"Nope! On the contrary, if we want to get a steady stream of wealth from the East Indies, we must face up to this huge opponent, and we must also make this opponent aware of the strength of Portugal! ”

To Juan's surprise, Alfonso said firmly.

"Please continue to state your point, Your Excellency Alfonso." Juan was a little respectful.

Alfonso suddenly had a feeling. In Beijing these years, when he watched "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" when he was bored, he remembered a scene: Zhuge Liang's tongue fought against Confucianism.

Now, he's doing the same.

"It seems that twenty years have passed since we occupied this place, and the Ming have never made any moves to protect their territory. That's just because, in the past twenty years, the Ming Dynasty has experienced the change of emperors. ”

Alfonso led them to think: "Imagine that the new emperor would have to take the time to confirm the allegiance of more than a million people, as well as the allegiance of the vassals closest to the Ming dynasty and the fear of the hostile nations, in a territory larger than the whole of Europa. Believe me, it's not an easy task. ”

"But now, the Mongols, who were the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty, their king was killed. The submission of the surrounding vassals, this year's conquest is a kind of confirmation. Alfonso said, "Although Malacca is far away from the land of the Ming Dynasty, it is only a matter of time before the Ming army and warships come here. Your Excellency Juan, can His Majesty João surrender to the Son of Tomorrow? ”

Juan sneered.

"I'm ashamed. With only the ships and soldiers that had come before, Pilez and I had failed. We pretended to be subservient and it took us so long to make friends with their courtiers that we were able to return to Malacca. Alfonso recalled sadly all these years, "Since it is impossible to surrender, and it is impossible to abandon this place, it is only through war." But please forgive my honesty, a war of the Ming Dynasty was fought by 100,000 soldiers. Their muskets, artillery, and armor are no worse than ours. ”

Alfonso looked around: "Don't forget, gunpowder was originally brought to Europa by the Mongols. At that time, the Mongols were expelled back to the extremely cold north by the current Ming Dynasty. ”

The scale of the war with a hundred thousand troops does sound terrifying.

As for the origin of gunpowder, it is also an indisputable fact in the cognition of these people.

It's been so long since they've been here, and the Indochina Peninsula to the north still tells the story of their toughest elephant soldiers who were crushed by Ming muskets a hundred years ago.

Alfonso was right, thanks to him and Pillay, the level of firearms of the Ming Dynasty has indeed not lagged behind Europe in the past ten years, and has even surpassed it under the great attention of the emperor.

"To establish yourself here, you need to do at least three things! First, His Majesty João should have sent more ships and soldiers, how could the garrison in the Malacca fortress only have five hundred, and under normal circumstances only one or two hundred, or even less than a hundred? ”

That's where Alfonso came back and found speechless. When he set off, it had only been a short time since the fight had been made, and that was understandable. But after all these years, Portugal still relied on a thousand-level regular army to control a vast area from Goa in India in the west to Malacca in the east.

Although there is still a mixed fleet of warships and merchant ships, with Alfonso's understanding of the current Ming Dynasty, His Majesty the Emperor really has the intention to quickly bring down this place, and the biggest obstacle is only the opposition of the courtiers.

Of course, there are also obstacles that may be formed by countries such as Jiaozhi along the way, and the absolute influence of the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached here smoothly.

"Please continue."

Alfonso nodded: "Second, we must support some kingdoms around Malacca and keep them on our side. From Portugal, it is impossible to send so many troops here under any circumstances, only relying on the people of the barbarian tribes here. You were right to help Ayutthaya, but now there is a better goal. Cochin, along the coastline, is in the midst of a possible split. If we can control Cochin, then if the Ming army and warships want to attack Malacca, they must first attack Cochin, which is controlled by us. ”

Juan did not express an opinion: "One more thing, what is it? ”

"Trade with Daming! Isn't that what our purpose is in itself? Now, I have been able to achieve this, but the Portuguese capture of Malacca has made the Ming emperor want to keep the other vassal states in submission by fulfilling the responsibilities of the suzerain. But if the cost of attacking Malacca and the benefits obtained are too different, Daming will also make a choice. Now, it is necessary to form a defensive line in the north before the real action of the Ming Dynasty against Malacca. At the same time, I can go again to the ports opened by them with huge benefits. ”

Alfonso clarified his idea and said categorically: "For the sake of gold and silver, if you support a puppet king of Malacca to submit to the Ming Dynasty and ask for canonization, they will turn a blind eye to this distant Malacca." We get practical benefits and domination, and the Ming also get a steady stream of goods from Europa and the New World. ”

"His Excellency Alfonso is a pioneer in the East." Juan laughed, "How to decide, we have to wait for the orders of His Majesty the King and the Viceroy of India." ”

He was not easily impressed by Alfonso, but at this time, Pillazi walked in from outside the banquet hall.

"Your Excellency Alfonso, following your guidance, the fleet from the Daming Xu family and the other three families has arrived at the port, there are a total of seven large ships, and they have brought a lot of goods!"

This sentence piqued the interest of the others in the banquet hall more than Alfonso's previous words.

"What kind of cargo? How many? ”

"Is there any fine porcelain?"

"Is there any silk?"

Alfonso, however, stood up eagerly and said solemnly: "Your Excellency, this is the route and trade route that I have managed to open. Although there have been wars with the Ming before, please make sure that their safety is not threatened. Otherwise, this trade route will be interrupted again! ”

"Oh, dear Alfonso, rest assured, there is no one who will not welcome a merchant from the Rich East. Damn, I just spent most of my money and procured a full load of spices to ship back to Europa! ”

"Seven big ships? My God! ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, since ten years ago, there have not been so many Qin merchant ships coming here. Viscount Alfonso has created a valuable opportunity, please be sure to treat them as honored guests! ”

Juan's eyes were uncertain, but there was a smile on his face: "Of course, of course." ”

The hustle and bustle in the banquet hall ended, and many people flocked to the port, and Juan was going to check it out.

In the ten years since the defeat of Pillegin and their defeat in the Ming Dynasty, only occasional people have come over, and they have all been very cautious smugglers. There are fewer and fewer such people.

Seven large ships arrived at the same time, which can be called the largest Ming merchant fleet in these years.

On the Portuguese side, although the royal fleet is still dominant, the royal fleet also has private aristocratic investors. At the same time, there were many private merchant ships invested by private aristocrats. Together, they are also a force to be reckoned with.

Alfonso brought with him the hope of reconnecting the trade routes of that great country in the East, a trade route that Juan wanted to master, and in which these private merchant ships also wanted to participate.

When he arrived at the port, Juan saw merchant ships flying flags he had never seen before, but his eyes were fixed on the shape and size of the merchant ships.

His eyes froze.

Alfonso had already sent his "servant", Wang Zhi's second brother, to make contact, and now he walked to Juan's side: "These three big ships are not their biggest ships. Your Excellency Juan, do you know about Goa and the Great Ming Treasure Ship circulating here? ”

Juan nodded solemnly.

If the rumors are true, it is incredible.

The largest treasure ship was more than 140 meters long and 50 meters wide, and was undoubtedly the largest wooden sailing ship in the world at that time.

Juan was skeptical of this, after all, it was just a local rumor.

And the large Portuguese three-masted Karak ship, generally about twenty-five meters in length, is already a proper large ship. The largest ship that participated in the attack on Malacca, the "Flower of the Sea", was 36 meters long.

Now, the ships from Europa are still getting bigger and bigger. But in the legends that have been passed down from the coast of India, the treasure ships of the great powers of the East and the frenzied fleets of the past are unimaginable.

Now, in front of Juan, three merchant ships appeared in front of him, which were no longer much smaller than the Flower of the Sea.

The main thing is that among the seven ships, there is also a smaller one, which at first glance is an escort warship.

"You've stayed in the port of the Qin people, how many ships like this there are?" Juan first pointed to the three large ones.

Alfonso replied: "In Daming, they have many different kinds of ships, which are used for ocean voyages. For many years, the Ming Dynasty did not encourage maritime trade, and only the current emperor became interested in maritime trade. Although this kind of ship has only been newly built in the past few years, there are already more than 200 of them, and they call them cleaved boats. There is another kind that is half as big as this, called the Wave Cutter. ”

In fact, Alfonso didn't know how many new ships there were in the Shipping Bureau, Haiphong Dao, and the Maritime Division after the establishment of the Treasure Ship Superintendent, but it did not prevent him from blowing.

The treasure ship of the past no longer exists, and now His Majesty has ordered it to be rebuilt, and Alfonso has been involved in many related things, but the treasure ship that is so huge that it has not yet been rebuilt.

Chopping the waves, it is already the largest ship that Daming can get his hands on now. Although the number and scale were not enough to satisfy the emperor, and the seaworthiness had yet to be verified and experienced, after the names Chopping Waves and Chopping Waves were explained by Alfonso, Juan got a sense of conquest of the vast sea.

The ship is as large as 20 meters long, and it is already a displacement of 100 tons.

In the Ming Dynasty, the size of the ship was measured in units such as ten, hundred, and thousand. This unit of calculation has its historical reasons, but now the Ming Dynasty is preparing a new set of measurement standards with the efforts of the Computing Academy.

Generally speaking, one material is equivalent to about one-third of the displacement. When Zhu Houxi ascended the throne, there were only a few large ships left in the Ming Dynasty, such as the sealed boats that were specially sent to Goryeo, Ryukyu and other places. This boat, 15 zhang long and 2 zhang 6 wide, is about 4,000 materials, that is the largest ship with a displacement of 1,000 tons.

As for the treasure ships of the past, in fact, the relatively reliable records should be the largest level of 5,000 materials, with a total length of more than 70 meters. Although it was not as exaggerated as the total length of more than 140 meters, it was indeed proud of the world at that time.

Judging from the secret files, the treasure ships at that time did not all disappear, and there is a high probability that today's sealed ships are the treasure ships of the past.

"What they use to protect the shipping lanes are all this kind of warships?" Juan asked Alfonso again.

"This kind doesn't even count as a capital ship." Alfonso opened his eyes and said nonsense, "This is an escort ship that has only been allowed by a private company that has obtained the permission of Daming to go to sea, and no more than three hundred materials are allowed." ”

Explaining the difference between the units, Alfonso continued: "Judging from the situation I engaged at that time, the capital ship is 500 materials, and the flagship is even more than 1,000 materials, which they call a ship, and it is the flagship where the fleet commander is located. ”

He completely ignored the fact that the flagship ship was only 400 at that time, and blew it violently.

Of course, it is true that the Daming Naval Division is already being built according to this standard, but it will take time to form combat effectiveness, and the number can only gather a fleet of about ten ships. If you add some old ships of 200, 300, or 400, it can also be called huge.

Juan listened to it, but his heart was terrified.

This escort warship, although it is smaller than the Karak-type warship, is not a big gap. That's it, it's just a civilian escort ship that is restricted from use?

He didn't know that the civilian fleet was not allowed to have escort warships equipped with artillery at all, and at most they would carry some cold weapons to prevent others from taking over and plundering. If you really want to have a convoy warship, you need to pay a lot of money to hire it from the shipping bureau or the maritime trade house.

This kind of 300-material escort warship, except for the coastal defense road and the newly established naval division, only these two are allowed to match.

This time, it was naturally Shi Bao's handiwork, with a strong momentum.

After listening to Alfonso's boasting and seeing with his own eyes the "civilian escort warship" that was not inferior to the Karak battleship, Juan was beating a drum in his heart, and he was afraid that Alfonso reminded that the Ming fleet might come to retake Malacca.

What if there really were a fleet of flagships and capital ships like he said? The Portuguese fleets that Pilez and Alfonso brought to the Ming Dynasty in an attempt to open up trade routes and establish strongholds failed.

As for the first batch of people who went to Daming with Pillegz and others, and fled back after being defeated by Wang Hong, they said that Daming was not a powerful warship, in Alfonso's words, Daming's coastline was longer than that of the whole of Europa. At that time, the Ming navy was near Nanjing, and the first thing they encountered was the regular local guard force that maintained inland waterway shipping and guarded the coastline.

In fact, it was only Guangdong Haiphong Road at that time.

And when Alfonso went, he ran head-on into a main force of the Ming Navy that crossed almost half the Indian Ocean to support the south.

The result was a touching result, Alfonso was completely annihilated, and he was captured for many years.

At that time, Alfonso actually had three clippers under his command escape, and after returning to Malacca, he did not hear from them from here, and Alfonso was relatively happy.

I think I was wounded, but I ended up dying in the sea.

"Your Excellency the Governor, wait a while, the head of the Ming fleet will come to see me." Alfonso said respectfully, "Your Excellency the Governor may pretend to be my friend without revealing his identity. To His Excellency Wang Zhi, please pay your respects to His Excellency the Governor. His family, Duke Zhang Lun, who manages the huge assets of the royal family, is a close friend, and he is also a close business partner with Cui Yuan, the husband of the aunt of the Great Tomorrow Son, the Marquis of Jingshan. These two people are now the ministers trusted by the great emperor. Thanks to the help of His Excellency Zhang Lun and His Excellency Cui Yuan, I was able to finally regain my freedom. ”

Juan nodded solemnly.

A duke, a marquis. Even in Europe, this is the top nobility after the king. Considering the undoubted vastness and enormity of the Ming Dynasty, their power is comparable to that of the kings of the great European powers, or even greater.

What the truth is, Juan doesn't know at all.

But in the midst of the onlookers of Malacca merchants and ordinary people, the young Wang Zhi walked over without fear.

Before he could get closer, he opened his arms and first said the Portuguese greeting that Alfonso had taught him, and then smiled heartily: "Dear Alfonso, long time no see." You were right, I went to the tavern for a drink, and it was a bit lively. However, the taste of the wine you are talking about is not comparable to that transported from our desert oasis in the Western Regions of the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Mr. Wang, you came so fast." Alfonso hugged him, "Last time I heard you say in Ningbo that there is a place in Japan that is rich in beauties, and you must bring one to Malacca again, have you brought it here now?" ”

"Of course."

After Wang straightened out of the way, a woman dressed in a silk dress and wearing a hat with a scarf hanging from her head appeared behind her.

Alfonso's eyes lit up: "How many wows are empty!" ”

After saying something that made Juan scratch his head, he lifted the scarf, looked at the beauty with his head down, and then hugged Wang Zhi again: "Why didn't I meet such a beautiful woman when I went before?" ”

Wang Zhi smiled: "How many times have you been there?" And what about the Western wine you promised? On the side of Grandpa Guo and Hou Ye, I am still anxious to bring back some before the Spring Festival for my father to give to them for tasting. ”

"Be of good cheer, my dear brother."

In the blink of an eye, the two spoke Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese, and as soon as Alfonso explained the familiar demeanor and the content of the words, Juan's eyes lit up.

"This Mr. Juan has been a good friend of mine for many years. Mr. Wang, whatever you want from Europa, Juan has it all here! Let's go, let's take Juan's treasured wine for you to taste! ”

The meaning of introducing this trade route to Juan to share was very obvious, Alfonso hugged the Japanese beauty who "returned to the original owner", and walked to the higher part of Malacca City with Wang Zhi, who had changed into a gorgeous silk dress.

Leaving the lady who cuckolded him, Alfonso was in Ningbo to "forge" and enjoy this Japanese beauty.

She was first taken as a plaything by the smuggling coastal clans, and finally confiscated into the Nanjing Ministry of Education and Workshop in the anti-smuggling case, and now she was "transferred" to Alfonso.

But in Juan's eyes, Alfonso has really traveled a lot.

At Alfonso's new house here, Juan's butler brought wine from the Doge's Palace, and Juan had just heard Alfonso translate how much goods Wang Zhi had brought.

His eyes glowed like gold.

(End of chapter)