"Bell...... Clang...... Bell ......"

"Crackling—"

With the passage of time, the Zhengdan Festival on the first day of the first month of the eighteenth year of the Apocalypse came, when the morning bell rang, the curfew was lifted, and the crackling firecrackers swept the entire capital.

As the year of Wuyin in the lunar calendar, this year is the Year of the Tiger.

In this era, the tiger often appeared as a killing, and the Year of the Tiger often broke out into larger wars and conflicts, so Zhu Ciran, as the prince, asked the officials of Qin Tianjian at the imperial meeting.

Officials predicted that this year would be a stable year, and Zhu Youzhen, who attended the court meeting together, didn't know how they predicted, after all, in his opinion, the eighteenth year of the Apocalypse was not too peaceful as the eleventh year of Chongzhen in history.

But he thought about it, even this kind of thing can occur when he crosses by himself, and it doesn't seem to be a difficult thing to change the celestial phenomena.

Therefore, at the court meeting, except for protecting the calves as always and not embarrassing Zhu Ciran by the Yanshan officials, he kept silent about the government at other times.

Under his strong calf protection, Zhu Ciran finally did not encounter the same difficulties as the last court.

After surviving the court meeting, Zhu Ciran also returned to the East Palace maturely, and dealt with it step by step.

Since the last time he asked Zhu Youzhen and got an answer, and then understood Chengde's attitude, he has grown a lot.

He knew very well that with his strength, he couldn't stop his uncle from leaving, so what he could do was to let his uncle deal with some less negligence and rest well.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen was naturally very pleased, after all, the extra time he could use to teach the six little ones at home.

In his spare time, Zhu Youzhen would take the six children to the market towns outside the capital to play, and he would also go to the farmland to see the people who were still working even in the cold winter, and tell about their difficulties.

With the passage of time, the six little ones have become a lot more cheerful, and the company that Zhu Youzhen missed before is slowly making up for it.

All in all, after the entire Great Dynasty meeting passed, the Ming Dynasty officially ushered in the new year.

It's just that the situation in the new year is not too good, and before the first half of the first month, Shaanxi suffered a sandstorm, and the provinces north of the Great Wall also suffered heavy snowstorms.

The drought in the north is further aggravating, with the south of the Great Wall and both sides of the Yellow River suffering from severe drought, and the drought in the Jiangbei region of Nanzhili except for Fengyang Prefecture is also aggravating.

From this point of view, it seems that as soon as the new year begins, God told everyone in the Ming Dynasty that this year will not be particularly peaceful.

However, there is bad news, and naturally there is good news.

The drought in Guangdong was extinguished by several spring rains, and because of the drought, many people from various provinces successively moved to the southwest, overseas, and Guanbei.

The population of the five provinces of Beizhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Hexi has dropped to less than 30 million, while the population of Nanzhili has also migrated more than 300,000 in the past few months.

Although the number of migrants is not too large compared to the north, these migrants have also sold nearly 400,000 mu of arable land to households.

These cultivated lands were distributed to the local peasants by the head of the household department of Nanzhili, Shangshu Fan Fucui, and many farmers smiled and agreed, but they also understood that the land belonged to the imperial court, and they only had the right to cultivate.

But even if they knew it, they wouldn't care, after all, the imperial court only charged one out of ten land taxes, which was much cheaper than the landlord's rent of four or five percent.

The matter of dividing the fields is over, and the time has come to the end of the first month.

Thanks to the continuous migration of the population, and the more than 4 million people occupying the Hexi Corridor were not affected, the number of hungry people that the Ming Dynasty needed to face was only more than 20 million.

After three regular positions with a scale of 10 million stones, the grain prices in the north were curbed, and the grain prices did not rise or fall, and remained at a price of more than 600 wen per stone.

Although there is a drought in the north, it is rare that Jiangnan has not suffered from wind disasters and floods, so Daming can still control the resources of Jiangnan, which has to be said to be a good news.

Seeing the orderly operation of the imperial court, Zhu Youzhen also breathed a sigh of relief and spent more time on his family.

However, compared to the eighteen years of the apocalypse under the low temperature period of the Xiaoice River, Europe on the other side of the ocean is full of shadows for 1638.

"Beep-"

On February 19, 1638, the Spanish territory of Ribens, Portugal, ushered in an incomparably large fleet.

At 7:42 a.m., it's a day that all of Europe should remember.

In this minute, the Western fleet of the Ming arrived in Europe and visited the first city they visited.

In front of the warships and supply ships of two or three thousand tons, the "Proud Saint-Theresa" that the Spaniards were proud of looked very short.

The displacement of 1,100 tons in front of the Ming warship of two or three thousand tons is like a "child" who has not yet grown up.

The 68 guns on the warship were also weak compared to the 128 guns on the first-class warships of the Ming Army.

As the Thirty Years' War had raged and wars at sea were frequent, Felipe IV stationed a Spanish and Portuguese fleet in Ribens.

This has a fleet of seventy-seven ships, which can be said to be a remake of the Invincible Armada.

With nearly 10,000 troops and nearly 3,000 artillery pieces of various types, it can be said that they should have been proud of Europe.

However, when the Western Fleet, with 54,000 troops, more than 480 ships, and more than 9,600 artillery pieces of various types, appeared, perhaps at this moment, all the European fleets would be overshadowed.

"Bell...... Clang...... Bell ......"

The same bell, unlike the Ming side where the New Year was celebrated, the Europeans of Ribbens were full of trepidation.

Crowds gathered around the docks, watching as the growing fleet approached Rebens.

The evaluation that some nobles gave to the fleet was hopeless.

"Majestic warships and supply ships, each capable of carrying hundreds, raising sails larger than the largest warships I have ever seen."

"The whole fleet sailed forward under the blowing of the wind, and they sailed like nimble dolphins."

"When the fleet approached Rebens, everyone thought of it as a floating island, an impregnable fortress, because the number and caliber of guns on the ships were far greater than we could have imagined."

"I heard from the guards at the port that there were more than 50,000 people in this fleet that had crossed the ocean."

"More than 50,000 people ......"

"It's hard to imagine that if they attack us, we will be able to repel them in the face of the enemy."

Banderas wrote about his feelings, and the number of people on the docks of Ribbens grew.

They gradually felt the suffocation brought by the fleet that covered the sky and the sun, but fortunately, Xu Xiake and they had no intention of letting all the ships into the port, so they only sent thirty supply ships of more than 3,000 tons to Rebes to purchase supplies.

Going to the West itself is expensive, and the most expensive of them is the purchase of materials.

The 54,000 people on board have to eat at least 20,000 catties of vegetables, 20,000 catties of meat, and 80,000 catties of rice every day.

Among them, meat is relatively easy to say, after all, supply ships also have the function of fishing boats, and the deep-sea fisheries in this era are very rich, so it is often possible to send a few supply ships to meet the daily meat intake.

However, vegetables and rice and wheat are a bit more difficult.

Although Xu Xiake and the others planted vegetables on the ship, the vegetables on the ship could only meet part of the needs of the crew, and they would last for more than ten days at most.

As for grain, not to mention, it can only be purchased and stored.

After traveling from India to Leviya, as long as you cross Kunlun County, the price of food along the way is very expensive.

Even in a large rear like Ribbens, in the face of the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War, the price of local wheat still reached a price of about one pound per nine cents.

According to the price of wheat in Ribens, the Ming fleet consumed 720 taels of silver every day, and the price of vegetables was not cheap, 20,000 catties of various vegetables needed at least more than 200 taels of silver.

That is to say, even if it is only for one day's food, at European prices, the Ming fleet will cost nearly a thousand taels of silver.

This may be the only means by which the West can earn a certain trade surplus from the Ming Dynasty in this era.

"Peng!"

Accompanied by thirty supply ships entering the port of Ribens, the person who disembarked was not Xu Xiake, but Xu Xiake's friend, Xu Zhongzhao, who is now the head of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites.

Bored on board, Xu learned to speak Portuguese fluently, but also learned English, Prussian, French, and Spanish.

These languages, the officials of the Ming Siyi Pavilion began to come into contact as early as the Zhengde period, and there were countless people who were proficient in them during the Wanli period, and Xu Zhongzhao wanted to learn naturally and simply.

"Honorable Xu, welcome to Ribens, I am Count Antonio Luis de Meneses, who is in charge of welcoming you."

It was Count Meneses of Portugal who welcomed Xu Zhongzhao, and in the face of Meneses's welcome, Xu Zhongzhao frowned slightly.

It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with Meneses' welcome, but he smelled the pungent smell of him.

Medieval Europeans lived in dirty and messy conditions thanks to the lack of proper urban waterway planning, which is why the Black Death was active in Europe for so many years.

Although Europeans have entered a new era, it is less than two hundred years since the end of the Middle Ages, and many of Europeans' bad habits have not changed.

Xu Zhongzhao could understand that commoners could not take a bath every day, but he was very puzzled that the nobles of Europe did not take a bath every day.

After all, in Daming, not to mention officials, even slightly richer civilians will go to the bathhouse twice a day, and the worst will also boil water at home and flush it.

Therefore, for Xu Zhongzhao, who came to Europe for the second time, he has not been able to adapt to the dirty and messy Europe.

For example, in the port of Ribens behind him, due to the lack of water purification technology and the lack of a good sewage system, the excrement and garbage produced by the large population of the town of Ribens flow from the ditches on the side of the street, which are not spacious enough, to the river and finally into the sea.

The coastline of Ribens is not only stinking, but also the sea is full of colorful garbage, and the entire coastal waters of the port are brownish and yellow, which can be seen in the difference in water quality.

Xu Zhongzhao didn't plan to stay here for long, because the road health situation in Ribbens even made him nowhere to put his feet, so he said bluntly:

"Mr. Earl, this is our procurement list, although it is a list, but because there are too many goods, maybe Rebens cannot provide it."

"But don't worry, if there is not enough goods, we can accept and purchase some of the goods without affecting the lives of the residents of Rebens, and the rest of the goods will be purchased in other towns."

Xu Zhongzhao said what he was doing here, and Menezes also took the list handed by Xu Zhongzhao when he heard this.

When he saw the list, he couldn't help but be a little speechless.

At this time, the population of Ribbens was only 100,000 inhabitants, similar in size to a county in Daming.

A city with only 100,000 people naturally could not supply supplies for more than 50,000 troops, not to mention that Ribens also had 10,000 sailors stationed in Spain and Portugal.

Therefore, the supply of the Ming fleet in Ribbens was not based on how much they could buy, but on how much Ribbens could provide.

"I think we can only deliver a fifth of the goods."

Meneses said in pain, but not because he had to sell supplies, but because he couldn't eat the order.

"That's all taxes......

Looking at the string of numbers on the list in his hand, Meneses wanted to cry without tears, after all, this did not represent goods, but real money.

Thinking of this, Meneses and Xu Zhongzhao said goodbye briefly, and then found Rebens's affairs officer.

After two hours, Menezes finally scraped together one-fifth of the supplies on the list.

Xu Zhongzhao took the list handed over by Meneses and looked at it, and roughly converted the units.

100,000 catties of vegetables and 4 million catties of wheat, as well as 30,000 catties of beef and mutton, this is already all the supplies that Ribbens can get.

The price they gave also made Xu Zhongzhao a little staggered, a full 38,000 taels of silver.

The same sum of silver placed in Daming can buy twice the amount of supplies, and these materials are only less than a month's worth of supplies for the fleet.

However, Xu Zhongzhao only spoke slightly, and no longer had other expressions, because if they could spend the silver, they would have the ability to earn it back.

"There is no problem with the price, but we need to sell the goods before we can pay for them."

Xu Zhongzhao said as he also took out a list, and this list was full of various commodities from Daming.

From white cloth to tea, brown sugar, white sugar, porcelain, in short, all kinds of goods from the Ming Dynasty.

"This ...... This ......"

Meneses looked at the list and prices in his hand and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

He was surprised that the price of these goods was about 10% cheaper than that of the European merchants themselves.

"Dear Xu, I need to discuss with the merchants of Ribens, maybe they will be willing to purchase your goods, it will take a little time, is that okay?"

Menezes couldn't wait to look up in response to Xu Zhongzhao, and he could see that he was eager to buy all the items on this list.

"Of course!" Xu Zhongzhao nodded very relievedly, said that he also went to the sea, and then said with a smile: "After all, we haven't negotiated the matter with Mr. Duke yet......

"......" Hearing Xu Zhongzhao's words, Menezes was slightly speechless, and couldn't help but look at the Ming fleet anchored on the sea in the distance.

As the envoy of the Ming Dynasty to the West, he should have disembarked when he came to a place like Rebens.

The reason why he didn't get off the ship was because he was completing a task assigned to him by Zhu Youzhen......

"If you are willing to give up all the colonies in the New World, then we will provide a certain amount of arms to support the independence of the Portuguese."

In the Ming fleet a few kilometers outside the port of Ribbens, when Xu Xiake's voice sounded, sitting in the same room with him was Huang Fei and a white man of thirty-three or four-year-old.

Xu Xiake persuaded this man in fluent Portuguese, and this person is the real King of Portugal in the hearts of the Portuguese at the moment.

Since the death of Cardinal Enrique in 1580 and the Spanish army launched the Portuguese War to invade Portugal and defeat the Portuguese army, the throne of Portugal has been occupied by the Spanish Habsburgs for more than half a century.

It would be nice if Spain could maintain the "sun never set" situation in the past, but now Spain has long been preoccupied with the wars of religion.

In order to win the wars of religion, the Spaniards continued to raise and collect taxes, which led to the increasing unpopularity of Spanish rule in Portugal.

Fifteen years ago, there have been rumors within the Kingdom of Portugal that Sebastião I was not dead and would one day return to Portugal to reclaim the throne.

Ten years ago, many people thought of the Duke of Bragança, the rightful heir to the Portuguese throne, as the surviving Sebastião family.

As the wars of religion continued, so did the poverty within Portugal.

In the thirties, the uprising against Spain in Portugal continued uninterrupted.

It was only last year that riots broke out in the Portuguese cities of Évora and the Algarve, and Xu Xiake and his team arrived just after the two riots were suppressed.

Zhu Youzhen didn't care if Spain was strong, he cared about Qi.

If the Spaniards had accepted his offer at first and opted out of the American continent in exchange for the arms provided by the Ming Dynasty, then Zhu Youzhen would not mind helping Spain win the war of religion.

It's just a pity that Felipe IV rejected the offer.

Since he refused, Zhu Youzhen had no choice but to find a way from other countries.

The first is Portugal, which occupies the long coastal line in eastern South America.

Zhu Youzhen remembered that Portugal had been seeking independence, and since this was the case, it was tempting the Portuguese with independence, and Portugal would not care about the colonies on the other side of the ocean.

Even if there is a lot of gold and silver there, but for the Portuguese, if they can't be independent, then the gold and silver of South America will go into the pockets of Felipe IV, what does it have to do with them?

As long as Portugal succeeds in independence, not to mention the three colonial city-states in South America, they will be extremely happy to give the whole of South America to the Ming Dynasty.

"How much arms can you give us?"

Duke Joao looked up at Xu Xiake and Huang Fei, and Xu Xiake asked cheerfully: "How many people do you have?" ”

"......" Duke Joao is not a fool, he knows that this is Xu Xiake is tempting, so he lion said: "I have eight thousand!" ”

"Puff ......" Huang Fei, who heard this, couldn't help laughing, and Xu Xiake also chuckled, and then poured a cup of tea for Duke Joao.

"Then I will provide three thousand flintlock pistols and five thousand arquebuses, plus one hundred six-pounder guns, and sixty thousand pounds of gunpowder."

Xu Xiake knew that Joao was a lion who opened his mouth, but he did not expose it, but gave enough arms.

These flintlock pistols and arquebuses are the products of the Ming army's redress and elimination, and before departure, Zhu Youzhen asked Xu Xiake to bring a lot, in order to engage in the arms trade to earn sailing funds for the fleet.

"I also need Daming to trade with Portugal, and at the same time interrupt trade with Spain!"

Seeing Xu Xiake and Huang Fei's expressions, Duke Joao immediately knew that his asking price was too little, so he immediately increased the price.

However, his price increase was expected for Xu Xiake, so he shook his head:

"We can establish trade with you after the success of independence, but it is impossible for you to cut off trade with Spain."

"But rest assured, if you can't stand up to Felipe's army after independence, it will only take two months for the Ming army to reach Ribens, ranging in number from three thousand to six thousand."

When the Duke of João heard this, he was at first a little remorseful, and then he was happy again.

For him, the Portuguese colonies abroad were now in the hands of the Spaniards, who had no control over the area, although nominally belonging to the Portuguese.

With so many "benefits" in exchange for a verbal name, today's political negotiations are very successful.

But even so, he still didn't show a happy expression, but pretended to be annoyed as if he had made a loss-making deal:

"I ...... Well......"

João did not have much capital to negotiate, and he only had 3,000 troops of the Portuguese nobles at his disposal, and it was still an army with cold weapons.

If he doesn't agree to this deal, it will take at least a few years for him to recover Portugal, and if the Ming continue to support Spain, then this time will have to be pushed back.

Therefore, he could only agree to Xu Xiake's conditions.

"Happy cooperation, Mr. King......" Xu Xiake said with a smile, and the title of Duke Joao has become a king.

Obviously, in Xu Xiake's view, it is not difficult for Joao to be independent.

With the number of 3,000 flintlock muskets and the geography of Portugal, it was impossible to defeat João unless Spain sent 20,000 troops to encircle and suppress it.

It's just that, in terms of the current situation on the frontal battlefield, not to mention the transfer of 20,000 people, even the transfer of 10,000 people is enough to make Spain lose ground in the frontal battlefield.

With the signing of a treaty ceded by Portugal to the American colonies, the state of Qi officially gained the legal principles of parts of South America.

Once João revolted, they could disguise themselves as a Portuguese fleet to capture three towns, and then pretend that the Portuguese would capture the towns before ceding them to themselves.

However, Portugal alone was not enough to realize the idea of Qi taking root on the eastern coast of North and South America, because these places were also dotted with colonies of many countries.

Netherlands (Netherlands), Française (France), Hellia (UK), Rodori (Sweden), ......

These countries had to be taken down one by one, so that Qi could take root on the east coast, and then let the navies of these countries cut off the shipping lanes between Spain and the Americas.

As for how to take them down?

Thinking of this, Xu Xiake looked at a thick handwritten book on his desk.

The word "King of Qi" on the handwritten book is very dazzling......