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In the first round of talks, the initiative was almost in the hands of Zhang Haoran, who unceremoniously took a Saffi port in West Africa first, which Portugal itself opened and gave to Daqin as a dowry for Princess Caterina, not in vain.

After the first round of talks, Brewster hurriedly asked to see João IV, who gathered all the important Portuguese officials and urgently launched a round of internal consultations.

Earl Brewster first reported the results of the first round of talks: "The state of Qin has agreed to our request for an alliance, and the two sides have established embassies for each other. In addition, the Qin state agreed to provide military protection to our possessions east of South Africa, to provide our freedom of navigation to the Qin state, and our ships to dock and trade at any of the Qin trading ports.

Trading companies can also be set up in Ceylon, Temasek, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Ningbo, Tianjin, Lushun, and Nanjing, the capital of the Qin State, and enjoy the same tax rates as Qin merchants.

I want to emphasize that this is very important, Qin currently charges relatively high tariffs on merchants from other countries, and if we can enjoy the same tax rate as Qin's merchants, this is equivalent to enjoying the treatment of its nationals, and we have a great advantage over other countries in trade, and we can even compete with the merchants of Qin on an equal footing.

In addition, Qin would station a powerful fleet on the island of Ceylon for a long time to control the entire line of ships in the Indian Ocean. With the military protection provided by Qin, our possessions in South Africa and India will not have to worry about being invaded by other countries.

Of course, correspondingly, all ports along the coast of West Africa should allow Qin's ships to dock freely for trade, and China should provide corresponding security protection and supply needs.

Our native Lisbon and Porto should also allow Qin's ships to berth freely for trade, set up trading companies, and give Qin's merchants national treatment. In addition, in order to strengthen exchanges between the two countries, the two countries shall not prohibit the free movement of their citizens. ”

That's what Earl Brewster said. No matter how you look at it, it seems that Portugal has earned it, and João IV and the ministers sitting there are very happy to hear it.

With the strength of the Qin State, as long as the Qin State is willing, it can take away Portugal's territories in South Africa and India at any time, and now the Qin State not only does not forcibly seize them, but also promises to provide military protection for these territories of them, which is definitely a big surprise.

In addition, the merchants of Portugal and the merchants of the Qin State enjoyed the same tax treatment, which would give the merchants of grapes an advantage in the competition with merchants from other countries.

Trade in the Far East is indispensable for Europe.

It was the Ottoman Empire that cut off the land trade routes between Europe and the East, which forced European countries to find another way by sea. The search for a maritime trade route with the East began the prelude to a great voyage.

In other words, there is no doubt that whoever gains the initiative in trade with the East will have a commercial advantage in Europe.

Of course, in addition to these, João IV was more concerned with the imminent issue of survival.

He was well aware that to gain a trade advantage with Great Qin, which was important for Portugal now. There are both pros and cons. This will make European countries very angry.

The husband is not guilty, but he is guilty.

Portugal was now struggling to survive in the cracks of European countries, monopolizing the trade advantage with Qin. It will definitely make European countries even more red-eyed, and in the end, Portugal can be regarded as a piece of fat and torn to pieces by European countries.

He asked eagerly, "Does the State of Qin agree to provide us with advanced warships and weapons?" Or when our country is invaded by other countries, send troops to help our country? ”

Portugal's War of Independence lasted 11 years. Although in 1644, under the command of Lyon IV, there was a great defeat of the Spanish army and temporarily stabilized the position. However, the war has never completely subsided, and the small people of the grape country are weak, and after years of war, the people's livelihood has withered.

In addition, it was accepted by countries such as Britain and France, and countries such as the Netherlands continued to encroach on Portugal's overseas colonies.

Portugal is like a helpless European orphan.

The people's war-weariness is getting heavier and heavier.

The most urgent thing for Portugal was to be able to obtain the advanced weapons of the Qin State, so that it could defeat Spain again, or at least force Spain to recognize the independence of Portugal, and the two countries would call off the war and truce.

Speaking of this, Earl Bruce's expression immediately darkened, and he replied: "Your Majesty, the envoy of the Qin State said that advanced ships and weapons such as the Flying Scissor Battleship, the Fire Frying Bomb, and the Sixty-Nine Flint Rifle are extremely difficult to produce, and the army of the Qin State is not very well equipped;

The Qin State still had two or three hundred thousand troops fighting against the local indigenous armies in Indochina, and these advanced weapons were urgently needed in order to speed up the suppression of the massive rebellion on the Indochina Peninsula.

Therefore, the emperor and ministers of the Qin State would not agree to sell us the few advanced weapons at this time. As for when our country was invaded by other countries, Qin promised to provide support within its capacity. ”

"Really? How many troops did they promise to send to support our country? ”

"The Qin envoy said that they would probably station four warships and two hundred marines in Port Safi, Morocco. In normal times, it was used to protect the merchant ships of the Qin State to and from Europe, but if we were invaded by other countries and needed support, the garrison of Port Saffino would do their best to support our country. ”

"What? Four battleships, two hundred servicemen? ”

In the absence of advanced weapons to support him, Joao IV couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart when he heard that there was only this kind of military support.

In his opinion, the Qin State sent this amount of troops to be stationed in Port Safi, in case of an attack by the Netherlands or Spain, it was a great luck not to let Portugal go to support, where would there be the ability to support the Portuguese mainland to fight.

When the other ministers heard this, they were also greatly disappointed, and sighed one by one: "How is this enough? ”

"Yes, although I heard that the army of the Qin State is very strong in combat, after all, the number of people is too small."

"They are still enemies with the Netherlands and Spain, and with such a small number of troops stationed in Port Safi, I don't think they can not only provide support to our country, but also need our support."

"This is a bit uneconomical, how can we go to the Qin State to provide us with some advanced weapons."

“”

The ministers said that none of them was optimistic that the two hundred Qin troops stationed in Safi would be of much help to Portugal.

Brewster said at this time: "The Qin State originally wanted to lease a port on our mainland for garrison and trade. But there are pros and cons to this, and I don't dare to agree to it. ”

Brewster then went along with the pros and cons of leasing the port.

"If we lease a port to the Qin garrison, will they station more troops?"

"Yes."

"I think that's okay, we're allies after all, and anyway, it's not much worse than it is now."

"Yes, if we can't resist the Spaniards' army, we have nothing."

"Having the Qin garrison and serving as a trading port can make our country a commercial center of Europe, and we can get a lot of tax revenue from it, which will be of great help to improve the current political and financial predicament."

"The only thing worth worrying about is that the Qin State will continue to increase the garrison here in the future, and our Portugal is only a small country, if that is the case, we may be controlled by the Qin State."

"We can stipulate the number of Qin's garrisons on the Lend-Lease treaty to solve this problem."

"If only Princess Catalina could give birth to a prince and inherit the throne of Qin after she got married."

"I don't think we need to worry too much, the Qin State is too far away from Europe, now that the Qin State is strong, it is no problem to strengthen the garrison in Europe, but the Qin State may not always be strong, and when the Qin army is weakened, they themselves may withdraw the garrison, and we don't have to bother."

"I don't know how long it will take, but the emperor of Qin is very clever, and under his leadership, it only took five or six years for Qin to seize the huge territory of the East. And he is very young, only in his twenties, if nothing else, he can live for at least a few decades, and the Qin State will probably only get stronger and stronger during his reign. ”

After listening to the chaotic discussions of the ministers, João IV was also very confused, and if he agreed to lease the port to Qin, it could bring many immediate and huge benefits to Portugal in terms of military, political and economic aspects.

But on the other hand, it's like drinking to quench your thirst, or putting a shackle around your neck.

How to choose, João IV and more than a dozen ministers couldn't make up their minds for a while.

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PS: Dear, there will be a double monthly pass for the last three days of the month, and then leave a few for me who has worked hard to move bricks, first ask for a subscription, and I will rely on this subscription income and expenditure for three meals a day, we can't talk about the vision with a hungry stomach, and I really ask for a subscription. (To be continued......)