Borrow the day to change the day

In the Wenhua Hall, in front of Emperor Chongzhen, Zhong Jinwei was at the head, flanked by six cabinet ministries, and the admiral of Dongchang and the commander of Jinyiwei stood in the middle, discussing matters in a serious atmosphere.

I just heard Emperor Chongzhen say: "My dear friends, the fleet of Xiyi reported by Dongchang also crossed the Pacific Ocean from Southeast Asia to North America. This matter was once again confirmed by Jin Yiwei. There should be no falsehood. I thought that my feudal king Things in North America may change."

All the ministers are mentally prepared to discuss matters with such a large formation.But I didn't expect it to be such a thing, which would definitely affect Daming's national policy.

Wen Tiren, the chief assistant of the cabinet, came out, and confirmed to the two chiefs of the factory guards: "Why didn't the pirates say this before, but now they have this conclusion? Whether this is true or not, it must not be false for half a day! "

This news was so unexpected, even if Emperor Chongzhen said that there should be no falsehood, Wen Tiren would have to confirm it again.

The previous pirates were in charge of Dongchang. Wang Chengen saw the first assistant questioning him, and he quickly replied: "The source of this news is the Hongyi Governor Putmansi himself, and other thieves have also confirmed this matter. They have repeatedly Raiding the Spanish convoy from the Philippines to North America and Mexico at sea."

After talking about the source of the news, Wang Chengen remembered that he hadn't answered Wen Tiren's other question, so he added: "The previous pirates were probably afraid of the court's punishment, so they didn't dare to speak about it. In this way, the court will pay more attention to it. They know the situation and will not blame them. Only this reason can explain why they did not mention the Spaniards."

Zhong Jinwei had never heard of this matter in later generations, and he was very surprised when he heard the news for the first time, but after thinking about it for a while, he finally figured it out.

The people of the Ming Dynasty arrived in Mexico City during the Wanli period, and there were so many people passing by, it is naturally impossible for the Spaniards not to know about this route.

Going around the Cape of Good Hope in Asia and Southeast Asia and returning to Europe is obviously farther than crossing the Pacific Ocean, arriving in Mexico, carrying supplies on the shoulders of indigenous people to the Gulf of Mexico, and then crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Zhong Jinwei wanted to understand this, so he interjected and asked, "My lord, have you asked about the flight route from the Philippines to North America?"

Wang Chengen looked at Zhong Jinwei, nodded and replied: "It is said that it is a detour to Japan, and then to North America, which is similar to the route I went to explore in Ming Dynasty."

In order to show his existence, the commander of Jin Yiwei, Luo Yangxing, followed Wang Chengen's words: "The same is true of the testimony obtained by Jin Yiwei."

After hearing this, the ministers in the Wenhua Palace began to discuss it.Most of them believed the news, but some people were skeptical.

At this time, Zhong Jinwei suddenly turned to Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, the coastal defense guerrilla Zheng Zhilong is criss-crossing the sea. You might as well invite him to come and ask, or you can use another way to see if this news is true."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this, and immediately sent an edict to let Zheng Zhilong have an audience.

Zheng Zhilong hurried over, and when he heard about this, he played affirmatively: "Return to Your Majesty, there is indeed such a thing."

In order to prove what he said, he said another thing: "Japan also sent envoys to cross the Pacific Ocean with the Spanish fleet to their country."

This is another heavy news, which exploded in the Wenhua Palace, causing everyone to be shocked again.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned when he heard that, not knowing how much unknown news there was, he immediately ordered Zheng Zhilong to explain in detail about the Japanese mission.

It turns out that after Spain discovered the route from the Philippines to Mexico by Andres de Urdaneta in the [-]th century, it began to use their territory, the Philippines, as a base to carry out shipping across the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Asia and Southeast Asia. .

However, Spanish merchant ships often wrecked off the coast of Japan due to bad weather, and thus dealt with Japan.

Under the lobbying of the Spaniards, the Tokugawa shogunate decided that Date Masamune, the Sendai daimyo, would be solely responsible for the construction of a large sailing ship, the Date Village Maru.

Departed for Acapulco, Mexico, on October 28, [-], and arrived after three months at sea.Then Hasekura Changchang diverted to Europe, where he stayed for nearly four years, then crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Philippines, and finally diverted back to Japan.

Many people were surprised when they heard this, because there is no such thing as a route back and forth.

This is actually their ignorance. In the age of sails, sailing on the sea mostly relied on wind and ocean currents.And Spain's route back and forth to the Pacific Ocean just coincides with the flow of the Pacific Ocean Current.

Zhong Jinwei was also extremely surprised after hearing Zheng Zhilong's words. He quickly asked, "What happened to Changcho Hasakura? Is Japan still in contact with Spain?"

Everyone is concerned about this question, so they all wait for Zheng Zhilong's answer.

Zheng Zhilong thought for a while, and then replied: "It seems that he died of illness shortly after returning from the mission, and Japan also cut off contact with Spain due to religious issues."

Xu Guangqi, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, frowned and asked, "How do you know so clearly, especially these things related to Japan?"

He used to think that he was the No.1 in dealing with Westerners, the one who knew them best.But I didn't expect that there was such a thing as Japan's mission to the West. After dealing with it for so long, I didn't even know it.Logically speaking, this Zheng Zhilong was just a pirate before, so how could he know so much?

When Zhong Jinwei heard Xu Guangqi's question, he couldn't help but smiled and answered for Zheng Zhilong: "His wife, oh, his wife is Japanese. Can you not know about my husband's family?"

After hearing Zhong Jinwei's explanation, Zheng Zhilong was surprised why he knew, but also secretly grateful.Hou Zhongxing's explanation is a hundred times better than his own defense.

However, he immediately added: "In elementary school in Japan, Changchang Changchang told some interesting things about Xiyi after he came back, so the general will know everything as soon as he inquires about it."

Zhong Jinwei heard that there was such a thing, and he was more curious, so he asked, "What's interesting?"

"Those Xiyi grabbed food with their hands and robbed him of the soft mouth wipes he used..." Zheng Zhilong smiled and recounted the interesting things he heard.

Emperor Chongzhen and the officials in the palace began to hear it funny, these Western barbarians were indeed barbarians, and they were so uncivilized.

But in the end, no one could laugh.Such a barbarian, but with strong ships and guns that Da Ming did not have, even ran to Da Ming and slapped him severely in the face once.

After Zheng Zhilong finished speaking, the Wenhua Hall was quiet for a while, and finally Zhong Jinwei said: "There should be no objections to the flight route now?"

No one spoke, apparently acquiescing to what Zhong Jinwei said.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he said, "Then let's discuss the impact of this matter on the vassal's feudal North America."