On the southwestern sea of Changsha, Spain's "Manila Galleon" fleet is sailing southwest under a gloomy sky.

In the captain's room of the flagship of the fleet, the "Galicia", the captain himself was not among them, but was replaced by an elderly missionary and a middle-aged nobleman with a good manner.

"President Alfaro, what do you think of my brother Governor?" The middle-aged nobleman smiled at the missionary, whose full name was Pedro de Alfaro, then the acting president of the Franciscan Manila province, holding a glass of red wine and smiling.

President Alfaro also had a glass of red wine in his hand, but he never took a sip, and he said slowly, "Sir Diego, I am surprised by Brother Ling's ambition, but unfortunately, I am not optimistic about his plans. IMHO, the plans of the governor of Peña can only exist on paper. Yes, sir, I insist that if His Majesty Philip II had really been moved by him, then our decades of efforts in the East would most likely have completely collapsed within a year or two. ”

"President Alfaro." The middle-aged nobleman didn't mean to be angry at all, but smiled lightly: "This half-brother of mine is a very lucky person, he once defeated 4,000 people with 300 people, so he is so confident at all times. ”

Alfaro saw a hint of mockery on the face of the middle-aged nobleman, and immediately heard the nobleman continue: "Although he tortured and killed 4,000 Potosi miner slaves with 300 musketeers armed to the teeth, you know, these people are very good at taking credit for themselves, so when the information of these 4,000 people is presented to His Majesty's desk, they have become 4,000 well-trained and well-equipped rebels...... My brother also had the opportunity to rise to higher positions until he eventually became the fourth Governor of the Philippines. ”

The middle-aged nobleman said so, but Alfaro did not answer his words, but said calmly: "Sir Diego, I have no intention of judging His Excellency the Governor's past achievements—I don't know, and I don't need to. ”

"No, no, no, Your Excellency, I think it's important for you to know about these things." The middle-aged nobleman shook his head and said, "As long as you still have hope for our pioneering cause in the East, it is very important to know the true ability of my brother the governor - it is a matter of whether you can convince Your Majesty." ”

But Alfaro still shook his head, and said with a straight face: "Sir Diego, I think you have misunderstood what I mean, the reason why I don't need to know Brother Ling's ability is because no matter how strong or weak Brother Ling's ability is, it cannot change my plan to dissuade His Majesty from accepting Brother Ling's proposal. ”

"Oh?" Sir Diego seemed a little surprised, and asked, "May I ask Your Excellency the President why this is?" ”

"Of course, I have no intention of hiding this." Alfaro said: "A few days ago, Mr. Sir also saw the trading fleet of the Ming Empire in the port of Manila, I don't know what you think of this fleet?" ”

"Very good fleet." Sir Diego raised his eyebrows slightly: "I must admit that I was surprised to see such a regular fleet and well-trained crew outside of Europe. ”

"Well, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of this fleet? I mean, if we were at war with them. Alfaro asked.

"You mean if there is a battle between them and our fleet?" Sir Diego pondered for a moment and replied: "We can win – of course, we have to pay some price. ”

"I'm glad you didn't say something like 'we will be able to win easily, a great victory for the greatest monarch in the world,' as you did to your brother." Alfaro showed a rare smile, but immediately became serious again, and said, "I wonder if you have made an exact count of the fleet we saw in Manila Port that day?" ”

"Exact statistics?" Sir Diego frowned, "What kind of 'exact' do you mean?" ”

"It seems that you didn't go out of your way to count it." Alfaro put down his red wine glass and said, "I have counted, there are a total of thirty-four large and small sea vessels in that fleet, of which there are twenty armed merchant ships with almost identical appearance and the same flag, and these armed merchant ships are the ships of Jinghua Maritime Trade, the main object of our trade. ”

"Oh, they're our most important business partners in the East? It seems that our partners have good strength. Although I am not involved in these business activities, I think our merchants will be happy to have such a powerful trading partner - which means that they do not have to worry about the origin of their goods. ”

"You're right, but allow me to correct your wording a little." Alfaro said lightly: "These Jinghua Maritime Trade fleets with the banner of 'Books and Swords' are only part of a less important sub-fleet under the Jinghua Maritime Trading Company. ”

Sir Diego's face froze visibly, and his smile became a little unnatural, and finally he was silent for a while, and then asked, "Are you sure that the fleet I saw that day was only part of the company's 'less important squadron'?" I know that you specialized in literature before becoming a servant of the Lord, so I hope that your words are not so exaggerated as to cause me to misjudge unnecessarily. ”

"Because I studied literature when I was younger, I was very careful with my words, and I never exaggerated when I shouldn't – I take full responsibility for what I just said."

Sir Diego stared into President Alfaro's eyes, as if trying to find something he wanted, but the latter's demeanor did not let up in the slightest.

At last, Sir Diego gave up, frowning deeply, and asked, "What percentage of the fleet — I mean the twenty armed merchant ships — occupy in the company?" ”

"Unfortunately, sir, I don't know a more detailed and definite answer." Alfaro shook his head and said, "But based on my many understandings in the past three years, including exchanges with Father Luo Mingjian and others, I think this fleet is no more than one-tenth of the company's strength at most. ”

"It can't be!" Sir Diego suddenly stood up in anger and glared, "Do you know what you're talking about? Are you saying that this company alone has no less than 200 large armed merchant ships like that? Your Excellency, even if I don't know the cost of the Oriental Artificial Ships, this fleet is worth at least more than ......."

"More than eleven million taels of silver." Alfaro shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said, "If that's what you mean, then I don't need your reminder, because the price is public and transparent. ”

"What do you mean, what is open and transparent?" Sir Diego was visibly stunned.

"What I mean by this is that the Jinghua shipyards of the Ming Empire are open and transparent about the prices of the armed merchant ships they produce and build, and everyone – including us and the Portuguese – can order them as long as they are willing to spend money."

Sir Diego was stunned for a moment, and said incredulously, "I find it hard to believe that this is true, even though I can tell from your look that you are not joking. ”

Alfaro sighed and said, "There is no need to doubt that the armed merchant ships you saw that day could indeed be ordered from Jinghua Shipyard, and according to the price they announced, the price of a single ship ordered by Jinghua Haimao Company itself is 55,000 taels of silver, while the Portuguese and our order price is the same: 60,000 taels of silver each." ”

"The price of a single ship seems to be a bit expensive, it seems that the Oriental people do not plan to really sell it?" Sir Diego seemed to want to keep struggling.

Unfortunately, President Alfaro shattered his illusion and said regretfully: "You are wrong again, although their single ship cost seems to be on the expensive side, you need to know that their calculation method is different from ours - shipyards in Seville and other places do not include shipboard guns when selling ships, nor do they include personnel training, while these things are standard services when selling ships at Jinghua Shipyard - of course, if the buyer says they don't need it, they can also discount." However, please believe that the purchase of the whole ship is the most cost-effective. ”

Sir Diego did not argue whether it was a good deal or not, but after a moment of silence he asked, "Your Excellency, I would like to know what the annual capacity of this shipyard you are talking about. ”

"The size of this shipyard is huge." Alfaro explains: "All I know is that it has three main branches that are involved in the manufacture of seagoing vessels. These three large branches span a large span from north to south, one of them is located in a place called 'Laizhou' in the north of the Ming Empire, the other is in a place called 'Qinzhou' in the south of the empire, and there is a newly built branch factory in Annam, which they call 'Jingang'.

These three places should be the first two, and I only know about the one located in 'Qinzhou'. As far as I know, including the evidence of Father Luo Mingjian, the branch can build at least 50-60 armed merchant ships of this class per year, and about 40-50 smaller ones, i.e., models sold to the private sector.

In addition, Father Luo Mingjian and I are also convinced that this branch can also build one or two more specialized and large warships, which they call 'cruisers', but we don't know what kind of construction capacity it can be. Oh, by the way, the construction capacity of the Jinghua Shipyard I mentioned above only refers to its ability to build under normal conditions, and if there is an unexpected situation - such as the stimulus of war - it is impossible to predict it for various reasons. ”

Sir Diego's silent face turned blue, and after a long moment, he took out a letter with a magnificent envelope and intricate fire paint from his bosom, raised it towards Alfarro, and said, "After listening to His Excellency the President, I would now like to throw this letter directly into the sea. ”

Alfaro glanced at the letter, which read: "To Spain, Portugal, and King of the New World: His Majesty Philip II, the Great and Pious," and that it was signed "Your most loyal servant, Governor of the Philippines, Gonzalo Longquillo de Peña".

Alfaro didn't speak, just looked at Sir Diego calmly and asked, "Your brother, His Excellency the Governor of Peña, thinks that only 5,000 soldiers are needed to conquer the Ming Empire......"

"I told you so." Diego said with a look of disgust: "His stupid words don't have to be taken seriously - the 'legitimate' heir to the Penia family is a poor worm with two tons of seawater in his brain." ”

Alfaro shrugged his shoulders slightly and said, "Sir, the rifle I gave you is not only the current standard equipment of the Ming Empire, but also the standard equipment of the mercenaries under the command of the Jinghua Company, I hope you can keep it properly until the moment when it is presented to His Majesty the King for inspection." ”

Diego nodded with a calm face, and then asked, "By the way, Your Excellency, since the ships of the Jinghua Shipyard are sold together with the artillery, why don't we buy one, in addition to studying their unique sail structure, we can also verify their artillery level, I think it is very meaningful." ”

"Sir, please, we have not thought about this, but then when our men visited the armed merchant ships of this class, they found a very serious problem, so that they have not yet been able to decide whether to spend such a sum of money on the ship."

Diego was surprised: "What's the problem?" Could it be that their ships have serious flaws? ”

"For us, it is." Alfaro sighed: "We have found that their sail construction is relatively fixed, and when we use the sails they provide, it will be difficult to change back to our own soft sails when needed, and this sail setting of theirs, which is only suitable in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, becomes neither reliable nor suitable once in the Atlantic." ”

Alfaro shook his head and said, "Spain is a global monarchy, and the mainland is located in Europe, so we can't use a ship that is not suitable for sailing in the Atlantic. And if it is only for research purposes, to buy this class of armed merchant ships, who will pay for it? It is impossible for the Franciscans to come up with this money, otherwise we would not be able to account for it. ”

"Well, I see what Your Excellency means, and when I return to Madrid, I will persuade His Majesty that he will pay for this much-necessary expense."

After Diego said this, he paused for a moment, and then said: "I remember that you told me before that 'jinghua' is the largest comprehensive commercial company in the Ming Empire, may I ask Your Excellency, can I understand it as the actual controller of the company, the person called Gao Pragmatic, whose business status in the Ming Empire is equivalent to that of the Medici in the past, Fugger today, or the families of Spinola, Doria, Senturion, Grimalti and Lomerini?" ”

Alfaro was silent for a while, and said lightly: "Maybe you should add up all these families, and then compare yourself with this high-level pragmatic gentleman." ”

Sir Diego gasped, "Are you sure? ”

"Yes, sir, I'm sure." "I can't describe how rich he is, but you can imagine how powerful it is in a country with a population of 200 million people who has a near-monopoly on maritime trade, land border trade, and an industrial company like the Jinghua Shipyard.

What's more, as far as I know, the annual output of steel and iron in the Ming Empire is now close to 25 million kilograms (converted), of which nearly 15 million kilograms are produced by the iron works in Jinghua - that is to say, the steel output of the iron works under the name of Jinghua Company is even far greater than that of the whole of Spain (note: in fact, the iron production in Spain itself is not high, and the popular idea in the country at that time was "let them produce, we just need to buy it, because we have gold and silver in the Americas"). ”

Sir Diego was silent again, and after a while, he asked, "I have heard that this gentleman of pragmatism has proposed direct trade with us, and that the golden port of Annam has been opened as a free port, and I do not know why our merchants have only waited in Manila to this day. ”

Alfaro shrugged slightly: "Regarding this matter, I suggest that you consult His Excellency the Governor Peña, it is he who issued the ban. It is said – and I have only heard of it – that he was in order to avoid conflict with the Portuguese at this particular moment, as it was very important for His Majesty to smoothly take over the rule of Portugal. ”

"Aha! Yes, for the sake of a Portugal, he plans to attack the most populous empire in the world, and he says that he only needs 5,000 soldiers! Our Excellency the Viceroy of Peña is truly the bravest warrior God has given Spain, and I have great respect for him. ”

An unrestrained mockery welled up on Diego's face, and he continued: "If it weren't for the fear that our trade plans would be interfered with by him, I would even hope that His Majesty would graciously grant his request and let him feel for himself what it's like to be pointed at the head with one million and four million rifles!" ”

Alfaro smiled silently, but did not speak.

"Well, Your Excellency, as Your Majesty's envoy, I think I have fully understood your point of view, and fully realized the economic and military strength of the Ming Empire, especially the High Pragmatic Excellency, and I will not agree with the foolish plans of the Governor of Peña just because I have the blue blood of the Peña family in my body."

(Note: "Blue blood" is not really blue blood, at that time European nobles were known as "blue blood nobles", friends who do not know the reason can Baidu themselves).

"Oh, by the way, is this noble lord a nobleman?" Sir Diego suddenly added a question.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not sure if Your Excellency has a title of nobility. However, as far as I know, several generations of his ancestors were imperial officials, especially his uncle, who was the chief palace minister of the Ming Empire, and obtained the highest honorary title of the empire, they are called 'wenzheng' - I don't know the actual meaning of this title, but judging from the expressions on the faces of others, it may be equivalent to a saint. ”

Sir Diego stood in awe, sat up straight, and drew a cross on his chest: "Ah, what a great man, and I hope that in the future I will have the opportunity to communicate with the nephew of this saint face to face." He paused for a moment at this point, had already relaxed, and said with a smile: "After all, someone who can have a fleet of such a huge size should be treated with due respect anywhere in the world, do you say?" ”

Alfaro nodded seriously and said, "Yes, sir, I completely agree with you. In the words of the Ming people, the fleet of Your Excellency Gao Pragmatic is a powerful force that can 'cover the sea with a thousand sails and waves for thousands of miles'. Whoever it is, he should be given the respect that is enough to match this power. ”

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Thank you for the support of the book friend "Cao Face" and "Riding Alone to Shine on Bixin", thank you! Thank you for the monthly ticket support of the book friend "Yue Xiaoyao", thank you!

PS: The governor of Peña in this chapter is a historical figure, whose full name is "Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñaloza", who did propose to Philip II a plan or proposal to "conquer the Ming Dynasty with 5,000 soldiers", but Philip II ignored it. In addition, Alfaro is also a historical figure.