As soon as he heard the word "war", Steve's face immediately turned serious.

This is a very serious word, because it often means a war. And Portugal is no longer the country that clamoured to conquer the whole world a hundred years ago, and now Portugal only has a few warships and five or six hundred soldiers and thousands of expatriates in Macao.

Taking a deep breath, Steve said to Yang Feng sincerely: "Your Excellency, Marquis, I have no intention of being an enemy of your country. To be honest, I've only been in Macau for less than two years, and I just want to spend this time in peace. In my capacity as Governor General of Portugal in Macao, I promise you that as long as your country does not take back Macao, I will try my best to satisfy you if you have any requirements during my term of office, as long as I can do it! ”

It stands to reason that being able to say such things to Yang Feng as Steve is already a bow, but Yang Feng still shook his head.

"Your Excellency the Governor, as I have just said, this is a question of sovereignty and a non-negotiable issue, and we must take back Macau. But I can assure you that after we take back Macao, your merchant ships will be able to dock and replenish in Macao, except for warships, of course. Finally, I can also give you a promise that we will open our trade with you, and that you can buy our goods with gold and silver, such as porcelain, tea, silk, and so on. ”

Listening to Yang Feng's words, Steve's heart can be described as sad and happy. Sadly, Portugal's only foothold in the East was taken back in this way, and the joy was that the Ming Dynasty actually opened up silk, tea, porcelain and other items to him, which was unimaginable in the past, and he did not know what the domestic reaction would be if the news was transmitted back to China.

"War on the Great Ming!"

This thought only flashed through his mind, and then he was thrown out of the clouds, what kind of joke, just with those few warships and hundreds of soldiers in his hands? That's not a war, it's a death.

And as far as he knows, the Ming Dynasty over the years to implement the policy of banning the sea so that the Ming silk, tea and other specialties have become a sought-after item in the Western world, so far no country can do business in the Ming Dynasty in the official name, if Portugal can become the first country to establish business cooperation with the Ming Dynasty, then the benefits for Portugal will be huge.

Thinking of this, Steve's heart was filled with a huge joy, and even the grief and indignation of Macau being taken back were diluted a lot.

"Your Excellency the Marquis." While thinking about it, Steve said with a bite to the letter: "If your country can open up commodity restrictions and open up trade and trade with our country, my country will welcome this, but because of the importance of the matter, please allow me to report back to China, and I will be able to reply to you by June next year at the latest." ”

"Well, that's all there is to it." Yang Feng sighed helplessly, Portugal and Daming are thousands of miles apart, and it will take more than half a year to go back and forth, and it will be very fast to get a reply from Portugal in June next year.

After expressing his understanding, Yang Feng also said with a straight face: "But I also want to remind you here that by July next year at the latest, we will take back the sovereignty of Macao, and your warships and soldiers in Macao will leave, so you had better be mentally prepared." ”

For Yang Feng's words, Steve Wei replied with a soft snort.

Seeing Steve's face a little angry, Yang Feng smiled faintly: "Your Excellency the Governor, you don't have to feel frustrated and sad, now I have a small proposal, I don't know if you are willing to listen?" ”

"Let's talk about it!" Steve replied angrily.

"As you know, we have recently established a school in Xiamen called the Fujian Naval Officer School, and due to the lack of teachers, I would like to hire your country's naval officers in Macao, as well as some experienced sailors and sergeants, to teach there. Guaranteed good treatment, I don't know what you think? ”

"You want to hire our officers to give lectures?" When Steve heard this proposal, he was angry and amused, and just now he had vowed to take back Macau, even at the cost of going to war with us, and now he was going to hire our officers to teach him knowledge, and he was reserved...... What about your Ming people's meticulous reserve?

"I beg your pardon, I can't make a decision about that." Steve replied with a straight face.

"No...... It's up to you. Yang Feng stared at Stephen with fierce eyes, and raised his voice: "You should know very well that the era of Portugal's domination of the sea has passed, and now it is the Spaniards, the English and the Dutch who are vying for the position of supremacy on the sea. For Portugal, the most important thing is not how much territory to establish overseas, but commerce and trade, because this will bring untold wealth to Portugal, which is the most important thing. ”

"Countless riches?"

Steve muttered a sentence in his mouth, with a hesitant look on his face, and he had to say that Yang Feng's last words moved him. Unlike the traditional Confucian scholars, who regarded money as a thing, Westerners have never shied away from the pursuit of wealth. Why did Portugal come to Daming and lease Macau with a dead face, it was not for wealth, and now Yang Feng promised to open commodity restrictions to Portugal and establish commercial exchanges, whether Macao is a small place does not seem to be so important.

Thinking of this, Steve finally nodded slowly: "Okay, I'll try my best to convince our King Majesty." Until then, though, I'm willing to send you fifty officers and a hundred sailors to serve as instructors at the naval school you've founded. ”

"Really...... That's in the great! ”

Yang Feng was overjoyed when he heard this, although Portugal has begun to fall, but the quality of Portugal's navy is still quite high, and it is not under the Dutch, if there is their help, the combat effectiveness of the Fujian Navy Division can be raised to a higher level within half a year.

After negotiating the matter, the atmosphere was more relaxed, and Yang Feng and Steve began to chat.

After chatting between the two sides, Yang Feng found that this Steve was actually quite good at chatting, and what was especially commendable was that he had a certain understanding of Daming's politics, economy, and system, so the two still chatted very well.

What Yang Feng didn't know was that Steve's heart was even more surprised, because he found that the Marquis of the Ming Dynasty not only knew the history of O'Barro very well, whether it was the history of Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, or even France and England, he was even more proficient in some things than Steve. And he is very different from the Ming officials of this era in both speech and behavior, and in Steve's eyes, he is more like a polite nobleman.

That night, Yang Feng also hosted a banquet for Steve and his party, and Yang Feng even accompanied Steve to visit the Fujian Naval Academy the next day, and it was not until the third day that Steve returned to Macao.