"Your Majesty, the Earl of Chester wishes to see you."
"Let him in."
On December 6, 1583 AD, two months after the cannons of the European fleet set sail from Tianjin Port, Elizabeth Tudor stood in front of the glass window of the Queen's Drawing Room in Whitehall Palace, looking at the snow-covered outside.
Covered grass.
Because she had never married, the last queen of the Tudor dynasty looked a little sad. Her eyes drooped downward immediately after the upward arc ended, making her originally bright eyes seem to be contained in a triangular frame.
.
The nasolabial folds on the side of her nose are also very deep. After all, the Queen is already fifty years old. In order to maintain England's position of having both sides and preserve the achievements of the Protestant Reformation, she has resisted the huge pressure from the government and the opposition and has not married anyone. Now, except for Felix
With the exception of Pei II, European royal families no longer have any hope for the "Virgin Queen" to get married.
When the Earl of Chester entered the reception room under the guidance of the palace attendant, he saw the Queen's back: she was standing in front of the glass window, her back straight. The waist made of whale bone was hidden behind the red and yellow silk.
, two no longer attractive curves were drawn on the large golden skirt with complicated patterns. The light of the winter sunset shone in from the glass window, shrouding the queen's figure in a red halo.
Robert Dudley looked at the figure from behind and remained silent for a long time. In his memory, this scene seemed familiar: on a winter day 25 years ago, at Hampton Court Palace, the Queen also turned her back to him in front of the window.
, he revealed his true feelings to himself: "Robert, I don't think I will get married. It is better for the illegitimate king to marry England instead of letting England become her dowry."
At that time, the woman who had just been crowned king still had an undeniable glory, and an appearance that made Robert Dudley tremble. But at that time, he was so complacent that he did not hear the queen's implication, and just bowed and replied: "I will always be
Your shield and your sword, and I will definitely marry you."
Nowadays, every time Robert recalls this conversation, he will feel regretful for his stupidity and rashness at that time. In the third year after the Queen ascended the throne, he blindly believed that he had complete control over Elizabeth and pushed his first wife Amy down.
stairs and broke her neck.
What happened later proved the queen's foresight: the nobles gathered together and opposed Robert Dudley's marriage to the queen with great determination. Although this murder was ended in an "accident", the queen, led by William Cecil,
The ministers made Robert feel ashamed and made the Queen make a promise never to marry Dudley.
"She is the Queen after all." Dudley thought. Although his room was right next to the Queen's palace, the Queen would not completely hand over power to her lover. Although he called her nickname "My Eyes", there was something hidden behind the scenes.
Behind the doting eyes, there is a light called "suspiciousness" that shines out from time to time, making Dudley always abide by his duty as a courtier.
Although the two were sleeping in the same bed last night, at this time he still knelt down on one knee and met the Queen with the courtesy of an earl. The co-owner of England and Ireland and the titular king of France turned around and handed his hand to Dad.
Li's hand so that he could kiss the back of his hand.
There was a lot of powder on her face, and Dudley thought with disgust. Perhaps because the fireplace was very hot, he felt some heat in the Queen's palms.
It was this hand that was stroking my still-tight skin last night, but now it didn't make any unnecessary movements, and the sweaty palm revealed only coldness.
"Dudley, why does Cecil want to see me?"
"Your Majesty, the reply from the Emperor of Siris has arrived."
The Queen took a long breath. "It seems that Mr. John Newbery has completed his mission."
"No, John Newbery had only delivered the letter; he himself was still detained in Goa. The letter was found among the china 'ordered' by Lord Cecil, and luckily it did not sink
Amidst the stormy seas at the Cape of Good Hope. At the same time, we should be grateful that the Portuguese did not carefully inspect this cargo."
The Queen did not rush to read the letter from the East. Instead, she asked an irrelevant question: "Does Lord Cecil have any merchant ships heading to the East?"
Dudley hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should take this opportunity to give Cecil some eye drops. But he immediately gave up the idea: "No. This is the goods sent to Cecil by the Siris merchant in Malacca.
It was a Portuguese merchant ship. They said that Cecil asked someone in the Roman mission to buy this batch of porcelain."
"Cecil didn't know about it."
"Yes, Your Majesty. He paid the Portuguese businessman a large sum of money for this."
"Dudley, it seems from this that war with Spain is hard to avoid for the sake of greater wealth."
"Yes. Senator Drake's fleet also returned to Plymouth. They harvested a lot in the New World, about three hundred pounds of gold and fourteen thousand pounds of silver - that Spanish bastard must be so angry, haha."
The queen's face suddenly became lively, and a smile appeared on her lips. She stood up from the chair happily and walked briskly around the reception room.
"That's a lot of money, Dudley. I could get seventy percent, about two hundred pounds of gold and ten thousand pounds of silver. Maybe I should build another palace. Whitehall is too dark. It makes me feel
Depressed.”
Dudley smiled, and his golden mustache curled up as the Queen's mood improved. "No, Your Majesty. I think you should invest this money in John Hawkins' shipyard and let him continue manufacturing.
New battleship."
"Maybe Drake can give some of his half to his cousin, and I can keep some."
"Haha, Your Majesty Mr. Drake may do this, but John Hawkins will never use Derek's money to build a fleet for you. He will only give Derek some new ships and add some that make him happy.
Guy."
When Dudley said this sentence, he used the word cock, which was a pun about "rising up", which made the Queen who was in a good mood laugh out loud.
Before Dudley could continue to show off his humor, the Queen immediately stopped her smile and said: "Robert, take out the letter from Emperor Siris."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Robert Dudley walked to the door of the reception room, opened the door and said a few words to the attendant standing outside. Immediately, a palace attendant had unpacked and inspected the items, carried them on a silver tray, sent them into the reception room, and placed the tray.
On the table in front of the Queen.
There were several items on the tray: two kraft paper envelopes with their seals torn open, and two exquisite wooden boxes of oriental lacquerware, one large and one small. The larger one was one foot square, and the smaller one was as big as two palms.
"Ha. A gift from the emperor! It seems that he is a very well-educated gentleman! Let me see what's inside."
The Queen first admired the box lid with an orchid pattern made of wrong silver, then grabbed the silver buckle and opened the lid. There were several pieces of paper inside the box. After removing the paper, there were four small porcelain pieces as thin as cicada wings underneath.
The gaps between the jars were filled with golden silk to prevent them from colliding with each other.
"What's in this jar?" the Queen asked, taking out a thumb-sized black cube from the jar.
"I've heard of this kind of thing. The merchants who went to the East called it 'TEA'. 'TEA', Your Majesty. It's a drink from Seris - it needs to be brewed with boiling water."
"I think I'll give it a try. Are you sure this isn't the bitter Aztec bean? Maybe we can cook it and eat it," the Queen said, laughing again.
"No, those pieces of paper are instructions on how to make this drink - His Majesty the Emperor is very careful."
"Okay, put them aside first. Let's take a look at this." After saying that, the queen opened it and took out a small box.
"Oh my god, is this a flat mirror?" After opening the lid, Queen Tudor's eyes were directly greeted by a sparkling silver glass mirror - it was inlaid on the inside of the box lid, revealing the queen's pale face.
It was clearly displayed in front of her.
Because of the excitement, the queen's lips trembled a little, "God, this is so clear! There are no bubbles, completely flat and smooth! How did the Seris people do it? This is a thousand times better than the mirror in Venice!"
Dudley blew out a stream of hot air from his nostrils, as if the Queen was making a fuss. But he could also understand the Queen's somewhat exaggerated statement: He also felt that this mirror was a hundred times better than the one sold in Venice. "Hundred" and "Thousand"
"The two words have the same number of syllables, but the queen is a woman after all, so it's understandable to use the one with a larger magnitude.
"Here are lipstick, silk powder pat, brush and eyebrow pencil, and nail clippers - these are all small gifts from Emperor Seris for you to use for your makeup."
"Oh! God! He's such a sweet guy! He's a young man, right? Oh, God, he's so sweet. Robert, I think I like him very, very much because he knows what I need most.
.”
"No, Your Majesty, you don't need it. Your beauty does not need to be decorated." After saying this, Dudley felt a little unnaturally nauseous, "But these things are very convenient and practical. You'd better take a look at what he gave you.
What was written in the letter?"
...
“Her Royal Highness Queen Tudor, Protector of England, Ireland, and France:
I have received your letter. Due to the obstruction of the Spanish Empire, Mr. John Newbury was detained in Goa and did not come to the capital. I am also aware of the situation. A few days ago, I have issued an order to the Governor of Burma, asking him to
Negotiate with the authorities in Goa to immediately release Mr. Newbery to Beijing, but I do not have high hopes for success.
Although you are far away across the ocean, I deeply commend you for your sincerity and sincerity in sending a special envoy to come to the court with a letter.
In the letter, you implore me to discuss business with Seris and request my permission for trade. I fully agree. After receiving my letter, you can send a formal mission to see me and discuss the details.
Next winter, I will also send a mission to visit the Holy See and conduct a goodwill visit in Europe. Please do what you can to provide the necessary convenience for the security of the mission and the passage of its members in Europe.
I heard the news from Goa that Portugal has been annexed by Spain. All its overseas territories have been owned by Felipe II. The sea routes between the East and the West have been completely controlled by Spain.
This is something I cannot tolerate at all. Manchuria, Luzon, Aceh, Johor and other countries are all vassals of Seris and have been invaded and occupied by Portugal and Spain. As the emperor, I must protect these vassal countries and remove Spain from Southeast Asia.
and the West were completely driven out.
At the same time, Spain's annexation of Portugal and the Netherlands and its threats to European countries such as the Holy Roman Empire and France are illegal and immoral and will surely be unanimously opposed by European countries.
The Spanish king's possession of undivided land will bring unbearable consequences to his country and himself.
Enclosed are the two gifts I have given you. Please accept them and thank you for your understanding.
Yubi, February 11th, the 11th year of Wanli."
There are two copies of the letter. One is written in Chinese and stamped with the emperor's private seal. The other is translated into Latin and has no seal, just for the queen to read. After all, even if there are people in Europe who know Chinese characters at this time,
It could only be within the Holy See, and the Queen had been excommunicated by the Catholic Church more than ten years ago.
This letter traveled very quickly, lasting only nine months. Thanks to the fact that the Portuguese merchant ship was already fully loaded with goods in Malacca, so apart from the necessary shelter and supply anchorage, no time was wasted on other routes.
While Queen Tudor was reading the letter, Dudley clearly felt her mood fluctuating violently. When she put down the letter, he looked at the Queen with questioning eyes.
"Your Excellency, Earl of Dudley, immediately inform Lord Cecil to take action and tell those who have come into contact with this letter to shut their mouths. If the Emperor of Serris launches an action to expel Spain in the east, transfer the main force of the Armada away
Europe, then our opportunity has come. Please keep this letter as England's top secret!"