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Captain Chris secretly calculated in his mind that with the amazing speed of the clipper battleship, if it set out from London, it would take about 13 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean and reach the American continent.
This result was a little hard for him to accept. It would take at least a month for his Black Widow to cross the Atlantic Ocean. His Black Widow was known as one of the fastest ships in Europe, and he had always been proud of it.
Now, his pride was shattered by the clipper ship.
Zhang Haoran's four clipper ships were different from the black warships of the Qin Navy. These four clipper ships used white sails and the hulls were also painted white. They were less deep and cold, and more elegant and bright. From a distance, they looked like a few white clouds flying over the sea.
Only the large black flag with the Chinese character "Qin" on the mast was particularly eye-catching. This was the first time that a ship from the Qin Empire had come to Europe.
Perhaps it was also the first time in history that a ship from the East reached Europe. This was an event worthy of being recorded in history.
When the four clippers passed over the ocean west of Gibraltar, seven Spanish warships appeared on the sea with their gun muzzles pierced. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The four clippers immediately entered combat status and cannons were pushed out of the portholes.
The Strait of Gibraltar is the throat of the Mediterranean. Although the Spanish Invincible Armada has been declining, its strength should not be underestimated, and the Strait of Gibraltar is still controlled by Spain.
European countries, especially England, were eyeing the Strait of Gibraltar covetously, so the Spanish deployed a powerful fleet in this area to firmly control this throat of the Mediterranean.
Daqin seized Luzon and became a long-time enemy of Spain. Now that they were at the doorstep of the Spanish, Zhang Haoran didn't know whether the Spaniards would declare war.
Pang Ning, the naval guerrilla who specifically commanded the four clipper warships, was ready to fight. Zhang Haoran also ordered people to send out flag signals to show goodwill to the Spaniards.
The seven Spanish warships did not respond, but they did not press forward, and only blocked the eastern waters leading to the Strait of Gibraltar.
Seeing this, Zhang Xihaoran ordered four clippers to sail north. The Spaniards were shocked at the speed of the four clippers.
Another day passed before the four warships arrived in Lisbon, Portugal. The powerful Qin Empire's envoys arrived in Europe, and their first stop was Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
Firstly, it was on the way, and secondly, it was strongly promoted by King John IV of Portugal.
Joao IV is known as "Joao the Restorer". It was he who led the Portuguese to rebel against Spanish rule in 1640 and fight for the independence of Portugal.
The War of Independence lasted for 11 years. Although Portugal had achieved de facto independence, it had not been recognized by Spain and the fighting between the two sides continued.
Portugal was a small country with a weak population. After more than ten years of fighting, Portugal was very exhausted. John IV went to London twice in person, hoping to win the support of England, force Spain to cease fire and recognize Portugal's independence.
But England itself has been caught in a civil war in recent years. The war between the kingdom and Parliament has been going on for more than four years. Although Parliament has won now, various domestic contradictions have not been eliminated, but have tended to become increasingly intensified.
Under such circumstances, how could the British have the leisure to send troops to help Portugal
The Netherlands, another maritime power, known as the "coachman of the sea", has been encroaching on Portugal's overseas colonies over the years, especially the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and Ceylon, which were snatched away by the Netherlands. This has always been a source of resentment for the Portuguese people.
In other words, Portugal, a small country still struggling for independence, was sandwiched between the two major ruling family groups in Europe. Like a cookie in the middle, Spain wanted to extinguish it, but the Netherlands and Britain not only did not help it, but also wanted to take advantage of the situation.
John IV was in urgent need of external support. In the past, Portugal had wanted to make friends with the Qin Dynasty in order to obtain trade privileges in the Far East, engage in resale trade between the Qin Dynasty and Europe, and win the support of European countries through trade advantages.
It is different now. The Qin Dynasty is no longer just a distant legend. The Qin Dynasty's fleet defeated the Netherlands, the first maritime power in Europe, in the Indian Ocean and seized the dominance of the Indian Ocean, which caused a huge shock to Europe.
Now, the Qin Dynasty's envoys have come to Europe again, which has unusual symbolic significance.
In the past, European countries were always proud of their own navigation technology, thinking that Europe was ahead of the world in navigation. Only European ships could sail the four seas, and the vast oceans were all dominated by Europe.
But now the Qin ships have arrived, appearing in Europe with an extremely strong posture, breaking Europe's monopoly on the ocean.
The support that could not be obtained in Europe might be obtained from Daqin. John IV held a grand welcome ceremony in Lisbon to welcome the arrival of the Daqin delegation.
Lisbon is located at the mouth of the Tagus River on the Iberian Peninsula, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is a city with a relatively mild climate in Europe, and it rarely snows in winter.
Historically, the Lisbon area was ruled by the Romans from 205 BC, when the ruler Caesar upgraded the area to a city and named it "Felicitas Julia" (meaning "Congratulations to Caesar").
However, it was successively occupied by barbarians in the 5th century AD, and was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. The Moors, who believed in Islam, built many mosques in the city, as well as many houses and new city walls.
Under their rule, the city developed rapidly. The Moors ruled Lisbon until 1147, when they were defeated by the Crusaders led by Alfonso I, and Lisbon returned to the hands of the Christians.
In 1256, Lisbon officially became the capital of Portugal, and has since developed into an important trading city in Europe and the center of the earth.
During the Age of Discovery, many navigators, such as Vasco da Gama, set out from Lisbon to explore different parts of the world.
Therefore, the 16th century was Lisbon's most glorious period. A large amount of gold was transported from Brazil, a colony of Portugal at the time, to Lisbon, making Lisbon a wealthy commercial center in Europe.
Now, this southern European city with a long history is decorated with colorful decorations, and people are singing and dancing as they welcome the envoys from the East.
Zhang Haoran meticulously adjusted his official hat, his wide-sleeved official robe with a black background embroidered with cloud patterns, and a jade belt bestowed by the emperor around his waist. He led a large delegation of more than 200 people to the Lisbon dock.
Among these two hundred people, except for the fifty Marines who came ashore for escort, all others were civilian personnel, and there were also hundreds of people sent by Daqin's think tanks to Europe for inspection.
Looking at the tens of thousands of Portuguese officials and citizens who came to the dock to greet them, singing and dancing, the welcoming ceremony was so grand, and there was even John IV's carriage who came to the dock in person to greet them, Zhang Haoran and his party were deeply moved.
Everyone silently appreciated the merits of the Emperor of Qin. It was because of this emperor who was proficient in both civil and military affairs and had a far-sighted vision that the Qin Dynasty rose rapidly in the East and its reputation spread to distant Europe.
With such a strong motherland as their backing, Zhang Haoran and others are also full of confidence in this faraway Europe;
The people who were in charge of leading Zhang Haoran and his group were none other than Envoy Mashidu and Captain Jiadier, who were old acquaintances of the Qin Empire and had been received by the Qin Emperor in the past. It was their mediation that led to the Qin Empire's first stop in Europe being Lisbon.
The people of Portugal were extremely curious about the visiting Qin envoys and talked about it privately. The vast empire in the far east was both unfamiliar and familiar to the ordinary people of Portugal, as well as the gorgeous silk, exquisite porcelain and fragrant tea produced there.
Their country was called the Garden of God or the Golden Kingdom. The Travels of Marco Polo set off a wave of seafaring in Europe to search for the East, giving birth to the Great Geographical Discovery.
"My God, their ships are so beautiful."
"Look, their clothes are so gorgeous!"
"Are they really from the Far East?"
"Look at their army, so majestic, their march is so orderly..."
"Oh my God, look what they brought, a moving garden! A moving garden..."
That’s right, it was the “moving garden”. There were several tall blond and blue-eyed women in the delegation, wearing the gorgeous women’s clothing in the Rococo style created by the Qin Emperor, which was called the “moving garden”. Unlike the Qin, the Portuguese were not allowed to go out. When they saw the “moving garden”, the Portuguese officials and people, both men and women, who came to greet them were all amazed... ...
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