Emperor Humayun stood up suddenly and said with surprise and joy: "Gujarat was really conquered by China?"
"Yes, your great Majesty," the minister said, "the envoy sent by the Chinese is waiting at the border of the empire. As long as your majesty agrees, I will immediately send someone to bring the envoy to Delhi."
Humayun said: "Use the most luxurious carriage to bring the Chinese envoy here as soon as possible!"
Emperor Humayun was actually more happy than surprised when he learned that China had conquered Gujarat.
Today, the geographical environment of the Mughal Empire is very awkward. It is blocked by the Himalayas in the northeast, the old enemy Uzbek Khanate in the north, the Afghan mountains under Persian rule in the west, large hills and deserts in the southwest, and Bangladesh in the southeast.
Can't beat it.
Only by completely annexing Gujarat can the Mughal Empire gain access to the sea and make it easier to purchase various daily, military and cultural supplies.
Take the silk clothes worn by Humayun, for example. They were first transported from the Ming Dynasty to Persia, and then passed through the mountains of Afghanistan from Persia. Finally, they passed through countless hands and were finally sold to Humayun.
Now that Gujarat has been annexed by "China" and has become an overseas enclave of "China", it means that the Mughals are bordering "China". Oriental silk, porcelain, tea, and spices can be imported continuously, how can they
Doesn’t it make Humayun happy?
There are two horse-producing areas in Gujarat, one of which has been annexed by Humayun. He is not afraid of China's expansion in India. This emperor is at the peak of his life. He does not even bother to expand by force. He is bent on destroying the Mughals.
It was built as a "civilized" country. He developed literature, art, religion, and longed for luxury goods, and China had countless luxury goods.
The two sides hit it off immediately and quickly reached a diplomatic agreement and signed a "non-aggression treaty" between the two countries.
Humayun even gave Wang Fang a small amount of territory, which was pasture for raising horses. The border city of Albuda was set up as an official trade center, and the Mughal Empire purchased large quantities of silk, cotton, porcelain, tea, and paper.
and spices.
Wang Fang only put forward one condition: Ming merchants must collect commercial taxes in proportion when they go north through Gujarat. Thirty percent of these commercial taxes will be used to purchase war horses from the Mughals. Once the Mughals do not sell enough war horses,
, Wang Fang has the right to cut off the trade routes between the two parties.
The Mughals, who founded their country on cavalry, actually agreed to this request!
So everyone was happy. The merchants of the Ming Dynasty opened up new markets, the Mughals bought the luxury goods they dreamed of, and Wang Fang purchased war horses while collecting business taxes.
Compared with the happiness in the north, the Portuguese and Indian governor in the south seemed sad.
After being bullied by the Ming Dynasty, Portugal could only vent its anger on the Indian states, and its colonies in India increased to four again. One of them was directly erased by Wang Fang because the colony was located on the coast of Gujarat.
There are three remaining colonial strongholds, all in the country of Bijapur, namely Pasain, Bombay and Goa.
To the south of Bijapur is the Ananda Kingdom occupied by the Tianzhu Cotton Society, to the north is the Ahmedgarh Sultanate, and to the north is Gujarat occupied by Wang Fang. It is equivalent to the Portuguese Indian colony, which was occupied by Wang Fang and the Tianzhu Cotton Society.
The north and south were surrounded, and the Portuguese and Indian governor's home base was tightly trapped.
What else can be done?
Just pretend to be your grandson and wait to die!
After Portugal gained profits from maritime trade, it did not use them to develop industry and commerce, nor did it develop culture, art, and science. Instead, it used them for the enjoyment of the king and nobles, and at the same time established the Inquisition to enhance Portugal's influence in the Catholic world.
If he could earn more, the King of Portugal would still think about building warships. After the profits from Eastern trade shrunk, the maintenance cost of the Portuguese and Indian fleets was a problem. How could it be possible to expand the fleet to fight the Ming Dynasty Navy?
Portugal is like this, and Spain is similar.
Historically, after Spain obtained a large amount of silver in the Americas, it spent money like a nouveau riche.
One is to purchase luxury goods from China, and the other is to purchase industrial commodities from Britain. This directly contributed to silver becoming China's currency, and indirectly contributed to Zhang Juzheng's reforms. It also contributed to the British Industrial Revolution. When the United Kingdom rose, Spain's silver import was cut off, and China instantly
Facing a shortage of money, the Ming Dynasty suffered a financial crisis.
Goa, Portuguese-Indian Governor's Palace.
Nuno da Cunha stood on the castle and looked at the Ming fleet on the sea with a telescope.
Wang Chong, Wang Yuan's favorite disciple, currently holds the official position of lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, Zuo Yude of Zuo Chunfang and minister of Honglu Temple. He was temporarily sent to Portugal as an envoy. He brought an edict and a gold seal with him and conferred the title of Ming Dynasty on the King of Portugal.
vassal king.
The mission fleet was very large, with more than 400 ships, warships, and merchant ships.
Fengzhou is a large treasure ship made of iron pear wood. The hardness of this material is even comparable to rosewood, and is two to three times as hard as the oak commonly used in European warships. The other warships accompanying it are all made of iron pear wood.
More than half of the iron pear trees on Ceylon Island have been cut down by the Ming Dynasty Navy. The species cannot be planted because the growth cycle is too long. In the future, the only way to obtain iron pear trees is by annexing Bangladesh.
The big treasure ship built in this way can be called a sea fortress. Not to mention how many huge cannons it is equipped with, this thing is still impact-resistant. It will be no big deal if it is hit by ordinary small cannons. It is estimated that it will not be beaten to thousands of wounds again.
A scene full of holes.
"well!"
Nuno da Cunha sighed, reluctantly put down his telescope, and waited to be recalled to Portugal by the king.
Of course, he still has to make a few quick bucks before officially returning to China.
The Ming Dynasty's envoy fleet was half a year after Wang Fang occupied Gujarat. In addition to making various preparations, he also waited for the arrival of the winter wind. After replenishing supplies at the Port of Goa, the Portuguese colony, Wang Chong followed the winter
Wind and ocean currents cross the Arabian Sea to the Sultanate of Oman.
Oman has become a Portuguese colony. Although this poor place is full of desert, its coastal ports are very prosperous and it is the shipbuilding center of the Arab world.
Back then, a guy named Albuquerque, with only six Portuguese warships, overcame the entire Sultanate of Oman. All the captured Green Christians had their ears and noses cut off. This guy insisted on going his own way, occupying territory everywhere, and even ran away
Attacking the Green Cult Castle in Hormuz. Halfway through the battle, four of his warships were gone, but the captains did not want to occupy the territory and just wanted to go to India to do business and make money as soon as possible.
Nowadays, the Sultanate of Oman has no king. It is under the colonial rule of Portugal on the surface, but secretly it is controlled by the Ibadis of the Green Religion.
The Ming Dynasty envoy fleet arrived at a port called Obia and immediately caused an unimaginable sensation.
There were no Portuguese warships stationed in this port, so there were hundreds of Portuguese colonial soldiers in the castle. When they saw the overwhelming fleet coming, they were so scared that they huddled in the castle and did not dare to show their faces. They secretly observed the specific situation through telescopes.
The figure of the big treasure ship was getting closer and closer. Soldiers, merchants, and civilians all stood stunned on the spot. Some even knelt down and shouted to God or Allah.
This treasure ship is bigger than the one when it first set sail!
The large sea-going ship did not enter the port, but anchored far away. A thousand-family man, riding a warship worth eight hundred dollars, was the first to land at Obia Port, followed by hundreds of musketeers.
"The great angel is here, who can speak here?" Li Zhao from Qianhu asked.
An accompanying translator translated this into Portuguese.
A Green Sect businessman who knew Portuguese came over cautiously, knelt down and said, "Welcome to China's general."
Li Zhao said: "Who is responsible for this port?"
The Green Sect businessman said: "The Port of Obia is managed by the Portuguese."
Li Zhao said: "Portugal is already a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Call out the officials in charge of this city!"
The Green Sect merchants were startled and then overjoyed. The people of Oman have had enough of the cruelty of the Portuguese. Now that Portugal has become a vassal state of China, can they ask the Chinese fleet to drive away all the Portuguese from Oman?
The Green Sect merchants quickly returned to the city. After notifying the Portuguese officials, they then contacted the Green Sect leaders in the city.
That night, a leader of the Green Religion came to contact him, hoping that Oman would also become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and asked the Ming Dynasty to leave some officials and soldiers to rule Oman instead of Portugal. The leader of the Green Religion also said that he could help find the descendants of the Sudan, and Oman would
Sultans were canonized by the Ming emperors from generation to generation.
Wang Chong did not comment, just smiled and said: "I will go to Portugal first, and we will talk about it when I return."
The leader of the Green Sect respectfully resigned. He had read some historical materials and knew that the Chinese were very friendly. Zheng He's team a hundred years ago was easy to talk to. Although Zheng He was mobilizing troops along the way, he only attacked ports that were unwilling to communicate.
.Zheng He always adhered to the principle of equal dealings with the forces that were willing to surrender, and many small countries made a lot of money as a result.
After resting for two days, we continued sailing and soon passed by Mugudushu (the capital of Somalia). This place was visited by Zheng He during his fifth voyage. Although it has not been colonized by Portugal, it has lost its sea trade routes. Mugudushu Sudan is fast.
So poor that I have no pants to wear.
Hearing that the Chinese fleet was coming again, the Sudan sent people to row small offshore boats and chased them all the way, hoping to do business with the Chinese fleet.
Unfortunately, Wang Chong's envoy did not stop here, but went south to Madagascar.
Madagascar was also a Portuguese colony and an important supply node. In the name of the sovereign state, the Ming fleet forced the island to send supplies and fired several salutes, scaring the colonial officials into obedience.
Nowadays, the main force of the Portuguese fleet dominates the Mediterranean, while the Portuguese and Indian fleets huddle in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, aiming to control trade routes, and their main targets are Italian and Ottoman merchants.
The Ming Dynasty's envoy fleet was too powerful, and the Portuguese and Indian fleets did not dare to dispatch at all, for fear that a bad move would cause misunderstandings.
The biggest enemy along the way was wind and waves. Soon after Wang Chong led his team across the Cape of Good Hope, they encountered a strong storm and had to rest ashore for more than half a month before continuing. The pilot was a Portuguese 25-year-old, and the Ming fleet only had Zheng He.
According to the nautical charts left behind, the route to western Africa must be piloted by the Portuguese.
In April of the sixth year of Shaofeng, the Ming envoy fleet arrived in Lisbon, which shocked the whole of Europe.
Britain, France, and Spain all sent nobles to act as envoys, hoping to make personal contact with China. Even as envoys, the nobles scrambled to take advantage of the opportunity. First, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make money, and second, they wanted to pay homage to the Chinese missionaries.