readx(); This was a typical secret meeting, and although Zhu Youzhen did not want the courtiers to know, Polo and Viviani also wanted to keep a low profile as much as possible. （ . Therefore, there was no high-level ceremony, Zhu Youzhen only temporarily transferred two young translators from the Foreign Affairs Yuan, plus Concubine Zhu Cunqi, this is the entire lineup of the Chinese side.

Sun Di is not far away, and the ship is inspected by the Yang Technique Cool Lord

First of all, the two envoys saluted Zhu Youzhen according to their customary etiquette, and handed over the credentials respectively, and Zhu Youzhen solemnly accepted it, and the "audience" was completed.

Next, Zhu Youzhen arranged a dinner and had informal exchanges at the banquet. This is Zhu Youzhen's favorite way, because the two sides are meeting for the first time and do not know each other, and the atmosphere at the banquet is relatively relaxed, so the two sides can enhance understanding and cultivate friendship, which is very helpful for the formal negotiations later. Anna also attended the dinner as a Portuguese princess and ambassador, and the conversation was much smoother and more pleasant with such a beautiful and lively girl, who was also European and knew all the more about the situation.

These two envoys were missionaries themselves, and through John Tom Maldini and others, they already had a certain understanding of China. Comparatively speaking, Zhu Youzhen knew almost nothing about the Principality of Genoa in the Republic of Venice. Therefore, Zhu Youzhen did not talk much at the banquet, mainly the two envoys introduced their respective countries and personal basic information.

From Andre Polo's introduction, Zhu Youzhen learned that the Republic of Venice is a typical European city-state, which has been established for more than 600 years, and the core of the principality is the famous water city of Venice. Originally a dependency of the Eastern Roman Empire, it gained autonomy in the 8th century. Due to its strategic location and the transit trade between East and West, Venice quickly became wealthy, attracting a large number of people to move in, and finally became independent in the 10th century, becoming one of the great powers of the Mediterranean.

Originally, the Eastern Roman Empire maintained nominal suzerainty over Venice, but after the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, Venice turned to the West, religiously worshipping the Pope as the Pope, believing in Catholicism, and politically worshipping the Holy Roman Emperor as the suzerain.

The city-states adopted a "republican" approach, with the supreme leader called the "governor", not hereditary, but elected. However, this was largely nominal, as the Doge had always been produced only among a few great Venetian families.

In the centuries that followed, Venice experienced a long period of expansion and decline. During the expansion phase, Venice, with its powerful navy, occupied Crete, the island of Cyprus, southwestern Greece, and most of the islands in the Aegean Sea.

However, the long years of war also seriously depleted Venice's national strength. From the 15th century onwards, Spain had become powerful through great geographical discoveries, and Venice had to form an alliance with Spain in order to fight against the Ottoman Empire, which was emerging in the east, and France, which was constantly encroaching in the north. Unexpectedly, it was to lure the wolf into the house, the Spanish Habsburg royal family with its strong military power, forced Venice to become a vassal state of Spain, economically had to pay tribute to Spain, militarily, the control of the Venetian navy with good strength fell into the hands of Spain.

Later, Venice suffered heavy losses due to the Spanish army, which was used as a spear by the Habsburg royal family, and many islands in the east were also conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The major Venetian families led by the current Governor of Venice, Moloccini, wanted to get rid of Spanish control and revive Venice, but with Venice's current national strength, betraying Spain was tantamount to looking for death, so they had to endure it for the time being.

As for Andre Polo himself, he came from the famous Polo family in Venice, and his ancestor was the famous Marco Polo. Now his uncle, Paul Polo, was the cardinal of Venice and held a prominent position, so Andre was reused at a young age as an envoy to China on this secret visit.

Zhu Youzhen did not know what the concept of "cardinal" was, so he hurriedly asked for details. Polo introduced that the official name of the cardinal is "cardinal", which is actually an assistant subordinate to the Pope of Rome and assisting the Pope in governing the churches in various places.

The cardinal had great power, and in his diocese he belonged was nominally equal to the local secular rulers, and he was also qualified to elect the pope. In recent years, however, the influence of the pope has been declining, and cardinals everywhere have tended to be closer to secular powers. For example, the most famous French Cardinal Richelieu in Europe was appointed prime minister by King Louis of France and was made a duke, so he didn't need to listen to the pope anymore. The cardinals of Venice were similar, except that Venice was not strong enough to openly confront the pope.

Another envoy, Viviani, also gave a basic account of the Duchy of Genoa. Much like Venice, Genoa was a city-state, famous for maritime trade, shipbuilding, and banking. However, Genoa was even worse than Venice, and after it also became a vassal state of Spain, it was economically exploited by Spain because of its weak military strength. Due to the huge cost of the war, the Habsburg royal family often borrowed money from Genoese bankers, but it was no different from robbing money.

Palacio, the current Duke of Genoa, also wanted to get rid of Spanish rule. Viviani himself was not actually a Genoese, but a citizen of another city-state, Florence. But he loved to delve into mathematics and physics, and was a disciple of the famous scientist Galileo. Palacio admired Galileo so much that after Galileo was placed under house arrest by the Pope for "spreading heresy", Palacio invited his student Viviani to Genoa in an attempt to rescue him. Unexpectedly, the two hit it off at first sight, and now Viviani is already Palacio's chief advisor.

After the knot is not a branch, he hates to take the secret sail of Yangnuo

Originally, Venice and Genoa had a rather unfriendly relationship, and there were many wars in the past. But now they are both vassals of Spain, and they share the same path, so that the rulers of the two countries quickly come together. Last year, the Pope wrote a letter to the Ming Emperor, asking Zhu Youzhen to convert to Catholicism, but Zhu Youzhen unceremoniously rejected it. Venice and Genoa, on the other hand, had an opportunity: if they allied themselves with China, a distant and powerful eastern power, would they not have any hope of getting rid of Spain?

At this time, Portugal's restoration movement was already gaining momentum, and Spain was mired in war on the European continent. The two countries secretly made contact with King João of Portugal, and the three sides hit it off. At this time, Zhu Youzhen was working hard to obtain foreign loans, and the two countries took the line of Portugal and sent envoys to China.

After listening to these introductions, Zhu Youzhen did not continue the topic, but instead asked Viviani: "Galileo is your teacher?" Is he still alive? ”

"Of course it's still alive, Your Majesty."

Before the words fell, Zhu Youzhen jumped up excitedly: "What?!" Galileo is still alive?! That's great, wahahahaha!! ”

This book is from: