Shengjing, Japanese Embassy in Qingguo.

Ambassador Caballero, dressed in a silk robe, sat quietly in the study of the embassy. A cup of coffee, there was no heat in front of him for a long time. And he was also restless. His eyes just stared into the distance, as if he was anxiously waiting for something?

Outside the study, there is a Chinese-style courtyard, the ground is full of snow, and the temperature is very low. However, there is a fire in the study, which is very warm. The icy air outside and the heating inside the house collided on the glass of the window, condensing into large small droplets on the inside of the window, making the already impenetrable glass window foggy, making it difficult for Caballero to see the outside clearly.

Suddenly there was a sound of soft footsteps outside the door, and then the door of the study was pushed open, and after a cold gust of wind, two figures flashed in. Caballero only glanced at it, and the plenipotentiary ambassador representing the king of Zhisbania immediately stood up and bowed to one of the two visitors, "Your Highness the Bishop! ”

The one he called "His Highness the Bishop" was the newly appointed Cardinal of the Great Mongolian State, Juan Brown. Bautista. Tang Dynasty. Morales, also has a Chinese name called Li Yufan.

He was originally a missionary priest sent by the Dominicans to China, but he was given the opportunity to ascend to the throne because of the "Chinese and Western liturgical controversy" that occurred after Matteo Ricci's death, and became one of the most radical priests in China who opposed Matteo Ricci's rules, and returned to Rome in 1643 to expose to the Pope that Matteo Ricci's rules violated the doctrine of Catholicism.

On the surface, it was a "liturgical battle", but behind it was a power struggle between Portugal and Spain – Matteo Ricci was a Portuguese-backed Jesuit missionary, while Le Ngoc Pham was a Spanish-backed Dominican missionary.

Because the Portuguese and Jesuits were more flexible in their policies, they had a head start in China.

The Dominicans, on the other hand, were infected with the "Divine Spain", and were too rigid in religious matters, looking at everyone like the devil...... So the development in China is not good.

Because the issues involved are so complex, Pope Innocent X also wavered and did not know who to support? It wasn't until the Ming mission visited Europe and really announced that the Ming had the right to protect the church in East Asia - this incident caused hostility between the Holy See and the Ming Empire.

Of course, the Holy See could not recognize the Ming Dynasty's right to protect the Church, but it could not deprive the Kingdom of Portugal of the right to protect the Church in the East...... Theoretically, the Pope has this power, but as long as Innocent X does not go crazy, he will never dare to do this!

If you do it, you might see God right away!

The consequence is clear: if you can deprive Portugal of the right to defend the Orient today, will you deprive the King of France of the power to appoint bishops tomorrow? Is this an attempt to provoke a new religious war?

Now that the Viscount of Tyrrenne has taken refuge in Louis XIV, what should he do if he returns to Rome to help Innocent X go to heaven?

Today's Holy See is militarily weak and will never dare to challenge any European military power......

However, the Pope found a way to disgust Zhu Cihong, and he appointed a cardinal of the Great Mongolia - the Portuguese did not include the Great Mongolia!

So Li Yufan picked up a cardinal for nothing, and was sent to Shengjing - he was supposed to go to Beijing, but Li Yufan was not stupid, and he could see that the little emperor of Shunzhi did not last long, so he came to Shengjing.

Caballero is also a smart person, and of course he will not be stupid enough to go to Beijing and wait to be surrounded, and he will come to Shengjing.

In any case, none of the embassies of East Asian countries were in the capitals - the embassies of various countries in Daming were in Shanghai, and the embassies of Daming in Japan were in Uraga (the capital of Japan is Kyoto). Therefore, the Spanish embassy in Greater Mongolia (Daqing) is located in Shengjing, which is also in line with the international practice here in East Asia.

Coming with Li Yufan was the Spanish Pacific Trading Company's trading house in Vladivostok, named Gonzalez. Garcia. With a look of impatience, he saluted Caballero and hurriedly reported: "Viscount, something is wrong...... Our fur merchant ships 'Pacific' and 'New Orient' were attacked by the Japanese fleet!

The "Pacific" was captured, and the "New Oriental" was wounded and fled to Vladivostok! ”

"What? Japan's state-owned fleet? Caballero was waiting for news from the "Pacific" and the "New Oriental", of which the "Pacific" was a 10,000-stone bird ship - in order to understand the shipbuilding capacity of the Ming Dynasty, the Spaniards ordered several cheap and high-quality 10,000-stone bird ships through agents to run the Pacific route.

The "New Oriental" is a 500-ton Spanish Galen ship, not a warship, but an armed merchant ship.

Caballero himself was a shareholder of the Pacific Trading Company, and he also invested a large sum of money in the "Pacific" - the overseas trade of the Kingdom of Spain was completely different from that of the Netherlands and England, and the degree of marketization was very low, and powerful people would be involved in smuggling, and Caballero was no exception, and while participating in the trading company, he also had to use the "Pacific" to smuggle.

Because of the existence of smuggling business, the merchant ships of the Pacific Trading Company completely ignored Philip IV's orders and secretly engaged in the "Ming and Qing (New World) triangular trade", using the silver of the New World to buy silk, porcelain and counterfeit muskets of the Ming Dynasty (usually the products of small factories), and then transported them to Vladivostok to exchange furs and pearls, and then transported back to the New World......

However, the "Pacific" and "New East" were not heard from after leaving the port of Pusan, the Kingdom of Korea!

I didn't expect it to be robbed by the Japanese fleet!

"But Japan doesn't have a navy!" Caballero's face was incredulous.

"Now there's one!" Cardinal Li Yufan's face was gloomy, "The envoys of the Joseon Kingdom have arrived in Shengjing and brought shocking news...... Japan's Combined Fleet has invaded Korean soil and occupied Jemyong Island off the coast of Busanpo. ”

"What?" Caballero shook his head, "This can't be ......"

He had been in Asia for many years, and he knew Japan too well, and now that Japan was closed off from the rest of the world, how could it have a fleet capable of invading Korea? Not to mention intercepting Spanish merchant ships at sea!

"Did the crew of the New Oriental tell us what kind of Japanese warship they encountered?"

Garcia said; "It's a Dutch-style sail battleship...... There are 7 of them in total, the largest of which has at least 30 cannons! ”

Seven sail warships intercepted two Spanish merchant ships, but they didn't win all...... Zheng Jiangong's skill in commanding naval battles is still not good!

"That's not the Japanese, that's the Chinese!" Caballero shouted, "Chinese disguised as a Japanese......"

"What shall we do?" Li Yufan asked.

"Can you ask the Philippine fleet to dispatch?" Garcia asked.

"This ......," Caballero thought for a moment, "who will the Dutch support?" ”

"It's definitely China!" Garcia said, "The war between England and the Netherlands was on the verge of breaking out...... The Netherlands needs the support of China in the East! ”

The First Anglo-Dutch War had actually broken out in May 1652, and was officially declared on July 8, and it was already fought on the other side of the English Channel.

In this situation, of course, the Dutch East India Company would not turn against the friendly country of the Ming Dynasty - although these Dutch profiteers also secretly sold a lot of weapons to the Qing Dynasty, but the overall route was still pro-Ming.

And Zhu Cihong's foreign route is pro-Dutch and pro-French - because he knows that the Netherlands is at that point, and now he needs to be wary of the United Kingdom!

And the pro-French was to gain an anti-Spanish, anti-British ally, because the Dutch profiteers were unreliable after all.

"But Britain won't support us either!" "Cromwell is a madman who hates God!" ”

Cromwell was a Puritan, and the English bourgeois revolution is also known as the Puritan Revolution. The Puritans hated Catholics the most, so it was impossible for England to join forces with Spain against China.