Samento finally waited until the emperor finished eating, and then the musicians and dancers in the banquet retreated, and when he was about to speak, Chongzhen smiled before him and asked, "Is my Daming's diet still to your liking?" ”

Sarmento hurriedly stopped what he wanted to say, and then replied: "The food entertained by His Majesty the Emperor is the most comfortable meal I have ever had in the East, especially the scrambled eggs with berries, which are sweet and sour, and are really excellent, I don't know what this berry is called?" But is it a specialty of the Ming Dynasty? ”

"Oh, you mean scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the tomatoes are also a plant you brought from the Americas, haven't you tasted them?" Zhu Youzhen said disappreciatively.

Sarmento couldn't remember for a moment that tomato was that kind of plant. After a few words, he changed the subject and struck up a conversation with the Chinese emperor.

In order to gain the favor of the young emperor, he racked his brains to answer the emperor's questions and his anecdotes during the voyage.

However, although Sarmento has more than 30 years of sailing experience and nearly 10 years on the Eastern route, he is only a profit-chasing businessman, not an explorer.

In his sailing career, apart from a few boring figures, there are really few interesting experiences. Originally, he also wanted to borrow some European navigation stories to put on himself to fool the emperor.

However, he soon found out. If he said the facts he had experienced, the emperor still looked skeptical. If he talked about legends such as monsters of the sea, ghost ships, etc., the emperor would immediately smile sarcastically.

Sarmento had to abandon the idea of telling myths and tell honest stories about the events he had experienced at sea.

He said this for two or three hours, until the candles were lit in the hall, and he stopped dryly.

Sarmento gulped down the tea brought by the servant, and his curiosity about Chongzhen was not surprising. The princes and nobles of India and Southeast Asia would listen to overseas anecdotes as a pastime, and the young emperor probably had the same mentality.

Giving exotic gifts to these local princes and telling some overseas anecdotes, so as to gain the favor of these princes and nobles, and to facilitate their own business, this process is already very skillful for Sarmento.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished drinking the water, Zhu Youzhen took the initiative to ask him: "I heard that you are appointed by the Kingdom of Portugal, the commander of the Sino-Japanese trade fleet."

So it stands to reason that you should not take the fleet to Japan for trade? Why did you come to Beijing to see me? ”

Samento quickly straightened his sitting posture, then bowed to Chongzhen and said, "I went north this time, in fact, I want to appeal to Your Majesty..."

He quickly complained about the Macau Council's connivance with citizens to participate in the Sino-Japanese trade routes, which harmed the interests of the trade fleet he had bid for.

After listening, Zhu Youzhen suddenly said with some displeasure: "The Sino-Japanese trade route, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I did not charge the franchise fee, what qualifications does your king have to charge?" ”

The young man who had just been kind and pleasant suddenly changed his face towards him, and Samento didn't understand what he was saying wrong at first, but soon he finally understood from the interpreter, it turned out that he was so quick that he had missed his mouth.

Suddenly sweating on his forehead, Samento was at a loss for what to explain. Only then did Zhu Youzhen continue to speak: "Forget about the past, after all, I didn't know about this matter at that time, if you use this reason to prevent the merchants under the protection of my Ming from conducting normal trade in the future, it will be tantamount to declaring war on my Ming Dynasty, understand?" ”

Sammento suddenly felt red-faced, and did not know how to respond to such a blunt threat from the Chinese emperor.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall suddenly became cold, and the scene seemed to become awkward.

Just when Samento was depressed, feeling that he would not get anything good from this trip, and that he would not even have a chance to find out the secret of making mirrors.

Zhu Youzhen spoke to him again: "In fact, if you want to monopolize the trade between the Ming Dynasty and other regions for a long time, this is something that no one can accomplish. You had a monopoly for a few years before, and you should be content.

What's more, transporting the raw silk of the Ming Dynasty to Japan to make huge profits is a business that will not last long. With a population of just over 20 million, how much raw silk can Japan digest?

And I've heard that the Dutch have been blocking your trade in Asia, so how long can you continue this route, even if I don't open the sea ban? ”

Seeing that the young emperor's face softened again, Samento suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly took this opportunity to show favor to Chongzhen and said, "You are really a virtuous majesty, but even if we know this fact, what can we do?"

Those of us who know nothing but a little seafaring are completely ignorant of anything else. If you can't trade by sea, you have to return to the countryside to grow grapes. ”

"Growing grapes? Is your country also famous for its wines? I've heard that wine isn't the most famous in France? Zhu Youzhen was a little curious.

Sarmento immediately replied: "Although France is famous for its wines, the land of our Iberian Peninsula is also very suitable for the cultivation of grapes, especially since the monasteries have their own vineyards and their own special winemaking methods, and the wines produced are also excellent. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately asked with great interest: "Then can you hire a few excellent technicians for me who can grow grapes and make wine?" ”

Sarmento was a little surprised by Chongzhen's request, but he quickly reacted and asked tentatively, "I wonder how much annuity Your Majesty is willing to pay?" People who can grow grapes and make wine can also do well in Europe.

It would take a lot of money to get them to come to China to serve you. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought about it and said happily: "It depends on their technical level, but I can set a lower limit." As long as I can reach the ordinary level, I am willing to pay an annual salary of 300 taels of silver a year.

As long as you pass the test, you will sign a three-year contract and be reimbursed for the round-trip travel expenses. Even if he doesn't pass, I will arrange a job for him at my discretion and subsidize half of the travel expenses. ”

Sarmento thought for a moment and said, "These conditions are already very attractive, and I can find a few excellent winemaking technicians for Your Majesty, but the time will be as soon as next year." ”

Chongzhen is not surprised by this, after all, it will take at least 18 months to go back and forth between Asia and Europe.

Seeing that the young emperor's mood began to become very good, Samento pretended to be careless and said: "I saw a glass mirror in the bathroom where I lived, and I wanted to ask Your Majesty for advice, is there a workshop for making glass mirrors under your rule?" ”

Zhu Youzhen also replied casually: "Yes, what do you think of these glass mirrors?" ”

Sammento suddenly suppressed his excitement, pretended to be indifferent, and said: "We also have very good glass mirrors in Europe, and the mirror-making technology of your glass mirror workshop seems to be insufficient. There are too many bubbles, and the color is not right..."

He said several shortcomings of Chinese-made glass mirrors in one breath, and waited for the emperor to ask him how to make European mirrors, but Chongzhen just listened with a smile on his face and did not interject.

Sarmento looked at Chongzhen and had to take the initiative to mention: "I have also seen several glass mirror making workshops in Europe, if Your Majesty does not dislike it, I am very willing to visit His Majesty's glass mirror workshop to see what is the difference in the technology of making glass mirrors between China and Europe."

Maybe it will help to improve the glass mirror making technology in His Majesty's workshop, so that the glass mirrors made in His Majesty's workshop can become as good as we in Europe. ”

Chongzhen looked at the sincere Sarmento mockingly, and couldn't help but admire in his heart, the Europeans engaged in ocean trade in this era were really full of fraud. Of course, perhaps, in their own opinion, this is an excellent quality of a great businessman.

If he had been fooled into believing him, and had visited a glass mirror workshop and stolen the technology of making glass mirrors, then I am afraid that he would become another stupid pagan prince of the East in the mouths of these European merchants.

Zhu Youzhen coughed, and then asked softly: "I didn't expect that Mr. Sarmento you are actually a resident of the island of Murano in Venice, but I am very curious, how did you become the commander of the trade fleet of the Kingdom of Portugal, can you tell us about your legendary experience?" ”

The emperor's questioning made Sarmento feel very unlucky, and he soon understood that it must be those missionaries of the church who told the emperor the story of the Venetian mirror, so his lie just now would be exposed.

He didn't even have time to complain about the talkative words of those missionaries, so he said to the emperor with a calm face: "Your Majesty's knowledge is really extensive, and he even knows so much about the allusions of the Venetian mirror.

In fact, I was just curious about how the glass mirror was made, so I told a little lie, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I believe that your benevolent and virtuous majesty will not blame me for this white lie. ”

Looking at Sarmento, who was exposed and could pretend to be nothing, Zhu Youzhen smiled, and then stopped asking, he simply changed the topic and said: "Actually, it's not impossible for you to get this kind of glass mirror production method, as long as you can do two things for me." ”

Sarmento had thought that there was no hope for him to acquire the technology to make glass mirrors, but he did not expect that there would be a chance to turn around. He immediately made up his mind that even if this majesty wanted a navigation route, he could think about it.