I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 958: Fengxian, the one who stabbed his adoptive father

Zhu Yijun put down the telegram and said to Qi Yan who was standing next to him, "Go and invite Lord Rudong, Lord Fengpan, Lord Xujiang, Mr. Fengwu and Hu Gongru."

"According to the order."

Soon, five people were invited.

"All five gentlemen, please take a seat. Tea is served."

Zhu Yijun said, "I just want to express my gratitude."

"We just received a radio message from the Nanhai Dusi of Sanbao Port in Yanzhou, saying that they received an urgent letter from the Ming Dynasty's envoys to Portugal. Nangong, please read it to everyone."

"According to the order."

Nangong Ye cleared his throat and began to recite.

“It is reported that at the end of the ninth year of the Wanli reign, King Sebastian I of Portugal led his army into northern Kunzhou (Africa) and fought a decisive battle with the Moroccan army on the Mahazan River.

After the initial defeat, Sebastian I led his troops to retreat, but he accidentally fell off his horse and drowned while crossing the Mahazan River.

He was twenty-four years old at the time and left no offspring.

The five men looked at each other in bewilderment. The King of Portugal fell off his horse and drowned just like that?

What a surprise!

Too fragile?
Are all monarchs from China and abroad easily soluble in water?

"After the incident, the Portuguese nobles argued fiercely and finally in May of the tenth year of the Wanli reign, they supported Cardinal Henry of the Roman Catholic Church as king, named Henry I."

Enrique I?
What character?
All five of them knew that the country with the best relationship between Ming Dynasty and Duizhou (Europe) was Portugal. The two countries sent envoys to each other, and Portugal became the window of Ming Dynasty in Duizhou.

In recent years, thousands of mathematicians, artists and scholars from Duzhou have come to Ming Dynasty through the Ming Dynasty Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries’ office in Lisbon.

At the same time, Portugal also sent hundreds of noble children to the Ming Dynasty to study in several universities.

The Ming Dynasty's task force sometimes docked at the ports of the Azores and Madeira Islands of the Kingdom of Portugal.

Portugal almost monopolized the trade route for Ming Dynasty goods coming from Kunzhou Sea Route and made a fortune.

Now its young and promising king has passed away and a new king has taken his place.

Then the relationship between Portugal and Ming Dynasty may change, and Ming Dynasty’s strategy towards Duizhou may also need to be adjusted.

What we need to figure out now is what kind of person the new King of Portugal is and what his attitude towards the Ming Dynasty is.

Zhu Yijun signaled Nangong Ye to continue reading.

“. Henry I was the great uncle of Sebastian I, the fifth son of Manuel I and the pioneer of the Age of Exploration in Portugal.

According to the Portuguese tradition, Enrique was sent to a seminary to become a priest since he was a child. Later, with the support of the Portuguese royal family, he became a cardinal.

According to the data, Henry I was nearly 70 years old and in poor health. According to the urgent letter from the envoys, within less than two months of his accession to the throne, he requested the doctors of the envoys to enter the palace for treatment twice.

With his health being so poor, he might die at any time.

Pan Yinglong stroked his beard and asked, "Did the envoys say who might take over the throne of Portugal if Henry I unfortunately passed away?"

"Pan Youcheng, the urgent letter from the envoys has this to say.

If Henry I died, the throne of Portugal would only be produced by the descendants of Manuel I.

The three most likely candidates are Catalina, Duchess of Braganza, the second daughter of Prince Duarte, the sixth son of Manuel I; Antonio, Abbot of the Monastery of Crato, the illegitimate son of Luis, the second son of Manuel I; and King Felipe II of Spain, the grandson of Manuel I.

Pan Yinglong stroked his beard and asked, "King Felipe II of Spain?"

"Yes, according to Western Yi customs, daughters and grandsons are considered bloodlines and have the right to inherit the throne."

Pan Yinglong shook his head: "That won't work. Spain now has the opportunity to annex Portugal legitimately."

Yu Dayou also spoke up, "After nearly ten years of efforts, our Ming navy has driven the Spanish navy out of Xunzhou, Ruoshou Sea, and the central and western parts of Genzhou. Now only some of their remnants are still entrenched on the eastern coast of Genzhou and some islands in the Ruoshou Sea archipelago, resisting stubbornly.

We also gradually encroached on Spain's islands and territories such as the Canary Islands in western Kunzhou.

At present, the Ming Dynasty and Spain are still at war. If Portugal is annexed by Spain, its friendly attitude towards the Ming Dynasty will definitely change. "

Xu Zhenming said: "Spain is strong and Portugal is weak, and the Honglu Temple has previously reported that Portugal has many nobles and maintains good relations with Spain.

Once Henry I dies, the other two will definitely not be able to compete with King Felipe II of Spain, and the throne of Portugal will definitely fall into the hands of Felipe II. "

Pan Yinglong concluded: "Your Majesty, we must immediately adjust our strategy towards the Western Barbarians and intervene in the dispute over the Portuguese kingship. We must not let Spain annex Portugal."

Hu Gongru said: "How can we interfere? We have no suitable reason or excuse for the time being."

Everyone nodded.

Yes, what does their internal fight for the throne have to do with your Ming Dynasty?
It’s hard to put it simply, but the royal families and nobles of all the countries in Duizhou are all related.

Now they are just relatives fighting for the throne behind closed doors. What does it have to do with the Ming Dynasty thousands of miles away?
Do you have any relatives in Portugal?
The fact that the teacher had a legitimate reason really puzzled everyone present.

The Ming Dynasty is a great country, and it still has to be respectful in its conduct. Zhu Yijun looked at Yu Dayou, "Lord Xujiang, He Sai and He Fengxian are your old subordinates, do you know them?"

When Yu Dayou heard this, he thought this person was very familiar and nodded in response quickly.

"In reply to the emperor, I am very familiar with He Fengxian. His original name was Jose Alfonso. He was originally the aide to Baron Leon, the vice-governor of Goa and the governor of Malacca in Portugal.

When Calderon, the Portuguese Governor of Goa, led the Portuguese fleet to retake the port of Malacca, he was defeated by me in what is now the Strait of Samoa. Jose was captured and surrendered, becoming a naturalized officer.

Later, he changed his name to Jose and took a courtesy name, Fengxian. Within two years, he settled down in Ming Dynasty, married and had two sons and two daughters.

He was very active in the campaign to clear the Yanzhou Islands in the South China Sea, the campaign to siege Toungoo in Pagan, and the campaign to clear pirates in the Greater Nanyang. He is currently the deputy chief of staff of the Yanhai Patrol.

Oh, I remember that he should be in Wusong Port right now, receiving a batch of new warships assigned to the Yanhai Patrol Command."

Everyone was also surprised that the emperor suddenly mentioned Jose.

It is true that he is Portuguese, but he has already naturalized as a Ming citizen and has grown into a mid-level general in the Ming navy. Should we ask him to be a guide and lead the Ming navy to fight back?
Zhu Yijun said slowly: "The General Security Bureau has already found out Jose's background. He is the illegitimate son of Enrique I."

When these words were spoken, the five important officials were surprised and delighted.

What happened to the bastard?
The Western Barbarians are dominated by illegitimate children.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as illegitimate children, only legitimate and illegitimate children. If there were no legitimate sons, the heir would be chosen from the illegitimate sons, which was legitimate.

José was not only the illegitimate son of Enrique I, but also the rightful heir to the throne.

He is also a naval general of the Ming Dynasty. What he lost, the Ming Dynasty must help him get back!
Xu Zhenming was mature and cautious. He asked, "Your Majesty, it is difficult to say whether Jose is the illegitimate son of Enrique I without any evidence."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "Jose is the illegitimate son of Henry I. This is well known not only to the Portuguese royal family and nobles, but also to the Spanish nobles and the Vatican.

Fernando Cacer da Marcelo, the Marquis of Mahaján, Portugal, was once Enrique's bodyguard and long-time friend. When José was born, Enrique entrusted him to Marcelo for upbringing.

When he came of age, Marcelo asked his old subordinate, Baron of Sebania, Conseda Aveiro León, to find a job for José in the navy. Later, he became León's adjutant and went to Goa and Malacca together.

Yu Dayou said happily: "Your Majesty, then we will help Jose become the King of Portugal and let Portugal continue to be the window of the Ming Dynasty in Duzhou."

Pan Yinglong raised his head and said slowly: "Your Majesty, I think that our Ming Dynasty should not only help Jose become the King of Portugal, but also support him in annexing Spain and make the Iberian Peninsula a bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty in Duizhou."

Annex Spain?
Yes, Spain can annex Portugal, so why can't Portugal annex Spain in return?

Spain is powerful because it has an invincible fleet.

But Portugal has the Ming Dynasty behind it. Wouldn’t it be a hundred times more powerful than the Invincible Fleet if they just sent a task force?
But how to annex Spain requires finding a suitable reason.

The reason should be easy to find.

In recent years, the Honglu Temple and the Geographical Society have often given lectures to the Zizheng Bureau and the Chaoyi Bureau to let these court officials know the situation of overseas countries in various continents and look at the world from a broad perspective.

We have all studied the Essentials of the Western Barbarians. These guys have really messed up relationships!

If you look for it, you should be able to find a suitable reason.

Zhu Yijun spoke up, "Do you know who Jose's mother is?"

The crowd shook their heads.

"Jose's mother was Margaret de Palma, the illegitimate daughter of the last King of Spain, Charles V, and the half-sister of Felipe II.

Margaret was originally betrothed by Charles V to Alexander de' Medici, Duke of Florence and nephew of Pope Clement VII. However, before the marriage, Alexander was assassinated.

Charles V then betrothed Margaret to Octavian Farnes, Duke of Parma, grandson of Pope Paul III.

In the 1545th year of Jiajing, which was AD, Margaret gave birth to twins for Octavian. One of them died before reaching adulthood, and the surviving one grew up successfully. He was Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, who had secretly fought with our task force and was a capable general under Philip II.
But the Western nobles all knew that Octavian, Duke of Parma, was injured in a vital part during an expedition to Algeria in northern Kunzhou a few years ago and could not be rescued.

So they knew that the twins were the illegitimate children of Margaret and Enrique.

Just to conceal her true identity, Margaret left her elder brother to inherit the title of Duke of Parma and gave her younger brother to Enrique to raise.
In terms of blood relationship, Jose is Felipe II's cousin, because Jose is the grandson of Manuel I and Felipe II is the grandson.

But he is also his nephew, because Jose's mother is Felipe II's half-sister."

All the ministers were stunned when they heard this. "Western barbarians, your chaos is really beyond our expectations!"

Zhu Yijun glanced at everyone and thought, haha, they seemed to have never seen the world!
King Felipe II of Spain’s first two wives were his cousins, and his third wife was a French princess, so they seemed to have no blood relationship. His fourth wife was his niece, and she gave birth to four sons and one daughter.

However, no matter how chaotic it was, it had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty, but instead provided an excuse for the Ming Dynasty.

Yu Dayou said excitedly: "Your Majesty, if this is true, we can support Jose to ascend the throne of Portugal, then turn the tables, annex Spain, establish the Kingdom of Iberia, and turn the Iberian Peninsula into a bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty."

Pan Yinglong glanced at him and asked a question.

“Your Majesty, my colleagues, Jose seems to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but who can guarantee that after he ascends the throne of Portugal and annexes Spain, he will not become ambitious and betray the Ming Dynasty.

After all, Daming is just his foreign home, while Duizhou is his native place."

Everyone was silent. Yes, this was very possible.

Jose, whose courtesy name is Fengxian, is another person with the same courtesy name in history: Lu Bu from the Three Kingdoms period, who used his Fang Tian Hua Ji to stab his adoptive father!
Now he regards Daming as his adoptive father, but who can guarantee that he will not raise his painted halberd and stab Daming, his adoptive father, in the future?
(End of this chapter)