Master Zhao then treated the Black Prince and the Green Queen to a Brunei-style meal, which lasted until about three in the afternoon when both the guests and hosts left happily.

After he rested for another half an hour, Sebastian, who had been waiting for most of the day and was so hungry that his eyes were blurry, was finally led by the secretary to the back garden of the Governor's Mansion.

Under the shade of a huge camphor tree, Mr. Zhao, wearing sunglasses, sat lazily in a rocking chair, falling asleep to the melodious music.

The young secretary quickened his pace and walked forward, quietly reporting to Zhao Hao that the guests had arrived.

Young Master Zhao then slowly took off his sunglasses, stretched and stood up, showing a tired smile to Sebastian and said, "Your Majesty, what is so urgent? Can't you wait until we return to Yongxia?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes secretly and said, "When we get back to Yongxia, I don't know where you'll be again."

"I really can't wait." After three years of hanging out with the Ming people, he finally learned to speak Chinese. "My country is facing an invasion by Spain, I must return home immediately, young master!"

"Is that so?" Zhao Hao picked up a cigar and sniffed it. He didn't know if he was trying to smell the scent of the girl's thigh or thinking about what he said.

In fact, Mr. Zhao was just simply sleepy...

"My lord, the war is over now. And I am now at loggerheads with Spain. What do you have to worry about?" Sebastian couldn't help feeling uneasy. After living under someone else's roof for so many years, he finally learned to read people's expressions.

"Haha, Your Majesty, you misunderstood." Zhao Hao yawned and lowered his head to get the lighter. Xiao Sai quickly took it first, flicked it, and lit his cigarette.

"Indeed, the group has lifted the restrictions on your return." Zhao Hao took a puff of his cigar and said, "I'm just worried about your safety. From what I know, Your Majesty would be dead if he went back now."

"How could that be? If our military and civilians knew that I'm still alive, their morale would definitely be boosted!" Xiao Sai said with a blushing face.

Zhao Hao raised his hand to stop Sebastian from arguing, and slowly exhaled the milky white smoke, enjoying the unique mellow smell of Luzon tobacco leaves, and then continued:

"But the problem is that your nobles and upper classes have openly sided with Philip II."

"This..." Sebastian's face twitched, and he said stubbornly: "It's nothing, it's just because they thought I was dead."

"Haha..." Zhao Hao bit his cigar and looked at Xiao Sai with an idiotic look in his eyes, saying, "Even gamblers know that 'buy and forget', let alone a group of nobles with large families and noble status. Since they have chosen to be loyal to Philip II, they can't go back on their words easily, otherwise they will be regarded as betrayers by His Majesty."

Then Zhao Hao said word by word: "And betrayal will come at a price."

"That's different." Sebastian's face flushed, and the veins on his forehead popped out. He argued, "I am the orthodox king of the Avis dynasty. If you betray me, you will be deprived of your noble status..."

"They have already been conferred nobles by Philip II." Zhao Hao reminded Sebastian with a smile.

Sebastian was stunned and could only say something difficult to understand like "I am the country" and "I am the hope of the whole nation".

Zhao Hao didn't laugh cheerfully, but just rubbed salt into his wounds and said, "According to reliable information, your country's Viceroy of India and Governor of Malacca have sworn allegiance to Philip II in exchange for re-election. So we must evaluate whether letting Your Majesty go back now would be like sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth."

Sebastian was completely speechless. Those officials kept talking about loyalty and honor, but they surrendered more quickly than anyone else, which made him feel ashamed.

"And the results of the evaluation are not optimistic." Zhao Hao put his arm around Sebastian's shoulders and spoke in the tone of an elder brother:

"Let's assume the best scenario first. Assuming that Your Majesty is still the chosen one, the governors of the overseas colonies will surrender upon seeing you, allowing you to return to Portugal smoothly. What chances do you have of winning against Spain?"

"Don't forget, in the Battle of the Mahazan River, tens of thousands of Portuguese died on the battlefield. 15,000 Portuguese, including nobles from all over the country, became captives of the Moroccans. In the following years, in order to redeem these captives, almost every family in your country was penniless, the country was heavily in debt, and it directly caused a famine that lasted for two years, killing more than 50,000 people..." The big brother was ruthless when he exposed Xiao Sai's scars.

"The border fortresses you have built over generations have now been taken over by the Spanish, and there is no place to defend your country. When your Majesty returns to Portugal with the 18,000 soldiers you have collected from the colonies, the Spanish will have already wiped out the resistance and will certainly concentrate their forces to encircle and suppress you. Your Majesty, with your tired troops coming from afar against the well-rested Spanish phalanx, do you really think you have a chance of winning?"

Sebastian's forehead was covered with sweat. Over the past year or so, he had naturally considered all possible situations. What Zhao Hao said was exactly what he was most worried about.

"This is the most helpless part - even if everything is in the best condition, whether it is the officers and soldiers of the overseas colonies or the local noble army, they all support you regardless of past grudges. You still can't beat the Spaniards." Zhao Hao said with a sigh:

"And according to Mr. Ping, in order to control the colonies, the families of all civil and military officials sent overseas must stay in Lisbon. If the Spaniards threaten them with the safety of their families, will your officers inform Philip II and disobey His Majesty's orders? These are obvious questions."

"So, Your Majesty, what chance of winning do you have?" Zhao Hao finally patted his shoulder and said with sympathy: "People always seek benefits and avoid harm. How many people do you expect to disregard their lives and board your shabby ship that is destined to sink?"

Sebastian was completely discouraged by him, and due to hunger he had low blood sugar. He felt dizzy and the world was spinning. He even went black and almost fell to the ground.

Zhao Hao quickly asked someone to hold him up, and brought him chicken pie and pancakes with lotus root paste. Xiao Sai wolfed down two of each, and then gulped down a large glass of soda before he recovered.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin, sighed, then stood up, bowed deeply to Zhao Hao and said, "Please help me, big brother!"

"What I can do for you is to make sure you live safely in the Ming Dynasty." Zhao Hao put out his cigar and said, "Europe is too far away. I can't help you with your domestic affairs."

"Brother, please lend me some troops!" Sebastian said again in a deep voice.

Master Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He had invited Xiao Sai to watch the military parade and threatened him just to make this idiot say this.

But Zhao Hao looked puzzled and asked, "Borrow troops? What does that mean?"

"Please lend me a fleet, an elite army, and a mercenary group to protect me as I return to Europe and drive the invaders out of Portugal!" Sebastian had clearly made up his mind.

"I will pay you handsomely according to European rules! Of course, I don't have money now, but there is money in Malacca and Goa. The maritime trade is a royal monopoly, so there must be enough wealth there for me to control!"

"Let's not talk about that for now." Zhao Hao raised his hand and said with embarrassment: "The problem now is that the men of our Ming Dynasty are not used to being mercenaries."

He said seriously, "For thousands of years, we have paid the Diyi to fight for us. It has never been the other way around. How can I ask the soldiers to do this?"

"It's about making money, it's not shameful..." Pinto couldn't help but interrupted in a low voice.

He has served the group for more than ten years and is well aware of the group's corporate culture of 'no early rise without profit'.

"Have you not heard that 'A gentleman loves money, but gets it in a proper way'?" He was speaking Chinese, so how could he be Zhao Hao's opponent? "Besides, the group is not short of money now. In the previous battle of Leyte Gulf, we seized tens of millions of taels of spoils from the Spanish fleet. This time in Cebu City, we have looted about 20 million taels of wealth."

After a pause, he emphasized: "The soldiers will not be moved by money at the moment."

After saying that, Zhao Hao picked up the teacup and said, "I have a meeting later..."

Sebatisian wanted to say something else, but Pinto pulled his sleeve, so he had to stand up and say goodbye.

~~

The secretary escorted the two men out of the Governor's Mansion, and they returned to the VIP hotel where they were staying not far away.

After entering the room and closing the door, Sebastian asked anxiously: "Pinto, what does Young Master Zhao mean?"

"He made it very clear." Pinto spread his hands and said, "If he doesn't want money, then he wants something else."

"Something else? What is that?" Sebastian was confused.

"For the Ming people, what else can Your Majesty give them that is more valuable than money? What else can you give them?" Pinto said with a wry smile: "Of course it is the overseas territories, colonies and trade routes in Asia."

"How can that be possible?" Sebastian said anxiously, "That was obtained at the cost of several generations of Portuguese lives! It is the foundation of our country's strength!"

"But it is also the reason for our weakness." Pinto sighed in a vicissitudes of life tone: "Since Prince Henry sent a fleet to explore the Canary Islands in 1415, too much of our manpower and national strength have been spent overseas in the past 165 years."

"Because our population is too small, we cannot conquer colonies by force and carry out direct economic plunder like the Spanish did. We can only cooperate with local princes and make profits through trade. However, the cost and uncertainty of this method are too high, and there are too many loopholes to exploit. The profits are all embezzled by colonial officials and traders. The royal family and the people pay the most, but gain the least."

"We can't just give it to others!" Sebastian said impatiently, "How can I explain this to the previous kings of the Kingdom of Heaven?"

"Then you can only watch the whole of Portugal being annexed by Spain." Pinto sighed, "Your Majesty, choose one, whether to lose everything or to sacrifice the pawn to save the king."

ps. I wanted to write last night, but I fell asleep at the table and slept until 4am. Today I feel sore all over, tired, and my brain is not working at all. I spent most of the day writing this half chapter. Sigh... I will continue writing and write as much as I can.