Drake stood a little cramped in the middle of the side hall of the Oriental Military Palace, and the younger Bacon stood behind him with his head bowed, his hands clutching tightly on his chest, the necklace of the cross, the only thing left on them.

Drake's reputation in England and his revenge against Spain were rewarding, but the long voyages across the ocean and the non-stop trek left them with horrific personal hygiene.

Therefore, although Chen Mu was very curious about the letter from the Queen of England, he could only arrange the meeting for the next day.

The task of cleaning them up is unusually daunting.

The military servants first bathed them, pinched their noses and threw away their dirty clothes and shabby leather boots with mud stains, grate them off their hair, and then took them a second bath, changed into loose clothes made of coarse cotton, and took two pairs of brown linen shoes, and in the process used incense to secretly smell them.

After eliminating germs, fleas and some fox odors, they arranged for them to meet with Chen Mu.

Even so, in fact, the taste was still a little spicy to Chen Mu's eyes, but it was not so difficult to accept, not to mention that after seeing Mation, this matter was not so difficult to understand.

After all, not everyone can afford Arabic perfume anytime and anywhere, like the judge and mine owner in Potosí.

"Don't hold on to your necklace, neither holy water, nor garlic, nor silver, nor a cross can destroy me."

Chen Mu, who sat on the top, chuckled and raised his left hand and waved it in front of him, telling a joke that he thought was humorous, but in response to him was the frightened eyes of young Bacon.

'Oh my God, this Ming Empire general actually compares himself to a vampire! ’

Seriously, it was more difficult to see Chen Mu than to see King Henry, and it was too scary for Bacon to say such things when they met.

The so-called 'theology is the end of science' is just a foolish nonsense, people like Drake who have no chance of formal education are not counted, and there are very few people in Europe who have the opportunity to go to school who are exposed to theology at the beginning, and although theology is not much related to other disciplines, they all have to study theology to have the opportunity to study other subjects.

Where is there anyone who is not pious who is born in the church and raised in the light? Faith in God is one of the most important things in life, which is as important as breathing, eating, sleeping, and surviving.

The reason why those scientists returned to theology in their later years was not because they studied the inevitable relationship between science and theology, but because these devout theologians tried to explain theology with science, or to explain science with theology, and thus there were endless contradictions.

Standing here was enough to make Bacon restrained, and he had just been rinsed twice by the military servants last night like a tending animal—Bacon's last bathing was in the church last spring, and he should have been baptized this spring, but he was sent out before he could have done so.

Drake is a little better, he has a habit of getting dressed and swimming on time.

In fact, in the Greek and Roman eras, Europeans were still very particular, but the epidemic of the Black Death was extremely frightening, and it became what it is now.

What made the two Francis nervous was not just because they were facing Chen Mu, taking a shower and washing it cleanly, which made Bacon worry that he would die of illness, Drake was more heroic, and the pirate leader was full of thoughts about wealth and danger.

"You said you had a letter for my emperor, give it to me."

But Drake didn't hand over the letter, he stepped forward, the clothes of the Ming Dynasty people were wearing on his body, making him look a little awkward when he walked, and he saluted Chen Mu with his habit and said: "Respected general, we have come to meet you so that we can get the opportunity to go to the Ming Empire, and this letter should be presented by us to the Chinese monarch." ”

"No need, according to the law, you can't go to Daming, Your Majesty has entrusted all the affairs of the Daming East China Sea to me, you can give me the letter."

Chen Mu's tone was very calm: "Or leave with the letter, since you are my subordinates to protect the landing in Asia, the Heavenly Army guarantees that your fleet will leave the archipelago safely." ”

"But next time, the Celestial Army is not obligated to protect you." Chen Mu said as if he suddenly thought of something, and asked, "How many fleets did your queen send, is it only you?" ”

Drake was mentally prepared for the difficulties he had received earlier, and he was not discouraged when he heard Chen Mu's refusal, and at the same time had no objection to the superiority of the Ming Dynasty officials who did not shy away from the demeanor and words - the Ming army defeated Spain, the most powerful country in the world in the European sense, and they deserved to be superior.

"The queen sent three fleets to search for the Ming Empire, one to the north, one to the east, and us to the west, and the captains are well-prepared and well-trained."

But what Drake didn't expect was disappointment and regret on Chen Mu's face.

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to congratulate you, your luck is good, I'm afraid the rest of the fleet will either flee back to England at this time, and will die on the way."

It was impossible for any ship to cross the Arctic Circle alive, and with the Spanish blockade to the east, even if they managed to escape the pursuit of the Spaniards, the Han kingdom would have plundered them by the fast boats.

But he didn't say why, just reiterated his position: "Have you thought about it, should you give me the letter, or go home with it?" ”

Drake and Bacon glanced at each other, they had no choice when they didn't know where the Ming Dynasty was, as for whether the other messenger fleets were shipwrecked or not, it didn't matter to them, crossing the sea was an adventure again and again.

The sealed letterbox was taken by the military soldiers and handed it to Chen Mu, but Chen Mu just took the letterbox and looked at it, then gently waved his hand and motioned to the soldiers to hand over the letter to the soldiers next to him to read it...... He didn't know the English of this era, and even if he communicated with Drake in Spanish, it was better to leave the matter of reading letters to the soldiers who had worked as interpreters by Zhu Xiaoen's side in the past.

Translating letters is both a mental and a mental task, not only to be dignified, but also to be accurate, such as the letterhead.

"Elizabeth, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Guardian of the Faith, pays tribute to the great, powerful and invincible Emperor Wanli of the Ming Empire...... Dashuai, they wrote Fengtian in front of them, and in the back they wrote Khitan Wanli Khan. ”

Drake and Bacon couldn't understand what they were saying, but they could see from the expressions of all the officials and soldiers in the hall, and everyone, including Chen Mu, showed disgust when they heard this.

"Keep reading."

"This letter is submitted to Francis Drake, a faithful subject of our nation, who has traveled with our permission to travel throughout your country."

"He can accomplish this difficult thing thanks to your majesty's generosity and kindness, and after suffering through the ordeal, he will be able to receive your majesty's leniency, not to mention that this trip will not do any harm to your country, and will be beneficial to your people; Your Majesty need not doubt that he would be more than happy to make a useful trip to my country for this purpose. ”

"I believe that the benefits of trade between the kings of our western kingdoms may be obtained by your majesty and by those who are subordinate to your majesty. This interest lies in buying and selling what is needed and what is rich. We think that we are born to be in need of each other, and that we need to help each other, and we hope that Your Majesty will agree to this, and that my subjects will not fail to do so. ”

"If your Majesty may bring this about, and grant it the right of safe passage, and grant us the rest of the privileges which are so much needed in the trade of your subjects, then Your Majesty shall exercise the power of a noble and merciful king, and we shall never forget your deeds. We wish that your Majesty's request be answered by Your Majesty's grace, and that when Your Majesty's kindness is extended to us and our neighbors, we will seek to repay Your Majesty. May Heaven bless Your Majesty. ”

After reading the letter, the soldiers frowned and read out the inscription: "One thousand five hundred and seventy-eight years after the birth of Jesus, the fifth year of my king's reign, was conferred on Greenwich Palace. ”