I'm really not the carpenter emperor

The young man dressed in white in front of him, with a hint of majesty in his eyes, Tang Ruowang naturally recognized that he was the emperor of the Eastern Kingdom, the Emperor of Apocalypse Zhu Youxiao.

The person in black clothes next to him is Wei Zhongxian, the Duke of Dongchang who is "spoiled by everyone" in the empire.

He hurriedly dismissed the believers, stepped forward and bowed slightly, and said respectfully:

"I have seen His Majesty the Emperor."

Wei Zhongxian reminded quickly from the side: "From now on, you can just say that you have met His Majesty. Why have you not learned the etiquette of Daming after a few years?"

Tang Ruowang did not answer, quietly waiting for the young man to speak.

Zhu Youxiao strolled ahead, and Tang Ruowang went for a walk in the garden, smelling the fragrance of flowers and fruits, and said to himself: "It's good to go out of the palace once in a while to find a quiet place."

Tang Ruowang followed behind and said, "The Emperor has come to my little church, what's the matter?"

"You are good at learning Chinese." After Zhu Youxiao said this, he found a stone pavilion in the garden and sat down, motioning for Tang Ruowang to sit beside him, and said:

"You're right, I'm looking for you on something."

Tang Ruowang's expression also changed slightly when he listened, but his respectful attitude remained unchanged.

Although the two are close at hand, sitting face to face, their expressions seem to be separated by thousands of miles.

"I know that you missionaries came to my Ming Dynasty to conquer my Ming Dynasty."

With just one sentence, Tang Ruowang's face darkened.

Zhu Youxiao didn't care about his feelings, and Wei Zhongxian's complacency on the side, just sat there and continued:

"I also tell you plainly, I don't ask you to do things for Daming with all your heart and soul like my servant of Daming."

"I have to say something first, whether it is your Holy See or the king, if you want to get benefits in Ming Dynasty, you need to exchange conditions."

"You and Xu Guangqi and the others revised the new calendar and fulfilled their duties. I understand that, so I gave you the position of Qin Tianjian."

Saying that, Zhu Youxiao looked around and walked into the church through the side door.

Zhu Youxiao paced in the hall, touched the dust on the portrait of the Pope on the wall with his hand, and said lightly:

"You did this missionary work under the blessing of Emperor Daxing of the Wanli Dynasty. I won't say anything, but now it's the Tianqi Dynasty."

"If you want to continue preaching in Daming, you have to show sincerity. I don't rub the sand in my eyes, and tell your Holy See and king to exchange it with real money."

Only then did Tang Ruowang understand that Emperor Tianqi was here to bargain.

He immediately said, "Your Majesty wants to make a deal?"

Zhu Youxiao took a look at him and said with a smile: "I see that you have done a good job in preaching in the capital. Doesn't your Holy See like this..."

"I can give you the right to preach in the whole country, and even allow you to choose a place to open a church, but you have to give it to me, and give Daming something in exchange."

Tang Ruowang knew that the Holy See really attached great importance to missionary work in the East, so he thought for a while and asked, "I wonder what Your Majesty is referring to?"

"I want you to teach the various advanced technologies that you have learned, such as navigation, astronomy and calendar, firearms and artillery, to the civil servants of the Martial Arts Academy and Qin Tianjian."

"In a word, you will know it, and the officials of the imperial court must also know it."

It turned out to be this, Tang Ruowang felt relieved, and said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will write a letter to His Excellency the Bishop of Xi'an. He has the right of the Holy See to preach in the East. I think he will agree."

After speaking, Tang Ruowang paid special attention to the emperor's expression.

Zhu Youxiao was not overjoyed, his face was still so flat, indifferent, after a while, he nodded in front and said:

"That's very good. I know that the Portuguese mission arrived in Beijing the day before yesterday. They're in the church right now. I'm free today. I'll see you and meet them too."

"Let's talk about the Jiajing dynasty's lease of Macau together this time, so as to avoid any unhappiness between the two parties in the future."

Tang Ruowang was very happy, he was not at all unhappy.

In his mind, it was a great thing for the mission to contact the Ming Emperor, and it was nothing at all to transfer science and technology to the East.

Even without the emperor's urgent request, he was actually slowly teaching the officials of Qin Tianjian some of the science and technology he had learned.

Tang Ruowang was just surprised that the emperors in the east usually didn't leave the gate of the palace, but they knew everything when they came out.

Chapter 398 Bargaining with Philip IV

Wei Zhongxian followed behind the two, looking a little surprised.

He only found out about the arrival of the Portuguese mission to Beijing the day before yesterday. He planned to report it to the emperor tonight, but it didn't work out. Everyone already knew about it.

Besides his own Dongchang, could it be that the emperor heard it from Xu Xianchun of Jinyiwei?

Or was it that Qianhutian Ergeng, who had made great contributions during the southern tour, made another contribution after being transferred to the capital?

This is a trivial matter, even if it is not reported by the factory guards these few days, the minister in charge of receiving foreign envoys in the imperial court will also report it, but a person like Wei Zhongxian, discovering the unusual from the ordinary, is just one of his many skills.

He was always the first to know about the bloody storms in the court, and even the restlessness in the local area, and then he reported it to the emperor faithfully.

In the past, Dongchang fanzi knew about everything first, and then he reported it to the emperor. Now the situation has changed, and fanzi is not the first to know.

Either Jin Yiwei, or the emperor has other means.

Wei Zhongxian just thought about it this way, he didn't dare to delve into what was going on, and he also understood that this was just one of the many powers of the Son of Heaven.

Since ancient times, those who covet the power of the Son of Heaven have been treasonous, and this kind of treason has no good results.

Dividing corpses by five horses, executions by Ling Chi, and even implicating the nine clans abounds, but the Holy One seems to be confused, but at the same time he seems to understand.

For example, the Holy Majesty already knew about a small matter of the mission's visit, so what about other things, did he also know about it before he reported it?

The more Wei Zhongxian thought about it, the more he felt palpitations and uneasiness. This emperor has been on the throne for less than four years, but he is in his early twenties, but his mind is so deep and stable.

Sometimes, ignorance and understanding are just like this, if you can't explain clearly, you can't explain clearly. Emperor Tianqi's shrewdness is far beyond Wei Zhongxian's expectation.

Several people regarded this church as a meeting place. Soon, Tang Ruowang led the mission back and saluted respectfully.

"This barbarian's hat is pretty good. I have never seen such a hat in Daming." Wei Zhongxian looked at one of the people's attire and said with a smile.

Tang Ruowang always felt a little strange when he said this. As a missionary of the Holy See and entrusted by his own king, he is now an official of Ming Dynasty.

He coughed twice and said:

"This is the envoy of the mission. He was born in a royal family in Lisbon. This time the Portuguese mission came to Daming, and the gifts they brought are priceless, many of which have never been seen in Daming!"

Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly: "Even if it's a royal family, if you meet His Majesty in Daming, you have to salute!"

Tang Ruowang was noncommittal on this point, but he didn't think about the courtesy of a monarch like Wei Zhongxian.

What he thought was to do as the Romans do, and the regulation here is the emperor, which is indeed one level higher than the Portuguese royal family, and the salute is also the most basic respect.

"Dias has met His Majesty the Emperor."

Zhu Youxiao looked at this middle-aged white man in his forties, and found that he had thick golden curly hair, and he was taking off his hat and bending over to pay respects to him. He looked polite and indeed aristocratic.

Zhu Youxiao didn't care about the details of whether to salute or not, and motioned for the envoy to stand down, and then said:

"Your country's mission came to my Ming Dynasty to bring such a rich gift. Is it to pay tribute to the court, or for the cooperation between the two countries to trade at sea?"

Dias, the Portuguese ambassador in his 40s, glanced at Zhu Youxiao in surprise, and said, "I didn't expect His Majesty to be so straightforward, so I will say it directly."

"I was entrusted by His Majesty the King of Portugal to establish a trade route with Ming Dynasty, and I will continue to lease Macau to live temporarily during the apocalypse."

"These gifts, whether it is a tribute to the court or a meeting gift, are all decided by Daming, and our country will cooperate with whatever it is said."

Zhu Youxiao chuckled when he heard the words, and said slowly: "It seems that your envoy has done some research on Daming before he came?"

Dias felt that there was nothing to hide, and said directly: "It is true that I have studied the language and culture of your country. Our country knows that your country attaches great importance to whether to pay tribute, and decided to cooperate."

"fair enough……"

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "For the lease of Macau, I think it is better to sign a treaty, limit the number of years, and agree on obligations, so as to avoid the need to use force when I take it back in the future."

"As for the trade between the two sides, I also have this intention."

Hearing the words "Use force", Dias' eyelids twitched, and he obviously understood the threat in these words.

But before coming here, King Philip IV of Portugal also discovered from the replies from the first batch of missionaries that Ming Dynasty was not an ignorant and backward eastern country.

Philip IV, son of Philip III.

In fact he was the co-king of Spain and Portugal, but not of Portugal in most cases, and is generally known as the Spanish Habsburg monarch.

At this time, Philip IV was still ruling the Netherlands in name. His army was defeated by the Dutch two years ago, and the Armada was also severely damaged by the British, but he did not recognize the independence of the Netherlands.

In fact, the Netherlands is now substantially independent and developing rapidly, but it has not yet been recognized by Western countries, just like the current Mingjin.

Philip IV is also the lord of the Southern Netherlands. Although the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires under his rule still have vast territories around the world, they have inevitably declined.

Since Philip IV took the throne, he has never stopped suffering from internal and external troubles for a moment.

Internally, he was rebelled by the Netherlands and the Dutch, and the global colonial territory continued to shrink. Externally, even the British took advantage of the fire and had to seek opportunities in the East.

Philip IV learned from the letters from the first batch of missionaries that the current Ming Dynasty was still very strong, and that he also used guns as weapons. He understood that conquest by force alone was obviously not advisable, and his attitude quickly changed from conquest to joint development.

The original purpose of this mission was only one, to use various means to promote Ming Dynasty to do business with the Spanish Habsburgs in order to obtain rich trade income from the East.

You must know that the current global trade is centered on Daming, and most of the silver mined by the West from Africa is frantically flowing into Daming through various trades.

For Western countries, doing business with Daming is definitely a good thing that can not only ease the financial situation but also ensure domestic stability.

On the way here, they learned from Tang Ruowang that the Emperor Tianqi was very dissatisfied with Portugal's lease of Macau, so he temporarily changed his tone and wanted to renegotiate the lease of Macau for a while.

Facing the threats in Zhu Youxiao's words, Dias was neither humble nor overbearing. He was obviously prepared, and it was imperative to continue the business and the lease of Macau.

After this simple meeting, Zhu Youxiao decided on the keynote of doing business with Spain, and the next step was to convene Jiuqing Kedao to discuss this matter at the court meeting.

Back in the palace, Zhu Youxiao threw his casual clothes on the ground, then sat down on the couch, thinking about it by himself.

Wang Chaofu hurriedly ordered the eunuchs and maids of Qianqing Palace to clean up. After a while, Wei Zhongxian came in beaming, saying:

"Master, this old slave did some calculations. Among the gifts brought by the Spanish mission this time, the tribute silver is worth more than 20 taels!"

"There are also some strange gadgets. I can't estimate the price, but the old slave can understand that they are all priceless treasures!"

Zhu Youxiao was also a little surprised, so many?

It seems that Spain is in big trouble. Also, at this juncture, Spain is in decline. Philip IV definitely wants to ease the tense situation in Spain by doing business with Daming.

Zhu Youxiao still understands the reason why you will die while you are sick. If this is the case, why don't I negotiate the price with him?

Chapter 399 Signing a Commercial Treaty

"otherwise!"

When Yuan Huazhong, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, heard the news that Emperor Tianqi was going to sign a trade agreement with Spain and Portugal and continue to lease Macau to them, he immediately showed dissatisfaction.

"Business is just an excuse for the barbarians, and the intention behind the lease of Haojing is even worse! The old minister repeatedly reminded His Majesty to be careful, and that's why!"

As he said that, Yuan Huazhong sighed: "But Your Majesty still believes in the words of the barbarians and surrendered the ancestral land. It will be very difficult to get it back after this concession!"

The boss, one of the six gentlemen of Donglin, made a speech, and Yu Shi, the speech officer, was also excited and came out to give advice.

"Think twice, Your Majesty!"

"My Ming Dynasty has a vast land, rich resources, and a prosperous population. How could those barbarians not salivate?"

"Once the door is opened, it is not easy to close it again!"

Zhu Youxiao listened to the remonstrances of these officials and censors, and his heart became more and more irritable, but his face disappeared. After waiting for a while, he said slowly:

"I have read all the memorials on this matter from my dear ministers. I have already ordered the British Lord to come forward to negotiate with them on the matter of trade and the lease of Macau, and to conclude a trade treaty."

Suddenly, a person came out and said:

"I agree with Your Majesty's statement that the Ming family is not the only major power in the world. Spain has been militarizing for decades. Although it is declining day by day, a lean camel is bigger than a horse!"

"There are also the Dutch. Although they were defeated by my Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Penghu, their ambitions have not diminished. The so-called enemy's enemy is my friend. Da Ming should sign a trade agreement with Spain!"

This sounded very unlike what an official of this era should know. Zhu Youxiao looked over, but he didn't know him in the impression, so he asked:

"Who is Qing?"

"Xu Guangqi, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites!"

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was relieved that Xu Guangqi, a powerful man, was indeed the first group of Ming officials to accept Western cultural ideas.

Now Xu Guangqi has actually been influenced by Western culture. Even in his words, he refers to Western countries no longer as barbarians, but by country names.

But Xu Guangqi is a very interesting person. He didn't study Western culture because he was interested. In his own words, it was to absorb the strengths of others and eliminate his own weaknesses.

To put it bluntly, Xu Guangqi's approach to these people is entirely to learn their advanced science and technology, and to contribute to the strength of Daming in return.