The captain smiled with satisfaction, picked up the porcelain bowl and took a big sip. The stimulation brought by the strong alcohol made him feel extremely clear all over. He reached out and wiped it on his mouth, and said: "After being knighted, you become a noble. Do you know what it means to be a noble?"
"I know." Harder nodded. A noble is a noble.
When the captain saw it, he continued: "As long as you are knighted, even if it is just an earl, it is a super-grade official rank. You must know that under His Majesty the Ming Emperor, the highest official rank among the six ministers is, but even if The ministers of various ministries are only in the second rank, and the earl is directly above the rank. Many ministers who are well-known ministers, their biggest wish in life is to be able to be awarded the title of earl by virtue of their merits. "
Hader was stunned for a moment. In the past, he didn't know what nobility meant in the Ming Dynasty. He only felt that it was as noble as the nobles in Persia. But now it seems that this is not just an ordinary noble? These are exactly the top nobles who hold real power among the nobles.
Harder was instantly full of desire for the title, and secretly swallowed in fear, and said: "Hader knows His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As long as Harder works hard to make contributions to the Ming Dynasty, I think he will still do it after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince becomes the emperor. Grant Hard a title."
"Hahaha..." The captain laughed directly, raised his finger and pointed at Harder, shook his head and said: "You only know one, but you don't know the other. If the emperor seals you now, it will be passed down to the country. The title is hereditary. Do you know what hereditary means?"
Hader shook his head. How could he, a Khrumos man, know what hereditary neglect was?
The captain smiled when he saw it, and explained to Harder more patiently: "Hereditary means that as long as you are awarded the title of Earl, no matter how many generations your title is passed down to your descendants, the Earl will always be the Earl. If you are an earl, you will always be a marquis. As long as the Ming Dynasty is still alive, your descendants can receive one day's imperial lumi."
"But if you wait until His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne before conferring a title on you, it will be different. Then it can only be an ordinary title, and such a title will be lowered by one level each generation. In other words, if you are given a title If you are granted the title of earl, then in three generations, your descendants will turn from nobles to common people again."
After hearing this, Harder's expression suddenly changed. According to the captain, isn't this the same as a noble? If it is not managed well, it will turn from an aristocrat to a commoner, also called a downtrodden aristocrat.
"Of course, there are no absolutes in this world." Seeing that Harder was listening carefully to what he said, the school captain burst out with his teacher-like personality. He couldn't help but said to Harder again, "Even after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he can be granted a title of nobility. , but the merit required is even greater.”
After saying that, the captain glanced at Hader, which meant that he should not think about it.
These two jars of wine from Hader were very worthwhile, allowing him to understand many of the secrets of the titles and nobles of the Ming Empire.
Thinking about this in his mind, Hader walked to the deck and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, as well as Marquis Zhenhai and Marquis Suyi standing in the distance, and he suddenly felt extremely excited.
In the past, he only thought that the two marquises were similar to the marquises he knew. How could he truly understand the power of the two marquises? Now that I understand it, when I look at it, I can't help but be more cautious. Harder walked behind Han Du and others, put his right hand on his chest, bowed and said: "Hader pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and pays homage to the two princes."
Han Du turned around, glanced at Hader, and couldn't help but frown. We haven't seen each other for a few days, why is Hader becoming more and more reserved? However, Han Du was too lazy to care about the reason why he became like this. He pointed directly to the coast in front and said: "Do you know where this is? How far is it from Ceylon?"
After saying that, Han Du casually handed Hader a telescope.
It was the first time Harder saw this thing. He held it in his hand and didn't know how to use it. When Yu Da saw it, he stepped forward, took the telescope, turned it, and then gave it back to Hader and taught him how to see.
Harder saw that the scenery in the distance that was completely unclear was now reflected in the telescope, and he could see it clearly.
"This, this is simply a miracle. Is it the appearance of a god?" Hader suddenly exclaimed.
When Han Du saw it, his brows furrowed further and he asked with some dissatisfaction: "I want to ask you, do you know where this place is? How far is it from Ceylon? What kind of miracles are there? ? This is a telescope, its function is to enable people to see farther, it is not a miracle."
Hard took a deep breath, managed to suppress the shock in his heart, and quickly replied: "Hard knows this place, it is near the country of Ceylon. If Hard guessed correctly, as long as we continue to sail a certain distance in that direction, You can reach the country of Ceylon."
"Okay." Han Du nodded, and this answer satisfied him after all.
He stretched out his hand towards Hader and motioned for him to return the telescope to him.
Hard held the telescope tightly with both hands and was very reluctant to return the telescope to Han Du. But no matter how reluctant he was to let go, he had to give it back to Han Du.
After dilly-dallying for a long time, Harder reluctantly put the telescope into Han Du's palm. The moment he let go, he felt as if he had lost something very important. This feeling was even stronger than the loss of his son.
Han Ducai didn't care about Hader's mood. After taking the telescope, he immediately ordered: "Yuda, pass the order and move forward at full speed with full sail."
"yes."
Harder stayed with Handu and others, and under his guidance the fleet soon arrived in Ceylon.
Ceylon is a huge island, separated from the subcontinent by a strait. The island is flat on all sides, with towering mountains and forests in the middle.
The first thing Han Du and others saw was a wide white beach, with eight or nine ships docked on the sea near the beach. At first glance, some of these ships were going east to the Old Port, while others came here from the Old Port and were going west.
There is no trace of the harbor on the entire beach, no plank road, no houses, not even a single local indigenous person. The people who are as busy as ants on the beach are all people from docked boats.
Sure enough, it was exactly as Hader said, this place was very desolate and there was nothing.
Han Du looked back at Hard in confusion, and Hard quickly explained: "Master Marquis, this is what it is like here. If you need fresh water, you can only go to the island to find the water source and transport it back by yourself. If you need food, Then you need to go deeper and exchange with the locals. Of course, if you want gems, you can also exchange with the locals."
"Gems? What gems are there?" Zhu Biao turned around and asked curiously.
Hard smiled and bowed before replying: "Your Royal Highness, this is Ceylon, also known as the Gem Country. The most abundant here are all kinds of gems. Almost all the gems Hard has seen are here. There are all of them. And there are a lot of them, and they are very cheap. In the past, every time Hader passed through here, whether he was going to the Old Port or back to Hulumos, he would exchange some gems here and take them away."
"What do you usually trade with them for gems?"
Harder nodded and said: "The locals like cloth, especially the cotton cloth of the Ming Dynasty. They like to exchange it for gems. Of course, the nobles of Ceylon also like the porcelain of the Ming Dynasty. You can exchange the porcelain for top gems."
"You just trade cotton cloth with them for gems?" Han Du's eyes widened in surprise when he heard this. At the same time, I thought to myself, no wonder the price of cotton cloth in Old Port has always been high. In the past, Westerners in Handu used to like to wear cotton. Now it seems that their purpose is to transport it to Ceylon in exchange for gems.
The price of a piece of undyed cloth, that is, cotton cloth, is usually 500 yuan in the capital. But when the same piece of cotton arrives in Old Port, the price is more than fourteen guan, and sometimes it even rises to 20 guan, which is almost ten times the price in the capital.
In the past, maritime merchants probably thought that Western merchants were stupid for buying cotton at such high prices.
But now it seems that it is not certain who is smart and who is stupid.
Although Han Du didn't know how many gems a piece of cotton cloth could be exchanged for in Ceylon, he could imagine with his toes that the profit might be more than ten times, dozens or even hundreds of times.
Han Du thought of the maritime merchants who followed him here. They lost two ships and a lot of cargo. Maybe this information could make up for them.
"Go and call Fu Yong." Han Du turned his head and ordered Yu Da.
Yu Da nodded, turned around, climbed up the mast, climbed into the lookout and gave orders to the sentry. After hearing this, the sentry nodded in agreement, stood up, beat the gongs and drums for a while, and then began to play the flag.
The naval officers who received the order sent Fu Yong to the flagship.
Fu Yong, who slid over from the rope and landed on the deck, quickly ran towards Han Du.
With a pop, his legs knelt on the ground, "Fu Yong, a common man, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince, and pays homage to the Marquis of Zhenhai and Suyi."
Although Zhu Biao didn't know why Han Du called Fu Yong over, he smiled, nodded slightly, and raised his hand to signal: "Without courtesy, get up."
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Fu Yong knelt down respectfully before standing up.
He raised his hands to Han Du and asked with a smile: "I wonder what the Marquis has to do with the common people?"
Han Du said with some guilt: "This time I caused you to lose two ships and a lot of cargo. I owe you."
"Master Marquis, please don't say such things." Fu Yong waved his hands toward Han Du. He did not dare to let Han Du apologize to him.
Instead, he persuaded: "How can there be anything foolproof when sailing on the sea? A few Cao Min and others decided to follow the Marquis, and they had already made preparations. The two ships lost this time were still within the plan of Cao Min and others. "
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