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

Chapter 1122 Opportunity
Hongbinlou in the capital is one of the best restaurants in the capital. It is bustling here on weekdays, and it is packed with guests these days, making it difficult to get a seat.

When the news of the great victory in Liaodong reached the capital, the entire capital was instantly in an uproar. The people of the capital had suffered from the Jiannu for a long time. During the Ji Yi Rebellion, Huang Taiji led the Eight Banners to burn, kill, loot and almost break through the capital. Many people in the capital lost their families because of this war. Even if they were lucky enough to hide in the city and were not implicated, their relatives outside the city were either massacred or looted by the Jiannu.

This is also the reason why when Emperor Chongzhen decided to execute Yuan Chonghuan, the people of the entire capital rushed to spend money to buy a piece of Yuan Chonghuan's flesh and blood to eat to relieve their hatred. This time, the Ming Dynasty not only won an unprecedented victory in Liaodong, but also solved the problem of the Jiannu that had plagued the country for 30 years. How could the people of the capital not be extremely excited?

Since the day the news came, the sound of firecrackers in the capital has been non-stop, and countless people are celebrating Liaodong's victory. At the same time, many people at home are crying with joy, crying and laughing in front of the tablets they offer, to comfort the spirits of their relatives in heaven.

In addition to ordinary people, officials, nobles and scholars were also extremely excited. No matter what their status, as long as they were citizens of the Ming Dynasty, they cheered for this great victory. In recent days, in order to celebrate the great victory of the court and to finally get rid of the major threat to the Ming Dynasty, the business of restaurants in the capital was many times better than before. Every day, many people called their friends to celebrate in the restaurants, some laughed loudly, and some recited poems to wish this victory.

Since Hongbinlou is a famous restaurant in the capital, it is naturally crowded with guests and very lively. The shopkeeper was grinning from ear to ear at the scene, and was very happy with such a big win. He specially took out some good wine and gave a pot of good wine to each table regardless of the number of guests, and gave 20% off on all consumption to celebrate with the country.

Today, Hongbinlou is still full, but compared to the noise downstairs, the private rooms upstairs are much quieter.

In one of the private rooms, there were six people sitting. Judging from their clothes, they were all students of the Imperial College. Some of them came from rural areas to study in the Imperial College, while others were children of Ming nobles. There was even one person who was dressed the same as the other five, but his face was different from the other five, with sunken eyes and a high nose, clearly looking like a foreigner.

"Old Charles, come on, try this wine. This is the famous Dongyang wine of our Ming Dynasty. It is not easy to drink in the capital." A young man named Cao Ji poured wine for everyone with a smile, and especially explained the origin of this pot of good wine to Charles II.

Charles II had been in the Ming Dynasty for quite some time. As he studied at the Imperial Academy, he became more fluent in speaking Mandarin and made several good friends.

Today he was invited to Hongbinlou by these friends. Except for one who was from an ordinary family, the others had extraordinary backgrounds. For example, Cao Ji, who was pouring the wine, was from a Jiangnan gentry family. His family had a governor in the early years and was also a wealthy merchant. The Dongyang wine he brought was just sent from the south by his family, and he brought it specially for everyone to have fun.

On the left, a young man holding a folding fan and smiling is Chen Zonghan, the third son of Chen Yanzuo, the contemporary Marquis of Taining. Although Chen Zonghan cannot inherit the title as the third son, and because he is not good at martial arts, he did not enter the palace as a guard like his second brother, but entered the Imperial College to study and planned to take the imperial examination to gain a background, but as a descendant of the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty, the weight of the Marquis of Taining is not light, and his identity is equally precious.

As for Chen Zonghan's assistant, the man sitting there was Zhang Shu, the nephew of Xinning Earl Tan Hongye. Although he was not a noble, he was from a wealthy family and was a good friend of Chen Zonghan. They often played together on weekdays, so he was naturally present today.

The other two were Guan Zongxiang and Wang Zihui. Guan Zongxiang was born in an official family, but his family background was not as good as before. Wang Zihui was the youngest of the six, just an ordinary poor scholar, but Wang Zihui was very good at dealing with people and scheming. They were of similar age and temperament, so they became friends.

Picking up the wine, looking at the amber color of the wine, Charles II had tasted a lot of Ming wine during his time in the capital, and he had drunk this brewed rice wine several times. Putting it to his lips and taking a sip, Charles II raised his eyebrows slightly. This rice wine was a little different from what he had drunk before. Although it was brewed wine, it was much stronger than ordinary rice wine, and the taste also had some distilled wine flavor, which made him very happy.

"This wine is really good!" Charles II couldn't help but praise it after taking another sip and finishing the wine in the glass.

"Hahaha, this is Dongyang wine, how can it be bad?" Cao Ji laughed and said, "I knew you liked the taste, otherwise I wouldn't have brought it specially for you to try."

"Brother Cao, thank you." Charles II smiled and bowed to him. During his time in the Ming Dynasty, he had become accustomed to the Ming Dynasty's etiquette and behaved properly.

"Come on, let's drink together to celebrate the great victory in Liaodong, the annihilation of the Jiannu, and the revival of the Ming Dynasty!" Cao Ji continued to fill Charles II's glass, stood up and picked up his own glass of wine and suggested.

As soon as the words fell, everyone applauded and drank together. After drinking this cup, everyone excitedly discussed the victory of the Liaodong War and commented on the war.

Young people, especially students of the Imperial Academy, are full of enthusiasm, not to mention such a big event. In addition, among the people present there are not only children of officials, but also children of nobles, so they naturally want to comment on it. Even if their comments are basically paper negotiations, it does not hinder their interest.

While everyone was discussing, Charles II was basically just tasting wine and eating food, but his ears were erect, listening carefully to their conversation. Since he had not been in the Ming Dynasty for long, Charles II did not know much about the situation of the Jiannu in Liaodong at first, and he had not learned about the war situation in Liaodong before. What he knew was that after the Liaodong War started, as the front line continued to report the victory, Charles II heard everyone discussing this matter in the Imperial College, and then he began to pay attention to this war.

As I got to know the situation in Liaodong more deeply, including learning about Nurhaci's uprising and the huge threat and impact it brought to the Ming Dynasty for nearly thirty years, I realized that there was such a powerful military group as the Jiannu in this world.

Charles II had always believed that the Ming Dynasty was the most powerful and richest country in the world. Whether it was the territory, population, economy, culture, politics, etc., the Ming Dynasty was incomparable to other countries. But he never expected that such a powerful country would almost fall into the crisis of national extinction more than ten years ago. Due to the existence of the Liaodong Jiannu and the civil strife caused by natural disasters and man-made disasters, the entire Ming Dynasty was in danger.

It was because of Zhu Shenzhui, the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that the empire was pulled back from the brink of the cliff. Not only did it resolve the internal strife, but it also stabilized the political situation, and won the foreign war, reversing the passive situation in Liaodong.

After several years of recuperation and accumulation, the Ming Dynasty finally recovered its vitality and recently launched a decisive battle against Liaodong. The total number of troops deployed by both sides in this war was astonishing. According to the information learned by Charles II, the Ming Dynasty deployed up to 300,000 troops, while the Jiannu in Liaodong also deployed more than 200,000 troops.

This does not include the cavalry of various Mongolian tribes and the cavalry of the Solon tribe that went south and the civilian laborers who followed the army. If these numbers are also added, the total number of troops deployed by both sides is probably close to one million. Such a large-scale war is simply unimaginable in Europe. You have to know that the total population of major European countries is only tens of millions, and if it is a small country, the population is only one million. In the East, such a large number of people were deployed in just one battle, which is really shocking.

In addition, Charles II also heard about the previous battle records of the Jiannu in Liaodong. He was even more shocked when he learned how brave and good at fighting the Eight Banners Army there was, and even how they often used their superior numbers to defeat the smaller ones in previous wars, with tens of thousands of people being able to defeat hundreds of thousands or even more Ming troops.

Therefore, when the news of the final victory in Liaodong came, Charles II was even more shocked that the Ming Empire could defeat such a powerful enemy, win the war brilliantly, and destroy the powerful military regime in Liaodong. He deeply felt the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

During these months, Charles II's horizons were broadened in the Ming Dynasty, which could be said to be the most exciting period of his life. As he got to know the Ming Dynasty more and more, he admired its various systems more and more. During his time as an auditor at the Imperial Academy, he not only eagerly learned about the various systems of the Ming Dynasty, including culture, but also made several friends through his special identity and sociable personality, and used them to further learn everything about the Ming Dynasty.

As he learned more and understood more about various aspects, Charles II was more convinced that his decision to come to the Ming Dynasty was correct. Compared with Europe in the West, the Ming Dynasty in the East was far ahead of the world in all aspects, which gave him a profound understanding.

Charles II now has deep experience in many aspects, and he is already thinking about how he should govern the country if he returns to Britain and becomes king, thus creating a political structure that has never existed in the West.

In addition, after personally experiencing the Ming Dynasty's war against the Jiannu and winning the war, I have a deeper understanding of the strength of the Ming Dynasty's military power, and I also have a strong curiosity about the defeated Jiannu.

Thinking about this, suddenly an idea flashed through Charles II's mind, and when this idea came out, he had an irresistible impulse, and he couldn't help but be absorbed in it for a moment.

"Old Chuck! Old Chuck!"

Just when Charles II was in a daze, Chen Zonghan, who was standing beside him, saw his dazed look and couldn't help but reach out and pat him, and Charles II came back to his senses.

"What are you thinking about? Why did you suddenly become stunned while we were chatting?" Chen Zonghan asked curiously.

"Hahaha, is there any need to say this? Old Cha must be thinking about Chen Yuanyuan who came to Xiaoxiang Courtyard in the capital a few days ago. Have you forgotten? When Old Cha saw Chen Yuanyuan, his eyes almost fell out. Unfortunately, it was not easy to see Chen Yuanyuan, let alone have a kiss with her. Others might still have some chances, but Old Cha..."

At this point, Zhang Shu sighed and shook his head. Guan Zongxiang objected. He said that although Charles II was a foreigner and did not understand poetry, his status was not bad. However, he was the king of Europe. What was Chen Yuanyuan like? Wasn't she just a prostitute? His Majesty was very close to Charles II and even hosted a banquet for him in the palace. If Charles II really wanted to have sex with her, he would have the opportunity. He could just ask His Majesty when the time came. If a woman like this just asked, wouldn't it be easy to get her?
As soon as this was said, everyone laughed, saying that this was a good idea and worth a try. Charles II couldn't help but laugh, and he laughed with everyone else, but he was not happy because of Chen Yuanyuan and Chen Fangfang, but because Guan Zongxiang's words reminded him that maybe he could really ask for an audience with the emperor and ask for something. If he could get the emperor's permission, then he would have a better chance of returning to Europe and ascending the throne in the future.

(End of this chapter)