The so-called "icing on the cake is not as good as charcoal in the snow", the reason why Zhu Cijiong attaches so much importance to Portugal is mainly because of Portugal's current national conditions, their homeland has been annexed by Spain for almost 60 years, and the country can be said to be on the verge of extinction, but they occupy nearly half of the world's colonies overseas, and the countries that are almost extinct are naturally powerless to protect these colonies, so they must urgently need a strong ally.

The visit of the Duke of Bragança once again proved that Zhu Cijiong's judgment was correct, and Portugal was now desperately seeking foreign support to jointly fight against Spain and keep its overseas colonies.

No, as soon as he entered the study room on the second floor, the Duke of Bragança said eagerly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I feel that our two countries should strengthen cooperation. “

Zhu Cijiong unhurriedly invited them to sit down, and asked with a smile, "Your Royal Highness, which aspect are you referring to?" “

Duke Bragança subconsciously sat on Zhu Cijiong's left side, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I mean all aspects, including the economy, military, the development of colonies, the use of resources, etc., etc., all aspects. “

For example, when the meeting is held, the leader who sits in the middle, the leader who sits at the head of the small meeting must be the leader, and the representatives of both sides sit opposite each other during the negotiation, and the leaders of both sides generally sit in the middle.

Zhu Cijiong invited them to sit at a small long conference table, one position on each side of the longitudinal direction, three positions on each side of the horizontal, he habitually sat on the main seat vertically, according to his instructions, the Duke of Bragança should sit on the opposite side of the guest seat, sitting opposite, representing each other's equality, as for Svera, he can sit in six positions horizontally, anyway, he is a subordinate to the two of them.

Now, the Duke of Bragança took the initiative to sit on Zhu Cijiong's left side, which means that he acquiesced in his heart that Daming was in the dominant position, and Zhu Cijiong was very satisfied with his performance, so he was also interested in his proposal and fully cooperated, okay!

Zhu Cijiong continued to smile and said: "Well, comprehensive cooperation is a good idea, but I take the liberty of asking, how can you think of fully cooperating with Daming, after all, you are a European country, and you are tens of thousands of miles away from Daming." “

When the Duke of Bragança heard this, he said bitterly: "I have also tried to contact the European countries, and I have sent people to contact Britain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and Rome, and even expressed that Portugal is willing to join the Bourbon family group led by France and fight against the Habsburg family group led by Spain. But they have no interest in the olive branch extended by our Portugal, and no country has been willing to help us until now! “

When Zhu Cijiong heard this, he couldn't help but wonder: "Oh, why is this? “

The Duke of Bragança sighed: "Alas, I know what they think, we Portugal have too many overseas colonies, if they form an alliance with us, they will not be able to seize these overseas colonies, if we are not congratulated on the alliance, they can rob our colonies unscrupulously, so they all want us Portugal to be their enemies, not their allies!" “

Dizzy, these powers, how ruthless are they, a country that has even been annexed to its own territory, they still want to trample to death like this!

Da Ming would not be like this, he quipped, "Then aren't you afraid that I will rob your colony?" “

Duke Bragança said sincerely: "We all know that Your Majesty is not this kind of person, Your Majesty's performance in the Portuguese Far East colonies is obvious to all, like the South Asian subcontinent, such a large colony, Your Majesty not only does not rob, but also sends troops to help us garrison, like Ceylon, such a big island, we are not able to completely occupy it, it is Your Majesty who sent troops to help us defeat all the natives on the island, and truly occupy Ceylon, Ceylon can now be said to be completely under the control of the Ming Empire's expeditionary force, But His Majesty has never robbed us of any resources from above, but has given them all to us. The Ming Empire is our true ally, and all Portuguese nobles are unanimously recognized for this. “

Zhu Cijiong was a little embarrassed by this sycophancy, but the great powers really didn't talk about morality like the Ming Dynasty, like the South Asian subcontinent, which had always been dominated by the Portuguese from the beginning, and almost all the colonies above were opened up by Portugal, but the Dutch came to grab it, Portugal couldn't resist it, so they asked the British to help, and as a result, the entire South Asian subcontinent became a British colony, and Portugal kept the colonial stronghold of Goa!

Cooperating with the great powers is tantamount to seeking skin with the tiger, this is actually known by Portugal from the beginning, but in history, they have no choice, at that time the Ming Dynasty was dying, there was the ability to help them, they had to go to the great powers to help, as a result, the meat was almost all robbed, and there were not a few skins left, and a huge colonial empire declined!

Of course, if Emperor Chongzhen is in power, even if the Ming Dynasty is strong, it is estimated that he will not care about Portugal, but now that our Chongzheng Emperor Zhu Cijiong is in power, of course he will not leave this rare little brother.

Zhu Cijiong thought for a while, and replied solemnly: "I agree to cooperate with you in an all-round way, but this cooperation must be advanced slowly, the Ming Dynasty is also in the development stage now, and it is not yet capable of helping you resist the invasion of the European powers on a global scale." “

The Duke of Bragança didn't show a disappointed expression when he heard this, it's good that people can agree to help, how can it be possible if they want people to help you desperately.

He stood up, stroked his chest, and said solemnly: "Then thank you Your Majesty the Emperor." “

After that, he took out a map from his arms, spread it out on the table, pointed to it and said: "Your Majesty, you see, this is the map of all our Portuguese colonies, mainly concentrated in Africa, South Asia and South America, now the Netherlands and Britain are seizing our colonies in South America, the Netherlands and France are seizing our African colonies, South Asia has His Majesty's help, the Netherlands and Britain and France have not started for the time being, but I estimate that sooner or later they will not be able to bear it, now their main energy is still focused on the European continent, once the European war is over, They will definitely attack in full force, and at that time, it will be up to Your Majesty whether these colonies can be kept or not. “

Zhu Cijiong looked at the map carefully, nodded and said: "You can rest assured that they should fight for a while, and when they finish fighting, Daming should be almost developed, and at that time, Daming will send troops to help you hold all the colonies." “

Duke Bragança said excitedly: "Then thank you so much, Your Majesty, please rest assured, we will not let the Ming Empire suffer, in the future, all Portuguese colonies of the Ming Dynasty can trade freely, and even the resources above, the Ming can also be mined with us." “

Well, it seems that this Duke of Bragança is okay, and he is a good partner to work with.