Monday, February 10, 1642.

Early in the morning, the people of the American Concession on Terceira Island and Angra de Herosírdi poured into the high ground near the port, happily looking into the distance of the bay, as if they were welcoming some big man.

When the mountain-like Atlantic Queen's large ocean-going cruise ship appeared at sea level, the crowd of onlookers let out one after another in amazement, and the Portuguese defenders of the coastal fortress of Hero's Port gasped one by one.

The Atlantic Queen is a large passenger and cargo dual-purpose steam merchant ship, which belongs to the Sino-American state-owned ocean shipping company and is built by Beiyang Shipbuilding Group. The construction took 16 months and cost $560,000. The ship made its maiden voyage from Qingcheng Port on the sixth day of the first lunar month and arrived in the Azores in just seven days.

The Atlantic Empress is arguably the largest ship ever built by Huamei Shipbuilding, and although it is a civilian ship, it has also reached the limits of iron-boned wood-hulled shipbuilding technology. The full load displacement reached 6,900 tons, and two sets of 2,000 horsepower three-expansion steam units produced by General Industries were adopted, with a total capacity of 1,000 people in the three-stage cabin, a maximum cargo capacity of 2,800 tons, a maximum speed of 15.4 knots, and a cruising range of nearly 6,000 nautical miles at 12 knots. Although the most modest third-class cabin is still a dense three-layer berth like a sardine, the comfort and supporting sanitation facilities are still a grade higher than that of the large five-masted long-sail merchant ship of Oriental Union, and will be used exclusively for the immigration transit and cargo transportation business from North America to Nanshan Overseas Territory.

The light cruiser Princess Anyi, the main force of the Chinese and American Navy, which escorted it on its maiden voyage, was once regarded as a big thing by the Portuguese in the Azores, but now it is smaller by the Atlantic Queen. Under the strong visual contrast, it is even more shocking.

At a time when the number of merchant ships and gross tonnage have been rolled out, how to continue to improve the efficiency of ship shipping and reduce operating costs has become the next issue that the East American shipping industry must think about, including increasing the capacity and speed of a single ship. It became the focus of attention. After scientific calculations, the comprehensive operating cost of a merchant ship with a maximum cargo capacity of 2,000 tons is only half of that of two merchant ships with a maximum cargo capacity of 1,000 tons compared with two merchant ships with a maximum cargo capacity of 1,000 tons in the same operating time.

Atlantic Queen is based on this idea, due to the high cost of construction, only one has been completed and put into operation, and its sister ship, the Caribbean Queen, is still only an outline, but its idea will become the focus of the next stage of development of the Chinese and American civil shipbuilding industry.

In addition to carrying 2,000 tons of export grain, the Atlantic Queen also carried hundreds of passengers on its maiden voyage. In order to maintain the effectiveness of publicity. The Atlantic Queen was moored at the quays of Angra de Marísmo de Grasmo and opened to the local Portuguese public, and the massive ship became one of the most spectacular sights outside of Atlantis Hills. Even the local Portuguese governor happily booked a first-class luxury cabin with the intention of spending the night.

……

The Lunar New Year holiday in North America is just over half over. Most of the government departments have not yet begun their work, but the diplomatic work of the Chinese and American Foreign Ministries in the American Concession to mediate between Spain and Portugal has already begun ahead of schedule.

Ten months have passed since the Kingdom of Portugal regained its independence. Even if the Spanish royal family is furious. But the Spanish army, mired in the Thirty Years' War in Europe, could not be distracted, and the Spanish army was showing more and more signs of bad luck in France.

The military confrontation between Spain and Portugal in the past six months has been limited to a few insignificant armed confrontations on the border, and the military confrontation in the Iberian Peninsula is arguably the most inconspicuous on the entire European continent compared to the blood-ridden, hysterical European theater of war.

Today, with the exception of the Governor of Ceuta in North Africa, who chose Spain, almost all of Portugal's overseas colonies have declared their allegiance to the restored Portuguese royal family of Bragança. The Portuguese magnates were also secretly rejoicing at this almost perfect result. At least another North African Straits Settlement of Gibraltar, Tangier, was saved.

However, the declaration of independence of the Kingdom of Portugal was not easy, and as recently as the year before last, the few Portuguese naval warships were still carried by Spain and suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Dunkirk. With the exception of a small number of native armies, the Portuguese Navy now had only the last two large schooners imported from China and the United States to guard Lisbon. The other two warships of the same type that had already been built were dragged by Huamei for a long time and were not delivered.

Most of Portugal's coastal towns are undefended, and the Spanish verbal threat still looks terrifying. It is said that the main force of the Spanish Caribbean Fleet is being assembled in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and may sail back to Europe or south to Brazil at any time.

In fact, in addition to the inexplicable Portuguese crown, the historical ties between Spain and Portugal, the two Iberian countries, are deeply linked, and even after obtaining the Portuguese throne, the Spanish royal family still respected the traditional sphere of influence of the Portuguese aristocracy and retained the integrity of the Portuguese overseas colonies.

The search for a more decent outcome is probably the subtext of Spain and Portugal's eagerness to extricate themselves from the Iberian crisis. Now both countries are holding on to each other's refusal to make concessions, and they are afraid that a third party will intervene to eat cheap fruits.

In the end, both countries chose the "traditional ally" Huamei to mediate diplomatically, although the country on the other side of the Atlantic is also greedy and insufficient, but compared with the European powers such as France or England, which eat people and do not spit out bones, Huamei is obviously more "decent" in foreign affairs.

……

On the observation deck on the top floor of the U.S. Concession Consulate, Dai Botong, the Chinese and American Consul General in Europe, who had recently returned from Ireland, and Shi Wenbo, vice minister of foreign affairs, were watching with great interest the giant ship of the country in a distant port.

"The first round of formal diplomatic mediation talks is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. However, I am afraid that the Spaniards may not accept our proposal, and the Portuguese have not been reluctant to lease Terceira in its entirety. Looking at the giant ship in the distance, Dai Botong was a little worried while he was full of spirit.

"The mediation of the Iberian conflict and the concession of Terceira are issues on two levels. We can talk to them separately, you are in charge of Portugal, I will deal with Spain, and when we find out their bottom line, we will finally join forces. ”

Swainberg, who is already a veteran of diplomacy, seems to be full of confidence, and does not feel that there is any other choice for Spain and Portugal now.

After speaking. Shi Wenbo also smiled and waved slightly to his wife and children in the garden downstairs. In sight, Anna, a noblewoman with a big belly, was drinking tea and basking in the sun on the lawn with her four biological children, and the youngest son was shouting excitedly at the big ship in the distance. On the other side, Shi Wenbo's eldest son, Shi Anwen, who inherited the title of Duke of Santa Cruz in Spain a few years ago, was drinking tea with his sister Shi Anli, looking much more mature and stable.

"Frederick V of Emden is preparing for war, but he still does not believe that Denmark will come into conflict with Sweden, which has already received a military loan from our consulate in Emden; News came from the intelligence station in the port of Nantes that French Prime Minister Richelieu was seriously ill in bed. It is estimated that it will not survive this year, but even so, Spain still loses more and wins less, and the mud still can't support the rhythm of the wall; The National Assembly of England and the citizens of London had already executed Charles I's favorite Earl of Stratford last month, and now Charles I has fled to Yorkshire in the north. It is estimated that the English Civil War is also inevitable; The Secretary of State has been instructed to provide Charles I with a loan for the purchase of arms, and is also helping the Home Rule Council of County Cork in Ireland to form a standing army. Initially, it was intended to create a force of 3,000 people. Maybe it will be used in the future, but I'm afraid it's a little underfunded. ”

Seeing that his predecessors were full of confidence, Dai Botong also calmed down and continued to tell the other party about the European information he had obtained in the past few days.

"Well, it's not much different from the speculation of the Foreign Office, if there is any demand from the English parliamentary party. Try to say yes too. In addition, I heard that France has cheated us in Qingcheng this time, and it is estimated that it will not be long before we should find an opportunity to provoke France. It can also be regarded as helping to reduce the pressure on Spain. ”

Swenbo nodded, satisfied that the current development of the situation in Europe is basically in line with the expected pace, and he has also strengthened some of his unique historical ambitions.

……

In the garden of the Consulate of the American Concession of the Azores, Anna, a noblewoman who is pregnant again, is resting in the sun with her children. The eldest son and eldest daughter were by her side over tea and chatting, and Anna kept a kind smile throughout.

Although he is 37 years old, not counting the one in his belly, he also has four children. But the quality of Anna's life in Huamei is obviously much more upscale than that of the Spanish ladies in Madrid, and she still looks young and beautiful at the moment.

His eldest son, Anwen Shi, who will turn 20 at the end of this year, inherited his grandfather's title as Duke of Santa Cruz in Spain many years ago and is now studying for a bachelor's degree in business administration at an Ivy League university. As a product of Anna's strict family education, Shi Anwen believes in Catholicism, is proficient in many foreign languages, and can be regarded as the most family-style young man in the second generation of the Chinese American elite family.

In order to protect the interests of the family, Swainbo and Anna both set the eldest son's future daughter-in-law, which is Sophia, the youngest daughter of Frederick V, Marquis of Emden. For this fiancée who has only met once, Shi Anwen naturally doesn't know the legendary status of the other party in the original history, and his current identity is the same, but he has no choice in life.

The eldest daughter Shi Anli, 18 years old, in Anna's opinion, whether it is size or appearance, if you do not consider the existence of several other "wild species", Shi Anli is definitely the most beautiful daughter in this Chinese and Western family.

Annley is now studying literature and art at an Ivy League university, and her fiancé is also designated by her father, Swainberg, as Frederick V's youngest son, Rupert. This made Anna, who was bent on finding a future for her daughter in the Spanish aristocratic circle, had to compromise, after all, Frederick V's family was now considered a first-class aristocratic family in Europe.

The second daughter Shi Anbei, 15 years old this year, petite and cute, looks most like Anna herself, according to the couple's plan, Shi Anbei will marry a powerful family in Huamei when she grows up, in order to consolidate domestic connections.

The second son, Shi Anjie, is much younger than his brothers and sisters, and is only 10 years old this year. However, Shi Anjie looks very much like his father Shi Wenbo, except for the hair color, almost like coming out of a mold, and he is also the most lively and active age. Unlike several older brothers and sisters who are strictly tutored, Shi Anjie, who is destined to be by his parents' side, is very free in his daily life and learning.

As for the other dozen or so illegitimate children of Swenbo who have always made Anna unhappy, Anna is too lazy to care, and all of them are arranged by Swenbo himself in private. I heard that the eldest illegitimate child was born even a month before Shi Anwen, and is now studying in the reserve officer class of the Huamei West Point Military Academy.

Just as Anna was thinking about the future status of the family, a Hispanic housekeeper who had been with her for a long time walked into the lawn and placed a lettered with fire paint on the table: "Madam, Emden's letter is for Miss Julia (Ann Li). ”

As soon as she heard that the letter was from Emden, Shi Anli, who was chatting softly with her brother, turned her head and looked at the letter in her mother's hand, and her heart was full of deer, but she didn't dare to speak lightly.

"Maybe it was written by Miss Sophia, and I heard that she was going to study abroad in Manchester City this summer, so it was the best place for my sister to be with her." Seeing his sister secretly anxious, Shi Anwen hurriedly "begged" his mother for a letter.

"Well, that's for the best. But wait until after lunch, maybe your father wants to know more about Emden than you do. Anna smiled and handed the letter to her daughter disapprovingly. The latter quickly grabbed the letter in his hand, and nodded gratefully to his brother.

……

The following week, Spanish and Portuguese diplomats were invited to tea and chat by Svenbo and Dai Botong.

Spain remained tough on the surface, resolutely refusing to accept Portugal's independence, hoping that the Chinese side would cut off any Portuguese funding and join forces against French expansion in the Caribbean. Because not long ago, a large French colonial fleet invaded the Florida peninsula again after a few decades, building a fort in St. Augustine as a nail household, which terrified the few Spaniards in Florida.

Portugal hoped that China and the United States would provide military asylum at sea to Brazil and other overseas colonies in accordance with the original mutual assistance agreement to prevent Spain's annexation, but it has been unwilling to lease the Azores island of Terceira in its entirety.

As far as Spain is concerned, Huamei wants Spain to recognize Portugal's independence, yes, Portugal can't afford to do what it can't do, Huamei should be sincere, right?

For Portugal, it is not impossible to lease Terceira in its entirety, unless Portugal can obtain greater benefits and security, preferably something that Spain does not have.

What kind of diplomatic mediation is this, it is completely that Spain and Portugal are looking for Huamei to seek east and west, as if Portugal's independence was all done by Huamei. However, the basic attitude of these two countries has also come out, and they have figured out a "more suitable" deal to save each other's face and interests.

I'm not afraid that you will refuse, I'm afraid that you won't make a price, anyway, this historical big deal was originally a gorgeous market, who makes and who loses is unknown? After Dai Botong and Shi Wenbo obtained the communication limit, they immediately sent the content of the first phase of diplomatic mediation to China, waiting for the cabinet to make a decision. (To be continued......)