Chapter 664: Almost duel!
Saying goodbye to the old man Correa, the formation continues to the north, the voyage is monotonous, everyone said that it is good to meet pirates!
The landscape of the African continent has changed from lush tropical rain forests to deserts and then hills.
It took about eight months to set off from the Port of Rising Sun in Southeast Asia, and the formation of Chinese diplomatic friendly visits arrived in Europe.
The first European port visited was Lisbon, Portugal, and an interesting incident happened midway over the waters of Africa and Morocco.
"There are two merchant ships ahead, they are coming towards us!" On the flagship of the formation, the officer on duty reported to Officer Hong Xi who was resting in the cabin.
Official Hong Xi put on his military uniform and asked, "Are they driving towards us?"
"Yes, the trend is very obvious!" Sergeant Value said.
Officer Hong Xi went up to the deck, and Deputy Chief of Navigation Shi Lang pointed to him and showed him the other ship. There were two red-breasted boats in the northeast direction of the side, a three-masted ship with the flag of Spain and the other a two-masted ship. The flag of the ship belongs to Portugal.
The sails of the two ships are full, and Hong Xiguan silently calculates the speed of the two sides. In almost half an hour, the two sides will be in contact.
In this area of waters, the wind direction is not good for the other party, but our ship is currently the upper hand. What does the other party intend to do if they are going against the wind?
In that era when the ship used sails, walked with feet, and communicated with each other by roaring, it was difficult to contact each other, and there was no international uniform flag, and the red-headed boats were merchant ships without guns (or less guns), and warships with more guns. Although the opponent's gun door was not opened, God knows if the opponent's gun door will be opened when they get close!
"They want to beat us? Make a vote?" Hong Xiguan asked.
"Who knows!" Shi Lang shrugged.
"If you really get a vote, brothers are not afraid, but the prey is indeed a bit bigger." Official Hong Xi ordered guard!
"Dangdangdang!" The alarm bell rang, and the officers and men on the three warships mobilized to check the guns and ammunition, prepare for damage to the pipes, and wait for them.
The warship still moved forward, not changing its course or fleeing.
After half an hour, the two sides contacted, the alarm was lifted, and the captains of the two merchant ships personally went to the southeast flagship. What did they do?
One represents the Kingdom of Spain and the other represents the Kingdom of Portugal. They invited the Southeast Government to visit the formation, the first to visit their own country!
I asked, it turned out that both kingdoms learned from the Clippers returning to Europe that the Eastern Powers’ visiting formation was about to arrive. In order to compete for the glory of being the first to receive the Eastern Powers, both kingdoms offered rewards to their captains. Find the fleet from the east and invite them to arrive in your country first.
This is related to the honor of the country. There is no need for the Chinese to say more. If the two captains say a few more words, they will immediately use force and fight!
The winner is the Chinese fleet with him!
Seeing two red-haired fan bright swords, and preparing to do it on their own, the Chinese have big eyes when they see it!
The red hair fan is really passionate and unrestrained!
Official Hong Xi stopped them in Spanish and said: "We Chinese are here for friendship and don't want to see blood, so let's toss coins and use Chinese silver coins. Your God decides which country we go to first."
"Sure enough, it is the style of a great eastern country!" The two captains readily agreed, so official Hong Xi took out a silver coin of the Southeast Mansion, with a portrait of Yan Changwu on one side and a banner map of the Southeast Mansion on the other.
The Spaniard asked for a portrait, while the Portuguese asked for a flag, declaring that the upward side is the winner.
Official Hong Xi closed the silver coin in his hand and threw the silver coin into the sky.
He didn't do anything about it, what he thought was resignation.
The silver coin fell on the deck, and the flag picture was straight up. The visiting formation first went to Portugal!
The Portuguese captain jumped up happily and laughed, and the Spanish captain congratulated him!
After winning, the Portuguese captain discussed with Hong Xiguan and sent two officers to serve them on the 72nd Kaohsiung Ship. The Portuguese captain bid farewell to Hong Xiguan and returned to his ship to continue his voyage.
One of the two Portuguese is called Lopez and the other is called Prado. Both are seamen in their early thirties. They are very young and have very good sailing skills.
They also expressed their admiration when they saw the Chinese ship control technology, which is absolutely top-notch level in terms of thumbs up!
They were on duty in two shifts. When Lopez was not on duty, with the help of rum, official Hong Xi quickly learned what he wanted to know.
It turns out that Portugal and Spain are at war, while the situation in Britain is not stable, and the Netherlands is at war with Britain, but the rule of France is still very strong.
Before, Portugal and Spain were merged, and the king was King Philip IV of Spain, but the two countries had different dreams and were not in harmony.
In November last year, the Portuguese nobles planned a conspiracy and received the official support of Joao, Duke of Bragança. In the early morning of December 1, the nobles occupied the Royal Palace of Lisbon, executed the Minister of State, forced the Spanish garrison to surrender, and deposed King Philip IV of Spain. Joao, Duke of Libragança, became the new king, called Joao IV.
After Joao IV became king, he immediately held a court meeting in the second year and decided to increase taxes on the country in order to carry out the War of Independence to the end. The tax money obtained was used to form a standing border army, build fortresses on the border, and rebuild the navy. , Building a number of arsenals and shipyards, etc.
So Portugal and Spain went to war, but Spain was busy fighting France in the Pyrenees, Belgium, Alsace, Italy and other places, and had no time to take care of Portugal. In addition, the two countries were one family before, and the relationship between them was intricate. Many Portuguese The nobles had family relations with Spain (even the mother and wife of King Joao IV were Spanish nobles~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The war between the two countries was not fierce.
"Small friction, border conflict!" said Lopez, who was drunk and drunk. He said that he had fought a few times with the Spaniards, and they shot the guns at a certain distance. After firing the gunpowder and bullets, it was all. Not many people will die in one fight!
"It was his bad luck who was killed. Our chief told us to shoot at them, and so did they!" Lopez told the truth.
"This is called a war?" Official Hong Xi asked.
"Yes, after we went back, we said we couldn't fight it, and they said we couldn't fight it, so it's fine!" Lopez said.
Under such circumstances, it has become an important task to win the first visit to the country of the Eastern power formation. The first country the Chinese go to can add supreme brilliance to which country. The Portuguese value this very seriously. Lopez is pleased. Say this is the will of God, God bless Portugal!
With the help of Lopez and Prado, the visiting fleet from the Southeast Palace successfully arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, and was welcomed by the Portuguese!
(=)
