Chapter 108: Reconciliation after the War, Portugal**

Mu Yi didn't expect the Portuguese to send a letter to negotiate after such a blow, "Hehe! Lao Zheng, these Portuguese are also very unbeaten! ”

"Humph! I have been in contact with them for a long time, I know them, they just worship the strong very much, if you are really better than them, they will obey you. It's not like we talk about suppressing the strong and helping the weak, they are the opposite of us, if you are weak, they think it is natural to bully you. Zheng Zhilong has been a messenger for the Dutch, of course he knows them, "Lao Tzu will go to meet them again this time, so he doesn't have to be a grandson like that!" ”

"You really can't go this time!" Mu Yi stopped and said, "We didn't hurt these guys last time, you go this time, if you don't get these untrustworthy things, it will be troublesome to take you hostage!" ”

"Huh! If they detain Lao Tzu, you really don't care about me. If you want to be jealous of me, you will fall into their trap. Sort them out as you would have them! If they kill Lao Tzu, you can kill their king and make me a companion!" Zheng Zhilong knew that it was most appropriate for him to go.

Mu Yi knew that Zheng Zhilong should go, "Lao Zheng, let's try to insert a foot here, and when negotiating with them, it's okay to make some concessions appropriately." I think they know they can't beat us, but they need a downhill too, otherwise King Joao IV won't be able to do it! We need to be clear about our ends, and everything else is the means. ”

"Hmmm! I understand this, what we want is the inside, and it's okay to give them face! I think they asked us to negotiate, which means that we need an excuse for an armistice. However, even if we cease the war this time, our two great feuds are settled. When they get the chance, they will turn on us. Zheng Zhilong understood what Mu Yi meant.

"They can't beat us, when will we turn the other cheek and we will clean them up. We can't beat people, what can we do if people don't turn their faces? We're going to get things done here as soon as possible, we still have a lot to do! Mu Yi saw it very clearly.

When Zheng Zhilong came to the Portuguese palace again, it was obvious that his waist was much straighter.

After Shi Li was polite, Joao IV pretended to be majestic and asked, "What do you Ming Dynasty naval army want to do when you suddenly attack us regardless of morality?" ”

"Your Majesty, what you said is not right!" Zheng Zhilong still said lightly, "When our fleet moved, it was your ships that suddenly opened fire on us, and we were forced to return fire. Later we released the two captains who had been rescued from the sea, and we brought you a letter to wait for you to write back to us. But we were forced to return fire when our fleet approached the mouth of the Tagus River, and it was your batteries that fired first at us. Even so, our counter-fire was measured. As he spoke, he glanced around and said, "This beautiful palace, I have ordered that it must not be hurt in the slightest!" Isn't this very complete protection? ”

"No, I understand that you suddenly turned off the lights and attacked us! We are forced to open fire on you! João IV retorted.

"Your Majesty, think about it, if we attack, can we turn off the searchlights? Isn't it more accurate for us to shoot at your ship with searchlights? Zheng Zhilong said, "Because it was a high tide at that time, our fleet had to start and change the anchorage against the tide, and turn off the lights because when it started, we needed electricity to start the boat." As a result, all the ships opened fire on us, regardless of the reason! ”

One of the adults couldn't take it anymore and asked, "All our ships are firing at you, how many of your ships have sunk?" ”

"Huh!" Zheng Zhilong smiled and said, "Don't say that you can't hit us in the dark, you just hit, your cannonballs are just like tickling our steel-hulled warships, how can you sink our ships?" ”

Zheng Zhilong looked at it and said it very easily, but in fact, it also put pressure on them. Sure enough, after listening to Zheng Zhilong's words, everyone stopped talking, and they understood in their hearts that there was no possibility of winning a war with such a ship.

João IV said: "You say that we fired first, and our people say that you fired first, so there is no point in us fighting like this!" Also, we asked you to give us an answer before dawn on how to compensate us, but you didn't answer! ”

"We're only at war, so there's time to answer you about this?" Zheng Zhilong said, "After the naval battle, we also sent you a letter asking you to give us an answer, but you did not give us an answer, so we approached the Tejo River." I would like to ask Your Majesty, why didn't you reply to us? ”

João IV said: "This is a misunderstanding, we have not received any letter from you, how can we reply to you?" ”

"We have released two captains, one is to bring a letter to Your Majesty, and the other is to show our sincerity for peace, and we are watching the two captains go ashore, how come you have not received our letter?"

One of the adults said, "I think so, if the officers and men of our ship surrender, they will come back and be hanged." Presumably, the two captains you released did not dare to see our Majesty in order to escape punishment. For we have not received any letter from you. ”

João IV also said: "It may well be so! ”

Zheng Zhilong pretended to believe their words, "Oops! Tell me, are we fighting these two battles in a foolish battle? If this is known, you can't laugh off your big teeth, right? ”

Ruo IV can be regarded as finding the slope, "If you were more serious, this kind of thing would not happen!" ”

"Oh, Your Majesty's responsibility is not ours! We don't want to travel all the way here to fight with you! Zheng Zhilong said innocently. In fact, both sides are acting, and they both know that at this point, the battle can no longer be fought.

"General Yihong, although we have misunderstood this battle, we have lost more than a hundred ships, and our batteries near the coast, as well as our Belém Tower and St. George's Castle have all been destroyed by you, you can't say anything!" When Joao IV said this, he was already looking for a slope.

"Your Majesty, in fact, our losses are also very large. I think you already know that our shells are very powerful, but you don't know that the price of this kind of shells is also very high. Not to mention that our cannons are even more surprisingly expensive. Let me tell Your Majesty that your ten largest ships are not worth as much as a cannon of ours! We don't want to go to war because it's too expensive. Therefore, our losses are not small, and we still think that it is good to do trade! Zheng Zhilong understood that it was time to close, but Zheng Zhilong didn't want to show his hole cards too early and began to complain.

Joao IV was not ambiguous, he could see that the kiln people wanted to gain a foothold here in Portugal, and the target was the entire European market, "It seems that General Yihong doesn't want to do business in our Portugal anymore?" ”

"No, no, Your Majesty, you have misunderstood, as long as our business can be negotiated, we will complete the task given to us by the Ming Dynasty, and everything else is easy to say!" How could Zheng Zhilong let go of such an opportunity.

"General Yihong, I'm very interested in what you said about other things to talk about!" João IV stared at this sentence.

"So Your Majesty, that's all we have to say. I'll give you the truth, and if our two countries can cooperate and allow us to do business in Portugal, we will give you great support. For example, we can sell you some more advanced muskets, we know that you are threatened by the Spaniards, they are more numerous than you, and the territory is larger than yours, if you can get some muskets, it will greatly improve your military capabilities. Also, we can compensate you for some of the losses we have caused. Zheng Zhilong threw out the hole cards at the right time.

This shook the Portuguese monarchs and ministers at once, and they didn't expect that Zheng Zhilong, who had been pushing back and not wanting to show a little, would suddenly agree to compensate for some of the losses, and also proposed that they could be sold some muskets. If you can get a little compensation, you can explain the past to the people, so as not to make Portugal too embarrassed, but if you can get a musket, it is a great thing. They had long known that the Russian Empire was the first to get the musket before defeating the invincible Ottoman Empire in the battle against the mighty Ottoman Empire. The matter of this musket is something they never dared to dream of, because they have always treated the Ming Dynasty as an enemy. The Spaniards and the British tandem against the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese were very active. Today, Zheng Zhilong suddenly said that he could sell them some muskets, which was a good thing that fell from the sky. Portugal has always been reluctant to become independent, and Portugal has always faced the threat of the Spaniards, and it will be much easier to deal with the Spaniards if they can get their hands on muskets.

Joao IV struggled to control his emotions and said, "Since General Yihong is so sincere, we can talk about other things!" First of all, if you want to trade in Lisbon, as long as you pay taxes according to our laws, it is good for both of us, and we agree to it. ”

Zheng Zhilong wanted to make things clearer, "Your Majesty is like this, we will resolutely abide by the laws here in Lisbon." But what I want to say to Your Majesty is that we want to buy a piece of land in Lisbon and set up our own shop to carry out trade and ticket business, in order to enter the whole European market through this unique location. ”

"There's no problem with this, as long as we work together, we can talk about anything. It's a good thing for us as a whole of Lisbon if you guys buy and sell big here, not to mention how much more taxes we pay in Portugal! João IV affirmed this, and he was still thinking about the musket, and hoped that it would pass quickly.

"Then thank you, Your Majesty!" Zheng Zhilong said.

"Since General Yihong is so cheerful, I'll be honest, I'm very interested in what you said about the musket! Tell me how many muskets you can sell us? ”

"Yes, the price of new muskets is very high, and we have on board two and a half thousand muskets that have been withdrawn from our army. However, guns are very easy to use, and our army is very strict about the maintenance and use of guns. If you can all ask for it, we can all keep it for you. ”

"Two thousand five hundred muskets?"

"So much?"

“”

Seeing everyone discussing for a while, Zheng Zhilong said: "Everyone, don't underestimate these 1,500 muskets, these muskets are double-barreled, you can load two bullets at a time, after shooting, you can quickly reload, and you can shoot again immediately, a soldier holding such a musket, to say that one is ten, it is definitely not a joke, and it can even be worth more, because such musketeers, gathered in formation, no one can break through!" ”

Joao IV said, "General Yihong, I have two questions, one is that I can try the musket you said first, and the other is, how much silver does this musket cost?" ”

"I'll try out the musket tomorrow. The second is that the price of the musket is transparent, the musket is not our own, and we will give it to you according to the uniform price. Zheng Zhilong said, "The price we gave to the Russian Empire was 2,500 taels of silver for each second-hand musket and 5,000 taels of silver for a new gun." The bullets are divided into shotguns and solid bullets, both of which are two rounds of one or two pieces of silver. **It's fifteen taels of silver, and with **, you can use black** reloading bullets. ”

"Oh my God! Even if you buy it, you can't afford to use bullets! "Someone said.

"So! You can buy more**, after firing bullets, you can use black ** to reload bullets! Zheng Zhilong said.

Ruo Ao IV wanted to talk about this after trying the musket tomorrow, so he immediately asked Zheng Zhilong: "General Yihong, there is one more thing to talk about between us!" ”

"Huh! Your Majesty, do you want to talk about compensation," Zheng Zhilong said with a smile, "I promised one thing, if it works, this matter will be over, how about it?" ”

"Please!"

"In this way, we are responsible for all the funds for the reconstruction of the entire Belém Tower, how about Your Majesty?"

"Good! That's it! "Joao IV felt like he was on the edge of a cliff and was being pulled back, and he wanted to quickly turn over the crisis situation in front of him.

Ladies and gentlemen, when they heard this, they all began to applaud!

For a crisis that threatened the fate of the Portuguese to pass in this way should be a pretty good outcome for the current Portuguese monarchs.

In fact, the kiln people are also very satisfied with this result, and their purpose is to insert a foot in Europe. Another reason is that Mu Yi and Zheng Zhilong both feel that this may also be able to separate them Europeans. At least after making friends with the Portuguese, they were happy to deal with the Spaniards.

Zheng Zhilong also knew that he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so he asked Joao IV to draft a contract between the two countries, and he immediately returned to the Taishan. The next day he took five soldiers with him and came to the Portuguese royal palace with five muskets.

All the adults also wanted to see how powerful the muskets were, and there was no one left waiting in the palace early.

Seeing Zheng Zhilong coming with people with brisk steps and carrying muskets, they all came over.

"General Yihong, your soldiers brought muskets, right?"

"General Yihong, you can give us a good demonstration today!"

“”

I heard that Zheng Zhilong was coming, and Joao IV also came out.

Zheng Zhilong said to King Joao IV in the past: "Your Majesty, let's show you the power of the musket first!" ”

"Good! I've asked them to prepare some experiments with our own breech-loading musket wooden targets, wouldn't it be better to use these experiments? Joao IV said.

"That's great!" Zheng Zhilong said, "Otherwise, I will ask Your Majesty to arrange for some targets!" ”

"Let's go, go to the back of our palace, where there is a more spacious place!" João IV waved his hand and motioned to follow him.

Everyone came to the back garden of the palace, which was indeed very spacious, with more than a dozen human-shaped wooden targets, standing in the distance.

Zheng Zhilong took a musket from the soldier's hand, came to a distance of thirty meters from the target, and said to Joao IV: "Your Majesty, how about I shoot a few shots first?" ”

"Good! Not only do I want to see how the gun is, but I also want to see how General Yihong's marksmanship is. ”

Zheng Zhilong smiled, didn't speak again, pushed the gun, the barrel bent over, Zheng Zhilong quickly loaded two solid bullets, and then aimed at a target at the end wall and "touched" one shot and quickly aimed the muzzle at another target, "touched" another shot, and both shots hit the target.

You know, if the two people who were targeted on the battlefield were already dead.

In the applause of the monarch and ministers of Joao IV, Zheng Zhilong had already quickly fired two more solid bullets and said to Joao IV: "Your Majesty, how about you please try it?" ”

João IV, who was also the king of the battlefield, said, "Good! How about I try it? As he spoke, he took the musket from Zheng Zhilong's hand, and according to Zheng Zhilong's guidance, he grabbed the aim and "touched" a shot, although it was a little off, he actually hit the target. Then there was a shot that "touched", and it missed the target!

Joao IV put down his gun and said: "Great, if you organize and cooperate, some people load bullets, some people shoot, it's really amazing on the battlefield!" ”

"Your Majesty can see the door at once, we still have some tactics for the use of muskets, and in addition, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire have some experience in using this kind of musket, and we can also pass it on to you!"

"Good!" Joao IV said in a loud voice, "Let's try the shotgun and see how powerful it is." ”

"The first two targets are too close to each other, and a single shotgun can solve them!" Zheng Zhilong motioned for a soldier to demonstrate.

The soldier stepped out of the ranks, quickly loaded two shotguns, and aimed two shots at the target in front of him.

Zheng Zhilong said to Joao IV: "Your Majesty, let's go over and see how the effect is?" ”

"Good!"

Everyone followed King Joao IV and Zheng Zhilong to the target, first looked at it, just used the real single to make a few holes, and then looked at the targets, which were covered with steel grit embedded in the wood.

Zheng Zhilong said: "These steel grit, if the ordinary armor has been penetrated!" ”

Rolling out on the battlefield, Joao IV couldn't see the power of this gun, and said to Zheng Zhilong: "General Yihong, all your muskets are left, we want them!" Also, can you prepare us with a thousand more muskets? ”