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Fourteen-year-old Princess Catalina is a good singer and dancer, with a graceful figure and a charming appearance, and her dance is called pointe dancing, named after the fact that she often uses toes to point to the ground.

Originating in Italy and gradually spreading in Europe, this dance is characterized by the opening of the hip joint to both sides of the human body, and the opening of the hip joint stretches the lines of the human body and increases the surface ability of the lower limbs of the human body.

This is very different from the Oriental dance, in Zhang Haoran's opinion, this kind of toe dance is a bit tight, and the dancer's body feels too tight, which is very different from the soft and light style of Chinese dance.

However, when the charming and touching Princess Catalina jumped, there was also another beauty.

The Portuguese aristocratic men and women present were fascinated, the beautiful Princess Catalina is the dream lover of many Portuguese aristocratic men, these admirers, it is rare to see Princess Catalina, this is the honor to watch her perform a wonderful toe dance, and it is even more fascinated to watch.

Princess Catalina's delicate face flushed with a slight pink after the dance, bowed down and saluted the people present, winning long-lasting applause, and the young aristocratic teenagers clapped their palms so that they were almost swollen.

As the guest of honor, Zhang Haoran did not hesitate to praise his praise.

João IV was very happy to hear his praise, and Queen Gusmão saw that her husband seemed to have ulterior motives, so she secretly tugged at the hem of João IV's clothes and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, why do you want Catalina to perform songs and dances on such an occasion, and is there any other purpose for your Majesty?" ”

João IV knew that his wife felt sorry for his daughter, and thought about mentioning the marriage immediately at the reception banquet, but he was a little too anxious, so he endured it.

That night, after the banquet was over, as soon as she returned to the palace, Queen Gusmão couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, do you want to use Catalina to marry the Qin State?" ”

See her eagerness. João IV sighed: "Queen, you listen to me, I don't want to marry Catalina to Qin, but"

"Your Majesty, I heard that the king of Qin already has a queen, and the princes of Qin are still young, how can you marry Katarina, you don't want to give Catalina to the king of Qin, he already has a queen, how can this be."

In Europe. Kings usually have only one queen, and if they want to remarry, they have to divorce the current queen, but most kings usually have several lovers, and the lovers are not official wives and cannot be put on the table.

If you let your baby daughter be someone else's underground lover who can't get on the table, where is Queen Gusmão willing.

João IV explained: "You don't know, Queen, that in the East it is different from my Europe, and that the emperor of the East can marry many concubines in addition to the Empress. These concubines were slightly lower in status than the empress, but they were also the legitimate wives of the emperor. ”

"But even if that's the case, do you want to marry Katerina to the Qin country, the Qin country is so far away."

"Queen. Portugal is now in a difficult situation, England and France will not accept us, and Spain will not let us become independent, and is preparing to launch a new attack on us. We are isolated in Europe. Overseas colonies are constantly being invaded by other countries, and now we can't find an ally except Qin. ”

"But the country of Qin is so far away. Even if you form an alliance with Qin, what is the use? ”

"Queen, you don't know, if in the past, an alliance with the Qin State may not be of much effect, but now it is different, the Qin State has a strong fleet and sophisticated weapons. They easily defeated the Dutch in the Indian Ocean and snatched the dominance of the Indian Ocean, and now England, Spain, and we must look at the face of the Qin State if we want to keep the possessions of India.

And I heard that the fleet that defeated the Dutch in India was only one of the four fleets of the Qin State, and I heard that they could build warships as big as islands, and they could also take off from warships and attack the enemy's warships from the sky, and their weapons were very advanced and terrifying. If all the fleets of the Qin State sailed to Europe, the warships of all the European countries combined, they would not necessarily be the opponents of the Qin State. ”

"How is this possible to fly into the sky, God, this is not true"

"The queen doesn't need to be surprised, the Qin State still has a lot of incredibly advanced technology. For example, the ships they built were twice as fast as ours. Their weapon, called Rocket Slip, is very lightweight, and the shell can explode after being fired, and the power is very terrifying. If we can get some weapons support from Qin, even if Qin doesn't send troops to help us, we don't have to fear anyone in Europe.

Also, whoever can form an alliance with the Qin State will be able to obtain the trade dominance between Europe and the East, as long as he has this trade dominance, there will be an inexhaustible supply of money, and England is very enthusiastic this time, and it is precisely in order to gain the trade dominance of the Qin State in order to gain the trade dominance of the East;

It was not easy for me to win the Qin State Mission to choose Lisbon as the first stop of my visit to Europe, that is, to preempt the English, conclude the alliance, and become Qin's first ally in Europe, I have already decided, let alone Katarina, as long as Qin agrees to my conditions, even if I don't marry Anna, it is worth it. ”

"Majesty!"

"One qiē for Portugal!"

It is no wonder that João IV made this decision, now Portugal is in a very difficult situation to survive in the cracks, and once it can get the support of Qin, Portugal can not only occupy the trade advantage in the east, but also obtain rolling financial resources;

He could even defeat Spain, England and France with the advanced weapons provided by Qin, and become the hegemon of Europe, at least that's what João IV envisioned.

For the sake of Portugal's future, let alone sending two daughters to the Emperor of Qin as concubines, even if the sacrifice is greater, what is it?

Queen Gusmão listened to João IV's words, and she couldn't say anything, in fact, most of the princesses of the royal family are victims of political marriages, and it has always been like this, no matter how much Queen Gusmão loves her daughter, what can she do?

The next day, João IV sent his most trusted confidant, Count Brewster, to hold a formal meeting with Zhang Haoran, the envoy of the Great Qin, in the side hall of the palace, and more than a dozen people from each side attended the talks.

Westerners have a different way of communicating with Orientals, they don't have much politeness, and they don't talk for a while like Orientals, and then slowly cut to the chase after the atmosphere is harmonious.

They also had polite gestures, such as the Earl of Brewster, who opened his mouth and said: "Allow me, Your Excellency, to pay the highest tribute to the Emperor of your country, and to extend your warmest welcome to Lisbon. ”

But Westerners usually only a few words, after a few polite words between the two sides, the Earl of Brewster went straight to the point: "Our King Xià has always liked the culture of the East, and at the same time, our Portugal and the East have a hundred years of friendly exchanges, the two countries are blended for thousands of miles, but close exchanges, we hope to further strengthen the exchanges between the two countries, in order to be able to form the closest ally with the Qin State, our Majesty Xià is willing to marry Princess Catalina to the Qin State, and your Majesty Xià to form an in-law." Your Excellency, it is with great sincerity that we in Portugal hope to form a friendly relationship with your country and that you will accept our sincerity. ”

After Earl Brewster finished speaking, he also got up and bowed to Zhang Haoran, with a very sincere attitude.

Zhang Haoran remembered that at the reception banquet last night, Joao IV asked Princess Catrina to come out to dance, and now Earl Brewster wanted to marry Daqin, which was not too unexpected for him.

It's just that Brewster's straight to the point style makes him a little uncomfortable.

Great Qin would not allow a European country to monopolize trade in the Far East, and in the absence of competition, it was not in the interests of Great Qin.

In the past, Daqin was worried that Portugal, which was caught in the cracks, would be unreliable and would turn his back on Daqin under the coercion of European countries. On the contrary, the United Kingdom, which is located in the British Isles, is stronger and more able to withstand pressure. In order to ensure the continuity of the maritime trade between Daqin and Europe, Daqin was initially more inclined to cooperate with the British.

But at that moment, at this time, as Great Qin seized dominance of the Indian Ocean, and soon certainly seized the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. Great Qin's deterrent effect on European countries increased greatly.

Portugal no longer dares to turn its back on Great Qin at will, and at this time, choosing to support the weak Portugal may be more in line with the interests of Great Qin.

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PS: Get up at six o'clock to code words, bitter days, you can only bury your head and work hard to move bricks, you give some support, ask for subscription, ask for a reward (to be continued......)