The emperor's birthday is approaching, and the whole country seems to have entered a state of euphoria. This is different from the situation of the queen's birthday, if the queen was just a private party held by officials to cater to the heavenly family and a small number of people, then this time it is really a universal celebration of the people of the world.

"After experiencing the turbulent times at the end of the Ming Dynasty, people are determined, who can set aside the chaos and return the world to a peace, then naturally has the qualifications to ascend the throne and be the emperor! But that's all, if you really want the people to love you, then at least the cultivators have their fields and the dwellers have their houses. On this basis, the common people still have to live with dignity and hope, which can be regarded as a virtuous monarch, do the above, then it is not a problem to leave a good reputation in the history books, the real emperor of the ages, is the kind of life today, but also can arrange a good way out for the descendants, and can find solutions to the problems that the country may encounter in two or three hundred years, so when he is in power, he will implement some policies that are conducive to the future and will not interfere too much with the present, so that future generations have to admire the great man who has to admire his merits. ”

There are only a few students in the class, and they all have a tacit understanding and don't make a sound, this explanation of the emperor's qualification standards, no matter how it sounds, it sounds like Jiang Tian is patting on the back, but this sycophant is useful, the prince is sitting in the front row and listening, and now this prince has thrown himself to the ground with the five bodies that Teacher Jiang admires, not to mention doubting his motives, it is a question that he can't figure out for a while, and he has to seriously think about whether he is not smart enough, so that he can't understand the profound meaning.

Don't mention whether Jiang Tian is a sycophant, think about it carefully, what he said is really reasonable, those Taoist gentlemen mentioned the ancient Ming Jun, nothing more than Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, these people have made significant contributions to the progress of the country in history, some of their deeds have been praised by later generations, but the old masters just mentioned how they are diligent and love the people, it seems that they have forgotten that the reason why they are really praised by others does not stop there, are they really forgetting? Not necessarily.

This time a treaty of commerce was signed with Spain, which was thousands of miles away, and most people only saw the literal content, because of the appearance of newspapers, no one in the capital no longer regarded Spain as a small overseas country, and anyone who was smart could see that this was a signal of the country's support for overseas trade, and whoever had the ability to go to sea would now be able to fly directly to Luzon and enjoy tax incentives.

This is all superficial things, those who know the inside story know that the treaty between countries needs to be signed by both sides before it can take effect, and now it is just an intention, what really works in the world is whether their own strength can safeguard their own interests, but these students sitting in the classroom know that neither Jiang Tian nor Zhang Tao values the purchasing power of the Spaniards too much, and they seem to care more about whether they can get more arms orders from Europe.

After participating in several decision-making meetings, Zhang Huan has already understood Jiang Tian's thinking, these arms are half sold and half sent to Europe, Fernando will inevitably promote new weapons in order to show his achievements, when the Spaniards have won one or two victories, they will naturally buy more, and the Protestants who have suffered will also hear about the source of weapons from the Dutch, and they will be able to do business better than the Spaniards, can they let go of such a lucrative business? And there is no military embargo clause in our treaty with the Spaniards, whether it is an additional clause or a new agreement with the Dutch, so what will they exchange for our advanced weapons?

"I'm not a conspiracy but a conspiracy, and it's a strategic crushing effect achieved by absolute technological superiority!" Jiang Tian said.

After saying this, Jiang Tian had a feeling of time and space disorder, as if in later generations he watched the Americans exercise hegemony unabashedly, and whoever dared to stop him would use military strikes, economic sanctions, political isolation and other means to put his opponent to death. This simplistic and crude strategy is very much in line with the national strength of the United States, but it lacks sufficient flexibility to seriously challenge the hegemony of any country that is politically superior to them, even if it is slightly inferior to the Americans, such as China in the 21st century.

The autumn wind is gusting, the Spaniards have not yet gone to sea to return to China, not that they are happy but the mission has not been completed so they can't go, first of all, Jiang Tian and Zhang Tao plan to have a formal exchange ceremony of national letters, as for the problem that foreign friends may miss the return monsoon, Jiang Tian directly ignored it. By the time the Spaniards set off, another 2,000-ton cruiser had completed its sea trials, and as long as they sent this ship directly into the Indian Ocean in the name of escorting envoys, they would not only be able to rediscover the Western shipping routes, but also warn those disgruntled elements in Spain that they were still immersed in the afterglow of the empire on which the sun never set, and would not think that embracing China was their last hope. At the same time, as long as it is a ship on this route, it will definitely witness how the fastest ship in the era of sail can ride the wind and waves and throw off everyone when the wind direction is not ideal, Jiang Tian even guessed that when the Chinese warship docked in Guli again, whether the Indian natives on the dock could still remember the huge fleet that had no one before and no one since two hundred years ago.

It was precisely this imagination that impressed Zhang Tao, a thriftifist, who not only agreed to vigorously organize his own birthday banquet, but also agreed to transfer senior officers and men from the navy, which was in dire need of combat strength, to form a special operation establishment. And from the forbidden army, the skilled water was selected to form a ship-accompanying marine, and about a reinforced battalion was sent to the sea for adaptive training, all for one purpose, that is, to tell everyone in the Indian Ocean that the Chinese are back!

Although the European mainland only saw the heroic appearance of the clipper ship after more than ten years, but since it sailed into the Indian Ocean for the first time, the European navigation community has not stopped speculating about it, as for the power of cracking this kind of warship, it is more than 20 years later, the Dutch made the last effort to maintain control of Southeast Asian waters and Malacca, when the fleet of the East India Company was ruthlessly annihilated, the clipper cruiser almost became the spokesperson of the Chinese Navy, and the pirates in any sea area had to avoid this kind of ship as long as they had a little knowledge, Even if later Europe succeeded in copying this ship type, it could only be used in non-belligerent areas because there was no suitable artillery.

There was also a great deal of disagreement within the navy as to whether or not to send a state-of-the-art warship to send a foreign envoy. Those who supported the decision were motivated by political considerations, arguing that it was necessary to demonstrate the strength of the Chinese navy, especially for the first time on an equal footing with the army, and to flex off its force by all means. As for the opponents, it is not that they do not fail to see the political significance of this, but before there is no major victory in the naval battle with the Zheng family, they should try to concentrate all their combat strength, as long as they fight the military might, they will not worry about losing face in the future.

Their ideas were all right, so Jiang Tian also decided to wait for the battle report from the front, as long as he could force the Zheng family to participate in the fleet and not dare to leave the port, he could let the new ship carry out the delivery mission, if the battle situation was in a stalemate before that, then he would have to consider other plans. In fact, everyone still knows in their hearts that the reason why they attach so much importance to the battle situation on the front line is also related to Zhang Tao's upcoming birthday, just imagine that on the emperor's birthday, the political influence of a good news of the Great Thief Army is more important than the Chinese fleet returning to Africa. This is because this has a bearing on whether the navy's position in China will be relegated to an embarrassing position of subordination to the army in the future.

Even if everyone understands the importance of this battle, but the advance strike fleet has not been heard from since the replenishment of Jeju Island has been completed, it seems that the vast East China Sea has swallowed up the fleet composed of a few sailing ships, and seeing that the emperor's birthday banquet is about to be held, why didn't Li Xiuyuan send back a good news? For this reason, Han Yuan, chief of the general staff of the Navy, visited him several times, hoping to find out the news from Jiang Tian. The first time he came to the door, Jiang Tian was receiving Spanish guests, the second time he came to the door, Jiang Tian was lecturing to the prince and other students, and the third time he came to the house, Jiang Tian was directing the band to prepare for the tryouts. When he came to the door for the fourth time, before the reported subordinate could say any more reasons for refusing to see the guests, he strode into Jiang Tian's backyard, and this time he said that he couldn't wait.

"Lord Han, Lord Han! My lord is not a guest! The little guy had the heart to stop it, but the other party was an official of the court and couldn't be rude, so he could only follow him all the way into the backyard.

Jiang Tian, who was sitting in the pavilion in the courtyard drinking tea, saw the menacing Han Yuan break in, and the corners of his mouth were only slightly upturned. Then he waved his hand to let the little guy retreat: "Lord Han is so angry, come on, come on, I just have a new tea from southern Fujian here, which is a semi-fermented oolong tea specially made by His Majesty, and the number of people entering Beijing is not much, you and I just want to try it!" ”

Han Yuan, who just wanted to get angry, looked at the tea, and half of the anger disappeared at that time, and he walked to the pavilion in disbelief, only to notice that the prince and the others were also among them. However, Zhang Huan waved his hand so that he didn't have to give a salute, and also pointed to the teacup for him to taste the tea, so Master Han had to force his own question, picked up the teacup and sniffed it gently. Suddenly, a strange fragrance went straight to the top of the head, so that the remaining half of the irritability disappeared, and he took a sip of it to his mouth, the cold fragrance was different from the green tea he was used to drinking, there was no jerky bitterness at all, and only a mouthful of sweetness remained.

Han Yuan was a little confused, looked at Jiang Tian inquiringly and asked, "This tea ......?"

Jiang Tian still smiled mysteriously: "What has just been handed over to Beijing is the newly picked autumn tea this year!" ”

Han Yuan, who was still a little puzzled, immediately had a fine light in his eyes: "You mean that there is already Fujian's autumn tea in the capital!" ”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Han Yuan hurriedly asked, "If my expectations are correct, this tea is not a post station on land, but from the sea and land!" ”

This time, even the crown prince Zhang Huan began to laugh.

Seeing this smile, Han Yuan suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, and his voice trembled a little and whispered: "But there is good news from the sea?" ”

This time, Jiang Tian shook his head: "It's not that I can't trust Lord Han, and I don't mean to hide it, I told Li Xiuyuan when he went to sea that if there is a battle report that can't be reported to me alone, it should still be sent to the naval command, so if you don't have good news there, I naturally don't have it here!" ”

"But this tea ......," Han Yuan said halfway as he pointed to the teacup, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"General Han!" Zhang Huan finally spoke: "This tea is carried by a merchant ship, but its meaning is self-evident. It's just that this will be improvised, and you must not be greedy for temporary success and ruin the foundation of a thousand years. Therefore, our division believes that it is better to go with the flow than to urge the soldiers in front to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions. ”

In fact, of course, Han Yuan knew that in the vast sea, all kinds of emergencies could happen at any time, even if it was just bad weather, it was possible to make a well-planned battle fall short. As the first chief of naval staff in Chinese history, he not only wanted to present the good news of a great victory on the emperor's birthday, but also wanted the navy to consolidate its rightful position. But now that even Zhang Huan is on Jiang Tian's side, what else can he, the chief of staff, say.

"Xiaguan understands." Saying that, Han Yuan drank all the tea in the teacup: "Yaxing, who collided with His Highness and Lord Jiang today, is really terrified, until His Majesty's birthday, the official will repent at home, and I hope His Highness will be fulfilled." ”

Zhang Huan looked at Jiang Tian, and then nodded: "Lord Han, it has been more than two months since the fleet attacked, and I know the concern in your heart very well, but don't forget to care." ”

Waiting for Han Yuan to exit the back garden respectfully, Zhang Huan turned his head to look at Jiang Tian and asked, "Sir, are you deceiving Lord Han like this?" ”

"I didn't lie to him! Although this old man has fought all his life, he is not used to commanding an independent navy. Today's tip is straightforward enough, the merchant ship can sail the royal tea from Fujian to Beijing, which shows that the sea control power along the line has been obtained by me, combined with the fact that Japan, which has been vague, suddenly wants to send an envoy to Beijing to congratulate His Majesty on his birthday, it can be seen that although there is no battle report of a few words, but we must have achieved a major victory at sea, this victory has made the Zheng family no longer able to threaten Fujian, which is close at hand, so that if the imminent departure of Japan is to come to congratulate, such an obvious movement, All point directly to the real situation of the war situation. If he couldn't guess the overall situation, he should really go home and face the wall. ”

Wu Yuan, who was accompanying the prince, had no choice but to sigh: "It's not that Lord Han can't see these things, it's just that he cares about it, but in fact, his old man may not be ecstatic after he walks out of this courtyard." ”

The fleet that attacked was not only Li Xiuyuan's mobile strike fleet, but also the more than 100 original main warships that the navy had reluctantly assembled to cooperate with the battle, but everyone focused their attention on Li Xiuyuan, although there were not many ships in his hands, but the combat effectiveness was definitely the strongest in the world, so they didn't see his battle report, and everyone deliberately ignored the good news sent by other fleets. This is because within the Chinese armed forces, there is still a deep-rooted situation of false reporting of war exploits, and the so-called great victories will automatically be marked with a question mark, which has to be said to be a great sadness.

However, since he already knew that the situation was under his control, don't look at the fact that there is no effective intelligence to explain all this for the time being, but Jiang Tian felt that he could enter the next stage, and only waited for Li Xiuyuan to return to Jeju Island to replenish before issuing further orders. Until then, as the temporary head of the "Office of Spanish Affairs", he had a lot of work to negotiate with the Spaniards.

Just when Fernando was still fantasizing that he would be able to become an official after returning to China, there was also a group of people in Jiang Tian's backyard who were thinking about how to stand out in the upcoming auditions. This is not because they are arrogant, but according to their past experience, as a member of the Jiang Mansion's band, they have both a talented and outstanding performance level and the face of the East Palace, there is no reason not to be selected to participate in the final performance, maybe even this first place has already been determined to be their own. This is a great opportunity for them, who are already famous now, to fly on the branches and become phoenixes.

Jiang Tian took the opportunity to invite Fernando to listen to music and invited him to the backyard again: "I wonder if the Viscount has any research on music?" ”

The Spanish aristocracy, who had become accustomed to the Chinese officials, of course, had to be modest at this time. Fortunately, their translation was changed to the Italian priest Jacob, so some of Fernando's anachronistic statements can also be automatically filtered out: "Dear Lord Jiang, although I am very familiar with European court music and church choirs, I am still very unfamiliar with ancient and elegant oriental music. ”

"Your Excellency the Viscount, in fact, the musical exchange between China and Europe has always existed, for example, your shepherd's favorite pan flute, which was invented in China and spread to Europe, and China's pentatonic twelve rhythms were influenced by the music of the Western Regions. In my opinion, music may be another way to communicate beyond words, besides painting! ”

Fernando nodded, art does have its commonalities, he can't figure out what Jiang Tian wants to do, maybe it's just that the negotiation is over so he invites himself to relax, so he doesn't have the slightest doubt about this Master Jiang's unsparing introduction of Chinese art. As for Jiang Tian's intentions, there is nothing complicated, he just wants to familiarize Fernando with some elegant art as much as possible, so as to save this guy from having a stomach for straw after returning to Spain, and more importantly, to keep this guy as much as possible, so that his planned escort plan can be carried out.

However, after all, he was born into an aristocracy, and Fernando soon became interested in Jiang Tian's unconventional modern art, which was very different from the pure Chinese music that has often been heard lately, and seemed to be closer to the European music style, but it was also a little different from the religious music that was often magnificent and magnificent, and it was very much in line with the quiet and elegant little songs of China. As a high-ranking Chinese official who knew Europe best, and the most famous scholar in China, Jiang Tian probably tried to combine traditional Chinese music with European music, and judging from the pieces that were played, his attempt was successful.

The Spaniards had to be shocked by Jiang's erudition again, and at the same time feel inferior to the increasingly complex aesthetics that began to become popular in Europe, maybe he didn't notice that he had a trace of envy for Chinese culture in his subconscious, just like the worship of China and the contempt for Europe by the European sages in the later Enlightenment, which would not make Jiang Tian much excited pleasure, he just wanted Fernando to have something to talk about at the Spanish aristocratic banquet, But it has had an unexpected effect in history.