Hundreds of exquisite official kiln porcelain have already ruined the Portuguese powerful and wealthy in Lisbon and lost their ability to think. The Portuguese nobles who auctioned the porcelain all returned home with joy. Even the Portuguese King Manuel I also took a few of the best porcelains, and refused to let go of the porcelain he had bought after taking the porcelain he had bought.
Of course, there are also sober people. For example, Marin's partner, Jorge de Coimbra Duke, and Ren Castre, understands very well that this is by no means everything on the ship.
So, he took advantage of the fact that no one was there and found Kong Tai and offered a price directly:
"Give me a few dozen porcelains, and each piece of porcelain is replaced with an African ox!"
Conte was a little confused, and Jorge de and Renkastre also reacted - Conte and Columbus had just returned from the East and didn't know that Marin bought African oxen from him that adapted to the tropical climate.
So, Jorge de Lencastre sent people to invite representatives of the North Sea country whom he contacted and contacted him to communicate with him.
When he learned that Marin really urgently needed to purchase African oxen from the Duke of Coimbra Jorge de and Renkastrey, he decisively took out 4 dozen (48 pieces) of official kiln porcelain and gave it to Jorge de and Renkastrey. Because Conte knew that Marin was not interested in porcelain, but was only interested in exchange for money for benefits. It is no wonder, after all, Marin was used to porcelain in his previous life, so how could he treat porcelain as a treasure? For him, exchange porcelain for gold coins or other benefits was the most important.
However, Kong Tai did not dare to sell out the porcelain. Because Malin was not interested in porcelain, it does not mean that other powerful people in Beihai Country were not interested. You should know that putting a few Chinese porcelains in a conspicuous place in the living room of the home is the only way to compare European aristocratic circles...
Therefore, Kong Tai hid most of the porcelain and waited to be shipped back to Malin to dispose of it. Whether to sell or deliver it, Malin had the final say. However, he brought back thousands of porcelain and took out hundreds of them as the leader. Anyway, Malin, the master, was not interested in porcelain.
...
The next day, Conte and Columbus took out some silk and tea bricks in front of many Portuguese powerful people in the Palace of Lisbon, which triggered another robbery. Some people did not buy it, and even wanted to go through the relationship between Columbus and Conte to pick up the goods on the ship.
However, the two of them dared not make decisions, and the other nobles understood it. After all, these things should be said to belong to Marin, not just Columbus and Contey could make decisions.
If it weren't for the purpose of making the Portuguese convinced that they had been to China and had not laid the groundwork for the next trickery plan, these things shouldn't have been taken out in Lisbon.
The reason why Marin arranged for Columbus and Conte to show porcelain, silk and tea in Lisbon was to stimulate Portugal to go to the East and then fall into Marin's trap...
...
As expected by the two, that night, Manuel I summoned all the nobles of Portugal in Lisbon and held a big discussion in the palace. The content of the discussion was to march towards China as soon as possible.
Although Portugal is still joining forces with Spain's fleet to be domineering on the Arabian Sea, intending to control the Indian spice trade, he cannot spend too much energy to go east.
However, the porcelain, silk and tea brought back by the Columbus fleet had already made the Portuguese's eyes red.
That night, almost all the Portuguese aristocrats who attended the meeting expressed their strong desire to trade in China. At the same time, they also made plans to monopolize the trade in China and prepared to eat alone.
But the problem is that the Portuguese have never been to the East and do not know the route. Therefore, the Portuguese ruler and ministers decided to invite Columbus and Conte, and then take advantage of the drunken words to get the secret of the route of China... If they can't speak, they plan to spend a lot of money to buy Columbus or Conte, or their sailors, and make sure to get the secret of the route of China...
So, the next day, Manuel I sent someone solemnly to invite Columbus, Conte and Sconda, three officials who presided over the voyage to attend the grand banquet at the Lisbon Palace.
...
In fact, Manuel I and his ministers didn't know. Even if they didn't move, Columbus and Contee planned to reveal some "insider information" to them. Now, when the invitation was sent, Columbus and Contee didn't know what it meant? So, the two decided to "pretend to be drunk and brag" strategy...
Sure enough, at the banquet, Manuel I asked the Portuguese nobles to toast the three of Columbus frequently, which was completely a wheel battle.
Halfway through drinking, Sconda slapped on the table (he was indeed almost done, but today he was not the protagonist, so he just pretended to be drunk). Columbus and Conte seemed to be drinking too high, their tongues began to grow bigger and their words began to be casual...
When he saw that he had succeeded, Manuel I quickly sent someone to make a fuss...
In order to pretend to be a little more like, Conte, when communicating with the Portuguese minister, he used Latin as a common European aristocratic language, and then a few German sentences appeared in his mouth, making the ministers who were talking to him confused.
However, Portuguese Prime Minister Lavaldo nodded to Manuel I - this is what he should look like after being drunk, and it is very suitable for clichés...
Then, Ricardo, the Foreign Minister who knew German and was very polite, took action and began to communicate with Conte. On the side, Columbus saw that Conte was better than himself, so he even lay on the table to pretend to be drunk. Conte became the only person to deal with the Portuguese monarch and minister...
"Mr. Kongtai, have you successfully traded with the Eastern Empire?" Ricardo asked as he tried.
"Trade?" Kong Tai, who was in a big tongue, looked disdainful. Then, he suddenly became furious:
"The hell is so infuriating! We did try to ask for trade from the Eastern Empire, but the other party's demands were too harsh. Do you know, the officials of the Eastern Empire asked us to surrender to their emperors, and as envoys, I must kneel down and bow three times and kowtow nine times!" After saying that, Kong Tai also gestured and explained what it means to kneel down and kowtow nine times.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! Manuel I, who was listening on the side, was stunned when I heard it - Damn, isn't this too shameful?
Ricardo continued to ask:
"Maybe your grand duke's title is a little lower, the other party is so demanding... If the envoy of His Majesty the King handed over the letter to the country..."
"Swish--" Kong Tai smiled disdainfully.
After laughing, Kong Tai explained:
"Mr. Ricardo, you probably don't understand the virtues of the Eastern Empire. In their eyes, the kings of other countries are just barbarian chiefs and are not qualified to be on par with their emperors! Even if His Majesty Manuel goes in person, they will ask His Majesty to kneel three times and kowtow nine times to their emperor!" Kong Tai's words were not nonsense, but facts.
However, this angered Manuel I. He said furiously:
"How dare they be so arrogant and not take me seriously? Kong Tai, you are not lying to me, right?"
Kong Tai blushed and defended:
"How could it be? I, Kong Tai, swear in the name of God, that all I said is true!" Then, he added in his heart - the next thing is to fool...
Seeing that Kong Tai had swore in the name of God and was drunk, everyone believed it.
Kong Tai seemed not satisfied and continued to brag:
"You don't know that that country is indeed rich and has a lot of porcelain and silk. However, they look down on people in particular. In their opinion, we Europeans are all barbarians and are not worthy of communion with them equally. We submitted our letter of nationality and were torn up directly. The other official said to me--When you have learned to be humble and respectful, we will talk about things. Moreover, the Eastern Empire does not accept equal trade with any country..."
"What? Don't trade equally with any country?" Everyone present was shocked.
"Yes, in the eyes of the Eastern Empire, people from other countries are inferior people. There is only one way to drink silk from their porcelain..." Kong Tai said with his tongue wide.
"What method?" everyone said interested.
"Send messengers to their capital to kneel down to their emperor, indicating that they surrender to their emperor! Then, they will be willing to give you a chance to trade. This kind of trade is called 'tributive trade'. Moreover, the drinking of silk for your porcelain is not an equal trade with you, but after you give tribute, the other party rewards you like a beggar. Your messenger must kneel down and thank them for their reward..."
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the Lisbon Palace frozen...
Obviously, if you want to trade with the Eastern Empire, you must first make the king a dog... This is something that the self-esteem and arrogant Portuguese cannot accept...
It was still Portuguese Prime Minister Ravaldo who was more agile, and he suddenly asked:
"Since the search for trade failed, where did the porcelain drink silk on your ship come from?"
Manuel I and other Portuguese nobles suddenly realized - Yes, you said you could not trade, so where did your goods come from?
Kong Tai smiled proudly and said:
"We snatched it!"
"Snatch it?" Everyone was stunned, but then they understood. Why? Because the Portuguese were also keen on plundering. Kong Tai said this very much, which was very pleasing to their appetite. So they asked Kong Tai to tell the details.
Kong Tai drank another glass of wine and said with his tongue:
"We are unwilling to surrender to each other, but there are small countries in the East that are willing to surrender. They sent merchant ships to pay tribute, full of porcelain, silk and tea... Then, when they return..." Kong Tai blinked and showed a "you know" expression...
The Portuguese monarch and ministers really understand it instantly...
"It's a good idea!" The thief-like Portuguese monarch and ministers agreed...
...
It seemed that he was not satisfied with his words, so Kong Tai took out a small map from his pocket and pointed it to everyone:
"Look, this is the Eastern Empire..."
"This is Guangzhou, this is the estuary of the Pearl River..."
"Guangzhou City has a very strict defense, and there are estimated to be 20,000 troops stationed..." Kong Tai did not say this. Guangzhou does have four garrisons, each with more than 5,000 people, with a total of more than 20,000. Of course, this is a theoretical figure, and there are still many people who are vacant.
This number also scared the Portuguese monarch and ministers.
"Don't be afraid, no matter how many of them are, they are still in Guangzhou. Our ships are waiting for the small countries' trade ships that return on the sea outside the Pearl River Estuary. Then, hehe..."
The Portuguese monarch and minister once again showed a knowing and evil smile...
Then, Kong Tai pointed to the Strait of Malacca and said:
"Do you know where this place is?" The rustic Portuguese monarch and minister shook their heads one after another.
Kong Tai said proudly:
"This place is called the Strait of Malacca, which is the main maritime transportation route from India to China. Whoever occupys this place will monopolize the maritime trade with China..."
Speaking of this, Manuel I's eyes lit up suddenly. Moreover, he stared at the small map, obviously thinking about it...
"I tell you, there is a small country called the Kingdom of Malacca. Although this country is not big, it is very prosperous because it is located on a major transportation route with China. Moreover, a huge tin mine has just been discovered in their country! It is a huge tin mine, not a small one!" Kong Tai said with a seemingly showing off.
"How old is it?" Ricardo asked in surprise.
Kong Tai pretended to think for a while and said:
"The tin reserves there are probably tens of millions of pounds of tin metal!"
"Ten millions of pounds!" Manuel I's wine glass fell to the ground without holding it firmly.
You should know that Europe has shortage of tin ores, so the price of tin is relatively high, similar to copper ores. That is to say, tens of millions of tin are worth millions of pounds of silver...
Thinking of this, Manuel I and the Portuguese nobles present were drooling...
"Are you sure you didn't say anything?" Ricardo said with some disbelief.
"Believe it or not! You can send a spy to inquire! That place is called Kuala Lumpur, I'll let you deal with it if you say something wrong!" Kong Tai said with a red face and yelled like anger. Then, he pointed it to Ricardo on the map:
"This is Malacca City, this is Kuala Lumpur... If you can occupy this place, it is equivalent to occupying a large gold mine... Hiccup..."
Staring at the map, Manuel I's eyes were full of heat... He nodded to Ricardo, who understood in seconds...
"Come on, keep drinking..."
"Okay, I'll drink...chees...chees..." After drinking a few more cups, Kong Tai pretended to be drunk and collapsed to the ground, and crawled directly under the table...
When Manuel I ordered the three of them to take the rest of the room, he carefully took down the map from Conte. Then he ordered:
"Come a court painter and copy one. Before he wakes up, he will complete it and send the original picture back..."
"Abide by the order!"
Chapter completed!