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Chapter 454 Albrecht VII 3

"I'm afraid even they themselves can't tell the specific figures. This country is very strange. It doesn't seem to care much about the whereabouts of its citizens, but it attaches great importance to its territory. I heard from the Chinese in Manila that an emperor in their country had done statistics two hundred years ago. , with a population of almost 6000 million.

The Portuguese and Jesuit missionaries living in the Ming Dynasty believe that this number may have doubled so far. Almost equal to the population of the entire Europe, it is difficult to imagine how they can effectively manage so many people. "

Facing the Archduke's inquiry, Colonel Garcia felt very guilty. He really couldn't give an accurate answer. Not only him, but probably no one in the world could give an answer, including the Ming Dynasty. All we know are estimates obtained through different methods and angles, but no matter how you calculate the numbers, they are staggering.

"If I didn't have the mission of being a king, I would be willing to live here for a long time and do some research." Archduke Albrecht VII, like Major Garcia, had a very high curiosity about ruling a population of hundreds of millions.

"Your Excellency, those should be officials of the Ming Dynasty. I have to remind you that if they ask you to kneel down and salute, please do not take it as an insult. Here, civilians have to kneel to the rich, rich people have to kneel to the officials, and officials have to give It's normal for the emperor to kneel down. Don't make any response and leave the rest to me."

Compared with the Archduke, who has a more jumpy thinking mode, Major Garcia is much more pragmatic, paying attention to the changes nearby while talking. When I saw a group of people and two carriages walking towards the dock, I immediately thought of a very important detail and hurriedly explained it to the Grand Duke.

"If I'm not mistaken, the person standing in the middle of the front row should be a priest, right?" Hearing this, the Grand Duke once again raised his binoculars to look at the pier, and soon discovered another point of interest.

"It's Father Sabbatino de Ursis, an Italian missionary. He has a new name here, Xiong. I heard that he has a good relationship with the Ming Emperor and was allowed to build a Catholic church in the Ming capital." Fortunately, this time Colonel Garcia He knew Xiong Sanba, who came specially to greet him according to the emperor's order.

Before arriving in Ming Dynasty, the Italian missionary lived in Manila Port for more than half a year, specifically learning Chinese from local Chinese. Not only had the two parties met, but they had also had tea and dinner together, and were considered semi-acquaintances.

"Oh? There is a Catholic Church in this country!" This may be the most exciting news that Archduke Albrecht VII has heard in the past six months since he left Spain.

"If the missionaries did not lie, not only the church, but also some believers, including officials here." Garcia really didn't dare to vouch for this issue. He had heard about it, but had never seen it with his own eyes.

"Garcia, missionaries are servants of God, and you lack the necessary respect for them. Well, it's time for you to dress up. As a Spanish military commander stationed in overseas territories, please dress appropriately!"

On the whole, Archduke Albrecht VII was a relatively mild-mannered person, but everyone had at least one trait. For him, all words and actions that were detrimental to Catholicism were unacceptable, even if they were just for people. The missionaries' credibility was also questioned.

The chief officer who came to greet the Spanish king's envoy was the naval governor Yuan Keli. This was not a deliberate arrangement by the emperor, but because when the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty heard that officials from the Spanish country were visiting, no one was willing to come forward.

On the one hand, they did not think that the Ming Empire should have any contacts with the Western countries. On the other hand, they really did not understand their national conditions, let alone their languages. There was no corresponding interpreter in the Seyi Pavilion, and they could not communicate after meeting. As for asking missionaries to serve as interpreters, it would be even more inconsistent with etiquette. What are missionaries? Xifan is just a traveling monk and has no qualifications to participate in such formal official activities. If he conveys the wrong meaning of a certain sentence with ulterior motives, who should be blamed for the fault?

Therefore, Yuan Keli had no choice but to make a difficult choice. He had been in the navy for so many years, and he had learned some Latin from the navigators and staff officers, and with the title of naval governor, his status was considered equal.

According to the pre-arranged itinerary, Yuan Keli sent Archduke Albrecht VII and his party to Tongzhou by boat, and Jin Yiwei took over. They continued by boat along the Empress Dowager Xiao River to Nanhai Zihuangzhuang, and settled in the courtyard of the Europa Church. Xiong Sanba Responsible for reception.

Why not stay at Tongwenguan? Because the Ministry of Etiquette did not know about it in advance, it would take time to prepare whether it should be arranged in the South Hall or the North Hall, what kind of etiquette should be used, and who would come forward to receive it.

The ancient Han people attached great importance to etiquette. There was a certain set of etiquette to be used in any kind of relationship. If it was exceeded or owed, it was considered disrespectful. Discourtesy is not only disrespectful to guests, but also demeaning to yourself, so you can't make do with it at all.

Hong Tao just asked the Ministry of Rites about the general plan, and was told that it would take more than a month to prepare, and then gave up completely. It is not rude to make the guests wait for more than a month, so we simply won’t bother them. It would be easier for Xiong Sanba to receive them in the name of the Temple of Europa.

As for whether the emperor has the qualifications to sign formal treaties with foreign governments on his own, to be precise, he certainly does not. It must go through the deliberation of the six ministries and nine ministers, and the formal decree and seal will be effective.

However, Hong Tao had a way to circumvent it. He hoped that the maritime trade agreement signed with the Kingdom of Spain would only focus on the development and control of sea routes and would not involve the Daming Port, so it did not matter whether the court approved it or not.

The King of Spain didn’t know what the Ming Emperor’s imperial edict looked like, let alone the office procedures of the Ming Dynasty. He just wrote a piece of paper, signed it, and stamped it. In the same way, I don’t know what the office procedures in Spain are like. The King of Spain can also make up for it with such a thing that has no legal effect.

An agreement is only useful between two subjects who need or are willing to reason. If one party is unreasonable, it will be in vain no matter how well it is written and conforms to the process. In this case, don’t pay too much attention to the formality. As long as both parties can reach an agreement on their interests, they will comply without writing a word.

On the contrary, if one day in the future the interest demands of a certain party change, they will definitely find ways not to abide by the agreement. At that time, the only thing that can resolve disputes is force, and no matter how many words you write, it will be in vain.

It is unclear how many years the Spanish can abide by Hong Tao. Anyway, the Ming Empire will definitely not be able to fulfill the contract for too long. When the threat from the north is completely alleviated, even if the Spanish king comes to the capital in person to pay tribute, kowtow and plead, it will have to be torn up. Without any guilt.

No problem, this is the norm between countries, interests come first! As long as you can get the benefits back and share them with the people, the more shameless and hated you are, the better the leader will be; if you fight with the people every day and turn around and pretend to be generous, then you are a domestic thief.

(End of this chapter)