Of course, Zhu Zhanji is not afraid of the current Portugal and Spain, and when he knew from the big cannibal general that the current king of Portugal was João I, Zhu Zhanji was thinking about how to disrupt the rhythm of Portugal's development.

This king, known to the Portuguese as João the Great, is known as the greatest king of Portugal.

During his tenure, Spain, which had not yet been united, grew stronger. Although Spain is not yet a country, Castile, Córdoba, Seville, Jerez, Cadiz and other places have been united since ancient times because of the intricate in-law relationship.

In particular, they were closely linked in the battle against the Moors.

The Portuguese could not develop in the direction of the mainland, so they could only turn their eyes to the sea. When Portugal, under the leadership of João I, established the national policy of developing towards the sea, it directly sounded the prelude to the arrival of the Age of Discovery.

Because one of his wives was Spanish in his previous life, he also knew some history of Spain and Portugal.

In fact, there are also close in-laws throughout Portuguese-speaking Spain, the Queen of Portugal, the niece of João I, whose grandmother is the princess of Castile.

João I was an illegitimate child, so he was not related to Spain, and because of this, at the instigation of some ministers who wanted independence, João I snatched the throne of his niece and made Portugal independent.

From João I, Portugal became completely independent and also began to develop towards the sea, and from him the foundations of the future division of the two countries were laid.

Since Zhu Zhanji has come to this era, of course he will not allow European countries to turn their attention to the sea, what he wants to do is to curb the development of navigation in European countries, and then he needs to start with Portugal.

As for Spain, Queen Isabel, the lord of their revival, should not have been born yet! It will take at least a century to become truly strong, and it can be said that there is no threat at present.

However, there is one thing that cannot be left unguarded, that is, the butterfly effect caused by the appearance of the Ming fleet.

In its original history, the Age of Discovery was inaugurated by João I and his son Prince Enrique. After decades of experience, Vasco da Gama arrived in India with four ships at the end of the fifteenth century.

During the lifetime of Prince Enrique, the great geographical discoveries of the Portuguese were to live in peace with the natives, but after his death, under the influence of the temptation of profiteering and the idea of quick success, those explorers who wanted to get rich overnight became butchers.

In the case of Vasco da Gama, for example, he first arrived in Guri and Kochi, India, at the end of the 15th century, to trade with each other.

The first profit was sixty times the value of the goods they carried.

But they were still not satisfied with such high profits, and when they arrived in Guri for the second time, they raised their butcher's knives, occupied the Guri area, and proclaimed themselves the governors of Goa and India, and began colonization.

It's only 1417, and it's still 80 years from that time.

However, the appearance of the Ming fleet will definitely change the course of history, and the Europeans will definitely immediately burst out with enthusiasm for navigation and explore to the east when they see the Ming fleet.

Zhu Zhanji wanted to curb their zeal for sailing, but it was useless to rely on words alone. It must be fought, it must be made known to them that it hurts, so that they dare not sail into the sea.

When the convoy reached the city gates, it could no longer enter.

Today's Anfa is still a defensive castle-like city, their city is not large, and the gate is narrow, and it is impossible for Zhu Zhanji's huge dragon chariot to enter.

However, the pomp has been put out, and countless people have seen the grandeur of the Ming Dynasty, and the role of Long Yuan has also been played.

Osman III was ashamed because he felt that his city was too small for cars to enter.

Everyone could only change horses, Zhu Zhanji rode a white horse with no trace of miscellaneous hair, and on his left and right sides were equally strong chamberlains and guards.

The inner attendant is in the innermost layer, and in the middle is a phalanx composed of thirty-six Wudang Taoist priests, as well as the Jinyi Guard, and the outermost is the Yulin Guard.

They differed greatly in their clothing, but they were well-organized and acted in a uniform manner, much to the jealousy of Osman III, who followed on horseback.

His guards were lazy and lazy, and although their personal strength was trustworthy, they did not have a neat movement, and they did not bring out his royal grandeur at all.

When he saw Osman III's prison-like castle, the narrow window made Zhu Zhanji wonder if he would have to light the lamp after entering.

He tilted his head and ordered: "Let the Ministry of Works choose a suitable location and build a temporary palace as my palace." ”

When Li Liang heard this, he immediately gave orders, and Zheng He also negotiated with Osman III on this matter.

Osman III was surprised and asked, "Distinguished guest, I wonder how long you are going to stay in my country?" ”

Zheng He glanced at Zhu Zhanji and replied to him: "It will take about ten days to half a month, and we will trade with your country, replenish clean water, and are willing to cooperate with your country in other aspects." ”

Osman III breathed a sigh of relief, he was afraid that the other party would not leave, the other party's strength was huge, there were sixty or seventy thousand soldiers, and he was not confident that he could drive the other party away. "Isn't it, then, that you are leaving before the house is built? In that case, why build a house? ”

Zheng He smiled and said, "No, that's your speed, my Ming craftsman can build a palace in one day." ”

The other party only thought it was Zheng He who was joking, agreed to Zheng He's conditions, and invited Zhu Zhanji and his party into his palace.

In order to welcome Zhu Zhanji's arrival, Osman III also prepared a sumptuous lunch, mainly roasted whole sheep and roasted camel meat.

Zhu Zhanji also asked people to bring some spices, all of which were used on the barbecue. Spices, which are usually regarded as luxuries by these Marin people, are sprinkled on these meats as if they don't need money.

Their nobles ate one by one with their mouths full of oil, and before they finished eating, they couldn't help but find those generalities and wanted to negotiate trade.

The generalists recruited from Hurumus were businessmen who were well aware of the price of spices on the European side.

Although the price of spices today is nominally more expensive than gold, in fact there is still a gap, and the most critical point is the lack of precious metals in Europe.

In medieval Western Europe, the silver standard was initially implemented, and after the fifteenth century, it gradually transitioned to the gold standard, and gold, silver and copper were the means of payment for defense trade.

However, most of the silver in Europe is in Germany, and the increasing annual production of silver in Germany is still not enough to meet the demand.

European merchants brought in expensive silk and spices in trade with the East, which led to a massive outflow of precious metals. In order to alleviate the shortage of precious metals, some countries have repeatedly ordered bans on the export of gold and silver, but this has not solved the problem.

More importantly, the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire was stalemate, and the Timurid State beat the Ottoman Empire to the east, which also made the Ottoman Empire lose the source of spices.

Europeans can't live without spices, and the Europeans of this era live on meat, but killing a sheep or a pig can't eat it all at once, so they have to eat stinky meat every day.

Except for a few big nobles, even the small nobles have to eat stinky meat. Spices were a necessity for the minor nobles, as were they for the great nobles.

While the trade routes between the East and the West were blocked, Europeans had to turn their attention to the sea in search of spices and precious metals.

At this time, there is one person who has to be mentioned, and that is Marco Polo.

In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo, a Venetian, came to China with his father and uncle and was welcomed by the feast of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty.

He lived in China and served as an official for seventeen years, and at the end of the thirteenth century, when he returned to China, he published The Travels of Marco Polo. The book describes that the palace walls, walls and ceilings of Beiping are painted with gold and silver, and the gold in Dongying is too much to be used, and countless people even use it to build houses, and the claims are absolutely credible.

The book was widely circulated in Europe, and Europeans were salivated and determined to cross the ocean to the rich East.

The main reason why Europeans are not afraid of life and death and break into the unpredictable sea is that they are poor.

Therefore, to say that spices are more expensive than gold is just to describe the price of spices, not to say that the two are of equal value.

The Ottomans did business with the Europeans, and the spices they bought from India were shipped to Europe, and the profits ranged from fifty to one hundred times.

But for Daming, an iron pot can be exchanged for more than 100 catties of spices from Maluku, and these spices can be sold for more than 1,000 ounces of silver in Europe, and the profit in this can reach hundreds of times.

This is still a relatively high cost of the iron pot, if you calculate the weak cost that Daming consumes in this process, the profit can reach two thousand times.

According to the current wholesale price in the market of Venice, not counting the variety, almost one hundred and twenty catties of spices can be exchanged for one thousand two hundred taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver can be exchanged for a pound of spices, and according to the price of gold, a tael of gold is almost exchanged for a pound of spices.

Most of the gold coins in Europe are about five grams, and most of the silver coins are about three grams, which means that a hundred silver coins can buy a pound of spices, and six gold coins can buy a pound of spices.

Of course, Zhu Zhanji did not think about selling spices at such an expensive price, not because he did not want to make higher profits, but mainly because the market was limited, and the Europeans had limited gold and silver coins.

The fleet brought dozens of ships of spices, which were so large that they would almost absorb all of Europe's currency if they were sold at the present market price.

That's not how business works!

According to Zhu Zhanji's idea, Daming is ready to reduce the price of spices to half of the current market price, and take advantage of the idea that Europeans want to take advantage of it to make a quick profit.

Earn the gold and silver of Europe, and then suppress their sea power, so that their desire to develop at sea is shattered.

However, the exact operation will have to wait until the fleet arrives in Venice to make a decision.

After the meal, Zhu Zhanji held formal talks with Osman III, and the two countries held all-round talks on trade, alliance, and other aspects.

Although Marin is a country with relatively few resources, their agriculture is still relatively developed.

The production of barley and wheat is relatively large, and the breeding of cattle, sheep, chickens and camels is very developed.

Zheng He and Osman III soon formed a consensus on the exchange of live meat, poultry, and wool, and easily earned the gold and silver in their hands into their own hands.

The two sides agreed that the Ming would provide all kinds of porcelain, silk, tea, and spices, and that they would exchange them for live poultry and wool in addition to gold and silver.

And Daming will not ask them for goods now, and will wait until the return trip to load the ship, which will also give them some time to raise.

There was a smoky smell in the hall, the body odor and bad breath on everyone's body, plus the lack of airflow in the house, not to mention how smoky it was.

When the topic of alliance was discussed, there was finally a topic that Zhu Zhanji was interested in. And when he heard about Ceuta in the north of their country, when it was occupied by Portugal two years ago, Zhu Zhanji felt that the opportunity had come.

Ceuta remained a Spanish overseas territory until the 21st century. Although it is located in Africa, it belongs to Morocco, but the sovereignty belongs to Spain.

The funny thing is that Spain robbed Ceuta in Morocco, but its own country, Gibraltar, was robbed by the British, and it has never been recovered.

Ceuta and Gibraltar, one south and one north, hold the Strait of Gibraltar, which can be said to be a very important military location.

Through the translation of the Tongshi, Zhu Zhanji learned that three years earlier, in 1415, João I and Prince Henry personally led a huge army of 19,000 army, 1,700 navy and 200 warships to capture the important city of Ceuta in the northwest corner of Marin.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhanji interrupted Zheng He's conversation with Osman III and asked, "Your Excellency, are you so willing to see your land occupied?" ”

The general translated his words, and Osman III said: "Portugal is a small country, but they are strong, and I cannot take this fortress back!" ”

Zhu Zhanji asked again: "So, is the current Gibraltar in the hands of Seville or in the hands of Granada?" ”

Seville was an important part of Spain, while Granada was controlled by the Moors, that is, the Arabs. Spain was occupied by the Arabs for hundreds of years, and now only the last piece of land has not been taken back by the Spaniards.

Osman III said: "As far as I know, the Rock of Gibraltar was taken back by the Sevilles eight years ago. ”

Zhu Zhanji thought for a while and said: "I think that my Ming Dynasty and the Marin Kingdom have broad prospects for cooperation, and our alliance can not only be reflected in business, but also in military affairs. ”

Zheng He didn't know why Zhu Zhanji suddenly changed his mind for a while, but he knew very well that Zhu Zhanji's thoughts were originally wild and elusive.

He asked in Da Ming dialect, "Your Highness, do you have any new ideas?" ”

Zhu Zhanji looked at Hu Jun, the minister who was waiting behind him, and said, "Take the map of the West." ”

According to the globe, Zhu Zhanji drew a large number of regional maps, and some time ago, people marked many cities on the map according to the information learned by merchants who were familiar with the situation in the West.

It can be said that even the current maps of Europeans are not as accurate as the maps of the Ming Dynasty.

Hu Jun went out for a while, and then came in with a large map of Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. Zhu Zhanji let him spread it on the table in the hall, and then let everyone gather around.

He pointed to the location of Ceuta and Gibraltar and said to Zheng He: "Today's Xizhou, the economic center is Venice, and most of the trade of Xizhou countries is carried out here. The Strait of Gibraltar holds the choke point of the Mediterranean, and its geographical location is very important.

Now that the Portuguese occupy Ceuta and the Sevilles occupy Gibraltar, if these two places are occupied by my Daming, they will be able to obediently make the countries of Europe obedient. ”

Zheng He shook his head and said, "Your Highness, this place is seventy or eighty thousand miles away from my Ming Dynasty, why should my Ming Dynasty get involved here?" It's just trade, and I don't need this base in the Ming Dynasty, so it's a waste of troops. ”

"I want to trade in the West, and I want to exert my influence in the West, these two places are very suitable. Trade is not just as simple as me shipping goods over and then selling them. Xizhou gold and silver are limited, only after this trade, next time there is no gold and silver to buy all kinds of goods from my Daming, at that time, my Daming's goods can not be sold at all. ”

Zheng He frowned and thought for a while and asked, "Then what's the point of controlling here?" ”

"We can send soldiers to garrison, or we can send internal servants to understand the situation of various countries, and then take the goods that can be supplied by Xizhou and transport them back to my Daming, such as horses! Set up a supply point here, and you can buy all kinds of materials that I need for a long time......"

Having said that, Zhu Zhanji actually didn't have much expectation for trade, and there was really nothing in Europe that the Ming Dynasty didn't have except for all kinds of horses.

All he wants to do is to be a-stirring stick and keep Europe in chaos and not let them develop sea power.

Zheng He sighed: "It's so far away, the soldiers are homesick, and it is difficult to replenish all kinds of materials!" ”

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "So I need to win over Ma Linguo and let them supply food, meat and vegetables, and even beauties to my Ming soldiers." Moreover, having occupied the Rock of Gibraltar, we can also support the Moors and keep them fighting the Spaniards. ”

Seeing that Zhu Zhanji had already made up his mind, Zheng He didn't want to argue with him in front of so many people, and asked, "Then what does Your Highness want the old minister to do?" ”

A bunch of Marins couldn't understand them, so they could only stare at the map and marvel.

Zhu Zhanji's gaze swept around them and said: "Talk to Osman III about the place of Ceuta, I can go and help them fight it, but I will not return it to them, but give them a little goods and buy it permanently." Since it is an alliance, of course, we must cooperate in all aspects, so that they can become our loyal allies of the Ming Dynasty, and I will help them defend their homeland. ”

Zheng He pondered for a while and said: "In this way, I don't think we have to talk about it first, but first figure out what we want and what we want to achieve, we figure it out ourselves, and then follow the plan step by step." ”

"It's like loneliness."

With a new idea, the alliance negotiated with Osman III could only be temporarily interrupted, but now Osman III did not care about this, pointing to the detailed map and asking, "Can you give me this map?" ”

In modern society, maps have become widespread and are widely available to ordinary people.

But in this day and age, maps, especially elaborate maps, were important strategic equipment. It can be said that a detailed map is more important than a legion.

Although there are some maps in the country of Marin, this kind of map is very rough, only the general layout and city marking, because there is no accurate basis for positioning, the scale of the map is normal.

However, the map that the Ming Dynasty has now taken out is very standard for the entire Asian, European and African continents, with detailed markings of mountains and rivers, and the importance of this map must not be seen as just a map.

However, for the Ming Dynasty, this map of only Europe and the Mediterranean coast was of little use.

Zhu Zhanji took out this map at this time, in fact, the purpose was to deliberately come up with an accurate map, so that European countries could continue to fight for territory.

He prefers to let the Europeans continue to fight for the continent rather than focus on the ocean.

"Your Majesty, miracles, miracles!"

Osman III was very annoyed by the gaffe of his attendants, and said sharply: "Presumptuous, how can you make a fuss in front of the distinguished guests? ”

Li Liang also entered the hall at this time, came to Zhu Zhanji's side and said with a smile: "These barbarians have never seen the world, and they made a fuss when they saw that we assembled a courtyard in half a day." ”

This set of halls was originally brought from the Ming Dynasty and was intended to be installed on the side of Star City, and during the competitive competition, this set of halls was also used as a venue for Zhu Zhanji to meet with envoys from various countries.

But Zhu Zhanji thought that he was gone, and the role of this hall was not much, and when Zhu Di arrived in Nanyang, a permanent hall would be built.

So when he left from Star City, he asked the craftsman to disassemble and assemble this set of halls and put them on the ship.

When you come to Europe, you should pretend to be forced. This set of antique, full of oriental charm and luxurious momentum of the hall can be described as a sharp weapon for pretending, more flamboyant than his dragon chariot the size of three houses.

Zhu Zhanji was reluctant to live in their stone house here, and the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, after coordinating with the locals, the people of the General Administration Department requisitioned a small square in the city and asked Yu Linwei to block that area.

Under the arrangement of the craftsmen of Tobe, the various parts of the main hall were unloaded from the ship. The pillars that are more than 10 meters long, the girders that are more than 10 meters long, and the seamless roof are all numbered in detail.

Commanded by craftsmen, thousands of soldiers worked together. In just half a day, just like assembling building blocks, not only the main hall was assembled, but also several sets of wooden buildings for Zhu Zhanji and them to sleep in.

This incident is no longer surprising to the Ming people. But for the uninformed Marin, it was a miracle.

Osman III was stunned when he saw that a palace appeared in half a day. Since yesterday, he feels that he is a veritable dirt bun who has never seen the world.

In the evening of the same day, Zhu Zhanji had a long talk with the ministers in this newly assembled hall all night and decided on a new European strategy.

(To provoke a struggle between Christianity and the Green Religion in Europe, to prop up the weaker side, to expand the war.) Then a ban on the sea was imposed to suppress the seafaring power of Europe. I also need to think about it and think about this strategy a little bit more thoroughly. ）