The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 258 Spanish Governor
Luzon is Spain's main colony in the Far East, and the Governor's Office is located in Manila.

At the moment, in the Governor's Mansion in the city, Mason, the Spanish Governor in the Far East, looked at his subordinates in shock.

"What? An envoy from Ming came to Manila? Kersey, did I hear you right? Today is not April Fool's Day. Are you sure you are an official envoy from Ming? Not a pirate or some businessman pretending to be?"

"Your Excellency, the other party claims to be sent by the Commander of the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty to discuss important matters with the Governor. I think the other party will not make such a stupid joke."

Kersey, an official who manages the pier, said.

"But as far as I know, Daming doesn't have a formal navy?"

Mason has been in Luzon for five or six years, and he still knows the general situation of Daming, so he frowned upon hearing this.

"Your Excellency, Governor, according to the emissary's explanation, the Ming Royal Navy's Third Fleet was formerly known as the Fujian Navy, and it was established just last month. The commander is Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Sen."

"I see. It seems that our news channels have to be strengthened. The empire's sea power consciousness seems to be awakening. This is not a good thing for the Kingdom of Spain."

Mason nodded, with a hint of worry on his face, but more disappointment. He thought it was an envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty officials, but now it seems that it should only be sent by the Zheng family.

However, they still asked people to bring envoys in, and prepared to see them in person. After all, Spain could not ignore the Zheng family's sea power.

Especially at this time, they almost transferred [-]% of the warships and troops in the Far East to Dongfan Island. It would be terrible if the Zheng family fleet attacked Luzon while they were going north.

So Mason is already considering whether to discuss with the Governor of the Netherlands and formulate a new plan to wipe out the Zheng family's navy first and then go north.

Not long after, a middle-aged Han scholar was brought in, cupped his hands, and said in Spanish: "Your Excellency Governor, hello, I am Lu Hong, an advisor to the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty."

"Please sit down!"

"I would like to know whether your Excellency the advisor is here to represent the Zheng family, or the government of your country?"

Mason just made a gesture of invitation and asked directly, obviously wanting to find out this point first, but also holding a little illusion that the other party represented the Ming government.

"Your Excellency Governor, although I am here on behalf of my admiral, it is the intention of the court."

Obviously, Lu Hong has been to Manila more than once, and he also has some understanding of the style of Westerners, so he is also straightforward and straightforward.

"Oh? So, your envoy represents the official of your country?" Mason stood up abruptly, his face was overjoyed, and his tone was even a little excited.

It’s no wonder that Mason reacted like this. Spain has been in the East for decades. It has always wanted to directly start trade with Daming, so that Spanish merchants and warships can directly enter the port of Daming. However, they sent countless envoys to Daming. In the end, they were all driven back, but they never gave up communicating directly with the Ming Dynasty officials.

As for the Ming Dynasty officials sending envoys to Manila like this, that has never happened before.

"Your Excellency Governor thinks so, and it's okay."

In order to save face, all the civil servants are not in favor of directly sending envoys to Manila to negotiate with the Spaniards in the name of the imperial court, so Zheng Sen was asked to send someone to Manila to communicate in a private capacity, and then let the Spaniards take the initiative to send envoys to Nanjing .

Although it was very troublesome to go back and forth like this, both Zhang Yan and the civil servants felt that this was more appropriate, and Zheng Sen felt quite helpless about it.

"Your Excellency the Envoy was really rude just now, please forgive me... By the way, as far as I know, the official uniform of your country does not seem to be like this. I wonder if Your Excellency the Envoy has your country's credentials?"

Mason immediately got up and bowed in front of Lu Hong, expressing his apology. After all, this is the first official meeting between Spain and this ancient and huge empire. It is definitely of epoch-making significance, so he blames himself very much. I was too hasty just now.

Of course, he can't be completely blamed for this, but the other party came too suddenly, otherwise he would definitely go to the pier to meet him in person, and hold a grand welcome ceremony and banquet.

However, Mason immediately discovered that the other party did not wear the official uniform of Ming Dynasty, nor did he submit the credentials first, and he suddenly became suspicious again.

Lu Hong was also quite embarrassed by his surprise, but he had no choice but to explain to him again: "Your Excellency, this meeting is just a private exchange between the two of us, not a formal official exchange. You Do you understand?"

Mason frowned suddenly, thought for a while, and asked directly again: "Your Excellency, I want to know, does the emperor of your country know about your visit to Manila this time?"

Obviously, although Mason didn't understand, he wasn't stupid, and he grasped the point right away.

"Your Excellency, although His Majesty the Emperor of our country does not know, the Queen Mother of our country does know, and His Majesty the Emperor of our country has authorized the Queen Mother to be fully responsible for the military and political affairs in the south, including maritime trade and other matters!"

Lu Hong's Spanish is not very proficient, so it is a bit difficult to communicate.

Kersey on the side obviously knew about Da Ming's situation better than Mason, and after reminding him in his ear, Mason's eyes lit up immediately.

"It turns out that Your Excellency the Envoy was sent by the Governor of the South of your country. I wonder if Your Excellency the Envoy is coming to Manila this time?"

Seeing that he regarded the queen mother as the governor of the south, Lu Hong was speechless, and he didn't bother to explain to him, and said directly: "Your Excellency, I came here this time to inform you that my Majesty the Emperor Ming has issued an edict to completely lift the Maritime ban, we are willing to conduct normal trade and cultural exchanges with all countries in the world. If your country wants to establish a good trade relationship with our Ming Dynasty, you only need to send an envoy to Nanjing to request the establishment of a consulate."

After Lu Hong finished speaking, he explained the specific related matters to him in detail.

Hearing that as long as he sends envoys to Nanjing, Ming is willing to establish equal diplomatic relations with Spain, and allows Spanish warships and merchant ships to directly enter Ming's ports for trade, and can also set up a consulate in Nanjing and send ambassadors, Mason is a little bit excited. Trembling, I thought I had heard it wrong, and only after confirming it again and again did I completely believe it.

He couldn't help wondering if he had heard it wrong. After all, the previous governors of the Far East in Spain knew how arrogant this ancient empire was.

"Your Excellency, I wonder if Portugal and the Netherlands have established formal diplomatic relations with your country?" Mason immediately asked impatiently.

"Portugal sent envoys to Nanjing two months ago, and was personally summoned by the queen mother of our country, and formally established an equal and good relationship with our country. However, the Netherlands has been listed as a barbarian by our country because it is living in our country's Dongfan Island. country, our country will not establish an equal and good relationship with it."

As soon as Mason rolled his eyes, he immediately understood the meaning of the words, and he was overjoyed. He also wished that Daming and the Netherlands would turn against each other, so that Spain would monopolize the trade with Daming. As for the broken ships of Portugal, they were not their Spanish opponents at all, so Immediately decided to send envoys to Nanjing, and immediately withdraw the fleet on Dongfan Island, so as not to cause misunderstandings in Ming Dynasty and list Spain as an unwelcome country.

(End of this chapter)