Qi Jiguang's life is a glorious life, a life of struggle, and a life of compromise.

History has given him many halos - famous anti-Japanese generals, outstanding military strategists, calligraphers, poets, and national heroes. He has fought against Japanese pirates on the southeast coast for more than ten years, wiped out the Japanese ills that have been tortured the coastal areas for many years, and ensured the safety of the lives and property of the coastal people.

Later, he fought against the Tatar invasion in the north for more than ten years, defended the security of the northern territory and promoted peaceful development among the nations.

He wrote famous military books such as the 18-volume "Ji Xiao New Book" and the 14-volume "State Records of Military Training", as well as the "Zhizhitang Collection" and memorials and revisions submitted to the court in different historical periods.

At the same time, he was also an outstanding weapon expert and military engineer. He successively transformed and invented various fire attack weapons; the large and small warships and chariots he built made the Ming army better than the enemy's waterway equipment; he creatively built hollow enemy platforms on the Great Wall, which can attack and retreat or defend, are all very distinctive military projects.

However, history rarely records his life in a complete way, especially his miserable old age.

In the previous life, after the death of the chief minister Zhang Juzheng, the "Zhang faction" including Qi Jiguang was cruelly purged, and a large number of meritorious ministers became prisoners and died suddenly in prison.

Because Qi Jiguang's performance was too solid, the opposition could not directly attack, so he could only send him to Guangzhou to be the general. Then he found a reason to demote him repeatedly, and finally returned to his hometown in Shandong. He died silently when he was poor and hungry, and was poor and sick.

Perhaps even the neighbors would not have guessed that this old man who could not afford to see a doctor and was ignored is Qi Jiguang, the legendary hero!

According to Hua Mei, Governor Qi did not receive too much criticism, and the arrangement of the second uncle in advance before his death played a great role. Zhang Siwei and Hai Rui died one after another. Now the Ming Dynasty's ruling is based on Yu Shen's behavior and Shen Shi's behavior is relatively stable overall, but the opposition's arrogance has always been relatively arrogant!

Because the boss behind the opposition is nothing else, it is the little emperor who ranks above the temple - Zhu Yijun, the Emperor Shenzong of Ming Dynasty!

This little emperor in the rebellious period deeply hated Zhang Juzheng who restrained him like his father. Even though he had passed away, he still hated everything related to it without reservation!

However, as the king of a country, he knew that all this was beneficial to him, so although he was unhappy, it was not good to be cautious in his actions. Shen Shixing and others insisted on suppressing them.

But it was hard to say in private. Yu Shenxing and others had many difficulties in promoting reform, but they still gritted their teeth and endured it silently. It was not that they didn't know the whole story, but they just couldn't explain it clearly, and they were unwilling to give up under their sense of responsibility.

Governor Qi died miserably under their blow, and his situation in this life was slightly better than in the previous life, but he still could not change his fate of being marginalized. In the fourth year after the death of the second uncle, he still made a request for retirement, and Zhu Yijun naturally replied in seconds and agreed.

Now, he has returned to his hometown in Shandong to retire, but his physical condition is getting worse and worse, and probably not much time has passed.

Perhaps, Governor Qi is my first mentor and most important friend in this world!

I have to rush back, at least I can see him.

Moreover, Huamei also told me that although Japan is still separatist, it is always ready to move towards the Ming Dynasty and Goryeo!

This gave me more reasons to go back.

But for now, I have to go back to London first - the Queen has sent me five envoys to go back and receive rewards, and it would be against the order if I don’t go back!

I am a meritorious minister, not a sinful person, and there is nothing to avoid.

On the way back to London from Dublin, there were still lightning and thunder in the sky, but it looked so cute and charming at this moment.

This is probably a different mood, which creates a different understanding of the environment.

Westminster Palace, in order to welcome me, a special salute was sounded. This was a grand welcome ceremony for the triumphant heroes. The rare clear weather added a lot of color to the celebration.

"This is a celebration and a ceremony for you! The Duke of America!" Isabella, dressed in a good costume, said to me excitedly: "It was specially prepared for you by Her Majesty the Queen!"

As she said that, there was an indescribable smile in her eyes. The smile was very interesting. Just like when I was in college in my previous life, a girl who had a good impression of me learned that I liked another girl's ambiguous expression.

I don't understand the source of this smile, and I am deeply puzzled by the name she said - Duke of America? What does this mean?

Turning his head and looking at Queen Elizabeth I. Sitting on the throne of the main palace, she is wearing a white queen outfit today, looking majestic and inviolable. At this time, she smiled and looked at me happily and said:

"I knew for a long time that you were an excellent guy, but I didn't expect that you would be so outstanding!" Elizabeth I's voice was a little ethereal, as if it came from the distant starry sky.

"As for the title of Duke of America, it is the title of Isabella - my niece thinks that the title of the Mexican Marquis is just a joke, or the situation requires it, but now it is no longer needed, so she feels that you should give you a title according to your preferences. I wonder if you agree with her ideas, or if you have a better choice!"

Before I could speak, Isabella smiled gently with her right fingers on her right hand, "Auntie always said the same thing. Today, she was willing to make an exception to modify Chengming for the sake of the Duke. This is what I really can't believe."

The two of them sang and reconciled, which made me a little confused and I felt that my mind was not enough.

beside

The drums and music are loud, and I feel a little unreal. Because the queen's attitude has far exceeded the level of treating a "mechanic" and is more like treating her own "lover"!

I couldn't help but frowned slightly, and then saluted deeply and said, "Thank you for your love and praise from the Queen. I feel deeply ashamed! I just came to the time and went with the flow. This great victory depends entirely on the Queen's wisdom. How dare I be greedy for me?"

Elizabeth I smiled and said, "If a bird wants to fly, it needs the command of his mind and the guidance of his wings. Qi Lan doesn't have to be too humble, we all see your credit."

As she said that, she asked meaningfully again: "I wonder what Qi Lan has plans for the next one?"

I bent down deeply and saluted, "This time I came here, on the one hand, to listen to Your Majesty's teachings, but on the other hand, to say goodbye to Your Majesty!"

As soon as the words said goodbye, Elizabeth I immediately showed a slightly dull expression on his face. He glanced at Isabella next to him, and then turned to me and asked in a low voice, "Where are you going? What are you going to do?"

I immediately replied seriously: "I received the news from my hometown that one of my extremely important elders was in good health. I was afraid that there was not much time. I wanted to rush back to the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible to visit my elders."

Isabella interjected: "Will you come back?"

I didn't understand what her intention meant, so I could only answer vaguely: "The years of life at sea have made me fall in love with all this, and I will definitely go out to sea again."

Isabella seemed to breathe a long breath, her movements were very small, but I still heard the long breath sound that seemed to be there. Then she glanced at Elizabeth I, and the queen's face regained a smile and looked at me:

"You are right in matters of nature, human relations. I will write a letter to open a trade route, and I also ask Qi Lan to bring it to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and mediate it from it."

Why not do this kind of favorable favor? I immediately agreed and everyone was happy for a while.

The dinner held at Westminster Palace was very grand and glorious. Celebrities from all walks of life from London attended the event, and for a while, the neon lights were dazzling, the lights were red, the wine was green, and the sounds of the orioles were singing.

But my heart cannot fit into this atmosphere at all. In fact, if I can, I would rather not attend such a worthless praising conference, but start a voyage back to the east faster.

However, although time is precious, it is not such a way to cherish it. Sometimes the necessary falsehood will have a higher cost-effectiveness.

In the melodious symphony, Huamei, who accompanied me to attend the dinner, returned the greeting gracefully to every nobleman who came to toast, and performed very decently and generously. In addition, her traditional red and black long skirt reflected her fair skin, her heroic and upright but beautiful face, everything was even more extraordinary, and she looked particularly dazzling among the female companions.

"Qi Lan, the Queen seems to be looking at me all the time." Huamei suddenly whispered after we sent the Countess Charles who came over to toast, "Or it is, she is looking at you, and it seems that there is something important to tell you. Every time she looks at me, she feels a little malicious."

After saying that, she gently wrinkled her little nose: "Don't ask me why I know! I can only tell you - a woman's intuition!"

Then he changed into an aggressive expression and lowered his voice: "Tell me honestly, why have you done shameful things with her during the time I was away?"

I didn't speak all the time, just watched her perform with helpless look on her face. To be honest, I actually found that the queen had been sneaking around here. She seemed a little absent-minded when others came up to greet her several times.

Of course I would not be so narcissistic that I thought this British supreme had any other thoughts about me, so I could only attribute it to the wise queen who had something to tell me.

Sure enough, as the music transitioned from a cheerful march to a melodious dance music, the crowd in the hall consciously spread out to the surroundings - this was to make enough space to free up and ask the most noble and beautiful ladies present to dance the first dance.

Of course, the most noble and most beautiful is just a saying - everyone knows that this first dance was left for Queen Elizabeth I. What people care about is who she would invite to be her dance partner, that's all.

In the past few years, the Queen invited her dance partners generally Sir Raleigh, but since last year, to be more precise, the Queen's orientation and choice seem to have changed since Sir Raleigh returned to the New World.

Sir Raleigh is no longer her first choice—even not on the list of alternatives, and the queen usually rewards this glory to her niece Isabella, which is also seen as the queen's constraints and renewal of her communication.

When people thought that today's queen would give this opportunity to Isabella again, the supreme king of England slowly stood up and looked in a certain direction in the crowd.

My heart skipped a beat, it wouldn't be so inch? I was thinking about what might happen, so I heard Elizabeth I say happily in her unique sharp voice: "The first dance, I want to invite the heroes of the country to dance together with the Duke of America who has made great sacrifices and efforts to defeat Spain! I wonder if I have this honor?"

Hearing this, people looked in my direction, thinking that this oriental boy was such a lucky guy. Then they looked at Huamei beside me, and they all showed a clear gloating expression.

At that time, even though they knew that the other party had a male or female companion, they would invite their partner to dance the first dance. This was the somewhat shaky declaration of love that was snatched by the sword!

Just when people thought that Huamei wanted to swallow this mute loss and had to accept that her lover would dance the first dance with other more powerful women, Huamei's crisp voice sounded in the hall:
Chapter completed!