October 30th year of the Empire.

Since the news of King Yu's departure spread, all wise men from all walks of life in Lisbon came to visit. Li Junwei was unwilling to receive these people and left them all to his son-in-law. Instead, he went to the royal palace in Portugal and lived there for two days.

"Your Highness, my Prime Minister and Lord Dan Tai will hold a banquet for you tomorrow. You have to attend this time." King Pedro said with a smile. His persuasion seemed to have placed himself in the position of King Yu's close friend, which is also a true portrayal of his heart.

The war of the Great Alliance ended, and Europe was full of holes. If it were any country that benefited the most, it could only be said to be Portugal, a traditional ally of the empire. The major European powers now owe King Pedro money, which made him not only profit, but also in a good mood. King Pedro liked this feeling very much. The industrial and mining industry in Portugal has also developed, especially the Chinese industrial park in Lisbon. In Pedro's eyes, it was like a golden toad spitting gold coins.

Pedro is famous in Portugal now. People have long forgotten his identity as an usurper and sincerely support this king who brought them prosperity and prosperity.

"Of course, but I have a request, you have to accompany you." Li Junwei quipped.

"That's natural." Pedro smiled.

Pedro specifically left King Yu in his palace. In fact, he had a secret request, that is, to marry the imperial royal family. When Dan Tai Yunfeng's wife and children were still in Lisbon, Pedro had this idea and asked his queen to work harder. However, because the child born to Queen Pedro was too young, and Dan Tai Yunfeng's child was Li Junwei's grandson, Pedro suspended this thought. Now that Li Junwei has returned, he doesn't know when he will come again, nor will he know whether he will come to Europe again, so Pedro was much anxious.

But Li Junwei said directly that he himself was unwilling to marry, and he could not make any decision on this matter.

Although the idea in the empire was greatly liberated than before, the relatives and honors were still very popular. Since the elder brother Li Jundu opened a house in the subcontinent and Li Junhua inherited the throne, the actual position of the imperial royal family was Emperor Li Junhua. Whether in the Yu Kingdom or the Yu Li family, such matters should be decided by the emperor. Although the current royal family does not have a lot of children, there are many daughters. Both Li Junhua brothers have many daughters, but they are not old. If they find a daughter of the royal family, it is not a matter of Li Junwei who can decide in one sentence. He just agreed to come to Shen Jing to propose this matter.

The imperial diplomatic system represented by Dan Tai Yunfeng was also very cautious about marriage. Since the establishment of the empire, the royal family has never had a marriage or a marriage. Because of Li Mingxun's relationship, the marriage of the royal children is relatively free. The marriage is not easy to open, and it is also a marriage with European countries. In the eyes of the empire today, Europe is the same as in the Warring States Period. The relationship between the empire and European countries is not stable and lasting. Portugal is a traditional ally, but it may not be the case in the next war.

A country that never gets married suddenly marrys a country in a whirlpool, which will have a certain impact on diplomatic freedom, which most people don’t want to see.

"You are not angry about marriage, thank God." Portugal has developed very fast in recent years, not because Pedro has had great ability, but because he took advantage of the general trend and took the imperial sail. In fact, this country has become even more arrogant and extravagant. The only progress is that he speaks Chinese very skillfully and no longer needs to use translation to communicate freely with imperial officials.

Li Junwei waved his hand: "You are not the first to make such a request. On the contrary, you are the one who gives me the most face among the people who make the request. What I said yesterday is because you and I are friends."

Pedro nodded: "No matter whether you and I are friends or partners, I have one more thing to ask you for advice."

"It has something to do with the colonization of the Maghreb region?" Li Junwei asked.

This is Pedro's biggest expansion in the past few years. His goal is the northwest coast of the African continent, which is densely populated and rich in resources. Portugal took advantage of the Grand Alliance War to colonize and expand the local area, achieving rich results, and has occupied four harbors in the local area. Of course, the empire also used this force to expand the Ceuta colony on the Strait of Gibraltar on a large scale. And with the opportunity of mediating the Grand Alliance War, the empire united with Portugal to transform the Maghreb region into a common sphere of influence between the two countries.

However, Pedro's ambition was too great to completely conquer Morocco, a country with a population of at least two million. The Alavi dynasty, which ruled the local area, had just been established for thirty years and was at the peak of a feudal dynasty. The expeditionary force organized by Portugal reached 14,000 people, and lost more than 3,000 people. The empire's Ceuta colony was also besieged. It was not until the Moroccans broke their heads under the empire's defense system that ended the conflict.

There are many reasons for Portugal's failure, among which Pedro's own mistakes were the main reason. Pedro was strategically indifferent. While trying to take advantage of the lack of skills in European countries to swallow Morocco quickly, he also wanted to keep the elite army to see if there was a chance to win benefits for Portugal on the European battlefield. As a result, he took care of both sides, but neither side gained any benefits. However, Portugal's losses were not great, and there were many problems exposed. After the Portuguese army was replaced with the Imperial Army equipment, the combat effectiveness was still considerable, but the army's logistics system was very weak. Moreover, because of too much borrowing from European countries, Pedro did not have enough funds.

After receiving Pedro's affirmative answer, Li Junwei thought for a moment and said, "I'm sorry, the empire's strategy in the Maghreb region is still limited in expansion."

This is the empire's consistent strategy. Foreign colonial expansion will never rashly conquer organized civilized countries, especially in Northwest Africa, where the cost investment and return are really disproportionate. This is why the empire supported Portugal's colonization of the Maghreb region and Morocco became a colony of Portugal, and would be open to the empire. This would be enough. In fact, if the Sudan of Alavi opened up and traded freely, the empire would not even be willing to support Portugal's colonization.

"This is of course, of course. I am very familiar with the strategies you have formulated myself, and I will not change all this. What I want to say is that I am going to attract another partner to share the cost." Pedro said with a smile.

When Li Junwei heard this, he praised Pedro for being a little enlightened and said, "Your Majesty the King, you are becoming more and more evil as you get older, but people share the costs and will share the benefits. Which country are you going to invite to intervene? The Netherlands is now very motivated to expand externally."

In Egypt, the local Pasha wanted to play a cup of wine to release military power, but it turned out to be a Hongmen Banquet. Moreover, the Hongmen Banquet had not been successful yet. Instead, some Mamluks fled and joined the Egyptian rebels, causing more riots. It can be said that the current Ottoman Empire is surrounded by enemies, which is a good opportunity to take advantage.

"The forces of Tunisia and Algeria are very good enemies, aren't they?" Pedro responded with a smile.

Li Junwei recognized this. First of all, all local forces were involved in piracy. The Barbary pirates were famous all over the world. They had contact with their colleagues in the Caribbean. Moreover, these pirates were keen on human trafficking business. They not only robbed merchant ships, but also robbed European coasts. At the farthest, they even drove ships to the UK to grab a pass. The population they bought was partially supplied to the Ottoman powerful class, and some became serfs on the spot.

The piracy was severely cracked down by the Empire. When the Empire Expeditionary Fleet went to and from the Mediterranean, they would deal with the Barbary pirates. They even attacked the door and launched landing wars twice. However, every time, the Barbary pirates would revive and retaliate against the Imperial merchant ships. This is also the main reason why the Genoese were keen to participate in the Pedro plan, because the Genoese were also the victims of the Barbary pirates. Even Portugal regarded the Barbary pirates as their main enemy, and even the Empire was willing to increase support.

Over the past few hundred years, a large group of white slaves has formed. These people support Portugal from the perspective of faith and ethnicity, and even regard the Portuguese army as liberators.

"Some things are like this. If you go wrong at the beginning, you will be wrong." Li Junwei said to Pedro.

"So, you support my new plan," Pedro asked.

"Of course it's OK."

"You are also supporting the Genoese."

Li Junwei nodded and said that there was no problem, and Pedro continued to talk about Li Junwei about the Genoese's enthusiasm for this matter. Until Li Junwei left Portugal, the topic of Genoese still did not end. This doubt was still Bai Jingyu finally gave an answer.

"The Genoese have been lobbying us recently. I hope that if you have time, you can go to Genoa. I, who has a cooperative relationship with the Genoa, have also been lobbying to convince you." Bai Jingyu said.

"What do they want to do?"

"The relationship between Genoa and Venice in the Mediterranean is like the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands. Perhaps the Genoese saw that you had settled the UK and supported the Netherlands, and they also wanted to follow suit and solve Venice, the largest competitor in the Mediterranean region." Bai Jingyu expressed his opinion.
Chapter completed!