John Weddell scooped a small spoonful of white and tender tofu cheese from the small bowl in front of him with a ceramic spoon and put it into his mouth, he squinted his eyes and enjoyed the cool and wine-scented soft sweetness blooming from the tip of his tongue, and suddenly felt that the heat brought back from the outside was completely gone.

After sucking the tender cheese with the tip of your tongue, some small pieces of dried fruit remain in your mouth, and you can tell the crispness and aroma of melon seeds and walnuts by chewing them with your teeth. John Weeddell felt that there was really no more commendable dessert in the world than this bowl of cheese, which was truly the best kind of snack in the afternoon tea.

After swallowing this mouthful of cheese, John Weddell couldn't help but say to Methwold beside him: "I can't believe that cheese can still be made into such food, I finally know the reason why the Chinese have stagnated in their maritime career." ”

The few Englishmen sitting around him couldn't help but ask him, "Why?" ”

John Weedel tapped the dishes in front of him with a spoon and said with a smile: "These Chinese even make a bowl of cheese so carefully, how can you let them swallow cookies with slugs on the boat?" In this respect, the best sailors at sea in the future will definitely be us British, after all, we British people have an iron stomach. ”

John Weddell's words made Methwold's companions smile understandingly, and after everyone laughed a few words, Methwold suddenly asked John Weddell: "Captain Weddell, I heard that you asked His Majesty the Emperor for your own reward for a few pairs of pigeons?" ”

John Weddell nodded and said, "Yes, I've heard before that those * will use messenger pigeons to deliver messages, and I always thought it was a legend. But I didn't expect that these Chinese had already started to use pigeons to deliver messages, which is really a miracle.

You know, sometimes when our ships are out and need to communicate with the country, there is no messenger on the vast sea, so we can only send a ship back to the country to deliver the news. But if you can have such a pair of pigeons, you don't have to have to go to such trouble. For the British Navy, these pigeons were invaluable. ”

Methwold turned back to the servants behind him and gave orders, and soon several servants came in with a box, and Methwold himself opened the box and took out a piece of porcelain, and then brought it to John Weddell and said, "This is a gift from your majesty the Emperor, and it is a reward for your service to him." ”

Methwold took out a porcelain plate that immediately brought up several Englishmen present, this is a kind of colored porcelain that has never been seen before, depicting green, yellow, and purple on white and exquisite porcelain, which is more suitable for the aesthetics of Europeans than blue and white porcelain. John Weddell was also a little uncertain, and took the porcelain plate and asked Methwold, "This is for me?" ”

Methwold nodded and said, "It's a set with the 11 pieces in this box, and now they're yours." His Majesty presented the King with a set of 24 pieces, and your luck is really good, Mr. Captain. As for the six sets that you will all get, I have instructed the servant to send them to your room, and you may go back to your room and check it. ”

After hearing Methwold's words, the other officers couldn't sit still, so they said goodbye to the two, and then quickly ran back to the room to check their gifts.

Watching his subordinates leave one after another, John Weddell's heart couldn't help but move, he carefully put down the porcelain plate in his hand, and then asked Methwold: "Your Excellency took them away, did you want to say something to me?" ”

Meswold pondered for a moment, then unconsciously rubbed his hands together and said, "Yes, Mr. Weddell. I do have some things that I would like to share with you, such as what do you think about the Spaniards and the Dutch? I mean, which of them do you think is our real enemy? ”

John Weddell was silent for a while, then took a sip of the teacup in front of him before replying, "You know, I've always believed that only the Spaniards are our worst enemies, and the Dutch are not very reliable allies.

The situation on the European continent is now extremely delicate, the lion of the north has passed away, and only the Netherlands and France are left in front of the Habsburgs. But France is a Catholic country, and God knows what that terrible cardinal did. So we can only draw the Netherlands against Spain, otherwise the whole of the European continent will become the enemy of the British..."

Methwold nodded slightly and said: "I also agree with your statement, but I still insist that sooner or later the Netherlands will become our worst enemy." To paraphrase a Chinese saying, how can one mountain accommodate two tigers.

The Atlantic Ocean is too small to accommodate only one maritime hegemon. Once the Portuguese, then the Spaniards, now the Dutch, if Britain wanted to go to the sea, they could not help but seize control of the Atlantic, after all, this is our doorstep. How can a country that can't even control it at its doorstep go to a wider ocean?

The Dutch East India Company will certainly protest to our country through the Dutch Parliament, and I am sure that the King will also ask you. I hope that you, Mr. John Weeddell, will be able to present to Your Majesty what I have just said. And I believe that China will always be more important to Britain than the Netherlands in the future, and our current support for China will not be in vain. ”

John Weddell glanced at the porcelain plate in front of him before saying, "As far as the current situation is concerned, I am naturally on your side. The Dutch East India Company was not the Dutch Republic after all, and just as we were going to swallow the Ambon massacre in the first place, the Dutch would not completely turn against Britain over this matter.

But what I want to know is, what are the conditions for the end of this war? Do the Chinese really want to drive the Dutch out of Southeast Asia entirely? ”

Methwald shook his head and said, "No, if Batavia submits to the Concord now, then they will only lose the benefits of Sado Island, as well as the transfer of three-fifths of the spice trade of the Spice Islands. If our army reached Batavia, the Dutch would only be able to retain one-fifth of the spice trade in the Spice Islands and surrender the island of Krakatoa. ”

John Weddell asked with some confusion: "Will Batavia give in?" ”

Meswold thought for a long time before he frowned and said, "If the governor of Batavia still had his senses, he should have known that this was already a fairly decent condition for ending the war. Otherwise, the Dutch would have to prepare for a protracted naval war with the Chinese.

With the situation of the Netherlands in Europe now, I do not think that they will be able to provoke a major war in the Far East. Of course, if the war could be postponed until the end of the war in Europe, I would be glad to see the Dutch consume their living forces in the Far East, which would provide a good opportunity for our ships to occupy the Atlantic..."

John Weedel could only shake his head and say, "As an ally, I still hope that Batavia will not lose his mind, otherwise this will be a disaster." ”

Methwold nodded as well, and then changed the subject and said, "Besides, I have one more thing to ask you. I would like you to keep Mr. Robert Black in China for a while, and the Emperor seems to be very interested in his new idea of naval warfare, and therefore asks me if I can keep Mr. Robert Black in his service for a while.

I think this is a great opportunity to get into the heart of the Chinese bureaucracy and understand how they behave, and the true strength of the navy, which will give us a good assessment of China's naval power and provide us with enough real data. ”

John Weddell thought for a moment and said, "Of course, if the Chinese Navy can really confirm that the new naval battle concept proposed by Mr. Robert Black is correct, then when he goes back, there will be no need to convince those old guys on Fleet Street..."

Guo Qing sent back the news with the pigeon book, and under the relay of the pigeon stations in various places, it only took 15 days to arrive in the capital, and Lu Qi quickly sent it to the emperor after receiving the news.

Although the envoy sent by Guo Qing was still on the way with a detailed report, the brief news that the new governor of Manila seemed to be biased against China was enough for Chongzhen to have a certain judgment about the situation in Manila.

After Zhu Youzhen put down the note, he thought for more than ten minutes before he instructed Lu Qi: "Agree to Ye Yuxuan's request and let the East China Sea Patrol Mansion escort a Japanese division south to participate in the war." They were also informed that the Japanese division would be stationed in the Spice Islands after the war, but that two wings would be stationed as civilians in Lingayen and Baguio in case of contingencies. ”

Lu Qi couldn't help but say with some worry: "Your Majesty didn't transfer my Ming army to stay on Luzon Island?" I'm afraid the Japanese are not as reliable as our own army. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the note on the table and said: "We left the Ming army on Luzon Island, and it was a violation of the agreement, so it was ignored to say it; Second, the Spaniards don't have much strength on the island, we have troops on Luzon, but they don't dare to act rashly, maybe they will have to play **, how can we have so much energy to mess with him now.

After all, the Japanese are not our Ming people, and if they have a conflict with the Spaniards, it has nothing to do with us. When the time comes, it will be more beneficial for our country to choose the right time to intervene.

By the way, let Ye Yuxuan tell these Japanese that whether Japan can successfully take back its own interests depends on whether they are willing to shed blood for Japan. Their performance on the Spice Islands and later on Luzon will determine the basis for Japan's ability to make its voice heard at the ASEAN Conference..."

When Lü Qi agreed to leave the room, Zhang Chonghui of the Imperial Secretariat walked in with a new stack of documents, and after briefly reporting to the emperor the brief Chinese documents, he seemed a little swallowed.

Sensing that he seemed to have something to say, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help asking: "If you have anything to say, just say it, I can still listen to it." ”

Zhang Chonghui finally stopped hesitating and reported to the emperor several letters received from the local government, complaining that the newly issued laws were too harsh, making it difficult for those displaced people who were already difficult to survive in their hometowns to even go to other places to reclaim and beg.

Zhang Chonghui finally concluded: "... In troubled times, it is understandable to use heavy texts, but the subjects of the whole world are not His Majesty's people, and now they are just going out to escape the famine for a while, and the local officials have exiled them all overseas, making it difficult for them to return to their hometowns, which is not contrary to benevolence.

Nowadays, the imperial court is extremely close to the assessment of local officials, and these local officials blindly take their lives as the criterion when doing things. The court is strict for one point, one point in the province, one point in the province, one point in the house, and finally four points stricter in the county.

When the ministers in the court formulated national policies, even if they were peaceful and peaceful policies, they had to become more strict at the local level. What's more, now that the imperial court has enacted such strict laws for homeless people and unemployed vagrants in the cities, it is conceivable what will become of the local government.

I beg Your Majesty to be sympathetic to the people and revise the Law of Exile..."