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

Chapter 1089 Returning to Beijing for an Audience
The Ming Dynasty discussed the etiquette of the audience with Charles II and his wife, and finally arranged it in the traditional way of audience with the vassal kings.

According to regulations, the etiquette for vassal kings to meet the emperor required eight bows during grand court sessions and one bow and kowtow during ordinary court sessions. In other words, Charles II had to kowtow when he met the emperor, and Zhu Shenzui agreed with this.

Although Adolf had paid homage to the emperor with the etiquette of a foreign minister during his last audience, Zhu Shenzhu wanted to see if Charles II would resist this etiquette. After all, in his memory, when British envoys came to China during the Qing Dynasty, there was a fierce dispute over whether to kowtow to the emperor. Finally, after many negotiations, the British delegation agreed to perform the etiquette of three kneelings and nine kowtows at the Emperor Qianlong's birthday banquet, and only kneel on one knee on other occasions.

At that time, Britain had entered the era of the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" and began to become the most powerful country in the world. But Britain today does not have such a profound foundation, and the Ming Dynasty is now the most powerful country in the world. Although Europe rose in the Age of Exploration, it is still far behind the Ming Dynasty.

As for the saying that foreigners' knees cannot bend and they cannot kneel down, which is talked about by "our Qing Dynasty" with great relish, it is simply nonsense. It is just a self-deception by the Qing Dynasty's rulers and ministers. But the funny thing is that this saying was accepted by the Qing Dynasty's rulers and ministers later. They deceived themselves with the lies they spread. In the end, after the two sides went to war over trade during the Daoguang period, the Qing Dynasty's generals even regarded this as a "good medicine secret recipe" to defeat their opponents, intending to win on the battlefield in this way.

Of course, the outcome is obvious. The Qing Dynasty lost the war miserably, which broke the backbone of the Qing emperors and ministers, thus starting China's modern history of humiliation. This is a bit off topic. At this time, when Zhang Xijun and others sent the other party's audience etiquette plan to Zhu Shenzhu, Zhu Shenzhu quickly approved it.

It’s not that Westerners don’t know how to kneel. In fact, they have a very long history of kneeling, and in many occasions they are even more humble than the Ming Dynasty.

For example, ordinary people kneeling to nobles, subjects kneeling to monarchs, and monarchs kneeling to the Pope, etc. In order to show their sincerity in kneeling, they would even crawl forward and kiss each other's boots. This humiliating practice does not exist in China.

Speaking of kneeling in Ming Dynasty etiquette, it is only a "ritual" limited to special occasions and rarely appears in ordinary occasions. From this point of view, Westerners are actually very skilled in kneeling, their knees are very soft, and they have no psychological barriers to it. When Adolf came, he knelt neatly. Now that Charles II has come to Ming Dynasty, what will this nominal British king choose?
Soon news came that Charles II not only did not resist the etiquette proposed by the Ming Dynasty, but instead enthusiastically followed the visitors and began to learn it.

During the learning process, Charles II also asked the Ming officials who taught him about the origin of the etiquette. The officials sent by the Ming Dynasty treated him with respect and courtesy. After contact, both sides developed a good impression of Charles II, who was studious and straightforward. They not only patiently guided him to learn the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, but also answered his questions about the history and culture behind the etiquette, which aroused Charles II's great interest.

On the way from Jinan to Beijing, Charles II and his wife followed the Ming officials who came to greet them to learn these etiquettes and understand some of the Ming Dynasty's rules, while also carefully observing the situation of this empire.

Although compared with the southern coastal cities, places like Zhili are different from the south in terms of topography and climate, and after experiencing the war, many places have resumed production, and have gradually prospered due to the promotion of commerce in recent years, but they are still slightly inferior to the south.

Even so, the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty still left a deep impression on Charles II. When they finally arrived at the capital, they were stunned by the grandeur of the capital. Before arriving at the capital, Charles II had guessed what the capital of the Ming Dynasty would look like, but even after seeing the prosperity of Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou and other places, he never thought that there would be such a huge city in the world.

Especially when he saw the capital's extremely magnificent city walls and the endless city walls, the impact this scene brought to Charles II was unparalleled. When they entered the capital and learned that the entire capital had a population of up to 120 million, Charles II was so shocked that he was speechless and was completely stunned.

According to the rules, the envoys from the vassal states should be arranged to stay in the Honglu Temple and Huitongguan when they come to Beijing. However, the status of Charles II and his wife is different, so naturally they cannot be arranged in the same way as ordinary envoys. After seeking Zhu Shenzhu's opinion, they were specially arranged to live in the Ten Princes' Palace, which is the Xianliang Temple in later generations. In theory, the Ten Princes' Palace is the residence of the princes. This is where the royal family members live after they reach adulthood and have not yet been enfeoffed. However, the Ten Princes' Palace of the Daming Dynasty is currently vacant. Although the emperor has several princes, there are only two adult princes (excluding the Tengger brothers from Mongolia), one is the crown prince, and the other is the King of Song.

The Crown Prince naturally lived in the East Palace. Although Prince Song had reached adulthood, he still lived in the palace temporarily because he was studying at a military academy. Zhu Shenzhui had also promised Prince Song, Zhu Mincheng, to be granted an imperial title in the New World. Prince Song was about to get married, and after the wedding he would begin to prepare for his imperial title. For this reason, Prince Song did not move out of the palace, so he did not live in the Ten Princes' Palace.

Although the Ten Princes' Palace was nominally a "collective dormitory" for the princes, the conditions here were naturally much better than those in Huitong Hall. Moreover, the Ten Princes' Palace was right next to the Imperial Palace, and its geographical location was also very advantageous. Charles II, as the King of England, was not comparable to ordinary foreign envoys, even if he was a nominal king. According to the conventions of the Ming Dynasty, foreign vassal kings were treated the same as princes in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, there were some arrangements that Zhu Shenzhui had specifically instructed, so he arranged the couple in the Ten Princes' Palace.

Charles II and his wife temporarily lived in the Palace of Ten Princes. Next, they needed to continue learning the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty and wait for the formal notice of an audience with the emperor.

At this time, two envoys of the Ming Dynasty delegation returning from Europe, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui, had already entered the palace. The emperor, the crown prince and the Prince of Song were waiting for them in the Qianqing Palace.

As the crown prince, the prince must be involved in the return of the delegation. He is the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Europe is the location of Western countries. How could the prince not participate when Wang Fuzhi and his men report the situation of the envoy to the emperor? As for the King of Song, Zhu Shenzhu specially called him. Zhu Mincheng was about to be sealed in the New World. At present, the New World already has the power of European countries. It would be of great benefit for Zhu Mincheng to go to the New World to learn about the situation of European countries through the delegation in advance.

Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui entered the palace and quickly came to the Qianqing Palace under the guidance of eunuchs and guards. Looking at the Qianqing Palace in front of them, they were filled with emotion. The last time they came here was before the diplomatic mission. In a blink of an eye, three years had passed. Time passed too quickly.

After waiting for a while outside the hall, they soon heard a voice from inside asking them to come in. The two men straightened their official uniforms and stepped into the hall. Lu Jiude, the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, was already waiting there. When he saw the two, he smiled and nodded, and asked them to follow him.

When we arrived at the side hall, we saw Emperor Zhu Shenzui sitting in the main seat after entering the door, and on his left and right sat two young men. They were wearing military uniforms, but there were no insignia of military rank on their chests and shoulders, which looked slightly different from ordinary military uniforms.

Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui recognized one of them at a glance. Although he was a little older than they remembered, wasn't he the Crown Prince Zhu Minlan? The other one, who was dressed in the same way but looked younger, should be the Prince of Song, Zhu Mincheng.

"I, Wang Fuzhi (Zheng Hongkui), was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to European countries. Now I have returned to the Ming Dynasty. I have lived up to your majesty's trust and am here to see your majesty!"

The two men stood still and bowed deeply to the Emperor, the Crown Prince and the King of Song at the same time. At this time, the Crown Prince and the King of Song stood up and slightly avoided them. Only the Emperor remained seated and accepted the salute.

"My two dear ministers, please stand up and take your seats!" Zhu Shenzhui raised his hand and said with a smile. As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Jiude, who had been prepared, brought two eunuchs and brought stools, and placed them not far from the emperor.

Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui bowed again and then sat down on the stool. After they sat down, they heard Zhu Shenzhui say, "The last time I saw you was before the diplomatic mission. It has been three years. You have traveled thousands of miles to Europe. You have lived up to my expectations and returned successfully. I am very pleased. You have worked hard."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui quickly stood up and said that as envoys this was their duty, and that the mission was decided by His Majesty, and they were just doing their duty.

Waving his hand and asking them to sit back, Zhu Shenzui praised them a few more times with a smile on his face, and then formally asked about their mission.

Wang Fuzhi had been prepared and reported to the emperor immediately. He started from the time they left the Ming Dynasty, talking about how they left the Ming Dynasty by boat, how they entered the South China Sea, and then headed west along the waterway.

When narrating, Wang Fuzhi talked about the encounter with pirates after entering the Indian Ocean, and emphasized that it was because of Zheng Hongkui's decisiveness and command that they finally won the victory at sea and defeated the pirates.

Because of the naval battle, the ship was slightly damaged, so the delegation rested for a few days in a nearby port. After the rest, they continued to sail from the Indian Ocean to the Middle East, passing through many countries and ports along the way, and finally arrived at Mozambique Island on the east coast of Africa.

On Mozambique Island, they also made an unexpected discovery. They accidentally found the descendants and relics left by Zheng He's fleet on the island.

When hearing the news, not only Zhu Shenzhui was greatly surprised, but even the Crown Prince and King Song were extremely surprised and could not help asking what was going on.

(End of this chapter)