Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 158: Contact

The Governor of Canton was reviewing trade reports when the message arrived.

Several clerks sat at nearby tables copying records from the customs bureau while the governor examined a ledger of port tariffs.

A guard stepped inside and bowed.

"Your Excellency, a courier from the Viceroy."

The governor immediately looked up.

"From the Viceroy?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Send him in."

Moments later a messenger entered the room and knelt, holding a sealed document with both hands.

"The Viceroy of Liangguang sends urgent instructions."

The governor took the scroll and broke the seal.

His eyes moved quickly across the message.

At first his expression remained neutral.

Then his brow slowly tightened.

The officials seated nearby noticed the change.

"Your Excellency?" one of them asked.

The governor lowered the letter slightly.

"A foreign fleet has entered the Pearl River."

The room fell quiet.

"Another Western merchant convoy?" one of the clerks asked.

The governor shook his head.

"No."

He lifted the scroll again and continued reading.

"The Viceroy reports that these ships are not ordinary merchant vessels."

He paused.

"They arrived in formation... like a war fleet."

One of the officials leaned forward.

"Which nation?"

"France."

The name lingered in the room.

Most of the men had heard of the Western kingdom, though few had seen its ships.

The governor continued reading the instructions.

"The Viceroy orders that we meet the foreigners and determine their intentions."

He lowered the scroll and read the final line aloud.

"’They have entered the river with a war fleet. We must understand why these barbarians have brought such ships into our waters.’"

The officials exchanged uneasy glances.

A fleet.

Inside the Pearl River.

One of the older administrators spoke quietly.

"Your Excellency... do we know how many ships there are?"

The governor folded the letter.

"The Viceroy did not specify."

He looked toward the open window where faint smoke could now be seen rising above the distant river.

"But enough to concern him."

Another official spoke carefully.

"Should we alert the harbor defenses?"

The governor shook his head.

"No."

He placed the scroll on the table.

"The Viceroy has already ordered that no one provoke them."

The room fell silent again.

Outside the building, distant bells could be heard ringing along the harbor.

News of the fleet was spreading quickly across Canton.

The governor stood and straightened his robe.

"Prepare a delegation."

Several officials looked up.

"To meet them?" one asked.

"Yes."

The governor walked toward the window and looked toward the distant smoke drifting above the Pearl River.

"If these barbarians have sailed into our river with a fleet of warships..."

He paused.

"...then we must find out why."

An hour later, the governor’s delegation departed the city.

A narrow convoy of river boats pushed away from one of Canton’s official docks. The governor stood at the front of the lead vessel while several administrators and guards accompanied him. Oars dipped steadily into the water as the boatmen guided them toward the main channel of the Pearl River.

Even before they reached the open stretch of water, the smoke was visible.

Thick gray columns rising into the sky.

One of the officials standing beside the governor pointed toward the river.

"There."

The governor followed his finger.

At first he only saw shapes in the distance.

Dark shapes.

Then the shapes grew larger as their boats moved closer.

The governor felt his expression tighten.

Those were ships.

But not the kind he expected.

One of the clerks behind him muttered quietly.

"Heaven preserve us..."

The lead vessel of the foreign fleet slowly emerged into clear view.

The governor had seen Western merchant ships before. British traders arrived every year with tall masts and wide white sails that towered above the harbor.

Those ships were large.

But this...

This was something else entirely.

The massive hull of the Napoleon I dominated the river.

Its black armored sides rose high above the water like the walls of a fortress. The metal plates covering the hull reflected faint light from the afternoon sun, giving the entire ship a cold, iron appearance.

And there were no sails.

Not a single one.

Instead, thick smoke poured from several towering funnels rising from the deck.

The deep rumble of its engines carried across the river.

The governor stared upward.

"That thing..." one of the officials whispered.

"...is a ship?"

The boatmen slowed instinctively as the massive vessel loomed ahead of them.

From the river, its scale became even more overwhelming.

Men walked along the upper decks of the ship, appearing small against the enormous structure of steel surrounding them.

Several enormous gun turrets rested along the deck.

Each one larger than a carriage house.

The governor’s eyes lingered on them.

"Cannons," one of the guards murmured.

"But those are too large for any ship."

Behind the iron giant, more foreign warships followed.

Long gray hulls moved steadily through the river channel, their funnels releasing steady trails of smoke.

Cruisers.

Destroyers.

Ships that dwarfed the European merchant vessels anchored further downriver.

Even the largest British trading ships now looked small beside them.

The governor slowly exhaled.

"So this..."

He looked again toward the towering iron hull of the Napoleon I.

"...is the fleet the Viceroy spoke of."

None of the officials answered.

They simply stared.

For the first time, they understood why the messenger had struggled to describe what he had seen.

Because words alone were not enough.

One of the clerks spoke quietly.

"Your Excellency... these are not merchant ships."

The governor nodded slowly.

"No."

His eyes remained fixed on the massive iron warship ahead of them.

"These barbarians did not come here to trade."

Their boats eventually reached a small landing point along the riverbank where several foreign sailors were already waiting.

The governor stepped onto the wooden dock with his officials behind him. The towering hull of the iron warship loomed only a short distance away in the river, its engines still rumbling quietly.

Two men approached from the waiting group.

One wore the uniform of a naval officer. The other was dressed more like a merchant.

The merchant stepped forward first and gave a slight bow.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen."

His Chinese carried a noticeable accent but was clear enough to understand.

"My name is Remy Beauvilliers. I am a merchant operating under the protection of the French Empire."

He gestured toward the officer beside him.

"And this is Monsieur Villeneuve, official envoy of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of France."

Villeneuve inclined his head politely toward the governor.

"We thank you for coming to receive us."