The result was obvious: instead of succeeding in boarding the smuggling ship, Heseta was instead boarded by the sailors of the cruiser Janway on his Favorita. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoBecause there are more opportunities to meet Spaniards at sea, the Navy now focuses on cultivating the Spanish ability of some officers, although the officers are definitely not fluent in Spanish, and even there are obstacles to normal communication, but with a bilingual dictionary of Chinese, Western and Western, the two sides can almost communicate a little.

Knowing that the other party was an envoy sent by the King of Spain, the captain of the Yangwei also attached great importance to it and directly "escorted" the Favorita to the port of Long Beach. This time, the Spanish frigate was finally allowed to dock at Datang Port, which was also the first time that a foreign warship had docked at Datang Port. However, the docking also had complicated regulations, such as the sails had to be fully stowed, all guns had to be withdrawn within the gun gates, covered with gun jackets, and the muzzles were sealed with filling. All Spanish personnel must stay on board the ship, and if they need to go ashore, they must carry out limited activities under the supervision of Datang personnel.

By the time Alfonso arrived at the port of Long Beach, all the ships of the three fleets that had been crossing the crowd had already diverted to some ports, such as San Francisco and Chucheng (Monterey) in the north and Weihai (San Diego) in the south. In particular, two particularly huge ships, the 100,000-ton giant freighter Changmao, and the Navy's largest ship, the Qilianshan Dock Landing Ship, were transferred to the fjord of San Francisco. There are also some ships that are determined to be unusable and dismantled on the spot, including some wooden sailing ships of the Ming Dynasty and small tonnage small steamers of the Republic of China.

But even so, the port of Long Beach that Alfonso saw could definitely be described as busy, with more than 300 ships of all types, including wooden galleons with square heads, steamships with huge chimneys, fishing boats of 100 tons and tens of tons of large ships. It can be said that the main ocean capacity of the Datang Republic is in the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Before Alfonso came, he had imagined this mysterious country in various ways, but no matter how he thought about it, he felt that the colonial country established by the Orientals could not be as powerful as the rumors. But a glimpse of the port of Long Beach is enough to prove that Datang's maritime strength may be comparable to that of Spain, although the number may not be so much, but those few large ships of tens of thousands of tons can be compared to dozens of Spanish merchant ships.

Herseta walked up to Alfonso, pointed to the ship in a berth not far away, and said, "Your Excellency, that is the devil's warship built by the Tang people. ”

Alfonso looked at it, this ship did not look like a ship at all, beyond the understanding of the shape of the ship in this era, with three hulls, smooth curves, powerful shapes, this ship can barely stand people, all the people are controlled inside, this degree of black technology is amazing.

"Sure enough, just by looking at the appearance, you know that it's a bad existence." Alfonso said.

"Captain Perez has seen his might, and the last time I saw this ship, Captain Perez even turned pale, and he didn't want to stand a yard closer to this ship. ”

Alfonso said: "If such a sharp weapon belonged to the Kingdom of Spain, it would be fine. I don't know if we can get the technology to make such a ship from Tang Guo. ”

Heseta hurriedly shook his head and said, "You have also seen that the Tang people like to use steel to build ships, and how much steel can be used to build ships in the whole of Spain?" And, unlike the Europeans, the Tang people don't like to serve other people, and we have tried to acquire some Tang techniques, but they are very conservative. We don't speak the same language, and it's hard to find the right people to fight for. In addition, I think that this devil's warship, even the Tang people can't make it, and even maybe they didn't make it at all, but it really may be from some gods and demons. ”

Alfonso, a very devout Catholic, said solemnly: "Lieutenant Colonel, your words are blasphemous to God. ”

Heseta also knew the gaffe and bowed his head to admit his mistake.

When he came to the Los Angeles National Council Building, Zheng He, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tang Republic, personally came to the door of the building to greet him. Don't think that this is a high-level treatment, there is no clear foreign ministry in Spain now, so there is no level diplomacy, Alfonso is the king's envoy, which is equivalent to a visiting ambassador. If it is really a warm welcome, Zheng Heda can go to Long Beach Port to pick up the ship, or even come to the gate of the State Council Building to pick it up, instead of at the door of the building.

Alfonso could also feel some heat and cold from this performance, but he also greeted Zheng He with the etiquette of a Spanish nobleman.

"Tired travel, thank you, Your Excellency Alfonso, welcome to the Tang Republic."

"It is my honor to come to Datang, where there is an oriental civilization that is very different from European civilization, prosperous, noble and fascinating." Good words don't need money, just say whatever.

The two sides had a long greeting, and even Zheng He greeted Alfonso's family, asked about the customs of Spain, and said that if Alfonso had any needs in Jiazhou, he would try his best to help Alfonso do it well.

There seemed to be a good atmosphere that everyone was happy with, but when the two sides entered into formal talks the next day, the good feeling created yesterday seemed to disappear in an instant.

Looking at the map drawn by the Tang people, Alfonso's anger rose in his chest, he slapped the table, no longer caring about the image of any nobles, and shouted: "It must not be accepted, it must not be accepted!" Such a territorial claim is simply a lion's mouth, and it is unfounded, the Tang Republic claims the entire California Peninsula, from the west of Louisiana to the north of Mexico, and even the New Mexico region where we have established colonies, these places do not even have the shadow of half of the Tang people, and Spain has been operating in these places for at least a few decades, and the territorial claims of the Tang Republic are groundless at all. ”

Hesetta, who participated in the negotiations, also said: "That's right, the inland areas of the Americas, even if we Spain have not explored them, you Tang people have not explored them, and the regions further north, civilized countries have not yet established their rule in these places, and it is impossible for Spain to recognize the sovereignty of the Tang State over these areas." ”

Zheng He, who had studied a lot and was already an excellent diplomat, coughed lightly and said, "You may have noticed our map, from the scale to the terrain, it is extremely detailed. Of course, this is a lot of work drawn by our explorers in Datang, the outline of the coastline, the living situation of the aborigines, and a series of information that we have in Datang, can we still say that our Datang Republic has not explored? According to the law that whoever discovers and explores belongs to whoever owns it, and this land should naturally be the territory of the Tang Republic. ”

Alfonso immediately retorted: "Please note, Mr. Minister, that Spain has explored the coast of California and further north in the sixteenth century, and if anyone finds out who owns it, then the land under our feet should belong to Spain." ”

However, Alfonso also knew that it would be no one to let the negotiations fall through, and he quickly added: "Of course, the civilized and powerful Tang Republic is a respectable country, and His Majesty King Carlos III has full respect and affection for your country, and hopes to formally establish diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty and develop friendly relations." I believe that the dividing line between the Tang Dynasty and the Spanish colonies should be bounded by the Colorado River, and to the east there are the colonies that our Spain has established, and our rights should be fully guaranteed, and the Tang Dynasty to the west has also established its own country, and Spain will also respect the Tang Dynasty. ”

Zheng He keenly proposed: "Then what about the Jiazhou Peninsula in the south?" And how is the border demarcated in the north? ”

Alfon's sphere of influence is limited, and it should not claim unrestricted areas over which it has no control, and the northwest region of North America should be an open and undeveloped region, at least Datang and Spain can share interests, and I also propose that we unite against the Russians and the British." As for the south, Spain's efforts on the Baja California peninsula should not be erased, I think, by the bounds of San Diego, oh no, the county of Weihai as your country is called. ”

The earth-shattering demarcation map proposed by the cabinet is naturally a sky-high asking price, waiting to sit on the ground and exchange money, everyone knows that it is impossible for Spain to agree to such a territorial claim, so Datang needs to determine the territory within the largest scope. The Tang people, who are very expansive, also know that the territory set now will definitely not be the territory of the next few hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, North America is so big, the world is so big, and the flag of the Tang Republic will definitely be constantly planted in the new land.

Zheng He immediately said: "The Tang Republic can agree to your country's proposal to take the Colorado River as the boundary, and it can also recognize Spain's sovereignty over the Baja California Peninsula, but the southern boundary must not be Weihai County, and I think it should naturally extend to the west with the mouth of the Colorado River." ”

Alfonso frowned: "In this case, Mexico will lose a part of Solana." ”

Zheng He's face was solemn and he said, "We stick to this point, and we will not retreat again." Weihai County cannot be a border city. ”

Alfonso discussed a little with the members of his negotiating team and decided that the negotiations should be suspended for the time being and another round of internal consultations should be held. Zheng He nodded in acquiescence.

Although the negotiations were interrupted, Alfonso knew very well in his heart that Zheng He's southern boundary was very cleverly demarcated, and further south was the established colony of Baja California by Spain, which Spain wanted to keep. That's pretty much the limit of what Spain can accept. However, if the natural extension of the estuary were to be used as a boundary, then the Baja California Peninsula would become an enclave, not connected to the mainland part of Mexico, and of course there was a Gulf of California in the middle, which was not too much of an enclave.