"Howard, I heard that you have a new fleet from Europe, so I guess you should go to Bombay at this time, right?"

Yang Feng stood on the deck of the splendid painting boat, and said with his hands behind his back to enjoy the scenery on both sides of the strait. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

At this time, the lights are on, and on the asphalt road on the bank of the Qinhuai River, which is illuminated by a gas street lamp, four-wheeled carriages of different shapes continue to drive by, and even occasionally the latest steam cars emit black smoke rumbling. Their carriages are all gilded with gold leaf, the horses they pull are all elephant horses, and even they don't use horses, the most popular now is to use black slaves to pull carts, sixteen strictly trained black slaves wear neat uniforms, run with neat steps, drag the carriage with gold leaf inlaid with jewels swaggering, people can't help but feel the flame of geming. On the small docks, brightly lit painting boats are docked, and fashionable women of all colors greet familiar guests on the deck, and even some white women in Western-style bony skirts can be seen from time to time, where they are full of smiles to welcome benefactors.

The river has now been fully restored to its former prosperity.

And even more.

The smoke cage is cold and the moon is long, and the night park Qinhuai is close to the restaurant, and this ten-mile Qinhuai has become the core of the city's night.

In the distance, the same gas street lamps form a strip of light, dividing the city's thousands of lights, and the high-rise Chinese-style cornices stand under the night, but because this is the capital is restricted by law, the tallest building is still forbidden to exceed the highest hall of the palace. Therefore, unlike Suzhou, Ningbo, Hangzhou and other cities, which are more relaxed in this regard, have begun to appear in a forest of high-rise buildings with more than five floors, and there is even a ten-story high-rise building under construction in Changguo, and the city wall that guards this city that never sleeps is also lit by gas lamps, like a band of light around the whole city.

In the sky above the city, there are still more than a dozen lights floating, which are the ******** of Jinyiwei, and the observers above monitor the streets and alleys of the capital with binoculars, and use signal lights to notify the brothers below to rush to the place where they are needed as quickly as possible.

And on the light ribbon-shaped city wall, in the fortress of the city gate, there is also a whole brigade of Ming army infantry, also within the wall of the imperial palace, there is a terrifying dragoon, and on the roads of each block, there are thousands of policemen patrolling the streets at any time, these together guard the city, guarding more than a million people, guarding the emperor of the empire.

This is the capital of the Ming Empire.

Ying Tian.

This is the heart of this empire.

It is also the center of wealth.

It is also the most prosperous city in the world, truly incomparable, compared to which both London and Paris and Rotterdam are full of poverty and filth, like the finest blue and white porcelain and poor pottery.

Howard, who was smiling respectfully behind him, sighed in his heart.

Then he said respectfully: "Your Majesty, it is true that our navy has sent some additional warships to the Far East, mainly to deal with the threat of the Ottoman navy, and you know that our relations with them have always been tense for some historical and religious reasons, and they have still forbidden our merchant ships to enter the Red Sea, in order to prevent them from getting involved in India, so Her Majesty considers it necessary to increase the maritime power in the Far East." ”

"That's right!"

Yang Feng said with great satisfaction: "I still think you want to have some intentions against my Daming!" ”

"Your Majesty, you are really joking, how is this possible."

Howard said with a smile.

"I think so, otherwise I might be sad to see you in the ranks of slaves at a railroad site one day."

Yang Feng said.

"Thank you very much for your grace."

Howard bowed, and then he said, "Your Majesty, do you think that our Majesty's proposal is worth considering?" ”

He came on behalf of Queen Anne to send a personal letter to Yang Feng, who proposed a clear division of their respective spheres of influence in Asia, such as the British buying Colombo from the Ming Dynasty and the Indian colonies that the Netherlands would hand over in the future, and the price was negotiable. In addition, there is the division of the colonial scope of Australia, etc., the British East India Company has explored Western Australia, and found a place that is very suitable for colonization, that is, the banks of the Swan River, that is, the original historical Perth, but on the map of the Ming Empire, there is also the Ming Empire. This time is actually a kind of temptation, testing whether Yang Feng can take a step back under the threat of the British Navy to avoid war, and divide the sphere of influence with the Southeast Asian island chain, the Ming Dynasty will withdraw from the Indian Ocean and the British will not develop to the South Sea, and at the same time, everyone shares the colonial rights of Australia.

Anyway, although the British sent their huge fleet, they really didn't want to fight.

Although they are confident that they can win.

After all, they have an overwhelming advantage in strength.

But it is impossible not to pay a heavy price, eighty battleships, after defeating the Ming army, it is estimated that two-thirds will be left, and it is not impossible to throw half of them on the bottom of the sea, even if only half of them belong to Britain, it will be considered a break for the British Navy. Such a result can only make those who are ambitious and waiting to challenge British maritime supremacy happy, such as Louis XIV, such as the Dutch, such as Charles, who is attacking the city in the north, and the best result is to use the fleet as a threat to force Yang Feng to take a step back, after all, it seems that the Ming army's sea power is much weaker now.

"First of all, although the Ming Dynasty is big, there is not an inch of land that is superfluous."

Yang Feng said lightly.

"Secondly, the land that the Ming soldiers exchanged for their blood will definitely not be traded."

Then he added.

"Third, my country can only increase, not decrease."

Then he added.

"Your Majesty, I think I already understand what you mean."

Howard said with a deep breath.

That's not to talk about.

It was evident that His Majesty the Emperor lacked an understanding of the strength of the Royal Navy, and it was estimated that he would have to rely on the battleships and cannons to make him understand Her Majesty's goodwill, and then Howard retired ashore and boarded a carriage that had been following him, and in fact he left Yingtian the next day and also left China, and sailed directly south to embark on the voyage back to Mumbai, because it was on the same day that George . Admiral Bing's huge fleet also reached Bombay.

"Mah, this is going to scare people to death!"

On the Yongping, the captain of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Zhong, looked at the huge battleships that seemed to be endless one after another sailing into Mumbai, and couldn't help but say in horror.

Behind him, the sailors were desperately busy manipulating their sails, and the large three-masted schooner was staggering almost parallel to the British fleet, and with the help of the sea breeze blowing sideways, the Yongping, which had only half of the cotton on its return, gradually began to accelerate, but at the same time, a cruiser in the British fleet ahead suddenly cut in front of it.

"Throw away the goods!"

Lin Zhong roared without hesitation.

The sailors in the cabin quickly took out bales of cotton and threw them directly into the sea, and at the same time, a nine-pound smoothbore gun on the deck was also pushed out.

Of course, their eight cannons were useless, and the only thing that could really save the Yongping was its speed, as the bales of cotton were thrown into the sea, the weight reduction made the merchant ship gradually increase its speed, and the cruiser in front of it was still cutting quickly diagonally, and waved the flag to ask the Yongping to stop the ship for inspection, Lin Zhong ignored the request conveyed by the flag, and continued to move forward at full speed.

"Shirk clippers."

On the second class battleship Neptune, George. Admiral Bin said as he watched this scene with interest.

As the hero of the British navy's capture of Gibraltar, he was shouldering the ardent hopes of the capitalists, although the colonies in the East belonged to the British East India Company and not to the British government, but for those capitalists, the British government was less important than the East India Company. Even if they were to wage a large-scale war with all their might, they would have to regain control of the trade in the East, and of course Australia's seemingly endless gold, producing more than ten tons of gold a year, enough to turn the most suave gentleman into a beast.

"Admiral, I'm afraid the Striker won't be able to stop it, this thing is too fast."

An officer beside him shouted.

Indeed, the advantages of the schooner were immediately demonstrated in such a situation, and the speed of the Yongping, which was constantly decreasing in weight, was also rising, and it was already evident that the course of the cruiser was destined not to intersect.

"Order the Vanguard to give up the interception!"

Admiral Bean said.

He knew very well that his task was more of a deterrent, and that he could not provoke a war until the negotiations broke down, and there was no need to make any trouble for this trivial matter, at least Britain and the Ming still needed to maintain a superficial friendship until a clear negotiation result was obtained.

The cruiser, which was moving at full speed, began to turn.

The Yongping wiped a cold sweat in the woods, kept the original voyage at full speed, and five days later reached Colombo, and then reported the arrival of the British fleet in Bombay to the Ceylon envoy, who immediately sent a communication ship eastward for four days to Banda Aceh, where a telegram was sent to Zhennan, which had already been preliminarily completed. Three days later, Mo Jiu sent a telegram to the Prime Minister of Hue in Annam, who then sent a communication ship to Yazhou Military Port a day later, and through a cable telegram between the north and the south, Jinyiwei sent this information to His Majesty the Emperor that night.

"What happened half a month ago, now I can know that the speed of this information transmission is still too slow!"

Emperor Yang looked at the telegram and said gloomily. (To be continued.) )