Portugal is known as the world s first brother, why does it dare not hold up in front of the Ming Dy

Text: Lonely red wine.

In the 16th century, there were two major colonial empires in the world, Spain and Portugal. Spain occupied the gold-and-silver Americas, while Portugal controlled the trade routes to the East. The two empires flourished and spread across the globe.

Compared with Spain, Portugal started earlier, occupied a larger area of the sea, and had a stronger colonial power around the world, making it a veritable world leader at that time. The Portuguese burned and looted everywhere in Asia and Africa, and all countries were terrified. However, although Portugal claimed hegemony in various places, it only dared not hold it in front of the Ming Dynasty, and had been cautiously in contact with the Ming Dynasty, for fear of angering China.

So why didn't Portugal dare to argue with the Ming Dynasty?

First, the Ming Dynasty was Portugal's most important partner in the East. As the most important commodity exporter in the East and the most economically developed country in the world, Portugal has always wanted to maintain good relations with the Ming Dynasty and tried to monopolize China. The Portuguese did not make their fortune by plundering the gold and silver of the Americas, as Spain did, they relied on commerce and **, and the purpose of their coming to the East was to make money and do business, not to conquer.

Of course, they also knew that they were not capable of conquering the powerful Ming Dynasty, unlike the arrogant Spain, which even clamored to use 60 soldiers to try to conquer China. During the entire Ming Dynasty, the relationship between Portugal and the Ming Dynasty was relatively harmonious, and at the most critical moment of the Ming Dynasty, the Portuguese also helped China to deal with the Jurchens in the north many times, and most of the Ming Dynasty's Franc machines and red-coated cannons came from Portugal.

Second, when Portugal first arrived in the East, it had a fierce contest with the Ming army, and the two sides fought two large-scale naval battles. In 1521, the Battle of Tuen Mun broke out between the two countries on the southeast coast, and the Battle of Xicaowan broke out the following year. Until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Portugal still paid rent to the Ming Dynasty for settling in Macau.

Third, Portugal was the most powerful Western colonizer in the East, but Portugal was not the only colonial power at that time. The Spaniards, the Dutch, and the British were its fierce rivals, and the Portuguese were challenged by pirate smuggling syndicates that ran rampant off the coast of China. The Portuguese knew that they could not deal with so many competitors, so they constantly improved relations with the Ming Dynasty, hoping to use the power of the Ming Dynasty to protect their rights and interests in the East.

In the 17th century, the Portuguese began to decline, and since they could not prevent the Dutch from entering the southeast coast of China, they spoke ill of the Dutch in front of the Ming Dynasty, hoping that the Ming Dynasty would expel the Dutch. The Ming Dynasty really lived up to expectations, in 1633 in the Battle of Liuluo Bay, the Ming army defeated the Netherlands, the Dutch apologized for the reparations, and fled from Fujian in disgrace, never daring to fight with the Ming Dynasty again.