open sea

Chapter 1504
While Liu Ruguo and Uesugi Jingsheng teamed up in the north of England, the sea in the east of England was reacting violently due to the sudden changes in the region.

Since the Spanish Legion landed in England, the hearts of the people in the six northern provinces of the Low Countries have been clouded.

For a long time, the Kingdom of England and the six northern provinces, the so-called Dutch Republic, have always been each other's horns in the struggle against Spain.

No one has the ability to fight against a behemoth like Spain alone, but these two countries support each other geographically, so they have the ability to fight against Spain.

If the Netherlands is broken, England will be attacked from both sides; if England is broken, the Netherlands will also be attacked from the north and the south.

Tang Xianzu handled the only government affairs related to foreign affairs two months ago, which was to meet the envoy from the Dutch consul William the Silent.

For them, Ming might not be a friend but would be an enemy to a large extent, so William didn't have too many demands, he only hoped that the Ming army would not allow the Spaniards to lease the port.

In fact, this is not an extravagant wish, Tang Xianzu did not directly refuse.

Although, in terms of the decision-making of the Eastern Military Government, it is recognized that it supports Spain to unify the European continent, and let a backward and decadent European country with extremely poor handicraft industry capabilities be reduced to a market. Strategy.

But Tang Xianzu believes that Spain is the strongest in continental Europe. Even if such a strategy is to be promoted, the steps should be slowed down as much as possible, and this great cause that can be completed in ten or eight years with external help should be extended to 20 or even 30 years. more favorable.

Unfortunately it backfired.

The proposal of Tang Xianzu was carried by the messenger from Puzhou to board the ship, and the bad news came from Holland on the other side of the sea-William the Silent was killed.

It is believed that the murderer was Philip of Spain. In the past three years, there have been five murders against William. Among them, William was shot in the assassination of the previous year and survived.

But this time, William was shot and killed three times by Spanish assassins who sneaked into the house.

The distance from Amsterdam to London is much closer than any capital city. Almost in the same week when the assassination took place, the sad news of William’s assassination reached the ears of the Dutch ruling envoy in London. Immediately afterwards, the young Dutch envoy Angrily, he went to the prefect of London to ask for an explanation.

When the Dutch envoys started making trouble outside the yamen, Tang Xianzu was reviewing the number of Chinese language schools needed in Xinna in the north, which brought him a lot of work pressure.

There are [-] Chinese language schools, and more than [-] school buildings will be built. The amount of work is large or small. The most important thing is [-] senior talents who are proficient in Chinese and Yi languages.

The students of the Chinese Language School in London have not yet graduated, and there is a huge talent gap.

At this juncture, the Dutch envoy came to ask for an explanation, which did not make Tang Xianzu feel angry, but only made him puzzled by the second monk.

"What does the Chinese have to do with the Spaniards assassinating your consul?"

Just in time for Wei Jinzhong, an idler in London, to visit the yamen, Tang Xianzu simply sent him to deal with the envoy.

Since Tang Xianzu started writing scripts, Wei Jinzhong met Tang Xianzu a few times, and after that, he often went to the Yamen to visit.

This person is quite interesting, and it doesn't bother Tang Xianzu.

But it is not necessarily true that Wei Jinzhong has any enthusiasm for drama, he is just a serious idler.

Now that the regular army in London has ceased operations, Ying Ming and the Beiyang Banner Army have to supervise the luggage, but Wei Jinzhong is really free. His enthusiasm for boxing is much higher than that of drama.

Although Wei Jinzhong's boxing skills are really not top-notch, it can't help that he has the highest status among those who like boxing.

Boxing, sword fighting, and the best skills are often the Spaniards, retired Spanish sword and shield infantry.

Even if Ying Ming's Beiyang Banner Army were to end, there would only be a few cavalry with art in the army.

Others don't practice this stuff.

The old Spanish sword and shield soldiers need to be physically fit and experienced, that is, their physical strength is a little weaker. They call fencing the highest skill. While swordsmen are learning fencing, some people will assist them in learning geometry to master human sword fighting. Sense of distance.

This kind of thing is extremely lethal, and in the eyes of Tang Xianzu, the magistrate, he directly rejected it.

But Wei Jinzhong likes to play, and he hired an old Spanish swordsman as his teacher. He wanted to play but didn't want to die, so he discussed with Tang Xianzu how to keep the sword fight without killing people.

The reason is that it is necessary to find a high-sounding one. Wei Jinzhong said that boxing, swordsmanship, and blunderbuss are good means of self-protection for the people of Ming Dynasty who travel around the world.

It's politically correct.

Nowadays, in London and Pooley County, there are boxing rings and sword fighting rings. For boxing, thick cotton gloves and cotton hats are worn, and cotton armor is also worn for sword fighting. It's immigrants who play this.

Wei Jinzhong was also in charge of the rules and procedures of the competition.

He planned to wait for these two competitions to become regular here in the future, and then bring them back to China.

The world is an amusement park for the people of Ming Dynasty. In this amusement park, protecting yourself from harm is the top priority.

But Mr. Wei Si, the happy boxer, was not so happy when he saw the young Dutch envoy.

At first he was also a little confused. Like Tang Xianzu, he thought that this matter had nothing to do with us. What's the use of you coming to us and talking about it?
If someone is dead, you should go to Spain, right?

But when the half-hour conversation was over, the ashamed Wei Jinzhong went back to the yamen and knocked on the door of Tang Xianzu's study, he was equally sad.

"Master Zhifu, the matter is not that simple. I am afraid that the letter you wrote to the military mansion has not yet reached the commander-in-chief's hands, and the war has already begun."

Tang Xianzu put down his pen, frowned and looked at Wei Jinzhong, saying: "Holland, going to war with the Celestial Dynasty... are you crazy?"

Wei Jinzhong didn't say any more, while narrating the news he received, he pulled out a picture from his sleeve, spread it on the table, and said: "According to their calendar, on the tenth day of July, the Spanish assassin Gerald, a man born in A Catholic in the Netherlands received a gift from the Spanish royal family, a gun."

"He sneaked into William's house and killed William with this gun. Three bullets hit him, two in the stomach and one in the right chest."

Listening to Wei Jinzhong's explanation, Tang Xianzu stared blankly at the blueprint placed on the table. On the blueprint was a firearm, which Tang Xianzu was very familiar with.

"You're right, this is what the assassins use. Even if the Spaniards have made some modifications to it, the lighter is a flintlock, and the blunderbuss has been replaced with a handle, any Ming Dynasty person will be able to recognize it. A three-eyed gun."

"There's an inscription on it, the Commander of Shandong Province is in charge of the Tianjin Youwei Military Weapons Bureau."

Tang Xianzu clapped the case and asked: "This thing doesn't have many shots in England, how could it fall into the hands of the Spaniards?"

Wei Jinzhong sighed, shook his head and said, "You're in Asia, have you heard of...a sacrificial vessel?"

(End of this chapter)