Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 120 Pirates and Treacherous Officials Collude (Part 9)

While Xiong Wencan was rigorously inspecting raw silk and tea in the southeastern sea, as if casting a net to catch fish, the Spanish envoy had already arrived in the capital.

Zhu Jue had already received Wang Yingchao's report and had already ordered people to prepare everything, even the time and route.

The Spanish envoy was arranged to rest for one night in a row of huge warehouses next to the Tongzhou canal wharf. The next morning, around 5 a.m., he boarded a centipede boat, which traveled from the Tonghui River to the inner city moat, then through the Desheng Gate and the Imperial City Water Gate to the Taiye Pond, disembarked at the Yuhe Bridge Wharf, and then walked through the Xihua Gate to enter the Imperial Palace, and then through the Jinshui Bridge and the Huangji Gate to enter the Huangji Hall.

He almost never received officials from outside the court in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but this time he chose to receive the Spanish envoy in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

This was not because he admired foreign things; on the contrary, he wanted to demonstrate the strength of the Ming Dynasty to the Spanish envoy and give them a real show of force.

This is because he knew very well that European colonial bandits operated on the law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak. Talking about etiquette and morality with them would only invite a beating. Only by showing strength and making them fear you would they obediently pay you to do business.

To this end, he specially ordered Wei Zhongxian to mobilize tens of thousands of Imperial Guards to line both sides of the passage from Yuhe Bridge to the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was densely packed with tens of thousands of Imperial Guards equipped with new firearms. The sides of the imperial road in the middle were also lined with newly built armored vehicles, all equipped with cannons.

This strength was enough to deter the Spanish from even considering attacking the Ming Dynasty. At least in the Far East, the Spanish had to behave themselves whenever they saw Ming soldiers.

He had already learned everything from Zheng Zhilong. The Spanish only had a little over two thousand troops in the Far East, and at this time, all the European countries were ganging up on Spain. Spain itself was already struggling to hold on, so it was impossible for them to send tens of thousands of troops to the Far East.

The Spanish envoy was indeed so intimidated by the display of force that he lost all interest in anything else. He no longer had any thoughts of colonizing the Ming Dynasty or forcing it to open its trading ports, and he didn't even have the idea of ​​plundering Ming merchant ships.

This guy wasn't just intimidated by the muskets and cannons displayed in the Huangji Hall square; the sheer size of the Ming capital was enough to make his jaw drop.

After entering the capital of the Ming Dynasty through the arched city wall at the mouth of the Tonghui River, it took them nearly two hours to reach the imperial city of the Ming Empire!
How far is this?
Many small principalities in Europe don't even have territories this large!
Moreover, the defenses of the Ming capital were terrifying. There were four layers of city walls alone. As soon as you disembarked, you were met with countless Ming soldiers.

When the Spanish envoy entered the enormous Hall of Supreme Harmony, he was already so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth. When he saw Zheng Zhilong standing beside the high platform, dressed in a purple-red python robe, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Nicholas, what are you doing here?"

What's your name, Nicholas?

I am no longer a pirate captain.

Zheng Zhilong solemnly corrected him, "Valdes, I am the Marquis of Nan'an, personally conferred by His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty. Please call me Your Highness the Marquis."

Marquis?

Antonio Carod Valdes is no stranger to me; there are marquises in continental Europe as well.

However, the marquises in continental Europe were mostly feudal lords with their own territories, and some could even participate in the election of the emperor.

Valdes asked incredulously, "Nicholas, you've really been made a marquis?"

I don't like hearing that.

Zheng Zhilong said seriously, "Do you think I would lie to you in the imperial palace of the Great Ming Empire? I command an army of no less than 100,000. What's so strange about being granted a marquisate? Didn't you see my brothers? Didn't you see the troops they command?"

Well, this guy's strength is truly terrifying. In Europe, let alone a marquis, many kings don't have as many troops as him.

The European continent operates on the law of the jungle. With such strength, becoming a marquis or even a duke wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Valdes quickly and respectfully replied, "Your Highness, did His Majesty the Emperor of your Great Ming Empire send me to speak with you?"

I'm not qualified; I'm here to be an interpreter.

Zheng Zhilong shook his head slightly, then waved his hand and said, "No, His Majesty the Emperor is dealing with state affairs and has not come over yet."

"Don't stand in the middle, stand next to me. When our Emperor arrives, you must greet him respectfully as I do. In our Great Ming Empire, disrespecting the Emperor is a capital offense, punishable by beheading."

Is it that serious?

How should we welcome you?
As Valdes walked toward Zheng Zhilong, pondering this, a loud announcement suddenly came from outside: "His Majesty has arrived."

Zheng Zhilong quickly said, "Follow me and prostrate yourself, or you'll lose your head."

Having said that, he prostrated himself down and joined the guards in shouting in unison, "Welcome, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Valdes immediately prostrated himself down. He couldn't shout loudly, but he could hear the tens of thousands of people inside and outside the hall shouting in unison. It was a magnificent sound, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami.

Soon, Zhu Jue strode in, walked up to the warm pavilion, sat on the dragon throne, and said majestically, "No need for formalities, rise."

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

After another round of cheers, everyone finally got up from the ground. Seeing this, Valdes didn't dare breathe.

Zhu Jue glanced at him before asking, "Do you Spanish want to do business with our Great Ming Empire?"

Zheng Zhilong quickly and efficiently translated for Valdes.

Upon hearing this, Valdes nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, we would love to do business with the Ming Empire."

At this point, all he could think about was doing business with the Ming Empire; he dared not think about anything else.

After listening to Zheng Zhilong's translation, Zhu Jue asked again, "Who are you? Can you represent your Governor-General of Luzon or your King of Spain?"

I!
Valdes was speechless after hearing Zheng Zhilong's translation.

Can he represent the Governor-General of Luzon? Can he represent the King of Spain?

That's definitely not possible.

He thought about it carefully before cautiously saying, "I cannot represent our Governor-General or our King for the time being. However, I think both our Governor-General and our King would like to do business with the Ming Empire."

It seems you have no idea how to negotiate. All you colonial bandits know is how to bully people with guns and cannons. When it comes to negotiation, you're no match for us.

Zhu Jue feigned displeasure and said, "Then what do I have to talk to you about? I don't do small business."

We can do big business.

Valdes quickly asked, "Your Majesty, how big of a business are you planning to do?"

Zhu Jue said indifferently, "If I want to do that, I need to do business worth at least tens of millions of taels of silver every year. If you can't do that, then there's no point in talking. I'm too lazy to waste my time talking nonsense with you."

A business worth tens of millions of taels of silver every year?
Zheng Zhilong was secretly taken aback upon hearing this.

Valdes nodded repeatedly and said, "Great! As long as His Majesty the Emperor has so much stock, I think tens of millions of taels shouldn't be a problem."

This wasn't him bragging; Spain was actually quite wealthy at the time. The amount of gold and silver they plundered from the Americas each year was worth tens of millions of taels, not to mention the countless other resources they possessed.

The key issue is that their lifestyle, from the king to the nobles, is extravagant and wasteful. Furthermore, other European countries are envious of the profits from their colonies. As a result, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and other countries have joined forces to fight against Spain. This has been going on for more than ten years, and Spain is starting to feel the strain.

Spain's influence is waning, and their maritime dominance won't last much longer. Doing business with them now is the most profitable opportunity.

This is because if they wanted to revive their nation, they would have to exchange the resources of their colonies for money, and even ships and weapons.

Zhu Jue not only wanted to do business with Spain, but he also wanted Spain to persist for longer. The longer Spain persisted, the slower the rise of the Netherlands and even England and France would be, and the Ming Dynasty needed this time to develop.

He thought about it carefully, then pretended not to care and said, "The tens of millions of taels I mentioned do not only refer to real gold and silver. I also want to buy some things from you, such as copper and rubber. How much can you supply?"

"If you don't have enough copper and rubber, then there's no point in talking. If you just want to buy our goods, I can negotiate with the Dutch and even the Portuguese."

do not!

Upon hearing this, Valdes said urgently, "Your Majesty, we have plenty of copper, no matter how much you need. We may also have the rubber you mentioned, but your people didn't describe it very clearly to us, and we don't know what you mean."

Isn't it clear yet?
It is quite possible that at this time, European countries had no idea about rubber vulcanization, so they couldn't understand what he had his people describe.

If you don't know how rubber is vulcanized or what raw rubber is used for, what are you most likely to do with raw rubber?

Oh, and I'll make a slingshot to smash your windows!

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then explained in detail: "The rubber we are talking about is a kind of resin, which is extracted from the sap of the rubber tree."

Your colonies in the Americas have many, many rubber trees. When you cut the bark of these trees with a knife, a lot of milky white sap flows out. This milky white sap, when soaked in acidic water, will slowly turn yellow and solidify. It can be used to make bowstrings for ordinary arrows, or pressed into thin sheets for rain protection.

Oh, you mean that thing!

Upon hearing this, Valdes suddenly realized and said, "Your Majesty, we understand. The rubber tree you mentioned is the weeping tree. Indeed, many natives in the Americas use the resin of the weeping tree to make bowstrings after it has hardened, but those bows and arrows don't shoot very far."

Very good, then it must be rubber. Other resins, even if they can be cured, cannot be used to make bowstrings.

The rubber has finally been found!
(End of this chapter)