On 20 September 1688, after escaping a storm, the Portuguese contingent of the Republic of China finally arrived in the port of Lisbon.

However, only some of the ships that arrived this time, probably more than thirty ships, because of the storm, the fleet could not maintain its formation at sea, and many ships were scattered during the night, and did not follow the main fleet led by Moree to Lisbon. But fortunately, they all know where to go, and if nothing happens and the ships are in good condition, they should arrive one after another in the next period of time to join the main fleet.

The appearance of the Grand Fleet on the East Coast caused a great sensation among the Portuguese. In particular, the three three-deck battleships "Executive Committee", "Liberator" and "Scavenger" (the "Milestone" is temporarily out of contact) have become the dazzling stars of the port of Lisbon, and the Portuguese are envious and jealous when they see it, and at the same time they have a new understanding of the strength of the East Coast Navy: this kind of warship is often already very shocking, and can generally be used as a national naval symbol, but the East Coast people are actually equipped with three, which is indeed not a big deal!

At the same time, some small ideas that existed in the hearts of many Portuguese merchants and aristocrats also disappeared under this naked display of strength. It is better to be cautious and honest in dealing with countries that have such powerful warships, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings and bring disaster to the country.

As a large international commercial port, Lisbon naturally has ships from many other countries in the port, and there is no shortage of spies to spy on intelligence. Therefore, the news of the arrival of the Grand Fleet of the East Coast Navy in Europe is bound to spread throughout Europe and reach the desks of the monarchs of various countries for some time to come. In this era of Europe, the era of vigorous development of formal maritime trade, even some traditional continental countries are actively developing maritime trade, so they are very concerned about who has a strong naval fleet, so the news of the arrival of the East Coast Fleet is bound to continue to ferment for a period of time in the future, and cause a very far-reaching impact.

Naturally, the people of the East Coast are happy to see this happen. Increasing the country's influence by promoting force is one of the tasks of the Navy's Portuguese task force, and they want to be known by more people. Information will be distorted in the process of transmission, maybe the East Coast people will have three battleships moored in the port, but the rumors may become five or six, which will further enhance the image of the East Coast people and enhance the influence of the country.

In addition, the French, Dutch, and British people will inevitably have some scruples after learning about the situation of the East Coast Grand Fleet, and they will be even more suspicious in their hearts, worried about the purpose of the East Coast Fleet's rise to Europe. Especially in the United Provinces, which have been in a bad mood with the East Coast lately (the Prince of Orange accuses the East Coasters of funding the opposition), if they had been more imaginative, they would have doubted that the East Coasters would have come to war with them.

In short, the port of Lisbon, which was originally relatively calm, set off a huge wave because of the arrival of the Grand Fleet on the East Coast, and then began to slowly spread far away, affecting more countries and regions. The monarchs of these countries will inevitably take more East Coast factors into account when making decisions in the future, when looking for partners. And this is one of the main reasons why the people on the east coast have added a special budget for the navy and spent a lot of money to send this fleet to Europe.

"From the moment we entered the port of Lisbon, we were already a thorn in the side of many people. But it doesn't matter, it's mediocre not to be envied, and our fleet is so powerful that it will naturally make many people panic. Secretary Wang, have you found any interesting information recently? In the captain's room of the "Executive Committee", the commander of the task force, Colonel Moliee, looked at the secretary of the ambassador to Lisbon who was sitting opposite him, and asked with a smile.

"Portugal and England have a close relationship, so we naturally found out about it, and it is different from what we know about the London Iron House, so we can confirm each other." Secretary Wang took a sip of tea and replied with a smile: "Portugal is a country with a very strong Catholic atmosphere, so a lot of news here is about religion. One of the most interesting is the recent announcement by King James II of England to abolish the Religious Penal Code, which means that Protestants can no longer punish Catholics on the basis of religious beliefs, which has caused dissatisfaction among the Church of England and many Protestant merchants and aristocrats. But untouched, James continued to hold on, as if the Catholics had gained preponderance in England. ”

In fact, James II's head is indeed a little confused. He had only been on the throne for less than three years, and there were a bunch of opponents in the country, and Parliament had withheld the funds that should have been allocated in three days, but he remained unmoved, promulgating one policy after another in favor of British Catholics in a very high-profile manner, suppressing the backlash of Protestants, as if it were Catholics who were now dominant in England.

Moreover, the series of persecution of Protestants by the henchmen he sent to Ireland at the beginning of this year detonated the religious sentiment in England and increased the number of opponents against him. James II took control of Ireland by his henchmen Tegniel and Fetton, who brazenly persecuted Ireland's already minority Protestants, taking away their lands and possessions and giving them away to Catholics.

Feyton, who served as Lord Chancellor, even stated in public: "The forty thousand [Protestants] are all scoundrels, and not one of them is not a traitor, a traitor, and a scum, and they are not worthy of forgiveness." This shows the severity of the persecution of the Protestants in Ireland at this time, and the flight of a large number of merchants, artists, scholars, and craftsmen to England, and the decline in Irish foreign trade revenues, that even James II was considering whether to remind his two henchmen to restrain some excesses a little, and not to go too far.

Of course, if this is all there is to it, the old men in the London Parliament may not be so excited, because the Irish are also untrustworthy in their eyes, they are second-class citizens, and the persecution is persecuted, although it is very worrying, but it is not enough to blow up the nest. Recently, however, James II did something even more foolish, and that was to send an envoy headed by the Earl of Castelmann to Rome to make amity and submission to the Pope and to propose the official return of England to a Catholic state. And this undoubtedly caused an uproar in London, and suddenly intensified the contradictions between the royal family and Parliament.

According to the bill enacted by Congress, anyone who contacts the pope is a very serious crime and will be punished for the crime of treason. But since the person who committed the crime is the king, it is very difficult to punish. But there is no doubt that the relationship between Congress and the royal family has become irreparable, and James's move is extremely reckless and inappropriate. Under the current British system, the king's power is certainly not small, but it is definitely not as great as imagined, especially when the financial power is limited by Congress, the king cannot attract enough military power, and the situation has always looked unstable.

In short, now that the situation in Britain is completely out of control, MPs are beginning to convene meetings to create public opinion in the country and let the social elites understand how terrible what King James II is doing at the moment, that their souls will not be redeemed, and their property will be dispossessed. Some even sensationally pointed out that the English nationals might suffer even more terrible losses because of some ulterior relationship between King James II and Paris.

Whether true or not, these news have spread rapidly in England and have caused considerable repercussions, with many Protestants who originally supported the royal family muttering a little and beginning to leave James II's side. For example, the king's brothers-in-law, Rochester and Clarington, who were originally important supporters of the king, have now resigned. For another example, Geoffries, the king's former thug and known as a cool official, also complained in public about the king's religious policy, which in turn aroused the king's suspicion, and the saint was in great decline, and had to leave the center of power. Even Sunderland, the king's favorite, secretly communicated with the Prince of Orange and became an undercover agent by James II's side, constantly delivering all kinds of confidential information.

Resignations and defections like this are too numerous to mention, and almost every day we hear people who had supported the king switching sides and joining Parliament. Merchants began to join forces one after another, using various means to reduce the import and export tariff revenue, which was originally an important source of revenue for the king, which further hit James II.

At the same time, an elaborate campaign to beautify public opinion for the Prince of Orange, William III, and his wife is also ongoing. Various groups, including churches, colleges, and the business community, sang praises for him, calling him "wise and resolute" and "prudent and humble", and at the same time "hating France", and decisively agreed to the British withdrawing six regiments of soldiers during the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion, thus avoiding a devastating civil war.

These beautifying actions in public opinion have led the vast majority of British people to believe that it seems to be in the interests of the majority to let the Prince of Orange and his wife come to inherit the British throne. William III himself seized the opportunity to send his envoy Dykevelt to London to liaise with many local dignitaries and to promote the prince's own prestige. William III instructed Dykevelt to openly protest against some of James II's policies on the one hand, and to "put his name in his name" to the various factions of Congress in an appropriate manner on the other.

The calm and sophisticated Dyckvelt finished the character with great astonishment. He succeeded in convincing the English that once William III came to power, there would be absolutely no action against the Protestants. At the same time, he also pointed out that the time is not yet ripe, and it is necessary to be patient. Because he still needed time to clean up the situation in the United Provinces, the republicans had caused him a lot of trouble, and the political situation was a little unstable, and if he went on an expedition to England at this time, he was afraid that Amsterdam and The Hague would change.

However, the birth of James II's son changed all this, and William III and his ministers in England had to speed up the operation to land in England and claim the throne. The birth of a male heir to James II will shift the succession to the throne of his daughter Mary back and challenge her legitimate succession. William III could not, but stepped up his actions without hesitation, and made intensive moves for the entry into London.

According to the latest news received by the East Coasters, including the Bishop of London, the Earl of Denby, the Earl of Nottingham, the Earl of Devonshire, the Earl of Dorset, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Dammel, Lord Aland, Mr. Hampton, Mr. Bowler, Mr. Leicester, and many "prominent citizens" (mostly merchants, clergy, officers, scholars, and artists) in the capital of London, signed a petition to William III, Prince of Orange, to send troops to England to help restore the kingdom's freedom.

It can be said that under the coercion of James II, the British aristocracy and parliamentarians rarely abandoned their prejudices and united together to deal with the "misguided king" and welcome a more "tolerant prince". The most radical of them all—and perhaps the most speculative—Lord Shrewsbury, originally a Catholic, now openly proclaimed the Protestant, pledged £40,000 with his family estate, determined to "defend the Prince of Orange with the sword".

William III, Prince of Orange, couldn't care too much at this time. He said he would "gladly accept requests from all walks of life in England" and would have the courage to take on "the responsibility of protecting the people of England". To this end, he had already begun to reorganize the army to see how many officers and enlisted men were willing to follow him to London. If it is not enough, he will not hesitate to open the vault, pull over the several mercenary legions that he has secretly contacted for a long time, and then board a ship with him and set off for London to ascend the throne.

The Prince had reason to believe that there were now few people to be trusted around James II, that there were not many people in the navy to support him, and that there were almost no army forces, so that as long as his legions succeeded in landing in England, it would be easy to ascend to the throne of England. What's more, James II was stupid enough to still implement his religious policy at this time, as if he didn't die fast enough, and he had to rush to give the throne to William III.

Colonel Moliee was also surprised when he heard the news. On the one hand, he was surprised that James II was so stupid, and on the other hand, he was surprised that the Prince of Orange was ready to fly. In his opinion, if it was best to prevent William III from coming to London in time, if it was really not, then prevent him from taking up the position of consul in the United Provinces, sever the link between England and the United Provinces, and support the republicans to come to power.

Either way, the most urgent thing for the people on the East Coast now is to find a place to stay very close to both Britain and the United Provinces. Given their reluctance to go to the French, they had to go to the South Netherlands, which were still under Spanish rule. Come to think of it, because Antwerp was abandoned because it had to pass through the waters of the Dutch-controlled province of Zeeland, the only option left in the South Netherlands was the famous commercial port of Bruges.

And since the decision had been made, it was not too late that Colonel Moliee asked Secretary Wang to contact the Cadiz side as soon as possible through the connections of the embassy in Lisbon, and asked them to go to Madrid to meet the King of Spain and request that the port of Bruges be opened to the East Coast Fleet.

At the same time, they also used various connections to successfully get the Portuguese to temporarily vacate some dockyards for the maintenance of the East Coast Fleet in preparation for sailing. Of course, they didn't forget to contact Viana Castelo, after all, sometimes they need the help of the army.