Trying to draw the Netherlands and Portugal into the anti-Spanish alliance was a deliberate decision of Emperor Zhu.

Because he knew that in order to really bury Spain's world empire, it was not enough to rely on the strength of Britain, France, and Ming, and it was necessary to pull in the Netherlands!

The reason is very simple, because the Netherlands will not be happy to see Spain's world empire divided among Britain, France, and Ming, so the Netherlands will inevitably choose to support Spain in some form if it cannot participate in the partition. Even if the Netherlands did not directly enter the war, simply directing their armed merchant ships to serve as privateers for the Spaniards would put Britain in a difficult position.

And the Dutch East India Company was also able to keep the Ming in trouble in the East Asian Sea.

At the same time, France's land forces were unable to penetrate the Netherlands for a while due to the blockage of the Spanish Netherlands, forcing the Netherlands to remain truly neutral.

Therefore, winning over the Netherlands is a key step in smashing the Spanish world empire!

The purpose of pulling Portugal into the gang was to support a trading partner who was pro-Ming enough and could stay out of the war in Europe - considering that there would be many major fights between Britain, France, and the Netherlands in the future, in order to maintain the smooth flow of trade and exchanges during the period of fierce war in Europe, it was still necessary for a neutral Portuguese maritime empire to exist.

As for letting Daming kill himself to Europe...... This is too much to underestimate the European powers, and it is not necessary.

Emperor Zhu's gaze swept around the hall and said, "I want to confirm that the goal of our Three Kingdoms is not to bury the Spaniards in the world empire?" ”

"Of course!" Marville replied in the affirmative - England's original goal was to break Spain's monopoly on the Caribbean and expand its North American colonies. I didn't think about destroying the Spanish world empire in one fell swoop, but with the entry of France and the Ming Dynasty, a series of victories in the early stages of the war made Cromwell raise his goals, so destroying or severely damaging the Spanish world empire, and then making a big deal out of it, became an option.

"The goal of France, of course, is to destroy Spain's maritime supremacy!" What Kolbel said was not telling the truth.

The current French navy is far from being an opponent of Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain, so the Red Prime Minister Mazarin joined forces with Britain to end the war with Spain as the lowest goal, and the Spanish Netherlands as the highest goal.

France did not have any requirements for Spain's overseas colonies.

Of course, if you want to ask Daming, the gold owner, to join the gang, you have to talk bigger......

"Good!" Zhu Cihong nodded, he also knew that Britain and France were not firm in their intentions to destroy the Spanish world empire.

But he also needed the tiger flag of the Anglo-French alliance to fool the Dutch...... Prince Condé has been with Dutch Ambassador Bruce. Fan. Dimon discussed the hiring of the Dutch East India Company to participate in the war, but the other party was noncommittal, saying only that he would tell the Batavians.

Obviously, Bruce. Fan. Diemen was not very enthusiastic about the East India Company joining the war - it seems that the weight of the two countries was not enough!

After all, the sea power of the Ming Dynasty is still thin, and there are only twenty or thirty soft-sail galen ships that can chase Western sail warships on the ocean, and the tactical level of the navy is still a little worse.

And France's power in the East Asian seas is even thinner, that is, a few Galen ships of the "gift fleet", which are not worth mentioning.

Although the Ming navy had a powerful bombardment gun (referring to large-caliber short-barreled guns) and wooden shells, the Spanish Oriental Armada had now retreated to Kagoshima Bay, indicating that it was colluding with the Japanese Satsuma clan to fight a privateer war.

Once the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty were attacked by Spanish privateers, the Dutch East India Company had the opportunity to seize the market...... Obviously you can lie down to make money, why did the Dutch profiteers go to war?

But once England and Portugal were in the game, it would be difficult for the Dutch East India Company to stay out of it!

Because the number of ships of England in the East is not less than that of the Netherlands, plus the armed merchant ships of Portugal, the armed merchant ships of France, and the soft sail warships of the Ming Dynasty, there are still sixty or seventy ships, which is twice the number of the Spanish Oriental Armada!

Moreover, the command level of the British Navy was not below that of the Dutch Navy, and in the last Anglo-Dutch war, Britain had the upper hand.

Coupled with the bombardment of the Ming Dynasty, Kagoshima Bay in the Satsuma Domain and Manila Bay in Spain are likely to fall soon.

At that time, the position of the Dutch East India Company will be awkward, and it will become the target of the common exclusion of Ming, Britain, France and Portugal......

"Since we have the same goal!" Zhu Cihong paused, "Then let's try to bring the Netherlands into the group...... First of all, we can form an anti-Spanish alliance in the East, including the Dutch East India Company and the Portuguese Governor's Palace in Macau!

In addition, Japan's Tokugawa shogunate will join our alliance! And the Satsuma clan in Japan, as a lackey of the Spaniards, will also be our common enemy.

Therefore, once the alliance between the three countries and the two parties (the two sides being the East India Company and the Portuguese Governor of Macao) was concluded, our first target was the Japanese Satsuma Domain, which provided shelter for the Spanish fleet! ”

Shimazu Mitsuhisa of the Satsuma Domain will definitely cry and faint when he hears Emperor Zhu's words, and a Tokugawa shogunate can't handle it, and now there are more Ming, France, England, the Netherlands, and Portugal.

By the way, there are also the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, Annam and Korea, most of which will also send troops to the war - they are all obliged to participate in the war according to the Treaty of Clans, and both Annam and Korea also have a small number of navies.

This is the Eight-Nation Alliance!

"If it were just the Dutch East India Company," Marville said, "it would have been easier to achieve...... The question is, Spain does not have many interests in the East, how should it be distributed? ”

Zhu Cihong began to bid, he said: "The Ming Dynasty will provide military expenses for the fleets of the Netherlands and Portugal, and a Galen warship will give 20,000 to 50,000 taels of silver!"

British and French ships going to war in the East would also pay for their military expenses according to this standard...... In addition, the British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese warships captured and captured in the battles against Spain and the Satsuma Domain could be taken for themselves. ”

Emperor Zhu didn't let people work in vain, even if the ships of his allies came to help, he would also give money!

And the reason why he was so generous was because he knew that most of the armed Galen ships of the countries operating in the East Asian Sea and the Indian Ocean in this era were "docked" by private ships.

If Emperor Zhu didn't give money, they would either not come, or simply go to get a privateer license from Spain.

Therefore, he would rather give a little more silver and bring all these Western ships to his side. Even if they don't work and get paid for nothing, it's much better than letting them go to sea to be Spanish privateers.

As soon as they heard the labor fee standard offered by Zhu Cihong to the friendly warships that helped the war, the eyes of Marville and Kirkbell lit up.

An important mission for them to come to the East was to get the Ming Emperor to pay for the war against Spain!

"Your Majesty," Kirkbell began with a request for patronage, "and the finances of the Kingdom of France are very tight at the moment...... I am afraid it will be difficult to support a long war aimed at burying the Spanish world empire. So His Majesty King Louis XIV and Bishop Mazarin want to borrow money from you. ”

Borrow money? Zhu Cihong thought to himself: Louis XIV won't be an old man, right?

"How much do you want to borrow?" Zhu Cihong asked.

Kirkbell held out five fingers, "Five million taels of silver." ”

What a lion's mouth!

Zhu Cihong calculated that the current gold louis in France is almost a quarter of a tael of gold, according to the current gold and silver ratio of one to twelve (the gold and silver price ratio has been adjusted by the two major banks of maritime merchants and salt merchants for 12 years, and now it has achieved basic integration with the world), it is three taels of silver. Five million taels of silver is more than a million louis, which is equivalent to twenty or thirty million francs. And France's current fiscal revenue is at most fifty or sixty million francs...... But then again, the current Ming Empire is really rich, and its fiscal revenue is almost ten times that of France!

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