Chapter 100

The sails of the 980-ton armed merchant ship "Daming Mountain" had already been raised, harnessing the Atlantic winds to cut through the azure waves and head south at a rapid pace. Following closely behind were six other sailing ships with similar displacement and appearance: the "Jason," "Maria Clementina," "Roman Duran," "Isabel Deneuve" of the Jishi Company, and two British merchant ships, the "New World" and the "Orient Express." The bows and masts of all seven sailing ships were adorned with the Union Jack of the British Empire.

Zhu Jishi had Han Si bring a chair and place it on the stern deck, where he sat upright, gazing ahead. This was the Atlantic Ocean near the Portuguese coastline, but no land was in sight. The vast, boundless blue sea stretched out in all directions, and the winter sunset cast a shimmering golden glow on the rolling waves. In the distance, several Spanish Empire warships were approaching, each twice the size of the Jishi Company's merchant ships.

Even the weakened European powers still possessed naval strength that no Eastern country could match. Zhu Jishi sighed softly, thinking to himself that the military academy of Jishi University only trained army officers, not navy officers!

The true trump card of the British Empire was not its small army of a few tens of thousands, but the Royal Navy that dominated the world's seas! If one day he had to confront the British Empire, the British would not need to send their army across thousands of miles to invade. They could simply use their navy to blockade China's coast, cutting off his connection to the Western world, which would be enough to halt China's modernization process...

Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on his face—19th-century Britain was truly not to be trifled with, much like the American imperialism of later times. Wherever there was trouble in the world, there was the shadow of the British Empire. And he, a descendant of the Ming Dynasty who would bring endless disaster to the stable and united Qing Dynasty, was not also a hound unleashed by the British Empire?

"Your Grace," Liu Peng, the "major domo," had silently approached Zhu Jishi and said with a smile, "Admiring the sea view?"

"Ah, it's Muwen." Zhu Jishi turned to look at him and smiled, "Just getting some fresh air. I've been seasick these past few days."

Everyone found it incomprehensible that this great Duke Zhu, who had invented the seasickness remedy "Wanyoujie," was suffering so badly from seasickness himself.

"Has Your Grace taken the medicine?" Liu Peng asked with concern.

"I have. If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have made it to Hong Kong alive." Zhu Jishi smiled bitterly. He had finally taken heroin! It was true, the effect of the drug was undeniable; the nausea was completely gone, and he had even eaten a grilled steak—his first meal in days.

I wonder if the protagonists in time-travel novels ever get seasick? Zhu Jishi thought. The rolling of a 900-ton wooden ship in the North Atlantic is something that people without seafaring experience can hardly imagine! No wonder my invention, Wanyoujie, became a military necessity for the navies and armies of Western countries.

"Seasickness is just a matter of adaptation. When I first went to sea, I was terribly seasick, but after a few years, I got used to it. Your Grace will definitely get used to it too," Liu Peng said with a smile.

"You're right, I need to get used to it," Zhu Jishi said with a smile. "In the coming years, although our roots will be in Hong Kong, the South Seas will be our true stage."

"Your Grace, isn't it somewhat inappropriate to establish our roots in Hong Kong?" Liu Peng hesitated for a moment and added, "Especially the military academy, it would be better to place it in Lanfang."

"This is not up to me," Zhu Jishi waved his hand and said with a smile. "The South Seas are now under British control. If I moved the military academy to Lanfang, what would the British think? However, the students at the Hong Kong military academy will not only be from the Qing but also from the Lanfang Grand Duchy, the Kingdom of Sarawak, and the Kingdom of Siam. What do you think, Muwen?"

Liu Peng bowed and said, "I understand, Your Grace."

Zhu Jishi stood up, walked a few steps on the swaying deck, and sighed, "Muwen, to be honest, in the West, I have status, women, and money. I have everything I could want. But somehow, I ended up on this path. Do you think it's fate?"

"This is Your Grace's destiny. You are the true Son of Heaven! The Son of Heaven of the Ming overseas!" Liu Peng thought for a moment and answered solemnly.

"True Son of Heaven?" Zhu Jishi smiled faintly, thinking to himself: If there is such a thing as a true Son of Heaven, it must be me, given that I've even experienced time travel. I wonder what the Daoguang Emperor in Beijing will think when he hears about my arrival in Hong Kong? Has he seen the letter I wrote?

...

When Zhu Jishi left Britain for Hong Kong, it was the 25th year of the Daoguang era of the Great Qing, the first month. Although it was past the 15th day of the first month, the north was still bitterly cold. A convoy of carriages slowly passed through the massive city gate, entering the imperial residence of the Qing Dynasty. Among them was a peculiar carriage, with four wheels and two horses, a spacious cabin, and transparent glass windows on both sides, a Western-style carriage. Inside the carriage were two Qing nobles, dressed in long robes and fur coats, wearing warm hats, and engaged in animated conversation as seen through the glass windows.

"Your Excellency, according to Western international law, treaties must be approved by their parliament and signed by the Emperor and the President to be valid. Therefore, the Treaty of Wangxia with the United States still has room for negotiation. If His Majesty rejects it, we can negotiate with the U.S. envoy again, and then propose to follow the French example, removing the second, twenty-first, and thirty-second articles of the Treaty of Wangxia."

The speaker was Bai Siwen, who had once followed Zhu Jishi and was now a fourth-rank Qing official.

"Can this really work? What if the United States sends troops, causing more suffering to the people?"

The responder was the Guangzhou General, Imperial Commissioner Aisin Gioro Qinying, who, in this timeline, had been summoned back to Beijing by the Daoguang Emperor's urgent edict, instead of continuing to negotiate with the foreign powers in Guangzhou as he did in history.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured. The United States is far weaker than Britain. They have no colonies near the Qing Empire, and if they were to send troops, they would have to come from their homeland, a journey of thousands of miles. By the time they reach us, their troops would be exhausted. Moreover, the United States is currently at war with Mexico and cannot spare the resources to deal with us."

Bai Siwen spoke confidently. He had arrived in Guangzhou in late October of the previous year, bribed his way into the service of Commissioner Qinying, and claimed to have traveled extensively in Western countries and to be well-versed in foreign affairs. He also claimed to have connections with the secretary of the French Consul in Guangzhou, which allowed him to act as an intermediary. Qinying entrusted him with the task of negotiation, and he achieved a stunning success, completely overturning the unequal treaty draft that Qinying had previously signed with the French Consul in Guangzhou (who was not allowed to enter the city) and instead reached a draft of an equal "Sino-French Mutual Assistance Treaty." The draft was reported to the court, and the Daoguang Emperor was naturally pleased. Qinying was ennobled as a first-class duke and promoted to Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi; Bai Siwen, on the other hand, rose to prominence, not only having his previous crimes forgiven but also being granted the status of a Manchu of the Bordered Yellow Banner, a genuine Manchu, and a fourth-rank official, appointed as the Magistrate of Guangzhou. Both were then summoned to the capital for an audience with the Emperor.