The reason why rubber trees were not introduced to the world by Westerners like potatoes and corn is actually because Westerners did not discover the use of this thing.

In fact, as early as Columbus discovered the New World, rubber products had been discovered to exist, but because of the characteristics of natural rubber that are soft when exposed to heat and hard when cold, Europeans did not discover its great use for a while, so they let it continue to stay in its native place.

If it weren't for the fact that the Portuguese listened to Li Tianyang's inquiry and remembered it in their hearts, and the Dutch suddenly took advantage of Hongmen's relationship, they might not have the heart to look for these exotic plants for Hongmen.

The Portuguese had a natural advantage in collecting these exotic plants, who made their current king the same king of Spain, and Spain had mastered the ocean route from Manila to Acapulco, which would come and go almost once a year and a half to two years, so that as long as the Portuguese merchants were willing, they could always find the rubber tree seeds for Hongmen through the channels of the Spaniards.

This great gift was accompanied by greetings from the Portuguese governor, and their inquiry into the reason why Hongmen had placed a fleet off the coast of Macao.

In this regard, Li Tianyang unceremoniously accepted the gift from the Portuguese, and on the other hand, he beat the Portuguese envoy, and the harsh wording showed that the Ming Dynasty was dissatisfied with the arrival of the Portuguese fleet.

The Portuguese envoy returned in disgrace, and his ocean-going fleet quickly departed after confronting Hongmen from a distance and assessing the strength of Hongmen's "Yang Fan" warships.

The Portuguese were essentially merchants, and even if their Far Eastern Fleet was not inferior to the original Dutchin fleet at the moment, they were also unwilling to fight against the indigenous Hongmen at this moment, which would inevitably be a big battle for both sides, and the gains would outweigh the losses for the Portuguese.

The Portuguese man's anticlimactic actions made Li Tianyang and them puzzled, but it did not prevent Li Tianyang from peeking into the essence of the Portuguese.

However, Li Tianyang was very grateful for the behavior of people who sent such a big gift from afar, looking at the rubber tree species as big as a pigeon egg in his hand and covered with gray-brown patterns on the surface, Li Tianyang's mind began to empty, fantasizing about the changes brought by his team because of this inconspicuous little thing in the near future.

It's just that Li Tianyang didn't know what he was, because he took precautions, but instead eliminated a big war for the Dutch.

At this time, the rich Far East Sea had been controlled by three countries, Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch.

The Spaniards' sphere of influence was in the Luzon Islands and Acapulco in South America, while the Dutch controlled Java and the Wa Kingdom, and only the Portuguese controlled only Macao, the only port of the Ming Dynasty, and monopolized the trade of the Ming Dynasty.

However, as China gradually became unified, the maritime policy of the newly ascended Tokugawa shogunate tended to be more similar to that of the early Ming Dynasty, which led to the fact that Westerners, especially the Dutch, had to be forced to withdraw from the Wa Kingdom and seek other trade routes.

Compared with the spice trade between Europe and Southeast Asia, the raw silk trade between the Ming Dynasty was not only not inferior in terms of profit, but also short in duration and risky, which soon made Westerners very rich.

The Dutch lost the trade channels of the Japanese Kingdom, so he could only find a way to open the huge Ming Dynasty maritime trade channels, Li Tianyang did not cross the era, the Dutch occupied Dayuan Island with the same time, and established a stronghold on Dayuan Island as a transit station, opening the door to the trade of the Ming Dynasty controlled by the Portuguese.

However, in this era, the efforts of the Dutch were undermined by the strong rise of Hongmen, and Li Tianyang not only preemptively occupied and developed Dayuan Island, but even severely damaged the Dutch fleet in the Far East.

Therefore, if the Dutch want to continue to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, then they can only bow to the Hongmen who defeated them.

They did the same, and since the peace agreement between Hongmen and the Dutch governor of Java, Cohen, the Dutch have made many moves to curry favor with Hongmen in recent years.

For example, the purchase of firearms for Hongmen, such as collecting all kinds of books in Europe for Hongmen, and then providing Hongmen with fresh information on European countries, and so on.

Li Tianyang agreed to the peace agreement of the Dutch due to his own situation at the time, and at the same time, he also needed such a partner from Europe to balance the old friend of the Portuguese in Macau.

And Hongmen helped the Dutch to purchase raw silk, tea, porcelain, spices, etc. from the Ming Dynasty from the chicken coop port when they lost the Japanese kingdom, which also opened the trade channel of the Ming Dynasty, but they needed to go through the hands of Hongmen, a second-class dealer.

The Dutch divided the trade channels of the Ming Dynasty that the Portuguese had originally monopolized, and in the era when Li Tianyang did not exist, because the Dutch had a good reputation as "sea coachmen" and the Far Eastern Fleet that they had not been hit hard, even if the Portuguese had the idea of using force to conquer, I am afraid they might not be able to put it into action, after all, the Dutch were equal to their strength in the Far East.

However, it was precisely because Li Tianyang and his Hongmen had inflicted heavy losses on the Dutch Far East Fleet, and even the commander and deputy commander of the fleet had been captured, that for the Portuguese, the Dutch, whose strength had been greatly damaged, might not be able to deter the Portuguese whose interests were paramount.

However, the Portuguese's actions were ultimately sabotaged by Li Tianyang, and when they had just assembled their fleet, they received news that a Dutch ocean-going fleet was about to return from the Japanese kingdom to the colony of Java.

This was the best chance for the Portuguese to sneak up on the Dutch, and it was also their chance to drive the Dutch out of the Daming Sea, but who would have thought that in the end, Hongmen cut a lever and blocked the Portuguese fleet in the port of Macao.

Unless the Portuguese turn against Hongmen, Li Tianyang has already asked the envoy to bring back a message, so that their Portuguese fleet will be restrained a little and not disturb the Ming border, which will invisibly make the Portuguese think that their plan has been known by Hongmen, which is sounding the alarm for them!

The Portuguese were very unwilling, but the dozen or so so-called "Yang Fan-type" warships of the Hongmen people had been cruising in the open sea, and their eyes were not far from the small port of Macao, so that their fleets could not leave quietly to attack the Dutch fleet.

(End of chapter)