On November 4, Alfonso officially summoned a Japanese delegation headed by Iwakura Gushi in the Royal Palace of Madrid.

For this expedition, Japan invested 2% of its annual income and sent about half of its senior officials, a force rarely seen in the world.

However, the Meiji government was really poor, and the people in the delegation were all heads of the Japanese family, and they all knew the situation in the country.

Even if all the consumption is reimbursed, they still deduct and search when they give gifts.

In total, a golden fan, a Japanese katana, three strings of crystal bracelets, two Chinese ponies, and a Japanese chef were delivered.

…… In fact, it is not cheap to say that it is cheap, after all, there is not much exchange of interests between the two countries, and it is not a tributary relationship.

Two countries with equal status, it is okay to give so many greeting gifts.

Those two ponies can be given to the younger sister to ride, and the Japanese chef can help cook the noodles.

Seeing that Alfonso was more satisfied with these gifts, Iwakura Gushi was also relieved.

They were only going to send a knife and a cook.

It was Edward's association with Alfonso that led them to mistakenly believe that Britain had a good relationship with Spain, so they added some gifts temporarily.

It is true that Japan has given a lot of money, but they plan to spend a year abroad, and they may not be able to sustain it if they spend a lot of money.

"Mr. Iwakura, have you gained anything from being in Spain for three days?" Alfonso talked about the purpose of the delegation's visit, and there was a lot of expectation in his words.

If you want to steal meat from other countries, you have to show something that is different and attractive enough to the Japanese.

The Iwakura delegation was such a pair of Japanese eyes, and their attitudes and ideas determined Japan's policy in the years to come, and even decades later.

As long as Iwakura can be solved, half of the problem of Spanish currency reform will be solved.

"Good." Speaking of this Iwakura Gushi, he is a little excited, he is a legend in the country, he has turned the curtain upside down, seized power, and no one disrespects him.

But when he arrived in Europe, he was just a countryman who had never been abroad.

"I saw a fast-growing industrial country where peasants kept coming to the city without causing any riots."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and sighed: "The most rare thing is that the society is very stable, everyone is subservient to the royal power, it is not easy for you to do this at such a young age!" ”

"Really?" Alfonso knowingly asked, "Is Japanese politics more chaotic?" I thought that a country that had just finished a civil war would have a strong government. ”

"It's not chaotic, but it's not harmonious either."

Iwakura Gushi said honestly:

"If you defeat the enemy alone, there will naturally be people like you.

However, the shogunate was so powerful that the Shogunate faction could only unite against the enemy.

Even between allies, everything is not of the same mind. ”

"To tell you the truth, the current political situation in Japan is controlled by various forces such as the Satsuma Domain, the Nagasu Domain, the Tosa Domain, the Hizen Domain, and the public (aristocracy).

As many people in Europe know, it's not a secret. ”

Alfonso nodded, and Iwakura Gokushi confessed to him that he just wanted to communicate politics with him.

This was one of the main objectives of the mission: to determine the future political system of Japan.

Historically, they have inspected Britain and France, and the British constitutional monarchy is very good, but unfortunately they feel that the gap in the quality of the people is too big and it is not suitable for Japan.

The republic in France is good, but the changes of government in France are more frequent than the change of socks, and even less convincing.

Bismarck's rise to power coincided with his return to power by the Iwakura delegation, prompting Japan to make great strides toward mushroomism and having a profound impact on the future of the entire world.

Alfonso, however, has no interest in Japan's future, and he does not think his words will have any effect.

After all, it is up to the Japanese to see how to choose.

After thinking about it, Alfonso said, "One of your feudal clans is equivalent to a political party... A party linked by descent and geography!

This is a fairly advanced democratic system, so Mr. Iwakura, don't worry too much. ”

“？”

Iwakura was stunned, he opened his mouth, and couldn't say a word.

I never imagined that feudal politics could be interpreted as a multi-party democracy.

Although he didn't agree with it, he also saw that Alfonso didn't want to say more about this matter, so he didn't dwell on the topic at the moment.

In fact, his main purpose in saying these words was not to discuss the state system with Alfonso, but to arouse sympathy with similar experiences.

The likes and dislikes of the monarch can affect national politics very much, since the other party does not take the bait, then forget it.

Just when he was about to continue to talk to the other party to see if he could get some benefits, Alfonso didn't intend to talk nonsense with him, but asked straight to the point:

"How do you feel about Spain's strength?"

"Hmm..."As soon as Iwakura Gushi heard this, he knew that the other party wanted to talk about business, and after thinking about it carefully, he decided to tell the truth:

"Naturally, it is a big country in the world, and its overall strength is far behind Japan, but it is still slightly behind Britain and the United States."

"Huh." Alfonso chuckled: "It's not a slight gap, it's a long difference."

Mr. Iwakura, you don't know much about the roar of steam engines in Madrid – I must tell you that the length of railways in England is more than 10 times that of ours.

Not only that, but the level of education and military strength are far superior to ours.

And the United States is second only to Britain in economic power, and their cotton and wheat feed half of Europe. ”

Iwakura was stunned, he had only heard someone brag about his country in the past, but he had never heard this kind of bad talk about himself.

Especially when Alfonso was a teenage boy, he was a monarch at a time when his vanity was strong.

It's really rare to be able to objectively recognize your own strength!

Without much time for Iwakura to think, Alfonso continued:

"It's true that Spain's current strength is quite lagging behind, that's an objective fact.

But we're growing fast, and you should be aware of that.

The defeat of Italy by outnumbering is a case in point.

And, IMHO...... Britain, the United States, and Russia are not good for Japan, right? ”

Hearing this, Iwakura's expression remained unchanged, but there was a sting in his heart, during the shogunate period, Britain and the United States and other countries forced Japan to sign many unequal treaties.

These include the opening of treaty ports, the demarcation of concessions, the negotiation of tariffs, extrajudicial jurisdiction, and unilateral most-favored-nation treatment......

In short, what Obikiyo enjoys, Japan can basically enjoy, at most the degree is different.

These unequal treaties are regarded as a great shame by every Japanese person, and Iwakura is no exception, although he is a careerist.

"So, you want to say ......?"

Alfonso nodded: "We Spain are truly friendly countries, and we are willing to treat Japan as equals and be the guide of Japan on the way forward...... Or partner, what do you think? ”