In the afternoon of the same day, in the newly completed prefect's yamen in Shihe, the Portuguese representative represented by Jia Xiuli and the plenipotentiary represented by Wu Tao Plaira engaged in a heated debate on the matter of trade, and after an afternoon of bargaining, the two sides finally reached a consensus on several points.

In line with the purpose of friendly cooperation and promoting commercial exchanges between the two sides, the Governor-General's Office of Macao and the local government of Jiaozhou, Shandong Province signed the following treaties: First, in order to promote commercial exchanges between the two sides, the Jiaozhou government will allow Portuguese businessmen to do business in the Jiaozhou area, and in the same way, Portugal and Macao will also allow Jiaozhou businessmen to travel freely to Macao, and the two sides will give each other the lowest tariff preferences.

Second, Jiaozhou opened Qingdao as a commercial port, allowing Portuguese merchant ships to dock freely and purchase supplies. However, the Portuguese side must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and if there is a violation of the law, it must be handed over to the Jiaozhou side for trial.

Third, the Jiaozhou government allowed the Portuguese to freely preach and establish churches within the Jiaozhou bounds. and respect the freedom of belief of both sides.

Fourth, the Portuguese side helped the Jiaozhou Military Academy to send talents, hire instructors, and train gunners. At the same time, it will help Jiaozhou to establish a professional college of science and engineering, the scale of which shall not be less than that of a secondary technical college, and support the Jiaozhou Military Academy to have a large number of books on mathematics, science, science and other aspects.

Fifth, the Portuguese side sold one sister ship and three small warships to Jiaozhou "St. Martin" at a price of 100,000 taels of silver. And within three years, he helped Jiaozhou to establish a shipyard that could build 500-ton warships and a professional naval academy. At the same time, he helped Jiaozhou train naval officers.

Sixth, the Portuguese side handed over a lot of artillery technology, including the 24-pounder gun, to the Jiaozhou side free of charge, and sent instructors to guide the Jiaozhou side in use.

After the two sides negotiated, Wu Tao handed over the results of the negotiation to Liu Fan overnight and asked him to give final instructions. Liu Fan looked at the report handed over to him by Wu Tao, fell into deep thought, and after reading these specific terms, Liu Fan realized that he had suffered a loss, in fact, the help given to him by the Portuguese mission was not as great as he imagined! With Liu Fan's current strength, the first two items are basically equivalent to fulfilling obligations in vain, without getting any benefits. Portugal now has only a small island called Macao, and it has no colonies in Southeast Asia, which is of little use to Liu Fan or Jiaozhou.

In addition, the opening of ports and allowing missionaries, and even the hiring of Portuguese instructors and instructors, will inevitably increase the power of Portugal in Jiaozhou, and in serious cases, it will even affect Liu Fan's dominance in Jiaozhou, Liu Fan can foresee that with the large number of Portuguese people flocking to Jiaozhou, Jiaozhou's political, economic, cultural, educational and other fields will undoubtedly be affected by foreign culture. At the same time, the entry of a large number of Portuguese instructors into military academies and the Broken Army will also affect the thinking of the soldiers and officers of the Broken Army, resulting in a large number of pro-Portuguese officers.

In addition to these harms, Portugal also brought Liu Fan's unbearable temptations, such as shipyards, fleets, and artillery technology, which Liu Fan needs most now. There are pros and cons to these conditions, on the surface, all the terms are very beneficial to Liu Fan, but they are very unfavorable to Liu Fan and Daming in the future. Liu Fan was bored in the study, considering the gains and losses one by one, and couldn't make up his mind for a long time.

When Liu Fan was distressed, there was a "squeak", the door of the study was pushed open, Zhang Yao came to the study with a food box, and when he saw Liu Fan's sad appearance, he couldn't help asking, "Husband!" Are you still worried about the things of those Westerners? What are the difficulties you can talk to Yao'er! I'll give you a staff officer! As he spoke, he took out the food in the food box, and after a while, a few refreshing side dishes and a bowl of lean porridge were placed on the table one by one.

Zhang Yao handed the chopsticks in his hand to Liu Fan, and said gently, "Husband, let's eat first!" Don't you often say that "people are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry and panic"! Even if there is really something difficult, you have to finish eating before you have the strength to do it! ”

Liu Fan raised his head, looked at Zhang Yao, gently hugged his gentle and beautiful wife, and said with a wry smile, "I really don't have an appetite!" I've had so many worries lately! Now I'm not alone! I want Jiaozhou to be responsible, and the trade affairs are related to the future of the people of Jiaozhou, and we must consider it carefully. ”

Zhang Yao's face was slightly red, and he gently pushed away Liu Fan's evil hand, and said coquettishly, "It's so dishonest to worry!" Big Bad! Coquettishly glanced at Liu Fan, stood up, gently picked up Wu Tao's report and said, "I want to see what makes the always smart and decisive husband so embarrassed!" ”

Liu Fan smiled and didn't stop Zhang Yao's somewhat "transgressive" move, "women can't interfere in politics" or something, there is no use for Liu Fan here. In terms of Liu Fan's later thoughts, it is very happy to have a smart and capable wife like Zhang Yao to help him deal with some affairs. Your own family is always more trustworthy than outsiders!

It is said that serious men are more attractive, but in fact, in Liu Fan's opinion, serious women are even more fascinating. Under the dim candlelight, Zhang Yao, who was dressed in a pale yellow skirt, sat quietly on the chair and looked at the report in her hand seriously.

Wu Tao's report was not long, in just a quarter of an hour, Zhang Yao finished reading the information in his hand, took a long breath, shifted his gaze, and saw Liu Fan's obsessive appearance, his face turned red, and he was slightly happy in his heart, but he still said coquettishly, "Look!" Don't you see enough every day! Don't eat yet! It's going to be cold! ”

Liu Fan woke up and laughed, "Yao'er is so beautiful!" I can't get enough of it! Well! You've read the information too! What do you think? Any comments? ”

When Zhang Yao heard Liu Fan's answer, her heart was slightly sweet, she was very happy that her husband liked her so much, but she didn't show it on her face, but said with a straight face, "Judging from the concubine, this trade agreement is all beneficial to us on the surface, but in fact, these Xiyi people secretly harbor evil intentions, once we promise to get benefits now, we will be passive in the future!" But overall, we need this agreement very much now! With this agreement, the strength of our army will be qualitatively improved, and trade will also be conducive to the prosperity of Jiaozhou, and the concubine thinks that articles 1, 4, 5, and 6 can be agreed to as appropriate. The two or three articles are too extensive and too influential, but they can't be agreed to so casually, and a premise must be guaranteed, that is, we must have absolute control in Jiaozhou! (To be continued.) )