"... Therefore, the queen and the regent sent me as envoy to the East again at the beginning of this year to propose a marriage to the Ming Dynasty and discuss the possibility of jointly sending troops to seize or control the Suez Canal." Quijano ended with this sentence.
An explanation of cause and effect.
Claviyo sat on the chair and said after a while: "This matter will be of great benefit to Castile, but in the Ming Dynasty, with all due respect, there is almost no possibility of success."
"Why?"
"First, it is discrimination. We Europeans were called Semu people in the Ming Dynasty, and Semu people were discriminated against. When the previous emperor was in power, this country had enacted a law that prohibited the Semu people in the country from intermarrying. They must marry each other.
The Seris people get married, but it is impossible for them to find a Han woman whose living standard is the same as their own. They have to pay low wages to get married, and even buy a wife in the name of marrying. It doesn’t matter how low-level the family is that will sell their children.
Say more."
"Second, it's religion. The current emperor of the Ming Dynasty is very opposed to the Christian religion and the Tianfang religion, and does not allow them to spread in the country, let alone build churches. He will never want his daughter to marry a Christian."
"Third, it's the distance. Castile is too far away from the Ming Dynasty. Any father would hesitate to marry his daughter to such a far away country."
"The fourth is the influence of historical tradition. You may not know that the Ming Dynasty has a very complete historical record system. The history of 1000 BC, that is, more than 2400 years ago, can still be clearly recorded.
It can be regarded as a historical record. This makes it easy for the Seris people to find precedents in history for doing something. In history, when the emperors of the Seris people married their daughters, it was usually when the country was weak and the only one was at its peak.
During that period, the regime that allowed marriage of daughters to foreigners was weakened and was humiliated by the country of the son-in-law, making the marriage of daughters to foreigners a history of humiliation in the memory of the Seris people. If the emperor planned to marry a princess to foreigners, there would be strong opposition."
"In fact, the Ming Dynasty was much better than the previous regime called 'Song'. Not only did the royal family of the Song regime not marry their daughters, but even the wives of male royals had to be from the same clan. The Ming Dynasty already had at least two princes
, the wife of a similar prince (referring to the Yong'an King Zhu Mengjiong who guards Yokohama) is a foreigner, but two of them are also Annan and Japanese who look similar to them. Only one Mongolian wife has a big difference in appearance, but she is also more beautiful than Europeans.
The difference between humans and Seris is less."
"The above is about marriage. Next I want to talk about forming an alliance to capture or control Egypt, at least Suez. Unfortunately, the success rate of this matter is higher than that of marriage, but it is still difficult to achieve.
"
"The reasons are not as many as the reasons why the marriage is difficult to succeed. The main reason is that the benefits to the Ming Kingdom are not great. Egypt is too far away from the Ming Kingdom. Even though the Ming Kingdom's national power is several times that of Castile, Castile
Leah can still exert greater influence on Egypt; and the goods of the Ming Dynasty are difficult to replace. If they want to obtain greater profits, they can just increase the price, and they do not have to open a trade route with lower transportation costs.
"
"According to what you said, there is absolutely no possibility of realizing these two things, and there is no need to even propose them?" Quijano said. He had never thought that Ming Dynasty had so many reasons for rejection.
Know what to do.
"Of course you can mention it. The current emperor of the Ming Dynasty is a person with a very broad vision and is very curious about strange things. Basically he will not agree to your two requests, but he may be willing to cooperate with Ka in some aspects.
Styria cooperates more."
"Of course, what really prompted him to agree to cooperate was, I think, his love for European artists and scientists. It's hard for me to understand why he likes to introduce European artists and scientists so much, but he was worried that Castelli would
Asia will no longer send European artists and scientists to the Ming Dynasty, thereby agreeing to some less important conditions." Clavijo said.
"Alonso, seriously, is it the right thing for us to send European artists and scientists to the Ming Dynasty? Is it really just out of curiosity and interest that the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty established Gezhijian? Is there anything else?
The reason?" he asked again.
"That's good, it's a good thing that you can bring it up." Quijano said quickly. He was able to go to the Ming Dynasty many times and his status among the nobles of Castile was greatly improved by being more familiar with the Ming Dynasty.
advantage, and this advantage turned into being able to reach more agreements with the Ming Dynasty, so he was looked down upon. If he cannot achieve any goal this time, his advantage will no longer exist, and his status will be greatly
reduce.
"What else did you say just now? There are many artists and scientists in Europe, and most of them will not risk their lives to come to the East. A few coming to the Ming Dynasty will not affect the development of art and science in Europe, so don't worry.
"He said again.
"I hope so." Klavio could only say.
"Even if the probability of success is very low according to the analysis, since you said that you can raise it with the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, I will still raise these two matters when he receives me. You just said that the princess of Seris is marrying outside.
Impossible, but it is possible for male clan members to marry foreign wives. Hey, it would be great if His Majesty Enrique III had a daughter. Then she could marry to the Ming Dynasty. The possibility of successful marriage and alliance would be high.
It will also improve." Quijano sighed and added.
"It's a pity that His Majesty Enrique III did not give birth to a princess," Clavijo also said.
They talked for a few more words, and Claviyo suddenly heard the growling sound of his stomach. He raised his head and glanced at the sun through the window. Then he noticed that a long time had passed and it was already the beginning of the afternoon. He hurriedly said:
"It's already so late, I'm already hungry. And I have to go home to see my wife and son. We'll talk about this next time. Anyway, His Majesty the Emperor must have received you on the first day of the first lunar month of the Ming Dynasty.
There are more than ten days, so don’t worry.”
"I'm sorry that I have been discussing this matter with you until now. Let's talk about it next time," Quijano said with a smile.
"Goodbye." Claviyo said hello and left in a hurry.
Quijano looked at his back and didn't look back until he completely disappeared from the yard. At this time, a man with yellow hair walked in and said to him in English: "Alonso, what you and Clavijo were talking about just now
What? Has he already made a plan for how Castile will get the Ming Emperor to accept our request?"
"Didn't you hear everything just now? Why are you still asking me?" Quijano said with a smile.
"You are talking in Castilian, and my Castilian is very poor. I can only understand some words, but I don't understand what you are saying at all," the man replied.
"I still maintain my opinion: Her Majesty the Queen should send an Englishman who understands Castilian to serve as the deputy envoy of the envoy team, not you." Quijano said.
"But I am the only person in England who has experience in dealing with pagans, and according to the English pronunciation of the Ming Emperor you repeated, it is the closest to my pronunciation. It is easiest for me to win the favor of the Ming Emperor." This person.
He didn't care about Jijano's rude words and said.
"I really don't understand why the person who taught the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty English would use your hometown accent. It has a strong rural flavor." Jijano said again.
This yellow-haired man is a noble from England sent by Queen Catherine, named James Churchill, from the Malbert family. Of course, he is a branch of the family, just a baron heir, and because his father was involved in the ongoing Anglo-French war,
If you don't perform well, you may lose your title. This time Queen Catherine sent people back to her natal family to find someone to go to the Ming Dynasty. In order to save his title for meritorious service, he even got a promotion and offered to go as an envoy. After screening, because his accent and the
Quijano's retelling of Yunxi's English accent was the closest, defeating other competitors and successfully getting the mission.
"Okay, please don't make fun of my accent. Although it is not pleasant, it is the accent of the Ming Dynasty emperor when he spoke English. That is enough, it has meaning." James Churchill turned back to the beginning.
Topic: "What did you and Claviyo talk about just now?"
"Gozelaizi told me that whether it is a marriage or an alliance, the possibility of success is very low. At most, some other cooperation agreements can be reached." Quijano said. He also told the yellow-haired man the reasons listed by Claviyo.
once.
"What, the people of the Ming Dynasty actually have such strange customs and cultural habits? The pagans I have been in contact with before are not like this at all!" James Churchill shouted in surprise.
"When you are dealing with the Ming Dynasty, you must discard your past impressions of pagans. The Seris people are completely different from the pagans you have come into contact with before. You must learn more about the taboos and culture of the Seris people.
If you accidentally violate their taboos, leading to diplomatic failure, the consequences will be disastrous. You must read more of the diary written by Gezelez, it will be very useful for you to quickly understand the Seris people." Jijano said seriously.
"I understand." James Churchill also became serious. He did not want to lose this opportunity to perform meritorious deeds that he had fought so hard for. It probably meant that he would become a knight.
"I won't say much else. I'm hungry too and need to eat first. I'll give you three days to read all the diaries of Ge Zelaizi to understand the culture of the Ming Dynasty. Then I'll give you three days.
Go to the streets and alleys of the city to actually experience the humanistic customs, and then pretend to be the attendants of Gorzelez or Borunevsky to see how they talked to the officials and nobles of the Ming Dynasty, and what the aristocratic etiquette was like.
After that, you will receive etiquette training from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty. Once these are completed, you will be able to meet the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and put forward your own opinions in front of him without worrying about offending him." Jijano instructed.
"It's so complicated." James Churchill sighed first, and then after Quijano ordered the attendant to bring lunch from the waiter, he said to him: "Alonso, I have one last question."
"what is the problem?"
"Why do you trust Claviyo so much?" James Churchill said: 'I have no intention of offending your personal feelings with him, but national interests cannot be determined by personal feelings. Since 1404 AD, he has been in the Ming Dynasty
After seven years of living in the Ming Dynasty, his lifestyle has greatly changed. Could it be that what he just said to you was to protect the interests of the Ming Dynasty? Rather than the truth of the matter? "
"James, you are thinking too much. First of all, Clavier is still very inclined to Castile. When he went to the city gate to greet us today, he also told me that he would return to Castile in the future. This way
How can someone like this protect the interests of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Well, I believe he won't deceive you, but maybe he has stayed in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, and has unknowingly regarded himself as a Serisian, subconsciously safeguarding the interests of the Ming Dynasty. I feel that Clavius should not be
Send his wife and children to the Ming Dynasty, so that at least he will have something to worry about in Castile."
"You are wrong about this. They have been separated for nine years. Even the deepest feelings will fade away after being separated for a long time. I am really glad that they both have a trace of Slavic blood and Slavic blood.
temperament, otherwise Clavijo would have married another wife in the Ming Dynasty and had several children. Although I don’t know if he had sexual relations with women, but since he dared to take his wife back to the house, at least he did not marry a wife.
, this is enough to see his deep affection. Since he is a deeply affectionate person, he must send his wife and children to the Ming Dynasty. If he does not send them, he will definitely feel that Castile is using his wife and children to force him to
Instead, he will send his wife and children here, and he will be grateful and do his best for Castile."
"As for someone who unknowingly regards himself as a Serisian and subconsciously protects the interests of the Ming Kingdom, I think it is unlikely. The Ming Kingdom is discriminatory towards people who look like us, and he will not feel at home in the Ming Kingdom.
Feeling. All in all, what you said is unlikely to happen."
"I'm sorry, I was presumptuous." James Churchill said hurriedly.
"You don't need to apologize. You don't know Claviejo, so it's normal to make such a judgment." Quijano smiled.
"Do you have anything else to do?"
"No more." James Churchill said goodbye to him and left quickly.
After a while, Quijano's attendants brought the food. After Quijano finished placing the food on the table, he said to him in Castilian: "Go and find Claviyo."
Ask your attendants, people you know well, what changes have occurred in Clavius in recent years, and what changes have occurred."
Although he showed his trust in Claviyo when talking to James Churchill, in fact, he did not really trust Claviyo completely. After all, they had been separated for too long. It was just that in the Ming Dynasty, he
The only ones who can ask for help are Klavyo and Borunevsky, so they have to trust him. But they also have to investigate.
"Yes." His attendant agreed.
"Don't be discovered by Clavijo." Quijano warned again, and then began to taste his lunch. (To be continued)
