The Portuguese envoy Lopez and the translator Rafael stood nervously in the main hall of the Tianjin County Prince's Mansion.
Lopez wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Raphael, do you think the King of Tianjin will meet us?"
Raphael thought for a while and said: "Scribe, I think the prince will meet us. If the prince did not see us, he would not let us stand and wait in the main hall. You know, secretary, this hall is very important.
The building was a place used by the king to hold important ceremonies."
Lopez looked at Rafael, said oh, and said: "The Lord is with you, Rafael, I hope you are right. Rafael, do you think the king will agree to help us Portugal?"
Raphael thought for a while, shook his head and said, "I don't know about that."
"Now the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are constantly attacking our territory and plundering our coastal areas. We, Portugal, are a small country. Although we have colonies all over the world, we are still a small country with a small population. Are the Netherlands and Portugal attacking us like this?
Unable to maintain it. Spain is also quite hostile to Portugal, and now our colonial empire is crumbling."
"Today, the only person on earth who can save Portugal is probably His Royal Highness the Prince of Tianjin. He has a common enemy with us. He once wiped out the British-Dutch Combined Fleet in Japan and is a mortal enemy of Britain and the Netherlands. He will not sit idly by.
Britain and the Netherlands are growing stronger."
Raphael finally said: "If I were His Royal Highness, I would be very interested in the Portuguese envoy."
Lopez wiped his sweat and said: "I hope you are right, knowledgeable Rafael. You are so young, you will one day surpass my achievements and become the governor of a colony."
Raphael bowed to Lopez and said: "Secretary, I just hope that this trip is not in vain." After a pause, Raphael said: "Secretary, I suggest that we wait for His Highness the County Prince.
Kneel down. He is a powerful king, several times more powerful than our king. We should abide by the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty to avoid offending him."
Lopez nodded and said: "Okay, you are right, Rafael."
The two were talking when they suddenly saw many personal guards and dependents walking out from behind the main hall. These people were dressed in gorgeous clothes and controlled all aspects of the hall.
Then, some Tianjin officials came out wearing red official robes and stood on both sides of the hall.
Raphael nervously and excitedly observed the scene of the Tianjin County Prince, and whispered: "Secretary, there is hope. Looking at this momentum, the Tianjin County Prince takes us very seriously!"
After a while, a guard shouted: "Your Highness is here!"
Everyone in the hall knelt down and kowtowed to the top of the hall. Lopez and Rafael also knelt down, lying on the ground and not daring to raise their heads.
Li Zhi, wearing the four-clawed golden dragon robe of the prince, slowly walked up to the throne in the main hall, flicked his sleeves and sat down.
"Pingshen~"
When everyone heard this, they all stood up from the ground. Rafael stood up and saw that Lopez was still sweating on the ground, so he went up and gave him a hand, and pulled the clerk up.
Li Zhi looked at the two Portuguese people and pondered for a while.
Unlike the Spaniards and the Dutch, Portugal was always very honest in the Ming Dynasty because the country was small and weak. Although Macau was occupied by force, the Portuguese never dared to plunder the people of the Ming Dynasty, let alone enslave and massacre the people of the Ming Dynasty. Macau people
The trade strategy has always been to bribe Ming officials, bribe Ming civil servants like a local businessman, and hire Han people fairly.
In fact, in order to gain the recognition of the Ming government, the Portuguese tried their best to meet the Ming court's requirements every time. The Macau Portuguese made red cannons for the Ming Dynasty, provided artillery technology, and even proposed to the Ming court to send Portuguese mercenaries to help the Ming Dynasty deal with
Build slaves.
Precisely because of the low profile of the Portuguese, the Ming court never thought of regaining Macau by force. Both the government and the public were curious about the Portuguese in Macau, and regarded Macao as a window to obtain Western technology.
Because of this friendly relationship, Li Zhi came to see the Portuguese envoy.
"You two came to see me, what's the matter?"
Lopez imitated Akito, raised his hands and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Tianjin, on behalf of the King of Portugal, we are here to seek help from the King of Tianjin."
Li Zhi snorted and asked, "What kind of help do you want and why should I help you?"
Lopez said loudly: "My distinguished King of Tianjin, you don't know something. The British and the Dutch stole His Highness's technology in the Ming Dynasty and created a large number of terrible weapons. Their rifles can shoot up to 500 'palm'
At least it can be fought at a distance of 100 meters, and the Portuguese soldiers were defeated."
"We don't know how the British and Dutch improved their rifles, but all our lands and colonies are now being attacked by the British and Dutch. Because of their advanced weapons, the Dutch have already invaded the Portuguese colonies in the New World.
, and even established strongholds in Portugal itself. If this continues, Portugal will undoubtedly lose all its colonies, and may even be destroyed."
Historically, there have been constant wars between European countries. If a country weakens a little, other countries will rush to bite its body. There is almost no year when Europe is not at war.
This time, the unlucky country is Portugal, which has declined.
Li Zhi smiled.
"This is your war, what does it have to do with me?"
When Lopez heard this, his heart became cold and he was speechless for a moment.
Seeing that Lopez had nothing to do, Rafael took a step forward, raised his hands and said: "Your Highness, Britain and the Netherlands are not only enemies of Portugal, but also enemies of Your Highness. If the Netherlands conquers Portugal, then the Dutch will have more enemies.
Ships, more soldiers, more fertile colonies and more gold coins."
"That way, His Highness will have to put in more effort if he wants to defeat the Netherlands."
Raphael said loudly: "On the contrary, if His Highness gives Portugal a helping hand, the Portuguese can hold back the Dutch troops and help the king."
Li Zhi looked at Raphael and smiled.
"Indeed, I hate the British and Dutch who have always been against me, especially the Dutch."
"Then what should I do to allow Portugal to withstand the Dutch attack?"
Hearing Li Zhi's answer, Lopez's eyes lit up and he looked at Rafael with joy.
Raphael said loudly: "The King of Portugal hopes that the county king can sell us 50,000 rifles that can shoot. With these 50,000 rifles, the brave Portuguese soldiers can withstand more than 70,000 Dutch infantry."
Li Zhi was stunned and asked curiously: "You actually want to buy so many rifles? You have 50,000 infantry?"
Raphael replied: "Your Majesty, we do have more than 50,000 infantry."
Li Zhi thought for a while and said slowly: "If you agree to my conditions, I can consider selling you the new rifle."
