The Moree is quite free in the port of Goa these days, and you can go wherever you want, and the Portuguese do not stop it at all, and the aristocratic residential area, the marina business district, the government administrative area and even the industrial area located in the suburbs of the city are all casually watched, not only to see, but also accompanied by a Portuguese nobleman named Sandro to explain the whole process, which can be described as full of sincerity.

"It's an industrial area, connected to the dockyard of the port, where all kinds of equipment are produced, from nails to canvas. Every year in December, ships departing for Lisbon undergo their last maintenance and then depart, and it's fair to say that this is the foundation of trade in the East. Pointing to the somewhat messy layout of the so-called industrial area, Sandro explains: "Of course, there are also many craftsmen who produce all kinds of daily necessities, such as coopers, cured meats, water pipes, etc., just like the ports of most countries we have seen." ”

Moree nodded as he listened, and then strolled down a small gravel path by the dock. On the left side of the road is a vast wasteland, which can be seen from the dense crosses on the wasteland, which is a cemetery. Sandro kept an eye on Moree's every move, and when he saw him staring at the cemetery, he explained softly in a slightly melancholy tone: "Most of the nobles and governors of the city are buried there. When I was a child, I had the privilege of helping my father compile some of the records about Goa, and in 1656 I saw that of the fifty governors who had passed down, 22 had died during or on their way home from their term of office, and one had died with King Sebastian at the Battle of Fort El-Kebir, a mortality rate of nearly half. These dead governors, if not buried at sea, would have been buried in this area, and the Royal Hospital of Goa made great efforts during their lifetimes, but unfortunately they still could not save their lives. ”

"Tropical cities are the kind of people who keep causing misfortune, and we should have gotten used to it a long time ago." Mo Lie sighed and said, "But the tropics are so rich and fascinating, and they are constantly attracting new adventurers to come here to grab wealth, titles, and fame, not only in the past, but even now, why not?" ”

"Your candor is truly astonishing." Perhaps he didn't expect Mo Lie's words to be so direct, Sandro smiled lightly after being slightly stunned, and then said, "Yes, you're right, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel. We are all chasing wealth and fame, but there are differences. I was fortunate enough to have a high status in Goa, but now my wife and I – she was born into a well-bred merchant family in Porto – have settled in Goa for many years and have no intention of returning to Lisbon, which is what my father meant when he brought me across the ocean. We are different from those who just come from Lisbon and leave with the idea of getting a vote, they don't have the strong determination to defend Goa, and we do! ”

"Localized Portuguese aristocracy." Mo Lie thought silently in his heart. The Moreeel still has some knowledge of this group of colonizers, who occupy the largest number in Goa, and in short, they are all descendants of the first colonizers, some of whom are pure-bloods, like the white Creole natives of South America, and some of whom are of mixed Indo-Portuguese descent. It is worth mentioning that the native-born white does not necessarily mean that they are nobles or occupy a higher status, and the Indo-Portuguese are not necessarily nobles, but there is no doubt that they are not as good as the Portuguese from Lisbon.

The timing of a duel that took place in 1563 makes this clear. A Portuguese nobleman from Lisbon wounded a native white man of Goa and was arrested by the Governor, but was soon acquitted. What happened next is interesting, Luis da Francisco Barreto, an Indo-Portuguese and son of the former Governor of Goa, Barreto the Elder (1547-1559), took the throne to the wounded native white brother and asked for a duel with the Lisbon nobleman, only to die in the duel. But the nobleman merely expressed his regret in public, and after a slight apology, he was forgiven by the governor, which was a direct indication of the inferiority of the native-born whites, which the Portuguese had gone far further than the Spaniards in South America.

Ironically, however, in all the battles against foreign enemies – sometimes Dutch, sometimes Indian, sometimes Moorish – the native-born whites or Indo-Portuguese were the most heroic and morale-raising groups, better able to defend Goa's interests than those who had crossed the sea from Portugal proper, and it was these native-born whites or Indo-Portuguese who fought to the death each time shouting the slogan "Santiago" against the enemy, and who had no way out of retreat and could not compromise but to fight to the end, based in India.

It is said that the sons of the governor of Portugal of Pedro Portugal are now married and have children in Goa, and it seems that they will be based in India in the future, which is of the same nature as the Mr. Sandro who followed Moreeel. In this way, it is interesting to see whether it is the intention of Lisbon or the collective will of the local officials and nobles of Goa, if it is the latter, then it is interesting.

But in any case, since the Portuguese in Goa intend to put it up, it is naturally inconvenient for the east coast side to refuse people thousands of miles away, right? What's more, the local government has long had a guiding ideology on this, that is, to maintain a "moderate relationship" with the Goan side, thinking that it is intended for the future.

This may sound a bit obscure, but let's put it bluntly, it is okay to do business with the Portuguese in Goa and increase affection, but it is not appropriate to develop into a military or political alliance for the time being. In the future, if the East Coast and the Dutch East India Company are at odds and the relationship is irretrievable, then it is appropriate to quickly "collude" with the Portuguese and counterattack the Dutch by taking advantage of the foundation laid before. To put it bluntly, it is to hang the Portuguese and use them as spare tires, just in case.

Of course, the Portuguese wanted more than that, they preferred an alliance with the East Coasters, preferably a military alliance that fulfilled the obligation to send troops, against the Dutch East India Company, which was the dominant company on the side. For example, the Governor of Goa, Portugal, had implicitly proposed to Moree at a previous banquet that the people on the east coast should be allowed to set up a trading post in Goa and Diu (no more than 100 troops stationed there) to purchase a certain amount of Indian goods.

To be fair, the terms promised by the Portuguese were very tempting, and everyone knew the potential of India's trade, for the country was vast in land, rich in products, and huge in population, which in itself could create wealth, especially if it was extremely large. Therefore, they are willing to let another foreign power enter India, and settle on the land that they have been operating for many years - these lands are mostly historical problems, that is, the land acquired before the unification of the Mughals, which is also catching up with the good times, and now it is very difficult, because the Mughals are powerful - is actually very generous, of course, it is also related to the situation they are facing now, and it has to be so.

Of course, Morelli was willing to use the influence of the Portuguese to gain a foothold in India first, but according to the spirit of the local guidance, he knew that the military alliance that the Portuguese wanted to see most was impossible, because the Lords of the Executive Committee had no plans to get involved in a needless conflict, and they were not interested in stimulating the powerful Dutch East India Company, so they were destined to disappoint the Portuguese in this regard.

However, there is no need to talk about this with the Portuguese now, just talk to them about other things, such as opening a trading post to do business. Therefore, after visiting the dock business district, Moree returned to the governor's palace in the city with Sandro and others to discuss commercial cooperation with the Portuguese governor.

"We need a lot of weapons, mainly muskets, swords, armor, spears and some other supplies. We can produce artillery ourselves, and the cannon foundry in Goa was established at the beginning of this century and is still in use today, and even the British East India Company sometimes comes to buy artillery from us. As soon as the Portuguese governor opened his mouth to ask for military supplies, he was heard: "The main reason for this is because of the hateful Dutch." Over the years, they had caused us a great deal of trouble by organizing a fleet of more than ten armed merchant ships to come to the shores of Malabar almost every summer and fly the black flag to attack Portuguese merchant ships flying between Lisbon and India, trading boats driven by Indians, and Moorish ships coming from the west to trade. ”

As soon as the Portuguese governor said this, Moreel understood. Although the people of the East Coast have been active in the western Indian Ocean all year round, it does not mean that they are ignorant of the affairs of the East Indian Ocean, especially these things that have caused a lot of trouble, not to mention that such things have been going on for more than 20 years. In these more than 20 years of confrontation, the Dutch East India Company side sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed, but it certainly caused great trouble for the Portuguese in Goa, including weapons and military supplies, labor tools, Old World goods, books and letters could not be delivered to India in time, and even some of the local personnel were often killed at sea or taken prisoner by the Dutch attacks - the end of the captives was usually miserable, and they would work in the tropical plantations of the East Indies for many years, often dying, of course, the other way aroundThe fate of the Dutch who were captured by the Portuguese was perhaps even worse, as they were often subjected to cruel Inquisition.

In such a situation, it is easy to understand that the Portuguese Governor had asked the East Coasters to sell some of the necessary weapons, military supplies, critical machinery (for use in the Goa cannon foundries), and other goods from the Old World. To this end, they will provide all kinds of Indian specialties that are of great interest to the people on the east coast, and if these things are shipped back to the east coast, they will change hands a large profit, whether it is for the New China Pioneer Team or the Navy's Third Fleet.

Of course, this trade was also a significant input for the Portuguese, as they could sell Indian goods into the East Coast Republic in bulk to make money. You must know that the East Coast Republic of China, which now has a population of three or four million, has a small gap between the rich and the poor, and the per capita income is not low, and after years of social development, the people are more willing to consume than in the past, so there is still a lot of market demand for rare goods from overseas. As for the commercial development ability of the Portuguese, to be honest, it was a bit poor, in the past they could only sell such tropical products and printed products to the Italians, and then sell some to Spain and southwestern France, which was much inferior to the Dutch East India Company, which also did this business, and even the British East India Company was far behind.

Therefore, if you take the opportunity to connect with the East Coasters this time, you will not only be able to obtain a stable supply of industrial products from the East Coasters, which the Dutch East India Company may not be openly attacking the merchant ships of the East Coasters at this stage, but also be able to open up an emerging market that has been lost for many years since the last war, which is simply a profitable business, and it is no wonder that they have always been so enthusiastic and even respectful to Mo Liege and his party. Etiquette must be asked for by others, the ancestor is really not wrong in this sentence!

"Of course, we are willing to establish good trade relations with the Goan side, and there is no obstacle to this, but I would prefer that our East African transport company can get the exclusive right to represent Indian goods." Mo Lie's eel only thought for a moment before making a decision, and at the same time won a golden hen for the East African transport company, which had a large stake in the New China Pioneer Team, of course, this company also had a close relationship with the Navy's Third Fleet, and everything was self-evident.

The Viceroy of Portugal, Pedro de Almeida of Portugal, of course, would not disobey the petty request made by Moree, and gladly accepted his offer. Next, the two sides each found an attaché and began to negotiate on the details one by one, and formed a text to fix it. It was a long process, but it was mostly a matter of the people below, and it had little to do with the Portuguese governor and Lieutenant Colonel Moree, who could get out and drink coffee.

"Mr. Mo, how do you think about the two of us forming a military alliance to clean up pirates together every winter?" In the garden of the Governor's Palace, the two people who had been idle sat and chatted with each other, and the Portuguese Governor suddenly asked.

"I can't give you an affirmative answer to this because it's beyond my authority, but I'll be happy to report it to my superiors." Moraex evaded the question, which apparently disappointed the Portuguese governor.