The United Kingdom mission fleet docked at Dagukou Military Port.
Viscount Andre stood at the port and looked up at the huge coastal defense guns on the shore of Dagukou Military Port.
He opened his mouth wide and couldn't close it for a long time.
This is the largest coastal defense gun he has ever seen.
Lu Ping'an introduced at the side: "This is our country's largest caliber coastal defense gun, a 455mm coastal defense gun.
I read in the newspaper that he can shoot nearly ten kilometers away and destroy a battleship with one shot."
Viscount Andre has learned a lot about Dahua in the past few months.
He knew the caliber of the 455mm coastal defense gun, which was almost the height of three people.
The United Kingdom still measures the power of artillery by the weight of the shells. The twenty-four-pound artillery is a relatively powerful artillery.
He couldn't even imagine how many pounds it would take to weigh such a large-caliber artillery piece.
The current level of metallurgy in the United Kingdom simply cannot produce artillery pieces of this caliber.
Viscount Andre continued to watch the fort, and he carefully recorded the situation of the fort in his notes.
The Chinese allowed him to watch the fort, and he wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to record more things.
The outer shell of the fort is made of hard concrete, and Viscount Andre is familiar with the ubiquitous concrete in the Dahua Dynasty.
He knew that this material was harder than rock.
There are some similar materials in Europe, but the cost and strength are much worse than the concrete of Dahua Dynasty.
Viscount Andre realized that the Great China Dynasty was full of gold mines.
As long as he understands some common technologies and brings them back to Europe to reproduce them, there will be a steady stream of gold mines.
Viscount Andre took a deep breath after recording the situation of the fort.
Even if the main fleet of the United Kingdom arrives at Dagukou, it will not be able to break through the defenses of Dagukou. It is likely that it will not be able to withstand the blows of coastal defense artillery, resulting in the destruction of the entire army.
Viscount Andre didn't need to see the strength of the Royal Navy of Dahua. He could understand why the Dahua Dynasty was so confident just by looking at the Dagukou Fort.
Now no country's navy can guarantee that it can break through Dahua's port.
Viscount Andre disembarked in Tianjin City, and the warships of the fleet docked at the port designated by the Royal Navy of China, accepting the surveillance of the Royal Navy of China.
He paid to hire stevedores at the dock to unload the cargo from the ship to the dock.
Viscount Andrei saw a more complete steam crane at the dock, and it took only a short time to unload a large amount of cargo.
Under the leadership of Lu Pingan, he went to Tianjin Railway Station.
As the motorcade passed through Tianjin City, Viscount Andre saw that Tianjin City was not as prosperous as Guangzhou City.
The sound of firecrackers is heard from time to time in this city. There are very few people on the streets, most of them are children.
There are very few horse-drawn carriages on the streets, and the traffic density is far less dense than in Guangzhou.
Viscount Andre said with emotion: "This city is so deserted. The fleets are supplying supplies along the way and docking at many seaport cities.
I found that many small towns are more prosperous than this big city now."
Lu Pingan said with a smile: "Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year, which is the most important festival of our Dahua Dynasty.
Whether it is officials, nobles or common people.
They all celebrate the festival at home, and except for essential positions, everyone goes home for the holidays."
When Viscount Andre heard what Lu Pingan said, he understood that the United Kingdom also had this scene at Christmas.
Hearing that there was a national holiday recently, he asked with some concern: "Mr. Lu, will our United Kingdom mission's visit to His Majesty the Emperor of the Chinese Dynasty be delayed due to the holiday?"
Lu Ping'an shook his head and said: "I don't know much about official matters, so we can only rush to the capital and follow the arrangements of the officials of the Ministry of Rites.
But I think we will definitely not be able to go to court before the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."
Viscount Andre was worried all the way and was about to arrive at the capital of the Great China Dynasty. He was worried that he would not be able to complete the task assigned by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Their motorcade soon arrived at the train station.
Lu Ping'an led Viscount Andre to buy train tickets, and they boarded the train to the capital.
Viscount Andrei was sitting on the train, the shocked expression on his face had not faded.
Viscount Andrei can accept the application of steam engines to factories and ships.
He didn't expect that the steam engine could actually drive a small iron box to run on the rails at high speed.
The steam engine can be made so small and powerful, and its uses are stronger than previously expected.
This was not the first time that Viscount Andre had seen railway tracks. There were also some railway tracks in the United Kingdom, and horse-drawn wagons quickly transported supplies on the railway tracks.
This kind of rail carriage can carry only a little more than ordinary freight cars, and is completely incomparable with steam trains.
When Viscount Andre saw a steam train, he realized that steam engines had been used in every aspect by the Chinese.
He felt like a farmer in the countryside going to London for the first time.
As Viscount Andrei walked along, he felt ashamed of himself, which completely shattered the pride in his heart.
The steam train traveled very fast, and the group of them arrived at the Beijing Railway Station in the evening.
Lu Pingan took them to stay in the most luxurious inn in the capital.
Viscount Andrei checked into the inn and found everything he saw strange.
Early the next morning, they went to the Ministry of Rites to inquire about the delegation's audience.
The person on duty at the Department of Rites and Administration told them that the government offices would not officially open until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Ask Viscount Andre to leave his address and wait for news from the Ministry of Rites.
…………………………
Su He soon received the news from the officials of the Ministry of Rites that the British envoys came to see him. They wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Dahua.
As for the mission's traces, when they entered Nanyang, the military and the Military Intelligence Bureau made relevant reports.
Su He has always maintained a vigilant attitude towards this country that will grow into an empire on which the sun never sets in the future.
The first countries in Europe to start the Age of Discovery were Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
But the only representative of the Age of Discovery that will influence the world's situation for centuries to come is the British Empire.
The British Empire was the first to complete industrialization, relying on its strong industrial strength and first-mover advantage to crush all countries in the world.
Now that Dahua has initially completed industrialization, it will definitely not lag behind others in the future.
Su He stood in the Qianqing Palace, looking at the world map and thinking carefully about Dahua's attitude towards Daying.
He quickly figured out that it would be better to treat the British Empire with a normal attitude.
Suhe laid a solid foundation for this country. What it will develop in the future depends on the efforts of future generations.
Dahua must not be closed to the outside world and remain ignorant of the situation in the entire world.
If the country is closed to the outside world, even if it temporarily maintains a certain advantage, the country will slowly decay.
The Han people have not yet experienced the ignorant rule of the Qing Dynasty, and now the entire national mentality is open and tolerant.
We Han people have never been afraid of fair competition.
There is no serious conflict of interest between Dahua and Daying for the time being.
With the rise of the British Empire, in order to maintain their advantages, they will inevitably become troublemakers in Europe.
Prevent the emergence of a powerful force on the European continent through offshore balancing and other means.
As long as there is no unified country like the Roman Empire on the European continent.
Su He is confident that future generations, even if they have poor abilities, can at least maintain the current sphere of influence.
He asked Eunuch Zhou Fangzhi to inform all civil and military officials that the first imperial meeting would be held on the 16th day of the first lunar month to allow the British envoys to go to the imperial court.
Su He asked civil and military officials to see European countries.
He wanted to advance the imperial meeting, but it was the New Year holiday.
Transportation has become more developed, and many officials in the capital go back to their hometowns to celebrate the festival.
Only during the originally scheduled period of the Great Court Meeting can most officials participate in the Great Court Meeting.
…………………………
Viscount Andre received a notice from an official of the Ministry of Etiquette of the Great China Dynasty. He was afraid that he might have misheard the message because he was not familiar with Chinese.
He asked Lu Pingan: "Mr. Lu, what I heard is correct!
Officials from the Ministry of Rites allow us to go to Hajj on January 16th, Chinese time."
Viscount Andre specially emphasized the Dahua time. The time they used in Europe was dozens of days different from the time used by the Dahua Dynasty.
He often made some embarrassing jokes because he lost track of time.
Lu Ping'an nodded and said, "The Viscount remembers correctly."
He answered this sentence in standard Cockney English.
Lu Ping'an is a language genius. He has followed the mission for so long and has learned the English language.
After learning English, do you know what people in the mission communicate with each other on a daily basis?
This also helps Lu Ping'an monitor the conversations of the people in the mission.
After Viscount Andre received the confirmation, he said in surprise: "Mr. Lu, I hope you will come with me to the audience.
You are the only Chinese person who understands English. There are some situations that I don’t know how to describe in Chinese, so I can only describe them in English. Mr. Lu helped me translate."
While Lu Ping'an was in the capital, he had already contacted his superiors.
I have obtained a new mission, which is to gain the trust of the mission. It is best to follow the mission back to Britain and obtain detailed information about this European country.
Lu Ping'an immediately nodded and agreed: "Lord Viscount, please prepare carefully for going to court.
I will translate it carefully and will not let you down for the money you paid."
Viscount Andrei thought carefully about the items he showed to the court.
Before coming to Dahua, he carried these items to show the power of the United Kingdom and to show the power of the Dahua Dynasty.
When he came to Dahua, these items still showed power to the Dahua Dynasty, but the purpose was completely different.
These items allow the Chinese Dynasty to understand the strength of the United Kingdom.
In European diplomatic etiquette, the strong will not communicate equally with the weak.
Viscount Andre must use delicate words to show the power of the United Kingdom.
He constantly considered his language, carefully followed the officials sent by the Ministry of Rites, and learned the etiquette here in Dahua.
…………………………
In the year 4337 (AD 1640), on January 16, the first great court meeting was held after the New Year's Eve of the Great China Dynasty.
All the civil and military officials of the previous dynasty had received news before that His Majesty the Emperor was going to receive the envoys from European countries at the dynasty.
Many officials do not know much about European countries. The only European country they knew before was the Kingdom of Spain.
Some officials thought that the imperial court and Spain were back on good terms.
After being reminded by their colleagues, they realized that these were two different European countries.
Viscount Andre led the senior officials of the mission to the Golden Palace under the guidance of the young eunuch.
He saw majestic and splendid buildings along the way, and everyone was shocked.
Viscount Andre led the envoys. They put their right hands on their chests and bowed ninety degrees in the direction of the dragon chair.
"I, Andre, have been commissioned by the King and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of China.
We hope that the two countries can coexist peacefully, exchange what they need, conduct strategic cooperation, and establish diplomatic relations."
Viscount Andrei spoke Chinese that he didn't quite understand, and these few sentences were rummaged through old newspapers.
He repeated the words spoken when the Great China Dynasty established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Spain.
Su He looked at the distinctive golden retriever growing below.
"Envoy Pingshen, neither I nor my dear friends understand Western countries.
Envoy, can you introduce your country?"
Viscount Andre stood up straight and looked up at the young man on the throne.
This young man in his prime was the founder of this huge empire.
When he heard Emperor Dahua's request, a smile appeared on his face.
The Emperor of Great China wants to know about the United Kingdom, that is, he is interested in the United Kingdom.
The probability of the United Kingdom successfully establishing diplomatic relations with China has been greatly improved.
Viscount Andrei asked his assistants to show them the map of the world they had drawn.
Many first- and second-grade officials almost laughed out loud when they saw this world map.
This world map is too crudely drawn and does not match up in many places. It is too far from the world map in the Qianqing Palace.
But this world map, Europe and America, is drawn more accurately.
Viscount Andre introduced the relevant situation in his country and Europe.
"The United Kingdom, where I am located, is located in the British Isles and is one of the most powerful countries in Europe.
The Armada controlled by the United Kingdom is invincible in Europe, and they can project military power in any ocean in the world.
…
Europe is now in the midst of a long war, with our United Kingdom at war with the Habsburgs and the Kingdom of Spain.
We in the United Kingdom and Dahua have a common enemy, but there is no conflict of interest..."
Su He listened to Viscount Andre's introduction. After occasionally stumbling, he spoke in English and Lu Pingan translated.
What Viscount Andrei said constantly elevated Britain's status, but what he said was basically true.
Su He looked at the performance of the civil and military officials. Many of them knew little about European countries before, but now after listening to the envoys' stories, they now have some understanding of European countries.
Prime Minister Wang Zhongce saw Emperor Su He's gesture and said: "I see from the map that the British Isles are too small. You are not as big as Dahua Province."
Before going to court, Viscount Andre had already learned about the main officials of the Great China Dynasty through newspapers.
He saw the Prime Minister of Dahua questioning the United Kingdom because of its small land area.
Viscount Andre knew that now, he must show the strength of the United Kingdom.
After bowing, he asked: "Your Majesty the Emperor, please allow me to show you something."
Su He waved to Qin Shanshui, the commander of the Qilin Guards, and he agreed to Andre's request.
Qin Shanshui immediately brought the Qilin Guard soldiers, and they carried up what Andre was about to show.
These things were handed over to Qilin Guard and Xuanwu Guard for review five days ago.
All weapons have been removed from ammunition, and all items have been disassembled and inspected to prevent the inclusion of any dangerous goods.
Viscount Andrei showed a confident smile when he saw everything being carried up.