Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Having bid farewell to Robben Island and watched as iconic geographical landmarks like Table Mountain grew smaller and smaller, Solovyov officially left Africa.

His vast fleet was about to set sail for Brazil.

South America was a completely unfamiliar territory for Qing Dynasty officials.

Zhao Lian was also very curious as to why Solovyov chose such a route for his voyage.

"This is because of the trade winds, which are a kind of meteorological observation result."

If you're in the southern part of the country, you'll be in the westerly wind belt.

However, there are some questions about which route he should take on his return voyage.

Therefore, before setting off, Solovyov summoned all his naval officers to discuss the matter.

He had previously traveled to the Americas twice, but when it comes to professionalism, we still have to look to the veteran captains.

Besides that, there's the route for this follow-up visit.

Solovyov wasn't surprised to hear that the Portuguese royal family was still living in Brazil.

Considering that, apart from Russia, the Portuguese royal family was the only other country with a relatively good relationship with the Qing Dynasty, he was also going to visit them on this return trip.

At this time, there were many things he didn't know. The marriage he proposed involved sending a fast ship back to Europe, but he didn't know if Alexander would be willing to let his beloved daughter marry Crown Prince Pedro.

I think I'll be able to figure out the situation once I get to Rio.

On their return voyage, they naturally did not see the emperor in Saint Helena.

The emperor himself is playing Boom Beach.

Even when Solovyov set off, he heard that Napoleon had achieved a brilliant victory on the island of Saint-Domingue and had actually unified the entire island.

The progress is so fast that Solovyov is already confused. The Emperor has already completed Boom Beach and is now moving on to the Island Tycoon stage.

Therefore, his fleet had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, first to Brazil, and then continue along the Brazilian coast.

He needed to find out the situation in the Caribbean.

This means our return to Europe will definitely be later than usual.

It's possible that I'll have to spend my youngest son's first birthday on the road, unable to be with my family in St. Petersburg.

The worst-case scenario would be that he wouldn't be able to get back before the Baltic Sea freezes over, which would mean he would have to stay in Europe for a longer period of time.

However, according to his previous arrangements, the Qing Dynasty's Uliastai General should have already begun contacting Speransky, who was serving as the Governor-General of Siberia, since border trade between the two sides always required some formalities.

So it seems that it's okay to travel a little slower.

Moreover, Zhaolian also had to go on a "pacification" journey. Although she was just a passenger on the ship, she still had to make the necessary trips.

At times like this, he has no choice.

What's more, these Portuguese shut-ins are still in Portugal and unwilling to return home.

Brazil was indeed prosperous and wealthy in this era, with plantations providing abundant output, a tropical and subtropical climate, and little external pressure.

The pressure is all on the Spanish royal family next door. Although the little cake came to Madrid to become queen, she has always tried to resolve the issues through negotiation.

But the Spanish parliament clearly disagrees.

Archduke Charles had no choice but to enlist Count Artois to challenge the parliament in Madrid.

Fortunately, the church is very important in Spain, and Teresa has publicly stated that she will respect the church, so these old men didn't come out for a stroll or cause any trouble.

This created the bizarre situation where the governor was fighting rebels in Latin America, while the queen was battling the parliament in Madrid.

But for Portugal, this is a perfect situation; all their problems have been solved, and no one can threaten them.

The situation on the mainland was also not good. The Portuguese royal family was unwilling to return to a poor Portugal and face those troublesome local nobles.

But he will have to go back someday, it's just that Crown Prince Pedro is very reluctant to go back.

Unlike typical nobles, he was closer to ordinary people and grew up on the streets of Rio.

He would still sympathize with the demands of Brazilian nobles and commoners, but aside from that, there were some personal political ambitions.

Portugal at this time was a "united kingdom," which actually included Brazil, Portugal, and its African colonies, making the implications quite clear.

However, John VI's abilities were probably insufficient; he was not capable enough to steer such a country.

Do you not have the ability to know?
If someone like Pedro were to have their position taken by a sullen Austrian woman from the Habsburgs, then any woman of marriageable age in a major European country could certainly express her dissatisfaction.

Especially in Russia, all the aunts of the previous generation have married, and the next generation of princesses are following suit.

It falls into the category of "Princess is not selling, please help us" situations. Portugal's prime location is naturally a target for competition among European countries.

Fortunately, Alexander did not fall into mysticism at this time, and he always made arrangements for his daughters' marriages.

Louise was responsible for raising seven daughters and arranging their marriages, which required the approval of Queen Mother Maria and Alexander himself.

Unlike Constantine's daughter, who, despite having no blood relation, married King Gustavus Adolphus, it's about time for her to have some good news.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Pedro, after receiving news from a Portuguese merchant ship in Cape Town, was already estimating the time and preparing to welcome him in Rio de Janeiro.

Of course, he didn't expect that this was just a pretext to send an envoy, and that the Qing Dynasty would actually send an envoy of princely rank to return the visit.

Although Portugal had the best relationship with the Qing Dynasty in terms of royal relations, and even Emperor Yongzheng sent an edict to Portugal that was full of praise and compliments.

The Fourth Prince was in high spirits and pleased with himself, so he replied with an imperial edict.

It truly is a case of "I am this kind of man, this kind of emperor," and his happiness makes everyone happy.

When someone is unhappy, things can become incredibly abstract, and the victims include people like Lao Duozi.

It is true that both the Ming and Qing dynasties were satisfied with the performance of Portugal and the Netherlands.

Moreover, on the return journey, the Russian flagship "Grace" flew the Russian flag, the St. Andrew's naval ensign, and a particularly eye-catching yellow dragon flag.

Crown Prince Pedro had already ordered the Portuguese royal army to line up to greet him, but unexpectedly, Qing Dynasty officials also appeared beside Solovyov.

When the Qing Dynasty sent several lions to Emperor Kangxi in the past, they never sent anyone to help.

Why are you visiting again this time?
Seeing his confusion, Solovyov offered an explanation.

"Your Highness, this is an envoy sent by the Chinese Emperor, traveling on our ships to visit Europe. However, we heard that His Majesty the King and the Royal Family are still in Rio, which is why we did not choose the route northward from Africa, but came directly to the Americas."

"If that's the case, when you return, you might have to travel along the American coast and embark on your journey back to Europe from the American side."

“Then we won’t need to go to Lisbon, Your Highness.”

"You've been to so many places, but you've hardly ever stopped on the Iberian Peninsula."

"This is indeed a strange matter, Your Highness. Let me introduce you. This is the diplomatic envoy sent by the Chinese Emperor, the head of the delegation, Prince Zhaolian. He comes from the lineage of Prince Daishan, the second son of the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty who currently rules China. He is a hereditary prince, the eldest among the various branches, and is also a famous contemporary Chinese writer and host of literary salons." Anyway, Solovyov rambled on and on, but Zhaolian couldn't understand a word he said.

If we were to find someone fluent in foreign languages, we'd probably have to dig Seth out of his grave to ask him questions, since he's quite familiar with Latin.

But Zhaolian also knew that Solovyov was definitely saying nice things. The Portuguese prince's initial puzzled expression had now turned into respect and expectation.

"It turns out to be a renowned prince who has arrived. As the Crown Prince of Portugal, I am honored to meet you."

Of course, this was also due to Solovyov's on-the-spot translation.

Moreover, the Portuguese and Dutch are generally more savvy than other groups.

When he saw Zhaolian clasp her hands in a gesture of respect, he responded with the same gesture.

After learning of Crown Prince Pedro's identity, So-ryeon showed him respect.

"This is a fan with my own calligraphy. I hope Your Highness will accept it."

The Qing Dynasty delegation on Solovyov's ship, along with artisans, followed them all the way to Africa. They obtained bamboo strips of decent quality, processed them, and then, along with some excellent paper, made fan surfaces as souvenirs.

The crown prince opened it and saw the words "A harmonious atmosphere" written on it.

In short, it was all good news. Soryeon made a friend, and the Crown Prince received a precious calligraphy work.

Although its value cannot compare to the calligraphy on the pipe in Solovyov's hand.

Pedro knew that the Chinese valued etiquette highly, regardless of whether the emperor was of Tatar origin or a native Chinese.

So what he presented was also an exquisite sword, all of which were decorated.

Anyway, Solovyov doesn't care about gifts and is surprisingly easy to get along with.

What was originally intended for Solovyov was given to Zhaolian as a gift.

“My lord, you won’t mind this, will you?”

"That's alright. If we can serve the Chinese emperor's envoy well this time, it will benefit Portugal's future operations in Macau. The Chinese emperor's edict in Beijing mentioned that Portugal has always attached great importance to diplomatic etiquette."

As for the string of words he spoke, Zhaolian couldn't understand a single one.

Crown Prince Pedro also took it very seriously, so he made arrangements accordingly.

Moreover, there is something else Pedro should thank Solovyov for.

That is, Alexander agreed to the marriage between his eldest daughter, Grand Duchess Yevdokia, and Crown Prince Pedro, and that she would also travel by ship to Rio to marry him.

Alexander himself didn't think much of it; he believed that Pedro would return to Europe someday, and no one could predict what would happen in the future.

Moreover, the daughters got married one after another, and each of them was given a generous dowry.

Marrying off his sister was a regular occurrence for Alexander, but marrying off his daughter was a first for him.

Moreover, the engagement stipulated that the fleet would depart from St. Petersburg the following year after the Baltic ice melted.

Solovyov knew that Alexander always did things that were hard to understand.

He always favored the even-numbered daughters among his seven daughters, plus a youngest daughter.

Abstractly speaking, of these four girls, two were Solovyov's children, and the youngest was a child betrothed to Pasha long ago.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince, upon seeing the titles of the Qing Dynasty envoys, knew that this was a truly high-level event, and that they had brought along many elites who had passed the imperial civil service examinations.

Even Long Ruyan, who was the top scholar, kept writing about it after he landed. He was also very curious about the situation in America.

As for what follows, we will go to King João's palace to meet him again.

But that's what happened on the second day. First, Crown Prince Pedro had to arrange accommodations for the mission members who were coming ashore, which required freeing up some vacant mansions.

Portugal colonized Brazil for so many years, and there are still quite a few decent buildings there.

As for exotic customs, those were probably what Qing Dynasty officials were more curious about.

Crown Prince Pedro also hosted a banquet in the courtyard, where the weather had been lovely and the scenery was beautiful.

As for the Portuguese hospitality, it inevitably had some local characteristics.

Yan Botao is from Guangdong, so he has no problem eating these things; it's obvious he's seen them all before.

But this is such a huge Kapibala.
The fur is one thing, but now they want to eat it too.

"Your Highness, this meat tastes quite good; we can't mistake it all for rats. Besides, look at Yan Hanlin."

"Yes, Your Highness. This kind of food is found in Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, and other places."

“I have also heard Lin Shaomu say that this custom exists in various parts of western Fujian.”

Now that the scholars have started reciting the classics, they might as well eat guinea pig meat.

Moreover, this is a common occurrence in South America, where pets raised at home are generally considered clean and hygienic.

At least while they were in India, they didn't go to any Indian-style restaurants to eat.

If we go, there will likely be non-combat casualties.

In Portugal, their hospitality was also carefully planned to avoid any problems.

The rest of the food was more like the Western food I had seen in Batavia and Kolkata, which was fine.

The audience with the king will have to wait until tomorrow.

Solovyov was considering whether or not to visit Bolívar and his uncle on the island.

Napoleon's exile can be considered a form of self-imposed exile.

Moreover, Solovyov was able to find loopholes in the treaty.

There's no rule against relatives visiting each other, especially since he's from the Russian side. Although they're not related by blood—he's an uncle and nephew of a great-aunt—Polina gave birth to his children, and her eldest son married Solovyov's daughter, so they already have two children.

They're relatives, after all.

Visiting one's imperial uncle in Port-au-Prince is not a problem.

Moreover, he traveled so far this time to oppose Britain, so shouldn't he summarize his experience with the previous one who failed in opposing Britain?

In addition, both Bolivar and San Martín had some British influence behind them.

My relationship with Bolívar in Paris was actually much better than that of the British.

Perhaps it can play a role. (End of Chapter)