The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 691 Controlling Resources
Emperor Wanli truly never expected to encounter Descartes at sea.

Desila never expected that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would come here in person.

Actually, this guy came here to find Deng Zilong, the naval commander.

This guy just mustered up his courage and blindly ran towards the colonies that the Ming Dynasty had conquered in the Americas, and he would rush towards the Ming Dynasty's naval fleet without any regard for anything else.

Who would have thought that they would directly encounter His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
It was purely coincidental that the two were able to meet here.

However, this is not the point.

The key point is that De Sheila has already become the governor of Brazil, and this puppet is quite important for him to control the resources of the Portuguese colony.

Because this guy was quite obedient and dared not disobey him, he could confidently send people to the Portuguese colonies to extract resources.

Once this pattern is established, it cannot be changed even if a new governor is appointed.

The Ming Dynasty's military strength is undeniable; anyone who dares to change it will be beaten, or even killed.

There's no need to worry about that. Once the model is established, the Ming Dynasty will have the ability to control the resources of the Portuguese colonies according to that established model.

The key is this stage with a fixed opening pattern.

As the saying goes, "everything is difficult at the beginning." If the Portuguese governor of Brazil does not listen, does not cooperate, pays lip service but acts against it, or even obstructs it in secret, then it will be very troublesome, and this model will be difficult to establish.

Or rather, if it is an unruly governor, they simply cannot maintain firm control over the resources of the Portuguese Viceroyalty of Brazil.

Now that De Shera has become the Governor-General of Brazil, this problem naturally no longer exists.

After thinking it over carefully, Wanli asked, "Have they agreed that our Great Ming Dynasty has priority in exploiting all the resources in your Governor-General's jurisdiction of Brazil?"

They can't disagree with that.

If you disagree, you might lose all resources; if you agree, at least you'll get a 10% share of the profits.

De Shera nodded repeatedly and said, "They all agreed. As long as you are willing to send troops to help us reclaim the Viceroyalty of Brazil and the Gold Coast, you can freely exploit the resources of these two colonies, as long as you give us a share of the profits as agreed."

Great, if you agree now, there won't be a chance to back out later.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "How is the Governor-General's jurisdiction in Brazil now?"

Oh, how do I put this?

Descartes sighed inwardly, but still honestly said, "Your Majesty, the situation over there seems to be very bad. After the Dutch and Anglo-French allied forces took over our Bahia General's territory, they have begun to expand our colonies south of Bahia."

I don't dare go over there; I don't really know what the situation is like there.

You, as the governor, don't even know?
Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle.

I cannot blindly lead my troops to attack. If the Netherlands, Britain, and France have mobilized most of their troops and ships to invade the Viceroyalty of Brazil, my soldiers will likely suffer heavy casualties if I rush in recklessly.

Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned and said, "Why don't you send someone to investigate?"

If we want to help you reclaim the Viceroyalty of Brazil and the Gold Coast, we'll first need to understand the strength of the Dutch and Anglo-French forces.

We know nothing about the strength of the Dutch and Anglo-French forces; I don't even know how many troops I need to send to help you.

Sigh, I have no one to send.

Deshera thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, I only have a few dozen men and one centipede boat under my command. To row over there to investigate would be suicide."

I also wanted to have the nobles in charge of this general's jurisdiction send someone to investigate, but the problem is, these nobles look down on me, a count appointed by the Ming Dynasty, and they don't listen to me, the governor-general."

They don't listen to you?
I must solve this problem for you.

I need to support this puppet ruler of yours.

The problem is, how can we get the nobles here to listen to this guy?

Colonial robbers only recognize might; whoever has the biggest fist is the boss.

As long as this guy's fist is big enough, the nobles here will obediently listen to him.

However, I cannot allow this guy's fists to grow bigger.

If this guy's fists really got bigger, he probably wouldn't be as obedient as he is now.

After thinking about it carefully, Wanli asked, "How did you come to have our Ming Dynasty's centipede ships?"

Uh, this is borrowed.

Desila quickly explained in detail, "Your Majesty, I was just in a hurry to get here."

The problem is, if we come by sailboat, we'll have to wait for the monsoon and ocean currents, and we don't know when we'll arrive.

So I borrowed a centipede-shaped boat from General Li, and then led several dozen men to row all the way here from our strongholds in the West and Africa.

If there are monsoons and ocean currents along the way, I'll ask the nearby delivery sailboats to help pull the centipede boat along; otherwise, I'll have my men row as hard as they can.

We've been rushing here for months, and we've finally made it here.

Oh, you borrowed it from Li Yuansheng, right?
I can also lend you my big fist to beat up those disobedient nobles.

This fist belongs to me, so you have to obey me.

However, it seems I cannot directly lend the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the Navy to this guy.

If we directly send the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the navy to beat up the Portuguese nobles here, it would be a clear message to the Portuguese nobles that this guy is a puppet of the Ming Dynasty.

Would the Portuguese nobles here listen to a puppet?
No matter how big this guy's fist is, the Portuguese nobles here will only outwardly submit but inwardly resent it. In fact, it's even possible that the Portuguese nobles here, together with all the Portuguese nobles who hold power overseas, could depose this governor.

Even if the Portuguese nobles here are stupid, they can't possibly listen to a puppet governor. Although he wants to support a puppet, he can't be so obvious about it.

Wanli thought about it carefully, and then asked, "You must have saved up a lot of money over the years, right?"

what?
Why are you suddenly asking this?

Do you even consider the little money I earn to be money?
Desila thought for a moment, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I have only saved a little money over the years, not much."

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "No, you've saved a lot of money." Huh?
What does this mean?
De Shera was stunned upon hearing this.

He really didn't understand what they were saying.

Would His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty be envious of his meager wealth?

impossible.

Last time, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty rewarded him with a large amount of gold and silver coins, which made him a small fortune.

The money he saved was probably too much for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to even glance at.

The question is, why did His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty say that he had amassed a lot of wealth?

He genuinely didn't understand and didn't know how to respond.

This guy doesn't seem very smart.

However, it doesn't matter if you're not smart. You don't need to be too smart to be a puppet; you just need to be obedient.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Wanli explained in detail: "You have saved a lot of money, so you can rent many centipede ships from our Ming Dynasty, and you can also hire many Native American warriors."

"If any of the nobles here dare to disobey you, you can take your hired Native American warriors and beat them until they obey."

Oh, so this means I have to pay for boats, hire the local natives, and use my fists to subdue those disobedient nobles.

The problem is, I don't have that much money.

Upon hearing this, De Shera said somewhat awkwardly, "Your Majesty, I really haven't saved up much money. My little bit of money is only enough to rent a few ships and hire a few hundred Indian warriors. This kind of strength is not enough to intimidate the nobles here."

You probably don't know this, but most of the nobles here are relatives. Their combined strength is so great that it would take hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men to subdue them.

You haven't understood what I mean yet.

Emperor Wanli slowly shook his head and said, "You don't need to pay for the ships and the Indian warriors; consider these as a loan from me."

However, when you talk to those nobles, you must say that you paid for the boat yourself and hired the Native American warriors yourself, so that they will truly submit.

If they knew that these were all loans from me, and that you could lose this power at any time, they wouldn't truly submit to you.

Oh, so I don't have to pay.

That would be great.

wrong.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire can give me troops and ships, but he can also take them back at any time.

I could lose these capabilities at any time.

De Shera thought for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, how long can you lend me these ships and Indian warriors?"

You know I can take back the big fist I lent you at any time, right?
Then I'll be frank. You can't beat around the bush when talking to this guy, because he won't understand if you do, and you'll have to explain later.

Emperor Wanli said quite readily, "As long as you are obedient, I can lend you these ships and Indian warriors indefinitely, until you are old, no longer want to be governor, and want to go back to enjoy your retirement."

Oh, so as long as I obey, you won't take back these men and ships, right?
no problem.

You bestowed upon me this countship, and you insisted on making me governor. Without your support, I am nothing. Of course, I will listen to you.

Upon hearing this, Desila nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand, Your Majesty. What should I do next?"

Yes, Not Bad.

That's well said.

After careful consideration, Wanli solemnly said, "The Indian warriors here don't know how to operate boats. Even if they are recruited, they will still need to be trained."

Perfect timing! My troops and ships haven't been mobilized yet, so we can use this time to give the Native American warriors a good workout.

"Alright, you go and wait here for a moment. I'll arrange for someone to take you to recruit Indian warriors."

That would be great.

Upon hearing this, Descartes immediately stood up, ready to take his leave.

However, he suddenly realized something and cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, how many troops and ships are you planning to lend me? Can you lend me more?"
The hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of troops I just mentioned are the bare minimum. If you want them to truly obey and not dare to have the slightest thought of resistance, it would be best to have more.

Of course, I want you to be able to truly subdue the nobles here.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly and said, "I will lend you a thousand centipede ships and fifty thousand Indian warriors first. If they are still not satisfied, I will give you more."

Well, 50,000 Native American warriors is quite a lot.

Why did you only lend me the centipede boat?

Upon hearing this, Desila cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, they have sailing warships. If you don't lend me some, they might not behave themselves."

I can lend you the Fujian warship, but the problem is, the cannons on it are breech-loading, and you can't know this secret.

Wanli thought for a moment, then lied and said, "I only brought the warships that accompanied me, not the sailing warships."

"I can order a hundred sailing warships to be brought over for your use, but you'll have to wait several months."

Well, there are indeed no sailing warships in your escort fleet.

You probably wouldn't lend me such an advanced ironclad warship.

Let's wait a few months if we want.

It did take several months for the sailing warships to sail from the Ming Empire.

Desila nodded repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After saying this, he bowed and took his leave.

(End of this chapter)