Chapter 1633 The Great Expedition

[Correction: Sorry, I just remembered today that the group's tenth anniversary should be the fourth year of the 25-year plan, not the completion of the 25-year plan. So this conference has been changed to the '10th Anniversary Conference', and Zhao Hao's report has also been changed to "10th Anniversary Work Summary". I would like to inform you of this and express my deep apologies.]

While a thousand-person conference was held on Jeju Island to celebrate the group's tenth anniversary, tens of thousands of miles away in Lisbon, the capital of the Portuguese Empire, a group of Moors in white robes and white turbans were cheering enthusiastically.

Lisbon is a fanatically Catholic territory, and the young King Sebastian vowed to contribute his all to eradicating pagans like his uncle, King Philip II of Spain.

It was strange to see a group of Moors in such a place. What was even stranger was that there were many Oriental people among them, all wearing the same attire.

These oriental faces were exactly the ones who were ordered to stay in Morocco and set up a trading post when Lin Feng sailed around the world.

It was at the beginning of the third year of the Wanli reign, almost three years ago. Time flies...

Three years ago, one hundred special forces officers, one hundred marines, and fifty crew members who had repaired the Ningbo and rushed over to join them, a total of two hundred and fifty people and three ships, settled in Marrakech, the capital of Morocco, according to the order personally issued by Master Zhao.

The first year was very peaceful. After being tossed around on the sea for a year and a half, everyone needed such stability to recuperate and restore their bodies and minds.

Of course, they were not idle either. According to the plan, the special operations officers disguised themselves as oriental merchants and used the sought-after Ming Dynasty goods on the ship as capital to start local trade activities, trying to make friends with high-level Moroccan officials.

The noble oriental faces helped them greatly, and the princes and nobles of Morocco were proud to make friends with them. Even the young King Abu Abdullah Muhammad II often invited them to the palace to listen to their fascinating stories of the far east and appreciate the various exotic treasures made by the skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty.

King Abu also took good care of them, and from time to time rewarded them with lots of fine wine and beautiful women. They could even do nothing and live a comfortable life in Morocco. There was a real danger that they would be reluctant to leave.

Fortunately, these carefully selected task force members all had very firm beliefs. Based on their loyalty to the Young Master and the Group, they quickly remembered their missions, and after recuperating, they set out on their own.

Taking advantage of their good relationship with the royal family, the Marines had no trouble collecting intelligence on Morocco and Northwest Africa and drawing nautical charts of the relevant waters.

In order to keep the three ships in good condition and familiarize themselves with the sea conditions in the area, the crew also started shipping along the coast of Morocco and even went as far as the Azores.

Thanks to their strong ships and powerful guns, superb seamanship, fair charges and their emphasis on keeping their promises, their shipping business became an instant hit and they made a lot of extra money.

However, the good times did not last long. The following year, that is, in the fourth year of the Wanli reign (1576 AD), the situation in Morocco suddenly became tense.

~~

To put it simply, the Saadi dynasty that now rules Morocco was established by King Abu Mahdi, his grandfather, who overthrew the Watasi dynasty, which was a puppet of the Ottomans.

How could the Ottoman Empire, the ruler of the Arab world and at its peak, swallow this? A few years later, the Ottomans planned to murder Mahdi, and a struggle for the throne began within the Saad dynasty.

The two great powers, Turkey and Portugal, took the opportunity to intervene and try to push their own proxies to power. In the end, the Portuguese, who were close at hand, defeated the Turks, who were out of reach, and helped their eldest son, Ghalib, the father of King Abu, to succeed in taking the throne.

The other two young princes fled Morocco under the protection of Ottoman envoys and sought refuge in Constantinople.

The two princes waited for twenty years in the capital of Morocco, and finally received the good news that their brother Ghalib had passed away. The Ottoman Empire first sent envoys to Morocco and brazenly announced to King Amin that their Sultan had appointed his second uncle Malik as the ruler of Morocco and vassal of the Ottoman Sultan, forcing him to abdicate immediately.

King Amin naturally would not surrender, and so war clouds shrouded Morocco.

Finally, at the turn of spring and summer in 1576, Malik, who had been on the run for twenty years, and his brother, with the support of the Ottoman elite guards, arrived in Morocco and started a war for the throne with his nephew's supporters.

As a result, King Amin's army suffered defeat after defeat, and he himself almost died at the hands of his two uncles.

At the critical moment, it was his friend from the Ming Dynasty who stepped forward and led his men with extraordinary bravery to rescue him from the chaotic army, and fled to the seaside on a camel. He also relied on the powerful firepower of three Ming warships to stop the pursuing enemy.

Amin and his trusted guards escaped on the Ningbo and finally escaped from danger. But at this time, the forces loyal to him were completely annihilated, the king was doomed, and Morocco had fallen into the hands of his two uncles.

King Amin, unwilling to accept defeat, fled to Portugal across the sea, hoping to persuade Portugal to send troops to help him restore his country.

However, although Portugal claimed to divide the world with Spain, in fact it was only because of its good geographical location that it had the upper hand. It did not have the strength to conquer the east and the west and wage war on all sides like Spain.

This is mainly because the country has too small a population. There are less than two million people in the country, and there are only tens of thousands of soldiers available, let alone the number of troops that can be used for expeditions.

Although they could defeat the indigenous troops in front of them time and again with a small number of troops and relying on advanced military technology and military qualities honed on the European battlefield, their small population left them no room for trial and error. A disastrous defeat could lead to the destruction of the country. Therefore, kings of all generations were always cautious and avoided large-scale land battles.

In the early 15th century, the Portuguese made their first expedition to North Africa across the sea. After suffering considerable losses, they turned their attention to the ocean without hesitation.

From sending small-scale expeditions to search for gold in West Africa, to planting cash crops on tropical islands in the Atlantic Ocean, to opening up the Cape of Good Hope route to enter the Indian Ocean maritime trade circle, to attacking Malacca and controlling the most profitable Far East route, the Portuguese have always played to their ever-increasing naval advantages, focusing on controlling routes and trade bases, and trying to avoid fighting deep inland.

Only in this way can we make the best use of our strengths, avoid our weaknesses, use as little manpower as possible, and maintain a global maritime trade empire.

However, the prosperity of the maritime industry will also consume Portugal's pitiful population.

Although the fleets heading to Asia brought huge profits, they also required more manpower to be deployed overseas to protect the long shipping routes and countless strongholds to prevent the covetousness of powerful enemies.

This has further exacerbated Portugal's population problem. There are now more Portuguese overseas than in the country, and most of them are strong and capable men, while those who remain in the country are mostly the elderly, the weak, women and children.

Because of the small population, even Lisbon, the terminal city of Far East trade, could not develop. After the bulk goods from Asia arrived, they had to be transported again to the prosperous ports of the Netherlands for sale, and as a result, half of the profits were taken away by shrewd Dutch merchants.

To make matters worse, due to the recent awakening of Ming Dynasty's maritime power consciousness, the Far East waters were no longer the Portuguese's private domain. With the destruction of the Macau fleet, the Portuguese withdrew from their base in the Far East, and the trade with the Far East was completely monopolized by the Ming Dynasty, and the profits of the Portuguese royal family were greatly reduced again.

If this continues, Portugal's current development model is in danger of collapse. The kingdom is looking for a new way out, and their young king Sebastian is no exception.

This virgin king, who was born in the tears and prayers of the Portuguese, had already ruled the country, but he had lived in a comfortable environment with his grandmother and uncle as regency. He also enjoyed the huge dividends earned by previous generations of Portuguese fighting on the sea, and his head was full of chivalrous literature and religious complexes.

This makes him have the same common problems as ordinary young people: high expectations but low skills, and ignorance of the immensity of heaven and earth. But the problem is that he is a king with absolute power!

In his heart, Sebastian has always envied his uncle next door, King Philip II of Spain. Since he was a child, he fantasized about being like him, leading a powerful crusade to fight against the pagans; carrying out in-depth colonial development in the New World, and using the continuous population and wealth of the colonies to strengthen his country's strength.

It is not like now, where they occupy half of the earth but only dare to defend the sea routes and coastal strongholds, and dare not go deep into the inland. Even now, they cannot establish a decent colony!

So his answer to Portugal's future is to turn from the ocean to the inland, to establish colonies like Spain to strengthen the country's strength and improve its position in Europe!

He had long set his sights on Morocco, which was right next to his home. With its vast land and dense population, it was just right for the empire's first colony to be cultivated! Moreover, the people there were all Moors who believed in Islam, which could satisfy his Crusade complex. It was simply the king's perfect prey!

In fact, in 1574, the young king personally led a force across the sea to the Portuguese-occupied Moroccan cities of Ceuta and Tangier in an attempt to launch an invasion. But at that time, Morocco and Portugal had a good relationship, and he found that the army here was not as vulnerable as he had imagined.

They also had a large number of artillery, flexible cavalry, and musketeers equipped with Spanish matchlocks. Moreover, their numbers were too large for his small force to handle.

Although Sebastian accepted the advice of his ministers and led his troops back to Lisbon, the idea of ​​conquering Morocco never disappeared from his mind.

The arrival of Amin, the deposed king of Morocco, was exactly what he wanted! Not only did he have a legitimate reason to attack, he didn't have to worry about being attacked by the Moors, and Amin had many supporters in the country, which greatly reduced the difficulty of conquering Morocco.

It took Sebastian a whole year to finally convince the nobles to support him in changing his national policy. With the wealth accumulated by several generations of the empire, he launched a great expedition! Swallow Morocco!

Amin and others, who had been waiting in the State Guesthouse in Lisbon for more than a year, naturally burst into tears of joy when they heard the news!

"Woo, woo, there is finally hope for the restoration of our country..." The Moroccans jumped and shouted.

"Woo, woo, there is finally hope of returning home..." The Ming people also jumped and shouted, of course in Chinese.

(End of this chapter)