readx; After the Portuguese delegation entered Beijing, Zhu Youzhen personally took them around for a full day. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info And these members of the mission also happened to be like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and were completely shocked by this magnificent Ming Emperor.

In this era, although there were some parts of Europe with strong royal power, most places were still full of feudal lords, and there were no decent large cities. Even London, the largest city in Europe, has a population of only about 300,000, while Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, has only 50,000 people.

The capital originally had a population of more than one million, and now it is expanding the outer city and recruiting a large number of displaced people to work, and the population has exceeded two million. Faced with the endless stream of streets and crowds of people, Joao and Ana were a little stupid, and asked Zhu Youzhen again and again how to govern so many subjects. When Zhu Youzhen smiled and told them that Jingshi was not the largest city in the Ming Dynasty, and that the population of the country was at least 100 million, the Portuguese were even more surprised that they couldn't even speak, and their hearts were full of awe for this mysterious and great oriental country.

As for the majestic inner and outer city walls, the beautiful imperial city, the majestic and magnificent Temple of Heaven, and the splendid Forbidden City... It was even more praised by the Portuguese mission, not to mention letting them build such a building, even if they didn't dare to think about it.

Originally, Zhu Youzhen wanted to take them to see the most representative building of China: the Great Wall, but considering that the distance was too long and the mission had a tight schedule, he had to give up. But just listening to Zhu Youzhen and Qiu Lina's narration, the Portuguese have grown their mouths and are fascinated by it.

Zhu Youzhen asked the Portuguese delegation to visit Beijing, of course, not just out of courtesy. He also wanted João to realize what a great country with a long history and great strength the Ming Dynasty was, and that you had to be in awe when dealing with such a country, and you must not use the same methods as other colonies to deal with it.

In the evening of the same day, Zhu Youzhen and Empress Rui'er held a banquet in the Qianqing Palace of the Forbidden City and warmly entertained the Portuguese delegation. However, this banquet is also in line with Zhu Youzhen's consistent style, sumptuous but not extravagant, no matter if you are full and well-fed, you will never waste it for the sake of doing any tricks. Many of the ministers who accompanied the attendance couldn't help but shake their heads, thinking to themselves how extensive and profound my Chinese food civilization is, and how the royal feast should be extremely luxurious.

Joao said in awe to Zhu Youzhen: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I have attended many royal banquets in Europe, and I have also come into contact with some businessmen of your country in Macao. Compared with them, I have to say that today's banquet is a little simpler. But it also makes me respect His Majesty the Emperor even more, and as the ruler of the Empire, are you not more entitled to enjoy the delicacies of the Empire than those merchants? But you didn't do that, which shows that His Majesty the Emperor doesn't care about these things, but focuses on governing the country. ”

Zhu Youzhen deliberately asked Qiu Lina to translate Joao's words aloud, and then laughed loudly: "His Royal Highness the King can have the same opinion as me, I feel that I have found a soulmate." The Ming Empire was very big and rich, but now it is also facing a lot of difficulties, and frankly, there are still many poor people. We have a famous saying in China: the worries of the world are worried, and the joy of the world is happy. I would like to be such a person. ”

As soon as the words fell, all the Chinese officials left their seats and bowed to Zhu Youzhen, shouting: "Long live my emperor, long live!" The Portuguese were taken aback and did not know what had happened.

When Tyulena laboriously translated the sentence, João did not speak, but fell into deep thought. Instead, Princess Anna raised her glass to Zhu Youjian with reverence, said a string of Portuguese, and then drank it all.

Qiu Lina was busy translating for Zhu Youzhen: "The princess said that she has seen many monarchs in Europe, and there is no one as young as you who is not greedy for pleasure. She thinks you are a true hero and deserves her toast to you. ”

When the Chinese minister next to him heard this, he suddenly felt a little harsh, thinking that although the word "hero" was a compliment this time, it was not very respectful when used on the emperor. Besides, who does this state woman think she is, isn't the emperor worthy of letting her toast if he doesn't say this!

Zhu Youzhen knew that because of cultural differences, in this era, the status of European women in society was generally higher than that of Chinese women, especially aristocratic women like Xiang Anna. And European aristocratic men are also more particular about "chivalry" and have more respect for women. Therefore, the women of European royal families are generally very reserved, and to be able to say this to themselves on such an occasion is to express great appreciation.

So Zhu Youzhen also raised his glass and smiled slightly: "Princess Anna is too famous." A true hero is someone who can sacrifice himself for a noble ideal. Compared to them, I am not very qualified. ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Youzhen suddenly remembered Li Chongyao and Li Zhenyan, whose souls had passed away, and couldn't help but feel a sharp pain in his heart, and his eyes were slightly red. In order to hide the change in mood, Zhu Youzhen took a drink from the wine glass and exhaled heavily.

A woman's senses are the keenest. Rui'er and Qiu Lina knew why Zhu Youzhen was sad, so they quickly diverted the topic; And Anna fell her concerned gaze on Zhu Youzhen's slightly pale face for a moment, and also turned to Qiu Lina and smiled: "Miss Qiu Lina, judging from your appearance, you are Russian, right?" ”

Qiulina was overjoyed and said, "The princess guessed right! ”

"Why did you come all the way to China to serve His Majesty the Emperor?" Anna asked curiously.

A dark cloud suddenly flashed on Qiu Lina's face, and she barely squeezed out a smile and said, "It's all trivial things, I don't want to delay everyone's time because of personal matters at such an important banquet." ”

Zhu Youzhen has actually been very curious about why Qiu Lina came to the Far East before she was taken captive by the Mongols. He had asked twice before, but each time Tyulena flickered. Zhu Youzhen knew that there must be a bitter past that she didn't want to tell others, since Qiu Lina chose to bury it in her heart, why did she bother to expose her scars.

Anna also saw this, and returned a warm smile to Qiulina: "Do you want to know some news about your hometown?" ”

"Of course!" Tyulina suddenly became very anxious, "Is there something big happening in Russia?" ”

"Russia has just finished a protracted war with Poland and Sweden." "As a concession, Russia agreed that Smolensk would belong to Poland and the Baltic lands would belong to Sweden," Anna laughed. Peace has finally come. ”

When Qiulina heard this, her face changed drastically, and she muttered, "No, this is not peace. It's a shame! ”