Luo Dagong, who has been a local official in Shanghai for more than ten years and became a rich man due to rising land prices and high land rent income (he was originally a big landowner in Shanghai, some of the first batch of land occupied by commercial ports was His family) has seen many Western beauties. There is a white slave girl in his own mansion who is said to be from the Ottoman Empire.
But of all the Western beauties he had seen, none could compare with the beauty in front of him. The difference is not only in appearance, but also in temperament and upbringing. This Western beauty is by no means the kind who was trained by the slave traders of the Ottoman Empire. She can be compared to the female slaves who only know how to escape from good men.
If he had to find a comparable foreign girl in Grand Duke Luo's mind, probably only the Western young lady Li Shaoyou had seduced in the Holy Roman Kingdom could compare.
But that foreign girl looks a bit fierce and not as delicate as the one in front of me...
"Mr. Mayor, your city is so big! It's bigger and more prosperous than Paris..."
When Mr. Luo was admiring the beautiful woman, the beautiful woman spoke, and she started speaking in Chinese. Although her pronunciation was not accurate, she was quite fluent.
The prefect of Luo University himself had studied Latin and French, but it was not easy to learn only foreign languages! This French girl (actually Italian) can speak Chinese so fluently, it obviously didn’t happen in a day!
Why is she, a French girl, learning Chinese? Something weird!
"Ah," Grand Duke Luo put away his vigilant loyalty and replied with a smile, "Shanghai has indeed developed rapidly in recent years, but when it comes to historical heritage, it is still not as good as Paris, the capital of France... here Fourteen years ago it was still a rural area!”
"Really?" Mary Mancini blinked her bright eyes and said in surprise, "Only fourteen years? God, this city is not even older than me... Mr. Mayor, this The city is developing so fast, it must be because your leadership is particularly successful, right? You are such a great mayor, better than all the mayors in France!"
"Hahaha..." Grand Duke Luo laughed loudly after being flattered by Little Yangma, "I don't dare to be greedy for God's merits! The reason why Shanghai can be so prosperous is because of the unique vision of the current emperor. On top of the Yangtze River, we chose this precious place."
"The current Holy One...means His Majesty the Emperor?" Xiao Yanma asked uncertainly.
"Yes, yes," Grand Duke Luo smiled, "That's His Majesty the Great Emperor!"
"What kind of person is he?" There was a trace of expectation in the little Yangma's eyes.
Grand Duke Luo took in her expression and already had some idea in his mind... This little foreign girl is the French Prime Minister's beauty trap!
No, we cannot let the Great Tomorrow be deceived by this Western witch!
"Of course the great emperor is the hero in Weijiahai who conquered all the barbarians!" Grand Duke Luo's face darkened. "Of course a hero has a majesty that makes people afraid to look directly at him!" He thought for a moment and added, "If you want to find a similar king in the West, it would be Mohammed II who destroyed the Eastern Roman Empire!"
In the little Yanma's mind, Muhammad II was of course barbaric and brutal - his maternal uncle was a Roman Catholic cardinal, and in the education provided to the little Yanma, he certainly would not speak well of the "conqueror" Muhammad II.
But Xiao Yangma laughed: "Muhammad II could not build such a prosperous city in such a short period of time. This shows that His Majesty the Great Emperor is more amazing than Muhammad II!
Mr. Mayor, I am already looking forward to meeting this great conqueror of the East! "
"Meet?" Grand Duke Luo was stunned, "Miss Mancini, under what name do you plan to meet the emperor?"
"Actually, I came to Laoshan Middle School and Nanjing Academy to study," Mary Mancini said to Grand Duke Luo with a smile. "Mr. Mayor, I heard that middle schools and universities in Ming Dynasty will recruit girls. There is such a thing. Son?"
Studying? Grand Duke Luo laughed, just pretend!
"It is true that female students are admitted," Luo Dagong said, "but they need to be recommended and pass an exam to enroll... Miss Mancini, do you have a letter of recommendation?"
"Mr. Mayor," Mary Mancini cast a pleading look at Archduke Luo, "You will definitely write a letter of recommendation for me, right?"
"this......"
Mary Mancini smiled: "If a woman like me asks to see Mehmed II, any mayor in the Ottoman Empire will be happy to introduce her...
Even if I am a spy with ulterior motives, I should be interrogated by His Majesty himself.
Therefore, the mayor of Mohammed II would only write a report of his suspicions and send it to His Majesty the Sultan! "
Grand Duke Luo thought to himself: This woman is not simple! But what she said is right... A Western woman of this appearance is coming to my door. As a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, don't you report it to your father as soon as possible? Do you want to embezzle it for yourself?
Besides, I am not a lustful person today, and I will never be deceived by a Western witch with ulterior motives!
"Okay!" Thinking of this, Grand Duke Luo nodded slightly, "I will report your request to the emperor!"
...
On the same day, Emperor Zhu Cixiang of the Ming Dynasty was listening to the naval commander Huang Binqing and the admiral of the Yangtze River Fleet Gu Rong report on the investigation results of the Battle of Dinghai Anchorage in Laoshan Palace.
"Your Majesty, we can confirm that there are four Spanish warships that were sunk, two of which sank in the Dinghai anchorage, two of which sank in the waters outside the Big and Small Grindstone Islands... Two Spanish warships sank outside the anchorage. They should have scuttled it themselves.”
"Your Majesty, the Western prisoners of war have been tested one by one, and there is no doubt that they are Spanish. The battle process they described is similar to the report of the Dinghai General Army Yamen. Their warship was destroyed by our explosive shells! And ours The ship was attacked while at anchor and burned down!"
"Your Majesty, according to the training plan of the Dongyang Fleet, the ships in the fleet all take turns to go to sea and take turns to take vacations... 89% of the crew members of the twelve destroyed warships are on vacation and are not in Dinghai. . The remaining crew members were also allowed to go ashore to rest. Therefore, there were not many people on board at the time and could not organize resistance."
"Your Majesty, the Navy Department has also received reports from the Toyo Fleet that the Spanish fleet has now withdrawn from the Ryukyu Kingdom and moved to Kagoshima Bay in the Satsuma Domain of Japan..."
"What? Went to Kagoshima Bay? So the Satsuma Domain has surrendered to the Spanish?" Zhu Cixiang interrupted the report and turned to Zheng Zhilong who was present.
Zheng Zhilong's face is quite solemn!
"Your Majesty, the Spaniards are going to engage in privateering!" Zheng Zhilong said, "The terrain of Kagoshima Bay is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the strength of the Satsuma clan is not weak... If the Spaniards use Kagoshima Bay If we use it as a stronghold and sail around in all directions, there will be no peace at the southeastern seaport, and tomorrow’s trade will be unsustainable!"
"What should we do?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
"convoy!"
"Only escort!"
"The merchant ships must be organized into a group and leave the port together, and then the war ships must follow and protect them!"
Zheng Zhilong, Huang Binqing, and Gu Rong all agreed, but they all looked unhappy.
Because they all know that it is much easier to rob at sea than to escort! Otherwise, before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, why did the Dutch East India Company make offerings to Zheng Zhilong every year?
Zhu Cixiang let out a breath, already complaining a little bit about Zheng Jiangong in his heart. How come this guy can't succeed in anything he does?
If he destroyed all the Spanish Eastern Armada, wouldn't he be able to sit back and relax now?
"In addition to escorting, is there any other way?" Emperor Zhu asked.
"Secure Kagoshima Bay!" Zheng Zhilong said, "Marine plunder also requires strongholds, and the closer the stronghold is to the waterway, the better. There are many ships in the Spanish Eastern Armada. It's not that the big bay port cannot accommodate it. Now Manila Bay is blocked by us. , the Spaniards cannot go back, and Kagoshima Bay is the best stronghold they can find. If Kagoshima Bay is captured by us, the Spaniards will have nowhere to go in the western part of the Pacific!"
Zhu Cixiang frowned: "Capture Kagoshima Bay... Who will do it? How?"
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