Luzon is Spain's main colony in the Far East, and the Governor's Palace is located in Manila.
At this moment, in the Governor's Palace in the city, Mason, the Spanish Governor in the Far East, looked at his subordinates in shock.
"What? The Ming Dynasty's envoy has come to Manila? Kersi, did I hear you right? Today is not April Fool's Day. Are you sure you are the official envoy of the Ming Dynasty? Not a pirate or some businessman pretending to be?"
"Your Excellency the Governor, the other party claimed to be sent by the Commander of the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty. He has important matters to discuss with your Excellency the Governor. I don't think the other party would make such a stupid joke."
said Kersey, the official in charge of managing the terminal.
"But as far as I know, the Ming Dynasty did not have a regular navy?"
Mason has been in Luzon for five or six years, and he still knows the general situation of the Ming Dynasty. He frowned when he heard this.
"Your Majesty the Governor, according to the other party's envoy, the Third Fleet of the Ming Royal Navy was formerly the Fujian Navy. It was established just last month. The commander is Zheng Zhilong's eldest son Zheng Sen."
"I see. It seems that our news channels need to be strengthened. This empire's awareness of sea power seems to be awakening. This is not a good thing for the Kingdom of Spain."
Mason nodded, with a hint of worry on his face, but more importantly, he was still disappointed. He thought it was an official messenger from the Ming Dynasty, but now it seems that it was just a messenger from the Zheng family.
However, they still asked the envoy to be brought in and prepared to see him in person. After all, Spain could not ignore the Zheng family's maritime power.
Especially at this time, they had transferred almost 80% of their warships and troops in the Far East to Dongfan Island. It would be terrible if the Zheng family's fleet attacked Luzon while they were heading north.
Therefore, Mason is already considering whether to discuss with the Dutch Governor and formulate a new plan to first eliminate the Zheng family's navy before heading north.
Not long after, a middle-aged Han scribe was brought in. He cupped his hand and said in Spanish: "Hello, Mr. Governor, I am Lu Hong, the consultant of the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty."
"Please sit down!"
"I would like to know whether your advisor is here on behalf of the Zheng family or on behalf of your official country?"
Mason just made a gesture of invitation and asked directly, obviously wanting to find out this first, and also holding on to a little illusion that the other party represented the Ming Dynasty official.
"Your Majesty the Governor, although I am here on behalf of my admiral, I do so on behalf of the imperial court."
Lu Hong had obviously been to Manila more than once and had some understanding of Westerners' styles, so he was also straight to the point.
"Oh? So, your envoy represents the official of your country?" Mason stood up quickly, his face was overjoyed, and his tone was even a little excited.
It’s no wonder that Mason reacted like this. Spain has been in the East for decades and has always wanted to directly trade with the Ming Dynasty so that Spanish merchants and warships can directly enter the Ming Dynasty port. However, it sent countless envoys to the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, they were all driven back, but they never gave up direct communication with the Ming Dynasty officials.
As for the official Ming Dynasty sending envoys to Manila like this, that had never happened before.
"It's okay for your Excellency the Governor to think so."
In order to save face, many civil servants did not agree to directly send envoys to Manila to negotiate with the Spaniards in the name of the imperial court, so they asked Zheng Sen to send envoys to Manila in a private capacity to communicate, and then asked the Spaniards to take the initiative to send envoys to Nanjing.
.
Although this back and forth was extremely troublesome, both Zhang Yan and all the civil servants felt that this was more appropriate, and Zheng Sen felt quite helpless about this.
"Dear Ambassador, I was too rude just now. Please forgive me... By the way, as far as I know, your country's official uniform does not seem to be like this. I wonder if Your Excellency, the Ambassador, has your country's credentials?"
Mason immediately stood up and bowed in front of Lu Hong, expressing his apology. After all, this was the first official official meeting between Spain and this ancient and huge empire. It was definitely of epoch-making significance, so he felt very guilty.
I was really too hasty just now.
Of course, this cannot be completely blamed on him, but the other party arrived too suddenly, otherwise he would definitely go to the dock to greet him in person and hold a grand welcome ceremony and banquet.
However, Mason soon discovered that the other party did not wear the official uniform of the Ming Dynasty, nor did he submit his credentials first, and he suddenly became suspicious again.
Lu Hong was also embarrassed by his surprise, but he had to explain to him again: "Your Excellency, this meeting is just a private exchange between the two of us, and it is not an official official exchange.
Do you understand?"
Mason's brows suddenly wrinkled again. After thinking for a while, he asked directly again: "Your Majesty the Ambassador, I would like to know if your emperor knows about your visit to Manila this time."
Obviously, although Mason didn't understand, he wasn't stupid either, and he grasped the key points immediately.
"Your Majesty the Governor, although our Emperor doesn't know, our Queen Mother does, and our Emperor has authorized the Queen Mother to take full charge of military and political affairs in the south, including maritime trade and other matters!"
Lu Hong's Spanish is not very proficient, so it is a bit difficult to communicate.
Kelsi, who was on the side, obviously knew Daming's situation better than Mason, so she reminded him in his ear, and Mason's eyes suddenly lit up.
"It turns out that Your Excellency the Envoy was sent by the Southern Governor of your country. I wonder why Your Excellency the Envoy came to Manila this time?"
Lu Hong was speechless when he saw that he regarded the Queen Mother as the Governor of the South. He did not bother to explain to him anymore and said directly: "Your Majesty the Governor, I am here to inform you that my Majesty the Ming Emperor has issued an edict to completely lift the
Maritime ban, we are willing to carry out normal trade and cultural exchanges with all countries in the world. If your country wants to establish good trade relations with our country, the Ming Dynasty, you only need to send an envoy to Nanjing to request the establishment of a consulate."
After Lu Hong finished speaking, he explained the specific related matters to him in detail.
Hearing that as long as an envoy was sent to Nanjing, Ming Dynasty was willing to establish equal diplomatic relations with Spain, and would allow Spanish warships and merchant ships to directly enter Ming Dynasty's ports to carry out trade. It could also set up a consulate in Nanjing and send ambassadors. Mason was a little excited.
Trembling, I thought I heard it wrong, but I finally believed it after confirming it again and again.
He couldn't help but wonder if he heard correctly. After all, Spain's successive governors of the Far East knew only too well how arrogant this ancient empire was.
"Your Excellency, Ambassador, I wonder if Portugal and the Netherlands have established formal diplomatic relations with your country?" Mason asked impatiently.
"Portugal sent an envoy to Nanjing two months ago and was personally summoned by the Queen Mother of our country. It formally established a good and equal relationship with our country. However, the Netherlands has been classified as a barbarian by our country because it lives in our country's Dongfan Island. my country will not establish a good relationship with it on an equal footing."
Mason rolled his eyes and immediately understood the meaning of the words. He was overjoyed. He also wished that the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands would be at odds with each other, so that Spain would monopolize the trade with the Ming Dynasty. As for the broken ships of Portugal, they were no match for Spain at all, so
It was immediately decided to send an envoy to Nanjing and withdraw the fleet on Dongfan Island immediately to prevent Ming from misunderstanding and classify Spain as an unwelcome country.
