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

Chapter 998 Lisbon

The experience in Mozambique was just a stop on the journey. Although this incident made Wang Fuzhi and others feel deeply moved, their mission had to continue and the voyage was not completed.

After waiting here for nearly ten days, the ocean currents and weather conditions finally began to improve, and it was the best time to round the Cape of Good Hope.

The fleet continued from Mozambique, sailed southwest, and finally arrived at the southernmost tip of the African continent. It then rounded the Cape of Good Hope and headed north towards its final destination, Europe.

Although the right time was chosen for safety, the wind and waves at the Cape of Good Hope were so changeable that even the meteorological technology of later generations could not predict it. This place was often clear and blue one moment, and the wind and clouds could suddenly change the next moment. A storm could arise at any time on the calm sea, making passing ships shudder.

Even though Wang Fuzhi and his fleet had made sufficient preparations, they were still unable to completely avoid the storm. Just as they were about to round the Cape of Good Hope, a storm suddenly hit. The entire fleet was at risk under the power of nature. Even the huge galleons could not withstand the strong winds and heavy rain. Each ship struggled to hold on. The captains and sailors tried their best to control the ships to sail through the raging waves, hoping to break out of the storm as soon as possible and escape from this terrible area.

For a whole day, Wang Fuzhi and his crew experienced the most dangerous moment of this voyage. Even Zheng Hongkui felt a little desperate in such a storm, thinking that this time he might sink into the sea with the ship and become food for the turtles.

But their luck was good. In the middle of the night, their ship finally broke out of the storm area and came to a relatively calm sea. When the sun rose the next day, only five galleons were left out of the original fleet of seven, and the other two were nowhere to be found. It was unknown whether they were blown off course by the storm or sank directly to the bottom of the sea.

Even the remaining five ships had more or less damage to their hulls, and several sailors were missing. It was absolutely impossible for these missing people to survive. The sea was like this, and sailors could encounter anything on the sea. Every time they went out to sea, they had to fight for their lives. The lucky ones survived, while the unlucky ones merged into the sea.

Then, the remaining five ships reorganized the fleet and headed north to St. Helena Island in the ocean off the west coast of the African continent for rest and recuperation.

This is also a temporary supply point set up by the Portuguese, but unlike Goa and Mozambique that they passed through, there is no Governor's Office here, only a few officials stationed by the Portuguese. There are also no complete docks and shipyards here, so it is impossible to repair the severely damaged ships. They can only deal with them reluctantly and make temporary replenishments.

Here, the fleet commander discussed with Wang Fuzhi and others and decided to wait for the two missing ships. Perhaps the two ships had deviated from their course due to the storm. As long as they were still alive, they would definitely come to this supply point to meet up.

Wang Fuzhi agreed. After all, although the two ships were Portuguese, they also had members of the Ming Dynasty embassy on board. The entire embassy had quite a few people. In addition to Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui on the flagship, the members of the embassy, ​​including the soldiers, were scattered on other ships. These were all his compatriots and subordinates. Wang Fuzhi naturally hoped that they could return safely.

In this way, they waited on St. Helena for nearly ten days, trying to repair the damaged ship and waiting for the two missing ships to reunite. But after waiting for so long, they only waited for one damaged ship, while the other ship was still missing.

After waiting for a few more days, there was still no news. Everyone felt that they might not be able to wait for the last missing ship. At this time, they had been staying in St. Helena for quite some time. After discussion, they decided to transfer the supplies and most of the people on the damaged ship to other ships, and then leave some sailors on St. Helena to rest and see if there was a chance to wait for the last missing ship. The main force of the fleet continued to move north and return to Europe first.

Going directly north from St. Helena, crossing the equator, you will reach the western region of Africa, then continue north to bypass the northernmost protrusion of the African continent, sailing north along the coastline, and Europa will be within reach.

When the fleet passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain were located to the north. Portugal was once in a state of chaos because King Sebastian I died in battle. Sebastian I had no descendants, so the then king's uncle, Cardinal Henry, took over the throne and was called Henry I. Henry was already quite old when he became king, and as a bishop he had never married. He died a few years later without an heir. The Aves dynasty had no direct heir, so Spain took advantage of the situation and ruled for a period of time. During this period, Portugal entered the Habsburg dynasty and was ruled by the King of Spain.

During the Spanish rule, the Portuguese nobles and citizens had always refused to recognize the Spanish rule and intended to restore their independence. Moreover, in Portugal, there were many people who missed King Sebastian I, who died in the war and whose body had never been found. There were even rumors among the people that the king was still alive and would return to Portugal to rule the country again one day. Because of this, Spain had never been able to truly rule the country. In addition, the forces in Portugal that resisted Spanish rule were getting stronger and stronger. Eventually, the sixth Duke of Braganza, a collateral descendant of the former King Sebastian I, was regarded as the heir. The Duke also shouldered the hope of revitalizing Portugal. Under his leadership and the expectations of all Portuguese citizens, Portugal finally regained its independence through launching a domestic revolution, riots and uprisings, and ascended the throne of the king. This king was also called John IV.

John IV officially became the King of Portugal five years ago, which means that when Adolf went from Europe to Ming Dynasty, John IV had just ascended the throne not long ago.

After John IV became the King of Portugal, he clearly realized that Portugal was very weak. The reason why Portugal was able to become independent and break away from the control of Spain was mainly because the continuation of the Thirty Years' War in Europe made Spain have too little energy to take care of Portugal, and the strong resistance to Spain in Portugal made it lose sight of the other.

But after independence, Portugal faced many problems, especially during the Spanish rule when many of Portugal's overseas interests were stolen by the other side. In order to seek foreign support, jointly fight against Spain, and recover lost overseas territories, John IV sent diplomatic envoys to Britain, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and Rome, expressing Portugal's willingness to join the Bourbon family group headed by France to fight against the Habsburg family group headed by Spain.

However, these actions of John IV did not have any effect. These countries did not take Portugal seriously. In their view, a small country like Portugal, which had just gained independence from Spain, would not have much effect even if it joined their alliance.

The poor progress in diplomacy made John IV very distressed and even frustrated. In addition, Spain's economic plunder of Portugal during the Thirty Years' War made the domestic economy of Portugal very bad. John IV tried many ways to reverse the situation but failed. There were even two riots in the country, which made this ambitious king even more anxious.

Just when John IV was worried about the future of his country, he heard the news that Adolf had come to Lisbon as an envoy of the Kingdoms of Sweden and Poland. Sweden and Poland are big countries in Europe. Although they are located in the Northern and Eastern European regions of Europe, far away from Portugal, they are still powerful countries that Portugal cannot compare with.

Moreover, as the King of Portugal, John IV knew better than anyone else the strength of the Ming Empire in the East and its status in the world. Since the European countries were unwilling to help the weak Portugal, why not take this opportunity to build relations with Sweden and Poland? If he could help Adolf complete this mission, he might be able to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Empire far away in the East. With the support and friendly gesture of the Ming Empire, he might be able to open up Portugal's current poor diplomatic situation and reverse Portugal's embarrassing position in Europe.

In this way, John IV met Adolf in Lisbon and provided him with certain help. This was also the reason why Adolf took a Portuguese galleon to the Ming Dynasty.

Nearly three years had passed in the blink of an eye. Just when John IV was about to forget Viscount Adolf who had gone to the Ming Dynasty, suddenly there came news of a fleet returning from the East, and the good news that a Ming Dynasty delegation had followed the fleet to Lisbon.

Upon learning of this, John IV was overjoyed and quickly sent his trusted minister, Count Alfonso, to greet the delegation. He also hoped to invite the distinguished envoys from the Ming Dynasty and Viscount Adolf to the royal palace to attend the banquet for the distant guests.

After Wang Fuzhi learned the news, he discussed it with Zheng Hongkui. Before they came to Lisbon, they learned some actual information about Portugal from Adolf and had a good impression of this king who restored his country through "revolutionary uprising". Moreover, whether it was Adolf's journey to Ming Dynasty or their way to Europe, the Kingdom of Portugal could be said to have given them a lot of help. Without the fleet provided by Portugal and the generous hospitality along the way, how could they have reached Europe so easily?

Since they have arrived in Lisbon, they naturally have to pay a visit to the host. Moreover, as envoys of the Ming Dynasty delegation, they are not only responsible for diplomatic exchanges with Sweden and Poland, but also for diplomatic contacts with other European countries. This was specifically instructed by His Majesty the Emperor before departure.

Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui gladly accepted the invitation and agreed to attend the palace banquet held for them. After resting for two days after landing, on the third day, Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui changed into gorgeous clothes, brought their entourage and gifts specially selected for the king, accompanied by Adolf, and got on the carriage that the Portuguese royal family came to greet them, and went to the palace for the banquet.

(End of this chapter)