Lisbon, St. George Castle.

The residence of Portugal King Alfonso III is a very strong fortress. Built on a hill not far from the coast, it is a castle left by the Visigoths. It was later expanded by the Moors and was captured by Alfonso I more than a hundred years ago.

The terrain of the castle is very dangerous, much stronger than the dilapidated fortress at the port. It is built on the mountain, with only one passage connected to the foot of the mountain, which is very meaningless to be a pass and a thousand men cannot open it.

It is easy for the Ming delegation to seize the port of Lisbon, but it will take some effort to seize the castle.

However, in Fort St. George, it was so simple and dilapidated that it was not very good. The dining hall was not small, but it was not decorated. The ground was covered with stones and was still uneven. There were long tables on the ground, which were the most ordinary wooden tables, which were built with thick wooden boards on the legs of the table. The wooden boards were not flat, and they were obviously shoddy.

There is no tablecloth on the dining table. It is now the 13th century. The Age of Discovery has not yet begun, but has not yet begun in Europe. The rich countries in history are now paupers. They have fought with the Tianfang Cultists for hundreds of years, and they have spent some money on military spending, and their lives are not at all important.

On the table, there were some broken porcelains, all of which were produced in Quanzhou as the street stalls. Now they were placed in the palace... To be honest, no customer thought this place looked like a palace. It was a bit like a mountain king's Juyi Hall or something, and the food placed in the porcelain plate seemed to be for bandits to eat.

Large pieces of meat, big bowls of wine, and big buns of bread were piled up on the dining table, and there were a lot of them.

However, there were no chopsticks and no knives and forks. Knives and forks did not appear until the 15th century. Now there are only knives and no forks. However, when eating at the king's house, it is best to hide knives and other things. Fortunately, European nobles were not noble enough these days. They were not as poor as in later generations. They just grabbed the food with their hands and stuffed them into their mouths, which looked very simple.

Yes, it is simple.

At least in Wen Tianxiang's view, these Europa indigenous people are simple and very hospitable, full of admiration and respect for the Supreme People's Republic of China. They are completely different from those indigenous people in Mingzhou who like to take the blood of living people.

It seems that the Europa indigenous people know more about the reason than the Mingzhou indigenous people. It seems that the hope of success in spreading the Confucian Avenue in Europa is also greater.

"This time we must pass the great way in Europa!" Wen Tianxiang thought to himself, "When monk Jiudeng and monk Yongxin arrive to preach together, I heard that it is the holy land of the natives of Europa. It is much more advanced and civilized than any of the books in this place."

Due to the great epidemic in Mingzhou, both monks Jiudeng and Yongxin stayed in Zama to chant scriptures to save the Mayan undead, and did not come to Europa with Wen Tianxiang. However, they would come immediately after the Europa Mingzhou route was opened. They would also bring dozens of Mayan monks to open a Shaolin Temple lower courtyard in Rome. Wen Tianxiang also planned to open a Confucian academy in Rome and train a group of Roman Confucian scholars.

While Wen Tianxiang was thinking about it, Liang Chongru negotiated with Portugal's King Alfonso III and Archbishop Pontalion of the Concession Port through Nicolón.

According to the plan, fixed routes are to be opened between Mingzhou and Europa. This is to provide military assistance to Europe when Mongolia invades Europe in a large-scale invasion.

In addition, this route was opened to trade with Europe. It is indeed a bit far away for Chinese goods to Europe through Mingzhou, but when Dashi and Persia were controlled by Mongolia, it is still feasible to go to Mingzhou. It is also acceptable in terms of cost, because taking the Mingzhou route can avoid Dashi and Persian tax cards.

Moreover, there are many things that can be transported from Europe to Mingzhou, such as livestock, such as grain and seeds of various crops, such as certain agricultural tools and daily necessities. If these things are transported from the Ming Dynasty to the east coast of Mingzhou, the journey will be too far away. It is better to transport more people than to have this transportation capacity.

Therefore, we will transport products such as light weight and high price and small transportation capacity to Europe through the Pacific Mingzhou route, and then purchase tools, seeds, livestock and daily necessities from Europe that are conducive to the colonization of Mingzhou East Coast. This is very beneficial to accelerating the Ming Dynasty's control of the Mingzhou East Coast.

Of course, this advantageous premise is that the European trade in Mingzhou must be fully controlled. Only merchant ships approved by the Atlantic Governor's Office of the Ming Dynasty can travel between Mingzhou and Europe, and must enter and exit from designated European ports.

And these European ports should be the concessions or overseas territories of the Ming Empire!

...

"Your Majesty. You cannot agree! You cannot let the Ming people gain a foothold in Portugal's territory! You have to push this big trouble."

When Nicollo forwarded Liang Chongru's request to the King and Archbishop of Portugal, Archbishop Pontaleon smiled and quickly exchanged views with Alfonso III in the French Boulogne dialect.

Alfonso III had eaten soft rice in Boulogne for many years, so he could speak the Boulogne dialect. Pontalion was a Frenchman and could speak the dialects of many places in France. The guests here, including three Europeans, could not understand the Boulogne dialect. On the way to the castle, Pontalion had tried repeatedly.

"But there can't be a war, the Portuguese kingdom cannot afford such a war..."

"Yes, not only can Portugal not afford it, but the Roman Catholic Church is unable to bear a war with the Ming Empire. Now, both Poland and the Teutonic Knights have sent bad news. The Mongols who controlled Ross and the lower Danube were a little moved, as if they were brewing a large-scale invasion. The war with the Mamruks was also not going well. Nasal, Kesarif, and Elsov were all occupied by the Mamruks, and the Pope was very anxious..."

"Maybe we can use the Ming people to attack the Tianfang Cultists and deal with the Moors!"

"This is a good way, and you can also test their reality. If they can easily defeat the Moorish army, then we have to flatter them. Otherwise..."

"You can also bring Castilla to send troops to attack the Moorish Kingdom of Granada."

"Maybe we can also bring the Marin dynasty of Morocco... Nasr, the old fox of Granada and Yehaiya, the male lion of Marin, are not easy to deal with!"

"Then it depends on Mingren's ability..."

The two soon reached an agreement to divert the disaster to the south and use the force of the Ming delegation to deal with the Moors and the Berbers in Morocco.

The Moors had a powerful country more than 60 years ago, which once made the Christian countries on the Iberian Peninsula breathless. As a result, Pope Innocent III was furious and called on Christian countries across Europe to send troops to help. In 1212, a Christian coalition of up to 60,000 people was formed, commanded by Alfonso VIII of Castilla, and defeated 120,000 Tianfang Cult coalitions in the Battle of Navas-de Torosa and drove the Moors out of the central part of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the Moors did not perish because of this, but united to establish a Grenada Kingdom like a small strong, huddled in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, and lived a prosperous and prosperous life.

The Marin dynasty of the Berbers was a force that had just emerged. It now controlled most of the land in Morocco and was about to take down the last capital of Marrakech, the Muwahid dynasty (the opponent defeated by Alfonso VIII).

"His Ambassador," Archbishop Pontalion said with a smile, "The port problem, I think...the Port of Lisbon is not the best choice. After all, it is the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal, and it is a bit far from the Strait of Gibraltar, the entrance to the Mediterranean."

Alfonso III smiled and added: "There are actually two good ports at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, located at the Gibraltar Peninsula at the southeastern end of the Iberis Peninsula and the Port of Ceuta in Africa."

The entrance to the Mediterranean! Hearing the advice of Alfonso III and Archbishop Pontalion, Chen Chongguan's eyebrows suddenly raised.

Before leaving the Ming Dynasty, Chen Dexing once instructed two key points to control by doing everything possible.

The first is the exit from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, which is the Strait of Gibraltar. Because Europe is now developed after all, and countries with relatively advanced navigation technology are concentrated around the Mediterranean. As long as the export of the Mediterranean is controlled, they can be locked in the Mediterranean bathtub.

The second is the western exit of the English Channel between England and France. You must obtain a naval base in southwest England near the English Channel. This will control the most important passage to the North of the European continent to enter the Atlantic Ocean.

Once you pinch the two ends, Europeans will stay in their hometown honestly and can't go anywhere.

"Governor, the Strait of Gibraltar is the primary goal!" Chen Chongguan said to Liang Chongru in Chinese.

Liang Chongru also smiled all over his face, and looked very good at speaking, and replied in a low voice: "Those two ports must not be in the hands of the Kingdom of Portugal..."

Nicollo took over the topic and said with a smile: "Governor Weiming, those two ports are now in the hands of the Tianfang Cult."

"Tianfang Sect?" Liang Chongru smiled, "It seems that a battle is inevitable." He looked at Chen Chongguan, "I'm going to be used as a knife."

Chen Chongguan nodded, "Turn the tiger and swallow the wolf! These Europa natives are much more wise than those of Mingzhou natives."

"Can you swallow it?" Liang Chongru asked.

"Swallow!" Chen Chongguan smiled, "No one can be powerful without swallowing! But there is no need to swallow two."
Chapter completed!