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

Chapter 1093 Meeting
Ming Dynasty's policy of moving toward the world and the ocean is a foregone conclusion, so under this premise Ming Dynasty must have the ability to build large ocean-going warships (sea ships) on its own, otherwise it would be impossible to undertake this task.

While solving this problem, the Ming Dynasty's navy also had to shift from a near-sea navy to an ocean-going navy, so Zhu Shenzui decided to entrust this task to Zheng Hongkui and began to build a new navy capable of crossing the ocean.

This navy is different from the current Beiyang and Nanyang navies. Its mission is to sail and fight across the ocean. In this case, Zheng Hongkui, who is proficient in naval warfare and has been to Europe and has a good understanding of the Western world, is the most suitable candidate. Putting him in this position is also the best arrangement for Zheng Hongkui.

A few days later, the time for the grand court meeting was about to arrive. The day before the grand court meeting, the palace sent envoys to the Ten Princes' Palaces to inform Charles II and his wife of the matter and asked them to make preparations to enter the palace for an audience on the day of the grand court meeting.

Finally, the good news came. Charles II was extremely excited. Although he had only been in the capital for a short time and had been learning the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty with the help of Ming officials to ensure a smooth audience, he had deeply experienced the advancement and strength of the Ming Dynasty in this short period of time. In particular, everything the Ming Dynasty showed made him extremely fascinated. Now that the audience was right in front of him, how could he not be excited?
On the day of the grand court meeting, Charles II and his wife Princess Catalina were dressed in their best attire and accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Rites to the palace.

Although the Ten Princes' Palace where they lived was very close to the Imperial Palace, this was their first time to actually get close to the Imperial Palace and walk into the core area of ​​the empire.

The grandeur and size of the Forbidden City cannot be compared with any palace in any country in the world. Charles II and his wife were not country bumpkins. One of them was the nominal King of England, and the other was a princess of the Kingdom of Portugal. They were both high-ranking nobles in Europe. They had visited many countries and seen many palaces, but those palaces in Europe could not be compared with the Forbidden City before them. No matter in terms of scale or magnificence, the most gorgeous and magnificent palace in Europe was just like an ordinary shabby house in front of the Forbidden City.

With excitement, nervousness, excitement and anticipation, they were brought into the palace, then crossed the huge square, walked through one tall and magnificent palace after another, and finally arrived at a place waiting.

After waiting for a while, Princess Catarina was first taken away by the eunuch. After all, although Princess Catarina's status was noble, she was a woman, and even as a princess of a country, it was inappropriate for her to go to the court for an audience according to etiquette. Therefore, the letter of Portugal would be delivered by Charles II, and Princess Catarina would be arranged to go directly to the harem, where Queen Xu Jingqiu would meet and receive her.

After Princess Catalina left, Charles II continued to wait patiently. After an unknown amount of time, he finally received a notice asking him to come to the palace for an audience.

He stood up and followed the visitor out of the side hall and into the Imperial Palace where the grand court meeting was held. When the voices announcing Charles II's audience came from inside, Charles II's heart couldn't help but pound. He took a deep breath, then stepped forward and walked into the palace.

Today, Charles II wore his best and most gorgeous court costume, but this outfit seemed a little out of place on this occasion, especially with the civil and military officials standing in the hall to attend the court, as well as the guards and eunuchs waiting on the side. However, Charles II still maintained his demeanor, walked into the hall steadily, silently remembering the etiquette rules taught by the Ming officials, and continued to walk forward.

"Is this the king of Europe?"

"I heard it was a king named King of Scotland, England and Ireland."

"The king of three kingdoms? This young man?"

"It is said that the previous king was his father, who was executed by the rioters because of a rebellion in the country. He is the crown prince, and he fled the country during the chaos. Now the country is controlled by the regent, but he is not welcome to return to the country to ascend the throne."

"Is there such a thing? Isn't this the behavior of a traitor? Just like Cao Cao? Does this regent want to change the dynasty?"

"It's hard to say. I heard that Europe is different from the Ming Dynasty. It is said that there are rules for succession to the throne. It is not difficult for a minister to be regent, but it is not easy to replace the king. Even if the royal bloodline of a country is cut off, the country will choose a new king from the royal bloodline, or even welcome a suitable successor to the throne from abroad."

"Isn't this possible? And what about giving up the throne of our country?"

"What's impossible? There are so many things in the world. I even heard that there is a woman ruler in Europe. The country of Sweden that Wang Ernong went to during his diplomatic mission to Europe this time is ruled by a woman."

"This... this is simply unbelievable and hard to imagine. Barbarians are barbarians. Isn't such behavior just like a hen crowing at dawn?"

"Haha, the customs in the Western Yi are different, so it's normal to have all kinds of weird things. Look at the way this young king dresses. He's different from the one in the Ming Dynasty. The clothes, the pants, and the fancy things on his body, wow..."

As Charles II entered the palace, everyone's eyes were focused on him, especially his appearance and attire, which were different from those of the Ming people.

Although there was a precedent of Adolf as an envoy of two countries to the Ming Dynasty and being interviewed by the emperor, it should be noted that Adolf was just an envoy at the time, and his title at the time was only a viscount. But Charles II was different. Even though he was a king in exile, his identity as a king was real, and this alone was enough to attract attention. Although the voices of the two sides were faint, some of them could still be heard vaguely. However, at this time, Charles II had no time to listen to what these people were talking about, and his attention was all focused on what was in front of him.

After entering the hall, Charles II subconsciously looked straight ahead first, and the first thing he saw was Zhu Shenzhu sitting on the imperial throne on the high platform in front of him.

Zhu Shenzhui was wearing a leather cap today. If it was a normal court meeting, he would only need to wear casual clothes, but today was different. Not only was it a grand court meeting, but the King of Europe was also coming to meet him, so he specially changed into this outfit.

The black crown was inlaid with twelve multicolored jades, and the seams, the crown guards, and the hairpins and tassels were all decorated with gold. The crimson gauze robe looked extremely solemn, and with the jade pendants, large belt, and large ribbon, he sat there displaying the bearing and majesty of the emperor of the Celestial Empire dominating the world.

The emperor did not seem to be very old. Orientals were different from Westerners. Orientals looked much younger than Westerners. Charles II knew about the emperor, but after seeing him in person, he found that the emperor looked younger than his actual age. However, the emperor had a beard, which added a bit of majesty. His face was not rigid but rather gentle. When he saw him looking at him, he looked back at Charles II with a smile in his eyes.

Charles II lowered his head slightly to avoid the emperor's gaze. He remembered the requirements of etiquette and walked straight to a place not far from the emperor and stopped. Then, reminded by the eunuch beside him, Charles II began to salute the emperor as he had been taught before, bowing eight times as a prince did when he met the emperor. After the ceremony, he stood up and reported his identity in the official language with a slightly awkward accent, claiming to be a foreign king who was paying homage to the emperor.

What followed was a set of tedious procedures, such as submitting the credentials, a brief conversation, etc. After these were completed, Charles II's audience was completed.

Afterwards, under the guidance of the eunuch, Charles II kowtowed to the emperor again before leaving the hall. After leaving the hall, Charles II was still immersed in the scene just now and had not yet fully recovered.

It stands to reason that Charles II should be taken out of the palace and back to the Ten Kings Palace where he lived. However, due to Zhu Shenzhu's advance instructions, Charles II was taken to the side hall where he had just waited. The eunuch told him to continue waiting there, and the emperor would meet him privately after the court meeting. Upon hearing this news, Charles II became excited all of a sudden.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, someone came to take Charles II away and then led him into the palace.

After walking for a long time, they arrived at the harem. This was not the Qianqing Palace where Zhu Shenzhu usually worked, but the Yangxin Palace.

Meeting Charles II in the Hall of Mental Cultivation was a deliberate move. Compared with the formal Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Mental Cultivation was smaller but more casual. Moreover, the Hall of Mental Cultivation was located in the harem area, and the surrounding environment was better than that of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, so it was arranged here.

Along the way, Charles II was already dazzled and could not tell anything apart. Everything in the Forbidden City was something he had never seen before, whether it was the magnificent palaces or the exquisite pavilions, or the elegant environment that seemed ordinary but carefully arranged. All of these made him deeply feel the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.

When they arrived outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the eunuch who led him asked Charles II to wait a moment and go in to report first. Soon he received the order to come in.

Charles II walked in and subconsciously looked inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Although the place was not large, it was much more exquisite than the Hall of Imperial Concubine where he had just met. He also saw at a glance that the Ming Emperor Zhu Shenzhui, whom he had just met, had changed into casual clothes and was looking at him with a smile.

Upon seeing the emperor, Charles II subconsciously wanted to pay his respects according to etiquette, but before he could move, Zhu Shenzhui stepped forward and stopped him, saying with a smile: "Your Highness, there is no need to do this. Just now we were at a court meeting, and now we are meeting privately. You only need to follow the usual etiquette."

Charles II was stunned for a moment, then he reacted, remembered what the etiquette teacher said, and quickly bowed to the emperor. Seeing this, Zhu Shenzhu did not stop him, but waited for him to finish the greeting with a smile, then took his hand and sat down beside him.

After sitting down, the eunuch Lu Jiude served tea and left. Zhu Shenzhui smiled and asked Charles II to drink some tea first, and then started talking to him.

Although Charles II was a little nervous at first because he was sitting so closely with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was not an ordinary person after all. In addition, Charles II had a big heart, so he soon calmed down. Listening to the emperor's kind inquiries, Charles II began to answer the emperor's questions. Although his official language had an accent, he had spent so much time with Wang Fuzhi and others along the way that he had no problem communicating normally.

Even when there were some unclear words, Charles II subconsciously gestured and uttered a few words in English. He did not expect that the Ming emperor in front of him could speak simple English, which made him extremely happy. The two chatted in this way, and the atmosphere became more and more harmonious as time went by.

(End of this chapter)