At the Government House of Hong Kong, Tang Bohu is receiving the Spanish Minister in Hong Kong, Andre.
"Your Majesty the Governor, I heard that you like some paintings very much. I also have two famous European paintings here, and I would like to ask you to help me appreciate them."
Andre's Ming Dynasty dialect was excellent, with an authentic Beijing-Tianjin accent, even better than that of Tang Bohu, a native of Suzhou.
"Really."
When Tang Bohu heard this, he immediately became interested.
He himself is very interested in painting and calligraphy, and he is also one of the representatives of Ming Dynasty painting and calligraphy during this period. Even now that he is an official, he still has not given up his hobby, and his painting and calligraphy skills are extremely good.
high.
Due to the increasingly close trade between the Ming Dynasty and other parts of the world, a large amount of overseas painting art was introduced into the Ming Dynasty. Tang Bohu also spent time and energy studying this.
When I was in Nanyun Province, I was most exposed to the painting art from Persia, Tianzhu, the Middle East, and the Ottoman Empire. The painting art in these places is very different from the Ming Dynasty painting.
The paintings of the Ming Dynasty focused on freehand brushwork, mainly landscape paintings, focusing on artistic conception and using concise strokes to outline profound artistic conception.
However, the painting art in these places is different. They are basically full of strong religious colors, and the colors are also bright and colorful.
Now that I have come to Europe, I have already heard about European painting art. I even spent money to buy some European oil paintings, sketches, etc., and studied them carefully.
European painting art is also full of strong religious colors, focusing on figure painting. At the same time, the most popular one now is human body painting, which uses it to show the beauty of the human body and advocate the concept of humanistic spirit.
Seeing Tang Bohu's interest, Andre quickly took out several famous paintings that he had prepared in advance.
"Please also ask Mr. Tang to help you appreciate it~"
"I heard that Mr. Tang is a master of painting. One painting is worth thousands of gold. He must have extremely high attainments in painting."
"Your Majesty, the Minister is very grateful. I am very grateful. I only know a little bit about it."
Tang Bohu looked at the paintings in front of him carefully. As a master of painting, his eyesight was unquestionable. Even if it was a European painting, Tang Bohu could identify one or two.
"Not bad."
"These paintings should all be by famous artists. Various European painting techniques have been used with pure passion, reaching their peak."
Tang Bohu also loved the European paintings in front of him. People who are good at painting naturally also like famous paintings.
"Mr. Tang, these paintings are actually of average quality in Europe. Since Mr. Tang likes them, I will give them to Mr. Tang."
"This can't be done~ No way!"
When Tang Bohu heard this, he immediately shook his head.
If you collect bribes, you may lose your reputation.
Now that he has finally become a fourth-rank official, he is expected to regain the glory of his ancestors. How can he be ruined by accepting bribes?
After repeated refusals, Tang Bohu still refused to accept it, and Andre had no choice but to take the painting back.
"Lord Governor~"
"You must have heard about the current situation in Europe."
Andre had some paintings put away, and then he got down to business.
Life in Spain is not easy now. The French have always been fighting fiercely with Spain on land. The two sides have been fighting on the border for more than two years, with heavy casualties.
The French held their breath and insisted on regaining on land all the dignity they had lost at sea.
Hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides were fighting on the border, which put tremendous pressure on Spain.
The protracted war made Spain extremely tired. More importantly, the colonies in West Africa were also facing erosion by the Persians and Koreans, and they were never able to escape to deal with the Persians and Koreans.
In addition, in North Africa, the Spanish are still snatching Alexandria in Egypt, and the two sides are also fighting fiercely. The Egyptians, who purchased warships from the Ming Dynasty, are now beginning to counterattack the Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean.
Although Spain looks very beautiful and awesome now, it is actually under a lot of pressure and has been working hard to reverse the situation, at least to defeat the French on land first.
And all of this is obviously inseparable from the support of the Ming Empire.
Whether it is arms and weapons, economic support, or the direct dispatch of troops by the Ming Empire, the situation can be quickly reversed and Spain's victory established.
As the Spanish minister in Hong Kong, his biggest mission was to persuade Ming Dynasty to give Spain more support.
"I've probably heard a little bit about it."
Tang Bohu nodded and said.
"Spain has always been a friendly country with the Ming Dynasty, and was an important ally in the past."
"Now we in Spain are facing unprecedented difficulties. We are fighting on land with hundreds of thousands of French troops. We are fighting against the Persian and Korean fleets and armies in West Africa, and we are fighting against the Egyptians in North Africa."
"We very much need the support of the Ming Empire, the more the better."
"Master Tang is the governor of Hong Kong, please support us more."
Andre also said very sincerely.
In the past, Jiang Liang was an old fox. He would support support, but he would support it on both sides. He would buy arms and weapons to Spain, and also sell arms and weapons to the French.
Both sides were fighting with arms and weapons produced by the Ming Empire. They fought to the death, and then emptied their homes. By the way, they also owed a lot of debt to the Ming Empire.
In just over two years, Spain still had huge wealth. Both the king and the nobles and ordinary people in Spain were very wealthy.
The huge wealth plundered from the colonies, the huge profits brought by maritime trade, and the slave trade also made Spain huge profits. The wealthy Spaniards even ambitiously wanted to be the big brother of Europe.
However, now, the Spaniards are really impoverished. Not only have their huge accumulated wealth been consumed, but they now owe as much as 20 million taels of silver in loans from the First Bank of the Ming Empire.
The key is that now that Spain cannot move up or down, it is impossible to withdraw from the war.
The French felt that they had been insulted and refused to negotiate peace unless Spain ceded territory to France to pay compensation. There is no doubt that this was unacceptable to the Spanish. They still wanted to cede territory to France to pay compensation.
It is even more impossible for the Persians and Koreans. The two sides are in the same situation, and they have to fight to the death. Fortunately, Spain has no naval battles to fight in Europe, and the navy can be transferred to West Africa. Otherwise, the West African colonies would have been
It has already collapsed.
The Egyptians could have a good talk, and if Spain launched Alexandria, they could still have a talk, but the Spaniards were greedy and unwilling to let it go.
Because Egypt is also under great pressure and has to fight the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire, which has suffered losses, is now moving eastward in a large scale, preparing to severely inflict heavy losses on the Egyptian and Persian coalition forces in the Mesopotamia and Jordan River basins.
The Spanish felt that as long as Egypt could not hold on, they still had a chance to occupy Alexandria. The geographical location of this port was very important, and the key was that they could also use it to colonize Egypt.
After all, Spain is gritting its teeth and not wanting to lose any interests. It still has the ambition to be the big brother of Europe.
As long as it can defeat the French on land, coupled with its already powerful navy, Spain will undoubtedly become the big brother of Europe, both on land and at sea.
In addition, what is more important is that only by winning can you gain the greatest benefits. Europe is a place of bandits and gangsters. They only recognize fists. Only when you win can you be qualified to talk about other things. Losers are not qualified.
"How do you want me to support you?"
Tang Bohu thought about it carefully and asked.
I have just arrived and am not very familiar with everything yet. You come to me for support. How can I support you?
"We in Spain need more arms and weapons and more loans."
"In addition, we hope that your Ming Empire will stop selling arms and weapons to our enemies?"
Minister Andre said quickly.
"I can't make the decision on this matter. I need to ask our local side for instructions."
"I think there shouldn't be any problems with the purchase of arms and weapons and loans. Based on the relationship between us, it will definitely be possible."
"As for saying not to sell arms and weapons to your enemies, I'm afraid this is not in line with our Ming Dynasty's consistent principle of neutrality."
Tang Bohu thought for a while, remembered some of Jiang Liang's instructions before leaving, and replied solemnly.
The Ming Dynasty must always maintain one principle among all parties, that is, the principle of honorable neutrality. Only in this way can it sell arms and weapons to all parties, provide loans, and at the same time achieve the purpose of weakening all parties. This is in the best interest of the Ming Empire.
Of course, support for Spain is also necessary. Spain cannot be allowed to fall, because Spain owes a huge debt to the Ming Empire and falls. Who will be responsible for the debt?
"Ma Dan, another cunning fox."
When Andre heard this, he couldn't help but cursed in his heart. He originally thought that the other party was just right and he could deceive him, but who knew that the other party was similar to Jiang Liang, and he was also a guy who didn't get into trouble.
Honorable neutrality. You Ming people are neutral. You make a lot of money by doing business on both sides. However, our warring parties are getting poorer and worse as we fight. However, no one can withdraw from this war, and neither one is willing to withdraw.
.
"Then thank you, Mr. Tang."
On the surface, Andre wanted to thank Tang Bohu and get more loans. After all, he was indeed poor now.