Chapter 219: The Portuguese are going to join the alliance
The Southeast Asian Association of Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia made Portugal, who were in the same area, very worried, and they feared that they would be left out of the periphery, because the arrival of the Australian fleet made them feel the pressure for the first time. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
The two snow-white thousand-ton displacement ships give people a sense of majesty and indomitability, and with the addition of the black guns, it is certain that the combat effectiveness is not inferior to their own warships, and their union with the Spaniards is nothing.
The point is that the Dutch are also on board, which is a problem, and they have to think carefully about how things are going to happen, otherwise it could lead to unexpected outcomes.
Portugal has not many colonies in the Far East, except for the relative size of Macau, followed by Malacca, but Malacca they have already given up, so they must ensure the stability of Macau, otherwise they will be completely driven out of the Far East.
The Far East was still very important to Portugal, they pulled the porcelain and silk exported by the Ming Dynasty to Europe to sell, and at the same time shipped some European art to the Ming Dynasty, of course, the most important thing is that this country exports weapons like the Ming Dynasty.
In a certain sense, the existence of Macao has strengthened the cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and also allowed the Ming Dynasty to obtain a lot of firearms from the West, which is of great help to the development of firearms in the Ming Dynasty.
Historically, Macao also sent troops to help the Southern Ming court resist the Qing army, which is recorded in history, of course, it failed in the end, but it cannot be denied that the Portuguese were at least not so unacceptable.
The reason why they were not invited to join in the first place is that Portugal has not yet become independent, and at present, in an accurate sense, it is still a Spanish territory, if they also join, it will be very embarrassing for Spain, originally the Dutch joined to make them a little dissatisfied, and now adding a Portugal will inevitably cause greater repercussions.
So it is certain that it is not so simple for Portugal to join, at least Spain needs to agree, but the governors of the Portuguese overseas colonies are relatively independent, they have a high degree of autonomy, which the Spaniards agree.
Historically, they belonged to two different countries, but the Habsburgs merged the two countries by the so-called inheritance law, but this does not mean that the nobles in their country willingly became part of Spain.
On the contrary, the aristocracy, led by the Duke of Bracan, was very disdainful of the Spanish rule, and most importantly, they had already gained dominance in the country, although Spain did not agree, but it was an indisputable fact, so they naturally wanted to join it.
The Portuguese in Macau had given some help when Australia had just stepped into the land of the Ming Dynasty, and the local church councillor, Roy had the most contact with Australia, and the conversation between the two sides was basically organized by him.
Of course, the most important thing is that he has a good relationship with Zhou Yang, and he is one of the heads of the overseas consulate, and the exchanges between the two sides are at least indispensable.
Zhou Yang has invited the other party to visit Hong Kong many times, and of course he has also invited Zhou Yang.
"Zhou, we asked to join the Far East Military Alliance, Portugal and Australia should be allies, and we have a deep friendship."
As soon as they met, Roy opened his mouth and directly put forward his request, it can be seen that they really want to join, after all, the military alliance of the three countries has made them very afraid, if it was originally just one country, they would not be able to, at least they could confront each other, but now it is different.
What they have to face is that Australia, the Netherlands, and Spain, if not allies, are likely to be squeezed by all three parties.
"Mr. Roy, I will convey your request to the country, but this is not something I can decide, you also know that I am only a small overseas governor of Hong Kong, and I have no right to interfere in the direction of major events in the country, and I can tell you that we originally planned to invite Portugal to join, but because the Spaniards strongly objected, we finally excluded you."
Damn the Spanish brutes, I will definitely protest against them, but please believe that there has been no unpleasant behavior between us between Macau and Australia, and I don't think it will be in the future, Australia should not be interfered with by Spain and give up an ally.
Allies, maybe you are very right, we are allies, but my own opinion on this matter still needs to be decided by the domestic bigwigs.
Zhou Yang smiled, compared to the strength of Spain, the strength of the Portuguese in the Far East is actually not large, their main business direction is in Brazil, that is, South America, this is not their main choice location, of course they will not value it so much.
So the Portuguese in Macau are in an awkward position, they have to think about their own interests, many of them have their wealth from here, once this place becomes Spanish, then it will be a big blow to them.
For their own sake, they must make the choice to ally themselves with the Australians and join their military alliance in the Far East, so that they can ensure that their interests here are not swallowed up by others.
"Zhou, Macau needs your help, you are our friend, I think you will definitely help us, right?"
Roy always used his friend's hat to hold Zhou Yang in his hands, which was very important to him.
Only by firmly grasping Zhou Yang's straw can they have a chance.
The country is still very cautious about letting Portugal in Macao join the Far East Military Alliance, after all, it is about Spain, not to mention that Portugal has also declared independence, but in fact, it has not been recognized by Spain like the Netherlands, so the armies of the two sides have been at war.
In addition, the Portuguese and the British are relatively close, and the British and Spain are also the biggest overseas competitors, so the battle between the two sides can be seen in general, and it is not impossible for the Spaniards in Manila to agree, as long as the Netherlands agrees, how many votes in favor and a few against it will be, even if the Spaniards want to oppose it, they don't need to take it into account.
However, according to Zhou Yang's point of view, the Spaniards may not object, after all, they want to form an alliance with Australia more than the Dutch, at this juncture, their opposition may be excluded by the other three, after all, Spain is no longer what it used to be, and it may be difficult to come up with that kind of confidence.
(To be continued.) )