Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1000: Rare Goods
Hearing Adolf say this, Zheng Hongkui, who was standing by, immediately became interested and asked, "Why? This young man has a special identity? Why do you say that?"

"Of course he is special." Adolf said, "When John IV introduced him, he said he was the Baron of Renfrew, but do you know where the fiefdom of this Baron of Renfrew is?"

"where is it?"

"Renfrew is a region in Scotland, so the fief of Baron Renfrew is also in Scotland, and this title sounds like just an ordinary baron, but from what I know, the title of Baron Renfrew is usually only awarded to nobles of special status, and ordinary nobles will never have this title."

"Special identity? What kind of special identity is it?" Zheng Hongkui asked out of curiosity.

"Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Chester, Earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew! These titles are often held by one person, so the true identity of Baron Renfrew is not just a baron." Adolf counted on his fingers.

"What! In addition to the title of baron, this young man also holds two duke titles and two earl titles?" After hearing Adolf's explanation, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui were both very surprised and couldn't help but exchange glances.

If it was just a baron, it would not be surprising to them. All the people they met at the banquet in the royal palace today were Portuguese nobles, not to mention the royal family members. Among other nobles, there were several earls, and even more viscounts and barons. Even some noble women had the title of viscountess or baroness.

On the way to Europe, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui both gained some understanding of European countries through exchanges with Adolf, and they also learned that there are many countries in Europe today, large and small, and there are simply countless countries.

Let’s not talk about the big countries for now, let’s just talk about the German region. There are more than 300 small states in the German region alone. These countries have their own nobles. Among them, there are several electors alone, and there are even more earls, viscounts, and barons. If we add the nobles with the title of knight, the number will be countless.

Although in the European aristocracy system, barons are the beginning of entering the ranks of orthodox aristocrats, if you really count them, there are thousands of barons in all European countries, if not tens of thousands, and it is impossible to count them carefully. Therefore, a small baron is nothing to them, even a viscount like Adolf, or even a count is not rare.

But the Duke is different. The Duke is one of the highest levels in the European aristocracy. Many European principality kings only have the title of Duke. Once you become a Duke, it means you are at the top of the aristocracy system, which is incomparable to ordinary nobles.

This young man, the husband of Princess Catalina and the son-in-law of John IV, is not only the Baron of Renfrew, but also holds four titles: Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Chester and Earl of Carrick. It is simply incredible.

Seeing Wang Fuzhi and the others' surprised expressions, Adolf sighed, "If I'm not mistaken, these identities should all belong to this young man, and he has another more important identity."

"What identity?"

"King of Scotland, England, and Ireland, eldest son of Charles I, formerly the Crown Prince, formerly King of Scotland, Charles II."

As soon as these words came out, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui looked at each other, shocked by the news and speechless. They never thought that the young man who was less than 20 years old, looked immature, often smiled when talking, and was full of enthusiasm in his words, was actually a king, and the King of Scotland, the eldest son and crown prince of the former King Charles I of England.

"How could he be in Portugal? Didn't they say that Britain launched a civil war and the previous king was beheaded?" Zheng Hongkui couldn't help asking. They had heard about the news of the civil war in Britain when they were resting on St. Helena Island. Just two years ago, when Adolf was on his voyage to Ming Dynasty, great changes had taken place in Britain. The previous King Charles I of Britain had conflicts with the nobles and citizens at home, and due to the strength of religious beliefs, a civil war finally broke out after he dissolved the parliament and suppressed the nobles. Moreover, after the failure of the first civil war, Charles I was unwilling to accept defeat, and soon launched a second civil war. It was precisely because of this civil war that he sent himself to the guillotine.

After the death of Charles I, his enemy, Thomas Fairfax, the leader of the army composed of the parliament, and Cromwell had a conflict. The former still supported the royal family to lead Britain, and disagreed with Cromwell's control of Britain in the name of a republic. But in the end, Thomas Fairfax was no match for Cromwell and resigned in anger, and the British political power fell into Cromwell's hands. Cromwell, who monopolized power, called himself "Lord Protector" and began the prelude to the so-called "republican" era in Britain without a monarch. Charles II, the eldest son of the executed former King Charles I, could no longer stay in Britain at this time. He had just been crowned King of Scotland and could only flee Britain and go into exile in various European countries.

According to the information they received at the time, Charles II should be in exile in the Netherlands or France. How could he appear in Portugal? And become the son-in-law of John IV? This was really too unexpected.

But after thinking about it carefully, Wang Fuzhi quickly guessed a possibility after considering the current situation of Portugal and the situation of King John IV. It is estimated that King John IV took into account the international status of Portugal after its independence, and launched diplomatic actions with European countries to change Portugal's poor domestic and international environment, but there was no good progress. King John IV had no choice but to find another way, so he set his sights on Charles II who was in exile.

Although Charles II had been expelled from his own country and news reported that his situation in the Netherlands and France was not good, the European countries did not want to offend Cromwell, who controlled the British government, and they ignored Charles II, the former British crown prince and nominal king of Scotland, and did not provide any help at all.

But even so, in the eyes of John IV, although Charles II was a phoenix with its feathers plucked and worse than a chicken, his identity was very extraordinary after all, and Charles II still had many supporters in Britain. Although these supporters did not dare to support Charles II openly because of Cromwell, his foundation still existed.

It is true that Charles II is in trouble now, but it does not mean that he has no chance to turn things around in the future. Isn't there an old Chinese saying? Giving timely assistance is far more powerful than icing on the cake. If John IV can lend a hand and help Charles II when he is in trouble, if Charles II returns to England and ascends the throne in the future, then Portugal will have a strong foreign aid, which can completely change Portugal's current embarrassing position in Europe.

There is nothing wrong with what John IV did. There are many similar cases in Chinese history, the most famous of which is Lü Buwei's "rare goods" during the Warring States Period. Charles II, who is now trapped in Europe, is a "rare goods" in the eyes of John IV. Investing in him will not be a loss. Not to mention that Charles II has the possibility of restoring his country, even if this possibility is very small, there is still a certain chance. And Charles II's identity is another aspect. Even if he cannot become king in the future, with his two dukes, two earls and a baron title, marrying his daughter Princess Catarina to him is much better than marrying her to an ordinary noble, right?

Furthermore, if they have offspring in the future, their offspring will theoretically be the first heir to the British royal family. Once the domestic situation in the UK changes, even if Charles II does not become king, their sons can ascend to the throne of the British king. In this way, the British and Portuguese royal families will become one, which will have many benefits for Portugal.

Wang Fuzhi quickly figured it out and spoke his mind. After listening to Wang Fuzhi's point of view, Zheng Hongkui nodded repeatedly, patted his thigh and said that it must be like this, John IV's calculations were good! It was a good move, and it was not a loss no matter how you calculated it. Once there was a real harvest, John IV would be very profitable.

"I understand!" Adolf suddenly realized, raised his hand and slapped his forehead. At this moment, he admired Wang Fuzhi very much. He didn't expect that Wang Fuzhi would guess the truth in a short time based on his few words and some previous news from Europe. Are the people of the Ming Dynasty so smart? Why didn't he figure it out before?

Wang Fuzhi smiled but did not answer, not feeling proud at all. These schemes and calculations might be a little complicated for Europe, but for him as an official of the Ming Dynasty, especially for Wang Fuzhi who was well-read in poetry and books, it was nothing at all.

In the thousands of years of Chinese history, all kinds of complex situations have occurred, and similar incidents are countless. John IV did this just to play a chess game, using the other party's identity to find a way out for himself and Portugal.

The same was true for Charles II. Because of the changes in Britain and his own embarrassing situation, he also hoped to get support from European countries, but he was not well received by powerful countries such as Spain, France and the Netherlands. Even when he was poor and destitute in exile and could not even get enough food, the Portuguese royal family was able to lend him a helping hand, which was what Charles II wanted.

After all, no matter how weak Portugal was, it was still a member of the European countries, and Portugal had a glorious history, so it might become stronger in the future. As the son-in-law of John IV, Charles II no longer had to live a life of wandering. With the protection of John IV, he could stay in Portugal and wait for his chance.

From this perspective, this is a win-win approach. It does no harm to both parties. Once they hit it off, everything will fall into place.

(End of this chapter)