Chapter 1143: The fleet of warships arrived at the River Thames

Zheng Chenggong submitted the imperial edict from the Ming Emperor
King Norong IV could not understand
No problem, there's a translator
After the translation, King Norong IV jumped up directly.
Originally, these people destroyed all the Far Eastern colonies of their own country!
Upon Zheng Chenggong's inquiry, Louis XIV realized that these people were here to collect protection fees... no, patent fees.
He was still the first time he had seen someone be so straightforward about their intentions.
Not even taking a small bend?
"Respected sir, I do not have a steam engine here."
"How do you prove it?"
“可完全可以在里斯本的工厂里看看。”
So Zheng Chenggong really sent someone to see, and the fourth Noang Xi really sent someone to show Zheng Chenggong's people around.
After reading it, the conclusion is indeed that there is none.
It was not that Portugal did not want the steam engine, but rather after Spain's defeat, Portugal was also affected. Britain, the Netherlands, and France imposed a technology blockade on these two old maritime empires and did not allow them to have steam engines.
Naung IV explained the reasons again in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Zheng Chenggong only then learned that Europe has also been exceptionally exciting in recent years!
The three countries of England, the Netherlands, and France, wielding the steam engine of the Ming Dynasty, are dominating in Europe?
This is really embarrassing for Daming.
At this time, King Felipe IV of Spain is a person who has nightmares every night. However, he has no choice as there are huge war reparations outside and creditors are getting more ruthless one by one.
However, he soon received some unexpected news: the Ming army sent an envoy.
As for why Zheng Chenggong sent an envoy to Spain, the reason is actually quite simple: he saw the potential of this place.
He did not want to occupy Spain, but to make Spain an important transportation hub connecting the East.
From the map, European countries can take sea transportation, and the shortest route is through the Mediterranean Sea. The outlet of the Mediterranean Sea is the Strait of Gibraltar, where Spain intersects with the Atlantic Ocean.
So, whether it is Barcelona, Valencia, or Malaga, these coastal cities in Spain are all highly valuable commercial points.
The Ming Dynasty stated: "Barcelona, Valencia, and Malaga, these three places each delineate a territory exclusively for the Ming Dynasty, allowing Ming Dynasty merchants to reside, live, and conduct business here."
"This is our territory, you can't just come here and do business as you please," Felipe IV, with two black circles under his eyes, refuted firmly.
"What a joke, I haven't fallen so low to be threatened by an expeditionary force from a country thousands of miles away!"
Moreover, Spain used to be extremely strong in the Far East region, and during the Wanli era, they even considered forming an army of 20,000 soldiers to destroy the Ming Dynasty.
Now, how could they possibly agree to the demands of the Ming envoy?
Mingshi said, "As long as you agree to our terms, we will not hold your past actions against you, and we promise to protect you."
"Protect us?" laughed King Felipe IV, "How will you protect us? Are you going to tell me that you brought warships all the way from the Ming Dynasty?"
Yes.
"Hahaha, Ambassador, you underestimate Europa too much," said King Felipe IV of Spain, disdainfully.
Clearly, he did not agree to the Ming envoy's request and ultimately politely escorted the Ming envoy out.
After returning to Lisbon, the Ming envoy explained the situation to Zheng Chenggong.
"General Zheng, should we send troops against them and force them to submit?"
Zheng Chenggong said, "There is no need, they do not have steam engines, so we don't need to waste time here."
"But those few ports are very important to our future, can we just let it go like this?"
"Don't worry, we'll come back and deal with them after we finish organizing other countries."
On the first day of March, under the leadership of Zheng Chenggong, the Western Expedition fleet crossed the English Channel and entered the Thames River, astonishing the gaze of some European merchant ships.
20 steam-powered battleships, 20 traditional ocean-going battleships.
On the 3rd of March, London was shaken.
A total of 40 battleships appeared on the Thames River, which has never happened before.
Even the illustrious Spanish Armada, which once dominated the seas, did not dare to come so arrogantly to the Thames River.
Who on earth is it?
No one knows who it is.
For a while, the news of this incident was spreading everywhere in the London community.
Panic and the shadow of war are closing in on London.
Overnight, it seems as if there is going to be a massive battle taking place on the Thames Estuary.
All is not as it seems, rumors abound.
Could it be the Dutch?
The Dutch have made quite a lot of money in recent years, and shipbuilding in Amsterdam is exceptionally developed.
The Dutch are getting complacent!
The House of Commons held an emergency meeting, and Cromwell ordered the mobilization of the entire British Navy to arm themselves fully.
In the afternoon of March 4th, the envoy Zhou Quanbin from Zheng Chenggong arrived in London.
He expressed his identity.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, someone reported the news to Cromwell.
The aristocrats in London were shocked to find out that a battleship from the Ming Dynasty had arrived!
Who is the Great Ming Dynasty?
It is their sponsor's daddy!
The sponsor's daddy's battleship came from the distant East to Europa?
And it directly sailed into the River Thames!
This really gave the gentlemen in London a big surprise.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Cromwell led his government officials to receive Zhou Quanbin.
"On behalf of His Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I extend my sincere greetings to all of you."
The crowd immediately said, "It also represents us to offer the utmost sincere respect to His Majesty, the exalted Emperor."
Afterwards, both sides went through a tedious process in terms of diplomatic interests, and Zhou Quanbin attended the state banquet where they received foreign guests.
Zhou Quanbin's mission was almost all dressed in traditional Ming Dynasty silk Hanfu. In the eyes of these British people, it was like clothes that angels wear.
Countless aristocratic gentlemen in London were drooling as they watched.
Especially some high society ladies, it was their first time seeing such ornate silk.
Previous luxury silk also had exports to Europe, but the European concept of designing clothes was a desecration of the silk produced in the Ming Dynasty.
They simply cannot design the elegance that silk should have.
Now seeing the Ming ambassadors, I realize that silk should be worn like this!
Even some noble gentlemen have started to imitate the hairstyles of some people in the ambassadors, putting up their hair with jade hairpins.
At one time, it seems that the upper class of London society had forgotten about the 40 great Ming battleships on the Thames River.
How is cultural confidence achieved?
Let me tell you, the prerequisite for cultural confidence is economic development.
When your economy becomes strong enough, there is no need to deliberately promote culture, as countless people will be attracted to your culture like moths to a flame.
Just like the city of London at this moment, some wealthy young ladies feel that their previous silk clothes were like rags worn by beggars.
And the old gentlemen in the City of London no longer show respect to the Ming Dynasty, it is more like looking up with their necks.
These capitalists, when facing their benefactors, they definitely know how to flatter.
Of course, there are also opponents who believe that there is no need to be too polite to the Ming dynasty.