Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 792 Portugal, a Weak Country Without Diplomacy

Beginning in the 23rd year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen focused on domestic road construction and economic construction, taking into account various disciplines, which can also be said to be the system construction of various industries.

And on the eighth day of March of this year, in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, far away in Europe, King Joao IV was very unhappy. It can even be said that nothing went well with him.

It's not that the Spaniard has already hit Lisbon, but a lot of things made him feel very worried and heartbroken.

The Kingdom of Portugal was a long-standing country, founded in 30; but it was annexed by Spain in [-].At this time, Spain was a powerful country in Europe, and the Spanish fleet was known as the Armada.But then the Spanish fleet was defeated by the coalition forces of England and the Netherlands, and fell into the quagmire of the [-] Years War.

Together with the war, there is no doubt that Spain oppressed Portugal even more.Following the trend of the times, the Portuguese revolted and elected Joao IV as their king, declaring independence and rebelling against Spanish rule.

At the beginning, Spain was at a critical moment in the Thirty Years War, so there was no free hand to deal with Portugal.

And Portugal knows that with its own abilities, it is difficult to resist Spain's suppression.So ask for help everywhere, in order to get the recognition of other countries.

Originally, Portugal and England had always been allies. As a result, Joao IV encountered civil strife in England unfortunately, and Charles I was executed.Originally, he wanted to remain neutral in the civil strife in England, and he would support whoever finally came to power in the UK. Unexpectedly, a group of royalists in the UK led a fleet loyal to the king under the pretext of the long-standing alliance between the two countries. He entered the port of Lisbon and used this as a base to attack Cromwell's fleet, forcing Joao IV to stand in line, but he was unable to defeat Cromwell's fleet.

In addition, Joao IV is also seeking the support of France.But France was a big country at that time, and it didn't look down on Portugal at all. Even though Portugal promised to give France a lot of benefits, people didn't take a look at it.

Logically speaking, Portugal, as the party against Spain, can be regarded as the victorious country in the 30 Years War.As a result, when the contract was concluded, they ignored Portugal at all and did not allow Portugal to attend.Even in the Pyrenees Treaty (1659) signed separately by France and Spain, it was clearly stipulated that France did not support Portugal's peace talks with Spain.Portugal has become a bargaining chip in the game of interests among major powers.

Other aspects, including Rome and the Pope, did not recognize Portugal.

It can be said that the situation of Portugal after independence is quite bad.Now that the 30-year war of religion has ended for more than a year, Spain has finished licking the wounds caused by so many years of war, and may attack Portugal at any time.

So many unsatisfactory things made King Joao IV's hair gray.He was worrying, when suddenly he heard a huge commotion from the direction of the port, which made him furious: "Is there more to it? If you can't beat those rebels, you know how to vent your anger here!"

Those British royalist fleets couldn't fight and beat them. When they docked in Lisbon, they often went ashore to make trouble. If they asked them a little bit, these British guys would yell that Portugal despises them and wants to betray the alliance. The fourth generation is really fed up.

There was so much noise at the port at this time, one could tell with one's toes that it must have caused trouble after drinking again.However, even so, so what, those Brits are simply unreasonable!

Joao IV thought about this, sighed, told himself, calm down, don't be disturbed by the outside, then forced himself to calm down, and continued to work.

In the past, those British guys would have calmed down after a while of quarrel; but this time, the direction of the port has been noisy, and there is a growing trend.

At the beginning, Joao IV told himself in his heart: Be normal, be normal!Try to comfort yourself, don't be disturbed by those noises.

Later, it can be clearly seen that King Joao IV's hand holding the pen stopped several times, and he even wanted to stand up when he dropped the quill pen.But in the end he held back and sat down again.

But as the noise continued, it greatly exceeded his endurance. After reassuring himself many times, he finally threw the quill away and rang the doorbell. He had to deal with it.

When the bell rang, the attendants at the door did not enter as usual, which made Joao IV even more annoyed, so he rang the bell very hard.

Finally, the door opened, and the attendant at the door rushed in, as if he didn't see Joao IV's gloomy face about to rain, he said excitedly: "Your Highness, look quickly, Your Highness, look at the port, look quickly... ..."

"What are you looking at? What's there to see?" Joao IV roared angrily, but right away, he felt something was wrong. If the situation remained the same as before, the attendants wouldn't be so excited!

After thinking about it, Joao IV lowered his voice and returned to normal. He asked with doubts: "Could it be that the group of British guys came back after winning the battle?"

For a long time, these royalist fleets have been beaten by Cromwell's fleet, and this is also the case, which makes these royalist people often drink and make trouble.But if it wasn't for the victory, why would the attendants be so excited?
"No, Your Highness!" The attendant was very excited, and walked quickly to the window facing the port, quickly opened the window, checked himself first, then immediately turned around and moved out of the way to King Joao IV, "Your Highness , come and see, you will know it at a glance!"

What is the big deal?King Joao IV saw him, he was suspicious and interested, so he quickly walked to the window to have a look.

I saw that there was already a sea of ​​people at the port.But even so, there are still many people rushing towards the port.It's as if there is money there, the kind that you don't pick up for nothing.

Looking further ahead, there is a fleet docked on the shore, disembarking people, and some soldiers are still maintaining order.

"Is the overseas fleet back?" Joao IV turned around and asked the attendant a little puzzled when he saw it.

Even if the overseas fleet brought back their belongings, it wouldn't be so lively, would it?

Seeing this, the attendant couldn't bear it any longer, so he replied excitedly and quickly: "Your Highness, the fleet that went to the Ming Empire in the Far East has returned, and it has returned with a full load!"

"Ah..." Joao IV sighed when he heard this, then immediately turned his head and looked at the pier again.

Sure enough, at this time, he finally saw that this fleet was sent to the Ming Empire in the Far East by him two years ago!

After confirming, King Joao IV finally became excited, as if he was about to draw a lottery. He was waiting for the prize to be announced, and immediately turned his head to confirm: "Is it really rewarding?"

"Yes, Your Highness, you will definitely return with a rewarding experience!" It was not the attendant who answered him, but a voice from the door of the room.

King Joao IV looked up when he heard the sound, and recognized the commander of the fleet he sent to the east. The list of goods in the fleet is all special products of the Ming Empire in the Far East, and we can make several times the profit as soon as we change hands..."

King Joao IV could no longer hear what he was saying, all his attention was focused on the document in his hand, and he quickly browsed page by page.

Raw silk, silk, tea, porcelain... are all special products of the Far East, and they are also the most famous brand special products. The most important thing is that there are so many of them...

All of this is far beyond Joao IV's expectations.So much so that after he finished flipping through it, he started from the beginning again.I watched it three times in a row, and each time I watched it slower than the first time.After reading it a third time, he closed the document, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Opening his eyes, he stroked the document with his hand, as if this document had been transformed into a specialty of those Far Eastern empires.

Immediately afterwards, Joao IV immediately turned around and came to the window, and when he looked at the warships docked in the port again, his eyes were wide open and his eyes were shining.

But after a while, he seemed to be depressed a lot, obviously not so happy, turned around slowly, walked to his own seat and sat down.

"Your Highness, what's the matter?" The commander of the fleet asked a little strangely when he saw it, "But you're still not satisfied?"

Asking like this, but thinking in my heart, it shouldn't be!The harvest from the trip to the Far East this time is far greater than ever before.It can be said that it can greatly alleviate the domestic economic demand.This should be evident from His Highness's performance at the beginning.

Hearing the fleet commander's question, King Joao IV suddenly sighed and said, "How can I be dissatisfied with such a big harvest this time!"

Speaking of this, seeing that the fleet commander wanted to speak, he took the first step and added: "It's just that our Portugal is struggling now, so many good things have to be given to others, and I hope they can get their support for our Portugal! "

Hearing this, everyone in the house understood Joao IV's thoughts, and couldn't help but acquiesce in silence.

This is the case with weak countries, who simply cannot keep the good things they want.

"I'll share it first, and then I'll send it to other countries, especially France and the United Kingdom. They have to prepare big heads." King Joao IV was already thinking while talking, "Among the French side, except for the Queen Mother Apart from Anna in Austria, Cardinal Mazarin's etiquette can't be too thin, and..."

In order to win the recognition of Portugal by other European countries, it is best to give Portugal support when Spain attacks Portugal. No matter how distressed King João IV is, he has no choice but to send them all out.

(End of this chapter)