make sure that transpacific trade is not interrupted by war as much as possible! ”

"In the Anglo-Spanish War, you Holland were also neutral, right?" Li Shaoyou asked rhetorically.

"Yes!" Bruce. Dimon smiled, "But the Ming Dynasty is not England, and the Ming Empire is the defender of the existing order in the South Seas...... As long as the status quo of the Nanyang Islands remains unchanged, the Netherlands is a reliable friend of the Ming Empire! ”

The meaning of this is very clear, if the Ming Dynasty wants to continue to advance south, then the Spanish privateers in the Pacific Ocean will become very fierce!

"Nanyang ......" Li Shaoyou looked at Bruce. Dimen, "Where is it included now?" ”

"Including Luzon and south of Siam!" Bruce. Dimen said.

Li Shaoyou shook his head and said, "We believe that the South Seas only include Spice Island, Java Island and the Strait of Malacca!" ”

Bruce. Dimen's face changed slightly, "Are you going to launch an offensive in multiple directions at the same time?" ”

"We have the ability!" "And we are also willing to protect the interests of our friends...... Dutch interests in the Spice Islands, Java and the Strait of Malacca will not be violated! ”

This is actually a threat!

If the Dutch armed ships flew the Spanish flag and acted as Spanish privateers, then the Spice Island would be attacked by the Ming Dynasty!

"But the Netherlands also has friends north of the Strait of Malacca, the spice islands and the islands of Java!" Bruce. Dimon lowered his tone.

"The Netherlands can help their friends," Li Shaoyou said with a smile, "but they won't directly join a costly war for their friends...... Is that right? ”

"Of course, the Dutch Republic doesn't like war!" Bruce. Dimen nodded slowly.

Li Shaoyou stroked his beard and said in a deep voice: "Maybe we can sign a new agreement to regulate the freedom of trade in the Pacific Ocean and determine the Dutch sphere of influence in the South Sea Islands!" ”

Bruce. Dimen's brows furrowed slightly, he was "aware", of course he knew that Li Shaoyou would not sign a contract with a foreign country. Empty words can be discussed, but to propose a signing, it must have been instructed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

And the new agreement proposed by Li Shaoyou is actually a request to change the status quo and achieve the southward advance of the Ming forces!

This shows that as early as a few months ago (the transmission of the order between the Ming Dynasty and France took several months), the Ming court had already designated the national policy of gradually advancing southward!

After seizing Luzon, the Ming Dynasty should have targeted the kingdoms of Boni, Sulu, Pattani, and Perak (between Pattani and Johor), because these four sultanates all have Tianfangjiao as their state religion, which is actually a "contested area" for the Tianfangjiao civilization circle and the Celestial Empire civilization circle, and there are Western Christian forces involved, the situation is very complicated, and it may take many years to completely settle it.

Therefore, the Ming Empire could guarantee the security of the Dutch dependencies before pacifying the kingdoms of Boni, Sulu, Pattani and Perak, in exchange for the "limited intervention" of the Netherlands - that is, the struggle is the struggle, the business is the business, as long as the face is not finally torn and the war is started, the business has to be done.

Of course, this kind of diplomatic line is politically wrong, but Zhu Cihong has been the emperor for more than ten years, and he still can't change his true character as a profiteer...... This is quite similar to that of the Netherlands, so a new version of the "Nanyang Safeguards Agreement" is about to be released.