I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 433: Notifying You, Not Discussing with You
Zhu Yijun summoned the Portuguese envoy Leon in the Da Guangming Hall in Xiyuan.

Leon and his party followed Li Chao's Qinglong navy to Dagu, but were placed in an isolation area for fifteen days. After they were safe, they were arranged to board a centipede boat and sail along the Wei River and the Beiyun River Lu River directly to Tongzhou. They then stayed in the Sifang Pavilion, where they were taught the etiquette of court worship by officials from the Honglu Temple and waited for an audience.

"Foreign minister Leon pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Ming."

Leon obediently followed the Ming Dynasty etiquette, kneeling and kowtowing, speaking the official language that he had practiced most familiarly during this period.

"Get up!"

Leon stood up, and the interpreter from the Honglu Temple stood up and stood behind him.

"Your name is Leon, and you are a Portuguese noble?"

Leon was a little embarrassed, but he didn't dare to lie. This kind of thing was easy to investigate.

"Reporting to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, I am only a mid-level officer in the Portuguese Navy, appointed by the Portuguese Governor in Goa as the Deputy Governor and Military Commander of Malacca."

Zhu Yijun listened to the interpreter's translation and asked, "Is the highest official of Portugal in the East the Governor-General of Goa?"

Leon was stunned to find that although the actual supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty was young, his mind was very sharp.

"Yes. Our highest official in the East is the Governor-General in Goa."

"Then I ask you to give up the trenches and Malacca and retreat to Tianzhu, which is what you call India. Does your governor in Goa dare to declare war on the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yijun's straightforward words stunned Leon, and made him suddenly realize something, so he quickly spoke.

"Your Highness, the treaty for leasing the Haojing that we signed with the Ming Dynasty is a normal commercial treaty. The sovereignty of the Haojing still belongs to the Ming Dynasty. We have the basic power to manage the internal situation of the Portuguese. We Portuguese people abide by the law and are willing to be the most loyal servants of the Ming Dynasty."

Leon quickly defended himself.

During this period, he did a lot of work and spent money to learn from Ming Dynasty businessmen and literati. He understood the customs and court system of the Ming Dynasty. He knew that the Ming Dynasty claimed to be the Celestial Empire and was very proud of itself.

If we say that we have occupied a piece of land in the Ming Dynasty and have the right to autonomy, they will immediately turn against us and we will have no place to stand.

I am willing to be the most loyal servant of the Ming Dynasty, but it's just lip service.

Making money is not shameful!

"Guangdong reported that since the first year of the Longqing reign, 296 cases of women being abducted and sold as servants and concubines to the Portuguese have been uncovered, and 1,145 women have been rescued."

Leon immediately defended himself, "Your Highness, these are criminals from the upper country, trafficked here from all over the place, and we Portuguese are not aware of this."

"It's understandable that you didn't know about one or two people, but you still don't know about 1,145 people. Are they dead? Without demand, there will be no trade. You Portuguese people are based on business. Don't you understand this basic principle?
If there is no demand, would those criminals kidnap and traffic good women everywhere? They even kill family members and snatch women! You are the root of the trouble. Now you turn around and say you didn't know. Do you think I am a fool and everyone in the Ming Dynasty is a fool?"

Faced with Zhu Yijun's relentless questioning, Leon didn't know how to answer.

He was a military officer, not a professional diplomat. He was elected as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty because he was the most eloquent among the high-ranking Portuguese officials in Malacca.

Zhu Yijun glanced at him and continued, "In the 1535th year of Jiajing (), you Portuguese bribed the local officials of Guangdong and obtained the right to dock your ships and conduct trade in Haojing Fishing Village.

In the 1553nd year of the Jiajing reign (1557), you came ashore to live under the pretext of drying the flooded goods, and in the th year of the Jiajing reign (), you openly settled in Haojing, and even organized a municipal government and carried out self-government.

Zhu Yijun sneered: "You Portuguese people actually came to my Ming Dynasty to seek self-government? What self-government? Bullying women and treating the sovereignty of my Ming Dynasty as nothing?

Leon, what do you Portuguese mean? Do you think that our Ming Dynasty is as weak as the Indian king and can be bullied?

Or are they as ignorant as the black natives in Kunzhou, which you call Africa?
You and the Spaniards are really half-brothers who worship Paul together.

The Spaniards, with only a dozen broken ships and three or four thousand men, wanted to conquer the Ming Dynasty and turn us into the second Inca Empire. You, on the other hand, are cautious and calculating, and want to establish a colony on the land of the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yijun got angry when he talked about this!

You established colonies before I traveled through time, and you are going to establish colonies again after I traveled through time. Does that mean I traveled through time in vain?
Leon felt panicked when he heard Zhu Yijun's stern tone.

When I was in Malacca, I only had indirect contact with the Ming Dynasty and had no personal experience of its strength.

From what he saw and heard during this trip north, Leon deeply realized that the Ming Dynasty was a huge country. Its territory, population, economy, and strength were not enough to defeat it even if the whole of Europe was put together.

The Ming Dynasty may have been in a daze and sleeping in the past, but now it has awakened.

Leon saw hundreds of Ming warships at Longkou Port in Sanbao Prefecture. They might not be able to defeat their own ships in a one-on-one fight, but they could easily defeat them in a two-on-one or five-on-one fight.

This was clearly demonstrated by the Ming navy's beating of the Spanish naval fleet on Linga Island. What was even more terrifying was that the main force of the Ming navy was composed of dozens of large sailing ships.

Leon knew about their record of annihilating the Spanish fleet in one battle, and he also accompanied them along the way and witnessed the strength of this navy with his own eyes.

With strong ships and powerful guns, they can destroy countries and demolish cities.

If dozens of Portuguese warships could defeat the Ottoman and Venetian coalition forces, dominate India and roam East Asia.

Then the Ming Dynasty only needed to send dozens of large sailing ships to destroy Portugal and Spain.

First defeat the main naval forces of the two countries, and then blockade the coastline and bombard the coast as they did before in East Japan. It won’t be long before Portugal and Spain will collapse.

Leon tried to defend himself: "Your Majesty, we Portuguese people only want to do business and have no other bad intentions."

Yes, we Portuguese are just pure businessmen, how could we have any bad intentions?
Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and looked at Leon, who was shorter than him.

"I was planning to send someone to negotiate with you. Now that you are here, it is just right. I will officially tell you that the Ming Dynasty has officially taken back the Malacca. Malacca used to be a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, but now the Ming Dynasty will exercise the right of asylum as a suzerain state.

You Portuguese must retreat to Goa. You are reasonable, and so is the Ming. If you are willing to coexist peacefully and continue to do business, the Ming will not make things difficult for you.

From now on, you Portuguese can anchor at Longkou, Guangzhou, Xiangjiang, Quanzhou, Shanghai and other trading ports, follow the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade and entry and exit regulations, abide by the law, and pay taxes according to regulations. The Ming Dynasty will definitely guarantee your legitimate rights and interests.

If you don’t want to reason and insist on using the same methods you used to deal with the natives of Kunzhou and the king of Tianzhu, that’s fine too. I, the Ming Dynasty, will accompany you to the end.”

Zhu Yijun looked at Leon with disdain and continued, "At that time, I will follow the example of Spain and declare you Portugal an enemy country, and the Ming ships can plunder Portuguese ships at will.

The Spanish forces are concentrated in the New World, and there are still too few ships on the Zhenzhou side.

You Portuguese are different. It is said that there are hundreds of ships sailing in India, the Arab world and Malacca. I think the tens of thousands of official and civilian merchant ships in the Ming Dynasty would be happy to make a fortune from you Portuguese people!"

Leon also fully understood Zhu Yijun's policy towards the Portuguese.

Withdraw from the Strait of Malacca and stay in India honestly. You can continue to come to Ming Dynasty to do business, and Ming Dynasty will also go to India and the Arabs to do business. You can live in peace and make money together.

If you are not convinced, then let’s fight. Not only will we be unable to do business with you Portuguese, but we will also try to seize the territories of India and the Arabs.

Leon was so angry that he was shaking all over, but his reason made him suppress his anger.

Because Leon knew that when Ming said he would beat up Portugal, he really had the ability to do so and he could do what he said!
In front of such a giant who practiced what he preached, Leon knew that he had to control his temper.

"Your Highness, these matters are not up to me. I need to go back and report to Goa and the country."

"No, no, Leon, you misunderstood." Zhu Yijun interrupted him without any hesitation, "I don't need you to make the decision. The officials of the Honglu Temple should have told you about this matter. I summoned you because the Portuguese have provided some help in improving our firearms and upgrading our ships.

Now there are still your Portuguese instructors in the Ming Navy. I am nostalgic for the old times, so I summoned you in person.

But I summoned you not to discuss with you, but to inform you. The Ming Dynasty's national policy towards Portugal has been determined, that's it!

If you are willing to accept it, everyone will be happy. If you are not willing to accept it,

Zhu Yijun smiled confidently, "You can give it a try."

Leon looked at Zhu Yijun's expression and found that the Ming Dynasty prince seemed to be hoping that Portugal would not accept it and then the two countries would go to war.

Although Leon didn't understand what Zhu Yijun said next, he was shocked.

"To be honest, I really hope you won't accept it. The Ming navy has always been fighting against the Japanese pirates and the Mo family pirates. The opponents are too low-level and it is difficult to improve.

You are a maritime power that dared to explore the world decades ago, discovered new continents, and then sailed thousands of miles to plunder everywhere. You are the real opponent of the Ming Navy. Only by going to war with you and defeating you can the Ming Navy truly grow.

Leon, you are a guest in the capital, I will ask the Honglu Temple to show my hospitality and will not neglect you. When the north wind blows, think about it carefully after you go back south. If you want to fight with me, I hope you will be fully prepared, don't learn from Spain, which is short and weak! "

After saying this, Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling the eunuch to take Leon away, and he left the Da Guangming Hall directly.

When he returned to Qinzheng Hall, Feng Bao was waiting for him.

"Your Highness, this is a secret report from the East Factory in Yanzhou, Shandong."

Zhu Yijun took it and looked at it, and couldn't help shaking his head, "Mr. Hai, Mr. Hai, my Mr. Hai, the great Ming Dynasty's Lord Hai, what are you trying to say?"

(End of this chapter)