The most powerful patriarch in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 134 Serious Nonsense
"Father Nick, I didn't expect to see you here." Lu Changle said with concern when he saw Nick.

It turned out that the elegant priest, with ragged clothes and disheveled hair, and a blond man, like a hungry dog ​​snatching food, grabbed the food from the plate with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth.
Similar to a beggar, it is estimated that he suffered a lot of crimes in the prison.

Seeing Lu Changle, Nick quickly stuffed the pancake into his mouth, swallowed it forcefully, and said with a mournful face, "Dear Lu, it's great to see you, thank the Almighty Lord"

I thought I was going to die in prison, but I didn't expect to see people from the Lu family in Fuzhou suddenly,

The Almighty Lord must have heard his prayers.

Lu Changle asked curiously: "Father Nick, why are you imprisoned? I thought you were evacuated to Jilong Mountain."

As soon as he talked about the prison, Nick complained bitterly: "It's all Tom's fault. He insisted on going to the mountains to find the legendary spices, and he took me with him. I didn't expect the eyeliner that was mistaken for pirates to be sent to the Yamen, but at that time One official has been withdrawn, and the chief clerk surnamed Qian was quite polite at the beginning, after all, he had seen it before, and then he said a few words when he saw a yamen servant bullying the poor old man. Give us dirty water and very little food, my relative Lu, it is your people who brought me light."

"Father Nick, don't you have a golden armor token? Useless?"

"I showed it to Mr. Qian, but he said it was fake and took the token away. God, he is so barbaric."

'Have you threatened him, saying that you will report this to Zongbing Zheng? '

Nick nodded again and again and said, "Yes, it was very useful to mention Yiguan before, but I didn't expect it to be ineffective this time."

It's definitely not working, Zheng Zhilong has led the team to run away, and you are threatening to make a small report, it doesn't matter who you are.

Lu Changle didn't bother with this question, instead he changed the subject and said, "Father Nick, you haven't introduced your friend yet."

"Yes, yes, my good friend Tom, he has always been yearning for the mysterious East, this time he came with the merchant ship, he insisted on going into the mountains to find the legendary spices, yes, I remembered, looking for the magical Cinnamon, pull me to go with him."

Tom is about 20 years old, blond, fat, to put it bluntly, he is a simple and honest little fat man,
Also kind of cute.

Tom heard about Lu Changle from his friends, and knew that Lu Changle would be rude, so he first thanked Lu Changle for his help,

Then he asked Lu Changle very seriously, which mountain had cinnamon, how big was the giant bird, and whether there were many beasts.

Lu Changle couldn't help but turned to look at Nick when he heard that.

Nick shrugged his shoulders and said in bright words: "Dear Lu, I explained to him, but he didn't listen, and laughed at me for being as timid as a baby. In order to maintain our friendship, I had to go crazy with him."

"I think Tom will be very lucky to have a friend like the priest." Lu Changle joked.

Westerners are very obsessed with spices. Ancient Arab merchants transported oriental spices by land to make huge profits in the Western world. In order to earn more profits, they made up all kinds of stories and seriously deceived Europeans.

For example, cinnamon grows on the top of a cliff, surrounded by poisonous snakes and beasts, and every time you pick it, you need to pay a high price.

Even Herodotus, the patriarch of the history department, was successfully fooled by them. He recorded very seriously in his book: There are giant birds in the east, which build their nests on cliffs with cinnamon sticks in their mouths.The Arabs used a trick to lure them with a large piece of beef, and when the bird carried the meat back to the nest, the nest fell to the ground under the load, so they picked up osmanthus branches and left.

Needless to say, Tom read the story and wanted to follow the example of the Arabs in finding spices.

It can only be said that the forest is big and there are all kinds of birds. Some people just don't listen to other people's advice.
Like the later generations with rapidly developed information, all kinds of anti-fraud propaganda are overwhelming, but many people are deceived every year.

Nick said with a wry smile: "The honest Tom was deceived by bad friends. He thought he was a fearless warrior. My dear Lu, if you can persuade him to give up this ridiculous idea, I will be very grateful to you."

"Yes, but Father, can you tell me, what is the origin of this Tom?"

At a young age, he was able to travel thousands of miles to Daming on a merchant ship, just to fulfill one of his dreams.
Rich and leisure, certainly not ordinary people.

If it was an ordinary person, Nick would not abandon such a sacred mission of preaching and accompany him to search for cinnamon all over the mountains.

Nick hesitated for a moment, but answered truthfully: "Tom is a Dutch nobleman, and his uncle is one of the shareholders of the East India Company. He is a very gentleman and a very stubborn nobleman."

"Hey, what are you talking about? Talking bad things behind someone's back is not what a gentleman should do." Tom said helplessly.

The two talked for a long time, but I couldn't understand a word. The patriarch Lu still looked at him from time to time, and Tom was a little unhappy.

Lu Changle smiled and said: "Mr. Tom, you have a great friend. Father Nick said that I am familiar with this place, and has been persuading me to take you to find spices."

"Really?" Tom's eyes lit up, and he said hastily: "Dear Lu, is it really possible? I can pay you handsomely. Unfortunately, my money was stolen by vicious thieves, but I can ask my uncle to send it to you." , if you can wait."

Lu Changle shook his head and said: "Mr. Tom, I'm sorry to tell you that the Arabs are greedy. For more profits, they organized an army to use bows, arrows and firearms to almost kill the giant birds. Now there are no giant birds on the mountain. Thankfully , people find a way to grow cinnamon, no longer need to venture to the mountains to find it, of course, the cinnamon found in the mountains will be more delicious."

It was so good that Nick wanted to applaud Lu Changle,

If Tom's proposal is rejected from the beginning, Tom will definitely be suspicious,
This makes it seem more real than it is.

"Oh, really?" Tom said regretfully, "I've asked many sailors, and they also said that they have never seen a giant bird. Those greedy Arabs should really send them all to hell."

After a pause, Tom said with a look of disappointment: "It's a pity that my trip to the East to find incense has failed."

The corners of Nick's mouth turned up slightly, and he was about to laugh. He had already persuaded the nobleman to go back.

Without the blessing of Zheng Zhilong, an official, it would be difficult for Nick to protect himself, let alone protect the innocent nobleman beside him.
Now that Fujian is in such a mess, something really happened, and I am afraid that Tom's family will not be able to explain it to me.

Just when Nick wanted to persuade his good friend to give up, Lu Changle suddenly said: "Mr. Tom, you are God's favorite. When you meet me, your journey of searching for fragrance will not end, it will only be more perfect, because I have something better than cinnamon here." Ten times the spice”

"Really? Dear Lu, you won't lie to me, will you?"

"No, no." Lu Changle said solemnly, "You are the priest's friend and also my friend. Friends should treat each other sincerely."

Tom said in disbelief, "Cinnamon is the best spice, and there are spices ten times better than cinnamon?"

Lu Changle said confidently: "There is an old saying in our Daming that hearing is believing, seeing is believing. The two of you have suffered in prison. These vulgar foods are not in line with your status. Please wait a moment, I will Treat distinguished guests from afar with the finest spices."

As soon as he heard that Tom was the son of a Dutch nobleman and his family was very influential in business, Lu Changle's heart immediately became active.

If you want to do big things, you need money,
Now there is only one Huizhou merchant, Cheng Liye, and there are still few channels.
It would be great if I could get in touch with the Dutch East India Company through this Tom,
Not to mention anything else, just the mirrors that are the best in the world that are made by ourselves can be sold to them for a lot of money.
There are also commodities such as tea and silk, which can also be sold overseas to earn money from foreigners.

Then let the East India Company sell the materials they urgently need to themselves, killing two birds with one stone,
By the way, the relationship between the Dutch East India Company and Zheng Zhilong is very bad, and they have fought many times for hegemony.

Sooner or later, I will have a battle with Zheng Zhilong. If I win over the Dutch East India Company, there may be unexpected joy.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty successively invested 150 warships, including 50 gunboats and tens of thousands of soldiers; the Dutch Indochina Colonial Headquarters sent 9 Galen sailboats with cannons to the southeast coast of Jinmen, Fujian. In the end, Zheng Zhilong defeated the joint forces of the Dutch East India Company and Liu Xiang pirates with an absolute superiority.

Lu Changle once asked Liu Ruolan if he could contact the Dutch East India Company. Liu Ruolan said that the red-haired ghost only knew his father Liu Xiang, and the others didn't believe it at all.
In addition, the Dutch East India Company and Zheng Zhilong negotiated the issue of protection fees, and they didn't want to make extra troubles, so as not to anger Zheng Zhilong.

Deliberately planting flowers and flowers will not live, but unintentionally planting willows and willows will become cute. Unexpectedly, little fat Tom is the nephew of a shareholder of the Dutch East India Company.

Speaking of spices, the Chinese people with thousands of years of food culture are definitely the ancestors of foreigners.

The last time Yang Xuan ate the barbecue, his mouth was full of oil. Lu Changle, in order to satisfy his mouth craving and to make Yang Xuan happy, made up a secret recipe called Shilixiang with existing materials.
The improved recipe makes the grilled meat more fragrant and tender, and Yang Xuan can't stop eating it every time.
Second Uncle, Gan Hui, and Qiaosao also insisted that Lu Changle has confidence in his spice formula.

Under Tom's urging, Lu Changle made them a delicious barbecue meal,

The result was as Lu Changle expected. Tom and Nick kept talking about the delicious food, praising and eating, but they couldn't stop talking.

I couldn't eat it until I couldn't eat it, so I reluctantly put down the meat skewers.

"Dear Lu, I want to applaud your honesty. I have to say, this spice is so good, it's so good. It's the first time I've eaten such delicious meat. Let me ask, what's the name of this spice?"

After eating, Tom didn't forget his business.

When you encounter such a good spice, you must bring it back to your country and let your family and friends taste it.
Especially those guys who laughed at themselves for taking a trip in vain, this time they will be severely slapped in the face.

"It's called Shilixiang. It is the finest and most precious spice in Ming Dynasty. It is usually reluctant to eat. It is only shared with the most distinguished guests."

Hearing this, Tom said with a moved face, "Dear Lu, you are so generous, may I ask, how did you make this ten-li xiang?"

Lu Changle coughed dryly, and said seriously: "The growth conditions of these spices are very harsh. They need to be grown on mountains above 3000 feet, bathed in the brightest sunshine and freshest air. In order to improve their quality, the following spices need to be grown every ten days. The virgins are watered with the sweetest spring water from the bottom of the mountain, planted in one year, bloomed in a year, bear fruit in a year, processed in a year and dried in the sun, and it takes four years to get this spice called Shilixiang."

] "Because the distance to transport spring water is more than ten miles, in order to commemorate the hard work of those girls, it is also called Shilixiang"

Tom and Nick listened with relish, and sighed from time to time,
Yang Xuan on the side stared as big as a bull's eye.

This guy is talking nonsense in such a serious manner that he almost believes it. Don't you need to draft drafts when you talk big?
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(End of this chapter)