The clattering horse hooves trampled across the stream, and the first few horses had already set foot on the north bank. Immediately afterwards, two to three hundred knights rushed over. The figure on the horse is half wearing a coat and lower clothes, with his hair tied in the right fold, a long sword hanging from his waist, a breastplate, a flintlock gun and a feathered helmet on his back. The other half were mostly dressed like Western knights, wearing cloaks, breastplates, and carrying long swords and flintlock pistols. The knights in these two costumes were followed by the Yin Shang Xibo Marquis Zhou Peigong and the envoys of the Vice King of New Spain, as well as the regional bishop Raul Torres who "discovered the Shang Fang".
The two foreign adults frowned and didn't speak much along the way. They only looked back from time to time to look at the Shang knights who were following them. These merchant knights looked a lot more formal than the Mongolian merchant knights that Raul Torres saw four years ago. Not only did they have uniform uniforms - cyan tops and lower skirts, but they were also equipped with Breastplate and helmet. Regardless of the armor, it was all polished to a polished finish. It was obvious at first glance that it was made of high-quality iron. I wonder if it was made of Ming Dynasty's "Foshan Iron"?
In addition, the "Fufa Bang" they were carrying looked very powerful. It had a simple shape, the "Hang" tube was slender, and the workmanship looked exquisite. It was obviously a high-end product.
The horses they were riding also looked very majestic. They looked a bit like horses with Iberian blood. I don’t know if they obtained the lost Spanish Iberian horses through trade with the Indians and bred them. kind.
Of course, after careful observation these days, these two foreign adults still discovered a phenomenon that surprised them. Of all the Shang people they saw - including the Shang guards and soldiers they saw at Hongshui Pass and Sea Grassland Fortress, as well as the Shang people who greeted them heading north, not one of them was pockmarked!
What does this mean? This shows that these Shang people have probably never been exposed to the terrible smallpox!
This seems to be a matter of course. The Shang people left China 2,600 years ago and fled across the sea to the New World. It is possible that smallpox had not appeared in China at that time... Even if it had, as long as no one who fled with Lu Fu got smallpox, they would have no chance of being exposed to smallpox when they arrived in the New World. Moreover, in the following two thousand years, they only maintained indirect contacts with China through North Korea, a small country in Northeast Asia. North Korea in Northeast Asia is in a cold zone, which is not prone to smallpox. Moreover, the trip back to the merchant side from North Korea is likely to take several months, and there may be a chance to rest on some small islands in the North Pacific along the way. This made it unlikely that even if someone was infected with smallpox, they would bring it back to the New World.
This means that, like other Indians, they have no resistance to smallpox... This is really a blessing from God!
When the Spaniards first arrived in America, they cleverly used smallpox, a plague weapon given by God. Unintentionally or deliberately, they infected and killed Indians who had never been exposed to smallpox by placing clothing, shrouds, and blankets contaminated with the pus and scabs of smallpox victims. This not only greatly weakened the resistance of the Indians, but also shook their faith, making them doubt their gods and turn to God.
It is no exaggeration to say that without the help of smallpox, it would be difficult for the Spanish to conquer so many Indians with such a small force and easily disintegrate the Aztec and Inca empires.
And when the Spanish encountered the scattered hunting Plains Indians and could no longer carry out targeted poisoning, their conquest became very difficult... In fact, after the Spanish penetrated deep into New Mexico and Arizona, Facing the erratic Indian hunting tribes, the Spaniards, who had gunpowder weapons and steel weapons, could only adopt the method of building fortifications.
After the new vice-king, Count San Cristóbal and Archbishop de Zumarraga arrived in Mexico City, these two devout Christians who were familiar with the history of Spain's conquest of the New World immediately proposed the idea of using smallpox to conquer the merchants.
The mission of Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres actually carried the mission of poisoning... Among the gifts they carried for the Shang King and Yin Jiahan, There were blankets contaminated with pus and scabs from smallpox patients! The accompanying Spanish knights all carried the same contaminated blankets, ready to be exchanged with merchants from the merchant country!
In addition, Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres will also request trade from the merchant country... As long as the other party agrees, the Spaniards can continue to spread poison through port trade.
Once a smallpox epidemic breaks out in the Shang Kingdom, the Spanish's opportunity will come!
Of course, before poisoning, Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres still need to confirm that there is really no smallpox in the merchant country.
Thinking of this, Raul Torres drove his horse to Zhou Peigong, and then said to test: "Xibohou, I learned from an ancient book introducing the history of Shangfang Kingdom that your Shangfang Kingdom has many magical medicines that can cure all diseases. ?”
He has practiced Chinese hard in the past two years and can speak it very fluently. Therefore, Zhou Peigong could understand it without translation.
"Introducing the ancient books of Shang Fang Kingdom?" Zhou Peigong was stunned and said to himself: "This foreign devil will not know how to read "Shangshu". He has probably read "The Romance of the Gods", right? The medicine in "The Romance of the Gods" , but there is no place to look for it. But why does this foreign devil ask this? Does he have some incurable disease? "
Thinking of this, he pretended to be concerned and asked: "Priest, are you sick?"
"No, it's not me." Torres shook his head, "It's the smallpox epidemic in Mexico City recently...also called acne. People who are sick will have scary bean-like lesions on their faces, arms, and thighs. The things will scab and suppurate, and some people will die of the disease, and those who will not die will also have scars on their faces after they recover. Do you have any medicine to treat this disease? "
Smallpox!
Zhou Peigong was delighted, this is good news! It would be better if all you foreign devils got sick from smallpox and died! Even if not that many people die, if a few die, they won't send troops to attack us for the time being. However, the good thing about smallpox in Spain can be used again.
Zhou Peigong said: "Father Torres, we businessmen have always respected ghosts and gods and have been blessed by God. We have never suffered from such a serious disease, so there is no good medicine to cure it."
What he said was conclusive, not like a lie, and Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres did not see any pockmarked businessmen along the way - pockmarked faces were very common in Western Europe in those days, even King Louis X of France Si and King James II of England are both pockmarked!
Therefore, Zhou Peigong's words, coupled with the pockmarked appearance of the merchants he met along the way, convinced Father Raul Torres that these merchants had really never seen smallpox... What a blessing from God!
.......
Song of the New Dynasty, early winter of 1688 AD.
The sound of the gong is loud and the horses' hooves can be heard. As the solemn and evasive voice of "Business Language" rang out everywhere, Zhou Peigong, the Great Shang Xibohou, led the Spanish envoy team and passed through the commercial city of Shang Fang Kingdom in a mighty manner. There are "squares" surrounded by high walls on both sides. Both sides of the street, which seems a bit deserted, are now filled with Shangfang people wearing cross-collar commoners, carrying swords, and wearing buns.
Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres looked curiously at this ancient city with a history of two thousand years - although this city looks new, its antiquity can be seen everywhere.
For example, there was a large stone tablet erected at the south gate of Xin Chao Ge where they entered the city. The words "Simu Daji Tomb" were engraved on the front of the stone tablet, and there was an inscription on the back of the stone tablet. Xibohou Zhou Peigong told the two foreign devils that the so-called "Si Mu" was the title of the king's wife. Simu Daji was the wife of Lufu's father, Di Xin. She had the Su family name, her surname, and her courtesy name was Da. She was defeated and martyred in the battle of Chaoge City after the Battle of Muye.
Later, after Lufu moved eastward to America, he named the area on the seaside of Fugui Bay Xinchaoge. However, no city was built at that time. He only built a tomb here for Simu Daji who died in the old Chaoge battle.
And every building in Xinchaoge City has a story. At the gate of almost every workshop, there is a dilapidated stone tablet full of history. The stone tablets are engraved with ancient words, recording the important events that happened in this "workshop" in its two thousand years of history.
However, Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres were not very interested in these things that happened a long time ago. Their attention quickly shifted from the city to the people, or to be more precise, to the "face". Each face was very "clean" and had obviously never had smallpox.
As for the number of "merchants" on both sides of the street, there are of course a lot of them, both men and women, probably no less than 20,000, and they are all young and strong Yin Shang people - the descendants of the Shang people who immigrated from China. Zhou Peigong told the two foreign adults that in today's Shang country, there are "distinctions between the country and the wild". The descendants of the foreign Shang people are called "Guo people", while the native people who arrived earlier than the Shang people are called "Guo people". "Savage".
Most of the Chinese people live in the city, while the savages live in the countryside. Although the country and the country have lived in harmony for more than two thousand years, they are still clearly divided... But when smallpox arrives, the scene inside and outside the city becomes a hellish scene. I don’t know how many people there are in the entire Shangfang Kingdom? According to Zhou Peigong, Xin Chaoge was only the third largest city in the Shang Kingdom, and there were two cities above it, Yindu and Shangdu, which were twice the size.
There are 20,000 to 30,000 young people in this Shangfang City. If you include the young and old, it is estimated that there are 50,000 residents. The population of Yindu and Shangdu is doubled, and the total population is 200,000. Including Xin Chaoge, the number is 250,000... and counting other small towns, there are at most 400,000 to 500,000 Chinese. The population of white people is about the same as that of New Spain... and they have muskets that are no less than those of Westerners, and they may also have the support of the Ming Dynasty. If they want to fight openly and openly, New Spain may not necessarily win.
Well now, none of them have had smallpox!
Just when he was thinking of this, Zhou Peigong had already led the Spanish delegation to a stop outside a square in the north of the city. The door of this workshop was open, and it was deserted inside, with seemingly no residents. Outside the open door, there was a group of people who looked like musicians and started playing and playing when they saw them coming. There were also people holding a "three-eye bomb" and setting off cannons there, which looked very lively.
The two wore the same style as Zhou Peigong, and also wore "bird feather" hats. They looked at the very young Shang officials leading a group of Shang warriors, standing at the gate in a grand manner. When they saw the foreign devils coming, they shouted in unison. Hanhua shouted: "The ministers of Yin and Shang welcome the envoys of Spain from the ghost side!"
Zhou Peigong turned back to the two foreign devils and said: "According to legend, Guifang country comes from the west. Its people have white skin, high noses, red hair and blue eyes, which are very similar to you. So the Marquis of Jizhou and the Marquis of Celing Qianhu call you Guifang."
As he spoke, he pointed to the Fangshi gate in front and said to the two foreign envoys: "Please...this is the Sifangfang of Xinchaoge, which is also the Embassy Square. Originally there was Aziz The embassies of the Turks and the Incas are permanently stationed in Chaoge. Unfortunately, these two countries were destroyed by the evil country more than a hundred years ago, so the embassy building has been vacant for more than a hundred years."
"What?" Raul Torres was stunned, "You guys still have diplomatic relations with the Aztecs and Incas?"
This thing is so new that it can almost change the history of the New World!
In previous records, the influence of the two so-called empires of the Aztecs and Incas was limited to their own surrounding areas. I have never heard of any official diplomacy between the two major Native American countries. Moreover, the Inca Empire did not even have writing, so how could this diplomacy be carried out?
"Of course! Although our country of Shang Fang is closed to the outside world, it is not completely without diplomacy. We have had diplomatic relations with the Aztecs and Incas for hundreds of years!" Zhou Peigong said seriously, "But we people in Shang Fang know that although our country is large, , the truth that war will lead to death. That’s why the late king Lu Fu passed down the message to the people, asking us to close the country and not annex other people’s lands just because we think we are strong... But I didn’t expect that some countries were greedy and did not know how to restrain themselves. It's not enough for the Croats and Incas to destroy their country and their species, and now they come to plot against our Shang side, and we are not afraid of the wrath of our Shang king and the destruction of your country!"
Zhou Peigong's words were very unpleasant and full of warning, but the two envoys, Alfonso Garcia and Raul Torres, were not angry at all (Garcia could also understand some Chinese), but were full of satisfaction. Face smiled and promised Zhou Peigong.
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! We, the Kingdom of New Spain, have no ill intentions towards the Shang Fang Kingdom."
"Yes, we are here just for friendship and trade... To prove our sincerity in pursuing friendship, we have prepared a generous gift for the merchant king! I hope you will not refuse our kindness."
"Marquis, we know that you have established a special friendship with the Ming Empire... We in the Kingdom of New Spain are not willing to be enemies of the Ming Dynasty. We also hope to resume trade with the Ming Dynasty through your Shangfang Kingdom. We need the Ming Dynasty. silk, porcelain, garlic medicine and perfume, and Japanese lacquerware..."
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