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All the buildings at Windsor Castle are made of stone, surrounded by green lawns and dense forests, and the sunset reflects on the castle and the forest.

This reception dinner is very sumptuous in the UK, but for Zhang Haoran and others from Daqin, it can only be regarded as sketchy.

Cromwell was a man in his fifties, very gentlemanly, with a long face and a somewhat hawkish nose, which made people feel that he was a very resolute person.

"Distinguished envoy from the East, on behalf of the British people, I warmly welcome your arrival, and may the friendship between the two countries last forever."

Cromwell's voice is also very loud and oratorical.

Among the important people who attended the dinner was a general named Lan Bai, who was Cromwell's confidant, and he also gave him a warm welcome after Cromwell.

Zhang Haoran was elegant, and said with a friendly and subtle smile: "It is a great honor to be received by Your Excellency at Windsor Castle. During this time, the envoy read many of Shakespeare's works, "King Lear", "Hamlet", "Othello", "Romeo and Juliet", "The Merchant of Venice", etc., among which there is a very impressive "The Merry Wives of Windsor". ”

Zhang Haoran's words made Cromwell and the others stunned, obviously they didn't expect that the envoys of the Qin State thousands of miles away would have a lot of treasures for their own theatrical works, which is really unbelievable.

General Lan Bai even asked: "It's really an honor, Your Excellency the Venerable Qin Envoy has also seen Shakespeare's works, I don't know what you think after reading "The Merry Ladies of Windsor"?" ”

General Lan Bai obviously wanted to see if Zhang Haoran had really read these works, or if he had only heard the names of these works. This is very important, and if Zhang Haoran really has read these works carefully, it is enough to show that he knows all aspects of Britain very well.

Zhang Haoran smiled and said slowly: "Mrs. Peiqi and Mrs. Fox are two ladies. With their wit, they amused a few vulgar men. I marveled at their calmness and wisdom in the process, and saw the living conditions of the British aristocracy.

If you think about it carefully, this work is fresh and lively on the surface, the plot is compact and funny, and at the same time lighthearted, it can humor the declining knightly class and the unscrupulous scoundrels of the market.

Although the two ladies seem to be 'merry girls', their playfulness of Falstaff is evident in their playfulness and the nobility and integrity of their personalities.

Zhang Haoran finished speaking. General Lan Bai and Cromwell couldn't help but glance at each other, and their hearts were a little heavy all of a sudden. The other party has such a deep understanding of Britain, and how much does he really know about the current situation of Qin. Then the next meeting is really not easy!

Zhang Haoran cherished Shakespeare's works, and after the reception dinner, Cromwell simply arranged a play of "King Lear" for Zhang Haoran and others to watch.

"King Lear" is one of Shakespeare's masterpieces, and it is very in-depth, and it roughly tells the story of King Lear and his three daughters.

The aged King Lear wants to abdicate. He hoped to divide the land among his three daughters. At the time of the separation, he asked each of his daughters to tell them how much they loved him, and allocated them the land according to their love for him.

The eldest daughter, Goneril, and the second daughter, Reagan, did everything they could to praise the king, but the youngest daughter, Cordelia, was banished by Lear for her unpretentious expression. But because of her honesty, she won the favor of the king of France. Went to France and became a queen.

After dividing the land among his two daughters, King Lear was thrown out of the house by his two unfilial daughters, who were in a miserable situation, and the younger daughter heard what had happened to her father in France. Immediately organized an army to fight back to England to rescue her father, but the army failed in the battle, and both her and her father Lear were arrested.

After Cordelia was executed. King Lear remembered the words she had said when she had expressed her love for herself: Loveandbesilent.

Cordelia's words translate to the effect: I love you, so I won't say much about the rest.

Looking back and thinking about these words, King Lear couldn't help but cry bitterly, the old tears were rampant, the love of the youngest daughter was simple and unpretentious, but it could be confirmed with life at any time. It turns out that unspeakable love is the most sincere and strong.

Eventually, King Lear died of grief and a breakdown.

The ideological connotation of this opera is very profound, and Zhang Haoran and others were fascinated when they saw it, and sighed.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese opera and novel works have also developed very rapidly, and many famous opera masters such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Bai Pu, Ma Zhiyuan, and Tang Xianzu have appeared.

But it must be admitted that even these famous opera masters, many of their works still stay at the level of "talented and beautiful women" and "wind and snow", such as Wang Shifu's "The Story of the West Chamber", Tang Xianzu's "The Story of the Peony Pavilion", "The Story of the Purple Hairpin", etc., can be regarded as such works.

If you make a horizontal comparison, objectively speaking, no matter how gorgeous or twisty works like "The Legend of the West Chamber" are; But in terms of pattern, in terms of depth of thought, it is difficult to compare with a work like "King Lear".

From these aspects, it can be seen that since the Renaissance, European cultural thought has gradually surpassed the trend of the East, which must not be underestimated, and the progress of ideology, culture and art is often the source of power to promote the progress of the whole society, and it is also the cornerstone of progress.

If we don't pay enough attention to this, we will inevitably fall behind others as a whole.

Zhang Haoran and their visit this time, in addition to politics and military, in culture, art, science and technology, education, etc., also have an important mission, in short, in all aspects, we must have a humble attitude, with an attitude of learning, to bring other people's good things back to Daqin as much as possible.

For example, in terms of art, we must not think that this is just something used to decorate the wind and snow, and it is used by the nobles to decorate their lives after tea and dinner.

The innovation of art will affect people's aesthetics, and then affect people's emancipation of their minds. The paintings of Fincher and others were, in fact, one of the important driving forces for the European Renaissance.

The Renaissance was the beginning of Europe's leading world in all aspects. From this, it is not difficult to see how amazing the influence of culture and art is.

Its impact is not immediate, but it is often the most far-reaching.

Now as far as Europe is concerned, the most influential in terms of culture and art are London, Paris, and Rome.

Like Shakespeare's works, Zhang Haoran had to move back to Daqin, so that there would be more collisions between Eastern and Western cultures and arts, and it would definitely be a booster for China's increasingly closed and rigid cultural thoughts, at least the emperor of Daqin thought so, so one of the tasks assigned to the mission was to collect European cultural and artistic achievements.

Cromwell and others knew that Zhang Haoran and others came with so many missions, and saw that Zhang Haoran had been immersed in British culture and art, and he was secretly happy in his heart, only saying that Zhang Haoran and others were not the kind of pragmatic people, and they liked to eat, drink and have fun when they came to Europe.

This time, he invited the Great Qin delegation led by Zhang Haoran to Windsor Castle, in fact, with the intention of bypassing the parliament and reaching some agreements with Great Qin alone.

Cromwell's thinking now is very different from that of the bourgeois revolution.

If from the moment he guillotined Charles I into the past and the present.

In the past he was a radical, reform-demanding, freedom-demanding bourgeois revolutionary.

Now in power, he advocates kingship, and is a conservative through and through.

Now he is bent on leaving aside the British Parliament, putting more real power in his own hands, and becoming the de facto king of Britain.

In this regard, Zhang Haoran already has enough understanding from the information he has collected. In his view, Cromwell was a despicable thief of the country under the banner of a bourgeois revolution.

No matter what banner he played, it was essentially not much different from Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms.

Now Cromwell has the intention of stealing the country and is also stealing the country, but the British Parliament still has a very strong real power, which has formed a very big constraint on him.

Zhang Haoran felt that it would not be difficult to let this kind of villain give up more benefits, so he was not in a hurry at all.

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PS: More presented, the double monthly pass has begun, brothers and sisters, the most critical decisive moment has arrived, please help me, ask for a monthly pass, ask for a double monthly pass, worship! (To be continued......)