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Once again, Maldini surprised Zhu Youzhen. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info this time it was not a missionary who came with him, but Joao, the Duke of Bragança of Portugal!

It must be known that Jingyang and Macao are thousands of miles apart, and the transportation is inconvenient in this era, Zhu Youzhen can't figure out how Maldini sent the news to Joao in such a short time, and how he can let Joao arrive in Qinwangzhuang smoothly.

Of course, Joao, as the duke of a country, was invited to come to a secret meeting with him, and Zhu Youzhen attached great importance to it. Neither of them is now a head of state, but they both have great ambitions, and this historic meeting will certainly have a major impact on the course of the history of the two countries and the entire world.

Therefore, although Zhu Youzhen could not welcome Joao with great fanfare, he still received the two of them with the highest standard in the palace. Rui'er, who has not yet recovered, Bao Yulian, who is with a little concubine, and Qi Meifeng, who has just become pregnant, all attended the welcome banquet in the dress of the princess; Li Zhenyan and Zhu Cunqi participated as the heads of the Huanghai Merchant Gang; Xie Sheng and Chen Wu, as representatives of the Qin generals, also wore full uniforms and accompanied them majestically.

Zhu Youzhen also specially asked Qiu Lina to attend. Although her native language is Russian, she speaks all European languages. This also ensures the accuracy of the translation and prevents Maldini and Joao from colluding in private.

Joao is only in his early twenties, tall, bright-eyed, with thick brown curls and two beautiful mustaches, he is a typical European handsome man. Zhu Youzhen traveled from his previous life, and of course he was not surprised by foreigners; But Rui'er and the others, together with Xie Sheng and Chen Wu, were very curious about Joao, wondering why this foreigner's hair was so curly, why the bridge of his nose was so high, and why his skin was so fair.

Maldini was just about to introduce the two, but Zhu Youzhen took the lead in reaching out and said in English: "(Welcome to China, my friend)!" ”

Joao was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted, stretched out his hands and warmly shook hands with Zhu Youzhen, and said something in Portuguese like a machine gun. Maldini hurriedly translated: "The Duke of João said that he was too excited, and he didn't expect Your Highness that you speak English and understand European etiquette. For the first time in history, the monarchs of the East and the West shook hands! ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but blush slightly, and said in his heart that his English was only two times, and if he said half a sentence more, he would have to leak the stuffing.

Then João bowed respectfully to Rui'er and the other women in turn, and stretched out his right hand to kiss the hand. After listening to Maldini's introduction, several women were taken aback and refused to let Joao kiss, which made Joao a little embarrassed; Only Qiulina generously let Joao kiss his hand, which was considered to let him go down the steps.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen smiled at Rui'er and the others: "Don't misunderstand, the kiss ceremony is a common etiquette in the West, which shows that men respect women and do not have bad intentions. Tyulina, please tell Your Excellency the Duke that there are many different customs between the East and the West, and that our Oriental women are reserved and introverted, which is where their charm lies. ”

After listening to Qiulina's translation, Joao hurriedly bowed and apologized to Ruier and the others, and took out a few delicate jewelry boxes from his bag and gave them to several women as a greeting gift. Handcrafted from sterling silver, the box is adorned with delicate ornaments, and when the lid is opened, a small glass mirror appears on the back. In this era, China did not yet make glass, and the mirrors were all bronze mirrors. When the women saw something so smooth and clear for the first time, they immediately fell in love with it, and their impression of Joao changed greatly.

At the feast, Joao constantly praised the deliciousness of Chinese food and complimented Zhu Youzhen's wife for their youth and beauty. Of course, Zhu Youzhen knew that these were all polite words, and the real negotiations were still to come.

So after the banquet dispersed, Zhu Youzhen only left Li Zhenyan, Zhu Cunqi and Qiu Linna, and the other party was Joao and Maldini. An important diplomatic negotiation began.

Zhu Youzhen first affirmed that he was only a prince now, not the Ming Emperor, so he could not represent the imperial court, and could only establish informal relations with Portugal, which would be slowly improved in the future.

Joao agrees, after all, he is not the king of Portugal. Moreover, the Europeans value profit rather than fame, and they don't care about anything like that, as long as there are actual benefits.

But João immediately raised an important question: "Your Royal Highness the King of Qin, I have heard that you have the saying that 'the whole world is not the king's land', and you regard all countries as vassals, and only by accepting your canonization and recognizing your emperor's suzerainty over the kings of other countries can trade relations be established." I can't accept that. ”

Zhu You listened and smiled, and said in his heart that the ancient Chinese, due to the limitations of objective conditions and lack of understanding of the world, mistakenly believed that China was the center of the world, and that the Fanbang people were all poor and barbaric people on the margins. Because of the fact that we have long boasted that we are the "superior country of the Celestial Empire" and have been surpassed by the Western powers, we will have a history of humiliation of more than 100 years after the Opium War.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen smiled calmly and said, "Your Excellency, your worries are very reasonable. If our two countries can establish formal diplomatic relations in the future, I hope that the following principles can be followed: first, mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; 2. Non-aggression; 3. Non-interference in each other's internal affairs; Fourth, equality and mutual benefit; Fifth, peaceful coexistence. ”

Joao fell into deep thought after hearing this, and only after a while did he look at Zhu Youzhen with great admiration and said, "Your Highness, what you said is really good!" If every country could abide by the principles you proposed, there would be no bullying of the small and bullying of the weak, and there would be no more wars! ”

Zhu Youzhen's face turned red, and he said in his heart that the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" proposed by Premier Zhou would not dare to plagiarize it under any circumstances, but just use it. He immediately pressed João: "Do you think these five principles can be followed between our two countries?" ”

"Yes, of course!" Joao said yes, and his heart was far superior to Portugal in terms of population, territory, and national strength, but the principle put forward by Zhu Youzhen completely put the two countries on an equal footing, and the so-called tributary relationship certainly did not exist. In this world where the law of the jungle is the strong, and whoever has the biggest fist has the final say, it is of course undesirable for a small country to be able to get along with a big country on an equal footing.

Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly: "That being the case, we should first make it clear that Macao is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty enjoys sovereignty of course, and now it is only lent to Portugal." In the future, the Portuguese can settle all matters in Macao through follow-up negotiations, but you must now officially confirm in writing that Macao is Ming! ”