Wallace stood respectfully in front of the Marquis of the Ming Dynasty, and this was the third summoning of the Marquis of the Ming Dynasty. After becoming the director of the Naval Academy and the chief soldier of the fleet, he realized that his previous ideas seemed to be a little naïve, the real command of the fleet was held by a civilian official in the name of supervising the army, and the power of material dispatch was also in the hands of the military attache of the Three Guards. In this way, all he has in his hands is the right to train the Naval Officer Academy.

But even the training was often interfered with by the civilian overseer, for example, when he planned to conduct a short voyage of more than 10 miles on the river with a relatively intact draft 100-ton warship, which was stopped by the overseer on the grounds of safety. After all, the Overseers had veto power over any military action, and since Wallace had joined the ancient Eastern Empire as the commander-in-chief, he had to abide by its rules.

This also made this ruined aristocrat from Scotland feel a little disgusted and friendly with the ancient Eastern Empire, and if each of their armies had a guard who was as nasty as a fly and buzzed in his ears all day long, it would be a real dance in shackles to the generals of the Eastern Empire.

"If the Empire's overseers know how to do military affairs, it's fine, if the Empire's overseers are fools who don't know anything about military affairs, then his existence is a threat to thousands, even tens of thousands, of officers and soldiers in an army! Your Excellency the Marquis, I would like you to cancel this incomprehensible and unreasonable prison army! ”

Wallace adheres to the temperament of Westerners, and if there is a dissatisfaction and a suggestion, he must raise it in person in a timely manner, otherwise he is incompetent, and does not consider some problems involving himself outside of the matter itself. In the eyes of the Orientals, they seem to have no city government, and even extremely naïve, can these simple truths be so obvious that the officials at all levels in charge cannot see them? Definitely, none! They could be seen by all, but what the Emperor needed more than victory was the loyalty of the army.

Li Xin did not hide from Wallace and was open and honest, telling the rationality of setting up a prison army in the Eastern army one by one. However, it was good that Li Xin did not explain, and it made Wallace feel even more strange after explaining for a long time.

"Oh! O my God! If the Emperor of the East did not trust their generals, why would he be in command of the Empire's armies? ”

"No, no, no! Your Excellency's understanding is to generalize, this is the system of the empire, and it has nothing to do with whether the emperor trusts this general, even if I myself have won the trust of the emperor, there are also supervisors around me, and he is like a fly, buzzing around all day long, sometimes I really want to slap him to death! ”

Speaking of this, Li Xin danced his hands with an exaggerated expression. Communicating with the Scotsman, he did not have a psychological burden, but said a lot of things in his heart that he could not say to his colleagues and subordinates in a joking way. Wallace just thinks differently from the Orientals, which doesn't mean that his IQ is worrying. Li Xin's words seemed to be faintly interesting about his dissatisfaction with the emperor's trust, which he had accurately felt in his own words.

"Oh! O my God! I understand that the emperor of the Eastern Empire treats his vassals like thieves and robbers, and must always be on guard against them stealing his own bread bowl and women! ”

Lee Sin gave a thumbs up and praised Wallace's metaphor. The two of them spoke in English, so he wasn't worried about the words getting out.

The difference between Westerners and Orientals is that in their lands, the clerical power is sacrosanct, while the secular power of the monarch is much weaker, and all their secular power needs to be explained by God Almighty, otherwise it is nothing. Therefore, including Wallace, they are not born with that kind of reverence for the monarchy, and they can even ridicule and ridicule unscrupulously when talking about the monarch, without any psychological pressure.

Similarly, in the era when Li Xin came from, the monarchy had long been thrown into the dustbin of history, although he may have covered it up a little on the surface, but in his bones there was no half-heartfelt awe of the monarchy. It is precisely because of this that he and Wallace can talk so much and speak freely.

If Wallace's confiding object is a native of the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that his life is now in danger.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, since you agree with me, why can't you limit the power of the overseers? A sailor will never qualify if he is not trained to sail! ”

Li Xin restrained his smile, shook his head and said, "It seems that Your Excellency still doesn't understand what I mean." There is a saying in China that you follow the customs of the locals, I wonder if you have ever heard of it? ”

Wallace nodded understandingly.

"So, since Your Excellency has joined my Ming navy, you must abide by the Ming system. In other words, you have to learn to dance in shackles! ”

Wallace still argued, "Is it true that His Excellency the Marquis is also dancing in shackles?" If this system varies from person to person, I think it is unreasonable and unfair! ”

Listening to Wallace's argument, Li Xin showed a meaningful smile.

"Why don't I dance in shackles? You have only one set of shackles on you, one set on me, and you don't know when you have another set on you! Compared to me, Your Excellency is already very happy! ”

In the end, Li Xin's mouth was filled with bitter taste.

Wallace may be an upright and responsible nobleman, but the Western sailors under his command are all pirates and robbers, and they do everything, and if they are not restricted, who knows if they will bite back at a critical moment! Therefore, in essence, he has almost the same thoughts about Wallace and the emperor as he has about himself, that is, to use it and to guard against it. At the end of the day, there is still no reliable system and no available talent. Comparatively speaking, the latter is an imminent matter, the court is full of people who talk on paper, and there are only a handful of people who can really go into battle to kill the enemy.

Correspondingly, the situation in the navy is also average, and it is not just a lack of talent, almost nothing, if Wallace is not used, there will be no one. This is really ironic, Li Xin clearly knows the truth that you should not do to others what you do not want to be done, but it is still difficult to escape this strange circle at a critical moment.

So, Li Xin decided not to dwell on this topic repeatedly, he recruited Wallace to talk this time, and there were other things he wanted to know.

"I wonder if you've ever been to the Americas?"

"Your Excellency the Marquis is talking about New England? I had been there once, and it was full of barren land, and the whites who lived there, many of them wanted thieves and robbers, and bankrupt speculative merchants. ”

In Wallace's mouth, the pioneers of the thirteen North American states, whom later Americans were proud of, were portrayed as a group of losers and dregs of mainstream society. Li Xin couldn't help but wonder when he heard this, this may represent a mainstream idea in Western society at that time, but he was not concerned about the thirteen states of North America on the east coast, but San Francisco on the west coast, yes, San Francisco.

But when Wallace heard the name San Francisco, he was at a loss, not knowing what Li Xin was talking about.

Li Xin didn't know much about the history of Americans, and maybe there was no name San Francisco at that time, so it was normal that Wallace hadn't heard of it. So, he said California, San Francisco and other names, and Wallace suddenly realized.

"Your Excellency the Marquis is talking about Spanish and Mexican territory?"

"Mexico?" Li Xin was a little confused by Wallace's words, and now when he talks about the United States, why is it that he is involved in Mexico. However, Mexico is also a proper topic, because Mexico is also rich in silver, which was extremely much needed in the Ming Dynasty.

It took a lot of time for the two of them to finally understand each other's meaning.

It turned out that at this time there was no so-called British Empire, and Scotland and England were still two different countries, and they had a special name in form, called the Confederation. At this time, England only had thirteen colonies in the Americas. As for the southern part of the United States and most of the West Coast, it was still the territory of Mexico, a Spanish colony.

In fact, Li Xin originally hoped that San Francisco would be the unclaimed territory in this era, so as to avoid conflicts with Spain, a maritime power.

"Gold? Is His Excellency the Marquis saying that there were gold mines in California, in the Spanish colony of Mexico? ”

Li Xin nodded, Wallace didn't ask him how he knew, and he didn't want to explain more.

"Yes! But it's still unknown! ”

Wallace's eyes lit up, and he gradually became a little more energetic.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, we should take this piece of land in California from the hands of the Spaniards, and then develop the gold mines there, so that we will be rich!"

The attraction of gold to Westerners is incomparable, and this precious metal is almost the driving force behind their adventures and commercial activities. Still, Li Xin was stunned by Wallace's audacity. Although he did not know much about American history, he still had some knowledge of European history after the Renaissance.

Although Spain's Armada was defeated by England in the 16th century, his territory was still spread across the continent, and most of the provinces of Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, and so on belonged to Spain. At this time, Spain was still the first power on the European continent. Not only that, but his colonies spread throughout the Americas and Asia, and the Spanish navy controlled almost all of the sea lanes, and remained a first-class power.

Wallace listened to Li Xin's concerns again, and mocked Spain disapprovingly.

"I wonder if Your Excellency the Marquis has ever seen a statue carved out of sand on the beach? Although it looks majestic and tall, it only takes a night of sea breeze to make him collapse and disappear! ”