The Portuguese sent a fleet to India for the second time, led by an arrogant nobleman, Cabral. After arriving in India, he arrogantly asked the local small states to buy spices first, which seriously damaged the interests of the Muslim merchants who monopolized the spice trade at that time. Muslims had a significant influence in various small countries, so the conflict inevitably broke out.

At the beginning, the Portuguese nobleman Cabral, who led the fleet, ransacked a Muslim merchant ship by force and killed everyone on the ship, which aroused the anger of the local Muslims. So they joined forces to attack the Portuguese merchant station in India and killed more than 50 Portuguese. This made Cabral even more angry and bombarded the important Indian port where the merchant station was located, ransacked the merchant ships in the port, and massacred more than 600 innocent boatmen.

The cruel behavior of the Portuguese naturally made the local Muslim merchants extremely hated them. However, at that time, there were many small countries on the west coast of India. The massacre of the Portuguese in that state caused favors from some countries that had a feud with this state. Therefore, Portugal took advantage of the division of the Indians and soon gained a foothold in other parts of the west coast of India. However, the hatred between them and the Muslim merchants was even more unresolvable.

Two years later, Da Gama once again arrived in India with a huge Portuguese fleet. This Portuguese aristocratic navigator was more tough and arrogant than Cabral before. As soon as he arrived in India, he captured a ship that had made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He slaughtered nearly four hundred people on the ship, a considerable number of which were women and children.

In addition, Da Gama also used force to threaten the small states on the west coast of India and signed a trade agreement with another state that was very beneficial to Portugal. During this period, Da Gama also had a naval battle with the local states. However, he defeated more than 50 ships by just four warships, and the Portuguese themselves suffered extremely small losses. The most important reason for such a huge gap in technology was the huge gap in technology.

The warships used by the Portuguese were the most popular Clark ships in Europe. This ship was the predecessor of the famous Galen ship, countless times stronger than the Indian warships, and their ships were loaded with heavy artillery. The primitive warships of the Indians had no power to fight back in front of them.

After this naval battle, the Portuguese finally gained a firm foothold in India. They also snatched part of the maritime trade from the Muslim merchants. At this time, their power had not yet been able to completely conquer the entire west coast of India, but it had grown into an important force in the local area and began to gradually erode the maritime trade of the Muslim merchants.

By 1504, the year before Emperor Zhengde ascended the throne, Portugal officially formed an alliance with a small state named Kochi in India. With the help of the other party, he built a port that truly belonged to the Portuguese, Manuel. This port was named after the Portuguese king at that time. This shows the importance of this port. In the same year, Portugal defeated 150 Indian warships with only three warships. In this battle, the Indians were sunk twenty-five, killing tens of thousands, but the Portuguese actually had zero casualties.

Zhou Chong initially did not believe the above battle result, but Father John and Chirava swore together that the battle result was absolutely true, and it was recorded in history by the Portuguese. Not only did Europeans know it, but even those defeated Indians admitted it. Moreover, the huge difference in battle result was not just an exception. Later, there were even more surprising results.

In the Battle of Hormuz in 1507, Portugal went out with nearly 500 six ships, fighting against the Persians 170 warships. As a result, the Persians were sunk more than 30 warships and more than 3,000 were killed. However, the Portuguese died again, and only eleven were injured.

In the Battle of Diwu in 1509, twelve Portugal warships, Egypt, Ottoman and India jointly dispatched 150 warships, and Portugal won again. Although this time, there were no zero casualties, the losses were also very small. Moreover, after the Battle of Diwu, the Muslims withdrew from the Indian Ocean completely, and the Portuguese became the master of the Indian Ocean from then on.

Through the huge results of the above series of naval battles, Zhou Chong finally saw a clear fact, that is, Europeans have surpassed Arabs and Indians in terms of navigation and weapons, so they have a one-sided situation in naval battles. Zhou Chong also has to admit that although the Central Plains region once was at the forefront of the world in terms of navigation, after so many years of maritime bans, shipbuilding and navigation technology have undergone significant regression, and now it is probably no match for the Portuguese.

According to Father John and Chirava, the power of the Grapes in India is no longer limited to the port of Manuel. They have occupied Goa, an important port city of the Indians, and have moved their political, economic and military loyalty there. The Portuguese have stationed twenty warships and more than two thousand soldiers in India all year round. Although the number seems to be small, relying on advanced ships and weapons, they have actually controlled the entire west coast of India, and at the same time monopolized maritime trade there, transporting huge wealth to Portugal every year.

Zhou Chong heard that Portugal actually had so many ships and soldiers in India, and thought that they would attack Malacca City in large numbers next year, which made his face look ugly. Although the strength of their Nanyang Chamber of Commerce grew rapidly, there were only one thousand members of the Chamber of Commerce, and only five or six hundred people could be used for combat at sea. Even if he mobilized other Chambers of Commerce, he might not be able to recruit 1,000 people in the end.

It should be noted that whether it is the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce or other Chamber of Commerce, they are just civilian armed forces and cannot be compared with real troops. In addition, their ships and weapons are not as good as the Portuguese. Even if Zhou Chong takes these thousand people to aid the city of Malacca, the final role will be very limited. If one side suffers huge losses of personnel and fails to stop Portugal from occupying Malacca, the consequences will be serious and even Zhou Chong may not be able to bear it.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chong's face didn't look ugly all of a sudden. He also knew about the Portuguese's expansion path in the South China Sea. Malacca is a major communication route connecting the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, and it is also a gateway to Southeast Asia. If Portugal was allowed to occupy it, they would open the door to Southeast Asia and pose a huge threat to the coast of Ming Dynasty.

Think about the complex relationship between the pirate kings of the Ming Dynasty and Portugal in history, as well as the war between Zheng Zhilong and his son and the Portuguese in the late Ming Dynasty. Although they were able to temporarily repel Portugal's invasion of the Ming coast, the South Ocean had fallen into the hands of Western countries at that time. They could attack and retreat or defend, and they could soon make a comeback. Finally, by the late Qing Dynasty, they evolved into various countries invading the Central Plains. The Supreme Kingdom of the Celestial Empire finally became a bully, and the glory of the past no longer exists.

Putting aside these major aspects, if the Portuguese enter Southeast Asia, it will definitely not be a good thing for smuggling merchants like Zhou Chong, because it means that they will have another powerful opponent in the future maritime trade, which also means that the profits they earn from smuggling will be reduced sharply.

Zhou Chong even suddenly realized that at that time, he and his people were actually in a very similar situation to the Muslim merchants in India before. After the Portuguese crossed the Cape of Good Hope, they finally opened up the route between Europe and the Indian Ocean, thus competing with the Muslim merchants. Now the Strait of Malacca is the Cape of Good Hope in Southeast Asia and the coast of Ming Dynasty. If Portugal is allowed to occupy it, it will definitely be the beginning of a disaster for Zhou Chong and other smuggling merchants.

No! I must not let the Portuguese occupy the Strait of Malacca! Zhou Chong, who was sitting in the living room, suddenly stood up and walked around the living room several times. Whether it was Yu or Yu private, Zhou Chong could not let Portugal succeed. Unfortunately, his current strength is limited, and even if he bet on his old capital, he was not sure, which made Zhou Chong anxious.

No, I have another way! Zhou Chong, who was anxious, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Thinking of a possibility he had thought about before, he couldn't help but smile on his face. He was hesitating whether he should do this, but now it seems that this is his only hope, so he can only try his best!

The solution that Zhou Chong thought of was actually very simple. Since he was not strong enough, he could only ask for help. In the entire Ming Dynasty, the only one who had the strength to help him was the only Emperor Zhengde, who was famous for his despair of playing games. He also happened to agree to Ashikaga Ikki that he would go to Beijing with the envoy of their Ashikaga family to meet Emperor Zhengde. It just so happened that he could find a way to convince the other party.

Speaking of which, although the Ming Dynasty's military power declined during this period, in addition to the border troops in the north, which maintained quite strong combat power, the troops in the central and southern regions had almost lost most of their combat power in a peaceful life, and the maritime power shrank violently with the implementation of the maritime ban.
Chapter completed!