Chapter 84 Heading South
When Mu Qi received the urgent letter delivered by Yan Donglou at full speed, he had already crossed the Yellow River, changed carriages at Fengling Ferry, and changed his route to Zhejiang.
After asking the sea merchants to pass on the letter, war with Portugal became inevitable. So Hai Gangfeng took the lead and returned to Shangyu with a large number of firearms and rockets to make advance arrangements, giving full play to the geographical advantage of the home court. Mu Qi, on the other hand, slowed down a step and was escorting some secret weapons that could turn the tide of the battle - although the system was slow and stupid, and often had some incredible bugs, it still had the necessary functions, and as long as Mu Qi was willing to consume his hard-earned deviation value, he could still exchange it for some extremely amazing things.
For example, these dozens of mouthfuls are now tightly wrapped with moist cotton and placed in large wooden boxes with the words "Handle with Care" printed on them.
The Duke's Mansion had a very strict code of conduct. The hired grooms and laborers were completely unaware of what was going on. They thought it was just the nobles transporting their luggage, but the items they were escorting were extremely valuable and needed to be looked after by the nobles themselves. There were hundreds of people in this convoy, and probably only Ru Wang, who was heading south with them, had an idea of what was going on. He knew that the Prince of Duke Mu was probably planning something big again.
That’s right, although Ruwang tried every means to find a replacement for himself so that he didn’t have to face the wrath of the Portuguese personally. But when Prince Mu was packing up to leave, he thought for a long time and still followed him, intending to observe the development of the situation in real time - a big fight between China and Portugal, no matter what the final outcome, would greatly change the situation of maritime trade in Asia. As a shrewd and experienced businessman, he certainly couldn't miss such first-hand information.
Prince Mu did not reject this uninvited guest. He just said what he should say and kept what he should keep secret, talked about all sorts of things and made innuendos along the way, and at the worst he would act crazy and go crazy, and basically didn't reveal any useful information. The same thing happened with the letter that was delivered by express horse this time. Ru Wang tried to inquire about the content of the letter in a roundabout way, but Mu Qi just smiled:
"This is a letter from an important official in the court. It seems that he is quite dissatisfied with me. After returning to the capital, I will try to explain everything to him."
Ru Wang let out an "oh" and was immediately moved. He had been in Da'an for several years and had a good understanding of the local customs and people. He knew that with the support of the imperial examination system, the current Middle-earth was truly a hotbed of political struggles, and the promised land of the King of Juan was extraordinary.
To this day, the Western courts are still the private domain of the top nobles, and the struggle for power between them is often accompanied by the hypocritical decency and weakness of the old-school nobles, and is more like a duel for performance rather than a fight. But it was different in China - there was no special kind of kings, princes, generals or ministers. Even a scholar from the poorest family could gain a ticket to high-level politics through the imperial examination. So, there are many hidden talents in this small imperial court, and it gathers the top political strategists among tens of millions of people in the nine provinces. The winner becomes the prime minister and the loser goes to dust. The upper limit is infinitely high and the lower limit is infinitely low, which can truly stimulate all the enthusiasm of the contestants. It is the paradise that social Darwinism dreams of.
In other words, even a noble mansion like the Duke Mu's Mansion may not be able to guarantee its safety in such an unlimited chicken-eating competition. It wouldn't be a big deal, but if there was any mistake, there was a high possibility that you would be forced to leave Beijing in disgrace.
Crisis is opportunity, and customer trouble is a good opportunity for businessmen to take action. Ruwang was cheered up, thinking that the time to take advantage of the opportunity to promote his product had finally come. He immediately spoke:
"I wonder what the dissatisfaction is in the letter? I think it's just a misunderstanding."
"Maybe." The prince said calmly, "These ministers accused me of flirting with foreigners, being ambiguous, and being too weak towards foreign countries, which is simply a loss of dignity for the country."
Ruwang:? !
Ru Wang was so shocked that he almost forgot the exquisite sales talk he had just figured out - No, even the Prince of Duke Mu could be considered weak?
Although he lacked great virtue and was not a human being, he climbed to the top in many undertakings such as imperialist exploitation, oppression and killing. But to date, England is still just a newcomer in the Age of Discovery, and can only rely on cheating and taking advantage of opportunities to get a little leftovers. At that time, the only empires that truly dominated the seas and were invincible were Spain and Portugal. Their edge was so sharp and powerful that the powerful countries in Europe had to retreat, not to mention the Far East where weapons were relatively backward?
In other words, the Prince of Duke Mu was the type who immediately fought the big boss as soon as he came out of the novice village. The spirit Benboerba challenged the Monkey King alone. He was absolutely the most reckless of the reckless, so reckless that it made Ru Wang speechless and mentally stimulated. But if such a reckless approach was still considered "weak" by his colleagues...
Isn’t your Da’an court a little too extreme?
Ru Wang took a breath and his expression changed slightly.
Of course, this is because Mr. Ruwang has too little experience, so his understanding is inevitably biased. Because of the permanent PTSD left by the Jingkang Shame of Song Dynasty, the people of Da'an have always been tough on foreign affairs. However, Ouyang Jin and others' attacks on "weakness" in their letters were purely a common excuse for official criticism. In any case, those who negotiate with foreign countries are criticized as weak, those who use military force against foreign countries are denounced as domineering, and those who neither negotiate nor use military force are accused of harming the country. There are three hats that are neither too big nor too small, and there is always one that suits you. The factions in the party struggle relied on this move to kill everyone and become invincible, and finally hung Huai Zong on the old crooked tree.
Therefore, such remarks have no other meaning other than intimidation. Mu Qi read the letter carefully once, then tore it into pieces and threw them into the stove in the carriage.
But Ruwang was obviously frightened. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice:
"So, your country must not let the Portuguese go."
"It's not that we can't 'let them go.'" Mu Qi deliberately corrected, "The imperial court and the Portuguese are thousands of miles apart, so what grudges could there be between them? But since the time of Emperor Xiaozong of the previous dynasty, the Portuguese navy has frequently harassed Dongguan, and even killed and injured many coastal fishermen; in the eighth year of Emperor Wuzong, the Portuguese captured Tuen Mun Island in Guangdong, explored strongholds to manufacture firearms, and burned, killed, and looted everywhere, and were expelled by the then Deputy Envoy of the Sea Route. Now the foreign vassal has made a comeback and has occupied most of the islands in the South Seas, and it is obvious that they are eyeing the coast covetously - are these conflicts caused by the Chinese or the Westerners? Sir, you should understand this."
The facts are there and cannot be disputed; in the final analysis, it was the Spanish and Portuguese who came from afar and occupied the land of Asia with their powerful ships and guns. What is the moral problem if the local owners rise up to expel these uninvited guests who come to plunder their land? It's impossible that you Europeans also have a land deed that is two thousand years old, right?
After all, Ru Wang was inexperienced and did not have the amazing courage of his younger generations, so he could not refute it for the time being; he could only whisper:
"Unrestrained war will destroy everything. What is your country's court trying to achieve in the war?"
War is a catalyst for profits, and businessmen welcome a fight when the time is right. However, if the two countries were to fight endlessly to the point where even the main road was destroyed, then this valuable trade route in Southeast Asia would be scrapped, and the resulting losses would be something that the merchants would not be able to bear. This matter is of great importance, and Ruwang is willing to take the risk and give it a try.
The prince of Muguo hesitated for a moment, but only smiled slightly:
"Weapons are dangerous tools, and sages use them only when they have no other choice. The imperial court is not warlike, so of course it will not fight endlessly. As the saying goes, you cannot allow others to sleep beside your bed. As long as you drive the Portuguese and Spanish forces out of Southeast Asia, I think we can stop."
No, can this be called "non-warlike" or "unavoidable"?
Brother, don’t you really know how fertile a treasure land Nanyang is now? With all nations converging here for trade, most of the world's silver, silk and spices were delivered here. Not to mention controlling the main trade routes and being able to make things happen with a wave of the hand, even sitting in Luzon and collecting protection fees and tolls was a business with incredibly profitable profits.
——Let me put it this way, all merchant ships going to Southeast Asia now have to pay taxes to the Spaniards, starting at three thousand taels per ship; the cost of supplies and escort is calculated separately. The Spanish governor can collect seven or eight million taels of tax just by doing nothing. What kind of business is this?
The lucrative business of this kind is enough to drive the two colonial empires crazy and waste lives, and even England dare not covet it. Now the Chinese want to swallow such a big cake in one bite. Will the old colonists agree? ——Do you think he is an innocent person?
If this fight doesn't end in bloodshed, it would be unworthy of the profits from this business!
Ru Wang stared for a long time, and could only say in astonishment:
"I'm afraid the Portuguese won't agree. Your price is too high."
"Then unfortunately, we can't back down. After all, the South China Sea is our territory since ancient times, and we will never tolerate outsiders occupying it."
What does “since ancient times” mean? Ruwang was even more confused:
"Then the war will probably never end."
The fact that it never ends is not the key point. The most important thing is that if the Da'an court insists on intervening in Southeast Asia, does it mean that this behemoth has finally woken up and wants to get a piece of the pie in the Age of Discovery?
Ru Wang didn't know the reason, so he could only shut up and think, his expression changing slightly.
"That's not my choice." The prince said lightly: "I love peace, and all Chinese people love peace. But if things develop beyond expectations, sometimes there will be some results that no one wants to see, right?"
·
The conversation with Ruwang did not reveal any details. After the convoy crossed the Yellow River, Mu Qi got off the carriage and walked around to relax his numb butt - the dirt road was still quite rough at this time, and even if he managed to make a spring cushion, it would be difficult to withstand the bumps.
After moving a little away from the crowd, Mu Qi called out the system page. He searched for a while and saw the prompt he had been waiting for:
[The deposed emperor plays mahjong: Everything is ready.] 】
·
How to say it, although he was ambitious and wanted to expel all the Portuguese from this world, Mu Qi was just crazy and not stupid after all, so he still knew that he had to do his best to make preparations. The decision to carry out special security operations against Portugal did not come from his impulsive brain, but was a decision reached after repeated discussions among the trio. So the other two melon peels were obliged to help him - and it was a lot of help.
Among the external forces here, the most anticipated one is the gift from Zhao Fei. In order to join forces to fight against the Jin and defeat the Jurchens, Zhao Fei printed and distributed the militia manuals on a large scale and personally gave instructions. He used traditional methods to create a lot of things that were completely overpowered. He also mobilized the state machinery to summon all the craftsmen under his control to replicate these highly dangerous equipment in large quantities at all costs, trying to kill the Jin people with hot weapons, fire, medicine, and strange compounds. She did this exactly, but was left with a large amount of munitions that could not be used in time, so they had to be piled up and wait for the opportunity.
And now, the time has finally come.
Mu Qi opened the picture sent by the deposed emperor, and his eyes widened slightly after just one glance.
"...Wow." He exclaimed softly.
——From these records, it seems that Zhao Fei did act a bit extreme in the anti-Jin war.
But it doesn’t matter, because he was planning to take ruthless action against the Portuguese anyway. It is better to learn a lesson by this method now than to suffer a heavy blow in the future.
After Mu Qi finished editing the thank-you message, he clicked send and then shut down the system. He looked at the cold and cloudless sky in the northern winter, and couldn't help but smile.
…No matter what, we unite!
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