"Mr. Governor, I want to know when I can go to China and meet their emperor."
India, Goa City, in a luxurious villa, a middle-aged man in a neat dress was questioning Albuquerque, with strong dissatisfaction in his eyes.
"Two years, Mr. Governor, I have been here waiting for you to conquer Luzon for two years."
"Great Governor of India, you have defeated countless powerful enemies in the east. The day you defeated the Indians, your name was praised throughout Portugal. But now you were defeated by the governor of a small island in the South Seas."
The middle-aged man faced the governor, but his tone of voice was not very polite, and even slightly mocking.
Two years, do you know how I spent these two years?
He came here in the 14th year of Zhengde, because at that time Portuguese merchants and the Ming Dynasty completed smooth trade in Guangdong and made large profits, and they also learned that the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty could trade with them at will. This naturally aroused the interest of the Portuguese, so King Manuel I of Portugal sent him, Pires, to lead an envoy to the Ming Dynasty to establish commercial relations with the court.
In this time and space, due to the existence of the Yan family and the Luzon Governor's Mansion, many things have changed.
In the original history, Albuquerque launched a campaign of conquest against Manchuria in the sixth year of Zhengde. However, in this time and space, the warships of the Governor-General of Luzon traveled across the ocean to escort merchant ships, which aroused the vigilance of the countries along the way. South India's military strength was thus strengthened to defend against the other side. It was not until the tenth year of Zhengde that he completely conquered Goa, and it was not until the fourteenth year of Zhengde that he officially launched an attack on Manga.
Similarly, in the 10th year of Zhengde, the Duke was supposed to be exempted from his position as the Governor-General of India because the King of Portugal was jealous of his huge reputation, causing the sixty-two-year-old man to suffer a huge blow and die unwillingly. However, this time he died because of The long conquest took a long time and a considerable amount of casualties, but the reputation was not that great, so it did not arouse the jealousy of the king, and it is still rampant on the sea.
It was at that time that Pires received the order to lead a mission to China to discuss trade matters with their emperor.
However, not long after he received the appointment, he saw the army returning to Goa in embarrassment. He learned that the Duke of Goa had just launched the Battle of Malacca and suffered a complete defeat. Complete ban.
He was very dissatisfied at the time - he was already preparing for trade, and yet he did such a thing.
But this is also in line with Portugal's foreign strategy. They conquered Goa in this way. In addition, Albuquerque was praised by the king and worshiped by the court for occupying Goa, so he didn't say anything.
But two years! For two years, Albuquerque launched three attacks. Each time, he said that he would be able to defeat the Luzon army after recharging his strength. However, he just learned that the once invincible Duke of Goa had once again attacked Luzon. The halberd was broken in Song Haijun's hand.
Several failures have caused his reputation in the country to plummet, and Pires has even doubted his command level.
"Pires, if we didn't know who spread our naval gun blueprints, we would have won long ago..."
"You said last time that you failed because you were carrying a light warship. This time you brought a large Karak with sufficient firepower, but you still failed miserably. Then you made excuses for naval guns."
Pires did not buy his account:
"I have to remind you, Mr. Governor."
"I have a mission from His Majesty the King, and I have overdue it for two years. His Majesty is now anxiously waiting for my reply at home."
"Admit it, Mr. Governor, you have failed. You may have a glorious past, but you have been completely defeated by this opponent who you think is vulnerable."
"You are old. As a sixty-eight-year-old man, why don't you go back to Goa to enjoy your peaceful life and let me lead my mission to China to complete my mission? You know this Governor Song was just an official appointed by the Emperor of China."
"Since you can't conquer this place, it's time to use peaceful means to solve it."
"You must understand that His Majesty the King is very dissatisfied with your repeated failures..."
Albuquerque clenched his fist fiercely. He wanted to punch the table, but he was worried about making the envoy dissatisfied and say bad things about him in the country.
He was unwilling to give up. He had been traversing the sea for a long time. He defeated one country after another and established one colony after another for Portugal. He even defeated the huge empire of India and became the governor-general of India.
He couldn't stand his defeat. He wanted to fight the governor of Luzon until the end of his life, but he had to admit that he had to stop fighting.
He knew that his failure had caused his reputation in the country to drop rapidly. There were already rumors that he was old and unfit to fight overseas for the king. If the ambassador continued to advise the emperor, he would really be transferred back to the country. .
He would never allow the title of Governor-General of India, which he had earned through years of hard work, to be deprived of him. This was his greatest honor.
"Okay...Pires, take your envoy and go."
"It's just that I doubt whether China's Governor of Luzon will allow you to pass through the Strait of Malacca. After all, we have just ended the battle."
"Of course I understand." Pires said confidently:
"We will first go overland to present gifts to the emperor of China, and after obtaining permission for trade, we will ask him to order the governor of Luzon to open the Straits of Malacca to allow our caravans to enter."
Albuquerque nodded slightly. He only felt a little tired:
"Go, go, do what you want!"
"God bless you."
…
In the first year of Jiajing, Pires led the Portuguese mission into Yunnan through India and got in touch with local officials. Naturally, the local officials were shocked. While they sent people to inform the capital, they also taught the Portuguese various etiquette in preparation. It can be used when meeting the emperor.
According to their experience, generally speaking, such tribute personnel will not be rejected.
Sure enough, soon, news came from Beijing, ordering them to go to Beijing for an audience and not to neglect along the way.
The little emperor was very excited when he learned that Franji was coming.
Because it has always been the countries within the Chinese cultural circle that have shown their surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and no new countries have come for a long time.
As soon as he ascended the throne, this country came to rely on him - in his eyes, coming to pay tribute was to rely on the Ming Dynasty, and he was willing to become a symbol of the vassal state. Didn't this prove his sage?
So he sat on the throne of the capital and happily waited for their arrival.
(End of chapter)
