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

Chapter 1056 Awakened Charlie

That night, Zheng Hongkui told Wang Fuzhi about this matter. Wang Fuzhi frowned after listening to it, but after thinking about it carefully, he was somewhat moved.

During this period, Wang Fuzhi also understood very clearly what kind of person Charles II was. Although he had lost his real throne and was even driven out of his own country and wandered around European countries, he still nominally held the title of King of England. Moreover, although Charles II had various shortcomings, especially as the "Sea King" who often lingered among women, it did not mean that he had no merits.

With his cheerful personality, unyielding persistence, clear mind and unyielding efforts, and his status, Charles II was a good young man. If he could lend a helping hand to the other party when he was in a low ebb, it would not be a bad thing for the Ming Empire.

But Wang Fuzhi would not agree to this just because of Zheng Hongkui's words. After all, this was not a trivial matter. Once he helped Charles II, it would mean that the Ming Empire would directly intervene in the political issues of the European royal family and offend Cromwell, who now controlled the military and political power of Britain.

Charles II encountered obstacles everywhere in European countries. Except for Portugal, no other European royal family or nobles supported him. They did not even give him normal aristocratic treatment, forcing him to wander around the countries.

After the Anglo-Spanish War, Britain, which defeated the Spanish Armada at sea, rose to become one of the most important powers in Europe. Although Britain had experienced a civil war before, and Charles II's father, Charles I, eventually lost his head because of the civil war, and the military and political power fell into the hands of others, and Lord Protector Cromwell took over the government, and Charles II was driven away, Britain's national strength was still strong, and other countries did not want to offend such a powerful country because of Charles II.

But the Ming Dynasty was not one of the European countries. As a powerful country in the East, it naturally did not need to take into account the attitude of Britain. But at the same time, Wang Fuzhi did not want to take such political risks if the mission of the delegation was not completed.

After all, when they leave Europe, they still need to sail back on a ship. No matter what route they choose, due to its geographical location, Britain might do something if the Ming Dynasty expressed support for Charles II.

So while Wang Fuzhi was tempted, he also considered the safety of the delegation. He was not afraid of death, but worried that he would not be able to complete the mission assigned to him by the emperor. If this was the case, no matter how tempting Charles II was to him, Wang Fuzhi would not agree to the other party, so Wang Fuzhi had to talk to Charles II in person and thoroughly understand his thoughts before making a judgment.

The next day, Wang Fuzhi, who rarely stayed at home, received Charles II at his residence.

The room where they were talking was the study of the residence. Although it was called a study, it was a large room, spacious and gorgeous. It was located near the window, and the spliced ​​glass was colorful. Coupled with the slanting sunlight coming in from outside, the room added a lot of color.

"Your Excellency!" Charles II changed his cynical style and walked into the room wearing neat court clothes. When he saw Wang Fuzhi, he saluted him solemnly.

"Your Highness!" Although the other party was just an exiled king, their identities were different after all, so Wang Fuzhi naturally could not be rude. He stood up and returned the salute, inviting Charles II to sit down and talk.

After thanking him, Charles II sat down on a sofa, and Wang Fuzhi sat opposite him. Between the two of them was a round tea table with a small clay stove on it. Charcoal was burning in the clay stove, and a pot of tea was emitting a unique tea fragrance. Wang Fuzhi had prepared the tea set before Charles II came. After the other party sat down, he stretched out his hand and began to make tea for Charles II. In a blink of an eye, two cups of tea were placed in front of each of them.

"Your Highness, please try the Ming Dynasty tea. This tea is not available in Europe, and I don't have much left." Wang Fuzhi gestured with a smile.

Charles II thanked him, reached out to take the teacup in front of him, then put it to his lips and took a deep breath of the tea aroma, then took a sip, raised his eyebrows and praised.

"Good tea!" Charles II said, "It is indeed different from the tea in Europe. I also drank tea when I was in England before, but the tea I drank was not like this. It seems that the tea you bring out is the real good stuff!"

"No, no, this is just ordinary green tea. This kind of tea is nothing in Ming Dynasty. It is rare only because it is not available in Europe."

"Oh, so that's the case. It seems that I am ignorant." Charles II said with a smile, "There are so many good things in the Ming Dynasty. I have admired the Ming Dynasty for a long time. If I can visit the Ming Dynasty in this life, I will have no regrets." After taking a deep look at Charles II, Wang Fuzhi also laughed. Seeing that he put down the teacup in his hand, Wang Fuzhi picked up the teapot and filled him with a cup. He continued, "As a Ming Dynasty person, I am extremely pleased with your praise. Your Highness wants to visit the Ming Dynasty. Is this what you really want?"

"Why not really think so?" Charles II asked back, "Your homeland is the most powerful country in the world, and it is also the most civilized and richest country. There have been rumors of the Eastern Empire in Europe for a long time. Hundreds of years ago, Marco Polo's Travels swept the whole of Europe, making countless people yearn for the Eastern countries. Although I am British, I also have an incomparable and strong interest in the Ming Empire. In the past six months or so, I have also deeply experienced the style of the Ming Empire from you and the Earl, which makes me yearn for it even more. Yesterday I made a small request to the Earl, and I think you also know about this. If you agree, I am willing to follow you to the Ming Empire and see this great country with my own eyes."

"Thank you for your recognition of the Ming Dynasty. I am extremely honored." Wang Fuzhi smiled and nodded. Then he looked at Charles II and asked seriously, "But Your Highness, your idea is not just to visit the Ming Dynasty, right? I also understand your current situation. Although as a person I sympathize with your situation and hope to see you return to Britain to become a real king, as a member of the Ming Dynasty delegation, I can't help you in this regard. After all, we are outsiders, and the Ming Dynasty is too far away from Europe. What do you think?"

Wang Fuzhi and Charles II had known each other for a long time. They had been close friends for more than half a year. After being in Europe for so long, Wang Fuzhi also knew the way people here communicated. Unlike the implicitness of Oriental people, European people were relatively direct. If he said something obscure, Wang Fuzhi was worried that the other party would not understand what he meant, so he came straight to the point and expressed his opinion directly.

"Of course, you are right." A trace of disappointment flashed across Charles II's face, but he quickly returned to his faint smile.

Charles II nodded and said, "Although the Ming Dynasty is powerful, it is too far away from Europe after all. Moreover, even if the Ming Dynasty wants to help me, it cannot intervene in the British throne. I know this very well."

"Your Highness, now that we have come to this, can you tell me your true intentions? I think honesty is the basis for both parties, what do you think?"

"Of course, this is also my original intention for coming to see you." Charles II said solemnly. He knew that if he did not tell Wang Fuzhi his true thoughts today, Wang Fuzhi would definitely not agree to his request, let alone go to the Ming Dynasty.

Charles II immediately started by talking about the situation in European countries, then talked about the situation in Britain, and carefully described Britain’s previous political system and the causes of the civil war.

Charles II told Wang Fuzhi that during the Plantagenet dynasty in England, the British king signed the Magna Carta due to domestic conflicts and pressure from feudal lords, nobles and knights, thus laying the foundation for the later institutional structure of Britain.

As time went by, this situation gradually changed after the change of dynasties in Britain. By the time of Charles II's father, Charles I, Charles I's belief in Catholicism led to his intention to carry out religious reforms, while most of the British nobles and ordinary British people believed in Protestantism. Religious conflicts broke out. In the end, Charles I was unwilling to accept the failure of the reform and the conflict with the parliament. He directly dissolved the parliament in the name of the king and launched a civil war. After the failure of two civil wars, Charles I was abandoned by his British nobles and citizens, and ended up with a miserable end.

As the crown prince, Charles II was naturally very clear about Charles I's actions. Although he could understand his father's purpose, he did not agree with Charles I's way of dealing with the problem with such a tough approach. In his opinion, the key to the internal contradictions in Britain was the excessive power of religion and aristocracy, coupled with the inherent deficiencies of the political system, which led to the tragedy.

During this half year, Charles II followed Wang Fuzhi and his men all the way from Portugal to Poland. Through long-term contact between the two sides, he learned a lot about the Ming Dynasty. Among them, the Ming Dynasty's political structure and civil service system greatly shocked and yearned for Charles II, who had never been exposed to them before.

Taking into account the actual situation of the British political system and even the entire European countries, Charles II thought deeply about this. He believed that even if he returned to Britain in the future and became the real King of Britain again, the current political system in Britain, coupled with the powerful force of religion and aristocracy, would not be able to completely change Britain's many practical problems.

The Ming Dynasty's political system and many aspects were able to resolve these contradictions, especially its imperial examination system, or the civil service selection system, which could directly break the deep-rooted aristocratic system in Britain. The Ming Dynasty's imperial power, cabinet and perfect government structure were more stable and achieved a more balanced power than the British political system. Coupled with the centralized system, the imperial power's control was further increased, so that many problems could be solved through these means.

It was because of these that Charles II suddenly had an idea: since he couldn't make any progress in Europe and couldn't return to England in a short time, why not go to the Ming Empire to have a look? Or learn something?
If he could learn advanced systems from the Ming Empire, and wait for the opportunity to return to Britain in the future and truly ascend the throne, he could reform Britain by emulating the Ming Dynasty's political structure. Then he could completely reverse the previous contradictions and make the country strong under his control.

(End of this chapter)