() "Violin?" This is the first time Du Fei heard about this instrument. It's no wonder that the only thing he knows about the West is in the process of trade, but none of the merchants in the West will transport musical instruments as commodities to the ports in the East.
Because they are not stupid, they know that no one understands that kind of thing, and no one will buy it.
At this time, the main course had been served by the servant. I saw that the dishes were served in portions and were placed on the plates with silver lids.
Colonel Square said to Du Fei politely: "Guests from afar, please taste the famous dishes served by our best chefs. Among them, you must taste the 'Scottish Pie' and 'Danish Soup' carefully.
Ah! They are called the Queen of Pies and the Emperor of Soup!"
Du Fei hesitantly opened the silver lid and immediately smelled a strong aroma. Under the lid he saw several plates and a bowl of soup. The most conspicuous one was the round pie with a layer of sticky oil on it.
Oily yellow stuff, and some vegetables, fish and diced meat are sprinkled on top.
And that bowl of Danish soup, known as the 'Emperor of Soups', exudes a strong aroma of meat. With a slight dip of Du Fei's tongue, which has experienced many delicacies, he can tell that there are more than one kinds of soup in this soup.
Meat, and all of it was game, with potatoes and eggs added to combine the flavors of the various meats. He took a few mouthfuls of the soup, but did not touch the other dishes.
Not only him, but all the accompanying men were the same. They just gulped down the soup and no one touched the food.
The reason is very simple, because the host did not put chopsticks. Everyone waited patiently, thinking that these Westerners must have forgotten because they were thick and clumsy, so they sipped the soup slowly and waited.
But after waiting and waiting, those people did not return. At this moment, Du Fei suddenly discovered that the English people were eating their dishes with the small knives and forks next to the plates. Then he suddenly realized: It turned out that these guys put this
Be chopsticks!
He imitated those people, holding a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, and began to clumsily tear the pie. The other people also followed suit, but their understanding and qualifications were obviously not as good as Du Fei's, and they were all in a mess and busy.
I was so busy that I was sweating profusely.
"It's all my fault for not taking the guests' habits into consideration." At this time, Square's attitude was very sincere: "I'm so sorry, we really don't have that kind of oriental tableware."
"You are so polite." Du Fei answered carefully while tearing the pie carefully with a knife. Fortunately, he was the only one who could communicate with Square, so he didn't have to worry about others leaking key issues.
He knew clearly in his mind that a pragmatic and powerful nation like England would never be so attentive unless it had something to ask of others. There is an old Chinese saying that goes well: if you are attentive, you will be either a traitor or a thief.
Sure enough, just as he was enjoying the meal, Colonel Square's face suddenly turned serious: "Your Excellency is here. I should have received you personally throughout the whole process, but unfortunately I was troubled by the next unexpected thing, so I won't be able to receive you in person tomorrow.
My friends from the Ming Dynasty, please forgive me."
"Accident?" Du Fei knew that this was the most critical issue when the other party went to the banquet in person. If he didn't bring it out, Square would not let him live in peace during the entire banquet.
"Hey!" Square said with a heavy sigh deliberately: "It's really embarrassing to say that our majestic British Empire, which is known as 'the sun never sets', would be bullied by hooligans like the Dutch. I never dreamed!
"
"Dutch?" Du Fei knew nothing about the Dutch, and he did not have people from this country among the merchants in Japan's maritime trade.
"You may not know their hooliganism! Fortunately, they claim to be God's people, and what they do is completely different from those pagans!" Square suddenly became excited, his red beard rising up and down.
Du Fei didn't say a word quietly, because he knew that this was the time to listen, and he had to wait for the other party to reveal his conditions before speaking.
Seeing that Du Fei was unmoved, Square knew that if he didn't come up with something real, this person wouldn't say anything, but before he revealed his conditions, of course he had to ask Du Fei's identity first.
"Excuse me, what position do you hold in the Ming army?" This is a more pragmatic question, bypassing the useless red tape and pointing directly to the most critical issue.
Du Fei knew that Square's intention in asking this question was already obvious: he must have encountered military trouble and hoped that he could provide him with assistance. Judging from his eager mood, the trouble he encountered was far away.
It cannot be summed up by the word 'an accident'.
Seeing that the colonel attached so much importance to his country, Du Fei expressed his attitude with his own answer: "I have close contacts with senior generals of the Ming army, and I have my own private armed forces."
Square was overjoyed after hearing this: "Oh? You actually have your own private armed forces? That's great! I have something I need your help with!"
"However, I also have my own difficulties," Du Fei said, changing the topic: "You know, it is not easy to raise a private armed force. In order to pay them commissions, I have racked my brains. I originally wanted to be in the sea ahead.
Looking for something to do...it's a pity that I'm not very familiar with it."
"I'm familiar with it!" Square has already heard the meaning of Du Fei's words: "Don't worry, if you are willing to help our British Empire overcome this difficulty, I will definitely receive a heavy reward! Don't say anything else first, you
The ships can supply supplies at all ports controlled by the British Empire, and we won’t take any money from you! After the event is completed, our Royal Navy of the British Empire will prepare a thousand gold coins for you!”
"Oh?" Hearing this sincere suggestion, Du Fei narrowed his eyes: "Haha, you are too polite. What I want to say is that in fact, the money issue is not the most important thing. The important thing is that we have to pay attention to the previous problems.
I’m not familiar with the sea area.”
"You don't have to worry about this!" Colonel Square pointed his right hand at a sharp-looking young man next to him and said: "This man is called Taiding. He is a famous sharpshooter in our army. The most important thing is that he is an experienced shooter.
A veteran, he started helping on the boat when he was twelve years old, and he is very familiar with the surrounding sea areas. If you bring him with you, you will bring a living map with you!"
"Tell me about your trouble." Du Fei said to Square with a smile. He had gotten what he wanted most, and he was quite satisfied with Square.
Square's face suddenly became serious: "This matter can be said to be related to the survival of our British Empire!"
Du Fei's heart skipped a beat when he heard this: It's broken. It seems to be a hugely difficult task. It can easily affect the survival of the country. It seems to be very dangerous! If I had known earlier, there would have been more benefits! He thought in annoyance.
"Now, the Dutch fleet has surrounded several of our large colonies," Square said with a gloomy face: "Our territory has been divided into two parts by the main force of their fleet, and we cannot look at each other from the beginning to the end. The worst thing is
Unfortunately, the main force of our fleet is trapped in the waters at the southern end of Mengya Island. The Dutch fleet surrounded them like iron barrels. I hope you can bring this news to Queen Victoria in England and ask her to quickly
We must dispatch other forces to rescue the trapped main force of the fleet, otherwise the main force of the fleet that we spent a lot of money to build will be finished, we will lose the initiative at sea, and the colonies will be cut up and swallowed up by the Dutch and Spanish!"
"Queen Victoria?" Du Fei asked in surprise: "Is your emperor a woman?"
"Yes, what's the problem?"
"Haha, no." Du Fei smiled and looked away. He knew that it was very difficult for a woman to become an emperor. In China's long history, the only one who could truly hold power was Wu Zetian.
After Du Fei accepted the commission and returned to the ship, he was very confused: It was obviously just a simple letter delivery mission, why did Square go to so much trouble? Couldn't he just send anyone to deliver it?
Only when he actually started to execute it did he realize the difficulty of this task: It turned out that the other end of the canal had been tightly blocked by the Dutch fleet. In other words, if he wanted to bring the news there, he would have to go straight through the entire
The sea area, and this sea area has been almost completely controlled by the enemy!
After listening to Taiding's story, Du Fei fell into deep thought: It seems that it is really not easy to handle. No wonder Square would entertain him so kindly. It turned out that he had been assigned a job with a narrow escape from death!
From what Taiding said, it seems that the sea area ahead is very vast, but there are only a few waterways in important places, and the Dutch have used their fleet to fill them up. Getting there is more difficult than climbing to the sky, Taiding
He also seemed to be a relatively calm young man, and finally told the truth: "That bastard Square! He has already caused several ships to be sunk by the Dutch fleet. Of course, he will never tell you these things.
of!"
The melancholy-looking young man shrugged his shoulders and said, "Do you know why he sent me here? Because this mission is a near-death mission and the possibility of survival is very small, so he sent me!"
"Strange, why does he hate you?" Du Fei looked at this outspoken young man with interest and asked.
The young man's face suddenly turned slightly red: "His daughter and I fell in love. We fell in love, but he ended up blocking the bed..."
"Oh! Oh my God!" Du Fei couldn't help shouting, looking at Taiding with wide eyes.
Taiding looked nonchalant: "Yes, Colonel Square shouted the same thing at the time. He is too stubborn. We really love each other. Why is he interfering?"
"If I were him, I might have stabbed you to death with a sword." Du Fei said with a smile, "You are not a good guy either."