Zhou Zhong had already seen that although Zhengde was not very concerned about the gains and losses of the South Seas, he was worried that Portugal's strength was too great, which would pose a new threat to the Ming coast.

Understood this, so Zhou Zhong deliberately focused on the strength of the Portuguese troops, especially the many wars between the Portuguese and the locals in the Indian Ocean, and he emphasized the astonishing proportion of casualties in those wars, as a result, Zhengde was also dumbfounded after hearing it, and even he suspected that Zhou Chong was lying, but under Zhou Chong's repeated assurances, Zhengde reluctantly believed in those amazing results.

In order to deepen Emperor Zhengde's sense of crisis, Zhou Zhong deliberately emphasized: "Your Majesty, although Portugal has a strong maritime force, it is not the largest country in Europe, and even it is only a small country with a population of 10 million in Europe, and there are also Spain, France, England and other countries in Europe, the territory of these countries is several times larger than Portugal, but they are constantly at war with each other, so there is no threat to my Ming Dynasty for the time being, but if Portugal is allowed to gain a firm foothold in the South Seas, Then it is undoubtedly to open a door to the Ming Dynasty for European countries, if all these countries come, then for my Ming Dynasty, there will be another group of strong enemies from the sea! ”

People who know the history of the world know that Zhou Chong's words exaggerated the threat of European countries, such as the current Portugal through the monopoly of the route to the Ming Dynasty, the national strength is advancing by leaps and bounds, whether it is economic, political or scientific and technological, are far beyond the European countries at that time, Spain was also defeated by Portugal, so although Portugal is small, but this period is the heyday of Portugal. However, it is extremely strong among European countries.

In addition, the wars between European countries were not so easy to end. Especially France and England, two old enemies. Although the Hundred Years' War was over, the two countries also had a feud, and conflicts broke out from time to time, and the relationship between France and Spain was not peaceful, so it can be said that the whole of Europe was shrouded in the clouds of war, and there was no time to develop to the East.

It's a pity that Zhengde doesn't know these inside stories on the road, in his opinion, a small Portugal already has such a strong strength. If those countries such as Spain and France are allowed to come to Nanyang and other places again, then the southern coast of the Ming Dynasty will not want to be quiet anymore.

Thinking of this, Zhengde also showed a resolute expression on his face, and immediately raised his head and said to Zhou Chong: "Zhou Chong, since you know the situation overseas so well, and you understand the consequences of letting the Portuguese enter the South Seas, is there any way you can stop the other party?" ”

Hearing the meaning revealed in Zhengde's words, Zhou Chong's face turned happy and said: "Your Majesty, the grass people have already found out the exact time when the Portuguese sent troops to Malacca, and although the Portuguese have strong ships and guns. But their number is not large, the grass people estimated. They can only send two or three thousand soldiers at most, although these forces are enough to occupy the city of Malacca, but it is certainly not easy, if when the Portuguese attack Malacca, our Ming navy suddenly kills from behind them, it will definitely be able to defeat the other party in one fell swoop, so as to crush the other party's plan to invade the South Seas! ”

Hearing that Zhou Chong even knew the time when the Portuguese sent troops, this made Zhengde also very shocked by his intelligence ability, but unfortunately he didn't know it, Zhou Chong's powerful thing was not his intelligence ability, but that he traveled from later generations to Daming, and remembered the specific time of some historical events very clearly, so he dared to guarantee it like this.

I saw that after Emperor Zhengde listened to Zhou Chong's plan to attack Portugal, he walked back and forth uneasily in the big tent a few times, and finally stopped and slapped the table and said: "Okay, I agreed, many of the countries in the South Seas are subordinates of the Ming Dynasty, if the Portuguese are allowed to enter the South Seas, it will definitely bring endless suffering to the countries of the South Seas, and it will also bring a lot of threats to my Ming maritime frontier in the future, and after I return to the palace, I will immediately convene Li Dongyang and them to discuss, whether they agree or not, I will support you to the end!" ”

Hearing that Zhengde finally agreed, Zhou Zhong also stood up and saluted with joy: "Your Majesty is wise, your Majesty's decision today will reduce the endless troubles for my Ming Dynasty in the future, presumably Li Ge Lao and they will definitely be able to understand His Majesty's painstaking efforts!" ”

However, Zhou Chong's sycophants had just finished filming, but he suddenly found that Emperor Zhengde was looking at him with a smile, and then he saw the other party speak: "Zhou Chong, when you talked about the affairs of the Japanese State just now, you only wanted to contact the Japanese State on behalf of the imperial court, but you didn't want to be an official, but for the Portuguese invasion of Nanyang, you had to be an official!" ”

"Huh?" Zhou Zhong was stunned when he heard this, and he couldn't understand what Zhengde meant in his words, he just wanted to borrow troops from the imperial court, and he didn't want to personally lead the troops to fight, why did he have to be an official?

"Hehe, I know what your idea is, it's nothing more than to use the imperial court's forces to repel the Portuguese, and then you will still be your smuggler, but Zhou Zhong you have to know that it is impossible for the imperial court to hand over the army to private command, and I can't convince Li Dongyang and them on this alone. And even if I hand over the army to you, but if you are just a grass people, why do you let those generals listen to you, if they do not listen to the command during the battle, then even if there are more troops, I am afraid it will be difficult to repel the Portuguese, right? ”

Zhengde paused when he said this, then looked at him a few times with a meaningful gaze, and then said: "In addition, what you just said also reminded me that the threat of the Ming Dynasty is not only from the land, but also the possibility of a strong enemy on the sea, and the strength of our Ming Dynasty on the sea is too weak, so from today on, I have decided to attach importance to the development of the strength of the sea, and at least build another fleet like Zheng He, so as to protect the safety of my Ming coast, and this matter is in addition to you, I can't think of a second person who can do this! ”

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Chong wanted to cry without tears, he didn't expect that his above words would make Zhengde begin to pay attention to the ocean, and even want to rebuild the sea power of the Ming Dynasty, and he also wanted to hand over this matter to himself, which is simply lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot.

"Your Majesty, although your idea of rebuilding the sea power of the Ming Dynasty is very good, but this is not an easy task, not to mention anything else, the manpower, material and financial resources required alone are not a small amount, with the current situation of the imperial court, can you support the reconstruction of my Ming sea power?" Zhou Zhong asked a very realistic question at this time, he didn't want to take over the matter of helping Zhengde rebuild the strength of the Ming Sea, after all, this is not a trivial matter, and the difficulties he faces are unimaginable, if it is really next, it is estimated that he will have to work for Zhengde for the rest of his life.

"The imperial court is now empty in the treasury, so naturally it can't support the sea power to rebuild the Ming Dynasty!" Zhengde told the truth and did not hide the current situation of the Ming Dynasty at all.

Zhou Zhong just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this, but he listened to Zhengde and then said: "But it doesn't matter, although the imperial court can't pay money and things, but it can send people, I decided to make you a governor of the four seas, and the naval forces stationed in Guangzhou and Ningbo of the Ming Dynasty are also assigned to you as a governor to manage, as for the financial and material resources needed to rebuild the sea power, in the future, all ships that go out of the sea will have to pay taxes to you, the governor of the four seas, yamen, so that the money will not be there?" Haha~"

Zhengde is probably also proud of his genius idea, so he let out a series of arrogant laughter after the end, but Zhou Zhong heard this and couldn't wait to slap himself a few mouths, because the function of the Admiral Yamen in Zhengde's mouth is almost a copy of their Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, by guaranteeing smuggling for other chambers of commerce, the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce is actually collecting taxes from other smuggling ships in disguise, the only difference is that the Yamen of the Four Seas Admiralty has an official identity, However, his Nanyang Chamber of Commerce is only a non-governmental ordinary chamber of commerce, and it is not capable of competing with the government at all.

Thinking that the Yamen of the Admiral of the Four Seas first harmed his own interests, Zhou Zhong couldn't take care of it anymore, and immediately opened his mouth again to admonish: "Your Majesty thinks twice, there has never been a Governor of the Four Seas in the official system of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty has been implementing the sea ban, if this Yamen of the Four Seas Admirals is established, then it will be in conflict with the sea ban, and I am afraid that it is impossible for the ministers of the court to agree!" ”

As soon as Zhou Chong's words fell, he saw Zhengde suddenly sigh and said: "Zhou Chong, you are a smart person, but now you are confused, the Yamen of the Four Seas Admirals has indeed robbed your Chamber of Commerce of business, but have you thought about it, if there is no official support, no matter how capable you are, I am afraid that the most powerful person can only develop the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce into a sea overlord, and its influence is only limited to Shuangyu Port, but if you become the governor of the four seas, you will be in charge of all the affairs on the sea, At that time, even if you don't deliberately develop the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, I am afraid that the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce will develop into a hegemon in the maritime trade industry, and even with the help of the Ming Dynasty's maritime forces, the power of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce will be extended outward, and it will not be difficult to reach Europe at that time! ”

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Chong also felt a burst of shock, he had tried to overestimate Zhengde before, but now it seems that I am afraid that he still underestimated Zhengde, he had long known the detailed business model of his Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, and also knew that the establishment of the Yamen of the Governor of the Four Seas would damage his own interests, these were unexpected by Zhou Chong, and even made him involuntarily have a sense of awe for Zhengde.

However, Zhou Chong is Zhou Chong after all, and the character that has long been formed in later generations will not make him easily surrender to anyone, so he quickly adjusted his mentality, and then carefully considered Zhengde's words, and found that what Zhengde said is indeed very reasonable, don't look at the rapid development of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce now, and he is also preparing to plan the establishment of the Haimeng, but these are all small fights, and the development of the Chamber of Commerce is almost at the top, if you can't find a new way out, I'm afraid the development of the Chamber of Commerce will stop, And the official position of Admiral of the Four Seas proposed by Emperor Zhengde was an excellent opportunity for him and his chamber of commerce. (To be continued......)