After Li Junwei finished speaking, he handed over several documents. King Pedro had some understanding of Chinese etiquette and thought it was a gift list, but unexpectedly, there were three documents in it, and each was different. A list, a contract and an economic plan.

The list is full of the names of nobles, all of them are Spanish nobles. Some of them have heard of and even seen Pedro. The number of this list is no less than four hundred people, with the title and the number of families with them written on it. These are all Spanish nobles captured by the Imperial Expeditionary Force in the Americas and priests of the Catholic Church. These Spanish nobles acted as major officials in the colonies and some were merchants. Now they were captured by the Empire in one fell swoop. Li Junwei decided to open the redemption according to European rules.

Each noble and priest had a string of numbers based on the names of the titles and titles. Pedro looked carefully at several nobles he was familiar with and found that the price was set quite reasonable, which not only considered matching his status, but also guaranteed that the price paid by his family could afford. However, Pedro did not understand what this meant.

"Your Highness, do you want me to help you with this?" Pedro asked. If you ask for your own help, what kind of gift is this?

Li Junwei shook his head: "No, king, I hope to cooperate with you. You have also seen that everyone has set a price code, but not necessarily their family will only pay this money. Relatively speaking, as a king in Europe, you should know the limits of their bids more than me. The Empire only needs the original price code, and the rest are the labor costs for you, the middleman."

Pedro understood immediately. He turned the last page and found that the value of these more than 400 people reached 5.5 million Chinese Yuan. It was not too easy to get a million yuan in labor costs as long as he operated it a little. Moreover, he could not only make money, but also get the reputation of a rescuer. He received a lot of praise in Spain, which is also precious to Portugal, which has only such a land neighbor.

"His Royal Highness is such a rare hero. I will handle this properly." Pedro put away the list, pushed the plate in front of him far away, and opened the second document, which was an investment contract. The contract showed that the Portuguese royal family was authorized to participate in the construction of a branch of the Imperial Mining Company, and could enjoy up to 20% of the shares. This new branch is called the American Valley Mining Company, and the mined minerals are actually gold mines. According to this contract, as long as the Portuguese royal family is willing to pay 1.4 million yuan, they can enjoy 20% of the annual gold mine dividend.

This is obviously another major benefit. Pedro is very clear that the so-called Imperial Mining Company is an empire state-owned company. This company has exclusive operating rights for all gold and silver mines in the empire. Generally speaking, even branches are not allowed to invest in foreign shares. However, in some places, precious metal development associations invite some people to invest, mainly colonies, vassal states and even foreign vassals. The invitation to invest is mainly to obtain operating rights, and it is also used in this way to win over local forces and ensure safe and effective operation.

Pedro couldn't believe that such good things would fall on him. Then he thought, unless the gold mine was located in an overseas colony in Portugal or Portugal, Pedro did not hesitate and asked directly: "Your Highness, where is this gold mine?"

Li Junwei walked to the map hanging on the wall, clicked a place located in the Imperial American Colony and said, "It's about here."

Pedro immediately understood that it was indeed an American colony of the empire and had nothing to do with the Spanish. The place was in the inland area north of Rio de Janeiro, only two or three hundred miles away. The reason why he took the initiative to invite the Portuguese royal family to invest in the shares was because before the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, it was a colony of Portugal.

"You are such a great politician, and you are so broad that no one can match." Pedro said with emotion.

According to the Lisbon Treaty, the Brazilian colonies south of 20 degrees south already belonged to the empire, so the empire could completely freely develop this gold mine. But the problem is that this will definitely cause dissatisfaction in Portugal. After all, before the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, Portugal believed that there were barren lands, which were not suitable for growing cotton, and the yield of sugarcane was relatively low. Brazil's mahogany was cut down, and even Indian slaves could not see it. The Jesus would continue to disrupt the situation. It was a negative asset to the colony and gave it to allies in exchange for the empire's comprehensive protection of Brazil. It was the most appropriate.

However, once the news of a gold mine in the local area is exposed, there will definitely be people who regret it. In order to avoid the destruction of the relationship between the two countries due to the gold mines, Li Junwei simply asked the Portuguese royal family to directly invest in the dividends. You should know that the royal family in the colonial gold mines can only receive one-fifth of the dividends, but there is no need to invest any capital. Giving Pedro a fifth of the dividends means that the Portuguese royal family and the national finances have not been damaged.

As for the equity issue of 1.4 million taels, Li Junwei's first gift has been solved. No matter how stupid Pedro is, it has been solved most of it. No wonder Pedro is so moved. Li Junwei is just giving money from his left pocket to his right pocket, and also solved a big problem.

"Businessmen are always petty and forgetful. Instead of waiting for problems to arise, we should avoid problems from the beginning. Wouldn't this be better?" Li Junwei picked up the wine glass.

Pedro raised his wine glass and drank it happily. He found that talking to a person like Yu, who has great wisdom, was really a great pleasure. The only regret was that he could not interrupt anything and just followed the other party's baton. But then he thought about it, it was also a sweet baton.

Pedro said a few compliments and opened the last document, an agreement called the Common European Tariff Agreement and the plan to facilitate this agreement.

After opening it, Pedro found that the plan was closely related to Portugal and was something he had always dreamed of.

In the decades after the rise of the empire, marine trade developed rapidly with commodities from the East. With the development of Atlantic trade and further development of commerce, manufacturing industry gradually flourished, which made Portugal have two kinds of commodities, one was domestic colonies from the East and China. The other was domestic manufacturing products. These two kinds of commodities will only increase, but the problem is that Portugal's overseas market has not expanded, which is why domestic merchants and nobles have been urging him to expand overseas colonies.

However, a more reasonable concept was put forward in the plan, that is, the largest market in Portugal should not be overseas colonies, but the entire Old Continent of Europe. Whether it is Eastern goods or colonial resources, they are best-selling products in Europe. The products produced by Portugal's booming manufacturing industry are also quite competitive. For example, the cotton fabric produced by the introduction of Chinese textile machines and dyeing technology is much better than those produced in many European countries. The quality and efficiency of the newly developed woolen industry in Portugal have exceeded that of the traditional woolen power of Britain.

But the problem is that Europe has huge trade barriers, among which the British Navigation Ordinance is the most demanding. To enter the UK, Portuguese goods not only need to pay high tariffs, but also must be purchased by British merchants and transported by British merchants. Conversely, British goods entering Portugal not only have relatively low tariffs, but also have no restrictions. Portuguese merchants cannot enter the British colony for trade, but British merchants can freely enter and exit the Brazilian colony.

Although the unequal trade policy towards Britain mainly comes from the mediation role played by the United Kingdom during the recognition of independence by Spain by Portugal twenty-two years ago, it is obvious that the Portuguese now no longer miss this old favor.

After the empire expanded overseas trade to Europe, it continued to promote free trade, but there were few responders, and the biggest responder was actually Portugal. The reason is very simple. European best-selling products, such as spices, sugar, coffee, and tea, cannot be produced by European countries, while cotton, steel, etc. are far inferior to China's quality in European countries.

For products that cannot be produced, East India Company must be established, and West India Company must be seized in overseas colonies. If the quality is not as good as the price, trade barriers must be established to protect. For the sake of its own market and manufacturing industry, European countries have trade barriers. This time, Li Junwei proposed a new concept, changing free trade into fair trade, and requiring all countries to achieve equality in tariffs and limited equality in trade.

But obviously, this kind of equal trade is unacceptable to European countries, so Li Junwei directly chose China and Portugal came to negotiate, using its own and overseas colonies markets to exchange for markets of other countries and overseas colonies. Because China implements relatively free trade with Portugal, it can also participate in trade across Europe.

The first spearhead of Portugal is the United Kingdom, demanding trade equality. The more Pedro reads, the more interesting it becomes. This plan puts Portugal to the forefront. The empire only provides professional services behind the scenes. The person in charge of this plan is actually Dan Tai Yunfeng, the current special envoy of the Chinese emperor and the future minister to Europe. The plan will only start next year. Next year is the time for Dan Tai Yunfeng to perform his duties as ambassador to Europe. Obviously, this is a good opportunity for Li Junwei to train his son-in-law and increase his political achievements.

In this plan, Portugal is in a state of steady profit and loss. If the plan can be successful, Portugal can get the opportunity to directly enter other European countries. Even if it fails, with the support of the empire, Portugal can set up trade barriers to Britain and other countries, giving its own country more room for industry and commerce. This is also true for China. If it succeeds, China's market will expand with the expansion of the Portuguese market. If it fails, it will restrict other countries from participating in Atlantic trade, especially the United Kingdom.

This is also a core goal of Li Junwei's continental strategy, limiting Britain. From the perspective of half a time traveler, limiting Britain to become an empire that never sets is an inevitable choice. In this time and space alone, Britain, which has nearly 10 million people, rich domestic coal and iron resources, and has achieved a bourgeois revolution, is obviously a huge competitor. In comparison, a country like the Netherlands that has no resources and more than 2 million people does not have any natural endowments and can only become a trading power, not an industrial power.

When Pedro saw this, he had an idea in his heart. He felt that he was completely convinced by Li Junwei. There was a saying in China that he looked at three steps. He felt that Li Junwei was taking one step and looking at ten steps, and each step was able to be comprehensive, which made people unable to refuse. Although he knew that the Kingdom of Portugal and his king were used, the benefits that had been arranged were willing to be used. Pedro himself thought that he was sorry for the empire, such as destroying the Suez plan, Li Junwei even mentioned it.

But does this need to be mentioned? The two have agreed on military threats to Spain. One of them is that they occupy the Spanish Ceuta area on the African continent. The empire occupied Ceuta and stationed troops there. It is not just a threat to Spain, and Portugal is also within the threat range. It will not be so easy for Pedro to make any small moves in the future.

"Your Highness, I have carefully considered this plan. Although it is now a free ride for Britain and the Netherlands, I want to have similar contacts and negotiations with the two countries of Genoa and Venice. I believe they have similar demands. After achieving phased success, they will make demands to the European powers.

Of course, I also think that the current situation is not suitable for similar negotiations. After all, a war is breaking out in Europe. Now, a demand to the UK is suspected of taking advantage of the situation. If the British understand it wrongly and think that our two countries are on the side of France, it would be very bad." Pedro thought for a while and said to Li Junwei.

Li Junwei heard what Pedro meant. This guy was indeed capable of becoming the "Zhenglory" of Portugal. His words just now were more of a test, testing the empire's view on the situation in the continent and whom he was preparing to form an alliance with. However, Li Junwei did not want Portugal to participate too deeply. He said: "King, in fact, there is no need for Portugal to participate in this war, unless the French occupied Spain, you have sufficient colonies overseas and there is no room for expansion in Europe, and the strength of the Portuguese Kingdom is not enough to change too much. Making a fortune in silence is the best choice."

"You want our country to be a neutral country like Switzerland," Pedro asked.
Chapter completed!