In fact, Drake was talking nonsense. It was true that he went to sea on the orders of the Queen. But the Queen's secret order was to plunder the Pacific coast of the Spanish Empire and find the legendary Northwest Passage. It was not about contacting the Ming Empire in the Far East.

Speaking of which, this matter is related to Lin Feng's fleet. Three years ago, the legend of the "Red-haired Pirate" and her "Flying Dutchman" finally spread from America to Europe. Even Queen Elizabeth, who was far away in London, heard that the Chinese fleet sailing around the world robbed the Spanish treasure ship in the Caribbean Sea and looted the undefended west coast of America without any damage, stealing hundreds of tons of gold and silver, and various precious goods worth tens of millions of pesos!

Her Majesty the Queen was deeply regretful because it was clearly her who should have been the one to make the fortune.

Simply put, with her connivance, Britain's royal pirates had been plundering America for more than ten years.

Of course, Her Majesty the Queen had every reason to do so, at least people across the UK supported her in doing so.

Because her elder sister, the previous Queen Mary I of England, was the wife of King Philip II of Spain. Although the couple had been living apart, Philip II did not hesitate to drag England into the Spanish-French war in the Netherlands.

This long and brutal war not only drained the British treasury and caused the death of tens of thousands of British soldiers, but also caused Britain to lose its last piece of territory on the European continent - Calais.

Spain's treasure fleets that continued to arrive from the Americas transported all the gold, silver and treasures back to the Iberian Peninsula, and the country refused to compensate Britain even a penny.

Therefore, the British people from top to bottom felt that Spain would never be able to repay them. Not to mention that Elizabeth restored Britain to a Protestant country and was mortal enemies with the Catholic fanatic King of Spain.

It was in this context that Queen Elizabeth issued privateering licenses, encouraging and even funding royal pirates to plunder Spain's maritime properties, with Drake being the best among them.

Over the past decade, he had traveled to New Spain several times to engage in slave trade, rob ships, and raid Spanish settlements. During one robbery, he landed on the Isthmus of Panama. There, Drake climbed a big tree and looked west, and saw the legendary Pacific Ocean.

That year was 1571 AD, the fifth year of the Longqing reign of the Ming Dynasty.

From then on, Drake dreamed of becoming the first Englishman to sail across the Pacific Ocean. However, for various reasons, mainly because she was afraid of ruining her relationship with her brother-in-law, the Queen was reluctant to agree to his plan to sail to the east coast of America.

As a result, Lin Feng got there first...

The Queen was deeply annoyed that the huge wealth that was within her reach was taken away by others, and she finally made up her mind to fund Drake to go to the Pacific Ocean at the end of 1577, the year before last.

Drake, who had long wished for the best, led a privateering fleet of five sailing ships and rushed to America. However, the Spaniards were not brainless NPCs. They would feel pain if they were beaten and would learn lessons if they suffered losses.

As a result, in the Caribbean Sea, Drake's fleet was defeated by the Spanish who were well prepared for the battle. He lost two ships at the very beginning and had to go south in embarrassment.

They struggled southward in the turbulent sea and arrived at the Falkland Islands in June last year, where they spent the winter. Drake originally intended to name it Drake Island, but he found that Lin Feng had already named it Ma Yishan Island in Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese...

Three months later, after going through untold hardships, Drake finally sailed around Cape Horn from the Linfeng Strait and realized his dream of sailing to the Pacific Ocean. However, the price he paid was heavy. At this time, he only had his flagship Golden Hind left. The other two ships, one sank, and the other disappeared.

Fortunately, Drake was good at socializing. With the help of the native friends he had just made, he repaired his ship and replenished his supplies, and set out again. He sailed north along the west coast of America, and this time he had a good harvest. Because the Spanish did not know the existence of the Linfeng Strait, they naturally did not expect that British pirates could avoid the heavily defended Magellan Strait and reach the west coast of America.

The Viceroyalty of Peru was plundered again, and Drake even captured a treasure ship bound for Panama. Later in Ecuador, he hired indigenous sailors at a high price and restored his fleet to three ships.

Just when he and his men were in high spirits and were preparing to make further efforts to continue their looting journey northward, they encountered the Pacific Fleet stationed in Acapulco.

Ten Spanish galleons almost blocked them in Veracruz, Panama. Thanks to Captain Drake's extraordinary agility and the tacit cooperation of the sailors, the British escaped the encirclement with only one ship lost.

However, the Spaniards had no intention of letting them go. Admiral Leon vowed to regain the face he had lost to the Ming people from the British.

In order to get rid of the Spanish who had been pursuing him relentlessly, Captain Drake decided to divide his forces. As a result, the captured treasure ship was caught up by the Spanish, but the Golden Hind, which was heading north, took the opportunity to escape.

Drake continued to sail northward along the Pacific Ocean, hoping to find the legendary Northwest Passage to the Atlantic Ocean and Britain. He sailed all the way to the Gulf of Alaska, which was already December last year. Drake and his companions were lucky enough to become the first people to spend the winter twice in half a year.

The blizzard and the long Alaska Peninsula finally made this persistent captain give up his voyage north. After going south to warm California to repair his ship and resupply, he learned from the natives that the Spanish had gathered hundreds of warships in Acapulco, which made him completely give up the idea of ​​returning the same way. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Magellan's route, cross the Pacific Ocean, and prepare to go around the world back to Europe.

After 68 days of sailing without seeing land, the Golden Hind arrived in Palau. Captain Drake learned from the locals that the Spaniards went to Cebu via the Surigao Strait. So in order to avoid the Spaniards, he decided to cross Luzon from the Kanmon Strait in the north...

It ended up in the hands of the Coast Guard patrol.

~~

"Give it to me?" On the balcony of the villa, Zhao Hao stretched out his hand with a smile.

"What?" Captain Drake was stunned.

"A handwritten letter from Her Majesty the Queen?" Young Master Zhao said with a smile, "With my English level, I should have no problem reading a letter."

"This..." Where is Drake's personal letter? He originally planned to take the Northwest Route directly back to Europe and never thought of coming to the Far East. The Queen's envoy seeking an alliance was just a trick to fool the Ming people.

But he had already made an excuse, so he sighed and said, "On our way to the Far East, we were chased and intercepted by the Spanish, and only one ship reached our destination. The letter the Queen wrote to His Majesty the Emperor of your country accidentally sank with the ship."

Zhao Hao couldn't help but shook his head and laughed: "Shouldn't such an important letter be kept with you?"

"Alas, Your Excellency may not know that sailing on the sea for a long time will make people dull and stupid, and occasionally make unforgivable mistakes." Drake sighed again:

"But the gift Her Majesty the Queen gave to your emperor is still on the Golden Hind, which can prove our sincerity. If you are still worried, you can send an envoy to go back to England with me, and Her Majesty the Queen will naturally prove that what I said is true."

"But this still cannot prove that you didn't make up lies in an attempt to get away with it." Zhao Hao was terrifyingly rigorous.

"Fuck..." The captain cursed inwardly, then forced a smile again and patiently persuaded Zhao Hao.

However, no matter how Captain Drake explained, he could not convince Zhao Hao that he was a British envoy visiting the Ming Dynasty.

"I'm sorry, Captain." Zhao Hao took a sip of tea and said in a businesslike manner, "In our Ming Dynasty, everything must be based on facts and the law. As a foreign affairs official of the Ming Dynasty, I cannot introduce you to His Majesty the Emperor without solid evidence to prove your identity."

"What a pity." Captain Drake secretly cursed his bad luck. He didn't expect that this Chinese man would be as rigid as the most stubborn Catholic. He quickly put on a helpless expression and said:

"Then I have no choice but to return home first and ask Her Majesty the Queen to make up a letter of credence before I come back to see Your Majesty."

"I'm sorry, Captain." Mr. Zhao still shook his head and said, "I can't let you go until there is solid evidence to prove your identity."

Liang Qin hurriedly explained: "According to the laws of our Ming Dynasty, foreigners are not allowed to enter without the emperor's permission. Those who enter without permission will be arrested and punished."

"Oh my God." Drake spread his hands in frustration and said, "You are the ones who brought me here."

"If you hadn't trespassed into the country, how could you have been arrested?" Liang Qin sneered.

"I didn't know Luzon belonged to your country. I thought it was Spanish territory." Drake complained.

"How do you prove that you don't know?" Zhao Hao said indifferently.

"Oh my god, it comes again..." Captain Drake almost vomited blood.

"Captain, please be patient. This is the rule and everyone must abide by it." Zhao Hao comforted him kindly, "Be patient and cooperate with us to complete the process. I believe we will get to the bottom of it."

"What if we can't find out?" Drake asked coldly.

"How can we not find out? There are always more solutions than problems." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "For example, we can write a letter to the queen of your country to verify it. After she replies, can't we prove your identity?"

Drake thought it would be strange if he could prove it. He knew that these privateering captains were just toilets. The Queen was fun to use, but if something went wrong, she would definitely clear herself of all responsibility. How could she risk being caught by her brother-in-law and come across the ocean to rescue him?

"Okay, you can go down first." Zhao Hao seemed to have lost interest in talking, and he served tea to the guest and said, "An official will come to question you later."

The two guards standing behind Drake immediately extended their hands and asked him to leave.

Drake quickly shouted, "I have a huge secret that concerns the safety of the Ming Kingdom. If you can guarantee that my ship and crew can leave the country safely, I can report it truthfully!"

After a pause, he threatened, "Otherwise, I will rot in my stomach forever!"

ps. Keep writing.