If it weren't for the mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Crete, Monte would never have ventured into the heart of the Holy Roman Kingdom.

And before that, the Ming Empire also had regulations in this regard, strictly prohibiting 10,000-ton cargo ships from entering the Europane River.

Because this is not only a matter of monopoly of trade, but also a reason for the technological blockade.

At present, the largest cargo ship in Europe is only 500 tons, and Daming can already build a 10,000-ton giant ship.

When Daming's 10,000-ton giant ship has been able to withstand the wind and waves of the Atlantic, they are still solving the threat that a cargo ship of several hundred tons will be disintegrated by the wind and waves after entering the Atlantic.

The Ming seagoing vessels had a maximum of twelve main masts, and it was only in recent years that they made the transition from single masts to multimasts.

The emergence of the steam engine completely disrupted the development rhythm of the European ships, and they learned from the Ming Dynasty to move the steam engine to the ship, but because of the backwardness of the linkage structure, their ships still could not solve the problem of too slow sailing.

When the ships of the Ming Dynasty had developed to steam turbines and propellers, they still couldn't solve the draft problem of the rollers.

Europe's relative backwardness of the Ming Dynasty is an all-round discontinuity, so in order to maintain this lead, advanced Ming ships are basically not allowed to enter the hinterland of Europe.

Monte received numerous invitations in Milan, and many merchants of the Hanseatic League were even willing to increase the price by 20%, if Monte was willing to send the goods directly to Cologne.

After ten days of "hesitation", Monte finally could not resist the lure of this huge profit and was willing to take the risk of going to Cologne.

In Gibraltar, he had a long conversation with Yang Zhihe, the commander-in-chief of the Gibraltarian fleet, and with the personnel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and determined all the steps to enter the heart of Europe, before he bypassed France and entered the Rhine from Rotterdam.

And the sailors on the ship, not only did they increase a lot, except for some coolies, most of the ordinary sailors were also replaced by naval soldiers from Gibraltar.

Yang Zhihe is the eldest son of Yang Dao, the governor of the Dongzhou Navy, and is 43 years old this year.

Yang Dao is now one of the most powerful generals in the entire Ming Dynasty, and as the vice governor of the navy, he is in charge of more than 200,000 imperial navies and the protection of the entire Eastern Continent.

Because Dongzhou is the fief of the Ming royal family, and Yang Dao has been authorized by His Majesty to take charge of His Majesty's golden whip, beating the prince and hundreds of officials, so in terms of power, there is almost no one in the entire empire who can compare with it.

Yang Zhihe came from a prominent background, but he was not pampered, and during his study in the Ming Dynasty, he repeatedly won the first place in his studies. After graduating, he directly entered the First Fleet of the Navy and became the commander of His Majesty's Navy.

From the twenty-fifth year of orthodoxy to the thirty-third year of orthodoxy, Zhu Zhanji repeatedly went to Nanyang, went to Nanzhou, Xizhou, and Dongzhou.

In the thirty-fourth year of orthodoxy, his mother Xie Zhenfang died of illness in the Dongzhou Governor's Mansion, and Zhu Zhanji gave Yang Zhi and Ding Wei to accompany his father Yang Dao in Dongzhou for a year.

In the 35th year of orthodoxy, the 38-year-old Yang Zhihe was promoted by Zhu Zhanji to the general army of Gibraltar, and together with his father Yang Dao, who supervised Dongzhou, blockaded the Atlantic Ocean.

The father and son led the troops at the same time and helped each other, which was also unique in the entire Ming Dynasty, which shows Zhu Zhanji's favor to their father and son.

In addition, the current speaker of the Ming Dynasty is Yang Zhihe's maternal uncle Xie Zhen, and the power of the Yang family is not comparable to that of few noble families.

As the commander-in-chief of Gibraltar, Yang Zhihe is well aware of his responsibilities.

The chief military officer of Crete was responsible for the Ming Dynasty to expand commercial trade and use commerce to influence the development of European countries.

The Gibraltar Commander-in-Chief, on the other hand, used force to curb the development of the navies of European countries.

Over the years, the development of Europe has been directly influenced by the Ming Dynasty, and everything seems to be going well.

But Yang Zhihe had already discovered the danger signs.

Development in Europe has been uneven, with the economies of southern Europe, which have benefited from trade in the Mediterranean, have grown rapidly over the years, while the economies of northern Europe have struggled.

Northern Europe is rich in mineral resources, but their mineral resources were exploited by the Ming Dynasty through trade, and the economic driving role that they can play has not been revealed.

The people of Northern Europe have been living in hardship and have always been unhappy with this exploitation, so in recent years, the Lufthansa Alliance has developed very rapidly.

Moreover, the northern part of Europe was populous, and their brutal character resulted in a stronger force than the south.

Especially after the advent of muskets in Europe, the Nordics became more and more powerful, but economically, they were constrained by the South.

This inequality caused a natural hostility in Northern Europe towards the Ming people.

Today, the coalition forces formed by Europe are mainly Europeans from the north. They joined forces to oppose the Ming Dynasty, not to compete with the Ming Dynasty, but to plunder more resources.

Europe is so poor that in the economic predatory trade process of the Ming Dynasty, there is nothing that can interest the Ming Dynasty now.

If their people don't sell coolies, they can only get some money by working hard, and most of the ordinary people have no food and clothing.

Therefore, they were not afraid of death, they were brave and good at fighting, and after they had muskets, they became pawns in the hands of many conspirators.

Yang Zhihe has been vigorously cultivating agents over the years, and in addition to the Medici family, he has spared no effort to win over the powerful of various countries.

In Britain, France, including Portugal and the Papal State, many people have become spies of the Ming Dynasty, but in the north, due to the distance, it is difficult for the real nobles to be co-opted, and they have a natural defense against the Ming people.

Even if there were some minor works, their status was very low, and it was difficult for them to directly affect the upper echelons of the Member States.

Now that Monte is willing to play for Daming, Yang Zhihe is very happy, and he finds that he has walked into a misunderstanding in the past.

He always wanted to use the locals as a fine worker, but these people were not loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so it didn't work much.

But these Europeans like Monte, who have already naturalized the Ming Dynasty, can play a greater role because of their loyalty to the Ming.

Just like Monte, he was a famous big businessman and his social status in Europe was not low. Even because of the goods in his hands, he was valued by some European lords.

Let him come forward, he can play a bigger role.

Monte took a large "bribe" and tried his best to finally get his permission to sail the merchant ship directly into the European continent.

At such a time, it was only natural for him to arrange a group of soldiers on board to protect the merchant ships.

Of course, this is only what those Europeans have seen, in fact, eighty percent of the sailors on the merchant ships are now naval soldiers.

If anyone wants to seize this merchant ship and obtain the secret of Ming shipbuilding, the troops stationed in Gibraltar will definitely not mind setting off a slaughter in Europe.

When Monte arrived in Cologne, the most prosperous city in the Hanseatic League, the largest city in Europe was no bigger than an ordinary Ming state capital for the Ming soldiers.

A city of less than 50,000 people is not even as big as some county towns in Daming.

In the era when the Ming Dynasty has gradually industrialized, the European cities that still rely on manual labor cannot be compared with the Ming Dynasty.

In Daming, almost most of the county already has cement factories, horse-drawn carriage factories, steam engine factories, and various agricultural machinery factories.

However, there are only a few cities in Europe that rely on resources to build small steel mills and steam airports.

The only thing that makes people feel prosperous in the city of Cologne is the trade market outside the city.

In the 12th century, the size of the inner city of Cologne was laid. The semicircular wall is six kilometers long and has twelve gates.

With 45,000 inhabitants, Cologne was the largest city in the Holy Roman Kingdom, with a population that surpassed that of Paris and London at the time.

Cologne is prosperous thanks to its strategic location, which is located at the crossroads of the north-south waterway and the east-west highway, and is also a pilgrimage route.

Boats, carriages and horses all pass here, and goods from all over the world are also collected and distributed here.

Because of the rise of the Hanseatic League, Cologne also had the privilege of having to sell goods through Cologne for three days before they could be transited.

This is undoubtedly a big boost for Cologne's business. As the economy grew, the wealthy merchants and craftsmen's guilds of Cologne regained the management of the city at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and the archbishop fled to Bonn, no longer the ruler of Cologne.

Cologne became an important city-state of the Free City and the Hanseatic League.

However, over the years, because the economic center of Europe is in the south, Milan and Rome have gradually surpassed Cologne, and even the population of Genoa has surpassed Cologne.

However, for the Holy Roman Kingdom, which occupied most of Europe, Cologne was still not as important as any other city.

Riding in the Piaget's car, Monte and his son arrived at the Parliament building in the east of the city, after receiving a warm welcome from the Parliament emblem.

Here they met with the councillors of the city of Cologne, as well as with the representatives of the Hanseatic Union.

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance formed by the commercial cities and guilds along the Nordic coast to maintain their trade monopolies.

It was formed gradually in the thirteenth century and flourished in the fourteenth century, with a maximum of 160 member cities.

In the mid-to-late 14th century, they established a leadership body headed by the city of Lübeck, with the participation of wealthy merchants and aristocrats from Hamburg, Cologne, Bremen and other large cities.

They have their own armament and treasury. Ninety years ago, after the victory over Denmark, the Treaty of Stralsund was concluded.

The League monopolized trade in the Baltic Sea and established trading posts along the coast from London in the west to Novgorod in the east.

In recent years, the alliance has developed into a commercial alliance dominated by Germans, who are economically inferior to the South, but militarily superior to each other.

The reason for this situation has to be mentioned is the special structure of the Holy Roman Kingdom.

The Holy Roman Kingdom evolved from the East Frankish kingdom in the 10th century, and they presented themselves as the true heirs of the ancient Roman Empire, and they were determined to complete their ideal realm, a vast empire that included all Christian nations.

In principle, they supported the papacy, and in fact, from the day it was founded, the papacy and the emperor fought openly and secretly for hundreds of years.

Because of this struggle, in addition to the initial emperor, the emperor still had some power, and later, the emperor's power almost disappeared.

Especially after the Great Vacancy in the thirteenth century, the emperor only had honorary leadership, and the only area he could actually manage was his own fiefdom.

The emperor had no real power, the empire was loose and large, and the princes, bishoprics, knightly groups, and autonomous cities under the emperor were in their own affairs, and the guilds that theoretically connected the members to assist the emperor were in fact reduced to a place where all parties fought for privileges.

The current Emperor Frederick III was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome in 1452 by Pope Nicholas V.

But there is only one Austria where he can decide.

Today's Europe is equivalent to a great battlefield of princely division. All the local forces fight today and unite tomorrow, and there has never been a royal family that can truly serve the people.

It is also for this reason that Da Ming has never understood how they got in touch and formed a coalition army, and they could expand eastward to fight Tang Sai'er.

If we can't know what is going on, we won't be able to effectively divide them and completely remove their threat.

Da Ming is not afraid of going to war directly, but it is too cost-effective to start a war. It takes countless manpower, force, and thousands of kilometers of supply lines to supply too much, but after winning the war, there are too few benefits to be gained.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji was not interested in fighting with them, which was completely touching the jade with the other party's tiles.

At a time when Europe had no resources to supply the Americas, they were too poor to be entertained.

And, what can you do after you beat it? Send the Ming people to manage and collect taxes? Wouldn't that make Daming fall into the people's war!

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji wants to directly divide them, and then let their people live in misery all the time through economic exploitation.

Poverty would make it impossible for their population to grow, and the more powerful the Ming became, the more Han Chinese would be, eventually making them a minority confined to Europe.

And they will also become cheap laborers of the Ming Dynasty, just like North Korea and Dongying.

In the parliament building, Monte brought his eldest son, as well as a staff member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disguised as a subordinate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to negotiate trade with the other party.

But in the city of Cologne, Meng Zheng, who drove around in a car, became the focus of the whole city.

The number of new gadgets in the Ming Dynasty is not large, and in Europe, only a few governors and soldiers were equipped with this outfit two years ago.

The vast majority of Europeans, even if they have heard of the car, have never seen it. For the people of the north, even God could not build a car that could run on their own without horses.

He was always followed by a large group of children in the back of his car, and every place he went, he could attract countless eyes. And Meng Zheng's handsome appearance, wherever he goes, can attract a large group of women to throw flattering eyes.

Meng Zheng is now playing a gentleman, a rich second ancestor. Seeing those women who matched his aesthetics, he did not skimp on his smile at all, revealing a charming smile.

When he saw the women, the girls were so shy about it, he smiled smugly.

It's a pity that he only knows Latin, not the language here, and if he could, he would have no doubt that he would have been having sex today.

He likes this kind of life, not only can he have public funds for him to be chic, but also the thrill and excitement in it also make him intoxicated.

He had already decided, starting tomorrow, to make a few aristocratic friends here, and then start learning various languages except Latin.

There are too many people like him in Daming, and it is difficult for him to get ahead at all, but he can easily get ahead in Europe.

He has already figured out that in addition to eating, drinking, and having fun, he will also promote football in Europe. There is no game that can show the sports that belong to the Ming Dynasty like football.

And this kind of movement, which does not need words, can make him famous in Europe very quickly.

Today's meeting went very well, and although most of the profits made by Monte this trip had to be handed over, they were still much higher than the profits he had predicted when he arrived.

Just a few days later, these goods will be sold, and they will bring him a lot of profits.

What made him even happier was that this time he had a close relationship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of General Affairs, and established business contacts with the Hanseatic League, and he would definitely become one of the most dazzling businessmen in the Ming Dynasty in the future.

"For some time to come, you will be a gregarious man in Cologne, and we need you to attract the nobility of the whole Nordic with your luxury, so that everyone will want to have a close relationship with you. In the process of communicating with them, pay attention to the composition of the current white alliance, and find out which forces are behind the alliance. ”

After listening to the explanation of the general political secretary Fan Xue, Monte asked: "Haven't we already checked almost, the Hanseatic League, the Principality of Lithuania, the Principality of Kiev, and Hungary are all involved?" ”

Fan Xue shook his head and said, "This is just public news, if it is just to know this, we can find out in Crete." What we need to grasp is who is in the middle, who is in charge, what are the interests of their association, how the funds are raised, how the weapons are paid, and how the profits of the war are distributed.

Only by knowing this can we purposefully divide and target each other and break down each other's alliances. So, you still have a lot of work to do, and if possible, we'd like you to visit Hamburg, Berlin, or even Lithuania. ”

"I can know the purpose of the Empire, but, as a merchant, if I stay in Europe and don't raise goods, won't it arouse suspicion?" ”

Fan Xue said with a smile: "With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, do you have to go back to Daming to ship goods?" In my opinion, as long as the Mongolian side goes back, it will be fine. You stay in Europe, blend in with the upper classes of Europe, and henceforth, your caravans will grow larger and larger. ”

The Mongolian side and Meng Zheng were both overjoyed, and the Mongolian side was happy that he could finally take charge of himself on his own, and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he believed that going back to Daming to purchase goods would be very smooth, and if he could get some scarce goods from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it would be very beneficial to their business.

However, Meng Zheng thought about his own task and said: "Father, if you stay in Europe, it will become more natural for me to stay in Europe. You negotiate trade between European countries, and I stay in Europe to make friends with young people from all over the world as a gentleman. They don't have the shrewdness of those old foxes, and a lot of information can come out of their mouths. ”

He looked at Fan Xue again and said, "Director Fan, in addition to eating, drinking and having fun, I want to promote football in Europe. Football in the Ming Dynasty has now become a national sport, but there is no technology to make football in Europe, so it has not yet become popular. If I spread the word about football, I will definitely be able to establish my own unique image in Europe, which will be a positive benefit for my development in Europe. ”

Fan Xue looked at a few subordinates, they discussed in a low voice, and nodded one after another: "This can indeed promote Meng Zheng's reputation in Europe, and increase his charm beyond his image." ”

Fan Xuedao: "Okay, include this plan in your task." Have you figured out where to start? ”

Meng Zheng nodded and said, "Let's go around Europe with my father first, and as for me to take root in Europe, I think the most suitable place is Milan." It's located in the heart of Europe, and the economy is quite developed, making it a good base. ”

Fan Xue nodded, and also recognized the place Meng Zheng chose, but the issue of Meng Zheng's identity was a difficult problem.

The hierarchy in Europe is also very distinct, and it is difficult for a commoner, even if he is rich, to enter the world of the aristocracy.

If you want Meng Zheng to play a greater role, you must arrange a noble status for him. Only in this way can he enter the level of nobility more easily.

It's a pity, because Monte's reputation as an honorary lord has spread, it is not appropriate to assign him another status now.

Otherwise, as long as Monte is a count, he will naturally be more favored by the European aristocracy than he is now.

Fan Xue pondered for a while and said, "It's too late to arrange a noble status for your father now, but you can." A few days later, you leave with the fleet, and the public is that you need to return to Daming to inherit a title left to you by your aunt. On the side of the General Administration, I will also try my best to persuade Your Majesty to canonize a knighthood for you, so you need to go back to Daming in person. ”

As if in a dream, Monte stood up suddenly, grabbed Fan Xue's arm and said, "Is this true? ”

Fan Xue shook his head and said, "I can't guarantee it!" However, as far as I can see, His Majesty attaches great importance to intelligence work, and in order to cooperate with the actions of the General Administration, even if an official title is rare, Meng Zheng should have no problem receiving an honorary title. ”

Monte trembled excitedly, looked at Meng Zheng and said, "This time back to Daming, you have to work hard and serve Daming." If you can really obtain the knighthood of Your Majesty, every time you make a profit from trade in the future, I will leave you 10% as your expenses in Europe. ”

The official title of the Ming Dynasty can only be obtained by military merit. Other than that, there are only honorary titles. Like those civil officials, even if they are awarded the title of duke because of their hard work, they are only lifelong titles, and their descendants cannot inherit them, let alone have fiefs.

Previously, for this title, even if he was asked to sacrifice his family property and his life, he would not hesitate to sacrifice his life.

And Huang Ting promised a low-level title, which could be passed on to the Mongolian side. If Meng Zheng can also get an official title, it means that their Meng family has broken away from the status of immigrants and become a real Ming person.