Compared to the Netherlands, it was much easier for the empire to win over Portugal.
Because the Netherlands is now on the rise in national strength, its situation is getting better and better. The empire had to work hard and come up with convincing reasons to get the Netherlands on board the alliance wagon.
Portugal is different.
Paradise is too far, Spain is too close.
Portugal is not yet free from the pressure to survive.
Looking at the European continent, Portugal cannot find any real supporters.
Although they had a good relationship with the United Kingdom before, and the United Kingdom also provided them with some help, it was only a drop in the bucket.
Especially now that Britain is caught in a civil war and has too much time to take care of itself, Portugal immediately feels a mountain of pressure.
France originally supported Catalonia, which caused Spain's focus to shift to the other side, and Portugal became slightly more relaxed.
Once France withdraws from Catalonia and Spain quells the Catalan uprising, Portugal will have to face Spain's comeback alone.
At this time, Portugal's only choice is to firmly grasp the olive branch offered by the empire and ensure national security.
As for betraying Britain because of this...
Is this considered true in Europe?
It is said that there was no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Europe in chaos did not even know what righteousness meant.
What's more, this is a place full of bandits, and "righteousness" is too extravagant.
Faced with the situation, the imperial mission did not spend much effort to convince Portugal.
Diego Carlos quickly relayed the situation back to Lisbon and received new instructions.
Portugal fully accepted the Empire's ideas and hoped that the Empire would provide some support.
Liao Zhongjian and others discussed it and decided to visit Portugal to finalize an ally before the Netherlands made a decision.
But when the fleet sailed to the English Channel, the enemy appeared.
"Report, we found an unknown ship approaching us."
The report from the watchtower made everyone nervous.
Kong Zhiguang moved quickly and climbed up to the watchtower in just a few clicks to conduct reconnaissance with his telescope.
"It's British and seems to have bad intentions."
Everyone frowned.
"Have our operations in the Netherlands been discovered by the British?"
This is a serious situation and represents a leak.
Only Liao Zhongjian was relatively calm.
"The Netherlands may not be monolithic, and it doesn't matter if someone leaks the secret."
The Netherlands has had good relations with the UK for a long time, and some people are close to the UK, so it is quite normal for them to reveal the situation.
"I think this is also a test for the Dutch."
Xu Erjue thought of more.
When everyone looked over, Xu Erjue became more confident.
"Any major change in national policy cannot be implemented smoothly. To achieve consensus, there must be a strong reason. I think today's encounter is a reference for the Netherlands to decide its future direction."
When he said this, everyone understood.
Although Xu Erjue proposed a theory, it hit Holland's seven inches.
But the Netherlands could not have complete and unconditional trust in the empire.
After all, the empire is far away in Asia, and no one is sure how much power it can project in Europe.
If they cannot get much support from the empire, the Dutch will definitely not be willing to let the Netherlands rashly become hostile to the British.
The situation in Europe has always affected the whole world.
Once the Netherlands begins to restrict Britain, Britain will inevitably look for allies to break the balance.
The Netherlands' national strength determines that it cannot cope with more complex situations.
At this time, the Netherlands' reference answer is how strong the empire is.
Only if the empire was really powerful would the Netherlands have the confidence to end. Otherwise, they would rather maintain the status quo and delay it until the day when the conflict with Britain has to be resolved.
"In that case, let's have a good fight and let Europeans see what the empire is like."
After figuring it out, Liao Zhongjian was full of energy and gave orders to Kong Zhiguang.
In the rough English Channel, the Chinese and British fleets quickly exchanged fire.
The seven third-level battleships sent to Europe are all equipped with bronze artillery. Although they cannot be compared with standard artillery, they are far more advanced than the artillery of the same era.
In addition, the third-level battleship is the best-performing warship in this era.
Therefore, although the British had more warships, after a fight, the imperial fleet was still unstoppable.
An encounter lasted from noon to evening, and only stopped when the sunset turned red.
The British had fifteen battleships sunk, twenty-one battleships injured, and more than 130 casualties, and they retreated in a hurry.
On the Imperial fleet side, only two battleships were slightly damaged, and three sailors were killed.
This contrast is really too strong.
When the imperial mission arrived in Lisbon, the results of the naval battle quickly spread across the European continent.
The imperial mission was warmly welcomed in Portugal, and John IV readily agreed to the imperial proposition and firmly stood in the anti-British camp.
After winning over his first ally, Liao Zhongjian reciprocated the favor.
He announced in a high-profile manner that he would cooperate with businessmen in Portugal to build a new weapons factory in Lisbon.
The empire will transfer the manufacturing technology of minie rifles and bronze artillery to Portugal to help Portugal increase its military strength.
As soon as the news came out, the whole country in Portugal cheered.
After seeing the empire's weapons, no one would be jealous.
Now, with the support of the empire, the Portuguese were more confident in resisting Spain.
Not only that, Liao Zhongjian also agreed with King John IV to ask Portugal to send people to contact the Catalans and provide support.
In a word, it is to use the Catalan uprising to continue to involve Spain's energy.
As long as Spain is in dire straits on the mainland, it will definitely have no way to run its colonies properly.
At that time, the empire and its allies can launch a full-scale attack and eat away at Spain's huge overseas colonies bit by bit.
Ten days later, Liao Zhongjian and others returned to Rotterdam with fruitful results.
This time, the Dutch attitude was different.
"Minister Liao, I would like to solemnly introduce to you that this is Prince Charlie who came from far away from the UK. He has heard about your deeds and hopes to get inspiration from the far east."
Anthony Van Diemen leads a down-and-out young man to appear.
When Liao Zhongjian heard the introduction, he was stunned for a moment at first, but then he realized that this down-and-out young man was actually the eldest son of the British King and the heir to the throne.
There is no doubt that this is a very important figure.
I was worried about how to establish contact with the British royal party. Unexpectedly, I fell asleep and came to the pillow.
"Your Highness the Prince, we deeply sympathize with the situation of the king and the royal family. The rebellion's practice of subverting dignity is a shocking evil act, whether in the East or the West. We sincerely hope that we can help the British The royal family does something.”
