A few months ago, he Cromwell was the most glamorous minister in the entire English Stuart dynasty, and he was also the hottest tycoon above 10,000 people under one person.

But now, he had to accept the fate of being imprisoned, and accept that he was the culprit who instigated the king to provoke the relationship between Ming and Britain, and was stripped of all positions and titles by the king Charles I, who trusted him the most.

Before Cromwell was imprisoned, Charles I personally received him, and looking at Cromwell's stubble that he had not had time to repair and his forehead, which still had gunshot wounds, he couldn't help but pat Cromwell on the shoulder, and sighed:

"Don't worry, when the wind passes, I will let you out, and when the time comes, I will let you control the most elite troops for me!"

Cromwell nodded, and also knew that Charles I was forced to dismiss him and investigate him, and when he saw that Charles I also explained to him in person, he was also greatly moved, and bowed deeply to Charles I directly, and then dragged the chain to the prison.

Cromwell didn't want to say anything, and he didn't mean to hate Charles I, he knew that at present, the fleet of the Ming Empire has been shelled at the city of London, and even a cannon can bombard the palace, and there is also a Ming Empire army has also entered London.

Cromwell did not expect such a day, he knew that the Ming Empire in the East was not a small country, he had heard legends about this ancient empire for as long as he could remember, but he never thought that this empire would one day affect the situation in Europe.

The ambush he encountered by the Ming army on his way back from Birmingham to the city of London a few days ago also made him fully realize the huge gap between his British Empire and this ancient Eastern Empire, not only in terms of combat quality and equipment, but also in terms of command ability.

His subordinates are all low-level British people, and they can be regarded as troops that can withstand the test, otherwise they would not be able to keep the troops undispersed when running throughout the United Kingdom, but compared to the Ming army, it is still much worse, people can run back and forth and capture a city, and the shooting accuracy and fighting skills are also above their own soldiers.

Cromwell did not tell Charles I of his doubts and new understanding of the Ming Empire, because after this war, he found that the Stuart dynasty had seriously hindered the development of the British Empire, resulting in such a big gap between the British Empire and the Ming Dynasty.

However, the stupid King Charles I of the Stuart dynasty still confined his eyes to the struggles of several countries in Europa, and even now only thought about how to compromise to maintain his rule, without mentioning the intention of changing the British Empire.

Cromwell's disappointment with Charles I made him want to replace Charles I, but now he can only be a prisoner, and he can only hide his ambitions in the bottom of his heart.

As Cromwell lamented in his prison that he had sat in the well and wondered how to reform the British Empire.

Here, the negotiations between the Ming Empire and England also officially began.

In later history, many scholars habitually referred to this war as the First Opium War, because the core of the entire war was about the opium trade.

Of course, the reason why it is called the First Opium War shows that the dispute that broke out because of the opium trade was not only this time, but also as fierce as this one.

Westminster Abbey.

The current Big Ben is home to the Elizabeth Tower.

In this large vestibule of Westminster Abbey, it officially became the place of negotiation between the Ming Empire and the English Stuart dynasty.

The traditional European long table is placed horizontally in the center, with a large recess in the center of which flowers and plants are placed, and on either side are candles and glasses.

The representatives of the Ming Dynasty, such as Yang Sichang, Heiwa, Li Dingguo, Wang Guangting, and Sheng Shiwen, sat on the side by the window, and the representatives of England, Prince Edward, Count Naslay, and Baron Sija, sat on the side against the fresco.

"I have no intention of starting this war, my Emperor Ming has even repeatedly emphasized the need to maintain world peace, and has been friends with His Majesty Charles I for a long time, and often praises His Majesty the King of your country for his knowledge of etiquette and reason, and is very happy that the people of England have such a wise monarch, but what I didn't expect is that the king of your country was confused by the traitorous ministers, which led to the destruction of the friendly relations between my Ming Dynasty and your country, and now that the traitors have been imprisoned, my Ming Empire will naturally not interfere in the politics of other countries. But the other country also has to compensate for the losses suffered by our Ming Empire and some expressions of sincerity. ”

In order to fulfill His Majesty's entrustment, Yang Sichang, as a hawk, had no choice but to endure his temperament and really expressed some goodwill to the British representatives.

After the translation was finished, Prince Edward also showed a harmless smile on his face, and he was very impressed by the kindness suddenly expressed by this high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty, who had been arrogant and domineering and still directly killed the king in the palace, so he said very politely:

"What Your Excellency said is very true, there is indeed a misunderstanding between you and me, my king is already not hostile to the other country, but he was bewitched by the hateful man Cromwell, now that the two sides are truce, it is natural to have a good talk, and this reparation matter can also be discussed, but my Stuart dynasty is only a small land, naturally it is not comparable to your country, so please also ask your country to see that the life of our people is still difficult, and ask not to go too far."

Yang Sichang just waved his hand after hearing this: "Don't say this, the difficult life of the people in your country is caused by the traitorous ministers, and now that the traitors have been removed, it will naturally get better, but the sudden ban on smoking in that country has affected the lives of the people of our country a lot, and there are even a few lives paid here, you can't do it without giving an explanation." ”

As he spoke, Yang Sichang asked his staff to take out the draft he had already prepared, and threw it directly to Prince Edward: "This is an opinion drawn up by this official in accordance with the will of His Majesty the Emperor, and after considering it according to the actual situation of your country as appropriate, you can take a look first, there is only one principle of this official, and the terms on this opinion cannot be reduced or increased, but cannot remain unchanged!" ”

When Prince Edward heard this, he was quite annoyed in his heart, and secretly wondered where this was to negotiate, and he came to ask for it directly.

However, now that the situation is stronger than others, he has to endure it, squeeze out a smile, and take a serious look at Yang Sichang's opinion.

This Prince Edward is one of the few people who can know some Chinese, after all, Daming has been trading in the West for more than ten years, and it is not unusual for some Western nobles to begin to know Chinese.

But Prince Edward couldn't help frowning when he saw the first one, and he had the urge to throw this opinion directly on Yang Sichang's face.