Wanli 1592

Chapter 394 Chen Longzheng's Journey to the West ([-])

As a diplomatic envoy, running on the sea naturally has certain risks, but it also satisfies this guy with a kingly mind and makes him very happy. It is useless for him to stay in Myanmar to take care of government affairs. He is good at Xiao Ruxun, who used talents, arranged for him an important mission in the ocean.

Before leaving, Matteo Ricci said that before he came to China, he was caught in a big storm at the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and almost died. He didn’t know if he would encounter it again this time. If he did, it would be a dead body Endless ending.

I thought that Chen Longzheng would shrink back, but Chen Longzheng grabbed Matteo Ricci with bright eyes and asked him what kind of storm at sea, how terrible, what it looked like, and could you describe it, which made Ricci very depressed. The result still led to this action.

Set off as a merchant ship and merchant, with a fleet of seven large ships, silk and tea and other popular products that Europeans like, and three hundred sailors pretending to be sailors, started this meaningful ocean voyage mission.

After a year, the two finally returned, and many interesting things must have happened during the period. What Xiao Ruxun was most concerned about was whether they had encountered a storm at sea, but when they asked, they really did!
According to Chen Longzheng's description, the place where the sea storm encountered was probably in the Strait of Gibraltar.

"At that time, the whole sky and the sea seemed to have completely calmed down, and the sea was like a mirror, smooth, and the seabirds that could be seen normally could not be seen, the wind stopped, and everyone went on deck Looking at it, I felt that something was wrong, and then Mr. Li rushed out, yelling at us to find a place to take refuge, there is going to be a big storm at sea, I still feel strange, so calm, how can there be a big storm?

Mr. Li said, this is something that only happens on the sea. Only at sea can such a situation happen. The sea is completely calm, the wind has stopped, and the seagulls can’t be seen. Calm, the storm at sea will become more terrifying after a while. Although our ship is big, it is hard to say whether it can carry it. We must find a place to hide.

There is a small island where we sailed so hard. We hurriedly rowed with all our strength to take refuge near the island. As a result, just after finishing the preparations, the whole sky suddenly became dark. I couldn’t even believe what I saw. Really, Xiaohou, you can't even imagine that feeling, the feeling that the mountains and rain are about to come, the wind is covering the building, and the black clouds are overwhelming the city, I really understand the state of mind of the ancient poets! "

Next, Chen Longzheng began to describe what he saw afterwards. Lightning, thunder, storm, and storm, they felt the might of nature for the first time, and felt the insignificance of human beings in the whole world, and then produced various philosophical thoughts, waiting for everything to return to calm At that time, they all had a feeling of survival after disaster. Chen Longzheng described that he sat down trembling and picked up the surviving tea bowl, but his hand shook and the tea bowl broke.

Speaking of this, Chen Longzheng laughed and said that he was really ashamed at that time, and Matteo Ricci was not much better. When the storm started, he lay on the ground to protect his head. No matter how violent the storm was, he would not get up. The whole body was like a large groundhog. After the storm passed, Chen Long was going to pull him up, only to find that his legs and feet were numb and he couldn't even stand up.

Fortunately, this voyage successfully arrived at the destination, which is the Republic of Genoa. At this moment, Genoa is still an independent and strong maritime republic, and its commercial status in Europe is very important. After the decline of Venice, before the rise of London and Rotterdam The most important financial and trade center in Europe for decades.

In fact, Xiao Ruxun could also arrange for them to go to England and the Netherlands, but considering that the old Spain is now launching uninterrupted attacks on the emerging young Britain, and the war between the two countries has not yet come to an end. The ocean area is full of wars. In order to avoid danger, Genoa is the best choice. Here, there are the most developed business in Europe, businessmen from the most countries, and the safest political environment.

Ming's merchant ship sailed into the Mediterranean Sea and arrived at the port of Genoa.

Along the way, because of the special Chinese character flags and the black-haired, black-eyed, yellow-skinned sailors on board, heated discussions have been aroused among the merchant ships. The phenomenon of almost thousands of people emptying the streets, countless Europeans rushed to the port to see the legendary "Chinese".

In their memory, this has never happened. It seems that there was once a few hundred years ago, but it is too far away from them. China, the legendary country that flows milk and honey and is full of gold, is the Europeans of this era. The collective yearning for them, but not long after they passed, the Chinese have already arrived.

In the past few decades, European missionaries have been to China, and some people have returned from China, describing to them what they saw and heard in China, rich, civilized, crowded, and powerful. This is the most impressive impression. Dark skin and black hair and eyeballs are the facial features of the Chinese people. Silk, porcelain and tea are the specialties of the Chinese people. This is all the Europeans know about the Chinese people.

However, these imagined Chinese are never as direct as the Chinese seen in reality. The news that the Chinese appeared in the port of Genoa spread throughout the port in a very short period of time, and they quickly marched towards the city, and then more Frenzied enthusiasm was sent back from the city to the port, and the news even alarmed the Governor of Genoa and the bankers.

Chen Longzheng and the sailors of the Ming Dynasty couldn't understand the enthusiasm of these Europeans with different hair colors and different eye colors, but a little whiter skin. Ships besieging Ming Dynasty.

After Matteo Ricci's explanation, Chen Longzheng realized that these people are not the same as the so-called Franji people. Europeans are also divided into many countries and nationalities. This is Genoa. These people yearn for China very much. Also quite enthusiastic.

Chen Longzheng is very interested in the customs and customs of European countries. After seeing this scene, he remembered what Xiao Ruxun said - as long as you take out silk, porcelain and tea leaves on the land of Europe, you can be regarded as a status symbol and be respected , provided, of course, that you will not encounter pirates.

So Chen Longzheng ordered his accompanying clerks to change into silk formal attire, and he also changed into silk clothes. After all, he was pretending to be a businessman, so it couldn't be very formal. Everyone was here to do business, and there was no official background. It was as simple as that. , and then, is to place the goods.

Boxes of silk, tea, porcelain and other commodities on the seven sea ships went up and down the port one by one, and the eyes of the Genoese were immediately stared at.

(End of this chapter)