The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 292 The Fate of Portugal
Zhu Jianxuan's orders and requests were immediately sent to Africa through the telegraph system that had been established.

Portugal's colonies in Africa included Mozambique on the east coast and Angola on the west coast.

In the past decade of Ming's exploration of Africa, it has surrounded it with vassal states and immigrants.

The local vassal states and immigrants had long regarded these places as their own choice, and even the local Portuguese themselves understood this.

When the emperor's order arrived, the pioneering troops around the two places took immediate action. While the army was approaching the border, they issued an ultimatum, demanding that the other side surrender directly, otherwise they would go to war.

Although Portugal's colonial officials were shocked and most of them hesitated and struggled for a while, they eventually chose to surrender.

They knew that they had no chance of winning and that if they didn't surrender they would just sacrifice in vain, which would be meaningless.

Therefore, there were only a few sporadic exchanges of fire on the African continent, and all the former Portuguese colonies were taken over by the Ming Dynasty's military and civilians.

This was the last year of the Ming Dynasty's support for ordinary foreign vassal states' exploration of Africa.

Except for a very small number of British and Spanish coastal colonies, the Ming Dynasty achieved actual control over the peripheral areas of the African continent.

The entire African continent was incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

In such a vast continent, most places have no soldiers or immigrants stationed for a long time, and many places have not even been reached by the Ming army or immigrants.

However, the control network formed by the Ming Dynasty's settlements and patrol lines has completely surrounded the entire continent.

It can be considered that a comprehensive enclosure and ownership claiming operation has been completed.

Official or private explorers from other countries no longer have the opportunity to directly enter the interior of the African continent, explore and then claim that a place belongs to them.

Anyone who wants to enter the interior of Africa must pass through the area actually controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are vast amounts of wasteland inside the African continent, since the surrounding lands have been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, the wasteland inside naturally belongs to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty would declare that the entire continent belonged to it and prohibit other countries from intervening.

Meanwhile, in Europe.

Queen Maria I of Portugal suffered from long-term mental disorder, so Crown Prince Jose served as regent of Portugal and handled government affairs on behalf of his mother.

According to the original history, Jose died of smallpox in 1788.

His younger brother João took over the position of crown prince and served as regent of the kingdom after his mother became insane.

But in this world, Portugal is able to receive medical treatment in the European city of Daming because of its relationship with Spain.

In fact, most European princes and princesses received the Ming Dynasty's cowpox smallpox vaccine after 1782, including Prince Jose.

Smallpox infection is full of surprises. Since Jose had been vaccinated against cowpox, he naturally would not die from smallpox.

But Jose's personal survival or failure cannot affect the fate of Portugal.

After Spain sided with France, France first demanded that Portugal withdraw from the anti-French alliance, end its alliance with Britain, and stand on the side of France.

Jose's decision, like the choice his brother made in history, directly rejected this request.

France and Spain then declared war on Portugal.

Spain wanted to attack Portugal on its own and let France help Spain take Gibraltar.

When France, Spain and Portugal were all mobilizing troops for war, news of the Ming Dynasty's declaration of war arrived.

When the top leaders of various countries received the notice from the Ming Dynasty, they were completely confused.

"Ming Dynasty joins the war? Against Portugal?"

"The Ming Dynasty, France, and Spain are working together to deal with me?"

However, just like the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the top leaders of various countries quickly understood the Ming Dynasty’s intentions after a brief moment of astonishment.

The Ming Dynasty's exploration of Africa was open. According to European estimates, the Ming Dynasty may have sent tens of millions of people to Africa in the past decade.

Except for the two colonies occupied by Portugal, most of the African coastline was occupied by the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Portugal is now a thorn in the side of the Ming Dynasty.

Jose had no choice but to order the colonies in Africa to let the local garrisons resist as much as possible.

But not long after this order was sent out, news came that the Ming army in Africa had launched an attack and the colonial garrisons had surrendered because they could not resist.

His orders might not even have reached the colonies yet.

Jose immediately realized that the situation was hopeless, so he sent people to find Ming officials in Europe to request peace talks and expressed his willingness to hand over the African colonies to the Ming.

Jose instinctively thought that the Ming Dynasty wanted African colonies.

Jose had already been mentally prepared, knowing that Portugal would not be able to continue to retain its African colonies in the future.

However, Zheng Ruian, who was authorized by the Ming Emperor to be responsible for the negotiations with Portugal, directly put forward a condition that the Portuguese could not accept at all.

The Ming Dynasty not only wanted colonies in Africa, but also the whole of Brazil.

Jose could never imagine that the Ming Dynasty would ask for Brazil, and certainly would not authorize the officials in charge of the negotiations.

Jose's representatives had no choice but to return to Lisbon to report to the Crown Prince Regent.

Prince Jose was also confused after hearing the report:

"And Brazil... How is this possible... I..."

The importance of Brazil to Portugal was completely different from that of its colonies elsewhere.

At this time, Portugal's native population was only over four million, while Brazil's local population was nearly four million.

Among them, there were nearly one million white people, about one million indigenous and mixed-race people, and nearly two million black slaves.

Population is the most important wealth of this era. Brazil has a population close to that of mainland Portugal, and its importance to the Portuguese nation is self-evident.

The title of the Crown Prince of Portugal is Prince of Brazil.

The Ming Dynasty's demand for Brazil was almost equivalent to asking for half of Portugal, which the Portuguese could not accept.

After discussing with the ministers around him, Prince Jose believed that it would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to forcibly occupy Brazil and that such a demand might be an act of blackmail.

So Prince Jose rejected Zheng Ruian's request.

After receiving the response, Zheng Ruian immediately commanded the prepared fleet to take action, cooperating with the Army Governor of the Mediterranean region to escort 30,000 troops to directly attack Lisbon.

On April 1, the seventh year of Tiangong, the Ming fleet officially set sail for Portugal.

Thirty-two steel battleships, hundreds of recoil-type breech-loading rifled cannons, and shrapnel shells charged with picric acid, this fleet combined with these technologies was truly invincible in this era.

All the Portuguese naval patrol boats encountered on the road collapsed at the first touch.

The naval fleet, which was still in the age of sail, was generally unable to resist the ironclad cruiser fleet that had been ahead for a hundred years.

As long as they engage in battle, the result will be defeat and then dispersion.

The Ming Navy encountered almost no obstacles and reached the waters off Lisbon very smoothly.

Lisbon is located in a narrow bay. The Ming fleet used artillery to directly destroy the coastal defense batteries on both sides of the bay where Lisbon was located, and then covered the army to launch a landing operation.

The whole process went smoothly and the landing troops quickly took control of the dock under the cover of the navy.

Zheng Ruian ordered more troops to go ashore, station them at the dock for preparation and alert, and then attack the area around Lisbon and control the main traffic routes around Lisbon.

When the Ming navy and army launched the attack, Prince Jose and the Portuguese ministers in Lisbon received a series of bad news and were now completely panicked.

They finally experienced the terrifying power of the Ming army and witnessed the epoch-making combat efficiency. They also understood why the African colonies were lost so quickly.

Their own naval fleet would be shattered at the slightest touch, and the weapons on land would also be shattered at the slightest touch. There was no possibility of resistance at all.

In the original history, during the new round of anti-French alliance war a few years later, the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil as a whole for refuge with the assistance of the British Navy.

The Portuguese royal family and government now have no chance of escape.

After the Ming Navy blockaded the sea area, the British Navy did not dare to fight with the Ming and could only watch from afar and did not dare to help Portugal.

Britain is no longer useful as an ally.

Even if the Portuguese royal family wanted to escape, it seemed that they had nowhere to escape.

Prince Jose was anxious and conflicted for a long time, but he had to arrange for an envoy to leave the city to try to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty and determine the Ming Dynasty's demands.

Apart from handing over Brazil, are there any other possibilities?

Jose asked his younger brother Prince João to follow the Portuguese Prime Minister, and come out of the royal palace castle with a white flag to contact the Ming Dynasty patrol soldiers.

After some twists and turns, I met Zheng Ruian on a warship in the open sea.

After paying his respects, the Portuguese Prime Minister nervously explained his purpose and asked how the Ming army could withdraw.

Zheng Ruian didn't bother to be polite with them and said very bluntly:
"I have already told you what the Ming Dynasty wants, which is your colonies in America and Africa." "We have already taken over those colonies in Africa, and now what we want is Brazil in South America."

"We don't want anything else. The Ming Dynasty is only interested in vast sparsely populated lands."

Prince Joao said subconsciously:
"Brazil has nearly four million people, so the population is not sparse..."

Zheng Ruian glanced at Joao and felt that this barbarian prince did not look very smart, so he asked directly with disdain:
"Millions of square kilometers and only millions of people, isn't that considered sparsely populated?

"There are more than 10 million babies born every year in the Ming mainland, which is one-third more than the total population of Portugal and Brazil.

“A place as big as Brazil, even if the population were ten times larger, would still not be considered densely populated.

“It would have to increase a hundred times to be comparable to the Ming mainland.

"Do you still have any questions about this? Are you prepared to continue fighting the Ming Dynasty to protect this wild land?

"You don't think that you, with millions of people across the country, can resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty, do you?"

Joao felt dizzy after hearing what Zheng Ruian said.

The number of children born in the Ming Dynasty every year exceeds 10 million, a statistic that makes João feel like he is dreaming.

But if you consider the total population of the Ming Dynasty, this birth rate is completely normal.

João opened his mouth and was speechless.

The Portuguese Prime Minister was also stunned for a moment, and then said in an almost pleading tone:
“General, we can give up our colonies in Africa, but we really can’t give up Brazil.

"In recent years, the republican politics invented by the French has been spreading all over Europe and the American colonies.

“The Kingdom of Portugal was already difficult to maintain stability.

“Even if our King and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Regent are willing to give up Brazil, the local nobles and people may not accept this arrangement.

“If Portugal suddenly lost Brazil, the native government might go bankrupt and the native subjects might rebel.

"The Kingdom of Portugal cannot lose Brazil..."

In fact, in the original history, civil unrest broke out in Portugal immediately after Brazil officially gained independence.

Zheng Ruian didn't know the original history, but he was a descendant of Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong. He was born in the most business-savvy vassal state in the Ming Dynasty and was the eldest son of the Duke of Min.

After listening to what the Portuguese Prime Minister said, I basically understand the difficulties Portugal is facing at this time.

Brazil is still too special and important for Portugal.

When a family, company or country that is already on the verge of collapse suddenly loses its most important source of revenue and tax revenue, collapse is the natural result.

However, Zheng Ruian just waved his hand and said,

“We don’t need European acceptance in Brazil, we just need ownership and management of that land.

"Even if you resist to the end on your own land, the Ming Dynasty will directly occupy Brazil.

“We will migrate at least 10 million people to the Brazilian region.

"In the past ten years, the Ming Dynasty has transferred one million immigrants to Africa every year, and now it has basically controlled the situation in Africa.

“The next step is to focus on Brazil.

"If the local residents dare to resist the officials and army of the Celestial Empire, they are all traitors and should be killed.

"As for the affairs of your overseas barbarians, they have nothing to do with our Ming Dynasty.

"Unless your king is willing to pledge allegiance to our emperor and become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will be obliged to stabilize the political situation for you."

The Portuguese Prime Minister, Prince João and their entourage felt a chill in their hearts when they heard Zheng Ruian's explanations or threats.

Portugal worked hard in South America for three hundred years, but only accumulated less than one million white people in Brazil.

Because Portugal has too small a population, now there are only four million people, and two or three hundred years ago there were only one or two million people. How could it be possible to transport a large number of people out?

The Ming Dynasty can now send out one million people a year, and ten million people in ten years. This is terrifying.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to seize colonies of other countries, it did not even need to organize a large-scale war. It could control all the colonies by continuously supplying population.

What makes people feel most desperate is that even if people emigrate abroad at a rate of millions per year, the total population of the Ming Dynasty will not decrease.

It doesn't even affect the population growth rate much.

Because the population of the Ming Dynasty is so large, the core population of the ethnic group is larger than that of the entire Europe, and may now exceed 500 million people.

The population increases by tens of millions every year.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's colonization was to obtain land so that they could send their excess population out and find a place for them to settle down.

The Ming Dynasty really did not need to worry particularly about whether the local people were willing to accept its rule.

If foreign races do not accept it, they can simply be eliminated.

The Ming Dynasty did not care about the foreign population at all, and had the ability to defeat and eliminate foreigners.

Portugal and Brazil have only a few million people, which is not even a fraction of the Ming Dynasty. They simply do not have the strength to confront the Ming Dynasty.

If we fight to the death regardless of the consequences, we might really be completely wiped out.

But in this despair and panic, the Ming people seemed to convey another attitude, which stunned Prince João and the Prime Minister.

"A vassal state of the Ming Dynasty? Let Portugal become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty?"

Zheng Ruian said as a matter of course:

"Yes, if you become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty like the Netherlands and Belgium, the imperial court will naturally try to pacify you.

“From now on, when those European countries, whether it is Spain or France, want to bully you again, the Ming Dynasty will directly intervene on your behalf.

"After becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, we can go directly to the Ming Dynasty during the tribute period and continue to trade directly with the Ming Dynasty.

“Some of the goods that were originally prohibited from export will also be granted to vassal states.

“In the future, the Ming Dynasty will gradually stop foreign trade. If the country wants to continue trading with the Ming Dynasty, the king must pledge allegiance to our emperor and sign a treaty to become a vassal of the Celestial Empire.

"At the same time, when you transfer Brazil to Ming, it will become a vassal state of Ming, and your existing industries in the local area will continue to be maintained.

“The original Portuguese subjects in the area can also continue to be governed by officials from the court of your Kingdom of Portugal.

"Unless you request, the Ming court has no interest in interfering in the internal affairs of you natives.

"Just like we did in Macau, we just need to abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty, pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty, and obey the orders and dispatches of the Ming Dynasty.

"What the Ming Dynasty wants is land. It would be too cruel to directly exterminate the foreign population on the land. After all, God is merciful.

"It would be too troublesome for the Ming Dynasty to manage it by itself, so it is most appropriate for you to continue to govern it."

The Portuguese Prime Minister immediately felt that this condition seemed acceptable and much better than directly ceding Brazil.

It can preserve the existing population and wealth, continue to trade directly with the Ming Dynasty, receive the Ming Dynasty's care, and resist the invasion of France and Spain.

The main reason was that Zheng Ruian had put enormous pressure on them at the beginning, and now that he had given them a little respite, they both felt relieved.

As for letting the King of Portugal become a vassal of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, this matter is not impossible to discuss. The key lies in how specific the Ming Dynasty's requirements are and how many restrictions it has.

After a brief consideration, the Portuguese Prime Minister asked cautiously:

"What about mainland Portugal? What does the Ming Dynasty require? Will it send immigrants here?"

Zheng Ruian said:

"Ming needs a place to build a military port.

“Apart from this naval port itself, no immigrants will be sent to mainland Portugal.

"The purpose of the Ming Dynasty immigration program is to resettle immigrants. With so many vast and fertile lands in Africa and America, why would they come to such a barren place as Western Europe?

“In the future, unless your king takes the initiative to request it, the Ming court will not take the initiative to interfere in Portugal’s internal affairs.

"You just need to pay the tribute to the vassal state regularly as required."

The Portuguese Prime Minister thought this was a good offer:
"We understand, but we need to go back and consult our Majesty and the Crown Prince Regent about becoming a vassal of the Ming Dynasty."

Zheng Ruian waved his hand gently:
"Go ahead. I'll give you three days to consider. If you don't formally accept the conditions within three days, we will formally attack Lisbon."

The Portuguese Prime Minister and Prince João had been feeling much more relaxed, but they became nervous again after hearing the three-day warning.

He could only agree with a nervous and conflicted mood, say goodbye to Zheng Ruian, and return to the palace to report to the Crown Prince Regent.

(End of this chapter)