At this time, James Gilbert, a British merchant who came to the Ming Kingdom on a merchant ship sent by Li Dan and Yan Siqi to sell goods and buy rice in the South Seas, and then came to Beijing to meet him, was visiting the missionary Julius.

It has been seven or eight days since he came to Beijing, although Yan Siqi sent someone to accompany him and played the emperor. However, the emperor did not respond, and only arranged for James to live in the inn.

There were also two Dutch merchants who lived in the post house with James, who came from the Wa Kingdom and came to meet the Ming Emperor through the recommendation of Li Dan's subordinates who stayed in the Wa State to discuss trade and mutual markets.

Obviously, the Ming Emperor had an explanation for Li and Yan. Otherwise, they would not dare to lead Xiyi merchants to the Daming Jingshi without authorization.

Britain, as a rising star, was suppressed by the old overlord Netherlands and had withdrawn from Japanese trade. There is even a tendency to be driven out of Asia, and this time I want to take a ride on the Dutch's downwind, and I am making a last-ditch effort.

"Our conditions are very simple, we can anchor in the port of Daming, buy commercial goods, repair ships, replenish fresh water and food." James said to Julius: "I don't know what this is going to be, will the emperor of the Ming Kingdom agree?" ”

Ai Ruluo thought for a moment and said, "Although I don't know much about His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom, I heard Jinnige say that His Majesty the Emperor can speak English. This should be a good sign, right? ”

"London sounds?" James' face was overjoyed, and he asked with some doubts, "What's going on?" Could it be that His Majesty the Emperor had already come into contact with the British, and even learned a few words of English? ”

Julius shook his head and said, "Then it's not clear. As for the conditions you listed, I think it should be fine. His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom is still very enlightened, and you can see the clues by translating Western books and opening the sea ban. ”

After a pause, he continued: "There is one more piece of news, which is also important. The Ming Kingdom was suppressing two rebellions, and the need for weapons and technicians was urgent, which was an important reason for the popularity of the Portuguese. ”

James' eyes lit up and he said, "Muskets, artillery, everything the Portuguese can give to the Ming Kingdom, we have it." Craftsmen, technology, and no problem. ”

"Did you come all the way from England?" Julio shook his head and said, "In terms of price, I'm afraid it can't compete with the Portuguese." ”

"By the way, Ming Guo also needs Western-style sea ships." Julius added: "In the same way, you cannot compete with the Portuguese. ”

James thought for a moment and didn't tell Julius the truth.

It is obviously unrealistic and uneconomical to build a ship in Britain and then sail to the Ming Kingdom, but they can grab it!

Robbing the Spaniards, the Portuguese, and even the Dutch, as long as they can establish good relations with the Ming Empire and maintain the channels of trade and exchange, these are not problems.

"Thank you, honorable priest." James had a cross on his chest, looking very reverent.

"Please also tell the officials of the Ming Kingdom and report to His Majesty the Emperor." James concluded: "What the Portuguese can do, we will do better, as a way to show more sincerity." ”

"Moreover, we will not be as greedy as the Portuguese and the Dutch, and the slightest favor from Your Majesty will make us grateful."

…………………

At about the same time, the Dutch merchant Provin was also asking John Tong for advice on how to trade with the Ming Empire.

"The Ming Empire is strong and proud." John Tang didn't have a very good impression of the Dutch, but he still put forward his own advice, "The impression of you Dutch is very bad, call it Hongmaoyi." Because you are accustomed to plundering and occupying land, it is common for you to go ashore and capture people as slaves. ”

Proven argued: "If the Ming Empire had agreed to trade with each other, such a regrettable thing would naturally not have happened. ”

John Tang glanced at Provin with a slight sneer, and said, "The emperor convened a meeting of the missionaries in Beijing before, and talked about the trade and mutual market. ”

Provin's eyes widened in focus.

Tang Ruowang said: "His Majesty the Emperor has explained a number of conditions for the Ming Empire's foreign trade and mutual market, which is very fair, you just follow this rule." ”

Looking at Provin, Tang Ruo looked at it and said emphatically: "His Majesty the Emperor also said that if you want to use force, he will not hesitate to mobilize thousands of ships and 100,000 soldiers to go to war, and cut off your trade routes with the Japanese Kingdom. ”

"The Ming Empire has such strength?" Provin narrowed his eyes and said, "I heard that the Ming Empire is quelling the rebellion. ”

Tang Ruowang smiled with some disdain and said, "That's right, the two counterinsurgency wars are both on the scale of more than 100,000 troops. But so what, the Ming Empire has 10,000,000 people, and millions of people can also be recruited. ”

"The power of the sea, if you add all the maritime merchants of Guiming, it is not difficult to organize a thousand armed merchant ships. The most important thing is that with more than a dozen of your warships and thousands of soldiers, it is simply a fool's dream to conquer the Ming Empire. ”

Provin's eyes drooped and fell into deep thought.

If he had not believed in the vastness and population of the Ming Empire described in his travelogue before, he had changed his impression on the way to Beijing.

He also knew the situation of the Chinese businessmen in the Wa Kingdom well, and knew that what John Tang said was true.

The armed fleet owned by Li Dan and Yan Siqi was originally a competitor that caused headaches for Westerners. The Spaniards, in particular, were even more hated by Li Dan and were robbed.

But due to Li Dan and Yan Siqi's connections in the mainland, even the Dutch had to rely on them to provide Ming goods.

Now, the lure of direct trade is in front of us. The use of force is short-sighted and carries a high risk of being cut off from maritime trade with the Japanese state.

"More than a dozen ships, thousands of soldiers, this is what the emperor of the Ming Kingdom said?" Provan suddenly sensed the problem and asked with a frown.

Tang Ruowang nodded and said, "His Majesty the Emperor's knowledge of the world is shocking, and he is also quite familiar with the situation of you Dutch. By the way, with the help of the Portuguese, the army of the Ming Empire was already armed with a considerable number of advanced muskets, and the sailors also had a lot of cannons. ”

Provin snorted a little depressedly, "Damn the Portuguese. ”

"Maybe there will be damn Britons in the future." Tang Ruowang shrugged his shoulders and said, "Curses and red-eyed eyes are useless, I think you should honestly accept the conditions of the Ming Empire and do business well!" ”

Provin blinked his eyes, put on a smiling face, and said, "That's natural, we came to meet His Majesty the Emperor just for the purpose of trade and mutual markets. There is no doubt about sincerity, and I ask the priest to speak well for us. Bad rumors about our Dutch, certainly slander and slander by the Portuguese, who want to monopolize trade. ”

Tang Ruowang looked at Prowen's changing face, rolled his eyes helplessly, and said, "Regarding the trade market, the Ming Empire will send someone to negotiate. If you want to succeed, show the sincerity you say! ”

Provin had a plan and took his leave.

Tang Ruowang looked at Prowen's distant back and shook his head, no longer bothered with this greedy and unrighteous hypocritical businessman, took out the letter sent by Xu Guangqi, and read it carefully.

John Tang did not agree with His Majesty's instructions to compile an almanac according to the heliocentric theory, but if he wanted to change His Majesty's intentions, he had to have definite evidence.

It's a bit hard! John Tong stood up and prepared to find a few more astronomy books to study.

…………………………… Divider.................................

Because the war in the West has lasted throughout modern times, especially around sea routes and the competition for overseas colonies, the speed of change in naval warfare technology is far greater than that of Asia.

Although the tactics of the battle line had already appeared, it was not until the Anglo-Dutch naval battle, that is, more than thirty years later, that it was presented to the world in a mature manner.

Making the most of the gunboat's flank-chord firepower and attacking in battleship columns as much as possible will give you more ferocious firepower.

Of course, how to implement it on the battlefield is not Zhu Youxiao's business.

He only put forward ideas and suggestions, which were then refined and improved by the officials below, and then trained to achieve proficiency.

Now, the person who received this task, or accepted the emperor's suggestion, was Shen Yourong, the commander-in-chief of the East China Sea Division.

At present, the East China Sea Division has 20 Chinese-style sailing ships (junk boats), all of which are the largest models with a length of 20 meters and a width of 10 meters, which can carry six guns;

There are six old lock boats, 40 meters long and 8 meters wide, which can be loaded with 20 guns;

In addition, there are more than 20 large and medium-sized rushing ships, more than 60 black ships, Cangshan ships, and sentinel ships, and as many as 3 or 400 fire ships.

Some of these ships were bought, some were transferred from Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong sailors, and some were donated by Ming maritime merchants; 3,000 officers and soldiers were transferred from the coastal provinces to supplement the East China Sea Division.

Such a frenzied formation and expansion of the East China Sea Division, as well as the deployment of additional artillery and intensive training of the naval divisions of Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, made Shen Yourong and others extremely surprised, and they didn't know how the emperor was going to fight a big battle.

Of course, they didn't know that Zhu Youxiao had to be prepared for a military attack by the Dutch. Historically, it was this year that the Dutch occupied Penghu again, and after being repulsed, they went to Dongfan.

Don't be afraid of 10,000, just in case.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to use the trade market to temporarily stabilize the Dutch and win time for the growth of the Ming army's naval division.

But who knows if it will succeed, the Dutch seem to have ambitions not only to trade, but also to monopolize trade with China, and even to occupy an area and garrison troops and ships.

And this is something that Zhu Youxiao can't agree to no matter what. Then the only thing left is to go to war and speak with your fists.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao is not only gathering forces to strengthen the East China Sea Division as soon as possible. He also ordered the governor of Fujian, Nanjuyi, to increase his troops in Dongfan and Penghu, and to send orders to the naval divisions to strengthen combat preparedness and be vigilant against the comeback of Hongmaoyi.

Shen Yourong had dealt with the Dutch, had seen their huge ships and cannons, and knew that with the current strength of the East China Sea Division, it was not enough to resist the Hongmaoyi.

And the battle line proposed by the emperor was also a little too anxious when the East China Sea Division was only equipped with more than fifty Hongyi cannons.