Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

The new Governor of Luzon of the Spanish Royal Navy, with his entourage, knelt respectfully in the center of the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Respected Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Foreign Minister Valdes, on behalf of the King of Spain and Portugal, sends you greetings!"

Zhu Youxiao was sitting behind the imperial desk, looking at the guy in front of him with great surprise.

"I didn't expect that you got promoted after just one year of not seeing you."

Valdes smiled somewhat flatteringly and said, "Thanks to His Majesty the Emperor."

"The great King Felipe IV highly approves of the mercenary plan you proposed, and he promoted me in order to strengthen exchanges between the two countries."

Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up.

Ever since going south last year, he has been waiting for a reply from Spain!

The 17th century was not only a turning point for Chinese civilization.

It is also a turning point for the whole world!

At this time, in the west.

The German Protestant princes and Sweden, Denmark, and France, with the support of the Netherlands, Britain, and Tsarist Russia, were engaged in a vigorous Thirty Years' War.

The other side of the war was the Holy Roman Empire, the German Catholic princes and Spain, supported by the Pope and Poland.

All the kingdoms and principalities that participated in the war totaled twenty-two, turning the whole of Europe into a mess!

From 1618 until its end in 1648, eight million people lost their lives.

Zhu Youxiao had only one goal.

That is to take advantage of the chaos in Europe at this time and send troops to test the foundation of Western countries.

In this way, we will prepare for the Ming Dynasty to open up overseas territories!

"Tell me how much gold Felipe IV is willing to pay to hire the warriors of my Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Youxiao did not hide anything and asked directly to the point.

Valdez suddenly became shy and answered in a somewhat unsatisfactory manner.

"Twenty gold coins per soldier per year. I wonder if this price will satisfy His Majesty the Emperor?"

"How much? Say it again!" Zhu Youxiao thought he had heard it wrong.

Valdes held up two fingers and repeated what he had just said: "One soldier, twenty gold coins per year!"

Zhu Youxiao was immediately furious: "Is that idiot King Felipe IV trying to get rid of a beggar?"

"Someone, kick them out!"

Valdes was a little flustered and shook his head hurriedly: "No, no, no, your Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"It took me four months to get to Ming Dynasty. You can't do this!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he felt someone grabbing his shoulders.

When he turned around, he saw Yutong staring at him with disdain.

"Valdes, don't you know that such a price is an insult to the Ming Dynasty?"

"According to the current exchange rate, one Spanish gold coin is equivalent to one tael of silver in the Ming Dynasty."

"Do you know how much silver it costs every month to train a soldier in the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's at least fifty taels of silver! That's fifty gold coins!"

Valdez seemed to be shocked by the number and asked with some stammering: "How, how can it be so many?"

Yutong took out a small notebook from his arms in a serious manner, opened it with saliva on his face, and pointed at the contents one by one.

"Then let us settle this account for you!"

"Each soldier will receive two taels of silver per month!"

"Food and lodging expenses, about one tael."

"Injuries are unavoidable during training, so I only need one or two ounces of herbs per month."

"When the clothes and armor are worn out, they must be replaced in time. On average, one set per year costs about fifteen taels of silver, which means three taels of silver per month."

"My emperor is the most compassionate to the soldiers. Every month, he invites celebrities and storytellers to the army to help the soldiers relieve their depression. Each time these people appear, they will cost at least 10,000 taels of silver. If it is evenly distributed to each soldier, it will cost three taels of silver!"

"In addition, in order to allow the soldiers to find their ideal home and start a family and have children as soon as possible, our Ming Dynasty will also organize Magpie Bridge meetings for the soldiers. Each time the cost is more than 100,000 taels of silver, and each soldier will get five taels of silver!"

"..."

Yutong said this without blushing or feeling nervous. Valdes gradually opened his mouth and eyes wide.

The word "fuck" lingered on his lips for a long time, but he didn't dare to say it out loud!

No, you must not show your weakness!

Great Spain is the most glorious country in the world. We must not let them think that they have never seen the world...

Sun Chengzong and Guo Yunhou, who were standing aside, had blushed without them noticing.

Damn it!

This eunuch is so fucking ridiculous...

What kind of celebrities, what kind of storytellers, and the Magpie Bridge Meeting, how come I have never heard of them...

Sun Chengzong was a man with a bottom line, and he couldn't help but turn his head and look at Zhu Youxiao.

However, he found that his student was happily eating melon seeds and sipping tea, and had no intention of stopping Youtong at all.

The monthly expense of fifty taels of silver for each soldier was scraped together by Youtong.

Valdes' face turned red and white, as if he was performing Sichuan opera face-changing.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty..."

"This is such a high price. I'm sorry that I, Valdez, dare not make the decision."

"If, I mean if."

"If you allow me, please let me return to Spain and ask the great king for another chance."

Zhu Youxiao was not surprised by his reaction.

The rent of fifty taels of silver per person per month, let alone him, even if it were me, there is no way I would agree to it right away.

So, he smiled and nodded to Valdes.

"No hurry, no hurry!"

"In order for you to be able to describe the Ming army in detail to your king after you return, I have decided to hold a military performance tomorrow!"

Having said that, he turned and looked at Wei Zhongxian.

"Go, inform Lu Xiangsheng and let him prepare well!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I guarantee that nothing will go wrong."

Wei Zhongxian understood instantly, bowed respectfully, then turned and left.

Valdes was overjoyed and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

"In this way, a humble person like me will have enough confidence to go back and convince His Majesty the King."

As the new Governor-General of Luzon, he was responsible for communicating with the Ming Dynasty. He had heard of the name Lu Xiangsheng.

It is said that this man is not very old, but he controls the most elite firearms unit of the Ming Dynasty - the Shenjiying.

He had personal experience with the Shenjiying. Not only had he seen it, but he had also fought against it.

Especially those small and light artillery pieces!

Half a year ago, after he told Felipe IV about the appearance and power of the mortar, it shocked the entire Spanish high-level officials!

Therefore, his trip to Ming this time, in addition to discussing the issue of hiring Ming troops, he also had another important mission!

We must get this kind of gun at all costs!

Chapter 503 China

Noon.

The palace maids brought plates of delicious food into the Yangxin Palace.

There were eunuchs standing by, explaining the name of each dish, as well as the ingredients used and cooking methods.

Stir-fried sea cucumber with green onions from Shandong and deep-fried pork with garlic from Shanxi.

Golden lionfish from Hebei and baked carp noodles from Henan.

Shaanxi gourd chicken and Sichuan mapo tofu.

Chicken stewed with mushrooms from Liaodong and Qingyan champion pig’s trotter from Qianxi.

...........

The fifteen delicacies represent the two capitals and thirteen provinces respectively.

The exquisite presentation and the aroma made Valdes and others swallow their saliva.

When the table was full, another maid came forward and laid out the various tableware.

Valdes and others, who had just swallowed their saliva, suddenly widened their eyes.

Some people even couldn't help but mutter in low voice.

"Oh my god! Look at this wine glass. It can be fired as thin as an eggshell! Through the wall of the glass, you can see the wine swaying inside..."

"And this, are these the chopsticks used by the Ming people? How can they be made so exquisitely!"

"Not only is it inlaid with gold, but it's also carved with so many patterns. Compared to this kind of tableware, the king's gold dinner plate is so tacky!"

"This... seems to be a holder for chopsticks? It's also made of porcelain, and it's fired to be as transparent as a gem. Oh my god, how did the Ming people do it!"

"........"

Including Valdez, six red-haired devils sat on one side of the hall, looking at everything in front of them, feeling as if their hearts had been hit by a magnitude twelve earthquake!

Compared with these things, the porcelain brought to the West by Eastern merchants seemed like a product of failure.

But even so, those porcelains can still be sold at a high price in the West.

No wonder!

No wonder that travel book says that the mysterious East is full of gold!

If you take any piece of this kind of porcelain back to Spain, you can exchange it for a castle.

If it were presented to the king, he would probably at least be rewarded with a baron!

Valdes took a deep breath, stood up and bowed deeply to Zhu Youxiao.

"Your Majesty, I have a treasure to present to you."

"Please allow me to take away the tableware I used after dinner!"

After saying that, he reached into his pocket, took out a round object and handed it to Youtong.

As he did this, he casually brought out another thing, which fell to the ground with a "pop".

Zhu Youxiao saw it clearly, it seemed to be a book.

There is a long string of English words written on the cover of the book.

Faintly, he seemed to see the word "china".

That’s right, it’s English!

"what is that?"

Zhu Youxiao ignored the things that Youtong put in front of him and pointed at the ground under Valdes' feet and asked.

Valdes lowered his head subconsciously, but when he saw the book that fell out, he felt terrible!

He picked up the book as quickly as possible and put it back in his pocket.

Then he said with a guilty look on his face: "No, nothing, just, just a story book for foreign officials to entertain themselves."