William Adams nodded silently. As an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the main official in charge of overseas trade, he certainly knew the current situation in the South China Sea.

With the rise of the Ming Dynasty, the power of Western countries in the Far East continued to weaken. From the Macau where they are now, Macau originally belonged to the territory of the Kingdom of Portugal. However, after the World War in the South China Sea, the Kingdom of Portugal lost Macau, and Macau became an autonomous free trade port city.

This is because the Ming Dynasty was not strong enough at the beginning, and Zhu Yicheng only adopted the policies that he considered that he could not stimulate too much to Western countries.

Later, as the Ming Dynasty continued to become stronger, Zhu Yicheng truly showed the power of the Ming Dynasty to the entire world.

Let’s not talk about Ryukyu for now, the annexation of North Korea, the war in Luzon, and the occupation of Johor. These are the consequences of the Ming Dynasty’s expansion in the South China Sea, and even the same is true for Myanmar now. Myanmar was an on the surface a war launched by Gao Jin, but in the discerning people, everyone understands that the so-called Burmese King is just a pawn of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would not have officially enthroned Myanmar, and even negotiated diplomatic relations with other countries in order to unify Myanmar with Gao Jin.

Although the Portuguese were the first to come in the Far East, Portugal's influence in the Far East has become very weak over time. The two old marine kingdoms of the Netherlands and Spain have long replaced the Portuguese's position in the Far East and become a successor.

Unfortunately, the Spanish angered the Ming Empire because of their actions in the New World, thus attracting revenge from the Ming Empire. The Battle of Luzon caused the Spanish important colonies in the Far East to be lost. At present, Spain's power in the Far East has fallen to the bottom and no longer has the previous glory.

In contrast, the Netherlands is not much better. Although the Netherlands has not had direct conflicts with the Ming Dynasty, the expansion of the Ming Dynasty in the South China Sea has greatly compressed the interests of the Netherlands in the Far East. Especially the cooperation between the Ming Dynasty and the United Kingdom before, further hindered the Dutch's power in the Far East.

Although the Netherlands had established diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, it did not mean that the Dutch East India Company was disgusted and unwilling to the Ming Empire. It was like a child with good academic performance. It turned out to be a sweet boy in the class. Suddenly, a student who was stronger than him came to the class and attracted other students to compete with him. This led to his status in the class beginning to decline, and he was naturally extremely dissatisfied.

"Where is France? What is France's attitude?" William Adams asked after thinking.

"After His Majesty Louis XIV's death, France is no longer the France of the past." Fernando said gloatingly. Indeed, France was too powerful back then, which made the whole of Europe breathless. As a former European and a member of the Portuguese nobles, Fernando's feelings for France were naturally the same as most non-Frances.

"France's attitude is very ambiguous, and it seems that it is planned to let the Dutch be the first to be a leader. Moreover, I have been secretly instigating the Dutch these days. In my opinion, France has learned its lesson now, but it looks like a British."

Speaking of this, Fernando smiled at William Adams. William Adams, who was once a British man, also smiled. The British have a bad reputation in Europe. The British, who claim to be a European messenger, are normal for the European continent, especially for France.

Let’s not talk about the previous Hundred Years’ War between Britain and France due to territorial reasons, just the European War that had just come to an end for a few years, although it was pursued by the war caused by the Spanish throne, and Louis XIV’s toughness made European countries dissatisfied and feared, thus uniting to resist France.

But in fact, the British made constant small moves in this war and put a lot of effort into it. William and Adams were naturally very clear about this. Now that Louis XIV has passed away, the French Empire has not won the war, but it has barely saved France's position in Europe. In fact, France's national strength has been greatly reduced due to the consumption of the war, and it is inevitable that there will be a great monarch like Louis XIV.

"In the UK..." William Adams asked.

"The British people appeared to support the Ming Dynasty's actions in Myanmar, and also clearly put forward the suggestion of not intervening in the Myanmar war. However, this is just a superficial situation. Your Excellency, you have a good relationship with George. Have you never visited him when you left Beijing?" Fernando asked back.

William Adams thought for a while and said, "George told me that he had sent his counselor to Myanmar and told the representatives of Myanmar not to intervene in this war. But you also know that the British reaction was not something that I and even George could decide, and it was an internal decision of the East India Company, and even the British government could not control it to a certain extent."

After a pause, William Adams continued: "But before I set out, I sent someone to send a letter to India, hoping to communicate through the East India Company. And from the information you just said, the UK is at most doing small moves, and there shouldn't be too many excessive actions. In my opinion, the key to the problem in southern Myanmar is the Netherlands. In recent years, the Dutch's influence in the Far East has been greatly reduced, and the Dutch are very unwilling to do so. Unfortunately, they have not seen their position clearly at all, and in my opinion, their representative is a complete idiot."

"What? Is the court planning to take military action when necessary?" Fernando asked with a little excitement when he heard the potential meaning of William Adams's words.

"Military action? No no! It has not reached this point yet." William Adams shook his head and said, "Southern Myanmar is not only a problem for a country, but it involves too many aspects. Once military action is taken, the court's actions in Myanmar will be under pressure from all parties, and the nature of Myanmar's unification will be different."

"So, your priest, how do you plan to negotiate? I can help if needed." Fernando asked.

"Let's take a look first, there's no hurry to do this." William Adams smiled faintly. Although the mission went south this time, it was not large in scale, it had three warships. These three warships belonged to the main warships of the Ming Navy. Although they were not first-class warships, they were also second-class warships.

In addition, there was a Marine Corps with more than 800 people on the ship. This was an elite army with excellent equipment. With this force in hand, there was no problem in protecting itself in Myanmar, and it could even play a decisive role if necessary.

Furthermore, this time I went to Myanmar to enthrone Gao Jin, which is the most important thing. As for the rest, it is best to be able to solve the problem through normal diplomatic means. Using force is the worst way to do so, which Zhu Yicheng also specifically explained before departure.
Chapter completed!