Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"On August 8, the battleship [Caution] I was on arrived at Mango Port (Colombo) in Sri Lanka, and thus officially entered the sphere of influence of the Chinese Empire. Before that, the armed merchant ship [Onger] and the Portuguese [ East Africa】has left ahead of schedule to go to Goa and Mahe on the west coast of India. They will not return to Europe with us. After more than 7 years of European rule, the city is full of various European-style buildings. Unfortunately, before the Chinese seized the entire island, it was plundered by pirates, which caused heavy losses, and a considerable part of the buildings were destroyed. When it was seriously damaged, it had to be abandoned and rebuilt, but it also facilitated the Chinese to build buildings with typical oriental characteristics here, so that we can see some of them mixed with European buildings when we enter the port. After disembarking from the pure Chinese-style palace in the Chinese-style house, as one of the main entourages of the French Minister Robert Tremonta, I was honored to be invited by the local governor to attend the welcome banquet. I have to say that the governor The mansion is quite simple, and there is not even a maid to entertain, but the Chinese food is extremely delicious, especially those dishes full of spices, but why does the governor keep expressing bad hospitality to the vice minister of foreign affairs of the Chinese Empire? Is this humility or China? Are domestic banquets more exquisite? I am full of doubts and curiosity."

"On August 8th, we sailed into the famous Strait of Malacca, which is an important channel connecting mainland China and India. It was once the key to Portugal and the Netherlands' mastery of the eastern sea hegemony, but now it is all under the control of the Chinese. In the end, even the Islamic countries on both sides of the strait are now subject to the hegemony of the Chinese, and they are willing to become the protectors of this huge empire. The number is so large that we almost think we are back in Calais. Of course, due to the busy waterway, the Chinese have dispatched a large number of patrol ships in the strait. These patrol ships are said to be sent from the Huaxia Governor-General on the east side of the strait, but Because it is a military restricted area, we did not get permission to stop and observe. In the end, we were given the opportunity to enter Malacca because there was no supply point. However, this famous port in the past has begun to become depressed. After all, there are There are too many alternatives, and maybe that's why we were allowed to enter the port."

"On August 8th, we passed the island where the Chinese Empire's fleet headquarters in the East Indies is located, but we did not see any large battle line gunships - it is said that they were all sent out for cruise - this disappointed us , so that Your Excellency the Baron and I cannot accurately estimate the naval strength of the Chinese Empire."

"After traveling along the long coastline of Borneo for about three days, we are temporarily separated from the Spaniards. They will accompany His Excellency, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, to Manila to arrange the handover of the territory, while we will go directly to Penghu, a city near the The small island of the eastern capital of China stayed - before the French Kingdom and the Chinese Empire formally established diplomatic relations, the French Royal East India Company's commercial station was set up on Xiamen Island, a small island on the edge of the mainland about 2 leagues away from Penghu - The Chinese once tried to arrange for Penghu to be the ambassador's residence of the Kingdom, but this decision, which was obviously not in line with the status of the French state, was strongly resisted by the Baron Tremonta. In this regard, His Excellency Viscount Lu, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, can only suggest that we now Stay in Penghu, and then arrange for us to take a Chinese ship to the capital of the empire to present the letter of credence to His Majesty the Emperor. As for how to arrange the residence of the legation after submitting the letter of credence, His Majesty the Emperor will personally decide."

"On the way to Penghu, we passed the sea off the eastern capital of the Chinese Empire. At the beginning, I once said that the Chinese used this island once called Formosa as their capital recently, but when I knew that the huge island now The Chinese Empire started from this island. It took three generations of grandparents and grandchildren more than 15 years to complete the great mission of overthrowing the Tatars and recovering China. Only then did I understand the true meaning of making it the capital of eastern China. Of course, this island is also Beautiful and rich, it is said that the annual production of cane sugar is worth more than [-] francs. Perhaps this is the financial basis for His Majesty the Chinese Emperor to overturn the rule of the Tatars. I accidentally saw a formation of the Chinese Empire Navy that I wanted to observe but didn't observe before. In this formation, I clearly found that there were twelve battle line gunboats, twelve cruise ships and more There are a large number of notification ships, the largest of which seem to be huge ships with hundreds of guns. There are not many such warships in France, but according to the liaison officer of the Huaxia Navy who accompanied the ship, this is just a branch of the Huaxia Navy. Ordinary squadrons, there are more than [-] similar squadrons in the entire Chinese Empire. Damn, this may be a naked show off, or an exaggerated deception, but it can be easily taken from the Dutch by the Chinese Empire From the perspective of the whole East Indies, the strength of the Chinese navy is definitely doubtful. For this reason, His Excellency the Baron and I have reached a consensus that the Kingdom of France at present and for a long time to come will never be able to compete with such a huge The conflict with our opponents also means that the work we are about to start will be quite difficult.”

"Before arriving in Penghu, the [Albatross] armed merchant ship turned to Xiamen. Like the [Wengge], it will return directly to China after being loaded with Chinese goods. Stay for a few days to pick up the floating air balloons and other equipment provided by the Huaxia Empire. Penghu is said to be a beautiful coral island, but I don’t feel any difference from the islands we passed along the way. Of course, it’s mainly because the long sea trip is too tired. So much so that I can't appreciate this purely Chinese-style island. In addition, the typhoon I encountered just after I landed on the island is also one of the reasons why I feel bad about the island. Fallen trees don’t feel aesthetically pleasing, but fortunately, the [Caution] had avoided the dock in time, so it was not damaged. The Chinese also agreed to help remove the barnacles for free, which made the captain, Colonel Ainong, and a group of sailors feel abnormal I was so happy that I didn’t expect the sailors to be too happy. They got drunk and went crazy in the tavern on the island. They smashed some things, but they were caught by the guards of the Chinese Empire and sentenced to hard labor by the military court. The baron and I felt very happy. Disgraceful, of course the Chinese officials are still very polite. They didn’t discriminate against us because of the soldiers’ problems. Instead, they gave us a document that stated the precautions during our stay in China, such as the common defecation in Europe. , it is strictly forbidden to appear in the city, etc., so that we will not make a bigger joke when we go to the Chinese capital in the future.”

"We ate authentic Chinese food in Penghu. Only then did we understand why the Governor of Sri Lanka would say that the food was not good. In fact, I have never eaten such wonderful food, so that in just a few days in Penghu, I couldn't agree with it. All my companions have gained weight, but the good days always pass by in a hurry. The Spanish Baron Gamaro ended his communication with Manila and came to Penghu. In this way, our leisurely life is over, and the next step is to change Take the Chinese warship and go to the capital to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor. Of course, the Spaniards still have a task to collect money. Thinking that they are about to get millions of francs, all the French present are jealous—oh, I was wrong Well, the millions of francs are not obtained at once, this time the Spaniards can only get a third of it, but the cunning Spaniards choose to use goods to offset the price, once transported to Europe, it will be seven or eight times the value, This is far more cost-effective than getting cash, Your Excellency the Baron is even jealous to death."

"I didn't expect the territory of the Chinese Empire to be so huge. It has been four days since we set off from Penghu, and we have just arrived at the mouth of a major river that flows through the mainland. It is said that the capital of the emperor is located on this river In the middle section, we can’t enter by sea boats, we need to change to river boats. In a naval base named Chongming, we changed to a kind of hard sailing boats. It is called a junk ship, and it is characterized by the fact that it can sail with the wind and the wind, but the speed of the current sea ship is slower, but it is obviously more stable than the sea ship when traveling on the inland river. Not long after changing the ship, we passed by a place called Taicang God bless, this is an extremely beautiful port city, almost half the size of Paris, but in the Chinese population, it is only the capital of a marginal province-to explain, the so-called province of the Chinese is equivalent to France Taicang alone is equivalent to the entire Provence region, and in the eyes of the Chinese, Taicang is only a second-level province (Note: Zhili Prefecture). About Taicang is I have always been skeptical about the statement of the second-level provinces, but then I believed it after seeing large and super-large cities such as Zhenjiang and Jinling, especially the city of Jinling, which is almost several times the size of Paris through its towering city walls. The area of ​​the city accommodates millions of residents. How many people does France have? "

"If Jinling is a city of miracles, then Taiping is a city of devils. Looking at the towering chimneys and the endless black smoke, I almost feel the power of the devil. Yes, if it is not for the power of the devil, how can it be How about six times the output of iron products in France? However, the French scientists on board believed that the Chinese had mastered an advanced smelting technology, so they tried to visit and learn more about it, but the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viscount Lu On the grounds that the emperor is waiting for us, the request of the scientists was rejected” [

"After leaving Taiping, our itinerary has entered a countdown. Of course, the so-called countdown does not mean that we will arrive immediately. During the period, we have passed through big cities such as Anqing and Jiujiang and many more small cities. It took only a few days to reach the vicinity of the capital Wuchang. Perhaps it was because the vast land and huge population gave me a sense of deterrence. I became a little panicked. I didn't know how to face the ruler of this huge empire, and the baron was the same. feeling, but anyway, we have come to the heart of this empire"

〖∷Update fast∷∷Plain text∷〗