"Those are the warships of the fabled Great Empire? How is it so small. After hearing the report from his subordinates, Macartney, who had already discovered the warship team of the Great Qing Kingdom, walked up to the bow of the ship, and the glass lens that was originally on the eye almost fell to pieces on the deck because of surprise.

Because, the distance between the warships of the two sides was already very close, so close that if he didn't go to the side of the ship and didn't stretch his neck, it would be impossible for him to see the Great Qing warship that had sailed over and was parallel to the Lion.

Looking at the flat-bottomed brig with less than ten guns on one side, and then looking at the giant ship on his body, Macartney couldn't help but subconsciously think of a Lilliputian story. Although his heart was full of awe and admiration for this distant and ancient country, the battleship in front of him almost made him think that it was an armed merchant ship, and even a little inferior.

"Yes, Your Excellency Ambassador, this kind of 'warship' is the main warship of those naval divisions of the Great Qing Kingdom, although it is very flexible and light, which is convenient for catching thieves. However, there is a lack of battleships like the Lion of our British Empire that can make the final decision in naval battles. "Behind Macartney was a younger, lighter man with two curly beards, George the British East India Company. Baron Staunton looked at the Qing warship, and his tone was full of disdain and contempt.

"Don't forget, dear Thomas, that this time we are going to this ancient country on behalf of the British Empire, on behalf of friendship and peace, and I hope that you and the rest of the legation will be careful in your words and actions." Macartney raised his eyebrows a little displeased and said.

"My lord, I lost my words, but it is still undeniable that this ancient and vast empire really does not have a decent navy, and their soldiers are no better. Moreover, the vast majority of the officials of this empire are so greedy and selfish, and for the sake of a little bribe, they can even sell their own interests, and I am sure that you, Mr. Ambassador, must have learned a lot from the mouths of the merchants who stayed in the ports of the East India Company. ”

After Staunton respectfully apologized to Macartney, he still insisted on his opinion, but Macartney also agreed with this, although he had only seen the Qing fleet in front of him so far, but since arriving in India, under the ears and eyes of Staunton and the gentlemen of the East India Company, he had a general idea of how bad the country's coastal defense was.

"You may not know that the empire was occupied by a group of Manchus from the north, and the dynasty used to have a powerful sailor and a very developed shipbuilding industry. However, their Emperor Majesty ordered the sea to be forbidden because of piracy, and their sailors and shipbuilding industry gradually declined, and now I do not even see a warship that can compete with the Lion of our East India Company. "As a long-time East India Company senior in Asia, Thomas. Staunt looked east to Macartney, a well-respected diplomat in England who flaunted his knowledge of the Orient.

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"Yes, it did surprise me, such a large empire, such a long coastline, and only these small boats that are not even comparable to our destroyers to guard it, it is really ......" Macartney shook his head and laughed.

At this time, the generals on the warships of the Qing Kingdom finally began to report their names and official positions. After hearing the stammering English of the Qing soldiers below report the name of Liang Pengfei, the chief soldier of Humen Town, the Guangdong Navy Division, Staunton, who was talking in front of Macartney, stared at him in disbelief and poked his head out of the side of the ship to look down.

I just happened to see a young and bright oriental face, showing that impressive smile, waving to this side.

"My God! It's him, this Eastern devil ......" Staunton swallowed his saliva subconsciously, and from his expression, it could be seen that he was shocked, or rather, for the young general in front of him, his gray eyes flashed with hatred and fear.

"Who do you say is the devil? Mr. Staunton. Macartney next to him looked curiously at the Oriental man with an extremely friendly expression and a sincere and amiable smile, and asked Staunton, whose face had suddenly turned a little blue.

"I'll report this to you later, Mr. Ambassador, this young man, it's better not to offend him." Staunton cleared his throat, squeezed out a smile, took off his hat and waved hello to the Qing warship below, and then ordered the sailors to lower the rope ladder and pick up Liang Pengfei to the ship.

Hearing Staunton's words, Macartney, who was full of curiosity, had to hold a stomach full of questions, and showed a sincere smile, looking at the Qingguo general who jumped on the deck of the Lion. "Her Majesty's special envoy of the British Empire, Macartney, greets you, I really didn't expect that it was such a young and handsome general who came to greet us."

Beside him, there stood a Chinese priest who had just been notified and ran out of the cabin, and behind him was a young British child, whose bright green eyes looked curiously at Liang Pengfei, who was wearing a strange robe and coat.

The Chinese priest, who had hurried to the deck, had just caught his breath and had not had time to speak to translate, but he heard a fluent and very proficient mother tongue coming from the mouth of the young general of the Qing Kingdom.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Macartney, and of course this one, presumably it should be the head of the East India Company, and also the deputy envoy of this mission, Mr. Staunton, the two of you can come to the East thousands of miles away, as landlords, we Orientals have an old saying, called friends come from afar, and it is not pleasant. It just represents my mood at the moment. ”

Macartney's eyes widened, for the employees of Staunton and the East India Company had spoken to him about the Qing officials, a country where almost no one could understand or use Western languages, whether it was Latin, which was first popular in the world, or French, which was the official language of Europe, or English, which became popular in every corner of the world with the expansion of the British Empire's colonies around the world.

However, just as he was thinking about it in his heart, Liang Pengfei walked up to the two Englishmen with eyes that were as wide as goldfish with big bubbles, and the Chinese-Italian missionary next to him, who also looked incredulous and had a slightly weak legs, and said with his usual reserved smile. "I really can't believe that your warship is so huge, this one should be the Lion, right? It's just that I don't know if this battleship is in your Britain, whether it belongs to the second or third class battleships? ”

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"It is astonishing, oh no, what a surprise that you, Your Excellency, can speak our mother tongue, and I believe that this is a good start to my mission to your country." Macartney subconsciously drew a cross on his chest, the wig looked very elegant under the blowing of the sea breeze, in Liang Pengfei's eyes, this white-faced bearded, wearing a wig looks like an old lady, but he looks so stupid.

"Hello, Your Excellency General, I didn't expect you to be so clear about the news of our envoys, you are right, this battleship is in our British Empire, it belongs to the third class battleship, our British Empire battleships have a total of four classes, and the first class battleship has three gun decks, more than 100 guns, and the crew is more than 875 people." Staunton, the head of the East India Company and the deputy envoy of the mission, had pride and pride on his face. "Our East India Company, in India, has a second-class battleship, and two such third-class battleships, with these powerful warships, no pirate dares to provoke us, it can be said that the navy of the British Empire is the most powerful in the world."

Hearing Staunton's words, the smile on Liang Pengfei's face remained unchanged at all: "Mr. Staunton, please remember, the British Empire, this is your English self-proclaimed, but I hope that when you face other Chinese officials, it is best not to talk like this, I believe that they do not have the belly and self-cultivation like me." Perhaps, your mission will fail because of your negligence in details. ”

"And there is one more fact I need to remind you, dear Mr. Staunton, that just over a hundred years ago your English ships were neither as tall nor as numerous as the Spanish Armada nor as numerous as the other side, but you won the battle, so I admit that your navy is strong, but not invincible."

Liang Pengfei clasped his hands and said slowly, his tone was not stern, and his eyes were not aggressive, but Staunton still heard his heart skip a beat, although he wanted to refute this, but when he thought of the hundreds of bloody heads of British smugglers and their subordinates, as well as the heads of many pirate leaders who crisscrossed the South Seas and the Malay Peninsula and made the East India Company fearful, all of them were actually salted in a wooden box with lime by the kind and kind young man in front of him.

The pickled and deformed heads, Staunton had seen it under the Guangzhou City Gate, as soon as he thought of those, Staunton felt that his head seemed to be filled with lead, and his heart hung down weakly, as if he wanted to avoid Liang Pengfei's gaze to feel more comfortable, and the smile on his face was far-fetched and revealed a deep vigilance and awe.

(To be continued)