In the seventh year of Chongzhen, April 15, three o'clock in the afternoon.

The large fleet of the ancient Oriental powers visiting Europa for the first time overcame numerous difficulties and obstacles and finally returned to Yingzhou Tamsui Port, the starting point after a 15-month absence.

The decks of the laden fleet that slowly entered the harbor were filled with pale but excited officers and naval officers.

More than 100 European scientists, 600 top craftsmen in various industries, and thousands of European girls who came with the ship had already changed into decent clothes, and in the cheers like a tidal wave, they looked anxiously at the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers and civilians who crowded the dock and were excitedly welcomed.

Amid the noisy drum music, Zhu Daolin, who had changed into the dress of a naval admiral for the first time, his wife Chu Mei, and hundreds of officers and colonels stood on the pier, waiting with a smile for Feng Shengtai, the commander of the visiting regiment on the flagship of the fleet, and Francisco, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, who was responsible for the escort of the visiting fleet. More than a dozen principal officials of Bagas stepped off the deck, and after saluting each other, everyone couldn't help but hurried to greet each other and hug and greet each other, which immediately triggered stronger cheers and cheers.

After the excited salute, Feng Shengtai, whose skin was tanned and his eyes were full of tears, proudly reported: "General, my subordinates have completed official visits to Madrid, Lisbon, London, Paris, ****** and Amsterdam in strict accordance with the established plan, held friendly talks with the monarchs of the above countries, and brought back official diplomatic letters from seven countries and diplomatic envoys from four countries and regions, including Britain, France, Sweden and the Dominion of Lisbon. Lost one 500-ton warship and forty-nine officers and men......"

Zhu Daolin once again held Feng Shengtai's dry and trembling hands: "Compared with the great achievements achieved, the price paid is worth it, and the names and deeds of the officers and soldiers killed will be written in the annals of history together with the supreme glory of your trip!" ”

"All right, Seung-tae, and you, dear General Vargas. Like all the soldiers and civilians of the Ming Empire, I am extremely grateful to you and all the soldiers who visited the country, but now please cheer up and introduce me to the guests who have disembarked in this stream......

"We can't neglect the guests who came from afar, let alone the families of the admirals who moved to Daming to settle in Daming from their hometowns and all the Europa girls."

Feng Shengtai and Bagas immediately smiled, and led more than a dozen military and political officials, including Zhu Daolin and Wang Zhaohuan, to meet with the envoys and representatives of scientists from various countries who were waiting with a smile. Then they walked on the bright red carpet with more than 500 meters of pavement, and walked to the seafarers' club full of festive atmosphere in various flags, flowers and cheers.

The sixteen buildings and eight separate courtyards of the Seamen's Club, which had been vacated ahead of schedule, were quickly filled with Europa people from afar, and the courteous reception was carried out in an orderly manner, and more than 800 luxurious rooms with all kinds of well-appointed rooms surprised the weary guests.

Zhu Daolin and other principal officials took advantage of the gap between the reception banquet after settling the guests to wash up and rest, and listened in detail to the reports of the two generals Feng Shengtai, the head of the delegation, and the deputy head of the delegation, Vargas and Li Changlong.

As the debriefing meeting ended an hour and a half later, the conference room was full of excitement and laughter, and the diplomatic results of the voyage far exceeded expectations. It not only showed the charm and goodwill of the ancient Oriental countries to European countries, but also triggered a wave of oriental civilization that caused a sensation in Europa, and the proceeds from the sale of various goods and the gifts of European royals and prominent nobles added up to millions of Spanish gold coins, and a large number of senior smelters, senior architects, famous scholars and up to tens of thousands of books were brought back to make people happy.

Only Zhu Daolin's face was calm, and he always had a faint smile except for nodding his head in approval.

Finally, the spirited Vargas focused on the movements of the main Dutch fleet: "As early as five months ago, the news that the Dutch had formed an expeditionary fleet and set out for a decisive battle in the East had spread throughout Europe. In order to avoid accidents, his subordinates discussed with Mr. Feng and General Li. The trip to Rome was cancelled, and the trip ended ten days early, preempting the return of the Dutch expeditionary fleet. ”

"According to our calculations, the Dutch expeditionary fleet, consisting of seventy battleships of more than 500 tons and medium-sized fast warships, has arrived in Batavia at this time, and it is estimated that after completing the rest and replenishment, it will go north to fight, and the Dutch army and mercenaries will come with the fleet about 5. 000 people, if they want to, can continue to challenge us after defeating the Fujian Sailors. ”

Li Changlong, who had experienced the voyage, also reminded: "From now on, we must prepare for the worst, although the performance of the Dutch warships is slightly inferior to ours, and the weapons and equipment are not as advanced as ours." But the number is far above our army, so we have to guard against it! ”

Zhu Daolin nodded: "We have never slackened, even if we have reached an understanding with the Dutch side, General Simeno has sent all the Dutch prisoners to Batavia, and now General Simeno and others are still negotiating with the Dutch Governor and the representatives of the East India Company in Batavia, and we have not relaxed our guard against the Dutch." ”

"Secondly, in the past six months, we have added four new 800-ton warships, seven 800-ton armed merchant ships equipped with twelve new guns and four rocket launchers, and after three and a half months of sea trials, we can now hand over three 1,200-ton battleships to the East China Sea Fleet, these 14 warships and the original 12 teacher warships of the East China Sea Fleet, as well as eight 500-ton warships purchased from the Goa shipyard in Portugal."

"Now these warships are concentrated in the Baoshan Military Port and the relatively secluded waters of Chongming Island for training, it can be said that we are not afraid of the challenge of the Dutch at all, and the Dutch are not capable of attacking Yingzhou Island, where our army is stationed with 50,000 soldiers, so we don't need to worry too much."

After hearing this, Bargas and the others finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and under the comfort of Zhu Daolin and several military and political officials, they went back to take a bath and change clothes.

Wang Zhaohuan, Wei Yuying and others also rushed to the various departments to check the preparations for the reception, and only Chu Mei, who had always been silent and listening, was left in the empty conference room.

"Let's get ready, the banquet will start in another hour, and as the hostess, I'm afraid you'll be very tired tonight." Zhu Daolin commanded in a low voice.

Chu Mei stood up and walked to Zhu Daolin's side, took his hand and asked dissatisfiedly, "Why did you buy back thousands of European slave girls?" And most of them are little girls? ”

Zhu Daolin hurriedly explained: "Aren't they all slave girls, haven't you seen that many women are over thirty years old?" There are nearly 100 people who are family members or girlfriends of naturalized instructors such as Bargas, and more than 50 people are teachers of music and art. ”

"The rest of the little girls are all prepared for the marriage of the naval officers, and you also know that there are hundreds of European soldiers in the army who have joined my Ming army, and this number will probably increase over time."

Chu Mei leaned forward and pinched Zhu Daolin: "I saw a lot of blonde and blue-eyed beauties in the middle, haven't you thought about it?" ”

"No, absolutely not! In that case, don't mention it again in the future. Zhu Daolin replied gently.

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PS: Thank you for the big reward from my sister and my brother, and thank you for the encouragement of the monthly pass! (To be continued.) )