At about this time, at the Lisboa Palace in the Portuguese capital, King Joao IV was so worried!
He had been working hard before, hoping to get help from other European countries. Even if the enemy of the enemy is a friend, I hope those opponents of Spain will accept Portugal.
As a result, his energy, financial and material resources were not wasted. However, those countries signed armistice treaties, but they had nothing to do with Portugal. In other words, his efforts were in vain, and in the end, he still had to bear the pressure from Spain alone.
Fortunately, Spain may have a big business and did not have an armistice with other countries because of the end of the Thirty Years' War. There were still many troubles, so they did not bother with Portugal.
However, this is the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head, and you never know when it will fall.
In addition, because the British King Charles I was executed by those led by Cromwell, the British Royalist fleet, under the pretext that Britain had helped Portugal, forcibly docked in Lisbon to rest and use Lisbon as a base to resist Cron. Will's reign.
This made John IV very worried. He was afraid that Cromwell would lead his troops to kill him, blame him, and behead him too.
With all these things, João IV is really sad!
On this day, when he was angry about the trouble caused by the British royalists in Lisbon, suddenly, a guard rushed in and reported to him happily: "Your Highness, the fleet... the fleet is back!"
"What fleet?" Joao IV asked impatiently, feeling a little annoyed.
"The fleet that went to the Ming Kingdom has returned. The Ming Kingdom, the Ming Empire, the Far East..."
Without waiting for him to explain, João IV had come to his senses and couldn't help being overjoyed. He quickly asked: "Where is my son, where is the Duke of Braganza?"
He just wanted to know what he would gain from going to Ming Dynasty!
It was true that Ming Dynasty was too far away from Portugal. In fact, he did not have much hope for Ming Dynasty, so he continued to work hard in Europe. As a result, there was nothing gained on the European side. Therefore, when I suddenly heard that the Chinese fleet was back, I was naturally overjoyed.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a person appear at the palace gate, saluting him with joy: "Your Highness, I'm back!"
King Joao IV took a closer look and saw clearly that it was Johnson. He suddenly smiled and asked quickly: "How is it? Oh, by the way, where is my son, where is the Duke of Braganza?"
As he spoke, he looked behind Johnson, but saw no sign of his son. Suddenly, his heart sank. Could there be any accident?
After all, going back and forth to Ming Dynasty is such a long distance and the road is not safe. Accidents are normal.
Before John IV had time to worry, he heard Johnson smile and say to him: "Your Highness, His Excellency the Duke said that he will stay in the capital of the Ming Dynasty to study so that he can come back after he has completed his studies. This will make Portugal stronger! "
"..." When Joao IV heard this, he was speechless. He did not expect such a situation.
After confirming that his son was fine, he felt relieved and immediately asked: "How is the situation?"
After hearing this, Johnson immediately held up a long box with both hands and said: "Your Highness, it's done. The relevant information and the alliance letter are all in it."
Upon hearing this, King Joao IV couldn't wait for Johnson to deliver the box. He immediately stood up, walked around the table, stepped forward, grabbed the box, and immediately put it on the table and opened it.
There was a lot of information inside, and the top one was the bright yellow alliance letter.
He actually didn't care much about this. At a glance, it was a covenant written in an unknown font and Portuguese characters. The content was similar to what was agreed before.
So, he put this down and immediately went to get other information to look at. The most important one was the transaction list.
Seeing that João IV was looking anxiously, Johnson waited for a while and then said to him: "The Ming Emperor said that the army will not be able to get through for the time being. Considering our situation, His Highness's angel will be canonized. We have to wait until the army arrives."
Otherwise, if the King of Portugal is canonized by the Emperor of the Ming Empire, it will be really big news in Europe, and it will suddenly focus the attention of all European countries on Portugal. The Holy See will be even more furious. The pressure on Portugal is absolutely huge.
King Joao IV breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. In fact, he was also afraid of this. Now he was relieved and asked casually: "When will the team come over tomorrow? Is there an agreed time?"
After hearing this, Johnson immediately replied: "The Ming Dynasty said that they will capture Dongwu, open a channel to the Indian Ocean, and go all the way west. The specific time is not determined, but it shouldn't take long!"
"Oh?" João IV couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard this.
He knew where Dongwu was.
Because in the past, the Portuguese tried to colonize Dongwu, but were defeated. Later, there were also Portuguese mercenaries fighting for King Dongwu. When the number was large, there were even more than 600 people.
Therefore, John IV paid attention to Dongwu. In his opinion, Dongwu is considered a powerful country. Can the Ming Dynasty be said to be able to defeat it?
Johnson saw his surprise, and nodded with a smile and said: "Your Highness, the power of the Ming Kingdom is beyond imagination. They said they can defeat Donggo, so they are sure of it. If you don't believe it, you can wait and see!"
When King Joao IV heard this, he raised his head and glanced at him, with an obviously surprised look on his face. But he didn't say anything and looked down at the information again.
Finally, he saw what he wanted to see most: the military equipment of the Ming Empire. Johnson strongly recommended it, saying it was the most powerful battleships and muskets and artillery.
Upon seeing it, King Joao IV was immediately overjoyed. He quickly raised his head and asked excitedly: "Where are these things? Where are the battleships and muskets and artillery? Did you bring them back? There were no losses on the way?"
"It's right at the port!" Johnson listened and replied with a smile, "This is something I bought with a lot of money. It's something that even money can't buy. Of course I don't dare to lose it!"
As soon as he heard this, King Joao IV couldn't help it anymore, walked away, and said quickly: "Let's go, I want to go and see for myself."
After walking a few steps, he came to his senses. He couldn't just put such important information on the table, so he immediately returned and packed it up before eagerly letting Johnson lead him to the port.
When they arrived at the port, João IV discovered that it was a sea of people. All the people in Lisbon flocked to the port to watch.
The guards naturally drove away passersby and opened a path for the king to pass.
After going inside, I found that there was a quarrel going on.
Seeing the arrival of John IV, a Portuguese official quickly came forward to complain, saying that the British were trying to get on the ship but were stopped, so they were causing trouble here.
As soon as he finished his complaint, the British came over and shouted that Britain had helped Portugal, so they boarded the ship to see what happened to the goods and ships in the East?
John IV had long been annoyed by these royalists. If it had been before, he was afraid that the British political situation would change and the royalists might rebel, so he tried his best to tolerate it, hoping that these royalists would give him some help after they regained power.
But at this time, with the confidence from the Ming Empire, he didn't have to swallow so much. He immediately asked the guards to stop him, ignored these people, and hurriedly boarded the ship accompanied by Johnson.
Before boarding the ship, he saw the Ming Dynasty's ship. It was strange that there was a large barrel on the ship, which should be the chimney that Johnson had mentioned before. There are two protrusions on both sides of the ship, which may be where the ship's power lies.
Therefore, as soon as João IV got on the ship, he immediately said to Johnson who was following him: "How powerful your warship is, please tell me!"
Upon hearing this, Johnson replied with a smile: "I am very happy to serve His Highness!"
When he accepted these steam paddle-wheel warships from the Ming Dynasty, officials from the Ming Dynasty had already introduced them to him. After returning from a long voyage, I was bored on the road, so I studied this new type of warship more carefully. Of course, he also studied the new muskets and artillery of the Ming army.
At this time, he took Joao IV to visit the steam engine room, introduced the steam engine, and also introduced the paddle wheel and other special parts on the ship.
King Joao IV was stunned when he heard this. He did not expect that the new warship turned out to be like this.
After coming back to his senses, he immediately asked: "After the fire and smoke, can this boat really drive fast and flexibly without being restricted by the wind?"
"Exactly!" Johnson heard this and immediately replied with a smile, "In fact, the sails on this ship are actually just auxiliary power. Once it stands up, the ship is powered by the steam engine. The navy of the Ming Dynasty can The Dutch stronghold in Dajuan was destroyed with the help of this new warship."
After hearing this, King Joao IV rubbed his hands happily and wished he could let the ship sail immediately.
But in the end, he suppressed the idea. There are many people with mixed eyesight. If others know what this new warship is like, once the battle starts, it will be less sudden.
King John IV stood in the steam engine room, looked at the steam engine and asked the question he wanted to know most: "Can we imitate this new type of warship?"
Of course, Johnson had thought about this issue when he was on the road.
When he heard this, he quickly replied: "It should be possible, but it may not be as good as the Ming Dynasty, but it can definitely be used!"
Upon hearing this, Joao IV simply wanted to laugh out loud.
The advantages of this new type of warship should be certain. If he imitates it again, Portugal is likely to become the maritime hegemon in Europe!
He was happy when he suddenly heard Johnson say to him seriously: "However, these are all protected by patents. If we want to imitate them, we still have to pay the Ming Dynasty!"
"..." When Joao IV heard this, he was immediately speechless.
