Since the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Empire has never severed its exchanges with the West on the mainland. Of course, the cultural significance of a Silk Road was also achieved in the trade needs of the East and the West. However, at the level of international politics and diplomacy in ancient times, at least in the public accounts of historical texts, the westward march of the Eastern Empire also stopped as far as Central Asia.

Marco Polo's eastward journey made Europeans who were still at the end of the Dark Ages feel refreshed, and after the continuous wars in the precocious land of the East, the distance between the Central Empire, which was eager to rectify its internal affairs, and the West became much farther away than in the Han and Tang dynasties.

We can lightly mention many European celebrities who came to the East during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but except for Zheng He's seven voyages to the West in the early Ming Dynasty, there is almost no record in the official history of the Ming Dynasty intellectuals who took the initiative to travel to Europe after the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The great chronicle of the great geographical development seems to have become a logbook for the unilateral "discovery" of the world by Europe.

In the middle of the 15th century, the famous Italian geographer Toscanelli wrote in his diary: "Pope Eugenis IV received an emissary from the Emperor of China in Rome...... The Emissary of the East showed great affection for the Christians, and the Pope had a long conversation with him, and was very excited when he spoke of the length and breadth of the great rivers of the East, and of the many cities that followed them......"

Whether or not the Ming envoys actually visited the Holy See in the mid-15th century is not convincing in the official historical documents, and all of them are fragmentary speculations. However, the historical work "Tatar Wars" written by the Italian missionary Wei Kuangguo to record the death of the Ming and Qing dynasties is considered one of the precious historical materials for the study of oriental history in the 17th century, and the Ming literati also arrived in Europe for the first time during this period and was recorded in history: Zheng Weixin, who went to Europe to study in 1645, is the first famous Chinese to go to Europe since the exact historical records. Chen Ande, who went to Europe in 1649 on behalf of the Yongli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is said to be the first Ming diplomat to go to Europe in historical records.

Ask for help from Japan, ask for help from North Korea, ask for help from Macau. Harem children converted to Christianity...... How many decisions did Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty make when the building was about to collapse, history can turn over many tidbits, and Chen Ande's mission to Europe is obviously the most legendary story in this series of diplomatic methods of dead horses as live horse doctors.

The Southern Ming Dynasty was defeated in the southwest, and the missionary Bu Mige was appointed as the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, and the young Chen Ande carried a letter from the Yongli Emperor to accompany Bu Mige, becoming the first "Ming diplomat" to go to Europe.

The long journey slowed down this international diplomatic operation to the extreme, from land to sea and from sea to land, and it was only in December 1652 that Chen Ande and Bu Mig actually reached Europe.

There is the Republic of Venice, which has the option of neutrality. There was France, which tried to fish in troubled waters, there was the Holy See, which was afraid of offending the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the Kingdom of Portugal, which only wrote a check but did not act...... When Chen Ande returned to the East full of disappointment, it was already 1659.

In the end, the Southern Ming did not expect European assistance, and in 1662 the Yongli Emperor was captured and executed by Wu Sangui. The first diplomat of the Ming Dynasty to go to Europe, Chen Ande, was also lost after 1659 and was never seen again. There is no way to study the authenticity.

……

It was late at night. There are still lights on in a small building in the embassy district in the south of Manchester.

“…… Lord Cao, what Lord Tongzhi means is that this time he is only visiting the Seventh Lady, the Young Lady and the Grand Prince, and he must also prepare a heavy gift to the Huamei Mansion. You had a verbal displeasure with Lord Chang tonight, and Lord Yan was present again, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to Lord Tongzhi......" The middle-aged man dressed as a servant whispered behind Cao Xiulin. He also had a cautious smile on his face.

Taking his eyes off the peculiar "fireless lamp", Cao Xiulin also sighed softly, feeling a little regretful that he had involuntarily had a verbal conflict with the Chinese and American officials.

Cao Xiulin just turned 30 this year. He was previously a lifter in Changting County, the governor of Tingzhou, Fujian. Cao Xiulin failed to pass the Jinshi exam twice in a row, and was planning to make persistent efforts to study in Jiangxi, but was dragged into a chaotic tide in a flood disaster in northern Jiangxi. Although the riot was finally suppressed, Cao Xiulin was almost accused of being a thief, and since then he has been in despair, so he can only go to Zhangzhou to become a bookkeeper.

There is no endless road, and soon Cao Xiulin was in Zhangzhou by Yan Sicheng, a member of the Xuanwei Division who was trying to recruit scholars. Although the age difference between the two is seven or eight years, after chatting, it was found that both of them had studied at Quanzhou Xiaoshan Congzhu Academy, and they immediately regarded each other as classmates and confidants. So Cao Xiulin happily followed the other party to the big member and became a sesame mung bean-sized eight-grade shogunate.

Now Cao Xiulin was recommended by Yan Sicheng to go to Huamei as a senior envoy to comfort Yan Sihai, ostensibly to visit Yan Sihai's son Yan Xianfeng, but in fact, he also shouldered the heavy responsibility of taking the road for Yan Sicheng in Huamei.

The elders comforted Yan Sihai, because the old injuries many years ago recurred, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and gradually let out all the big and small things in the clan. Probably because the days of recuperation are too comfortable and boring, Yan Sihai has married a few concubines in recent years, drinking and having fun all day long, living a muddy life, almost all military and political affairs have fallen on his younger brother Yan Sicheng, and in the past two years, he has not even participated in the sailors who go out to sea once every three months.

Yan Sicheng has now become the real ruler of the Dayuan Xuanwei Division, and in recent years, a large number of newcomers have been introduced and promoted, and at the same time, many of the Yan family's henchmen in the Yan Siqi era have been assigned to serve in other fortresses. Regarding some things within the Yan family, Cao Xiulin was ignorant and had no interest in participating, just because of Yan Sicheng's kindness, he had to repay the favor and give advice to Yan Sicheng everywhere.

"Lord Cao, do you know that the Yan family is beautiful now, and the most important person is not the eldest prince or the seventh lady, but the young lady. If you want to make friends with the Huamei Mansion, you must have the help of the young lady. As for Chang Kun's kind of flattery, it is not enough to worry about. The middle-aged servant lowered his head again and said unhurriedly.

"Zhu Steward, it seems that you are much clearer than this official, and Lord Tongzhi should recommend you to be the right envoy." Cao Xiulin glanced at Yan Sicheng, who was ostensibly his entourage, and felt that the other party seemed to be teaching him how to do things, so he couldn't help frowning, and was secretly unhappy in his heart.

"The villain doesn't dare. The villain is just helping Lord Cao and doing what Lord Tongzhi tells him to do......" The middle-aged servant quickly knelt on the ground, looking terrified.

"Forget it, since it's a business matter, the official is naturally doing his best, but it's true that this gorgeous beauty despises my Daming, I'm afraid that the big man who hangs alone in the Ming Sea will not look at it in his eyes." Cao Xiulin smiled self-deprecatingly, still not in a very good mood, "That's it." I regard the acquaintance as a confidant, and I only hope that the people will be prosperous and safe, so that I can proclaim the holy power of the Ming Dynasty in a dignified manner. Such a small insult, what if you suffer it. ”

"Hehe, Lord Cao's heart is for the adults. The villain is especially admired...... However, this time, Lord Cao was ordered by Lord Tongzhi to take charge of the ordnance procurement of the senior staff, and he would definitely treat the United States in China differently. The servant smiled. Say no more.

……

February 28, 1642. Friday.

A cold snap brought a small snowfall to Manchester City. Early in the morning, the green belt along the street is covered with a thin layer of snow and frost. Although the temperature has dropped several degrees, the air is very fresh.

In the office of the secretary of the Combat Training Department of the Navy Headquarters in the West District of Long Island, Yan Xianping is concentrating on arranging this year's recruit training plan.

The door opened. A dignified brown-haired female officer walked in, smiled and gently handed a copy of the document to Yan Xianping: "Major Yan Xianping, this is the list of naval armaments purchased by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded by the Ministry of National Defense, and the Ministry of Defense wants you to check it personally." and sign the opinion. ”

With the pen in his hand, Yan Xianping slowly stood up, pinching Wen Jiàn and revealing puzzlement: "Colonel...... Sister Katerina, I don't have the qualifications for the Navy Arms Export Audit, do I? This should be the authority of General Andrew of the Logistics and Equipment Department......"

As the oldest female senior officer in the Chinese Navy, she was promoted to Colonel at the end of last year and is currently the director of the General Secretariat of the Navy Command, while Yan Xianping was promoted to Lieutenant Commander at the beginning of this year and served as the secretary of the Training Division.

General Andrew, the former commander of the Asian Fleet, after defending the Far East for the country for many years, Andrew, who was over the age of six, was also promoted to commodore the year before last, becoming the first senior general in the Chinese military circles to immigrate, returned to China and served as the director of logistics and equipment, and will retire as usual next year.

"General Andrew is also inspecting the state-owned Qingcheng shipyard, so the Ministry of Defense means that you should also give some opinions." Caterina smiled and sat opposite Yan Xianping, and nodded at the text in the other party's hand, "This is a military purchase contract with a considerable amount, and it is also a big man you are familiar with, so your opinion is very important." ”

Slowly unfolding the text with strange thoughts, after only reading a few lines, Yan Xianping opened his mouth wide.

Although because of his own existence, the relationship between the Yan family and Huamei is very stable, and any military equipment procurement enjoys a well-known policy bias. Whether it is land or sea equipment, there are many discounts. But such an order equivalent to $2 million still made Yan Xianping unprepared.

Didn't you buy three ships a few years ago, why do you have to order six at once this time?! What kind of fame, this is more than 1.3 million taels of silver, could it be that the fourth uncle and they spend the money on expanding the army all day long?

The big man has been guarding a chicken coop and a big gold mountain all these years, even if he has money, he can't spend it like this...... Yan Xianping pressed the doubts in his heart, and looked at them one by one, only to see that in addition to the 1,200-ton longitudinal sail cruisers favored by the Yan family, there were also a large number of Type 34A rear-loading flintlock pistols and new cannons.

Looking at the signatory of the final armament procurement, it is not the fourth uncle Yan Sihai, but the eighth uncle, the senior secretary Xuanwei Department is the same as Yan Sicheng, and the manager is Cao Xiulin.

According to the default rules in the past, whenever a senior official wanted to purchase arms, he would negotiate with Uncle Guò at Pearl Island, and then telegraph it to the Yan Mansion, and finally the Yan Mansion would forward it to the Huamei Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But this time it was different, a heavy military purchase case was directly brought to North America by Cao Xiulin from the big man, directly bypassing the old seventh uncle and Hua Meiyan Mansion.

"Sister Katarina, I want to take it home and see it again. If you're not in a hurry, I'll get back to you in two days, okay? Yan Xianping felt a trace of suspicion in his heart, decisively closed Wen Jiàn, and shook his head gently.

"Well, the National Security Council will also hold a special discussion on this matter, and your opinions will be summarized together when the time comes." Seeing that the business was over, Caterina suddenly looked at Yan Xianping's chest with a strange smile and lowered her voice, "Not bad." The milk is very abundant, and adults and children can feast on it! ”

gave birth to a young son a few months ago, and when he saw that the other party was talking about his lactation again, Yan Xianping suddenly blushed.

……

A few days later, a copy of the document was placed on the desk of the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Yan Xiaosong pinched the information sent from the Far Eastern Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Pearl Island and fell into deep thought.

"You're here to talk about this?" Su Zining pointed to Wen Jiàn in front of him, and smiled at his friend with a stern expression in front of him.

"Su Zining, now many aspects of intelligence show that Yan Sihai himself basically doesn't care about things now. Spend all day drinking in the women's pile. The actual ruler of the big man is already Yan Sihai's younger brother Yan Sicheng. Yan Xiaosong said, opened the text and pushed it in front of Su Zining, "Yan Sicheng is this person." We were dissatisfied with the East China Sea Agreement that we had led in the first place, and we had been seeking to restore the Yan family's independent trading status in the South Seas, the Ryukyus, and Japan. There has been a lot of friction with Zheng Zhilong. Just because we're buffered in the middle. There were no serious consequences. From this point of view, Yan Sicheng seems to be a little fearless. ”

"He's a scholar, why is he so aggressive? And the current situation of the big man also lies in how to speed up local development, why do you have to get along with Zheng Zhilong thanklessly? Su Zining took the text a little surprised and looked at a few lines carefully. His brow furrowed.

"In addition to Yan Sicheng, the people who have heads and faces are basically the old pirate leaders who followed Yan Sihai and Yan Siqi back then, rough men who don't know a few big characters, and they are also a group of people who have always been hostile to Zheng Zhilong." Yan Xiaosong shook his head. looked very helpless, "After so many years of calm, these people can't hold back a little bit." I heard that the military purchase order of the big man this time was made by Yan Sicheng at the instigation of those old people, and Yan Sihai completely let it go. ”

"Judging from the previous intelligence, Yan Sicheng is not a belligerent person, he is trying to win the support of the old people in the army." Su Zining thought for a while and said his opinion, "Yan Sihai's eldest son is with us, and he has also given up his inheritance, Yan Sihai's other sons are all unsuccessful, and several concubines have also given birth to a bunch of smaller ...... If there is anyone who is most capable of controlling the big man now, and the age is very suitable, probably only Yan Sicheng. ”

"We have similar opinions, including the list of arms purchases brought by Cao Xiulin this time, but Yan Sicheng is hinting that the current senior is the one who has the final say, and he is testing our attitude and hoping to gain our approval." Yan Xiaosong frowned, slowly sat up straight, and his gaze fell on Wen Jiàn, "In addition to the 6 medium-sized schooner cruisers, Yan Sicheng also wants to purchase 8,000 34A rear-loading flintlock pistols, a total of 32 new 8-pounder and 12-pounder cannons, and a large number of shells. At present, even Liu Xiang, who we vigorously support, is very few of these three weapons. The entire $2 million in arms purchases, without the loan of the Oriental Bank, was directly cashed, and it was very generous. Judging from the current situation of the armaments of the officers, these completely exceed their normal needs, and even Yan Xianping himself raised objections. What's more, this list of military purchases did not pass through Pearl Island, but Yan Sicheng asked Cao Xiulin to personally bring it to Manchester City to submit. ”

Well, Yan Sicheng is abandoning traditional practices and actively trying to establish new communication channels and models. At present, whether it is Yan Sihai in the past or Yan Sicheng now, we have to regard our attitude as an important factor in the future power change of the big man, in a sense, it is not a bad thing. The only thing to worry about is the position of Yan Qigu and Yan Xianping who are now in China, they are staunch supporters of Yan Sihai, especially the latter. If Yan Sicheng wants to take the position in the future, he must get the support of Yan Xianping, if it is not handled well, I am afraid it will cause a lot of turmoil. ”

Su Zining touched his chin and read a lot of military purchase information, and the purpose of Cao Xiulin's visit to WÈN Manchester City on behalf of Yan Sicheng was clearer.

"By the way, if you look at this again, it is a letter sent by the Oriental Union Group to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there is such a copy almost every year. Over the years, Dayuan has been looking for various reasons to reject OUCC's local mining cooperation projects. It is also a partner in the Far East, and it seems easier to reassure people than Hainan on the surface, but except for the earliest introduction of new crops, the pace of cooperation is now slower and slower, and there has not been a single technology export cooperation project implemented so far. ”

As he spoke, Yan Xiaosong handed another copy of the text to Su Zining, and clicked on a few lines of words.

"Yan Sicheng is similar to Yan Sihai, he has a strong warlord atmosphere, and he is still a little wary of us, and he doesn't like us to mess around on the territory of the big man...... Well, judging from this military purchase, the meaning of temptation is even stronger. These issues will be discussed again at tomorrow's meeting of the National Security Council. The arms business must be done as soon as it can be done, but it is better to let Fan Li and Jin Xiaohan check the specific situation again, and they are not in a hurry to reply to Cao Xiulin. It just so happened that the Congressional Far East Research Group led by An Shaoqing was on its way to Hong Kong, and I asked Lao Qi Jian to ask An Shaoqing, on behalf of the Senate, about the situation of the Oriental Union Union's technology investment cooperation in large enterprises. ”

After reading it roughly, Su Zining did not express his opinion directly, but just hoped that there would be more information to analyze.

……

A large arms order from the Far East quickly spread from the Ministry of Defense, and this is an order that will not be opened for a year, but will be open for a year! Just this one list is more than the domestic military's orders in a year, and the profits are even higher!

Naturally, the gun contract was shared by General Industries Group and North Industries Group, but the large order of six 1,200-ton schooner cruisers with a total price of $1.5 million caused fierce competition among the three enterprises of Beiyang Shipbuilding Group, Yacheng Shipbuilding Company, and the state-owned Qingcheng Shipyard. In particular, Yacheng Shipbuilding Company, which has a prototype design and has undertaken the construction of a number of Type 1200 medium-sized longitudinal cruisers, and has a shipbuilding branch in the overseas territory of Pearl Island, is even more urgent.

In order to ensure that this military purchase order would not be disrupted by the "laymen" of the Congress or the government's cabinet, the relevant arms enterprises also specially sent representatives to express their stance to the Yan Mansion, which was still confused. All of a sudden, the Yan Mansion and the foreign embassy area were crowded with carriages, and such a lively and enthusiastic scene made all the European diplomats in Manchester City jealous. (To be continued......)