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Chapter 1057 European Delegation

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year again. Just as Hong Tao was preparing to hold a grand fireworks show at the Chaoyangmenwai market to celebrate the arrival of the new year, a dusty three-masted sailing ship accompanied by two Qin-class warships docked at the Dagukou Naval Port.

A European negotiating delegation arrived, including representatives of Scotland, England, King Charles I of Ireland, and the Lieutenant Governor of Ireland, Earl of Strafford, Thomas Wentworth.

Representative of Felipe IV, the fourth King of the Spanish Habsburgs and the third King of the Portuguese Habsburgs, Lorenzo Suárez, Duke of Medina-Sidonia.

Accompanying them were the Prince of Orange, the Count of Nassau, representatives of Prince Frederick Hendrick, Regent of the Netherlands, and the Governor of Batavia, Jan Peterszohn Cohen.

Representative of Louis XIII, the second king of the Bourbon dynasty of France, the queen's lady-in-waiting, Duchess of Chevreuse, Marie-Aime de Rohan.

Representatives from four European countries came at once, three of which are major countries. The lineup is very strong and the level of attention is very high.

Based on the principle of diplomatic reciprocity, Hong Tao also sent a welcoming team headed by his younger brother, Prince Duan Zhu Changying, to follow the officials of the Ministry of Rites to Dagukou to take all the guests to Prince Duan's Mansion for temporary stay.

"Don't underestimate that woman. She has a high position in the French court and is very scheming and a ruthless character. Compared to her, these three men may be easier to deal with. Fortunately, the French representative is only an escort."

When Hong Tao got the detailed list of guests, he only took a few glances and corrected Zhu Changying's evaluation. This Prince Duan was the highest-ranking official in the royal family and the only one who had access to military power. He was currently the commander of the Military Police Guard and was awarded the rank of General Wude of the fifth rank.

Compared with his two elder brothers, the youngest prince was the most reliable. Although he was not very smart and not very capable, he was honest and had never used his princely status to seek a position since he joined the army. He rose from a soldier to a commander position little by little based on his ability.

All his performance was recorded in detail by Jinyiwei and Bihu. When the General Staff replaced the commander of the gendarmerie, Hong Tao specially transferred him.

After several years of observation, he did not disappoint. When dealing with military discipline cases, Zhu Changying was unyielding. At this time, his status as a prince played a big role and had sufficient deterrent power.

However, according to Hong Tao's long-term observation, this seventh brother can only be promoted to the rank of commander at most. He is not smart enough, and apart from following the rules and regulations and doing things very seriously, he has no other advantages that can help him develop further.

If Zhu Changying was more capable, Hong Tao wouldn't mind letting him take up a higher position. It's a pity that he doesn't even have the opportunity to help him grow. It's better for him to just be a gendarmerie chief.

If he could endure for another ten years, and then raise his honorary title by two levels, and finally retire as a third-rank general, he could live out his life as a rich man. As a younger brother, it would be considered a good deed to live to a natural death, as he met such a cold-blooded emperor who didn't recognize his relatives.

"The French are quite open-minded. They sent a female official as an envoy. Aren't they afraid of being looked down upon?"

Zhu Changying was not afraid of his brother. On the contrary, because he often listened to the emperor's lectures since he was a child, he had a sense of dependence, or a feeling of calling his elder brother a father. When he encountered a problem, the first thing he thought of was to ask his brother the emperor for advice. He didn't have the nerve to say what to say and what not to say. "Wu Zetian is also a woman, and she has trampled countless men under her feet. Don't look down on women. The Prime Minister of Sun Moon Bank is also a woman. Why don't you look down on her? After returning to the mansion, privately inform Governor Cohen that he will enter the palace for formal negotiations the day after tomorrow morning. But before the negotiations, I want to talk to him first."

Hong Tao was too lazy to correct this way of thinking that judged people's abilities based on gender, and he couldn't correct it. Most officials of the Ming Empire had this habit, which could be considered a cultural heritage.

But I can't underestimate her. I have seen the name of the Duchess of Chevreuse in later generations. There is also a French woman who is mentioned on a par with her, Madame Pompadour. The latter is more famous, but the former is no less capable. They are both ruthless characters who have plunged a country's court into chaos with their own strength.

In Alexandre Dumas' famous works "The Three Musketeers" and "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", there is a supporting character named Aramis who appears frequently and is one of the protagonist d'Artagnan's good friends.

He had a mistress named Marie Michelson, whose prototype was the Duchess of Chevreuse, a maid to Queen Louis XIII.

The Duchess of Chevreuse was born in a castle in Brittany, named Marie de Rohan. Her father, Eguel de Rohan, owned a lot of land in Brittany and Anjou, and was also a French nobleman with close ties to the court.

At the age of 17, Marie married Charles de Albert, Duke of Lune, a favorite of Louis XIII and commander-in-chief of the French army, and thus entered the court. She soon gained the trust of the king and queen and was appointed as the queen's senior lady-in-waiting.

From then on, Marie was like a fish in water in the French court, and had power over the country, becoming the third most powerful person in the country after King Louis XIII and Queen Anne.

If you are interested in what she did specifically, you can check it out online. Anyway, each thing was more excessive than the last. Compared to her, Daji was simply an innocent girl.

Hong Tao didn't care about how she plotted in the French court, nor did he want to know how many nobles she had mistresses with. He only wanted to find out one thing when he called Governor Cohen: whether the Duchess had any relationship with the Duke of Buckingham in England.

Cohen did not want to participate in this negotiation. He could not handle the Emperor of the Ming Empire alone, and with the addition of these heavyweights from Europe, he felt even more overwhelmed.

But they couldn't disobey the orders of the company's top management, because these people didn't know a word of Chinese, let alone speak it. It was not safe to just find a random interpreter, and he was the most suitable one, so they came along despite themselves.

I had planned to send the guest to the capital and then hand him over to the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, and then serve as an interpreter. It would be best not to show up when not needed, so as not to make the Ming Emperor miss him. But before I could even get comfortable in the palace, Wang Chengen's familiar face appeared.

"...According to rumors circulating among the European people, the Duchess and Lord Villiers do have a close relationship. But please forgive me, Your Majesty. With my identity and status, it is obviously impossible for me to be familiar with the inside story of the French and English courts. It is just a rumor."

(End of this chapter)