Seeing Lin Wei's words, Shi Shibiao couldn't help but glance at him, this kid is good at everything, but he is promoted too quickly and lacks officialdom to sharpen himself, Yinzhen is a well-known 'cold face king' in the capital, he is mean and moody, so sweeping his face, how can he be embarrassed? In case of trouble, I will be caught in the middle, and I will be in a dilemma, and I am waiting to mediate it.

Wu Sidao had already spoken first: "It's not that Spain is cost-effective, but we are cost-effective, Spain wants to use us, and we are just collecting some benefits." After a slight pause, he smiled and said: "Gibraltar and Tangier face each other across the sea, both are strategic points close to the Strait of Gibraltar, but the two cannot be compared, Gibraltar is just a small peninsula, Tangier is an excellent port, the difference is not only in the province?"

Since we have formed an alliance with France and Spain, and Britain is the enemy, it is also our duty to help Spain recover Gibraltar, and as for the release of Spanish prisoners, it is a matter of course.

Speaking of Tangier, we are nominally on loan for 20 years, but after 20 years, Spain still has a chance to take it back? But in three or five years, we can justifiably cede Spain. France and Spain are also well aware of this.

Why would Spain and France agree to such a clear loss? Quite simply, they are using our hands to prevent the expansion of British power into the Mediterranean, and they also hope that through Tangier, we can fight with the British. ”

"Mr. sees it so clearly, why do you still want to take this hot potato?" Lin Wei said puzzledly: "This expedition to Europe has three tasks, one is to disrupt Europe so that it has no time to take care of anything else, the second is to open up European commerce, and the third is to learn the advanced technology of Europe.

The emperor once deliberately mentioned that we should pay more attention to the new technology in the United Kingdom. Britain has the largest naval fleet in Europe, its maritime power is second to none in Europe, and the most worrying thing is that its methods are despicable, and its navy often pretends to be pirates to rob the merchant ships of enemy countries, and the grudge against Britain is too deep, which is really more harmful than good for us. ”

Seeing that Lin Wei didn't know, he got off the donkey, but instead went to the end. Shi Shibiao couldn't help glaring at him, and said in a deep voice: "If we don't help recover Gibraltar, we will also have a grudge with the British, how can we allow others to snore on the side of the couch?" Unless we don't want Tangier, we can't afford Britain to occupy Gibraltar, and in the same way, Britain won't let us camp in Tangier easily. ”

Wu Sidao knew in his heart that the reason why Yinzhen strongly advocated the occupation of Tangier was selfish, not only for the South Ocean Fleet to have a foothold. It is also to lay a solid foundation for the future partition of Africa, see Shi Shibiu's mediation. He smiled slightly and said: "European countries are at war and peace, all out of their own interests, Britain and the Netherlands in order to compete for maritime supremacy, not also fight, a never-ending posture, but in a blink of an eye. They shook hands and made peace and united against France. Interests are present, and enemies can become allies. Allies can also become enemies, and there is no need to be too careful, and the benefits at hand are the most real. ”

Yin Zhen knew that this Lin Wei must have the right to make secret folds, but he couldn't make him dissatisfied, and besides, the relationship with the navy had only improved slightly, and he couldn't lose a big deal because of a small loss, so he glanced at the three of them and said with a smile: "General Lin's consideration is not unreasonable, but at the moment, it is an urgent task to find a foothold for the Nanyang Fleet, and it is inconvenient to send people under the fence." ”

Even if you want to find a foothold, it doesn't have to be Tangier, but Lin Wei is not an elm pimple, he was glared at by Shi Shibiu, where is he willing to say more, and he will not say anything at the moment.

The headquarters of the Cadiz fleet, Spanish Foreign Minister Reinaldo, French Finance Minister Demaré, Archer, and Carlos are also exchanging views, and they are quite satisfied with this simple contact with the Qing State, and the port of Tangier was originally snatched by Spain from Portugal, and Portugal is very likely to ask for it back in exchange for Gibraltar after this defeat, which is extremely cost-effective.

Although Gibraltar is small, it is the mainland of Spain, and its significance is far greater than Tangier, and furthermore, the surrender of Tangier to the Qing State can not only provoke the relationship between the Qing State and Britain, but also facilitate Spain's control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

After hearing Archer mention that the Qing intended to attack the Portuguese fleet, Reinaldo couldn't help but be puzzled, and he still couldn't understand what the purpose of the Qing people came to Europe tens of thousands of miles to participate in this war, and the Qing country had a vast territory in the Far East, and it was impossible to come to Europe to grab territory with them. If it was for trade, the Qing people should ally with Britain, Portugal, the Netherlands and other maritime powers, why did they choose France and Spain?

After a long silence, Reinal said: "If the Qing people really attack Portugal, it is a sincere alliance with our country, but the Qing country has always had trade contacts with Portugal, why would they help us in turn, and what is the purpose of the Qing people?" ”

Hearing this, several people were stunned, the Qing people sent a huge fleet to Europe tens of thousands of miles away, rushed to form an alliance when France and Spain were defeated, and did not hesitate to get involved in this war that had nothing to do with the Qing State, what was the purpose?

War not only kills people, but also consumes a lot of money, there has never been a war for no reason, the Qing emperor could not be fed up, sent tens of thousands of people to Europe to help them fight, it is certain that there must be a reason behind this, but what is the reason for the Qing people to deliberately get involved in this war?

After thinking for a long time, Archer spoke: "I heard that before the great voyage in Europe, the Orientals organized a huge fleet to arrive in Africa, but they were not for colonial aggression, not for gold and spices, but for prestige, do the Qing people also want to prestige in Europe?" ”

"No, since the Qing people want to cede the port of Acapulco, it means that they have embarked on the road of overseas colonization." Reinaldo said with a solemn expression, and after a moment of hesitation, he hesitated, "Could they be here for the silver?" We used to plunder huge sums of silver from the Americas. ”

France's Minister of Finance Demaret shook his head slightly, and said: "The missionaries who came back from the Qing Kingdom all said that the wealth of the Qing Kingdom is beyond our imagination, and the Qing Kingdom is not short of silver, as far as I know, France has sent many talented missionaries to the Qing Kingdom, and the great Sun King has also written to the emperor of the Qing Kingdom, I don't know if this is the reason." ”

Archer looked at Carlos and said, "Carlos, you haven't been in the Qing Kingdom for a short time, don't you know at all?" ”

Hearing this, Carlos couldn't help but smile bitterly, he stayed in the Qing Kingdom for a long time, but in addition to building roads and doing coolies, that is, fighting natives in the Nanyang Islands, what can he know? He had been to Beijing City once, and he groaned slightly, and then he said: "I have been to Beijing, the capital of the Qing Kingdom, and I have met Emperor Zhenwu of the Qing Kingdom several times, but at that time, he had not yet ascended the throne and became the emperor.

It was an ambitious and young king, the navy of the Qing State was created by him, the first battle of Penghu, and he personally commanded it, no matter what he did, he had a very clear purpose, the Qing fleet expedition to Europe would definitely not be for fame, nor for silver, the Qing country had a large population, prosperous commerce, and there was no shortage of silver at all. ”

Speaking of this, he paused slightly before continuing: "I want to remind you that the Qing State is not only powerful in naval artillery, but also better than in Europe in the muskets equipped by their army, and their soldiers are very good. ”

The army is excellent? France is a big army, so it is natural to be particularly concerned about this, and French Finance Minister Demaret couldn't help but ask, "Is it possible that the army of the Qing Kingdom can be comparable to the French army?" ”

"I think the French army can only be called excellent." Carlos shrugged his shoulders slightly, a look of regret.

The army of the Qing State is better than the army of France? Several people present were shocked, and Archer blurted out: "Shouldn't the Qing Kingdom want to conquer Europe again?" ”

The Mongol expedition to the west in the thirteenth century was a nightmare for Europe, and when it comes to the Mongols, all Europeans still have lingering fears, and when they hear that the Qing army is strong, they immediately think of the Mongol expedition to the west.

Carlos shook his head slightly and said, "No, the emperor of the Qing Kingdom personally told me that he would not be arrogant enough to sweep Europe with 20,000 horses. ”

Hearing this, several people couldn't help but settle down, today's Europe, let alone 20,000 horses, even 200,000 is impossible to crisscross Europe, Demaret asked curiously: "Have you seen the Qing Army fighting?" With whom? ”

Carlos smiled bitterly before he said: "It was against our Spanish musketeers, twenty yards of close shooting, we lost miserably, their soldiers are indeed well-trained." ”

Twenty yards away musket fire, fighting for discipline, fighting for courage and will, to be able to shoot at close range without collapsing, is already considered a strong army in Europe, Archer pondered for a while, and then asked: "I see that the muskets of the soldiers of the country do not have bayonet sleeves installed on them, don't they use bayonets?" Besides, how is it possible to shoot at a distance of twenty yards? ”

Tianjin military exercise, Spain was killed a lot of soldiers, and now that the two countries are going to form an alliance, Carlos naturally didn't want to mention it, so he dealt with the past vaguely at the moment, and then said: "I really haven't seen the Qing people use bayonets, think about it, they haven't installed bayonets in the troops." ”

A musketeer without a bayonet can not be regarded as a qualified musketeer at all, fighting at close range, the musket is not used at all, the bayonet is the king to see red, there is no bayonet, once the close combat, the ironclad collapse, I heard that the army of the Qing State did not have bayonets, and several people immediately lost interest.

After a moment of deep silence, Reinaldo said: "No matter what the purpose of the Qing people is, as long as they sincerely ally ally with us, they are our allies, if they can kill the Portuguese fleet, I think the king will wake up with a smile even if he dreams, I hope that the Cadiz fleet and the Qing fleet can bring a turnaround to Spain." ”