Chapter 178: Cooperative Colonization

"The government is planning a new colonization of New Guinea Island. If your country is interested, perhaps we can cooperate on the colonization of New Guinea," Gao Da said with a smile.

Jointly colonizing New Guinea was a gesture of goodwill released by Gao Da, and it was also the condition for Portugal to synchronize its railway gauges.

Gao Da knew that for countries like Spain and Portugal, which had already gained enough benefits from colonization, colonizing new colonies was a huge temptation.

Dragging the Portuguese along to colonize New Guinea was also a plan Gao Da had formulated after careful consideration.

As one of the former colonial empires, the Portuguese were also very experienced in colonization. More importantly, Portugal also had a small colony in Southeast Asia, possessing the conditions to colonize New Guinea.

Dragging Portugal along to colonize New Guinea was, firstly, because only the combined power of Portugal and Spain could cope with the colonial competition of the Great Powers and accelerate the progress of colonization.

Secondly, Spain alone could not develop the vast territory of New Guinea, and the Portuguese, who lacked colonies, could just happen to contribute.

If the relationship between Spain and Portugal could be maintained, that would be fine, but if the two countries engaged in fierce competition or even broke out into war, it would be hard to say who would have the final say in this colony.

The Portuguese and the Spanish were indeed different, but compared to other populations, they were the easiest to assimilate.

Especially these Portuguese who had already immigrated; to a certain extent, they would not reject Spanish rule. On the premise that the Spanish colonial government respected their interests, they would not cause conflict between their own colonial government and the homeland they had already left.

Hearing Gao Da's words, Hu An was clearly stunned.

He never expected that the price Spain paid would actually be to invite Portugal to jointly develop the New Guinea colony.

Developing a colony—what good person could withstand such a temptation? For Portugal, which had also once been a colonial empire, this was indeed very attractive.

Hu An was stunned for a moment before asking, "The New Guinea colony? Do you mean that Spain is willing to develop the New Guinea colony together with Portugal?"

Portugal naturally knew of New Guinea; after all, Portugal's colony of East Timor and New Guinea Island were separated by the sea.

Speaking of Timor Island, the first colonists to arrive in this land were the Portuguese. But as the Dutch established the East Indies colony, Portugal's colonial influence was crazily squeezed out, and they were even almost pushed off Timor Island.

Finally, through a treaty signed with the Dutch more than a decade ago, the Portuguese eventually obtained the eastern land of Timor Island and some small nearby islands, barely managing to establish their own colony in Southeast Asia.

This history was quite humiliating for Portugal; after all, the first to arrive on Timor Island was Portugal, and the one almost driven out was also Portugal.

Upon hearing Gao Da invite Portugal to colonize New Guinea together, Hu An was indeed tempted, but also somewhat hesitant.

The main reason was the presence of the Dutch in this region, as well as the British behind the Dutch.

Of course, in terms of comprehensive national strength, Portugal was also far inferior to the Netherlands.

Spain was at least once the hegemon of Europe, but Portugal had never been the hegemon of Europe; it had only established its colonial empire by colonizing the Americas.

After Brazil became independent, Portugal's colonial empire fell apart.

Although the Dutch were not large in size, the Netherlands was also once one of the hegemons of Europe and held the title of "Carriers of the Sea."

The Low Countries had always been a relatively developed region in Europe, and shipbuilding and shipping were still one of the economic pillars of the Low Countries, especially the Netherlands.

If we talk about comprehensive national strength alone, the Portuguese really could not compare to the Dutch. It was just that the Netherlands was located between the three Great Powers of Britain, France, and Germany, and none of the three countries allowed the Netherlands to be too powerful.

Hu An's worry mainly came from the Dutch. It was impossible for the British to take direct action against Portugal; after all, the British would not want to see Portugal lean toward Spain.

But the problem was that the Netherlands was truly ruthless in terms of colonization. A tiny Timor Island could attract colonial competition from the Dutch; if the battlefield were moved to the larger New Guinea Island, wouldn't it trigger a larger-scale colonial conflict?

Although the temptation was great, the risks were equally great. If the colony that the Portuguese had worked so hard to establish were occupied by the Dutch or Spain, wouldn't that mean the years of effort by the Portuguese would vanish into thin air in an instant?

Seeming to see the hesitation in Hu An's heart, Gao Da smiled and continued to add, "Your Majesty Hu An, I believe you are also aware of the vastness of the New Guinea colony. Not only the Dutch, but the British, Germans, and French all have colonial operations on this land.

For these countries, Spain is also a small country. The colonial cooperation between Portugal and Spain can solve this problem; at least we can unite to compete for a piece of land in New Guinea.

We can also establish a treaty of alliance between the two colonies; at least regarding the two colonies, we can reach a certain offensive and defensive alliance agreement."

What Hu An worried about was that the Portuguese might not be able to hold onto the colony, just like what happened before on Timor Island.

But if Portugal chose to cooperate with Spain, the power of the "Two Spains" combined would be quite significant, enough to even clash with the Great Powers.

Unless they intended to tear off the mask, even Great Powers like Britain, France, and Germany could only choose to respond with relatively mild competition when faced with the huddled colonization of Portugal and Spain.

After all, it was only a struggle for colonies, and there was no need to escalate it to the level of domestic competition. Apart from Britain, France, and Germany, the remaining Dutch were simply not to be feared.

Let alone the "Two Spains" combined, even if it were just Spain alone, it would not fear the Netherlands, a medium-sized country that could not be considered powerful.

Spain's strength was relative, and the Dutch's strength was even more relative. Although Spain had weakened a lot, for the Netherlands, a country with a very small land area and a small population, Spain's comprehensive strength could still crush it.

After all, the Netherlands was only a country with a population of over 4 million, and its scale was limited after all. Even if its industry and economy were more developed compared to the Iberian countries, it was clearly not enough to make up for the population gap with Spain.

Hearing Gao Da say this, Hu An nodded, and the hesitation in his eyes had disappeared a lot.

Out of consideration for Portugal's strength, Hu An always had too many thoughts when making decisions, considering things and the pros and cons for Portugal.

As it stands, cooperating with Spain to colonize New Guinea Island was also beneficial to Portugal. If it really went as Gao Da said, Portugal would indeed have hope of securing a piece of land on New Guinea Island as a new colony.

Although it was impossible to obtain much land, at least it counted as a certain gain. For King Hu An, if he could obtain a colony for Portugal during his reign, regardless of the size and economic value of the colony, there would always be some political achievements to boast about.

Politicians need political achievements to promote themselves, and kings are the same. A king who expands territory is always better than a mediocre king who maintains the status quo, and a mediocre king who maintains the status quo is better than an incompetent and muddled king.

If possible, which king would not want to achieve territorial expansion and build a greater Jiangshan for his kingdom?

Although it was only a colony, Portugal's most promising expansion at present was in the colonies. After all, Portugal only had one land neighbor, which was Spain, and there was still a gap in strength between the two; the difficulty of Portugal wanting to expand on land was much harder than colonial expansion.

"I have to admit, Your Majesty Gao Da, what you said is indeed very attractive. But as you said, national affairs are not something we can decide in one word; they still need to be discussed by those politicians in the government before a decision can be made.

But I personally agree with your proposal. If there are no accidents, I believe we will be able to see the cooperation between Portugal and Spain on New Guinea Island," Hu An smiled and gave his answer.

Although he personally was more inclined to cooperate with Spain in colonization, the specific cooperation matters still needed to be discussed by government officials.

It was not that Hu An could not decide for the government, but that some interests needed to be fought for by government officials, rather than the king taking the field himself.

For two kings to argue and debate with each other for the sake of some interests would be too undignified. Since the general direction of cooperation had been settled, the various terms of the small details would naturally be discussed by government officials.

Of course, since he agreed to cooperate with Spain to colonize New Guinea, Portugal would definitely have to make certain concessions regarding train tracks.

The good news was that the difference between Portugal's train track width and Spain's was only 9 millimeters, and it was relatively simple to adjust.

Moreover, the total mileage of Portugal's railways was not much; if they really wanted to adjust the width of all railway tracks, it could be effectively completed in a short time without spending too much cost.

But for Hu An, would he be so dutiful as to adjust all the railway tracks in Portugal to the same width as Spain's?

Of course not. Even if he promised Spain, Portugal could have some reasons to delay. Synchronizing the track width was definitely something that had to be done; after all, going back on one's word was not a good thing for Portugal.

Not only would it make Spain more hostile toward Portugal, but its diplomatic reputation would also plummet.

Portugal only had this one neighbor; although precautions should be taken, this did not mean that Portugal was willing to engage in more intense struggles with Spain.

The discussion on government affairs ended quickly; the real main topics for the meeting of the two royal families were the non-stop banquets and outings.

After all, they were his sister and brother-in-law, and Gao Da was quite generous with his spending. He not only invited Hu An and his wife to visit his private winery but also organized a grand hunt, letting Hu An have a good time with the Vitali M1872 rifle equipped by the Spanish army.

Portugal was currently still in the transition period between muzzle-loading guns and breech-loading guns and had not fully equipped advanced breech-loading guns.

There were many reasons for this; besides the fact that Portugal had a small population and did not pay much attention to the army, it was also because Portugal's military technology was not developed, and it lagged a step behind in the research and development of breech-loading guns.

Although the current breech-loading gun technology was not mature, Spain's Vitali M1872 rifle was the result of a second improvement on the rifle already improved by Italy, which was already much better than the most primitive breech-loading guns.

The advantages of breech-loading guns compared to muzzle-loading guns were very obvious, which also made Hu An very tempted by the rifle in his hand.

"Gao Da, is this your latest Vitali M1872 rifle?" Hu An asked with some interest.

As Spain's neighbor, Portugal naturally also knew about the standard weapons being equipped by the Spanish army.

But at that time, the relationship between Spain and Portugal was not good, and coupled with the fact that there was no strong demand for changing rifles in Portugal, it led to the fact that the Portuguese army had not fully used the latest breech-loading rifles until now.

"Of course." Gao Da nodded, seemingly having already seen the Royal Military Factory receive an order: "This is the latest gun model after the second improvement based on the Italian Vitali rifle. How is it? Feels good, right?"

"It's really good, it feels great." Hu An nodded, very fond of the rifle in his hand: "What is the cost of this rifle?"

Hu An did not ask Gao Da about the advantages and disadvantages of this rifle; after all, how could one ask a merchant if their product was good or not?

For Hu An's own experience, he thought it was a good rifle; compared to the rifles used by various European countries, even if it was not the best, it was definitely a first-class product.

If he could take this opportunity to purchase a batch of rifles to equip the Portuguese army, it could also effectively improve the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army.

In the era before the birth of machine guns, the firepower means of various countries were originally relatively scarce. Except for the rifles used by infantry, the mainstream firepower output of the army was cannons.

As the saying goes, when the cannons roar, gold is spent by the ton. Not all countries could equip artillery on a large scale like France and Germany, and Portugal was naturally in this category.

Since there was no sufficient artillery as a firepower output method, the Portuguese army could only rely on rifles to cause damage to the enemy.

But since the Franco-Prussian War, wars between European countries were no longer in the era of lining up to be shot. Various countries also paid more and more attention to the range, rate of fire, and power of rifles. If they could equip a rifle with a faster rate of fire, it meant that the troops had more powerful firepower in head-on clashes.

"Before the Royal Military Factory expanded production, the cost of the Vitali M1872 rifle was still relatively expensive. But now, with the expansion of the Royal Military Factory, the cost of this rifle has been reduced by more than half. If your country wants to purchase the Vitali M1872 rifle, I can make the decision to let the Royal Military Factory provide your country with an internal price; after all, we are close partners, aren't we?" Gao Da said with a smile.

This really came at the right time. After the Royal Military Factory expanded production, the production volume of weapons increased several times in a short period.

According to the current trend, the Spanish army's full replacement of the Vitali M1872 rifle was expected to be completed within a year.

After completing this order, the Royal Military Factory would have no other orders for a short time, which was inevitably a problem.

Although the Portuguese army was not large, it was at least of a certain scale. If Portugal decided to purchase the Vitali M1872 rifle, the production line that the Royal Military Factory had worked so hard to expand could continue to run.

Hu An nodded; although he was somewhat tempted, he was not in a hurry to make a decision.

Although Hu An was willing to reach a compromise in some aspects, this did not mean that Portugal was going to lean toward Spain completely.

Spain was ultimately not as powerful as Britain. What Portugal needed to do was to have a balance between Britain and Spain to ensure its own safety and development.

If Spain recovered Gibraltar and occupied Morocco under the obstruction of the British, Hu An would consider leaning toward Spain.

But before that, Spain was ultimately a beast trapped in a cage; not to mention being unable to protect itself, at least its actions were restricted.

Portugal could reach a certain compromise for its own stability, but it would not give up too many interests.

Although he agreed to synchronize the train track width with Spain, the biggest reason was that Hu An believed the British would not let Spain influence Portugal unchecked.

Leaning toward Spain a little bit also had its benefits; at least it could let the British understand that sometimes they could not overly ignore Portugal's opinions, as Portugal was an important link in the British defense against Spain.

If Portugal could not hold firm, it would not be a problem for Spain to exert greater influence on Portugal or even dominate the country.

After Spain obtained the ruling power of the "Two Spains," could Gibraltar continue to be safe and sound?

Watching Hu An dodge the question, Gao Da understood that Hu An had other plans in mind.

Although he could not pull an order for the Royal Military Factory, it ultimately had little impact, and Gao Da did not care.

Gao Da had long expected that Portugal would not lean toward Spain completely, as this meant handing over all the initiative to Spain.

A smart person would definitely choose to jump back and forth between the British and the Spanish to ensure their own interests.

If one completely relied on one side, it was easy to be ignored. After all, what is obtained is the least valued; giving a little sense of crisis appropriately could also make oneself more cherished.

During the week that Hu An and his wife came to Spain, they toured many Spanish regions including Madrid and even watched the construction site of the Spanish *Reina Regente*-class ironclad, the *Reina Regente*.

Regarding Spain's resumption of ironclad construction, Hu An's eyes could only be filled with envy. Portugal's scale was still too small compared to Spain; it was not that he was not tempted by an ironclad costing 500, 00 pounds each, but he simply did not have the ability to possess one.

A single ironclad might not be expensive, but what use could one ironclad be? The purpose of building ironclads was to have a powerful navy, which also meant that many other warships had to be equipped to build a comprehensive fleet.

Being unable to afford the expenses of a powerful fleet was the fundamental reason why Hu An envied Gao Da.

Although both are kings, Kaluo is younger, and the kingdom he rules is Spain, a nation that, while declining, still possesses a certain foundation.

The extent of Portugal's decline is not as exaggerated as Spain's, but Portugal itself is not a powerful country. After losing Brazil, Portugal's presence in Europe has already become very low.

Ruling such a not-so-powerful country leaves the ambitious Luis I feeling helpless, while at the same time, he sheds tears of envy.

5, 00-word two-in-one chapter, seeking support!

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(End of this chapter)