"...We have seen how imperialists like Lieutenant Colonel Xiao Guang view the glorious Kingdom of Portugal. There is no doubt that their politicians in power are willing to win over our country to prevent the country from fighting alone on the continent. Last year, in order to pull our country into their camp, the diplomatic envoys made more efforts in a month than the sum of the past twenty years. Of course, they also wooed Italians or others, some of which were top secrets and did not reveal a single word to the newspapers. But in any case, because of the powerful spiritual and material strength of the Kingdom of Portugal and His Majesty, the success or failure of the East Coast army in the continental region remained in our support."

"...Authentic, our army troops are not doing well in Morocco. Military supply departments, artillery units, and engineering units are scrambling to steal. Many officers suffer from war and try their best to be sick and are unwilling to go out. The supply of various military supplies is also unresolved. But if we reform these disadvantages, our combat effectiveness will be more than twice as strong as possible to defeat any enemy. Our soldiers have the potential to become an elite strong army. After understanding these situations, the East Coast people should not completely despise us. But reality makes us feel frustrated. The soldiers represented by Lieutenant Colonel Xiao Guang ridiculed us rudely and regarded us as objects of weakness and bullying. They may also have considerable territorial ambitions."

"...I plan to go south after a while to meet with civilian officials of their government. These are educated gentlemen who will condemn the incredibly rude behavior of the soldiers. They have always maintained a gentle attitude towards our country, and have always treated the Kingdom of Portugal in a spirit of leniency, justice and genuine manner, and have understood our interests and are willing to listen to our demands. If possible, I will ask for an agreement to restrict the operation of the East Coast Army to prevent those who are greedy and warlike from occupying all the gold mines."

"I think the order sent by Lisbon is appropriate. War requires a lot of funds, especially fiat currency on the East Coast, and many materials can only be bought in fiat currency. At present, the money in Qingdao market is very loose, but it may become tighter soon because many countries plan to borrow gold exchange coupons. My friend who works in the East Coast banking industry suggested to me to hurry up. He believes that the East Coast government has a high chance of issuing loans of less than 6 million fiat currency to our government, because this is not only a commercial act, but also a political focus. But he also warned not to show goodwill to bankers in other countries, because it will hurt their self-esteem."

"Finally, about this war that is about to break out, I have to say that it looks like the Spanish bubble is about to be pierced. I have expected that the East Coast people would easily defeat them, and it would not be a war, but a massacre. Our country should seize the opportunity to resolve the territorial disputes left over from the Spanish Kingdom in history. If the East Coast people support - you can imagine the noble prestige and reputation enjoyed by the East Coast people after the war, all their actions would be "most sincerely appreciated" by the exhausted belligerent countries - we can let the Spanish give up the interests that are very important to them, and I am extremely sure of this."

On February 7, 1701, in a bedroom with a pretty well-decorated bedroom at the Fangshan Grand Hotel, Serginho, the Governor of Bahia, was writing a work report. This report will be sent to Lisbon first, and will be sent to Lisbon after the opinions of the Governor of Bahia, and will be handed over to the king's important officials for review.

I wrote a work report every week. I was rushing to the road before, and it was written very briefly and had little content. However, after the talks with Lieutenant Colonel Xiao Guang, director of Tuanjiehe Military Administration, the content suddenly became richer.

To be precise, Serginho did not achieve any effect in the negotiations with Lieutenant Colonel Xiao Guang. The warrior was very cunning. He pretended to be a rude and unwilling military leader to Serginho, making unconventional and cunning avoiding the core issues. He said that he made Serginho, the governor-general envoy, tiring and criticized Xiao in his work report without hesitation.

However, he also understood that the interests of the Tuanjie River Basin were huge, and it was impossible to expect the East Coast people to stop. Unless they did not find gold mines, gem mines and other resources downstream of the river - but Serginho also highly doubted that even without these mines, the East Coast people would continue to occupy land - their country is currently very eager for gold, and the soldiers have always had a reputation of cruelty and war, and the situation is really not optimistic.

Therefore, Serginho no longer has any expectations for persuading the warriors on the east bank of the Unity River Basin by verbal words. He planned to go to Dongfang County, the capital of the people in the south. He heard that their Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not moved away yet, so it was the right way to meet with a few big names to see if they could solve the problem through diplomatic channels.

The diplomats on the East Coast still gave the Portuguese a good impression. They were gentle, knowledgeable, kind-hearted, and always took good care of their allies. Serginho planned to focus on the importance of the Kingdom of Portugal in the European strategy of the East Coast Republic, and then hoped to persuade the diplomats on the East Coast to restrain the army and put a bridle on the crazy horse.

But how to say this kind of thing, there are many possibilities for success and failure. Although Serginho wrote it quite like that in the report, to be honest, no one dared to guarantee it. He hasn't come to the East Coast for a long time. What if the style of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs changes?

But this is not a big problem. Even if diplomatic efforts fail, Serginho has already figured out a way out, which is to push everything to the East Coast Army. Anyway, rumors about the domineering warriors in this country have been heard of by all countries, and the reasons are quite sufficient.

Of course, Serginho's trip this time was not just for the purpose of uniting the little things in the river basin. To put it bluntly, perhaps the Governor of Bahia attaches great importance to that little gold mine because his interests are involved, but from the perspective of the Lisbon court, it may not be that important. What they are more worried about is that they are afraid that the East Coast people will become more aggressive and eventually infringe on the interests of Portuguese Brazil. Of course, if the East Coast people are willing to make compensation in other places appropriately, Lisbon may not be unwilling to make some concessions here. One of Serginho's tasks on this trip is to work hard in this regard.

Spain and Portugal actually have territorial disputes, and there are quite a few. The reasons are very complicated, but the main contradiction is that it occurred during the merger of the Spanish-Portuguese era. In that era when the Portuguese was dark, they lost many cities on the border between the Spanish and Portuguese, and Spain annexed them. Even now, the locals still mostly speak Portuguese, and many nobles originally swore allegiance to the Portuguese royal family, and Lisbon wanted to take them back at all times. Originally, relying on Portugal's national strength, there was no chance at all. But if there were support from the East Coast people, the situation would be different! Especially now, King Carlos II of Madrid is terminally ill, and he will - no, surely - drag the country into the abyss of war at any time. If the Portuguese seized the opportunity, he might not be able to recover the lost territory and regain the glory of that day.

From here we can also see that Serginho's several tasks seem to have a little contradictory meaning, that is, they do not want the East Coast people to benefit them, and they also want other people's support. To put it bluntly, they are just asking too much and not greedy. The Portuguese actually did not think carefully whether they have enough value to the East Coast people consider the gains and losses from their perspective? The Lisbon court also had unrealistic optimism in this matter, as if the failure of its army in Morocco had not yet awakened them from their dreams.

If you really think about it, what can Portugal provide for the East Coast during the war? A military base in Viana, a place where agricultural products and livestock are purchased at a cheap price, and a place of mercenaries, but is this really irreplaceable? I'm afraid it may not be. The East Coast people are willing to help them recover some lost land from the Spanish, give millions of yuan in loans, and transfer some commercial benefits. In fact, it is already generous enough. Too many requests will only make them look bad in both aspects.

Unfortunately, many people don’t understand this truth. The failure of the Portuguese Army in Morocco has disappointed the East Coast people, thinking that they are not as good as Italians. Their overseas colonies are also greatly reduced when the layout of overseas strongholds in the East Coast people is almost completed. It is correct to rely on your relationship in Diu to enter India, but it is also the same for one time. Since that is the case, are you still expecting others to give you a good look?

Serginho was in a daze, or was dominated by greed, and still had unrealistic fantasies. With such a mentality, even if he met a civilian official in the East Coast whom he thought was "easy to talk", he would not get much benefit. For the sake of the present, the Portuguese should still abandon the fantasy, reorganize the army that has been proven to be unqualified, and strengthen themselves, so that they can get a share of the upcoming great changes. Obviously, this pie will not be too much, but it is enough to fill the Portuguese with such a size.

As for the future of Portuguese Brazil, it is too early to talk about it now. You can't expect a country with a population of more than 1.8 million to occupy such a large area of ​​rich land forever. Even if the people on the east coast don't come to eat, will others not? The French Guiana colonists have been conducting cross-border colonization activities for many years. It is better for the Governor of Bahia to pay more attention to this direction, as Louis XIV's appetite is quite considerable.
Chapter completed!