Chapter 79: Barbarian Language
Dongzhou Maoerwan is named because of its hat-like shape. It is a natural harbor with wide terrain and flat reefs all around. Local people often go fishing here by boat.
Standing on the shore, you can see five or six ships parked on the sea not far away.
These ships have been drifting here for more than ten days and have not been able to get close to the shore. The reason is that there are thousands of people on the shore, guarding the landing place day and night, and they will shoot arrows to warn if the ships approach.
The captain tried twice, but was forced back by the dense rain of arrows. He had no choice but to retreat back to his original position.
"It's really driving us crazy. We're running out of fresh water. If we don't restock it we'll have no choice but to drink urine!" The speaker was a bearded sailor.
Another sailor with a mouth full of black teeth said: "The weapons in the hands of those yellow monkeys are very powerful. If you are not afraid of death, you can go over and try it."
"Damn it, can't we find another place to land!"
The captain looked towards the shore through a telescope and said with a worried look, "We have spent too long here. The remaining food and water are not enough to go elsewhere."
He also had a hunch that this was definitely a very powerful country, at least much more powerful than the countries they had visited before, and perhaps he would find an opportunity to make a fortune here.
The Black Tooth Sailor asked, "What should we do now?"
The captain said, "If they don't allow the ship to dock for supplies before dark, I will go there by myself in a small boat and try."
They have tried this method in other places. If a person is not threatening, the other party will let down their guard.
The others stopped talking and hoped that God would allow the captain to return safely, otherwise they would not be able to find the sea route home.
*
In the evening, a small boat suddenly came swaying from the middle of the fleet.
When the officer in charge of the guard saw it, he immediately raised his hand and all the soldiers raised their bows and arrows and aimed at the people on the boat, but no order was given to shoot.
As the boat got closer, everyone realized that there was only one person on the boat.
The officer immediately sent a soldier to tell the prefect, and not long after, the prefect ordered the man to go ashore and be brought back to the yamen.
The boat swayed and stopped at the shore. The captain was mumbling something incomprehensible. The officer waved his hand and the soldiers immediately came forward, tied him up, and pushed him away.
"Hey, come on, I mean no harm, we just want to restock some food!" The captain raised his hands and said helplessly.
The soldiers did not understand what he said and looked at the man in front of them curiously, their hearts full of doubts. This man looked like a yaksha in a picture book and looked very scary.
The soldiers escorted him to the yamen. Since entering the city, the captain's mouth has never closed. Oh my God, what a prosperous and huge city!
The streets here are made of solid stone slabs? Is this a miracle? This must be a miracle!
And the clothes people wore on the street were so light and beautiful, and the colorful colors dazzled him. Oh my God, if I took these things back, I would definitely be able to sell them for a good price!
When he arrived at the government office, Shang Rui met this man in person. Although he was knowledgeable, he was still surprised by the white-skinned man in front of him.
"You, where are you from?"
"#%*&..."
Shang Rui and his subordinates looked at each other in bewilderment, not understanding what this man was saying at all.
The captain realized that this man was not an ordinary person, so he quickly took off his hat and bowed to him, then stretched out his hand to gesture as if he was putting something into his mouth.
Shang Rui immediately understood what he meant and immediately ordered someone to bring food and a glass of water.
The captain looked at the food brought by the servants and was hesitant to speak. Forget it, just eat first.
He didn't know how to use chopsticks, so he grabbed the rice and vegetables with his hands and started eating. He exclaimed as he ate, "The food here is so delicious!" You know, they have been eating potatoes and dry bread for nearly half a year.
Even in his own country, he had never eaten anything so delicious!
Shang Rui stroked his beard and looked at the foreigners in front of him. This morning, an urgent letter was sent from Shangjing, eight hundred miles away, saying that the emperor wanted to see these foreigners. Even if this person did not come, they would be allowed to go ashore tomorrow.
After the captain had eaten and drunk his fill, he gestured to ask for permission for other people on the ship to go ashore to eat as well.
Shang Rui nodded in agreement. The letter said that the emperor not only wanted to see their people, but also wanted to bring all their food and supplies to the capital.
Although he didn't know why His Majesty valued these barbarians, since he had given the order, he would just do it.
The captain danced with joy, causing the servants to cover their mouths and laugh. Then he excitedly got in the carriage and rushed back to the bay, rowing the small boat he had brought with him back to the center of the fleet.
"Oh my God, the captain is back!" the first mate shouted in surprise while holding a telescope.
"God bless you." Others crossed themselves.
After the captain got on the boat, everyone rushed forward to look at him: "I can't believe that those yellow monkeys didn't kill you." Big Black Tooth exclaimed.
"Don't say that, they're very friendly."
The bearded man took out a bow and arrow from his pocket and said, "If you hadn't used this thing to greet us a few days ago, I would still believe it."
"Well, I have good news for you. The owner here has allowed us to go ashore."
Everyone cheered: "That's great!"
"There's even better news. There's delicious food and countless treasures here!"
"Oh~ roar!" A group of people threw away their hats and jumped up on the spot. Before setting out to sea, they had heard that there was a country in the far east with countless gold and silver treasures. They originally thought it was a myth, but they didn't expect to really find it!
After celebrating, everyone quickly weighed anchor and headed for the shore. A total of 76 people from the five boats all went ashore.
As soon as these people came up, they were surrounded by the soldiers. They were so scared that they took out their daggers and stabbed with swords to defend themselves.
"Put down your weapons, put down your weapons!" The captain hurriedly tried to appease the crew. If they angered the other party, they would not be able to defeat them with such a small number of people.
The crew gradually calmed down, put away their weapons and followed the soldiers into the city.
As soon as they entered the city gate, these country bumpkins were completely shocked. This must be heaven!
Unlike the captain, they were expressionless and sang and danced happily. Some of them even knelt on the ground and kissed the concrete road.
Many people on the street who were watching the fun couldn't help laughing as if they were watching a monkey show.
They thought these people were welcoming them, so they quickly straightened their clothes and put on their hats, hoping to leave a good impression on these mysterious Oriental people.
Shang Rui sent people to settle them in an inn, provided them with food and clothes, and asked people to find a way to communicate with them as soon as possible.
*
Song Yuzhu in Shangjing saw everything that happened in Dongzhou. Although he didn't have a good impression of these Europeans, their arrival might bring a new turning point.
Rubber, in particular, is indispensable for medical, civilian and military use.
Song Yuzhu remembered that rubber trees grow in the tropics, so they had to find a way to introduce them into the country for large-scale planting.
The second thing was the food they ate. In addition to black bread, Song Yuzhu saw potatoes on the ship. He had planned to send people overseas to look for them before, but now he had them without any effort!
We must introduce this crop into the country and let the people grow some of it. In years of famine, it can save lives.
There are still some questions that Song Yuzhu can ask in more detail only after they arrive in Shangjing.
For example, where did they come from? What places did they discover during their voyages? And how developed was Europe? And so on...
However, judging from the structure of these ships and the clothes they wore, Europe was probably in the Middle Ages, and its technological development was far less advanced than that of the Great Eastern Empire. The invention and application of the steam engine was at least three or four hundred years earlier than theirs.
At the end of June, this group of barbarians arrived in Shangjing under the escort of the army.
The cement road along the way amazed the group of people even more. At first they thought it was carved out of a whole piece of stone.
Later, when we were halfway there, we found that the entire stone road had disappeared, and in its place were people repairing the road.
They mixed lime, fine sand and another strange gray soil and poured it on the flattened ground to create a hard stone slab.
There are drainage ditches on both sides of the cement road, and the road surface water and sewage will be discharged into the downstream of the river along the side ditches.
The captain looked at the cement floor thoughtfully. Today's Europe is in the darkest and dirtiest era in history. There are almost no toilets in the entire English Empire, and everyone urinates and defecates anywhere.
Animal and human excrement piled up in the streets, soaked by rainwater and turned into a fetid sludge.
The rich areas are a little better, but in the slums, it is impossible to go out on rainy days, as the rain will pour feces and urine into the houses, making it uninhabitable. If their country could also build such roads, wouldn't it be much cleaner?
However, due to the language barrier, he went forward and asked for a long time but still couldn't understand the soldier's explanation. In the end, he could only put a handful of lime and the strange ash into his pocket.
After arriving in Shangjing, they were once again shocked by the prosperity of the ancient oriental capital.
Not only is this place clean and tidy, but the pavilions and towers on both sides of the street are things they have never seen before. Although the West also has its own castles, those gray stone houses are nothing to look at compared to these colorful buildings with green bricks and red tiles.
"Oh my God, we must have arrived in heaven!" the bearded man murmured.
"Such a clean place, I can't even dream of it..."
A thin sailor pointed to the golden roof in the distance and said, "My God, is that gold? Is the roof over there built with gold?"
Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw a golden palace. Then they were taken to that place.
When they passed through the heavy palace gate, everyone lowered their heads at the same time, shocked by the magnificent and majestic building.
These people knew that the country before them was very powerful and prosperous, and if nothing unexpected happened, this would be their last stop at sea.
They believe that whatever they bring back from here can be sold at a good price!
After the guard entered the palace, he knelt down to report. A eunuch passed the message to the palace. After waiting for about half an hour, Song Yuzhu, Zhao Xiao, Xu Bing and others walked from the study to the front hall.
When he first saw this group of barbarians, Zhao Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly. The strong feeling of oppression frightened the sailors so much that they trembled and knelt down involuntarily.
Even Xu Bing, who is so knowledgeable, couldn't help but stroke his beard and sigh, saying that these people looked so strange.
The captain bravely took two steps forward, took off his hat and bowed in a standard manner: "Dear King, we are from England in the west. Thank you for allowing us to go ashore for repairs. May God bless you."
Song Yuzhu listened to the familiar English, with a slight smile in her eyes: "What's Your Name?"
(End of this chapter)
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