“The Netherlands” is full of martial virtue

On the pier, the group performers from the Spanish Confederate Army were preparing to greet them. Seeing the huge lineup of the opponent, Li Xiangen was afraid of losing the face of the Qing Dynasty, so he quickly straightened his clothes, with a smile on his face, and was about to walk forward, when suddenly there was a bang, it was a cannon.

Roaring.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It turned out that Zheng Kezang arranged a gun salute to greet them. It was so authentic that it sounded like a war. The ground shook and the sky turned gray and black. A group of Qing ministers who had never seen a war scene were frightened.

When he fell to the ground, the brave ones, such as Li Xiangen, all the flower feathers on his head fell to the ground without realizing it.

"Western artillery, so brutal!"

His head was buzzing, and it took him a long time to hold back these words.

Ma Hetai, a fake Kassan native, stepped forward and explained with a smile: "Master Li, don't be afraid. Sound the salute. This is the tradition of Westerners to welcome distinguished guests! It's just like setting off firecrackers during the New Year in the Qing Dynasty."

As for the origin of the gun salute, one theory is that it originated in the Middle Ages in Germany, when the city of Augsburg decided to fire a 100-gun salute in order to solemnly welcome an emperor who had returned triumphantly from the front.

But the officer responsible for firing the cannon got confused and fired 101. From then on, the tradition of firing the 101-gun salute was passed down.

Another theory is that it originated from the United Kingdom. From the 17th to the 18th century, the United Kingdom had become the number one colonial empire at that time, and almost every continent in the world had their colonies.

When British warships sailed past foreign forts or entered foreign ports, they arbitrarily demanded that the host country salute them with cannons to show respect and submission to Britain.

Seeing this, "Parker Zeng" looked very nervous and said: "Master Li, why don't you come and shake hands with our governor!"

"Mr. Ma, it's like this. We, the Qing Dynasty, are going to form an alliance with the Dutch. Then, the Dutch will be the allies of the Qing Dynasty, and your Makassar country will be our tributary country of the Qing Dynasty. We are all good friends, and the Dutch will also

I won’t bully you any more!” Seeing that he had slipped up, Li Xiangen quickly made up for it and said that it was still up to them to return to the Qing Dynasty.

Seeing Li Xiangen's situation, Ma Hetai probably guessed what he was thinking, and said, "Sir, the name of this governor is Cornelis Spearman. I heard that he is diligent and loves the people, and does not like to take advantage of the people.

But the ambition is quite high. Please be careful when you meet me later, don’t be deceived by the Dutch.”

"Be patient, Mr. Ma. I heard that Batavia is one of the most prosperous places in Southeast Asia. The city in front of you is probably Batavia. Why don't we walk there so that we can have a tour."

Li Xiangen suggested that he had been floating on the boat for too long and wanted to take a walk.

As soon as the smoke from the gun salute dissipated, several Western-style luxury carriages with tall horses arrived in front of them.

Besides, Easterners tend to be face-blind when looking at Westerners. The Dutch and Spanish are simply stupid and can't tell the difference.

Not to mention, Julio's calm makeup and specially made suit made him look quite majestic when he sat there.

As soon as they got off the carriage, several white maids and indigenous maids came to greet them.

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Li, it's the same when you sit in the carriage. The Dutch are leaving, let's get in the carriage!"

At first, Li Xiangen was very calm because he had seen all the best carriages.

"Mr. Ma, how was this road made?" Li Xiangen asked curiously.

Li Xiangen nodded, feeling quite honored to be taken seriously by such a powerful Western country.

"The land in Batavia is flat, with scattered houses and endless traffic. It's a great place!" After the cement road became available, Li Xiangen quickly changed his attitude from his original disdain.

"Master Li, let's get on the bus quickly, the Dutch are urging us!" Seeing that Li Xiangen still wanted to continue studying the cement road, Ma Hetai urged him more quickly.

He waved his generous palm to Li Xiangen several times.

"Even the welcoming ceremony had to fire cannons. The Netherlands is really full of martial virtue! It seems that the allies made mistakes this time!" Although the sudden salute frightened them, he was a well-known diplomat after all, so Li Xiangen didn't mind.

Just do as the Romans do, and instead praise the Netherlands.

In order to prevent cheating, the place where Li Xiangen's carriage passed today was filled with group performances by the Spanish Confederate Army, and some progressive female white slaves also came to participate. It looked like a European city.

It was only soon after I stepped onto the cement road that I realized something was wrong. The gray-black road on the ground was actually so smooth and solid. The Dutch are not simple, Li Xiangen sighed again!

Li Xiangen understood the meaning. Although he had never tried the Western handshake, he probably knew how to do it and quickly shook Julio's big hand.

The carriage galloped all the way and quickly entered the "Governor's Mansion".

Fortunately, Mingyan City is full of Western-style buildings, as well as a cathedral. No matter how strong Li Xiangen's diplomatic skills are, he still can't tell whether this is the territory of the Dutch or not based on his preconceived notions.

"Sir, Daqing is so great!" Ma Hetai looked very moved.

When the delegation entered the seemingly crude Governor's Mansion (all valuables were stripped off by the Guards), Li Xiangen was a little confused. Why could this Westerner be so frugal if he wasn't supposed to be greedy?

Following Zheng Kezang's introduction, Julio stood up quickly as if a mechanism had been triggered.

The scene was very harmonious. Who said that the Qing Dynasty would only close itself off to the outside world!

And next to him was Zheng Kezang, who also wore middle-aged makeup!

"May I ask, Lord Li Xiangen? The person sitting in the main seat now is Cornelis Spearman, the Governor of the Dutch East India Company, and I am the interpreter for this negotiation, Parker Zeng."

At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a white tuxedo and a top hat, with two big tufts of beard on his mouth, looked like a big capitalist. This man was Julio.

"Sir, I don't know much about this. I only know that this is called a cement road. It is a secret of the Dutch. Don't explore it easily, otherwise the Dutch will do you harm." Ma Hetai felt that he had to scare this person.

Mr. Li is curious about everything.

"Allies?! Sir, aren't we here to negotiate with them about the Kingdom of Makassar?" Ma Hetai was still acting, still pretending not to know the purpose of the mission.

No, if you were hurt by Zheng Kezang's beating, you would come to see your foreign friends.

After a small talk, in order to show his sincerity, Li Xiangen presented a fine gift from the Qing Dynasty - a glass and eight-leaf teacup, which seemed to be valuable.

Parker Zeng hurried forward and helped the Governor collect the gift very thoughtfully.

However, the size of this gift was somewhat small, and Li Xiangen was embarrassed. They were a bit stingy when the other party treated them so grandly.

Fortunately, Li Xiangen saw that the governor opposite seemed to like him quite a lot, so he breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to say: "Your Excellency, you must also know what the Qing envoy came to ask for this time.

The grievances between Ming and Zheng, I, the Qing Dynasty, want to buy warships from the Dutch!"
Chapter completed!