Zhu Cijiu has been learning to draw during this period. The so-called piano, chess, calligraphy and painting seem to have a bit of a sense of cultivating sentiment, but it is not. He has no time to cultivate sentiment. He wants to design a new military uniform, but he can't draw well on the left and right, and he is afraid of seeing what he draws!

As soon as he became ruthless, he simply found a master to learn painting. There were many new things in his mind. If he could learn painting well, the Ming Dynasty would be blessed.

It was naturally simple for the emperor to learn painting with his master. He soon found a suitable person. He knew this person, Liu Ruozai, the second-ranked Wuchen subject in the first year of Chongzheng. He was originally the top scorer, but Zhu Cijiong ordered Shi Kefa, and he could only be the second-ranked person.

However, he probably has to be running at this moment. Zhu Cijing is famous for being a nepotist. As long as he is familiar with him and has the ability, his promotion speed is just like a rocket.

Liu Ruozai was born in a scholarly family. He was knowledgeable, quick-witted, diligent, loyal and honest. He was also a famous calligrapher and painter at that time. After a few days of getting along, Zhu Cijiu regretted it. He didn't notice such a talent. It's a pity. He had to prepare a rocket for him.

It's been a long way to go, and when it comes to painting, Zhu Cijiu's painting skills are actually quite good. He has been painting for several years, and Liu Rushi has also given him guidance in the middle. However, Liu Rushi followed Zheng Chenggong at a young age and only learned some of the basics of painting, so Zhu Cijiu only has solid basic skills. Now with the guidance of famous teachers, it's different. His painting skills have made great progress and he has painted well in just one month. Even Liu Ruozai praised him as a genius among geniuses.

On that day, he was painting a new military uniform under the guidance of Liu Ruozai. Cao Huachun suddenly came to report that Zheng Zhilong, the King of Zhennan, asked for a meeting with the Spanish envoy Kokui'an. Zhu Cijing was surprised. Didn't he authorize Zheng Zhilong to sign a contract with Spain? Why didn't Zheng Zhilong travel thousands of miles to take the Spanish envoy to the capital to find him?

He looked at the military uniform that had been drawn halfway through his mind. He had an idea. This military uniform was actually imitating Europeans. Liu Ruozai was very vivid in painting the robe that was popular in the Ming Dynasty. However, he had never seen this military uniform, so it was quite difficult to guide him. He simply asked Cao Huachun to bring a table and put it on his head. He also prepared a set of pen, ink, paper and inkstone for Liu Ruozai to prepare. After drawing the clothes on Kokui'an, he then invited Zheng Zhilong and Kokui'an to come to see him.

Zheng Zhilong led Kokui'an in, and was stunned by this strange posture. Why was the emperor standing there? Looking at his pen-focused look, was he painting the emperor? But the emperor didn't ask if he didn't say it. He had passed Zhu Cijiu's concession and did not have to kneel down when he saw him, but he didn't want to lose his moral character in front of foreigners, so he simply knelt down and asked Zhu Cijiu for an ease.

This made Kokuian confused and even the prince kneel down. He had to kneel down and learn to salute.

Zhu Cijiu was used to being kneeling by foreigners, but he didn't feel novel. After raising his hand to let them avoid the gift, he asked Zheng Zhilong with a smile and said, "Isn't it that success has gone to Dongdaying? Has he come back with you?"

Zheng Zhilong's face twitched when he heard this, but now Zhu Cijiu and Zheng Chenggong are like brothers, so there is no need to hide it. He said depressedly: "This kid commanded his Success and the Emperor's Sun and Moon to block Weichen's fleet on the sea, and asked Weichen to surrender. The person who ran away was dismissed by Weichen and did not return to the capital with Weichen."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cijiu couldn't help laughing: "It's not bad, it's better to be a young man than a young man. By the way, have you been asked to handle the signing matters with you? Why did you take this Kokui'an to the capital all the way?"

Zheng Zhilong explained awkwardly: "This, not only do they have to sign a contract, but they also want to order a batch of flintlock rifles. Weichen couldn't make the decision, so he could only bring him to see the emperor."

Zhu Cijiu was stunned when he heard this. The Spanish military technology is not bad. Why would he think about buying a flintlock rifle from the Ming Dynasty? He asked Kokui'an curiously: "Your country should be able to produce flintlock rifles, right?"

Kokuian was dizzy at this moment. As he walked over, the strength of the Ming Empire was almost scared to him. He thought that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire should be a young and powerful middle-aged man, or at least a vigorous young man. However, he did not expect that His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire was actually a minor child!

Seeing the respectful appearance of King Zhennan, His Majesty the Emperor did not look like a puppet. What a smart child! Kokui'an was thinking hard, and even Liu Ruozai looked at him from time to time, he didn't notice that at this moment, His Majesty the Emperor suddenly said something to him, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. When Zheng Zhilong translated it for him, he thought for a while and replied honestly: "my country can produce flintlock rifles, but the flintlock rifles we produce are loading bullets in front and the loading speed is very slow. Our King is very proud of the loading speed of the flintlock rifles in your country, so he wanted to order a batch and try equip the troops."

This advertisement was made, but the Portuguese actually helped him to send the advertisement to Spain. He couldn't help but hesitate. After all, Portugal was the first ally of the Ming Dynasty. Isn't helping their enemies harming them? However, the exchanges between countries have always been of interest, and Spain is obviously much stronger than Portugal. Should we abandon Portugal's development of relations with Spain? Perhaps both can be developed. He asked tentatively: "Do you want to use these flintlocks to deal with Portugal?"

The translation process in the middle was omitted. Kokuen was stunned when he heard this inexplicable question. Portugal? Why do you have to deal with Portugal? He said in a little puzzled manner: "This, I don't know if your Majesty the Emperor, do you know that our Spain and Portugal are the same king now."

Of course Zhu Cijiu knew this, but he was not very clear about the messy relationships of European countries. It seemed that Spain did not notice that Portugal was going to get rid of their king's rule, nor did he know that Portugal had formed an alliance with the Ming Empire. It was right to think about it. The Portuguese aristocrats are now like underground parties. How could they spread everywhere to what they were doing?

Spain is going to buy guns from the Ming Dynasty now. It seems that Europe is a bit messy. What is the situation? Zhu Cijiong nodded and said, "I know that you are the same king. I think you are in conflict with each other. Since it is not dealing with Portugal, which country is used to deal with, the Netherlands?"

After all, Koquian is a Spanish senior executive and is quite familiar with this. It is not a military secret. He does not need to hide it. So he directly replied: "We are going to fight in the Netherlands, but it is not only the Netherlands. They are not our primary target now. Our coalition forces of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire are competing with the Protestant Alliance for dominance on the European continent. Sweden has been defeated by us, but France is preparing for war. We order these flintlocks mainly to prepare for the war with France."

Zhu Cijiong has no research on continental history. He still doesn't know that Europe is in a critical stage of the Thirty Years' War. It's both Sweden and France. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Oh, what countries are there in the Protestant Union?"

This is almost well known in the European continent, and Kokuion naturally has nothing to hide. He said clearly: "Mainly France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain and Russia, and some other small vassal states in Germany."

Zhu Cijing was overjoyed when he heard this. So many countries participated, wouldn’t it mean that the whole of Europe had become a mess. It was good to fight and must support it. He said readily: “Since your country has so many enemies, I can consider selling a batch of flintlock rifles for you. I wonder how many you want?”

Kokuian was also very happy when he heard this. Unexpectedly, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire agreed so quickly. He quickly replied: "What our king means is to order 100,000 first to try the effect. If the effect is good, the whole army will change its clothes."

One hundred thousand! It’s just a trial, that’s 20 million taels, a rich man! Zhu Cijing didn’t know that the gold and silver plundered from America every year are worth nearly 30 million taels of silver, and the profits extracted from cash crops such as sugar and spices are higher than gold and silver. Spain is indeed a real rich man who is used to being big.

However, there is a very critical question. How do they transport so many flintlocks back? Spain's strength at sea is not as good as the Netherlands. If it is robbed by the Netherlands, wouldn't it be a big trouble? He asked with some concern: "How do you transport these guns back to Europe? Wouldn't the Dutch intercept you?"

Kokuian was embarrassed in an instant, and he said hesitantly: "This, this, our king heard that the Ming Empire had just defeated the Dutch Navy, so he wanted to ask the Ming Empire to send a fleet to Europe directly. You see, we did not ask for discounts at all in terms of price, but only required delivery to the door, right?"

When Zhu Cijiu heard this, he just wanted to roll his eyes. What a joke. The Ming Dynasty had just fought with the Dutch. If the Dutch knew that the Ming Dynasty's fleet was going to sail far away from Europe, it would be strange if he didn't intercept it halfway. Now the Ming Dynasty did not have the strength to fight the Netherlands in the ocean! He said a little unhappy: "You also know that the Ming Dynasty had just defeated the Dutch fleet at sea. Will the Dutch not take revenge? What if they intercept it halfway?"

Kokuian had already thought about it. He patted his chest and promised: "Please rest assured that the main Dutch forces are now guarding near the local area. If they dare to stay away from the local area to intercept the fleet of the Ming Empire, our Spanish Empire will send troops to attack their local area. This can be stated in the contract that they will never dare to attack rashly."

Zhu Cijiu felt a move when he heard this. No wonder the Netherlands had no movement at all. It turned out that the main force was restrained by Spain and could not be moved. It seemed that they had to choose a peace talk. Hehe, it was not realistic to cede land, but they must accompany the compensation, and they had to kill them with a harsh knife!
Chapter completed!