In addition to the protagonist and Chongzhen, a few characters have been added, come and see if there is anything you like, like it if you like it. ）

The Cowherd brought this foreign man was none other than the Portuguese living in Macau.

In 1553, Portuguese people began to live in Macao.

Although the Portuguese had been granted residency in Macao since 1557, the Ming government still had an official residence in the area, which was under the direct jurisdiction of Guangdong Province.

In 1622, the Dutch attacked Macao, which Portugal had leased from the Ming Dynasty, and were defeated.

The Portuguese were initially confined to the south of Macao, and in 1623, the Portuguese government appointed Masgar Road as the first Governor of Macau.

Since Macau was occupied by Portugal, the Portuguese have always had a privileged or special status in Macau.

Because of the needs of the war, the Ming Dynasty had a long-term artillery trade with the Portuguese in Macao, and Macao had the best artillery factory in the Far East at that time, "Bugarao Foundry", and part of the artillery traded with the Ming Dynasty came from this artillery factory, and part of it came from the British artillery they salvaged and the artillery purchased from other channels.

As early as 1481, the Pope banned the sale of firearms.

The Dutch at that time were extremely careful to protect the secrets of gun manufacturing, not letting these technologies fall into the hands of Asians, and where there was a need, there was a supply, and the technology of guns eventually leaked out.

In the 15th century, the Turks served as artillerymen in India, and before these techniques spread to China, the Portuguese also provided the Persians with cannons and instructed them how to cast them to suppress the Ottomans.

In the 17th century, the attraction of gun design and manufacturing techniques was one of the reasons why church priests were favored by the Ming authorities.

But even if, as the Dutch feared, the most advanced knowledge of cannon casting spread to the East, the superiority of the Europeans could not be erased.

Although the Ming Dynasty accepted the drills of the church and purchased the artillery of the Portuguese, the artillery units of the Ming Dynasty were still quite backward.

The technological differences between Europe and the world are not only due to knowledge and skills, but also to the wealth that Europe enjoys not only in terms of new knowledge, but also in terms of attitudes towards knowledge that are different from those of other civilizations.

Europeans consciously use knowledge to solve practical problems, with an instinct to make technology work.

And this is the basis of another psychological trait of Europeans: they are becoming more and more confident in their ability to change the world, and perhaps this is the most fundamental difference between them and the world outside Europe.

The future opened the door to Europe, showing them possibilities that no other civilization could match.

On the basis of this self-confidence, they form an incomparably important psychological advantage.

Around 1500, some Europeans had already seen the future – and their ideas had come true.

Africa and Asia were the first to be targeted by Europeans to exploit these advantages.

This is best evidenced by the fact that the Portuguese have maintained a leading position in colonial enterprise on these two continents for more than a century.

The Portuguese swept through all obstacles with their guns and quickly built a series of bases and merchants.

When the first Portuguese ships arrived in the Ming Dynasty, they opened up a direct trade route between Europe and the Ming Dynasty.

Ten years later, they obtained the right to use Macau; In 1557, the right of permanent settlement was granted.

The Portuguese brought Persian carpets to India, cloves, copper and silver from Japan to China, and Indian cloth to Siam, all on European ships.

The Portuguese and their successors found it to be a lucrative source of income that could partially compensate for Europe's trade deficit with Asia, whose inhabitants had long needed little for Europe, except for silver.

Using these bases as a starting point, the Portuguese gradually expanded their trade, eventually reaching as far as Massawa in the depths of the Red Sea and the other side of the Persian Gulf, setting up factories in Basra.

They also secured a privileged position in Siam, and in the 40s of the 16th century, they became the first Europeans to land in Japan.

This trade network was diplomatically backed by agreements signed with local rulers and backed by superior firepower at sea.

Wang Zezhi didn't like this Portuguese very much, but he was very greedy for the cannon and flowering shell technology in the hands of the Portuguese.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, some artillery shells have developed from solid shells to explosive shells, which is a major development in the history of artillery shells in China, and it is also the earliest flowering shell in the world.

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong (1488-1505), the poisonous dragon cannon was "a medicine for molten iron and a real medicine", and the mother cannon was used to shoot the missile 200 steps away, "blowing up and injuring people".

On the basis of traditional explosive firearms, the Ming people invented early explosive bombs such as "poisonous fire flying cannon" and "thief god fire howitzer", which were not later than the flowering bombs that appeared in the West at the same time, and the poisonous fire cannon was also a chemical warhead, "built-in arsenic, poison, exploded after landing, and the drug and iron shell fragments killed and injured the enemy at the same time."

However, the Ming Dynasty's flowering shells had a short attack range and limited crises.

Although the flowering of Europe was invented later than that of the Ming Dynasty, their flowering bombs were more powerful.

The European flowering bomb was detonated by an opening in the cast-iron projectile body, plugged with a wooden tube, and filled with slow-burning gunpowder in the tube.

The cannonballs explode and the pieces of iron fly sideways, which can cause great lethality.

"How? Like it, right? The cowherd asked with a grin.

Wang Zezhi's performance is so obvious that everyone can see how much he likes the cannon in front of him.

"Hello respected general, please allow me to introduce myself, I am Portuguese, I have a Chinese name, my name is Li Luoke, my ancestors were doing business in Macau, I have come this time to recommend this cannon to you, I am sure you will like it."

Li Luoke said politely.

Li Luoke has lived in Ming Dynasty Macao for a long time, which is why he can speak Chinese fluently.

"No, you're wrong, I don't like this cannon, what I like is the technology to make cannons, if you only pull one cannon to sell, then I'm sorry, you ran away for nothing." Wang Zezhi clapped his hands unceremoniously, got on his horse and prepared to leave.

"It doesn't matter, buying and selling is not benevolent, and what the general doesn't like, some people like." Li Luoke saluted Wang Zezhi and prepared to leave.

"If you can give me the technology of the cannon and the flowering shell, I am willing to pay 100,000 taels of silver.

If you don't have this skill, you can have a craftsman, and I am willing to spend 10,000 taels of silver for a craftsman. ”

Capital businessmen are all profit-seeking, and Wang Zezhi does not believe that Li Luoke will not be tempted under such a heavy amount of money.

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Zezhi turned the horse's head with the reins, Li Luoke ran over regardless of his image.

"Honorable, young, far-sighted general, I think we have to talk about it."

"What to talk about? Are you going to sell technology? Wang Zezhi asked condescendingly.

"Oh, no, no, no, I think we can discuss the artisan's business."

Li Luoke said anxiously.

Selling the technology of cannons and flowering shells, Li Luoke can't be the master.

But he can sell artisans.

You know, the Portuguese started the slave trade in 1441.

A Portuguese expedition led by Antao Gonsalves and Nuno Tristao at the time plundered 10 black Africans off the coast near Cape Brown and brought them back to Lisbon for sale, which was the beginning of the slave trade.

In the second half of the 15th century, the Portuguese trafficked slaves from the coast of West Africa to their home countries for domestic and agricultural labour, or to work on new sugar plantations in the Atlantic islands of Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde, where they traded about 500 to 1,000 slaves a year.

Selling a craftsman can earn 10,000 taels of silver, which is a more lucrative business than gold, ivory, pepper and other products.