The large school field outside the north gate of the capital has become a paradise for the people of the capital in September. The southeast corner of the field is separated by a one-meter sports field, and there are 11 rows of grandstand on the east and west sides of the field, while the south side is separated by a low fence.

After more than half a month of events, September 18 is also the closing day of the Games, and the last event of today's competition is the four-person relay race. There were four teams participating in the competition, consisting of the Naval Academy, the Army Academy, Yenching University and British sailors.

Chongzhen, Sun Chengzong and other members of the staff sat in the north stand, and he originally invited a few cabinet ministers, but apparently those ministers could not accept it, sitting in broad daylight, watching a group of men in shorts and shorts running and sweating in the sun.

Many officials believe that it is really a bit immoral for the wives and women who went to the sports venue to watch the games watch the unclothed men exercising on the field. However, Chongzhen's insistence is obviously more determined than the insistence of these ministers, so these ministers can only choose to manage themselves and their families.

However, the Ming Dynasty has never had any popular entertainment, and listening to stories in teahouses is already the best pastime for citizens. And the opera in the south was only an entertainment that only a few people could enjoy at this time.

The games have not only the uncertainty of the outcome of the game, but also the liveliness of the temple fair, as well as the fun of outings, so when Chongzhen held the second sports meeting in the second year, the attention and enthusiasm of the people in Beijing was even higher than last year. Even in gentry families who forbade their families to go out of the city to watch the games, there were often people who sneaked out of their homes to watch the games.

When the three-eyed gun, which was the starting point for the race, was ignited in the sky, with a loud bang, four men rushed out of the starting line. Zhu Youjian was holding a monocular in his hand and watching the game intently, and in the eyes of others, he seemed to be more nervous than the players on the field.

Messwald, the general manager of the British East India Company, who was sitting on his right, originally wanted to talk to the emperor about something, but seeing Chongzhen's serious appearance, he had to pick up his telescope to watch the game.

For this kind of sports meeting format, Methwold also likes it. He believes that this kind of sports competition can cultivate the physical strength and athletic ability of a gentleman. In his opinion, the aristocratic youths of England and the European continent, who took up swords and duels at every turn, should devote their energies to sports competitions, instead of venting them on brawls and women.

He had already decided that he would recommend to the king that a games similar to those in China be held on his return, so as to improve the vain and unhealthy living conditions of the English gentlemen. However, Methwold felt that such athletic competitions should not be played by inferior people, but should be learned from the ancient Greeks, and that only aristocratic youths should participate in athletic competitions.

Moreover, only people in the upper classes of society have time to spend their energy on sports, so as to shape their perfect ** and healthy spirit. As for the inferior, what they need is to work hard, not to be lazy in the name of sports.

After entering China, the first impression of the country on Methwold was that there were too many Chinese. On the journey from Tianjin to Beijing, he had never found a desert without any people, and he could always see reclaimed fields and farmhouses on both sides of the road and canal.

The country seemed to him to be a different world, and even the populous Indian continent had uninhabited forests and wastelands between towns and cities. And in the UK, after leaving London, it is basically a vast expanse of wilderness and unexplored Black Forest.

This was the case after more than two centuries of enclosures, and in the time of Henry VIII, there would have been no villages slightly further away from the towns, except for the farms and pastures around the castle and town.

The large number of Chinese and the affluence of the lower classes always amazed Methwald. At this time, Britain was still on the eve of the era of large-scale overseas colonization, and the British had not yet established real colonies in other places except for a few colonies in North America.

Although the British coveted the bounty of mainland India and East Asia, they also stared at the Spice Islands for a piece of the Dutch.

However, the British East India Company's more than twenty years of trading experience in Asia taught the British that although they had defeated the Spanish armada, Britain was still a small and sparsely populated country compared to the other countries in Asia. The hostility between Britain and the Spaniards made it difficult for Britain's maritime power to cross North Africa without scruples.

After all, the Spaniards were still at war with the Protestant countries of Europe, and if the British dispersed their maritime power to Asia, they would most likely be attacked on their homeland.

In addition to being hostile to the Spaniards, the Dutch, who were separated from Britain by a strait, had too much power at sea. The tonnage of the Dutch ships is now equal to the total tonnage of all the countries of Europe excluding the Netherlands. Although the tonnage of Dutch merchant ships was only twice that of British merchant ships, the British had only 145 ships of more than 200 tons, while the Dutch had 450 ships.

Because the Dutch were overwhelmingly superior in power at sea, the British had to accept the Ambon massacre. The British could not compete with the Dutch in the Spice Islands, and they could not afford to provoke the monarchies of Asia, such as India, China, and Japan.

Although these countries did not have much maritime power, they had the goods that the British needed. It also has a firm grip on the defenses on land. The British, no matter how experienced they were pirates, did not have a reliable base port, and every ship they lost in Asia needed to be replenished from within the British, which was obviously a losing war.

Methwold had always wanted to establish a port city in Southeast Asia controlled by the British, like Batavia for the Dutch, or Malacca for the Portuguese. However, due to the obstruction of the Dutch and the lack of strength of the British East India Company, the British were never able to build an English castle in Banten.

For the old king of the Banten Sultanate, it was even more of a headache for Methwald. In order to defend against the invasion of the Banten Sultanate by the Mataram Sultanate and the oppression of Banten by the Dutch, the king asked the British and other European merchants for assistance to help the Banten Sultanate build a strong army.

However, the old king's original promise to give the British land to build a castle has always been unwilling to fulfill. As for China and Japan, the xenophobia of the local government and the common people prevented the British from even establishing ordinary trade relations. Instead, he was advised to simply move the headquarters of the East India Company in Asia to the east coast of India, where the Indian king was much better than the Chinese and Japanese.

However, it was difficult for Methwold to make this decision, for moving to the east coast of India would undoubtedly be tantamount to abandoning the maritime trade north of Malacca, and he did not think that the Dutch would give the British East India Company a chance to return to Banten. Besides, Chinese silk, porcelain, and spices from Southeast Asia are clearly more profitable than Indian cotton.

André established trade relations with the Chinese in the name of the king, which was excellent news for Methwold. This was also the most crucial step for Britain to open the door to China, and he hurried to the capital of China, just to ask the Chinese emperor to achieve two goals.

One is to hope to replace the current customs tariffs in China with a fixed tax package system; The second was to buy a piece of land in Tientsin or a port in the south, allowing the British to build a castle to guard the merchant's goods.

Regarding his first request, the Chinese emperor gave him a reciprocal reply, as long as the English king was willing to charge a fixed tax on Chinese merchant ships, then he did not mind a fixed tax on British merchant ships. Methwold expressed deep regret at such a reply and hoped that he would be able to return to his home country and consult with the king before making a decision.

In fact, Methwold argues that this condition can actually be agreed. After all, there is not a single Chinese merchant ship on the British coast now, and the British merchant ships are already in Asia. But after all, he was only the general manager of the East India Company, not the king of England, and he could only go back and persuade the king to agree to this condition, but he could not agree immediately.

Methwold had been thinking about it in detail these days, and he thought he could tell the king when he went back that such an agreement could be signed every 20 years. If, 20 years later, the number of Chinese merchant ships arriving in Britain exceeds the number of British merchant ships arriving in China, then the agreement can not be continued. And he also felt that he had already retired at that time and would not be affected by this agreement.

As for the second condition he proposed, His Majesty the Emperor was not even willing to mention the reciprocal condition. He told Methwold that Chinese land could only be sold to Chinese, not to non-Chinese. Even if someone violates the law and sells the land to them, the sale agreement is null and void.

Methwold persevered, and on several occasions expressed his firm position to the emperor. However, he also retreated from buying land to leasing land, and the plan for the construction of the castle changed to the construction of houses and warehouses.

Methwold reiterated to Chongzhen that the reason why he made such a request was entirely based on reducing the probability of conflict between the two peoples, and also to ensure the property and personal safety of the British.

September 25 was the day of departure for the Sino-British friendship fleet led by Methwold to return to England, so he desperately hoped that Chongzhen would be relieved about buying land and building houses before he returned.

"However, today is obviously a failure again, and His Majesty the Emperor is not willing to accept my opinion." Methwold casually watched the game through his binoculars, but thought to himself. And in his lens, the British improvised competition group has fallen far behind the Chinese, obviously they have no chance of winning this time.