The concept of country and nation, even in the West, is very weak at this time.
And these people who traveled all the way to the East came especially for money. If they can make money while taking into account the interests of their own country, then they will be happy. But if it harms their personal interests for the sake of the interests of the country, basically there are still very few people who have this idea.
Johnson is a member of the Hao Jing Ao Council. Compared with Du Chen, the governor of Hao Jing Ao, he focuses more on the interests of Hao Jing Ao.
The consequences of angering the Ming Kingdom would be that they could no longer stay in Haojing'ao. If they were even declared as enemies, the high-ranking Dutch would be their fate in the future. This was the last thing he wanted to see.
Therefore, after Zhang Mingwei's slight intimidation and inducement, Johnson's position immediately wavered.
Just the prospect of Portugal being able to openly do business with the Ming Dynasty and how much money it could make by selling the Ming Dynasty's products to Western Europe made his eyes full of money.
So, he confessed to Zhang Mingwei, and then started talking to Du Chen.
Anyone who speaks has a point of view. Different positions, even the same words, can have different meanings.
When Johnson conveyed the message to Du Chen, he immediately sat on the position of becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, emphasizing the benefits of becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
For example, you can make countless money by trading with Ming Dynasty;
Being able to buy the Ming Dynasty's new warships and new guns made Portugal stand out from other Western European countries.
If you let the Ming army stationed, you can get help from the Ming army. With such a powerful helper, who will Portugal be afraid of in the future?
…
Of course, he did not forget to emphasize that if he offended the Ming Dynasty, Hao Jing'ao would not be able to stay any longer, and he might be wiped out like the Dutch. Now the Ming Dynasty has sent troops to attack Luzon and wants to destroy the Spaniards. Don't you, Du Chen, know it best? At least in this Far East region, who can defeat the Ming Dynasty?
After talking like this, Du Chen also reached an agreement with Johnson.
Therefore, Johnson still said to Zhang Mingwei: "Sir, we two feel that it is a lucky thing to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. It's just that this matter is too important and needs to be reported to our king."
Even if the two of them agree immediately now, Zhang Mingwei will not agree. After all, these two people can only represent Hao Jingao at most.
Therefore, when he heard what he said, he understood that they were indeed sincere. In fact, he was not worried about this matter at all. After all, in this era, and even in later generations, hard fists are the truth.
Making the Portuguese a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty would only speed up the Ming Dynasty's overseas foreign policy. If they don't agree, it will just make the process a little slower.
At this time, after listening to Johnson's words, he asked Johnson: "In addition, you Portugal must also share your experience of the voyage, including the distribution of forces in various places, ocean hydrological conditions, etc., with my Ming Dynasty. In order to show your Sincerity, what you have now must be contributed first. In this way, you can also buy our specialties from Ming Dynasty with the most favored nation treatment."
When Johnson heard about this, he was a little unhappy at first, but after hearing the last words, he immediately nodded and said: "Dear Sir, as you wish, we are happy to express our sincerity!"
To them, Zhang Mingwei is equivalent to using a lot of money (you can buy Ming Dynasty specialties) in exchange for voyage experience. As long as you have money, you can sell anything.
In fact, Zhang Mingwei actually attached great importance to this voyage experience, which would be of great help to the Navy's expedition.
The general framework was discussed, but Zhang Mingwei did not participate in the details. He immediately asked Honglu Temple to take over and continue to negotiate with the two Portuguese people. For example, in terms of taxes and fees, military garrisoning, trade issues where Ming people went to Portugal, the price of arms purchased by the Portuguese, etc.
After they negotiated, they submitted it to Emperor Chongzhen for approval. If he agreed, they could go back and report to their king. If John IV agrees, then the covenant will be completed. If you don't agree with any aspect, then the covenant will fail.
As for Zhang Mingwei himself, it was almost time to lead the troops to Liaodong. There was no way, Emperor Chongzhen was still worried about others in such a big war, so he had to let Zhang Mingwei go in person to feel relieved.
On this day, after intentionally informing Johnson and Du Chen, they immediately rushed outside the capital city to watch the excitement.
The army outside the city consists of 20,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry who came back from the southwest. After returning to their hometown for the New Year holiday last year, they were obviously in better spirits when they came back.
No matter what, last year’s Chinese New Year was a return to hometown in glory. Returning with glory and rewards, they are envied by their relatives, friends and neighbors, which makes them cherish their military status even more.
Now they have to fight again, especially fighting under the invincible Duke Xing Guo. In their eyes, it is a waste of military merit, and of course their morale is even higher.
After swearing an oath to fight, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty rode on horseback or got on the train with great vigor. Teams of soldiers are all wearing bright armor and neat military appearance.
Johnson and Du Chen still had good eyesight, and they immediately saw the elite of the Ming Dynasty's army. And as Westerners, they are more concerned about the weapons of the Ming army. They found that more than half of the Ming army soldiers were equipped with flintlock muskets. No matter which way you look at it, even if this army is placed on the European battlefield, it will definitely be a decisive force.
Watching the army go away, they had a deeper understanding of the current military strength of the Ming Dynasty. This also invisibly accelerated their negotiations with Honglu Temple.
After Zhang Mingwei led the army to set off, they quickly finished discussing the contents of the covenant, and without any delay, in addition to the open purchase of goods from the Ming Dynasty, they also expedited the contents of the covenant to Haojing Ao, and asked them to send a clipper there. He rushed back to his home country.
………………
On the Liaodong side, since the coastal residents moved inland last year, there have been basically no large-scale wars, only some battles with the Ming army at night. This is fortunate for Dorgon, the regent of Jianlu.
Because from Dorgon's perspective, the situation in Liaodong was stabilized after he made the decision to move inward, and there were no major losses.
Moreover, in order to deal with the harassment of the Ming army on the coast, he has shifted the focus of agriculture to the interior of Liaodong in the past two years. Even the Sauron territory that he conquered only a few years ago has begun to open up wasteland for farming.
Of course, for now, the most mature grain fields are still in the Liaohe Plain. But with the threat of the Ming army, there are many places here that are not stable food harvesting points, such as near Haizhou.
However, the Qing Dynasty was short of food!
For this reason, Dorgon stationed heavy troops in Haizhou, not only to guard the southern gate of the Qing Dynasty, but also to plant as much as he could in the grain fields around Haizhou.
In the past few years, the Qing Dynasty has been limited by the shortage of food and grass supplies. This situation must be improved.
According to Dorgon's plan, he was going to rest for a few years and accumulate enough supplies of food and grass. By then, he would have the confidence to continue to fight against the Ming Dynasty.
No, Dorgon even left Shengjing himself, accompanied by Fan Wencheng, the agricultural officer, to inspect the crops.
It has to be said that the Han people are born with the talent for farming. In particular, this Fan Wencheng was capable of both literary and military skills. He could kill people when mounted, and he could farm when dismounted. In the past, when Hong Chengchou was around, he could not see his abilities, but now, Dorgon has discovered it and feels that Huang Taiji was right to attach great importance to Fan Wencheng.
"There have been years of war, but now we finally have a good harvest!" Dorgon said with emotion while standing on the field.
It was really not easy for the Qing Dynasty to save some food!
As long as there is food, there will be much fewer defections from time to time in the Qing Dynasty this year, especially in the past six months.
Because he knew in his heart that those foreigners under the Qing Dynasty would defect to the Ming Dynasty under the temptation of the Ming people. The biggest reason was because they didn't have enough to eat.
But now that the food harvest is about to begin, foreigners will also be able to have enough to eat, and their morale will be stable. This is where Dorgon's confidence lies.
Fan Wencheng, who was standing next to him, heard what he said. After hesitating for a while, he still said to Dorgon: "Master, I am a little uneasy. I feel that this year is a little too smooth."
"Huh?" When Dorgon heard this, he was not angry, because he felt the same way and was also a little uneasy, so he asked, "What do you mean?"
Fan Wencheng thought about his words for a while, and then said cautiously: "Master, in the past few years, the Ming army has caused trouble for our Qing Dynasty every year. Logically speaking, it has not happened this year, so I feel a little uneasy, no We know when the Ming army will come to cause trouble for our Qing Dynasty!"
After hearing this, if Duduo was like this, he might say: "Come as you please, what are you afraid of?"
And if it was Daishan, he would also be unhappy. Wouldn't it be good if the Ming army didn't come to cause trouble? Is it possible that someone's bones are so cheap that they won't feel comfortable if the Ming army doesn't cause trouble?
However, Dorgon was different from these people. He had that kind of sense of worry. After listening to Fan Wencheng's words, he nodded and said: "Yes, the Ming army has not moved yet this year!"
Unknowingly, the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty had different offensive and defensive positions, and the Qing Dynasty became a passive defensive situation.
If you think about it carefully, it is still determined by the terrain. The land of Liaodong is not the land of Longxing!
Putting aside distracting thoughts, Dorgon said: "It's useless to worry. In order to ensure the harvest of food, I will send people to concentrate on Haizhou, Anshan Yibao, Liaoyang and other places. As long as the food is received in the pocket, then I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”
Fan Wencheng was a little worried about this after hearing this, but Dorgon took it into consideration, so he complimented: "Master Shengming!"
