Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 663 Warmly welcome the visit of the Ming Empire Mission
When Fang Yizhi and Zheng Zhifeng conveyed the Portuguese captain's warning to everyone in the fleet, almost everyone's faces turned ashen after hearing the news, but the matter has come to this point, and it is impossible to look back.

Two days later, the fleet approached the terrifying cape that the Portuguese captain said.

Looking from a distance, I can see a slender rocky promontory on the land, like a sharp sword piercing the seabed. Since no one has tried to land on it yet, there is no lighthouse on the Cape of Good Hope. There are only large black and gray rocks winding Stretching.

In the sky where the Cape of Good Hope is located, dark clouds are dense and continuous, and there are bursts of violent westerly winds, swirling clouds flying eastward. Shocked the hearts of everyone in the fleet.

The two warm and humid air flows from the north and the south of this planet meet here, and the huge energy generated collides and tears, and the powerful air flow derived from this has formed a huge mountain-like wave on the sea.

All ships are like fallen leaves in a vortex, rising and falling with the waves, just like the roller coaster of later generations, they are constantly being thrown up and then falling down flickeringly. The hearts of everyone on board are following this rhythm Up and down.

Everyone's minds were filled with a great sense of fear. Many younger children were already crying bitterly. Even Zheng Zhifeng in Jiulihai was pale, striding horizontally, his whole body tensed, and his hands firmly grasped Fang Yizhi, who was at the protruding part of the hatch, also turned pale.

Fortunately, it was early autumn, and the situation they encountered was normal in the Cape of Good Hope. The fleet did not encounter the most intensive and violent winter storm. After about an hour of strong turbulence, the entire fleet except Except for a few ships that were damaged by the wind and waves, all of them safely passed through this devil's territory and sailed smoothly from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.

When the sunny day and calm scenery reappeared in front of people's eyes, everyone let go of their shackles and came to the deck jumping and cheering. It was only about an hour just now, which made people feel like a world apart.

In the following time, the fleet sailed on the Atlantic Ocean for about ten days, and finally found a supply point built by the Dutch on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean. tinker.

Although this supply point is relatively simple and the conditions are very ordinary, for people who have just experienced the test of life and death, being able to set foot on the long-lost land is enough to make everyone excited and excited.

This supply point was built by the East India Company to facilitate the Dutch fleet traveling between the East and the West to rest at the shore, and also to provide fresh water and food for merchant ships from other countries that stop here. Of course, The price is also expensive.

After learning that this large-scale fleet came from the distant Ming Empire, the commissioner sent by the East India Company here was deeply shocked at first, and then showed a more friendly attitude.

For the East India Company, the Ming Empire was a powerful country with extremely rich products. The East India Company was doing its best to carry out all-round commercial cooperation with the Ming Dynasty in order to obtain high profits from it.

As a main member of the prestigious Zheng family, Zheng Zhifeng did not show off his identity to the special commissioner, although he would win more respect and convenience if he revealed his identity.

He is very clear about his current identity, and knows that he represents the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, and Fang Yizhi, the envoy, should be respected in everything now. If Zheng's influence surpasses that of Daming, it may not be a good thing.

After repairing this supply point for a full seven days, after supplementing some necessary supplies, repairing all damaged ships, and recovering everyone's morale, Fang Yizhi ordered everyone to board the ship, and the fleet slowly moved forward. Leave the mainland and re-enter the boundless Atlantic Ocean.

After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the direction of the fleet has turned to the north. Although there are occasional storms and strong winds during the next voyage, after experiencing the baptism of the huge waves around the Cape of Good Hope, everyone is no longer overly concerned about it. sense of panic.

On October [-]th, the tenth year of Chongzhen, after more than [-] days of arduous voyage, the fleet of the Ming Empire Mission finally arrived at the first stop of the trip - the port city of the Kingdom of Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula country in the most southwestern part of Europe. lisbon.

The word Portugal translated into Chinese means "warm harbor", or "land of ports", which shows what this country is good at.

At this time, after Portugal experienced large-scale colonial expansion around the world in the [-]th and [-]th centuries, its overall strength had declined rapidly, and it was annexed by the Habsburg dynasty of Spain.

However, as the Habsburg dynasty was almost destroyed, the restoration forces of the Portuguese royal family had driven away the Habsburg king Philip IV. When the Ming Dynasty mission arrived, Portugal had fully recovered, and the new king Joao IV Having just completed his enthronement and coronation ceremony, the high-spirited King Joao IV is trying to make a big splash in order to restore the glory of Portugal in the last century.

At this critical moment, the first mission sent by the Ming Empire arrived in Portugal, which had just come out of war, famine, and coup.

After learning that the powerful and mysterious mission of the Ming Empire from the far east had arrived in the mainland, the 30-year-old King Joao IV quickly sent his younger brother, Prince João Silva Visau, to the port to meet the mission. A group of people.

"My most respected Envoy Fang of the Ming Empire, His Excellency Zheng, Your Majesty Prince Joao Silva Visau of the Kingdom of Portugal, by order of King João IV of Portugal, warmly welcomes guests from the Far Eastern Empire, and on behalf of Your Majesty, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to the most honorable Emperor of the Ming Empire!
Our Kingdom of Portugal has a history of more than 100 years of exchanges with the powerful Ming Empire. During these 100 years, the two countries have always maintained friendly and cooperative relations, whether it is the government or the people. We sincerely hope that your envoy will visit this time. , will bring a new chapter to the long-term friendly exchanges between the two countries! "

At the Lisbon pier, the young and handsome Prince Visau stroked his chest with his right hand, saluted Fang Yizhi, who was the first to set foot on land, and Zheng Zhifeng, who was half a step behind, and delivered a warm and short welcome speech. The 30 Portuguese missionary Da Silva acted as an intermediary between the two parties.

The Ming Fleet arrived in Lisbon yesterday, and then Fang Yizhi sent a principal of Honglu Temple with the credentials of the Ming Dynasty, accompanied by Da Silva, to go ashore and dock with the Portuguese. The origins of the chief and deputy envoys of the visiting Daming Mission are still somewhat known.

"On behalf of the Ming Emperor and the imperial court, this official and Deputy Envoy Zheng would like to thank Prince Visau for coming to welcome us personally.

As the prince said, Ming Dynasty and your country have a long history of exchanges, and the courts of the two countries have close contacts with the people. There are still tens of thousands of people from your country living in our territory of Ming Dynasty.

The fact that the mission was able to span tens of thousands of miles and reach such places in the far west also relied on the great help of your country's captains and sailors. When the Ming Dynasty conquered Wang Hua's separatist rule, your country also had a large number of military academies to help.

It can be seen from this that there is still a good foundation for close cooperation between Ming and Portugal. It is based on this that His Majesty the Emperor of Ming sent us to visit Europa and set the first stop in the Kingdom of Portugal.

This officer and Deputy Envoy Zheng sincerely hope that many mutually beneficial consensuses can be reached between the Ming Dynasty and the Portuguese court this time, so as to promote the further development of the traditional friendship between the two countries, and ultimately benefit the courts and people of the two countries! "

Facing Visau, who was a prince, who came to greet him in person, Fang Yizhi, who was in a red official robe, expressed the purpose and wish of this visit in a tone that was neither humble nor overbearing.

"Your Excellency Fang's explanation is exactly the wish of the Kingdom of Portugal!

We in Portugal sincerely hope that our two countries can carry out comprehensive cooperation in all aspects so that the two countries can get more benefits! "

(End of this chapter)