My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 824 Receive the Mission

"Xijing City has arrived!"

Among the Venetian envoys, an unknown person shouted loudly, which immediately woke up Barca and others who were dozing off, and they all opened the windows and looked outside.

On the distant skyline, I saw a majestic and tall city standing there, like a legendary dragon, which looked awe-inspiring.

Barcelona had been to Xijing before and was quite calm. However, when Ceco and others saw such a majestic giant city, they all exclaimed in amazement. They had all seen Constantinople before and thought that there was no other world in this world. There is no city more majestic than Constantinople, but now it seems that this Xijing is no worse than Constantine.

As the team got closer and closer, Checo and others became more and more amazed. It was not until they entered the city that they saw the bustling scene of the city, which once again gave them a big shock.

After entering the city, Chief Lin arranged for the delegation to live in the post house, and then personally returned to Zhu Zhanhe.

After hearing the news that Basa and others had arrived in the capital, Zhu Zhanhe was not in a hurry to see them. Instead, he asked Director Lin to treat Basa and others well, let them rest in the capital for two days, and then take them to the palace two days later. See yourself.

So that night, Director Lin prepared a reception banquet for Basa and others at the post house, and arranged for Basa and others to wander around Xijing City the next day.

Barcelona is already quite familiar with Xijing, but this is the first time for Ceco and others to come here, so everything they see feels very strange, especially when they see someone riding a two-wheeled vehicle, flying through the streets of the capital. , Checo and others were also amazed.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that Zhu Zhanhe summoned the Barcelona team at Zhan Shifu.

"The Venetian delegation pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Basa led the delegation into the main hall, and then solemnly saluted Zhu Zhanhe.

Checo and others behind him also followed suit and saluted. Their experiences in the past few days had allowed them to see the prosperity and power of the Han Dynasty. When they entered the palace just now, they were shocked by this majestic imperial city, so they all behaved very humbly now. .

"No need to be polite, Barcelona, ​​you have worked hard. Helen was very happy to hear the news that you were coming a few days ago. I wonder if the Governor and his wife are okay?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked Barcelona with a smile.

"Everything is fine with the Governor and his wife, but the wife fell seriously ill because she missed Miss Helen too much. Fortunately, I brought back the news about Miss Helen, and most of her illness was cured at once. When I came back this time, I also brought I received the reply from the Governor and his wife to Miss Helen."

Basa said, solemnly took out two letters from his arms, and then presented them to Zhu Zhanhe with both hands.

"Great, come on, send the letter to Helen immediately!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately gave the order, and a female official immediately came forward to take the letter, and then left quickly.

After the private discussion was over, Zhu Zhanhe asked Basa again: "I heard that the Ottomans are fighting with you again. How is the war going now?" "I didn't expect that His Highness the Crown Prince also knew about this. A year ago, the Ottomans Suddenly launched a fierce attack on our island of Cyprus. Although it failed, it caused heavy losses on the island. Later, our reinforcements arrived and launched a decisive battle with the Ottoman navy in the waters of Crete..."

As Barca spoke, he recounted the previous war with the Ottomans in detail. This was not a secret in the first place.

Regarding this war, Zhu Zhanhe also learned some general information through Jinyiwei's intelligence system, but because of the distance, the information he obtained was very limited.

According to Basa's account, the reason why they waited so long to send the mission was all because of the war with the Ottomans.

The two sides launched a large-scale naval battle near the waters of Crete. The Venetian side dispatched more than two hundred warships, and the Ottomans also dispatched a similar number of warships.

However, it is worth mentioning that the warships on both sides are relatively small. On Dahan's side, they are probably smaller than the smallest warships. That's why when Mufas saw Dahan's giant warship, he He was so greedy that he even ordered a few warships from the Han Dynasty, but if the canal was blocked, even if the warships were built, they would not be able to bring them back to the Mediterranean.

Hundreds of warships started a battle in the waters of Crete. At the beginning, the strength of both sides was evenly matched, and the battle situation was also very anxious. Sometimes the Venetians temporarily gained the upper hand, and sometimes the Ottomans were able to win the battle.

This situation is already very bad for the Venetians, because when they faced the Ottoman navy in the past, they always had the upper hand. Even if the advantage was not obvious, they would not be able to compete with the Ottomans like they are now. There is a reply.

So under this situation, Venice has always wanted to send another fleet for support, but it has encountered obstruction from the Grand Council. The main reason is that there are not many ships that Venice can use. If it sends reinforcements again, it must recruit those merchant ships. , and behind these merchant ships, they are all owned by members of the Great Council. These members do not want to see their property destroyed in the war.

Of course, there were many congressmen who understood the righteousness and were willing to send ships under their own names to join the war, but they were in the minority after all. Although Helen's father was the governor, he could not force congressmen's ships to join the war.

There was a fierce conflict between the two sides on this matter, the Grand Council and the Governor's Mansion, and in the end no one could convince the other.

In fact, from this point, we can see the shortcomings of the parliamentary system. Although it can prevent dictatorship, it makes power too dispersed. This is not a problem in normal times, but in an emergency like war, a dilatory system like parliament will only Delay the fighter plane.

In the end, the Council of Ten intervened in the matter. They bypassed the Great Council and directly used the power of the Council of Ten to agree to recruit merchant ships to join the war. Only then did they finally put together a fleet to join the war.

With the addition of this new force, Venice finally gained the upper hand in the war, and finally defeated the Ottoman navy a month later, destroying dozens of the opponent's warships, and the remaining Ottoman navy also fled overnight. Returning to the Ottomans, he hid in the port and did not dare to fight the Venetians.

"This is what happened. Although we defeated the Ottomans, we also suffered heavy losses. Fortunately, Cyprus is still in our hands. In addition, the Governor also convinced the Council of Ten to send additional troops to strengthen the defense of Cyprus. , we will definitely not let it fall into the hands of the Ottomans!”

Barcelona finally added again.

Defending Cyprus was also the condition Zhu Zhanhe put forward to Venice. Only in this way can the two sides have a basis for cooperation, and Barcelona's last words also told Zhu Zhanhe that the Venetians were ready to cooperate with the big man.

(End of this chapter)