Chapter 185: Can our God control the East? Reactions from various countries
The night falls low and the bright moon hangs high.
Thick fog covered the entire palace, and the moonlight shone through the mist, casting a silver-grey veil over the earth. In a corner of the palace, the study quietly emitted a warm orange light.
"Tap tap tap."
The sound of footsteps hurried along the long window corridor.
Dressed in a red bishop's robe embroidered with golden crosses and patterns, with a slightly hunched figure but a kind and majestic face, Archbishop Manuel de Extremadura, with long white curly hair and a beard tied up with a golden hairpin, walked towards the study at the end of the corridor with steady but not slow steps.
(Note: The 1570th year of Jiajing is estimated to be . For the sake of the plot, the Portuguese Catholic Archbishop is fictional.)
"Bang." The heavy oak door of the study was pushed open, and a scent mixed with old book papers and wood aroma blew towards me.
Of course, there was also a warmth in the room. It was autumn now and the nights were chilly. Manuel, who was over 60 years old, shivered subconsciously.
The copper oil lamp in the room emitted a soft and warm light, illuminating the entire study, but Manuel's eyes were looking to the right. He had been here countless times, and there was nothing worth looking at or examining unless the room layout had changed significantly.
However, based on his understanding of his king, he would not allow anyone to move the treasures in his study.
Well, it would be the same even if that person was himself!
On the desk on the far right of the crowded study, a carved feather pen lay quietly next to a porcelain bottle filled with black ink.
In the center of the room, there is a huge bookshelf that takes up almost an entire wall. It reaches from the ground to the high ceiling, and every compartment is packed full.
In addition to various books, the bookshelf also displays several detailed ship models, each of which is lifelike and seems ready to set sail at any time. These ship models are witnesses of the entire Age of Navigation and are also symbols of the Portuguese Kingdom's dominance over the sea.
Behind the desk, the wide chair is particularly eye-catching, with fine carvings, complex patterns and designs, and covered with soft fabric, which looks very noble and elegant.
The thick carpet is laid in the study. The edges are slightly curled, showing the traces of time, but its bright colors and intricate patterns are still impressive.
The patterns on the carpet are even more mysterious and complex, like some legendary distant country, some gods, some special star clusters of unknown meaning, and some strange patterns.
"Rustle, rustle..." The air was filled with the rustling sound of old book pages turning. Unfortunately, this unique and heavy tranquility was broken by the heavy door that suddenly opened.
"Mr. Manuel, you should knock on the door first." King Sebastian, who was sitting behind the desk and distracted by the letter in his hand, raised his head with an affirmative look in his deep eyes.
"I know I should knock on the door first," Manuel said slowly, "but before discussing this, I think we should discuss the order to send envoys to the East."
Manuel said, looking at Sebastian seriously.
"Heh," looking at Manuel who looked like he was going to accuse him, Sebastian chuckled and put his hands down from the table, then leaned back in his chair and smiled at the old man in front of him who had a special meaning in his life, and said:
"I assure you, no matter what gods there are in the East, um, they say fairies, or gods? God will always be the only true God we believe in. You can rest assured this time, Godfather."
After hearing Sebastian's words, Manuel was about to open his mouth to refute, saying that he was not worried that the so-called Eastern gods would pose a threat to the existence of God, nor did he want to talk about God, but after hearing the last word "Godfather".
For a moment, the originally solemn expression suddenly relaxed.
Yes, he is Sebastian's godfather. Godfathers are often responsible for the upbringing, education and spiritual guidance of newborns, but this is only a symbolic relationship.
Generally speaking, neither the godfather nor the godmother will raise the child.
And since Sebastian is a royal, it is even more unnecessary.
However, precisely because of this relationship, his relationship with King Sebastian is very special. It can be said that he is a child who grew up in his eyes, and the relationship is closer than that of an ordinary godfather and godson.
Sebastião inherited the throne when he was still an infant, with his grandmother Catarina as regent and later his great-uncle Cardinal Henry, Duke of Évora as regent.
Not only that, his life was also full of tragedy. For a man, his biggest regret might be his inability to be humane, so he shifted all his energy to divination, astrology and other mystical sciences, as well as how to be a good king. Perhaps it was God's grace that made him an outstanding king.
But unfortunately, his inhumanity is not only a tragedy in his own life, but also a tragedy for the entire kingdom.
Thinking of this, Manuel sighed softly and said in a gentle tone: "Sebastian, you know, I am not saying this. Regardless of whether the East has their gods, I always believe that He cannot affect the status of God in the hearts of the people."
When he said this, a look of confidence emerged on Manuel's face. If there really were gods in the world, God must also exist. God would not be worse than the gods in the East, and might even be stronger!
"If that's the case, you seem to have no reason to stop us from establishing a friendly alliance with the Ming Dynasty in the East." Sebastian spread his hands and said, "And the Eastern country is very powerful!"
"Do you know how long they fought this war? In just one month, they made a country that had harassed them for a long time disappear. But before that, this country seemed to be in a bad state..."
"I think only the gods in the legend can make a bad country suddenly cheer up and become powerful!"
"Perhaps, only that mysterious and ancient dynasty can find a solution to my problem..." Sebastian said, his voice becoming low.
"Sebastian..." Looking at the king's appearance, Manuel was silent for a moment and then sighed and said, "Well, since you said so, I have no reason to stop you."
"But even if you get my support, you still have to face the other members of the Royal Council," Manuel said, pausing slightly.
"They seem to have no reason to stop you from establishing friendly relations with a powerful country, but they will not allow you to send a large amount of money and advanced weapons technology over..."
"I am the king!" Hearing Manuel say this, Sebastian's tone suddenly turned cold. He stared at the bishop of the religious church with his deep eyes and said:
"It is not their turn to tell me what to do. I am not the child I was before! The kingdom does not need a regent or a group to make decisions for me!"
"It's no use losing your temper," Manuel said calmly, "No one will object to establishing an alliance with Ming, and no one wants to control you. You have to figure out how to solve the problem."
"Don't forget that the war against Morocco has already reached the preparation stage. The Kingdom of Spain is also eyeing us and wants to compete with us for North Africa, as well as the Ottoman Empire..."
"These are all obstacles!" Manuel saw Sebastian gradually calm down and said slowly: "We need a strong backup now..."
"Ha!" Before he could finish his words, Sebastian looked up and sneered, "Who do you want me to marry this time?"
"Princess Isabella Fernanda de El Escorial." Manuel directly stated the candidate for marriage, "She is the youngest daughter of King Felipe..."
"You are getting old and confused!" Sebastian interrupted Manuel again and said coldly: "Felipe is our enemy now, and you want me to marry his daughter?"
"Don't even think about it!"
"As long as there are external threats, Felipe will not turn against us. Only by marrying his daughter can we join hands and maximize our interests in North Africa."
"Besides," Manuel said step by step, "Felipe is old, and you are still young. You are only sixteen!"
"Even if you endure it, you can still outlast him!"
"By then, relying on the fact that you are Princess Isabella's husband, you might even be able to replace the Kingdom of Spain!"
"Such a huge benefit was discussed overnight by the members of the Royal Council. Sebastian, don't be willful!"
"You are the king of the kingdom. Have you forgotten your dream? Have you forgotten that you want to conquer Morocco? How much have you prepared for this holy war? How much have you paid?"
"Only when the crisis in the rear is completely resolved can you boldly pursue your dream, launch a holy war, and conquer Morocco across the sea!"
Manuel said, clenching his fists and staring into Sebastian's eyes, "Do you understand all this?"
For a moment, the room fell into a long silence.
After a long time, Sebastian took a deep breath, looked up at Manuel, and said, "Manuel, wait a minute!"
"Wait?" Manuel didn't react for a moment. Before he could ask, Sebastian said, "The envoys sent to Ming have already set off. I want to wait and see."
"If there really is a god in that mysterious country, or if they have a miracle doctor, they can solve my problem."
"If, if I could be like a normal person, marry and have children, then I could stop and make more arrangements!"
"Joao! You know him!" Sebastian said, leaning on the table with both hands, looking seriously at Manuel, and said:
"João Pedro de Alvarez, he is my best friend, he has lived in Daming for a year!"
"His information can't be wrong!"
"He said that a god from the Ming Dynasty took action and destroyed hundreds of thousands of elite troops. A god appeared in the sky and looked down on the entire world!"
"And their capital. Although he didn't witness the holy water that fell that day to cure all diseases, he has made friends with the powerful people in Ming Dynasty and has some sources of information. He must have verified it many times before passing the news back to me!"
"Moreover, there are so many merchant ships and adventurers, and they can all testify that a miracle has indeed befallen the Ming Dynasty..."
"Manuel, wait a little longer. The envoy will be back in a year, or at most a year and a half. Then we will know!"
Looking at the man in front of him, who was a genius and even praised as a wise ruler blessed by God to Portugal, Manuel realized that he was only a sixteen-year-old boy.
What happened to him was really hard to accept.
At this age, he should have been enjoying adventures and playing with those teenagers, but he took on the burden of a country.
Even geniuses will get tired and need some beautiful visions to soothe their souls.
"Phew," Manuel breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand and gently patted Sebastian's shoulder, "God will bless you!"
After saying that, Manuel turned and walked out of the study. However, when he was about to leave, his old and steady voice came again, "I will also pray to the Lord..."
As he spoke, he stopped, turned around, and said something in a serious tone that stunned Sebastian.
"I hope the Lord can take care of the East." After saying that, he turned around and walked out, closing the door of the study.
After a while, Sebastian reacted and cheered. Manuel, who had already walked out the door, heard the cheers behind him and couldn't help but hum a laugh with his head down.
"Bishop Manuel, His Majesty?" The guard at the end of the corridor heard the voice and looked at Manuel. "Don't disturb His Majesty, although I don't know why he is happy, but he has done too much for this country, he should cheer and laugh, right?" Manuel turned around and looked at the end of the corridor, and then looked at the guard.
"Yes!" the guard said immediately.
"Do you think God can control the East?" Suddenly, Manuel, who was about to leave, looked at the guards again.
"Ah?" The young guard was stunned, but he immediately puffed out his chest proudly and said, "The Lord is everywhere!"
"Of course we can control the East!"
"Yeah, I think so too. God will bless you." Manuel said, turned around and left, but muttered: "I knew it, what I said is right..."
Of course, the Portuguese were not the only ones who knew about the Ming Dynasty and had in-depth knowledge of it. Spain also had shipping routes passing through it and had trade relations with the Ming Dynasty.
As for the existence of gods in the Ming Dynasty, many nobles in overseas countries, including the Kingdom of Spain, did not care about it.
God? It is just a tool for the upper class to rule the lower class. How can there be a God in this world?
Whether it is the Lord or God, He can be a belief, but He is also a tool. If it is really regarded as a standard to measure the strength of a country, it would be a big mistake.
Therefore, when the same news was passed back to overseas countries, except for the Kingdom of Portugal and Sebastian, who was a fan of mysticism and a young emperor, several small countries had doubts about it and sent envoys, other major countries did not believe it.
The ambitious King Felipe II of Spain was very disdainful of the news coming back from the Ming Dynasty.
In his opinion, the so-called ancient Eastern countries were just playing the same tricks as them.
Of course, one may not believe in these miracles, but the wealth, size, and strong military power of the Ming Dynasty still made Felipe, the heroic ruler, very concerned.
After all, he had been doing business with the Ming Dynasty for a long time, and he was also covetous and curious about this ancient oriental country.
After hearing about the record of destroying an entire country in one month, he now felt a little more awe in his heart, and of course there was also a hint of ambition buried deep inside to challenge.
So the Kingdom of Spain also sent envoys.
As the news spread more and more widely, other powerful countries in the world naturally also learned about some of the things that happened in the Ming Dynasty.
Empires such as the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Tsarist Russia also began to pay more and more attention to the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, what they valued was not the so-called miracles, but the glorious record of the Ming Dynasty in destroying a country in one month and the huge wealth.
They saw a dynasty as powerful as their own, so they sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty. And the Ming Dynasty was about to have its first contact with a truly powerful dynasty in the world.
However, all these were very far away for the Ming Dynasty. It would take at least half a year, or even a year, for the envoys from various countries to arrive.
At present, the Ming Dynasty was still in full swing of reform under the leadership of Yan Song and his son, and was implementing the new policy of "inspiring thinking and innovation".
At the same time, the Cabinet, the Imperial Household Department, Prince Yu and Prince Jing, Imperial Master Qingfeng, and all the immortal practitioners in the Ming Dynasty now have a common identity, that is, professors of the Ming Dynasty Immortal Palace.
Time flies.
A month has passed since the start of school at Daming Immortal Palace.
The time came to the beginning of October in the forty-ninth year of Jiajing.
A month ago, the imperial court announced that the Daming Immortal Palace would be closed from then on. No one was allowed to step in without permission, and those students who entered the Immortal Palace could only move around within the palace.
All food, clothing and daily necessities were provided by the imperial court, and from then on they were completely cut off from the outside world.
When the news came out, people were discussing it, but no one was surprised at all.
After all, they firmly believed that there were immortals in the Ming Dynasty, that the court had a connection with immortals, and that the students in the Immortal Palace were all cultivators. The most important thing was the court's attitude of not explaining this matter.
Isn't this a tacit agreement in the eyes of the people and the world?
As the saying goes, there is a difference between immortals and mortals. So they thought it was normal for Daming Immortal Palace to be closed.
Xiyuan, inside Yuxi Palace.
Lu Fang waited quietly on the side, looking curiously at his master who was standing in the side hall and fiddling with his Ming dynasty.
The master demolished the land which was exactly the same as a place outside the capital over and over again. Now there are more than a dozen shrunken mountains, lakes and depressions of varying sizes in the main hall.
There are even some wild beasts among them.
"Before, we had to introduce our own destiny into the world of cultivation to pass the spiritual energy into the Ming Dynasty. Now, it is no longer necessary."
"Then is it possible to put part of the Ming Dynasty into the world of immortal cultivation?" Thinking of this, Jiajing's eyes flashed, and he looked at a hill outside the capital, and the area within a hundred meters around the hill.
The reason for choosing this piece of land is that within a hundred meters of this hill, the ecology is very complete, with mountains and water, as well as many spiritual beasts and plants that have mutated due to spiritual energy.
“I’ve thought about using the spirit beasts from the world of immortal cultivation to borrow seeds to replace the spirit beasts in Daming. This time, we can give it a try.
If the effect is good, perhaps we can use it to transport supplies from the Xiuxian world on a large scale..."
A piece of land that can be moved in the world of cultivating immortals. All living beings and spiritual objects that enter this land will mysteriously disappear?
Thinking of this, Jiajing couldn't help but think of some mysterious forbidden places recorded in "Star Domain General Records".
All living creatures that entered it eventually disappeared mysteriously, even great monks with high cultivation levels, or even legendary immortals, some disappeared after entering.
However, it is still a long time to start this plan. At least before the Ming Dynasty has absolute strength, it will not act rashly.
In the early stage, the most we can do is to move things around, breed spiritual beasts, and graft spiritual plants, so that the Ming Dynasty can slowly integrate and learn from each other's strengths and overcome their weaknesses.
After suppressing these thoughts in his heart, Jiajing waved his hand, put away his life, and then looked at Lu Fang and said, "Come with me for a while."
"Yes," Lu Fang hurriedly followed, and was about to go out and ask for a sedan chair to be prepared, but Jiajing raised his hand to interrupt him, saying, "No need to bother, just fly over directly..."
After saying that, he ignored Lu Fang, took out a flying sword from his storage bag, grabbed Lu Fang's arm, and soared into the sky.
A moment later, somewhere in the deep mountains outside the capital.
"Master, what are we doing here?" Lu Fang looked around at the quiet environment, and then glanced at the gray wolf that was crawling quietly in the jungle not far away and looking at the two of them.
Well, this gray wolf is also more than two or three times larger than an ordinary gray wolf.
However, Lu Fang only took a glance and then looked away. Not long ago, his cultivation had already broken through the third level of Qi training.
Even though he never fought with anyone because of his status and didn't know how to use fists and feet, he was still not someone these spirit beasts could handle. He could kill the beast with just a single punch.
Besides, he has a more powerful master by his side.
Let alone this small mountain, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, nothing can get close to us?
"I plan to send everyone within a two-mile radius of this place to another world." Jiajing's calm voice sounded.
Huh?! Hearing that the master was actually going to send everything within a two-mile radius to another world, Lu Fang was stunned and almost thought he had heard it wrong, but then he seemed to have thought of something, and a look of realization appeared in his eyes.
"Master, do you have an agreement with the immortal?"
Another world? In Lu Fang's opinion, the world that the master was talking about must be the fairyland, right?
At this time, everyone including Lu Fang had already tacitly acknowledged that Jiajing had connections with the immortals in the fairyland and had even been there more than once. So when they heard Jiajing talking about another world, the first thing they thought of was naturally the mysterious fairyland.
"The fairyland..." Hearing Lv Fang's words, Jiajing glanced at him, chuckled and said nothing, "Lv Fang, do you want to go with me?"
What?! Going to the fairyland?! Hearing this, Lu Fang was stunned on the spot, thinking that he was hallucinating again, but then he was enveloped by a huge surprise!
The fairyland, the master actually wants to take him to the fairyland!
What an honor this is! Master, even His Royal Highness Prince Yu and His Royal Highness Prince Jing have never taken him to the fairyland!
Even regarding the fairyland, not a single piece of information about it has been revealed. Everything is a mysterious place that they guessed.
At this moment, the master actually wants to take him with him?
"What, you don't want to?" Seeing Lu Fang in a daze, Jiajing extended his spiritual sense, covering an area of two miles in radius, and said casually.
"No, I, your servant, thank you for your grace, my master!" Lu Fang immediately knelt down on the ground excitedly.
Why did Jiajing bring Lü Fang with him? The reason is simple. If the plan is feasible, Lü Fang will be needed to garrison here in the future.
He trains these people to use them, and they will naturally be there to help when needed.
Of course, he would not let Lu Fang stay in the world of immortal cultivation. He would only let him be responsible for staying in the Ming Dynasty. If any spiritual beasts were successfully bred, he would be the one to send them out.
Sometimes, if there is a need, Lu Fang will also go there.
It is equivalent to letting Lu Fang act as a "gatekeeper" here.
Wait until everything is stable before replacing it.
"You don't have to be too happy. It's just a trip and we'll be back soon. We won't go too far..." Jiajing said, "Get up, we'll be there soon."
"..."
In the previous chapter, regarding 1570, Sebastian I’s age was wrong. He should have been 16 years old. It has been corrected and does not affect the plot...
(End of this chapter)
