Kolkata, India.

Just when Chen Ming happily got another daughter, a diplomatic team from Nanjing also appeared in Calcutta, the military and political heart of Britain in the East.

In the evening of the same day, the British East India Company leaders, that is, the British Governor-General in India, the directors of the company, and the senior commercial representatives, held a grand banquet in the Governor's Palace in Calcutta to welcome the arriving Chinese mission.

Welcome, indeed.

With the outbreak of the French Revolution, the British immediately weakened their resistance to China's entry into India.

What the reason is, don't ask.

France was in such a mess, the country's strength was greatly reduced, Spain had no Austrian aid, and John Bull had too many interests to extract in the land outside India.

Of course, this is not to say that they are willing to watch China's power erode India dramatically. It's that they simply can't stop China's erosion.

The extraction of interests elsewhere requires the energy and strength of the British, so the power they use in India will naturally be weakened. At the same time, both the Matara and the Mysore were extremely unfriendly towards the British. In this case, they really can't resist China anymore.

Although the British regarded India as their family's territory after their victory in the Seven Years' War, it was useless. When Chen Han inserted a hand strongly, John Niu could only endure it.

Moreover, the British have successively paid large sums of money to Russia on the issue of Russia's national debt, and China has protested against London.

After all, China and Britain are the largest trading partners, and John Bull has to 'mean something'.

The Governor's Palace of Kolkata is the ruling nucleus and has some of the best building and living facilities in the region. Compared with the city's indigenous Indian settlement, the British Quarter near the Governor's Palace, even though it has a lot of European-style architecture, is more in line with the eyes of the Chinese mission.

Tonight's banquet is buffet in nature, which is a new, informal dining model brought by the Chinese after entering European society. Of course, it was Chen Ming who came up with the idea.

Although this thing could be related to Viking in later generations, even Europeans don't think so now.

This is a new banquet model, and it is very free, which is more suitable for the merchant class than the court dinner.

Talking and communicating with each other with wine glasses, maybe the business has already been negotiated in the middle of this.

This model of banquet has spread back to China from Europe, and is now spreading in China's major coastal port cities. Even Nagasaki in Japan, Osaka, Hanju in the South Seas, Singapore, Pontianak and many port cities in India, wherever merchants from the East and the West gather, there are banquets of this model, and even special cafeterias.

Of course, the buffet dinner at the Governor's House in Kolkata is superior to the hotels outside in terms of utensils, servants, and furnishings. As for the taste, it's a matter of opinion – pure English flavor.

The masterpiece of the Dark Cuisine Country, which did not serve the Chinese mission to the meeting, the starry sky faction, also known as the 'dead and blind' faction, is already John Bull's great care for the Chinese.

Although these diplomats from China had already begun to train the etiquette of Western food at the beginning of this errand, and they also tasted a lot of Western food, it was all Western food produced by Chinese chefs, and it was completely different from what the chefs here made.

It would be hard enough for these Foreign Ministry personnel, who are not short of money to spend, to 'appreciate' the dark cuisine of Great England with a smile on their faces. I don't know how many people can't taste the 'food' that people have served them and no longer have that patterned standard smile, and many people's facial expressions are uncontrollable, but what's worse is that they can't quietly dump everything on the plate when people are not paying attention.

Is this a banquet?

It's a disaster. For many, it's a veritable disaster.

A few people who are shallower in the city government, after returning to their residences, keep "baba, baba" and spit out, as if they can really spit out something, in fact they can only make a little fishy smell, and then angrily complain to their most familiar friends and colleagues:

"What the hell is that! Even the fried meat is covered with blood. Do you say it's eaten by people? ”

"The emperors and princes of the Europeans eat this thing? In addition, even mushrooms and tomatoes are roasted? Why don't they put their mouths on the fire and roast them? ”

"And the soup. It's an eye-opener. Vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, butter, cheese, cream, you name it. A strange smell, is that what people eat? ”

Seriously, this Western meal was a big blow to the entire Chinese mission. I don't know how many people have not finished this meal, and they shouted with emotion in their hearts: Fortunately, fortunately. Luckily, I had a cook. Otherwise, they will all starve to death.

The summary of those 'predecessors' who have been to Europe is really good words.

"The appetite of foreigners is like this, the steak is fried to seven minutes at most, and the meat is too old if it is cooked. Many people eat medium-rare. Cut it with a knife, except for two layers of skin that were ripe, the inside was all raw.

Roasted mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, which is common in Europe.

It's normal to have butter, cheese and cream in the soup, and Europeans like to eat it that way. ”

There were a few old people in the team who had traveled to and from Europe, and they smiled and said to these complaining juniors: "Try to adapt." When you come to Europe, you can't eat every meal at home. If you really can't get used to it, you can use bread with jam and butter, but you can barely eat it. ”

The tasks of this Chinese mission were many, such as making contact with the British in India to negotiate the future interests of India; At the same time, they will also make contact with the French in India.

Then they will have a meeting with the Ottoman Empire at the Red Sea, and the two sides will have a full exchange of views on the war against Russia and the subsequent world situation. At the same time, the Chinese mission was also tasked with getting a closer look at the Ottoman Empire.

When they arrived in Europe, they had to make contact with Britain, France, Sweden, Russia, and Austria, and at the same time express serious protests against the inappropriate remarks made by the Kingdom of Prussia.

By the time this mission circles the continents of Eurasia and Africa, the Sixth Russian-Turkish War will be over. Chen Ming can then sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, see the development of the situation in Europe, and decide when to intervene. Or is it really spreading the Mini rifle technology......