I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1084 I'll unleash the thunder, you take charge of rebuilding.

When Li Yashi pulled out a grenade, it landed in front of an assassin. The assassin's first thought was, what exactly did Li Yashi throw out from behind the tree? But the loud explosion interrupted his thoughts, and he couldn't think of anything else.

After the gunpowder exploded, the iron beads hidden inside the cartridge scattered in all directions with a whistling sound.

One of them, holding a grenade, killed one person and injured two others, while the three assassins on the other side went berserk in the face of this situation.

"Divine magic! It's divine magic!" Exclamations rose and fell as the assassins shouted. Li Yashi hadn't gone far when the palace guards arrived quickly and arrested all the assassins.

Li Yashi also had four hand-held grenades. That's how people are; they can't imagine things beyond their understanding. The West is generally ignorant, and religion is very common. When they encounter things they don't understand, they will attribute them to gods and ghosts. The hand-held grenades that Li Yashi threw were beyond the understanding of these assassins.

This is not some kind of divine magic, but a miracle created by human effort. It is a single-soldier weapon invented by Qi Jiguang based on the exploding shell. Its prerequisite technology is the time-delay wooden fuse and exploding shell widely used in the Ming Dynasty, only the technique is more difficult.

The craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were truly ingenious.

Leaning against a tree, Li Yashi was breathing heavily. He was covered in sweat. After the palace guards arrived and he was safe, his mind was no longer in a state of high tension. His limbs felt weak and he could barely stand.

He was no longer young, already in his fifties. After a long and arduous journey, he returned to Taixi, and Taixi welcomed him back in this way.

His thoughts became extremely chaotic. He was speculating about the assassin's origins, Antonio's stance, and whether he would have met with this sudden disaster if he hadn't returned to Taixi. He was also thinking about his children left behind in the Ming Dynasty.

His thoughts were too chaotic, affecting Li Yashi's judgment. He forced himself to calm down, discarded all distracting thoughts, and stood up to check for any injuries.

The assassin's musket grazed his clothes, but he wasn't injured.

He broke down all those complex thoughts into individual problems. This was his methodology of contradiction-based teaching: breaking down a complex contradiction arising from different positions and interests into smaller contradictions.

Only by grasping the principal contradiction can one fully understand one's own situation and then make decisions.

When the palace guards found him, he had already sorted out all his problems.

His panic gradually dissipated. The situation was entirely within his expectations. This was the outcome of returning to Taixi. He had made the decision, and there was no need to regret it.

That's life. Once you've made a move, there's no going back. Any regrets only add to your mental strain and serve no other purpose.

Similarly, the road we haven't yet traveled shouldn't be overemphasized for its beauty; it's also full of thorns.

Secondly, he also made a clear judgment about the source of the assassins: two groups of people, roughly from three aspects: Felipe's anger at Legazpi's betrayal, the Papacy's punishment for him for breaking his vow of lifelong celibacy, and King Henry the Lion of France's reluctance to let him go to France.

Antonio's stance can also be confirmed: he neither condoned nor instructed the actions; he was simply powerless. If he had a way, his closest comrade-in-arms, the swordsman Marcus, would not have died.

After Marcus's death, Antonio also suffered various assassination attempts, from disobedient nobles, Lisbon merchants, Felipe, England, and so on.

Huo Chengxin, captain of the Ming Dynasty's global trade fleet and commander of the foreign capital, arrived at the palace and met with Li Yashi.

“If you stay in Taixi, assassination attempts like this will continue. Come back to the Ming Dynasty with me.”

"His Majesty won't laugh at your weakness. Before you left, His Majesty specifically instructed me that if you regret it, he would take you back with him. The Ming Dynasty doesn't need another pair of chopsticks like you," Huo Chengxin said sincerely.

Li Yashi served in the Ming Dynasty for many years. Even if he did not achieve great things, he still worked hard. He translated a large number of Western mathematical works and introduced Galileo and Kepler to the Ming Dynasty. He also played the role of a foreign friend in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty for a long time, looking at the problems of the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of a foreigner, and providing the Ming Dynasty with a certain degree of error correction ability.

Huo Chengxin said meaningfully, "In the West, the current productive forces and relations of production have not changed. Everything the Great Brightness Church has done in pursuit of the light is nothing more than pulling up seedlings to help them grow."

Li Yashi could understand Chinese and had learned many idioms. A farmer saw that the wheat seedlings were growing too slowly, so he went to the field and pulled the seedlings up a bit. Later, all the seedlings died. The productivity of the West was low, and even iron pots could not be widely used. The production relations were serfs and slave owners.

In this situation, can breaking the old relations of production really change everything? Will it truly bring about a brighter future?
Huo Chengxin held a completely pessimistic view of this.

Li Yashi shook his head and said, "Commander Huo, you are right. I know very well that Taixi does not have enough conditions at the moment. But whenever Taixi wants to change, it needs to start by changing the relations of production and abolishing the serf system."

"And the actions of us pioneers were by no means meaningless."

"The situation in the West is completely different from that in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is thousands of miles away, and its experience can only be used as a reference. The people of the West have to walk their own path and stumble on their own! When they stumble badly, they will change when they are desperate, and change will lead to success. Only when they are at their wits' end will they change."

"The historical experiences and lessons learned from exploration will greatly benefit those who come after, which is why I want to stay."

Upon hearing Li Yashi's words, Huo Chengxin nodded with a hint of helplessness and said, "Alright, you have already left the Ming Dynasty's merchant ships, so I can't send coastal patrols to protect you."

“I know that if you enter a barbarian land, you become a barbarian yourself. It is inappropriate to send Ming people to protect me, a barbarian,” Li Yashi said, expressing his understanding.

The Ming Dynasty had a distinction between Chinese and barbarians. When he left the ship, it was as if he had completely left the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The ship was also part of the territory of the Ming Dynasty. This point is argued in great detail in the theory of sea power.

"I also brought news that the people who sent this assassination attempt on you came from Felipe. He has many people in Lisbon, and this assassination attempt is just the beginning." Huo Chengxin had his own information channels. The Ming Dynasty had built several Ming Pavilions in the West, and their intelligence-gathering capabilities were very strong.

“His Highness Felipe thinks I betrayed him, and I have nothing to say. Let the men prove their worth.” Li Yashi nodded.

Huo Chengxin frowned and said, "There is another group of people whose origins are a bit strange. They are English privateers, that is, pirates. Their purpose is simply to stir up more trouble and create more chaos, so that people with lower moral standards and less ethics can take advantage of the situation."

“The English?” Li Jiashi was stunned. This was something he hadn’t expected. The Papacy hadn’t sent anyone, nor had Henry the Lion. Instead, it was the English who wanted to kill him. It was completely inexplicable. Li Jiashi had no grudge against these Englishmen.

Huo Chengxin shook his head repeatedly when he thought of the English people's behavior, saying, "Sometimes, the English do things not for their own benefit, but only to make the situation more chaotic. They will do things that harm others for their own benefit, and they will also do things that harm others without benefiting themselves."

The so-called offshore balancing policy of the English is nothing but a troublemaker. As long as it can cause chaos in the West, the English will spare no effort to do so. The West is really unlucky to have such a thing.

The reason the Vatican didn't send anyone was partly due to arrogance and partly due to rigidity. They were the last to receive the news, and the opinions of the archbishops within the Vatican were also divided. After arguing for a while, the Vatican chose to do nothing, and it didn't have much power to do these things anyway.

Felipe did it, which means the Vatican did it.

"There's something else. The King of Portugal contacted me and asked me to persuade you to stay in Portugal. What's your decision?" Huo Chengxin asked Li Yashi.

Li Yaz closed his eyes for a long time before speaking: "Of course I am willing to stay, but while His Highness Antonio may not mind, many Portuguese people will. Spain has launched three military campaigns with the intention of annexing Portugal's neighboring, powerful, and strong countries. If I were to become the Minister of State, the Portuguese would strongly oppose it."

“That makes sense.” Huo Chengxin nodded in affirmation, shook his head in denial, and said with a smile, “When Xu Fan first became Minister of State, the Portuguese were also very opposed to him. Later, when Xu Fan passed away, the Portuguese held a state funeral for him.”

"Before Antonio became King of Portugal, the Portuguese meat-eaters planned to sell Portugal to Spain for a very low price."

Legazpi's Spanish identity was not an issue. When Xu Fan was first appointed, some people raised questions, but a court secretary immediately scolded them: Where were you when the previous kings, bishops, and nobles betrayed Portugal? Now you dare to oppose and question? Should good people be criticized?

After Antonio's victory in the campaign, he gained great prestige. No one dared to openly oppose him while he was alive. Moreover, whether Rijkaz performed well or not would not affect Antonio's continued reign as king. If Rijkaz did not perform well, Antonio could simply dismiss him and replace him with a new administration to make his life easier.

Portugal's economy now relies entirely on the distribution of goods from the Ming Dynasty, and Antonio has absolute control over this.

"If you don't want to stay in Portugal, that's fine too. King Henry of France contacted me through merchants and offered a huge reward of 270,000 taels of gold for your services, hoping you would join him," Huo Chengxin said, mentioning another possibility.

The courtship was won over by King Henry IV of France.

"The merchant said that Henry IV's greatest wish was for every farmer in France to have a chicken in his pot. He wanted you to understand that he could be a friend, not necessarily an enemy. Those feudal lords were also his enemies," Huo Chengxin explained the reason why Henry was trying to win over Legazpi.

Li Yashi said with great emotion, "Henry is really willing to give up so much."

"King Henry of France offered an extremely generous reward," Huo Chengxin explained regarding the conditions Henry had proposed.

If the persuasion is successful, the Ming Dynasty Global Caravan can receive a reward of 270,000 taels of gold.

If they fail to persuade him and instead trick Li Yashi into going to the port designated by the King, then the reward is 300,000 taels of gold.

In other words, King Henry of France was buying control of Legazpi.

Li Yashi, shocked and curious, said, "You're just telling me this so openly? How are you going to lie to me and hand me over to Henry? The fleet belongs to the Ming Dynasty. You can keep this commission for yourself."

All the profits of the caravan went to the imperial court; this was the public account. This commission, however, obviously could not be accounted for through the public account; it was Huo Chengxin's own gold.

"I still want to go back to the Ming Dynasty. Would I sell you and have His Majesty behead me? Three hundred thousand taels of gold is indeed a lot, but it's not enough for me to give up everything." Huo Chengxin really didn't care about the three hundred thousand taels of gold.

He was the commander of the capital. If he wanted to make money, he could simply raise his hand and people would kneel down and offer him silver, much more than the 300,000 taels of gold.

For example, when the Ming Dynasty purchased goods, Huo Chengxin, as the commander of the foreign capital, had a lot of say. He could persuade the court to purchase a batch of goods from a certain company that was not so suitable for him. If he did not make enough profit after selling them, it was simple: he could just rob a company overseas to make up for it.

For example, many merchant ships would set off with the Global Caravan to places like Mexico and Peru. The Global Caravan provided protection, and the price for this protection slot was quite high. If Huo Chengxin wanted, he could even hire a broker to sell this slot.

The misuse of public resources for private gain has a very long history in China, with countless examples to learn from.

Huo Chengxin did not abuse his power for personal gain; it was just that what he wanted was something money could not provide. His Majesty had given the caravans ample wages and allowed each crew member to carry no more than 300 catties of personal cargo. Huo Chengxin's allowance was slightly higher; he could carry 45,000 catties of personal cargo.

“It’s better to stay in Portugal.” Ricardo ultimately chose Portugal because he felt Antonio was right; he did need to put his ideas into practice first. Antonio was particularly pleased with Ricardo’s decision and quickly arranged the appointment ceremony.

On the fifteenth day of the first month of the twenty-third year of the Wanli reign, Antonio summoned his secretary, Han Chinese nobles, Portuguese nobles, officials of all ranks, and so on. The place where the ceremony was held was beyond everyone's expectations: in front of Marcus's tomb.

This was something that Li Yashi never expected.

Antonio, dressed in the five-patterned robe bestowed upon him by the emperor, sat upright before Marcus's tomb and looked at Reiji's puzzled expression, saying, "Surprised?"

“I’ve known Marcus since I was very young. I’m an illegitimate child, and illegitimate children are never loved by their fathers. Today, it seems that even my identity as an illegitimate child is fake.”

Antonio and his Queen Catalina had four children, all of whom were healthy and without any problems. Antonio was quite certain that he was probably not an illegitimate child.

Queen Catalina and Antonio shared a grandfather, but Catalina married the Duke of Portugal, while Antonio struggled to survive in a monastery. Clearly, Catalina's status was not problematic; it was Antonio whose status was.

The relationship between Antonio and the Queen was not one of love, but rather a political alliance aimed at making Portugal a Portuguese nation.

“I grew up with Marcus. When I was banished, he went to sea with me. When I was dealing with those pig-like ladies of the governor’s mansion for plant seeds, Marcus guarded the door for me, because seeds could be exchanged for His Majesty’s favor and affection.”

"I returned to Portugal, and Marcus helped me fight battles everywhere, quelling all rebellions against me."

"Later he died, assassinated. He was assassinated and died that night. Do you know what he said to me before he died?"

Li Yashi asked in confusion, "What?"

Antonio's hand trembled slightly as he spoke, "Marcus told me: 'Don't wage war in anger, don't go to war against Spain in a state of extreme rage. With Portugal's weak national strength, the result of going to war will only be a crushing defeat.'"

"I am not a good monk; I have no reverence for God. I am not a good abbot; the monastery I belonged to was disqualified by that cardinal and utterly destroyed."

“I am not a good king. Although I can sail a ship, I cannot govern a country. After Xu Fan left, Lisbon, once a city of flowers, has become somewhat stinking again. I don’t even know where the problem lies.”

“I am not a good brother. Marcus died in front of me, and I cannot avenge him.”

“But I think I can be an honest and trustworthy person. Marcus doesn’t want me to get angry and start a war. He wants me to govern the country well and let the Portuguese live in peace and prosperity. I must fulfill this wish.”

"Now, I appoint you as the Minister of State of Portugal, in charge of all affairs of state of Portugal. You can try to do whatever you want."

"Don't worry, Portugal's economy mainly relies on the distribution of Ming Dynasty goods. Even if you fail, as long as Ming Dynasty goods continue to appear at the port of Lisbon regularly, there won't be any major problems."

If Legazpi succeeds, it will be icing on the cake; if Legazpi fails, it will not severely damage Portugal's economy and people's livelihood. This is why Antonio's appointment has the support of most people.

Give it a try, what if it works? Even if it fails, the price won't be too heavy, it'll be bearable.

"Thank you for the King's trust." Ricardo bowed with a furrowed brow and accepted the investiture. His official titles were Grand Envoy, Chief Secretary of the Royal Palace of Portugal, and Minister of State of Portugal, corresponding to three different identities.

The reason Li Yashi frowned was that he felt something was strange. He felt that Antonio might have other plans, and the entire inauguration ceremony was filled with all sorts of strange atmospheres.

King Antonio of Portugal toasted Marcus three times and led everyone back to the palace. He left behind the four leaders of the Han Chinese tribe, Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow, and had Rigid sit down. He then had a huge geomantic map brought out by the palace servants.

Antonio unfurled the geomantic map and said, "You've probably been thinking about one thing the whole way: you handle state affairs, so what am I supposed to do? Well, I'm telling you now, I'm going to kill someone."

"Just like Marion did in France, she put all the feudal nobles to death."

“I will unleash the thunder, and you will be responsible for being reborn from the ashes, and together we will move towards the light, starting with killing the feudal lords.”

"Henry the Lion? What a coward. He has to use the Great Light Cult, but I'm different. I'll do it myself."

"As a captain, I have never lacked courage!"

The map shows the territory of Portugal, which contains many nobles. The map is densely marked with many castles, fortifications, and so on. It is clear that this was a long-planned scheme. Antonio has been unable to find the Minister of State, preventing him from doing what he wants.

“The common people elected me king, but I have been unable to fulfill my promise. Starting today, you will stay in Lisbon while I go and kill these feudal lords, so that the Portuguese can live like human beings.” Antonio said solemnly, standing in front of the map.

"This is a decision we made together." The leader of the Tianzi Han Clan stepped forward and explained that Antonio's actions were not the king's willful act, but a collective decision made by everyone.

Antonio said very seriously, "If it were just opposition to me, I could tolerate it, but after Marcus died, when the Spanish phalanx invaded Portugal, they remained silent and did not even obey orders to cooperate in repelling the invading enemy."

"Since you've betrayed Portugal, there's no need for you to exist anymore."

"I, Antonio, promise with the sword in my hand that all traitors shall suffer the most severe punishment!"

Antonio set off before Legazpi could even submit his development plan for Portugal.

On the seventeenth day of the first month, Antonio led three thousand elite troops to begin his campaign. He left Lisbon and then sent back the first batch of prisoners on the twenty-third day of the first month. Subsequently, a steady stream of prisoners were sent back to Lisbon.

Li Yashi was under immense pressure; he even hoped Antonio would be defeated, as the game was progressing too quickly and there were too many camps to establish.

He never imagined that the sheer number of camps he needed to build would become a source of trouble for him upon his return to Taixi.

Antonio became the thunder, piercing through all the clouds, while Reiji was responsible for his proposed part: rebirth after destruction.

Li Yashi was extremely busy. He needed to find enough manpower, send a group of Han gentry to explain the management methods of the camp, make different plans according to different regions, and deal with various relationships and sort out the interests involved.

This is also why the Han Chinese and Antonio's men unanimously agreed that Antonio was being reckless. If Antonio didn't kill off all the old nobles, how could these new nobles obtain enough benefits?

Huo Chengxin left Lisbon on the second day of the second month and returned to the Ming Dynasty. Huo Chengxin also brought with him a memorial written by Li Yashi. This memorial was to report that he was safe and sound, and also to summarize his plans for the development of Portugal, hoping to gain the approval of His Majesty.

Antonio was busy with his campaigns and paid no attention to state affairs, leaving everything to Ricardo. Ricardo could only submit the plans to His Majesty the Emperor for review, since he was also the Chief Secretary of the Portuguese Royal Palace and thus an official of the Ming Dynasty.

"Is Antonio rebelling?" Huo Chengxin looked in the direction of Lisbon before boarding the ship and shook his head, saying, "He is really good at enduring. He has been holding back until now, and only started to act after the Minister of State was appointed."

"He really knows nothing about the governance and economy of the Ming Dynasty. He has the rich resources of the Ming Dynasty, but he can only make use of less than 10% of them! He is just a makeshift team among makeshift teams!" Li Yashi said angrily.

When Rigid became Minister of State, he discovered far too many problems.

Li Yashi said even more angrily, "Moreover, the government office that Xu Fan helped him build has completely failed because of the long-term lack of a minister of state. I have no idea what he's doing!"

Huo Chengxin said with a smile, "He is good at fighting, but he really can't govern. Without a minister of state, even if he wins the war, he will still have to enfeoff other nobles in the end. So he is waiting for a person with ambition to help him sort out the affairs of state."

"To be honest, he asked me those questions too. They were really simple questions, but he made a complete mess of them."

"Can you believe it? Antonio actually allowed Lisbon merchants to issue private notes based on goods from the Ming Dynasty to Lisbon, because Antonio couldn't manage it."

Li Yashi's face turned red as he shouted, "Of course I believe it! I saw it with my own eyes! How much money does Antonio make as a middleman? Private notes are rampant, yet he still has the resources to launch a war!"

When Xu Fan was in charge, everything was fine. No Lisbon merchant dared to issue private notes, but Antonio let it go because he really didn't know what to do.

The private notes Huo Chengxin mentioned, also known as Ming Dynasty notes, are similar to Felipe's gold bonds. However, while Felipe issued gold bonds by exchanging his own credit for money, Lisbon merchants could issue Ming Dynasty notes at no cost and seek huge profits simply by leveraging Antonio's relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

“1230 million taels of silver! Tens of millions of taels of silver! These damned bastards stole so much silver, enough to pay off the war loan owed to His Majesty! Damn it!” Li Yashi slammed his fist on the table and stood up. All the self-restraint he had learned in the twenty years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty was completely lost at this moment.

If Your Majesty were to have 1200 million taels of silver stolen, Your Majesty would hunt down the culprit to the ends of the earth, even if they were hiding on a deserted island, and would find them and grant them a private seat in the Imperial Academy!
Antonio had 1200 million silver dollars stolen from him without even realizing it—it's unbelievable!

"I have never seen a more profitable business than issuing securities in my entire life! It is more profitable than selling opium to the Ming Dynasty! Tens of thousands of times more profitable!" Li Yashi was so angry that his tongue was tied in knots. He didn't even know that the affairs of Portugal had deteriorated to such a state until he checked the accounts.

The leader of the elite aristocratic group of the Heavenly Class extended his hand, signaling the two to calm down. He shook his head and said, "Gentlemen, His Highness Antonio is not unaware of this, but there is nothing he can do about it. These merchants and bankers who issue Ming Dynasty currency are actually Portuguese nobles behind the scenes."

"Simply taking down these merchants won't do; we need to kill these nobles. He's been waiting for an opportunity, and finally, the Minister of State he wanted has arrived. He originally thought he would never get such an opportunity before he died."

Li Yashi asked with great dissatisfaction, "Why didn't you help him? You've created such a mess."

“We don’t know how either,” the leader said frankly. “Special Envoy Li, you have established the Governor-General’s Office in the Philippines and find it very easy to handle these administrative affairs. We are not capable of doing so. We can offer suggestions, but when it comes to actually doing it, we are completely clueless.”

"It's not that we haven't tried, it's that we can't do it."

Li Yaz is no novice; he was the Governor-General of the Far East twenty years ago, and he spearheaded the establishment of the Governor-General's Office in the Philippines. What Li Yaz considers a very simple matter is a headache for these opinionated individuals.

Sometimes, the difference between people is greater than the difference between a person and a dog.

(End of this chapter)