King Manuel I of Portugal soon sent two powerful fleets again. One was led by Cabral and consisted of a total of twelve large ships. They would set out from Lisbon to the Americas to explore the southern part of the Americas.
area, bypassing the Americas, and opening up a western route.
A fleet of fifteen large ships led by the famous Portuguese navigator Ferdinand will continue along the established Indian Ocean route. After arriving in India, they will continue to sail eastward and open up the eastern route to the Ming Dynasty.
route.
The Portuguese's actions can be said to be very fast. The upper-level royal family, great nobles, great feudal lords, and great merchants are all very supportive of Portugal's navigation activities. The lower-level navigators, sailors, and civilians are also eager to find something on the sea that will make them violent overnight.
Rich wealth.
The desire for maritime colonization is very strong.
On the other hand, Manuel I also repeatedly sent envoys to Spain, inviting Zhao Houhou, Jiang Liang and others to visit Portugal.
They are also eager to know everything about the great country in the far east.
In addition to Portugal, King Louis XII of France also quickly formed a fleet of nine large ships, which set off from Normandy and Brittany on the northwest coast of France. It was led by the famous French navigator Cousins.
They will go to America, to South America.
Their plan was basically the same as that of the Portuguese navigator Cabral, who planned to cross the South American continent to the Ming Dynasty and establish a trade route with the Ming Dynasty.
At the same time, the French also wanted to compete with the Portuguese for dominance in South America.
In 1500 (the twelfth year of Hongzhi), the Portuguese accidentally discovered Brazil and subsequently declared it to belong to their Portuguese royal family.
However, Portugal's focus is still on the Indian Ocean route in the east, so in Brazil, they don't pay much attention to the development. Only a few pirates and private ships often visit this area, forming several very small
coastal settlements.
As we all know, in this era, whether it is the British, the French, or the Dutch, pirates are prevalent in this area of Northwest Europe. There are many pirates among the French and British, and many pirates are also
They are the ones supporting it behind the scenes.
The French, who also arrived in Brazil unintentionally, not only robbed the Portuguese of trading rights here, but also did not miss any opportunity to rob Portuguese merchant ships.
In this great age of navigation that has just begun, the French and Portuguese navigational colonial routes are highly overlapping. On the eastern front, the French colonized the west coast of Africa very early. On the western front, the French also tried to get involved in Brazil.
This time, because the Ming Dynasty also appeared in America, King Louis XII of France saw an opportunity.
The fleet he dispatched was not only to explore the route to the Ming Dynasty and establish trade relations with the Ming Dynasty people, but more importantly, to take advantage of this opportunity to establish their dominance in Brazil and clean up the Portuguese in Brazil.
The colony here.
Spain, Portugal, and France all moved very quickly. Their desire for wealth from the East made them full of motivation.
At this time, Britain was still the little brother in the corner of the European continent, famous for its pirates.
At this time, Henry VII of the Tudor Dynasty of England was busy quelling the rebellion and consolidating his rule, and had no energy to participate in this feast.
But the British pirates were wildly excited. A large number of pirates set out from here. They excitedly headed to the Americas, preparing to plunder the ships returning from the Americas. They even prepared to go to the stronghold of the Ming Dynasty to plunder the Ming Dynasty.
Several major powers in Europe quickly dispatched fleets. But Zhao Houhou, Jiang Liang and others were hesitant? Hesitating whether to follow the fleet back to America or to continue traveling in Europe? A detailed and careful inspection of Europe
The situation here.
In a castle in Toledo, more than twenty people who came to Europe from the Golden Continent gathered together.
"Everyone, let's talk about it. Should we follow the fleet back to Golden Continent and then return to Ming Dynasty, or should we continue our inspection in Europe~"
Jiang Liang looked at everyone and asked.
"I'll stay. I plan to continue my inspections in Europe. Now we are just walking around in Spain. I plan to go to Portugal, France, the Roman Empire, the United Kingdom, and Germany to take a look.
"
"Young Master Liu is right. The Europeans will inevitably become the strongest enemies of our Ming Dynasty. No matter what aspect, they will not be worse than our Ming Dynasty. In the future, we, the Ming Dynasty, will inevitably have conflicts with them on the sea and around the world."
conflict."
"I want to stay in Europe for a while to understand everything about Europe and prepare for the future."
"Know your enemy and yourself, and you will be able to fight with certainty!"
Zhao Hou thought for a while and spoke first.
After arriving in Europe and having in-depth contact and understanding with the people here, he realized that the Europeans are really powerful. They have advanced artillery and muskets, and their ships and navigation technology are also very developed. They are no better than the Ming Dynasty.
margin.
Moreover, these Europeans have a very strong desire for expansion. They very much hope to contact the Ming Dynasty and obtain the wealth of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhao Houhou could see all this clearly.
The Spanish kings were so ambitious that they did not even recognize the Ming Dynasty's ownership of the Americas, nor did they recognize the Indians in the Americas as a branch of the Ming Dynasty.
The King of Spain even proposed with Zhao Houhou that Spain and the Ming Dynasty should jointly carve up the Americas. They believed that the east coast of the Americas belonged to Spain, and the west coast belonged to the Ming Dynasty. They respected each other.
Let’s carve up the Americas together and squeeze out all the people from other countries.
This is enough to illustrate the ambition of the Spanish King.
Of course, there is definitely no way for Zhao Houhou to answer. He can't make the decision at all. However, he also brought the trustee written by the King of Spain to His Majesty the Ming Emperor back to Golden Continent, and then handed it over to Tian Erniu.
He took it back to Daming.
In addition to the above reasons that make him not want to go back, Zhao Houhou has another reason for not wanting to go back.
He lived a very comfortable life among the Spaniards.
Every day, many nobles came to invite him to banquets. In every banquet, he must be the protagonist, and he must be accompanied by beautiful beauties.
During this period of time, he couldn't remember how many beauties he had changed, which made him linger and enjoy himself.
"I'll stay too~"
"My life here is very comfortable. Let's go back to Daming when we get tired of it."
"Me too, living like a fairy~"
Unexpectedly, one after another people expressed their intention to stay. Like Zhao Houhou, they all lived a good life here and were reluctant to go back.
Here they are the center of attention wherever they go, and their little life is so comfortable.
The goods they brought over were sold at sky-high prices, giving them ample funds. Not to mention there were banquets every day, so they didn't need to spend any money at all. There were too many invitations.
"Okay, if you want to stay, you can stay."
"If you want to go back, then prepare and come back with me. It has been almost a year since I left Daming. I am also homesick. I am afraid it will take half a year to go back from Europe."
Jiang Liang looked at everyone, smiled and said.
He missed home. This was Europe, far away from the Ming Dynasty. It was really not easy to go back.
"I also miss home. It would be better to go back to Daming. I don't know what the situation at home is like."
"Europe is just like this. It's not as good as our Ming Dynasty. Tianjin in our Ming Dynasty is so prosperous and lively."
"Go back, go back~"
Some people also started talking, and there were quite a few people who wanted to go back.
After a final calculation, the number of people who chose to stay and the number of people who chose to go back were evenly divided. Zhao Houhou led the people to stay and continue in Europe, preparing to travel to various European countries and inspect the situation in European countries.
Jiang Liang led his people to follow the Spanish fleet back to the Americas, and then back to the Ming Dynasty.
"Would you like to visit that country first?"
"Europe is about the same size as our Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect it to be divided into so many countries. There are probably hundreds of large and small countries in total."
Wait until Jiang Liang takes his people to leave and head to the Port of Cadiz, preparing to return to Golden Continent with the Spanish fleet.
As for Zhao Houhou, he was touching his chin, looking at the map of Europe, and thinking about his next stop.
