No matter what the Spaniards calculated, Jiang Tian didn't plan to meet this so-called envoy at the first time, he couldn't go to the negotiating table casually without finding out the other party's hole cards, and besides, he was not the minister of foreign affairs now, so if there was any problem, he just had to blame the emperor for a headache. It's a pity that Jiang Tian just thought so, and was beaten back to his original form by a holy decree, and Emperor Zhang Tao ordered him to take full charge of the work of establishing formal diplomatic relations with Spain. Of course, the matter of preparing for war cannot be delayed. With a stomach full of complaints, Jiang Tian celebrity called Father Jacob, who taught anatomy,

The Italian priest didn't know what this high-ranking and powerful Lord Jiang was looking for him, and he muttered for a long time along the way, could it be that he wanted to ask himself about the extradition of those European scientists? You can't do this by yourself! Even if the Holy See had agreed to send these sinful lambs to China, it would not have been so quick to see what it was. So with a worried mood, Jacob walked in front of Jiang Tian again: "Honorable lord, do you have anything to do with me?" ”

Looking at this typical Mediterranean face, Jiang Tian tried his best to squeeze out a smile: "Father, your Chinese is getting better and better, and you must know a lot about China, right?" ”

Jacob didn't know what he meant, so he had to say in passing: "My lord has won the prize, compared to the huge Chinese Empire, I still know very little. ”

Jiang Tian didn't feel that there was any compliment in the other party's words, this time and space Europe has not yet launched the industrial revolution, on culture, science and technology, on industry, China deserves to be the first in the world, if Europe can be integrated into a country, maybe there is still the confidence to compete with us for the short term, but Europe, which has just ended the Thirty Years' War, has absolutely no ability to defeat China. The Vatican may not have recognized this point, but for these foreigners who have lived in China for some time, they are deeply aware that this country is not the indigenous tribes they have encountered before, or some kind of theocratic sheidom.

"Father Jacob, should I call you Father Priest? Or should I call you sir? ”

The Italian, who was gradually integrating into China, did not understand the meaning of this sentence: "Dear lord, I don't know what you mean by asking......"

Jiang Tian stood up, slowly walked to the door with his back to Jacob, looking at the sky in the distance as if he was remembering something: "My master has lived in your Europa for a long time, and he once told me not to trust you missionaries, even if you have lived in China for a long time, your loyalty to your religion in your bones will still be higher than the laws and morals of a secular society, and you will do many heinous and criminal acts to achieve your goals under the banner of missionary duty, And you are convinced that you will be forgiven if you finally repent from God, and you will not be punished for it! ”

Jacob didn't hear Jiang Tian say this, and a cold sweat broke out, many missionaries did participate in the purge of some primitive civilizations, even if Jacob was not involved, he had heard of it, the key is that in China they did not have the opportunity to do anything angry and resentful, could it be that this adult wants to announce the ban on us from preaching?

While he was still speculating, he saw Jiang Tian suddenly look back at him and ask, "Now, can you tell me what the purpose of the Spanish Empire's envoy is?" For a faithful to God...... Or the branches of the Habsburgs loyal to the Pope, if they hadn't received the message from you guys, they probably still think that the Chinese Empire was no different from the Aztecs or the Inca Empire, right? ”

Jacob was confused by Jiang Tian's words, he was not surprised that this high-ranking Chinese official could say the name of the Habsburg family, and the missionaries and businessmen had been promoting China's wealth, but he really didn't know about Spain's sending envoys, and it was normal to send envoys between countries, he didn't understand why Jiang Tian would identify this as a threat to China by the Holy See, or that he couldn't understand Chinese's way of thinking, in his opinion, is it wrong for others to promote your strength?

Of course, this is not a mistake, but Jiang Tian's intention is obvious, he just wants to scare the Italian first, and then use his identity to find out the intentions of the Spaniards, so that he can be targeted.

"What? Look at you and don't you know that the Spaniards sent messengers? Jiang Tian asked knowingly, after all, it was impossible for Jacob's level to come into contact with this kind of news.

"Yes, sir." Jacob, who was still a little confused, replied honestly: "I don't think this will endanger the interests of your country, right?" ”

"Won't it?" Jiang Tian sneered: "If it weren't for the drag of the Thirty Years' War, wouldn't they have made a plan to invade our country?" It's ridiculous that they think that with only one or two thousand Spanish infantry they can destroy my homeland! ”

The Italian priest almost didn't blow up his scalp when he heard it, isn't that a joke! Not to mention 20,000 Spanish infantry, even if 100,000 troops are sent, it is not enough for the Chinese to massacre: "My lord, there must be a misunderstanding here, I have never heard that the Habsburgs have such a plan, even if there is a Holy See, it must be unknowing!" ”

Seeing that the other party was eager to plead, Jiang Tian did not change his attitude immediately, but explained for a long time with his dry mouth, and then frowned and asked reluctantly: "It seems that you really don't know?" ”

"Yes, my lord, maybe it's just some drunken sailor talking nonsense!" Jacob's brain was not stupid, and he knew that it was safest to put the blame on some sailors who couldn't find it.

"In that case, ask the Spaniards on my behalf if they have any such plans, and if so, ask them to leave my country as soon as possible, and never think of trading with China in the future!" After speaking, Jiang Tian, who was still angry, brushed his sleeves away, leaving only a big-nosed Italian standing on the ground.

After Jiang Tian left, a man dressed as a clerk walked into the house, and then told Jacob that the Spaniards had landed in Tianjin, and that they would soon be escorted to the capital by soldiers, and indicated that they would stay at the post house of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Sir, has your plan worked?" Zhang Huan, who was hiding in the next room, looked at Jiang Tian with some doubts.

At this time, Master Jiang didn't look angry, so he took a sip of tea and said: "The Spaniards have determined this stupid plan of conquest, because they don't know our true strength, so I deliberately scared this missionary, he will definitely run back now to report to his superiors, and then the people of the Holy See will contact the Spanish envoy first, and they will ask the other party's purpose for us." ”

"But ......," Zhang Huan frowned and thought for a while: "Wouldn't it be easier for us to send someone to inquire directly?" ”

"You don't know." Jiang Tian smiled mysteriously: "The Habsburg family is a hegemon in Europe, and it is also an invincible opponent of the indigenous people in South America, not only robbing a large amount of gold and silver, but also connecting the colonies to circle the earth, which is really an empire on which the sun never sets." It's a pity that these years are also natural disasters **, plus they themselves are not good at management, the huge country is already precarious and will collapse at any time, I guess they must have taken a fancy to some in-demand goods this time, hoping to obtain our exclusive monopoly qualifications, which may also alleviate their financial crisis, but don't expect people to tell the truth at the negotiating table, so I deliberately intimidated the other party, so that they put away their contempt and take it seriously. ”

Liu Baokai, who was originally playing soy sauce on the side, seemed to think of something when he heard this: "So Mr. wants to negotiate with them seriously?" ”

"Of course, although the sun does not set, it is already waning, but if you use it well, you may be able to become our pawn to disrupt Europe!"

Jiang Tian how to use the Spaniards for the time being, only that after the exerciser landed in Tianjin, he did not feel how rich and beautiful this country was, after all, Tianjin, as a newly opened treaty port, could not be compared with the traditional ports in the south of the Yangtze River in terms of scale and prosperity, but at least let them see the prosperity of trade, countless high-priced goods in Europe piled up, although the houses here do not have roofs made of gold, and not everyone here can afford to wear silk and satin, But for Europeans, the most intuitive feeling is the number of desserts and preserves here. Europeans are known to have a penchant for white sugar, but due to their lack of sucrose refining level, the white sugar produced in Europe is not up to the level of China in terms of color and purity, and even if the white sugar of the colonies in the trade list of the New World is considered a commodity, for the European aristocracy, sweets can only be regarded as a kind of food that cannot be consumed casually.

"Is it really a country that is so rich that it is far more than Europe could have imagined, as the priests say?" A middle-aged uncle with a smooth beard looked curiously at the preserved fruit in his hand, then threw it into his mouth and chewed it heavily.

Another person who looked unusual, tall and thin, looked at it casually, and didn't take the food seriously: "Having wealth does not necessarily have the strength to defend wealth, maybe this country is only because it is too far away from Europe, so it can develop with peace of mind." ”

Because they spoke Spanish, no one could understand it. Besides, because of the opening of the sea and trade, the people of Tianjin have become accustomed to these foreigners, who are very different from the people of the Central Plains, and they will not look at them more.

"But Lord Fernando." The middle-aged uncle was obviously not as optimistic as the other: "After all, this country is a territory taken back from the Tatars, maybe they just don't know the greatness of Spain and snub us!" ”

The tall and thin man nodded: "We really can't be too demanding with a bunch of eastern natives, but I hope their rulers are not so stupid and can make it easy for me to complete the task." ”

For this arrogant Spaniard, what he saw and heard in Tientsin was not very attractive, the small city and the bustling inland waterways, although the officers and soldiers defending the city also carried muskets, but there were obviously many waist knives and spears, and it seemed that they had the same number of elite musketeers as other indigenous kingdoms. Of course, he didn't know that it was not the soldiers who defended the city, but the law enforcement agency known as the armed police, and of course it would not be equipped with a large number of firearms when enforcing the law in peacetime, which could be regarded as a move by Zhang Tao to copy later generations. While the two men were still pointing fingers at the spontaneous market outside the city, the local Jesuits finally found them in the middle of the crowd and took them to their own territory for a secret meeting for a long time, and then at the right time the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also arrived and arranged for their entry into Beijing.

Jiang Tian, who got the news, also sighed that the strength of these Catholics was extraordinary, obviously there were Protestants on the side, they were stunned to find these two Spaniards in less than a day after receiving the news, of course, there were still a few people in the team during the whole season, but they were all servants and other characters, judging from the available information, it was these two people who belonged to the serious envoys. Jiang Tian didn't know what the Jesuits were plotting with them, but judging from the feedback information, it seems that these two people did not appear to be overly arrogant on the way to Beijing, and their behavior was still very decent.

What Jiang Tian didn't expect was that it was precisely because the person who escorted them into Beijing was the protocol department of the Praetorian Guard, and the soldiers sent were not only strong and upright but also fully armed, and the middle-aged man with a big beard was a knowledgeable person, and after seeing the full set of salute soldiers, he came to a conclusion, that is, if China had more than 100,000 troops with such equipment, then Spain would not be able to defeat even if it was all over the country.

In fact, the equipment of the salute soldiers is not so exaggerated, after all, they are not combat troops, so they are only equipped with a delicate waist knife with a sheath, as well as a standard front-loading smoothbore gun, but the muzzle of the military spur is a little long, and it seems that the length of the whole gun has reached two meters, and the military thorns are like a forest when they walk. Although the special armament belt has a lot of decoration, it maintains the basic combat function, and the bullet box, gunpowder jug, etc. are fully assembled. In addition, these soldiers are all majestic and high-spirited, and they do seem to be much stronger than the improvised peasants in Europe, even compared to the elite troops of various countries. It's just that the Spaniards didn't know that this outfit could only be seen on the salute soldiers, and it wasn't long before the combat units of the whole country had to be equipped with new weapons.

"Garcia, in your eyes, are these soldiers the most elite soldiers in China?" Fernando was still a little worried, but he would not give in, even if he heard the shocking news from the missionaries, the country was far from being as closed as they thought.

The bearded man shook his head noncommittally: "It's normal to think that if it were me, I would also send the best soldiers, but from the point of view of the priests, these troops are just for show, and the real combat troops are even more surprising than them." ”

"Oh? It seems that we cannot fulfill the orders of His Majesty the King so easily. The reason why Fernando said this was not that he was afraid of the Chinese army, but that he was now just outside the city of Beijing, and he was shocked by the majestic and endless walls in the distance.

The bearded Garcia also saw the stretching city wall, and his eyes revealed a murderous aura that only a soldier can have, because he was already thinking about how many troops he would have to use to climb such a huge city wall, which did not mean that he was going to attack China, but as a soldier's instinct. Because they were diplomatic missions, they could enter the city directly without going through an inspection, and when passing through the doorway, Garcia habitually observed the defense level of the city gate, and he had to admit that if there was not enough artillery, such a city defense would be difficult to break. But the surprise was far from over, the bustling streets, the rows of shops, the huge flow of people, the Chinese capital showed a lot of grandeur and prosperity beyond the Spanish imagination, although they had heard these rumors from sailors and missionaries many times, but when they actually saw this qiē, they realized that the adjectives of those people were so scarce that they mistakenly thought that Beijing was just a bigger city.

In fact, Jiang Tian didn't deliberately arrange anything, all of them were carried out according to the prescribed process, and the Spaniards could only blame themselves for not knowing anything if they made a fuss. As for the Jesuits, they contacted them as soon as they got the so-called "inside information", but these Europeans, who had lived in China for a while, found that these Spaniards maintained their usual arrogance and stubbornly believed that the center of the world was Europe, and that the people in other places were barbarians, just like before they landed in China, so that the Jesuits felt that it was better to distance themselves from them for the time being, so as not to offend the Chinese government because of their ignorance, and the missionary work that had just begun to improve would be affected. So I only sent the sad Father Jacob to act as a guide and translator, and this guy was also entrusted with the same task by Jiang Tian anyway.

When Jacob came to the post house helplessly, he found that the Spaniards were making a fuss about the various furnishings in their rooms, such as palm-sized mirrors, blue and white tea sets from official kilns, silk gauze tents, and flowing hardwood furniture, which are not things that can be found in ordinary hotels in Tianjin. Upon closer questioning, it became clear that the Spaniards were surprised that China was using such expensive furnishings in an ordinary diplomatic hotel.

"Two gentlemen, these are just ordinary things in China, except for glass mirrors, which have only appeared in recent years, even this kind of mirrors that sell sky-high prices in Europe have also begun to become cheaper in China, only those large mirrors that are more than a foot long are still very expensive, and life-size mirrors can only be used by royalty."

Before he could finish speaking, Fernando interrupted him: "Are you saying that China can make a bigger mirror than the Venetian!" ”

Jacob nodded: "Actually, you may have sailed from Spain a year ago, and if you had left later, I think you would have seen merchants trafficking goods into Europe." ”