João IV was a rather failed king, and a rather aggrieved king, at least so far, and his efforts did not give Portugal any hope of revival, but rather made Portugal a bargaining chip or even a target of oppression by the European powers.

However, the reason why he failed and was aggrieved was not because he was incompetent, let alone because he was misbehaving, his ability to talk about it for the time being, at least, there was nothing deviant about what he did, it was just that he met jackals, tigers and leopards, all the powers only wanted to benefit from him, and no one wanted to help him and help Portugal.

If he could, he really didn't want to be this king, he really wanted to go back to the old days, to be a carefree duke, at least, he didn't have to worry about someone trying to bite a piece of meat off him!

Of course, this is just his extravagant hope, since he has become this king, he has no way to retreat, if he retreats, if he gives up, not only Portugal will be finished, but he and his family will also be finished.

Therefore, no matter how aggrieved he is, no matter how helpless he is, he can only endure the humiliation and move forward, for Portugal, and for himself to find that faint hope.

He thought that he could not find hope, because from independence to the present, his request for an alliance has either been ignored or rejected, and even many European powers have made rude demands on him, and Britain, the only one willing to "help" them, is even more terrible after showing its true face!

To tell the truth, this time the Ming Empire suddenly came to his aid really unexpectedly, and he didn't feel much joy after being rescued, because the European powers had already let him see the cruelty of the facts, no one wanted to really help him, everyone just wanted to devour the interests of their colonies, France was like this, the Netherlands was like this, and Britain was the same, will this Ming Empire be an exception?

Perhaps, the conditions of the Ming Empire are more harsh than those of the British, his feeling is like this, so he didn't dare to ask Schwila what conditions the Ming Empire had before his children were rescued, because he didn't want to worry about his children while being hit and tortured by the reality faced by Portugal.

At this time, his children were finally safe, and after he stepped forward to appease Joanna, Caterina and Alfonso, he finally mustered up the courage to come to Zhang Bin and said politely: "Your Royal Highness, let's go to the conference room to talk." ”

After saying that, he beckoned to Svera, made another gesture of please, and then resolutely walked towards the palace and the conference room.

His steps are so heavy, his expression is so helpless, he doesn't know how harsh the conditions of the Ming Empire will be, but he sees the strength of the Ming Empire, more than 500,000 elites may be bragging, more than 3 million reservists are more likely to brag, but the tens of thousands of elites brought by His Royal Highness the Duke are real, with these tens of thousands of elites, they Portugal can't resist, that is to say, they just got out of the hands of the British and fell into the hands of the Ming Empire!

What kind of conditions will the Ming Empire propose?

He led Zhang Bin and others to the conference room of the palace with apprehension all the way, and after a period of humility, he did not sit on the main seat, but chose to sit in the first place on the left, and Schvila sat in the second place on the left.

Zhang Bin did not sit on the main seat, he chose to sit first on the right, and Zheng Zhilong and his son sat under him in turn.

This is obviously the Portuguese royal palace, but he seems so lonely, because he is accompanied by Shi Vera alone, and Zhang Bin is not only accompanied by Zheng Zhilong and his son, but also a bunch of civil and military generals standing behind him.

He tried his best to calm his mind, and then asked cautiously, "Your Royal Highness, I wonder what your country thinks of our Portugal's request for an alliance?" ”

Does this need to be asked?

Zhang Bin is really a little inexplicable, this João IV just asked Schwilla casually, why should he ask himself?

He didn't know what was going on, but he still replied politely: "His Majesty the Emperor has agreed to your country's request for an alliance, and this time I came here to sign an alliance treaty with your country. ”

Although Joao IV was ready to be slaughtered, he couldn't help but feel excited in his heart, it was better to be able to form an alliance with a powerful country like the Ming Empire than with Britain.

Thinking of this, he plucked up his courage and gritted his teeth and said, "What are the conditions in your country?" ”

Zhang Bin glanced at Shi Weila suspiciously, then stretched out his hand back and said, "Contract." ”

The official of the Ministry of Rites, who was in charge of keeping the contract, hurriedly opened a box held by his entourage, carefully took out the two volumes of contracts inside, and respectfully handed them to Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin was not verbose, he directly put the contract in front of João IV, and then said solemnly: "This is the condition of our Ming Empire, Your Majesty, you can take a look first." ”

When Joao IV heard this, he opened a scroll with apprehension and looked at it seriously.

Looking at it, he couldn't help but have an expression of disbelief on his face, until he finished reading the entire contract, he still couldn't believe it, could there be other conditions listed on another volume of contracts.

He carefully opened another scroll and looked at it carefully.

It turned out to be exactly the same, and there was no difference between the two contracts!

He couldn't help but turn his head and asked in surprise: "Svera, this is the condition of the Ming Empire?" ”

Shi Weila nodded a little proudly and said, "Yes, the Ming Empire has this one condition. ”

There was such a good thing, and he still asked in disbelief, "Really? ”

Of course, Shi Vera knew what His Majesty the King was about, and he couldn't believe it when he heard this condition, but this was indeed the truth, and he hurriedly pointed to the place where Zhu Cihong signed and said: "It's true, Your Majesty the King, you see, this is the autograph of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire, I was also present at the time, and this is indeed signed by His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire himself." ”

There is such a good thing!

He said to Zhang Bin excitedly: "Your Royal Highness, do you really have no other conditions?" ”

Zhang Bin thought for a while, and then said slowly: "To be exact, we still have a small condition, because we want to set up a new port government near the Strait of Malacca, and your country still has a garrison in Malacca City, we hope that your country can withdraw the garrison there and hand over Malacca City to us." ”

Malacca City, what place?

João IV was not very familiar with the Far East, so he could only turn back and whisper to Schvera.

Schwera worked very hard in order to confirm his own merits, he did not describe the importance of the Strait of Malacca at all, but simply introduced the city of Malacca, from his description to understand that Malacca City is a small fishing port with only a few thousand people, the reason why Portugal occupied there was only for the convenience of supplies, and now the Ming Empire has built a super-large city nearby, and has also set up a large supply point, where it is naturally dispensable.

When Joao IV heard that this was the case, he naturally nodded without hesitation and agreed to Zhang Bin's request.

In fact, even if he knew the importance of the Strait of Malacca, he did not dare to refuse Zhang Bin's request, because he did not have the strength to argue with the Ming Empire, let alone the courage to refuse the request of the Ming Empire.