I met my old friend Henry in a temporary palace in the port of Nantes.

Luckily, Henry was overseeing the construction of warships in several port cities on the west coast, a new French national policy.

After many years of not seeing him, Henry's complexion is still ruddy, revealing a healthy complexion. The voice is loud and the pace is steady, the only thing that is more difficult to accept is that the smell on his body is still so "special" that people can't get close.

"Hey! Hey! Friends, just sit there and say it, hug or something! I looked at Henry, who was about to come over, and refused bitterly.

However, this man didn't take this kind of habitual thing as too big a problem, he strode over and gave me a heavy hug!

I took a deep breath as he got closer to a metre, keeping enough oxygen in my lungs, and hugged Henry!

We slapped each other's backs hard to show our excitement, the only difference was that he was laughing and I didn't dare say a word.

It was a bit awkward, but Henry was used to it, and after hugging him, he let go of his arm and went back to his seat with me.

Finally, my breathing returned to normal and it was a blessing to be able to take a big breath of air.

"My friend! How do you feel about going home? Henry asked, laughing.

"Very good! My friend, but I also very much longing to return to the West and see you after a long absence! I exhaled the incomprehensible smell in my nostrils and replied happily.

"Really?" Henry asked with a strange expression, "I don't think you're good to me!" ”

"Poof!" I took a sip of tea and quickly reached out and pulled down the square towel on the table to wipe it, and at the same time asked a little embarrassed: "How do you say this?" ”

Henry pretended to be straight and said: "People say that Elizabeth of England has the friendship of Sun Qilan, so she defeated Spain; William of the Netherlands had the friendship of Sun Qilan, so he rose to become the most powerful coachman on the sea. And me? was the first to have Sun Qilan's friendship, but there was nothing, and he was still a local chicken that was shaved in this pit! ”

"Poof!" I couldn't help but squirt out a second sip of tea: "The person who is the king of the most powerful empire on the European continent describes himself as a native chicken!" So what are the others? Marmot? Cockroach? Loach? ”

Henry couldn't hold back his expression any longer, and shouted with a laugh: "Anyway, it's not enough!" I want you to help me, Qilan, I not only want to be the strongest country on land, but also fly our tricolor flag on the sea! ”

Looking at Henry's energetic expression, a feeling that can be called "envy" suddenly arose in my heart.

What is the most precious thing about people? It's an upward spirit!

What is the happiest thing about a person? It's about fighting for your dreams!

Looking at Henry, after I was envious, I gave birth to another feeling, called regret.

Yes, compared to Henry's ambition, I look at myself, but I have lost tomorrow, I feel that I can get by with everything, and I no longer have that upward momentum.

Is it because the Ming Dynasty hit me too hard? Probably not, I've experienced far more blows than this.

Am I not persevering enough? It doesn't seem to be, I can continue the power for decades for one thing, such as the previous life for revenge, and then this life for the purpose of finding the seven divine stones.

So why am I so depressed? In a trance, I was asking myself, why? Why is it so depressed?

"I want the tricolor to be planted in every corner of the world, and let the glory of France shine on the whole world!" Henry didn't know when he had changed the tea to red wine, and laughed at me in a daze with his glass.

"Yes! Shine all over the world! I picked up the glass I had in hand, touched it with Henry, and threw my head up and drank the red wine.

Yes, I see, what I lack, is a goal!

Yes! Target!

When I went back to Daming, I wanted to help Daming defeat the invasion of foreign enemies, help Daming build the most powerful navy in the world, and help Daming resist the invasion of the Jurchens outside the Guanwai!

But all of this is now gone, and it has become the dust of history. So I'm lost, I'm confused, I don't know where the future is heading, and that's the biggest problem I'm facing!

Let the tricolor be planted all over the world? No, it's not what I want, but Henry has such ambitions, so how about me helping him?

Think of it as a short-term goal for myself on the way to find my own direction.

"What are your plans? Henry. I put down my glass and looked back at Henry, and looked downstairs, where Hua Mei and the others were having a pleasant conversation with Henry's concubines.

"You're not right, my friend, I think we're going to do something!" Henry replied, a red glow of excitement on his face.

"We?" I smiled, "Then we have to think long-term." ”

Henry laughed twice, "I like your caution, Qilan. As he spoke, he clapped his hands, and two attendants stepped out of the curtain behind him, and set up a huge chart of the world's navigation in front of us.

When I look at this nautical chart, although there are still many places that are very vague and obviously not yet effectively explored, it is a very detailed work in today's worldview.

"So, what is your goal?" I asked, pointing to the charts, turning to look at Henry.

"My goal?" Henry stood up, walked over to the chart, and swiped his finger from the western end of Europe to the eastern end of the world!

"My goal, of course, is to be as big as possible, but obviously I can't do it!" Henry looked at me and laughed.

"You're being honest." I shook my head and smiled bitterly: "Don't say anything else, these countries up and down in France are not easy to toss, standing on your ...... Well, from our point of view, how to break through the encirclement is the first priority. As for the other grand blueprints you mentioned, we can go step by step, and we don't have to rush it. ”

My words were like a huge hammer chiseled into Henry's heart, and he couldn't help but be a little depressed, hung his arms, sighed, and sat down next to me.

"The foundation is terrible! Qilan, you know, Spain, Portugal, England, the Netherlands, and Italy have a better foundation than us, and France is really weak in the navy, and I want to build the navy, but it's so difficult! It's so hard! When he said this, he was like a frosted eggplant, wilting and lacking in spirit.

I shook my glass lightly, looked at Henry and said slowly: "Ten years of the army, a hundred years of the navy." This navy is in need of accumulation, so how can it be in a hurry? ”

"And what do you say should be done?" Henry patted the table and asked, "Centennial Navy?" It's time for my ashes to melt, where can I wait that long? ”

"Want to be fast? Then find a goal, or rather, worship a Master! I took a sip of my wine and said softly.

"You mean, learn from the model of one of their countries?" Henry asked, frowning.

"Why do humans keep improving? Because we were able to stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and move on. For the French Navy to rise, it must find a frame of reference, and there is no need to reopen a path on its own, right? I said seriously.

"However, we are a big country on the continent of Europe, so are we not as good as those small countries? Why can't you follow your own path? Henry was still indignant.

"Brother, we have an old saying in the East - there is a precedence in hearing the Tao, and there is a specialization in the art industry. Each person, each country is good at different areas, we have to admit our own shortcomings, but also see the strengths of others, right? I looked at Henry and said, "It's not too late to wait until we get out of our own experience on the path of our predecessors, and then slowly develop our own things, right?" ”

Henry sat silently in his seat, raised the wine bottle to fill himself with a large glass of wine, turned his head and filled it to me again: "You guy, you always speak so reasonably!" I hate to admit it, but you're right! ”

I smiled slightly, took a sip of my wine glass, and said, "In fact, there are only two or three countries that can really learn, don't you have any points in your heart?" ”

Henry's hand holding the glass was fixed in the air, and the whole person fell into a state of distraction.

He was thinking. Ponder my proposal.

Yes, there are many naval powers in Europe today, but there are only three countries that France really deserves to learn from.

England, Netherlands, Spain.

The tactics of Spain dominated the sea for a hundred years, but they were defeated by the British, so their tactics and equipment belong to a relatively outdated type and can be ignored.

The Dutch follow the corporate model, just like the East India Company that I established as a shareholder, which is promoted by this company, joint-stock model. In France, which is dominated by agriculture and small craftsmen, and in France, where the commercial trust system is not yet perfect, it is obviously unrealistic to follow the model of naval development under this credit system.

So in fact, there is only one model left in front of the French - the British model.

"Do you really want us to learn from the Saxon barbarians?" Henry muttered disappremented, and took another sip from his glass.

I couldn't help laughing: "As long as the other party is stronger than me, no matter what he is, let's learn from their advantages!" There is also an old saying in our East - accident disciples don't have to be inferior to teachers, wait until we really learn their essence, and then turn over and become teachers. ”

Listening to my words, Henry squeezed the handle of the wine glass heavily, tilted his head and took a big sip!

"You're right! Since we want to develop rapidly, we must let go of dignity and face! How to learn, you have the final say! Speaking of which, Qilan, you don't have anything you have to do now, right? Why don't you just stay and be my naval commander! Henry's eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed with pleasure.

"You can afford me!" I shook my head: "I still have some things of my own, or rather, wishes. But I won't go far in the short term, I can help you build the prototype of a new navy, and when your navy has its own skeleton, it's not too late for me to go out! ”

"It's a deal!" Henry toasts to me!

"It's a deal!" Our two glasses slammed into each other!