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The Kingdom of Portugal, once known as the "most remote corner" of Europe, has been seeking space for survival and development almost since the day of its founding. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese maritime community under the leadership of Prince Enrique began arduous maritime explorations.

At the same time, the Portuguese royal family, which was keen on the cause of the "crusade at sea", was highly praised and sought after by the Pope for its huge anti-Islamic plan on paper.

"All land that has not yet been occupied shall be owned by Portugal and shall not be violated by anyone!"

In the middle of the 15th century, the Pope proclaimed such a slogan in the European world that was far more symbolic than practical, and he granted the Kingdom of Portugal the privilege of monopolizing maritime interests. As a result, the entire Kingdom of Portugal launched the exploration of overseas routes even more frantically.

The rumored Gold Coast of Black Africa and the riches of the Orient documented in Marco Polo's travels have led generations of Portuguese navigators to believe that exploring African routes and detouring the East was their only way out of the world. This led to the failure of the decision-makers of the Kingdom of Portugal at the end of the 15th century to deal with Columbus.

The discovery of the New World and the reversal of the new pope caused the Kingdom of Portugal to lose its privileges overnight, and the whole of Portugal from top to bottom was extremely dissatisfied with the challenge of the interests of the maritime world launched by the Kingdom of Spain.

But Portugal's maritime prowess over nearly a century of history led them to react quickly, and the famous Treaty of Taorcillias finally gave Portugal the opportunity to establish a colonial empire for the other half of the planet.

Whether it was the Pope, or the Spaniards, people who did not know much about the real world fell into the trap of the Portuguese, and the Portuguese, who had long known and monopolized the secrets of the currents and winds along the coast of Africa and the Atlantic, quickly began their large-scale exploration.

Brazil, this South American land in the range east of the Papal Meridian was thus logically discovered, and then cleverly fell into the pockets of the Kingdom of Portugal.

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Built in 1549 A.D., the port of San Salvador in the Bahia region of Brazil was already a European city, except for the palm trees that dotted the harbor and the surrounding town, which showed a tropical scenery different from that of the European continent.

Nearly 10,000 Portuguese residents have taken root here, with a large number of Portuguese-style buildings lined up in the city's port district, and churches and monasteries of all sizes imbued with a strong European flair.

Yan Xiaosong, who was tasked with traveling to the Ming Dynasty to carry out the immigration plan, abandoned his plan to go to the port of Recife in the Pernambuco region, which is better known in history. and Su Zining, the dog-headed military division, repeatedly scrutinized, and San Salvador became the core node of Yan Xiaosong's plan later.

San Salvador, now the capital of Portuguese colonial rule in Brazil, was the center of the sugar industry and slave trade in South America, with sugar cane, tobacco plantations and sugar mills dotted the suburbs of the city bringing a steady stream of wealth to the Portuguese aristocracy as far away as Europe. For quite some time, its population size even surpassed that of Havana, the largest city in the Caribbean region of North America.

Thanks to the navigation channel explored by the Portuguese for hundreds of years, starting from Lisbon in early May, following the Canary Ocean Current from north to south, Yan Xiaosong and Caterina only took less than half a month to arrive at Portugal's westernmost colony in Cape Verde, the westernmost part of Africa.

After two days of simple replenishment, it then plunged headlong into the Atlantic Ocean in the depths of the southwest, crossed the equator to connect with the South Equatorial Current from east to west, and then swung its bow south after a few days of smooth sailing, entering the Brazilian Warm Current from north to south.

The Portuguese captain's skillful ability to control the course made even former Spanish Navy lieutenant Caterina sincerely admire. Although the Kingdom of Spain showed a supremacy throughout North and South America, it was these Portuguese who were the true seafaring experts.

The entire fleet consisted of 5 armed Portuguese merchant ships, which were subordinate to the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce, which was controlled by the Portuguese Duke of Bragança, and which also included the trading agents of several Portuguese nobles.

The Spanish royal family, which is in charge of the power of Portugal itself, is basically unable to intervene in the military and economic control of the old Portuguese aristocracy in the whole of Brazil, except for a few symbolic regional fleets.

As the flotilla flying the coat of arms of the Duke of Bragança and the Portuguese flag slowly sailed into the port of San Salvador, the local Portuguese governor hurried in.

With the exception of ordinary merchant ships plying Europe and the United States, they had not seen such a large and distinct local armed merchant fleet for a long time, and officials once thought that something big must have happened on the mainland.

Broke with the Spanish royal family? Or are the Dutch planning to take advantage of Brazil again? Or did the English have something else? With all sorts of speculation, González, the governor of San Salvador, waited for a secret letter from Theodosio, Duke of Bragança.

Regarding the order to fully cooperate with the "Special Envoy of the East from the Chinese American Republic", Gonzalez was a little confused. But it didn't matter, when a beautiful set of glass barware and a bottle of perfume with a crystal wrap on the outside arrived, the governor of San Salvador immediately put aside a distraction.

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Although San Salvador is located in the southern hemisphere in June, its special tropical rainforest climate still makes it relatively constant in temperatures throughout the year.

The temperature of more than 20 degrees and the humid air made Yan Xiaosong's whole body comfortable. Holding on to a wheelchair, the Oriental youth, protected by several Portuguese guards, took Caterina for a walk in a small river on the outskirts of the city.

As she crossed the equator and approached Brazil, Caterina fell ill with a serious illness, and the medicine prepared by the ship's doctor, Lao Zhao, made a huge use when she left Lisbon. On the night when the Portuguese chaplain had already shown a look of despair, Katarina's fever subsided, and the entire fleet was frightened by the miraculous potion of the Americans.

Today, Caterina's body has not fully recovered, and she can only be pushed forward by Yan Xiaosong in a wheelchair.

Looking sideways at her lover's consistent confident smile, Caterina felt sweet in her heart, and the Spanish naval lieutenant, who was once full of tomboy, curled up in a wheelchair like a bird, obediently said nothing.

"Your Excellency, San Salvador is the pride of our Kingdom of Portugal, and here you can enjoy anything you can see in Europe!"

The Portuguese officials who accompanied Yan could not hide their complacency, and the prosperity of the city was almost the greatest pride in the hearts of local Portuguese officials, who often used it to hide the frustration that Portugal was controlled by the Spanish crown.

"Well, I couldn't agree more, and that's why His Excellency the Duke of Bragança has always emphasized that the American business community should have the South American trade center in San Salvador. Personally, I have no objection and I will write to the US commercial representatives in Angra Sangra in the Azores, and they will consider having a presence at the right time. ”

After Yan Xiaosong finished speaking, he leaned down with a smile, picked up the sick Katarina, and then walked along the river. Such an intimate gesture surprised the Portuguese officers and soldiers who were escorting.

Countless sugar cane plantations dotted the flat land on both sides of the river, and black slaves from Africa carried bundles of cut sugar cane on their shoulders under the leather whip of the overseer, and transported them to the sugar mills not far away. In the sugar mills, which never stop fire all year round, the processed sugar cane is boiled into expensive cane sugar, and the remaining sugar residue is transported to the distillery to make the most popular rum of the era.

"Yan ...... You'd better put me down, you're too tired......"

Caterina's slightly flushed face after her serious illness was filled with a happy smile, and she snuggled into the young man's arms and muttered softly. After that thrilling duel, Caterina finds herself unable to help falling in love with this young man from the East, who has a somewhat loose attitude towards the great God.

Especially on the night when he was seriously ill and feverish, the young American congressman, who had always been full of confidence, stayed by his side almost all night, wiping himself the cool, wine-like liquid that he felt comfortable with, and even piercing his arm with a strange-looking tube and silver needle.

"That way you can see farther." Yan Xiaosong touched the Spanish girl's forehead, and found that the low-grade fever that had been repeated several times seemed to be gone, so he finally let go of the stone in his heart.

"Why don't we leave early, I'm already fine, otherwise it will delay you too much. Didn't we say we would arrive in Sofala in East Africa by July? Caterina grabbed the young man's tie and played with it, her voice soft.

(Note: Sofala, now a coastal city in Mozambique, was the most important port in the Portuguese East African colonies in history.) ）

"No, I can just prepare more here to avoid mistakes in the future." Yan Xiaosong smiled, not seeming to worry about anything at all.

Just when Caterina was a little sleepy because of her weakness, a convoy of pack-drawn horses came out of the dense jungle in the far west, which seemed to be loaded with some kind of ore, and dozens of slaves slowly came towards Yan Xiaosong and his party under the supervision of the soldiers.

In a group of thin, short, tired slaves, a man with a much stronger physique was clutching the edge of the carriage, his head dripping with sweat, and unlike the other slaves around him, the man's complexion was not black like that of Africans, but a dark brownish yellow after a long period of exposure to the hot sun.

His hair was not a dense and short layer like that of African slaves, but a long bundle of black hair tied at the top of his head.

An Oriental! Yan Xiaosong saw this different slave at a glance, and his pupils shrank.

"Your Excellency the Sheriff, may I ask if these are slaves?"

Yan Xiaosong hurriedly turned his head sideways and asked a short middle-aged Portuguese official beside him, and after Caterina translated immediately, the Portuguese official nodded a little blankly.

"I now lodge a solemn protest against your country, for I have found that one of my countrymen is being unjustly forced by you to do menial labor!"

Yan Xiaosong slowly put Caterina into the wheelchair, tidied up her coat, tightened her tie, and looked gloomy.

Yes?! The Portuguese officials were stunned for a moment, and everyone present looked at each other, as if they did not understand.

"Well, I will write to the country, and I believe that in the near future, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform His Excellency the Duke of Bragança of Portugal of the truth as we know and, if possible, we will also send an official diplomatic note to the Kingdom of Spain, demanding that the local government of San Salvador, Brazil, immediately stop this serious act of undermining relations between the two countries!"

Yan Xiaosong said coldly, and then pointed with his hand towards the convoy that had stopped on the side of the road under the obstruction of the Portuguese guards.

"I can't believe that a noble Chinese compatriot would do rough work with African slaves! He was a prisoner of war? Or was it kidnapped? I need a reasonable explanation! ”

At this time, Yan Xiaosong's puffing appearance surprised even Caterina, but now the meaning was clearer, and almost everyone could see a certain characteristic oriental face in the group of slaves.

"This ...... What the hell is going on? How could any American be enslaved? The Portuguese sheriff looked nervously back at his colleague, hoping to figure it out as best he could.

"Your Excellency, it seems that a group of Dutchmen sold them into slavery in the mines a year ago......," replied a small official cautiously.

Dry! These Dutch pigs roam the world all day long! The Portuguese sheriff couldn't help but curse fiercely.

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