Obviously, Special Envoy Alfredo cannot accept that Mousali's behavior is just "looking after the home" because in the eyes of Mr. Special Envoy, border military exercises are equivalent to issuing war threats.
Gao Ruichu's "holding high the banner of peace" cannot cover up Musali's increasingly aggressive aggression. The Portuguese Governor of Malacca learned through various channels that the armed forces in Siam are powerful, with two town-level establishments, the Fourth Town of Dingnan Garrison and the Siam Independent Garrison Division (Town).
The Fourth Town of Dingnan Garrison Army is one of the "Five Dingnan Towns", with a full complement of more than 12,700 people. It is actually full. The town has two standard infantry regiments, three independent artillery regiments, one independent cavalry regiment, and two engineer battalions.
This force is regarded by the Governor-General of Malacca as its biggest land threat because they are a standard field force with a large number of artillery, including the largest artillery in the army that Jinghua calls "No. 2 Artillery", and their siege capabilities can be The power of imagination.
The Siam Independent Garrison Division is also a town-level unit. The reason why "division" is used to distinguish "town" is because Jinghua currently uses towns as its standard army configuration, and divisions exist as auxiliary forces - mainly to guard the local area. Special training in urban garrison, urban offensive and defensive warfare, etc.
However, they also have certain field combat capabilities. They also have relevant field training, but the training intensity is slightly lower than that of the garrison, and they are equipped with significantly fewer artillery than the garrison. However, they can still quickly replenish "suppression" when needed. "Level garrison establishment.
The Siam Independent Garrison Division's personnel establishment is slightly smaller than that of the town, and the division's current establishment is more than 9,000 people. Its organization is much simpler than that of the Fourth Town of Dingnan Garrison Army, consisting of two infantry and two engineering battalions.
In other words, in the Siam region alone, that is, the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, Beijing has stationed about 22,000 troops. Judging from the situation of the Spaniards in the Philippines, the current Malacca Governor-General has no chance of winning against this army.
The Governor of Malacca expressed pessimistically in a letter to the Governor of Goa: "...Please understand the dangerous situation I face: if unfortunately a war (with Siam) breaks out without substantial changes in the existing balance of power. , the greatest effort I can make for the Kingdom of Portugal is to try my best to ensure that the city of Malacca does not fall on the day the siege breaks out."
The Governor of Goa was certainly shocked by this, but he also knew that Portugal's main power in Asia was concentrated in the Arabian Sea and India, and its strength in the Far East was limited.
However, Malacca's position is still very important because it is the hub of trade between Portugal and various countries in the Far East, including the Ming Dynasty. China's silk and porcelain, cloves, cardamom, pepper, and ambergris from the Spice Islands, Japan's gunpowder raw materials (yes, Portugal also buys sulfur from Japan) and other commodities, each one is crucial, and Portugal simply cannot give up.
In particular, there is a very important but easily overlooked situation, which is Portugal's trade importance and cultural penetration into Japan.
Before the 1640s of this century (the 16th century), Japan's scope of activities in the world was limited to Asia, and the only countries with which it had direct contacts were the Ming Dynasty and North Korea.
After the 1940s, the scope of their activities expanded. There are records in history books that the Japanese conducted transactions with Luzon in 1567 AD. In fact, their contact with Europeans began in the 1940s.
In the 12th year of Japan's Astronomy (1543), a Portuguese ship originally intended for Ningbo in the Ming Dynasty drifted to Tanegashima in Kyushu, Japan (later Kagoshima Prefecture) due to a storm. The Portuguese on the ship were the first Japanese to see it. of Europeans.
The owner of the island, Tanegashima Shiyao (Taneshima is his surname, also known as Miao), bought two Portuguese rifles at a high price of 2,000 taels of silver, and quickly learned how to use and make them.
This new weapon quickly spread throughout Japan and was loved by the Sengoku daimyo. Soon, cities such as Izumi's Kai, Kii's Nerai and Omi's Kunitomo became famous for the production of guns. This kind of matchlock gun has a special name in Japan, called "iron gun".
The use of guns changed the tactics of fighting with primitive weapons such as knives, swords, spears, bows and arrows. The main force of the battle was changed from cavalry to infantry (called "Ashigaru" in Japan).
If you trace the origin a little bit, it probably starts in 1510 AD. Shortly after the Portuguese invaded Goa, India, they captured Malacca on the Malay Peninsula. Subsequently, they occupied most of the Sunda Islands and the Maluku Islands (Spice Islands), and successively came to Guangzhou and Ningbo in the Ming Dynasty. In 1553, Portugal showed weakness instead of showing its strength, and used deception and bribery to seize Macau, which was considered a "useless land" by local officials of the Ming Dynasty.
It was under this circumstance that Portuguese ships appeared in Japan, and after 1543 they successively sailed into Kyushu ports. With Malacca as the center, they operated a hugely profitable Asian intermediary trade between Japan, Nanyang, Ming Dynasty and India. They transported Chinese raw silk, satin, porcelain, and Nanyang spices (cloves, cardamom, pepper, ambergris, etc.) Japan, a large amount of silver was made from Japan and goods such as swords, copper, seafood, and lacquerware were shipped out.
The Japanese Kyushu daimyo who wanted to gain trade benefits welcomed the Portuguese to trade in their territories. Places such as Hirado in Hizen, Nagasaki, and Fuuchi in Bungo (later Oita Prefecture) became the centers of this so-called "Nanman trade".
In the 6th year of Japan's Tensho period (1578), Portuguese ships entered Misaki in Sagami to trade with the lord Hojo. In addition to the daimyo, merchants from Kyoto, Kai, Hakata and other places also joined the ranks of trading with the Portuguese. In the 12th year of Tensho (1584), Spanish ships also came to Hirado.
In the original history, these trades had been relatively smooth until they were basically replaced by the Dutch when Zheng Zhilong needed to pay tolls.
But in this world, their business was hampered very early on. Due to the rapid rise of Jinghua, especially after the pirate coalition in the Fujian Sea was annihilated by the Jinghua fleet, the Portuguese enjoyed the treatment of "paying tolls" in advance.
But even if they had to pay tolls, the Portuguese still maintained a great interest in this trade route. Firstly, it was because Jinghua’s toll charges were not too harsh, and the Portuguese’s business profits were large enough, so there was no reason to give up. Secondly, it is because of the spread of Catholicism.
A few years after the Portuguese ship arrived in Japan, in the 18th year of Japan's Astronomy (AD 1549), Catholicism was introduced to Japan. The first missionary to come to Japan was the Spanish Jesuit Francis Xavier. After arriving in Japan in 1549, he first preached in Kagoshima, then in Yamaguchi and Bungo, and also visited Hirado, Kai and Kyoto. He left Japan two years later. The Japanese call the Catholicism he introduced "Chechidan" or "Gilichidan" (the transliteration of Portuguese cristao).
As we all know, the Jesuits were an important tool in the European Catholic Church at that time to oppose the religious reform and help feudal rulers suppress the people and colonize overseas. Some of the Jesuits who came to Asia and Latin America served as religious leaders and served as the vanguard of European colonists. Xavier was such a missionary.
In a letter to the Jesuits in his home country, he said that he came to Japan to preach "to save the souls of the Japanese from the hands of the devil and hand them over to God" and to turn the Japanese into "faithful ones" to the King of Portugal and the King of Spain. subjects". The Jesuits who go out to preach are also the advance team of traders from the sending country - this can be seen from the fact that representatives of major religious orders participated in the recent negotiations in Manila.
Xavier wrote in a letter sent from Kagoshima to a priest living in Goa, India on November 5, 1549: "I have sent a list of commodities that are particularly important in the trade with other countries. Our sailors will receive huge amounts of gold and silver if they bring the goods listed in the table.”
Therefore, after Xavier, Catholic missionaries came one after another. Using the bait of helping the daimyo obtain huge trade benefits and satisfying the daimyo's requirements for purchasing weapons, they colluded with some daimyo and made those daimyo baptized and became believers, thus gaining the right to preach in the territories of these daimyo.
The daimyo who received baptism were called "Kiroshidan daimyo" at that time, such as Otomo Soso of Bungo, Arima Harunobu of Hizen, Omura Juntada, etc., who were the first such daimyo.
In order to ensure his trade interests, Omura Juntada actually donated his territory of Nagasaki and the nearby Motegi area to the Jesuits as territory in the 8th year of Tensho (1580). This move threatened to turn Nagasaki into a colony like Goa in India, but no one could dissuade him from it.
The three daimyo, Otomo, Omura and Arima, even sent a young envoy ("Tensho Envoy to Europe") to Rome in the 10th year of Tensho (1582) to show their piety to the Pope of Rome. They have not yet returned home (original history Been there for eight years).
The spread of Catholicism expanded from Kyushu to other regions. At this time, Japanese farmers were disappointed with the Buddhist faith. The so-called Catholic preaching of "everyone is equal before God" gave farmers new spiritual comfort.
Missionaries also adapted to Japanese customs and wore monk robes. They also opened hospitals and organized charitable works when preaching in various places. By around 1582, there were 150,000 believers and more than 200 churches across Japan. In addition to farmers, there are also a small number of warriors and businessmen among the believers.
European missionaries also opened mission schools in Japan and introduced advanced scientific and technological knowledge such as astronomy, geography, mathematics, navigation, shipbuilding, and Western movable type printing, as well as Western oil paintings and music. Japan used movable type printing to publish books such as "Catholic Doctrine", "Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary", and the Japanese translation of "Aesop's Fables".
The descendants of European culture gave rise to the first European loanwords in Japan, such as pen (Portuguese pao, bread), botan (Portuguese cotao, buttons), meriyasu (Spanish medias, knitwear), etc.
This is different from the situation when Western culture was first introduced to China and only stayed in the hands of the palace, officials, and scholars. This "Southern Barbarian culture" was spread to a certain extent among Japanese people, laying the foundation for Japan to learn Western European culture.
This point even attracted the attention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Beijing. An espionage officer disguised as the second shopkeeper of the Osaka trading house of Beijing once reported the matter and proposed: "The Sea Trade Alliance will cut off the southern barbarian trade and replace the role of the Portuguese." , in order to maintain the alliance’s absolute monopoly on Japanese trade.”
A few months later, a reply letter with a long vertical rectangular "Jian Xin Zhai" three-character seal at the signature was given to him with an approval: Please check and report in detail.
There were only seven words in total, but it made this person extremely excited. Because, according to the internal rules of Jinghua, for matters reported by his status, the reply letter usually only has the seal of "Baiyulou" - Baiyulouside, which is the location of Heiting (Ministry of Internal Affairs).
The owner of Jian Xin Zhai is Gao Jing Shi, and the only person who can bear the seal of "Jian Xin Zhai" is Gao Jing Shi himself. Therefore, this reply letter is Gao Jing Shi's own handwriting, and its weight can be imagined.
Although Gao Jingshi did not express whether he agreed with his judgment in his reply, since he was instructed to "investigate in detail and report back", it is like saying to Tan Ma when commanding a battle, "investigate again and report again", which means that he is not satisfied with what he has received. The news is taken very seriously and is prudent enough.
The three countries on the Iberian Peninsula (Castile, Aragon, and Portugal) are all devout and resolute Catholic supporters. Since the Portuguese missionary work in Japan is so successful, how can Portugal tolerate cutting off direct ties with Japan? ?
Some people may ask, since Jinghua's power has only reached the Malay Peninsula and has not set foot in the Nanyang Islands, then even if Malacca is lost, the Portuguese can just go a little further and pass through the Sunda Strait. What's the big deal?
The reason for this has actually been explained before when talking about the issue of ocean currents - the ocean current here goes due west from the Sunda Islands towards central Africa. If the Portuguese took the Sunda Strait, it would be equivalent to going upstream.
Moreover, the wind direction is also headwind most of the time. These two unfavorable factors are really painful for Western soft sailing boats. The navigation risk is also greatly increased, which is completely inconsistent with the principles of commercial navigation.
The best case scenario for the Portuguese would certainly be to keep the overall form of Malacca and surrounding areas unchanged. If not, and the military power is not enough to say "no" to Beijing, then we have to settle for the next best thing. The key is to ensure that the Malacca Strait route will not be cut off at will.
In other words, Portugal needs a treaty to ensure the smooth flow of its Far East shipping route, and this is Alfredo's mission to Dingnan this time.
Captain Pedro has proven that he is a China expert, and his frankness and wisdom have been recognized by Alfredo. Therefore, after thinking about it, Alfredo informed Pedro of these situations and hoped that he would express his sincerity. own opinion.
Pedro was not particularly surprised by the news. Although Portugal often shows a tough look in the Arabian Sea region and India, given that Portugal itself is a small country with a sparse population, they are not blindly tough, at least compared to Castile. For the Syrians, their methods are much more flexible.
In some situations where they need to show weakness - such as after losing the small-scale war against the Ming Dynasty, they can even pretend to be very pitiful and beg for mercy from the other party.
Facts have also proved that their method is quite effective for the Ming Empire, the "Celestial Kingdom". In this case, Pedro thinks that it is only necessary to act as usual.
"Showing weakness..." Alfredo frowned and said: "For the benefit of the kingdom, I don't mind saying some unintentional compliments, or even asking for favors in a low voice. But Pedro, are you sure that His Excellency Gao Mengnan can represent Will Jinghua Company sign a guaranteed contract with us?"
"Mr. Special Envoy, I don't know whether His Excellency Gao Mengnan's signature is necessarily valid, but I think if you are still worried, you can ask—oh no, beg—for Baroness Huang Zhiting to sign.
As far as I know, she once signed a "Huang Zhiting Treaty" with His Majesty King Maha Tamaraja of Siam on behalf of Jinghua Company. This treaty actually placed Jinghua Company above the King of Siam, making Jinghua Company the king of Siam. The King of Kings of Luo.
Based on this, I think that since she has the authority to sign such an important treaty, her status within the Jinghua Company, or in front of His Excellency Gao Jingshi, is unquestionable. This means that she also has the right to sign a Malacca Navigation Treaty that is recognized and abided by by Jinghua Company. "
"What you said makes sense..." Alfredo didn't seem to be very happy. Instead, he was a little depressed. He lowered his head and whispered: "But this means that we may have to give up the crucial city of Malacca and... The hope of a smooth sailing depends on Jinghua Company's ability to abide by the agreement. To be honest, I don't like it and I'm not used to it."
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